The Monk Who Loved His Drink
“Huh... So he really is there? A bum drinking with a drunk in the middle of the night?”
Lee Joo-seok, staring out the window, let out a dry laugh.
At first glance, the man looked so shabby he could have passed for a homeless man himself, but the shaved head and worn monk’s robes made him unmistakably a monk.
“But is a monk even allowed to drink?”
“Not if he’s a real monk. But if you look closely, the booze is only going to the homeless guy. That other one’s just listening.”
Narrowing his eyes, Lee Joo-seok studied the pair intently.
Sure enough, it was the homeless man emptying the cup, while the old monk simply sat there in silence, listening.
“What is this...? Some kind of proselytizing?”
“We’ll have to check.”
“Won’t be easy getting close. Especially not for me.”
Lee Joo-seok was so enormous that anyone who saw him would take him for a gangster or a detective at a glance.
“I’ll go.”
“You? Think you can do it?”
“I’ll approach as naturally as I can and listen in on what they’re talking about.”
From the back seat, Song Tan grabbed his backpack, took out a ball cap, and climbed out of the car quietly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Only one streetlamp cast a dim pool of light.
On an old bench, two people sat facing each other.
The homeless man kept drinking with his face flushed red.
“Keh, come on, monk, have a drink too. What’s life got to do with it? You just live however you feel like living.”
The old monk smiled faintly and shook his head.
“Heh-heh. No matter how much of a fake monk you call me, I can’t break the precepts.”
“Tch, ptui! Fine, whatever.”
The homeless man spat a thick glob of phlegm onto the ground and grinned with obvious delight.
He was thinking he could drink as much as he wanted, alone.
Then he sensed movement nearby.
“Uweeeek—!”
At the raucous retching sound, both men turned at once.
A young man with a large backpack was clutching a utility pole and violently emptying his stomach.
“Damn it, fuck! Don’t ruin the taste of the booze—puke somewhere else, asshole!”
Scowling, the homeless man barked at him.
The staggering young man collapsed heavily into a seat.
“Ugh... Sorry... Sorry... I... I failed my exam today... I was just so upset...”
He kept bowing weakly, over and over.
The annoyed homeless man started to rise, but the monk stopped him.
“Just leave him be. He looks like he’s in a lot of pain.”
“I’m sorry... I’m sorry... I’m so dizzy... I’ll rest a little and go...”
Leaning against the utility pole, the young man wrapped his arms around his knees and quickly drifted off into a snoring sleep.
“Tch. These days, all the young punks do is sit around chasing civil-service exams and bar exams and all that crap instead of going out and working. Is it any wonder the country’s falling apart?”
Frowning, the homeless man tossed back a paper cup full of soju in one gulp.
“Gah, where was I...? Ah! Sure, I may live like this now, but! Me! Back in the day, I was really something, you know?”
With trembling hands, the homeless man poured himself another drink.
“I ran a huge plastic injection factory! I had more than thirty employees under me, and I even had a factory in my own name... I lived like a real boss, better than most people, no joke.”
His words began to slur.
“But damn it all, one day there was a fire at the factory, and five people died. And somehow that was all my fault?”
“Why did they say it was your fault, sir?”
“Heh-heh, because I pushed the safety inspection back a little. The delivery schedule was just too tight... No, fuck, but was that really my fault? Did I kill them? They fucked up and started the fire, so why are they blaming me? This damn world!”
The homeless man punched himself in the chest again and again.
“I got thrown in prison for that bullshit, and when I got out my wife had already divorced me, my kids cut off contact... They’re telling me I should just die, huh? Then they want me to be a father at least by getting them insurance money? Hah! Is that something you say to the man who gave you life?”
The monk said nothing. He simply listened, quietly and without interruption.
“After going through every filthy, rotten thing you can imagine, I just lost the will to live. I don’t want to do anything anymore... So this is how I live now. Heh-heh-heh. I wish this damned world would take me already.”
At last, the monk opened his mouth.
“Relationships and karmic debts are things you cannot avoid. Only the way you accept them changes what kind of life follows.”
The homeless man lifted his head and stared at him with foggy eyes.
“What, the next life?”
“The suffering you endure now is the fruit of deeds from the past. But if you turn that suffering into repentance, the karma will disappear.”
“Puh-hah. Did you drink too, monk? Why are you seriously spouting that bullshit? And five people died—does that just go away? Are you saying trash like me can be born again? Fucking hell.”
“If one cleanses the body and crosses the Three Paths River with a little travel money in hand, anyone can be reborn.”
For a moment, the young man sleeping against the utility pole twitched slightly.
“Haah... I wish. This life seems ruined anyway... I want to be reborn and start over! Damn it, what a dogshit life.”
The monk watched him with lowered eyes.
Only his gaze, in the darkness, was unnervingly clear.
The homeless man gulped down the rest of the soju, then rose and walked over to the utility pole.
He nudged the sleeping young man’s leg with his foot.
“Hey! You young punk, don’t sit around doing this crap here. Get your ass home before you freeze to death.”
“Ahh... Th-thank you...”
Shaking his head, the young man slowly got to his feet, swayed unsteadily, and disappeared somewhere into the night.
Returning to his seat, the homeless man bared his yellow teeth and grinned.
“Where was I?”
As the liquor took hold, he poured out his negative feelings even more openly, more brutally than before.
All of it aimed at the monk, whose expression had already gone blank.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Click—
Back in the car, Song Tan threw off his cap.
Lee Joo-seok looked at him as if seeing him anew.
“That puke act was damn Oscar-worthy.”
If he hadn’t known better, he would have taken him for a drunk college kid without hesitation.
“I used to do that sort of thing a lot.”
Back when he was an informant for the Murim Alliance.
To survive in the very heart of the Evil Faction Alliance’s territory, that kind of disguise and acting had been essential.
It was a vicious place where if you so much as acted a little off, a blade would come flying at you first and questions would come later.
“Every time I dig, more weird shit keeps coming out of you.”
Lee Joo-seok gave a snort, then hardened his face.
“So? Anything suspicious?”
At his senior partner’s question, Song Tan answered without hesitation.
“He’s the culprit.”
“What!? That fake monk is really a serial killer?”
Lee Joo-seok stared out the window in disbelief.
The moment Song Tan met the monk’s eyes, he had been certain.
Those are the eyes of a man who has killed before.
The gaze of someone who had taken life by his own will was different from that of an ordinary person.
Those were the eyes of an animal that did not see people as people, only as prey.
Song Tan could read that distinction exactly.
“Hah... I don’t even know how I’m supposed to not believe this.”
They had worked side by side, practically living together through countless violent crimes and impossible cases.
So now he knew.
When his junior partner pointed at someone and said that man was the culprit, that man was the culprit.
The statistics, flawless until now, proved it.
“You’re sure?”
Lee Joo-seok’s eyes flashed viciously.
What else could he do? A serial murder suspect they’d never expected was right in front of them.
If they caught him, it would be a major arrest that would shake the media.
“When do we move?”
“We have to arrest him in the act, once he tries to commit a crime. Otherwise he’ll deny everything, no question.”
With no DNA evidence secured yet, acting too hastily could easily lead them into trouble.
“Looks like he’s picked that homeless guy as his target. If we wait, he’s bound to do something.”
Lee Joo-seok muttered low under his breath and slightly pulled the passenger door handle, creating a little slack.
It was a habit of undercover cops waiting to spring out and charge the instant the door opened.
And then—
Click—
Without warning, someone outside opened the car door and shoved their head in.
Stale liquor and sour reek flooded into the car in a rush.
“What the hell are you two doing in someone else’s territory, looking all shady like that?”
When had they arrived? Three homeless men were surrounding the car.
Their eyes were glassy with drink.
“I said, what are you doing!”
Another one banged the back of his hand against the driver’s door.
Slightly flustered, Lee Joo-seok’s face stiffened.
“Wait... We’re just taking a break, so what’s the problem?”
Pulling himself together, he responded calmly.
One of the homeless men snickered.
“Taking a break? Here? At this hour? With the engine off?”
Another circled to the back of the car and scanned the license plate.
“This is fucking suspicious.”
“Shit! You’re city hall enforcement, aren’t you? Aren’t you?”
Lee Joo-seok and Song Tan both looked troubled.
It was an utterly unexpected development.
The homeless men surrounding the car began to multiply, one by one.
“Hey, get out of the car.”
“Are you deaf!? I said get out!”
One of the homeless men kicked the tire hard, over and over.
Lee Joo-seok glared and said with forced calm, “We’re not city hall enforcement or whatever, so just get lost quietly.”
“Hah, look at these bastards? They think we’re some worthless shit, huh?”
“Should we drag them out by force, boss?”
The atmosphere turned rough in an instant.
While they were stuck, unable to move either way, one of them suddenly shouted, “Huh!? Where’d they go?”
At some point, the homeless man and the monk had vanished.
“You son of a bitch! Get out here, now!”
At the roar, Lee Joo-seok scratched his head furiously and climbed out of the car.
“Fine, fuck it! I’m out. What now?”
“Huh!?”
Only then did the homeless men recoil as the truly intimidating size of the man stood before them.
“You really want to come with me? You sure about that?”
Lee Joo-seok raised a fist like a sledgehammer, and the homeless men scattered in alarm.
Like insects fleeing the light the moment it touched them, they vanished in an instant.
A beat later, the two men ran toward the bench.
“Damn it. Where the hell did they disappear to?”
Lee Joo-seok looked around with a hollow expression.
But all that remained was darkness, and not a trace of life.
“If anything happens to that homeless guy, we’re really screwed. We have to find him no matter what.”
Lee Joo-seok could not hide his anxiety, and Song Tan scanned the surroundings with cool eyes.
The vomit spread across the asphalt.
It was the plain yogurt he had thrown up for the act.
Using that as a starting point, he searched for traces.
Beside it lay a crushed newspaper, a crumpled paper cup, and even a soju bottle rolling on the ground.
The scene from moments ago began replaying in his mind.
The homeless man had staggered away, while the monk had simply watched his back without moving.
Kneeling, Song Tan examined the ground closely.
Tracks remained in the dust.
Small droplets had been scattered there, one by one.
Song Tan shone his phone flashlight onto the ground.
“That homeless man spilled his drink earlier. The ground is wet.”
The wet trail pointed deeper into the alley.
It was a winding backstreet, but if they kept going straight it would lead to the lower reaches of Annam Stream.
“Let’s hurry.”
They exchanged a glance, nodded, and headed into the dark alley.