Chapter 5. The Man Next Door (5)

Translator: Lili

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“You’re pretty.”

“…”

— That bastard was always desperate to sleep with me. I told him to come to the bar if he was that eager, but he didn’t want to pay. After a few times, he started acting like my boyfriend, getting all clingy. Honestly, dealing with him was worse than prison life.

Minyoung’s words resurfaced in my mind.

He tilted his head toward the porridge, urging me to eat. It was annoying, but since I needed that cigarette, I reluctantly picked up the plastic spoon.

As soon as I forced myself to take one bite of the porridge, a wave of hunger hit me like it had been waiting for that moment.

“…”

“…”

While I devoured the porridge mindlessly, the man continued to watch me intently. I thought I had eaten a lot, but when I finally felt full and put the spoon down, more than half of the porridge remained.

“Done, right? Give it to me.”

“Did you finish?”

“Yeah.”

Still leaning on his hand, the man glanced back and forth between my face and the porridge. Finally, he reached into his jacket and took out what I wanted, placing it on the table. Without hesitation, I grabbed the cigarette, put it in my mouth, and lit it. Now that I had eaten, the lighter worked on the first try.

As I brought the cigarette’s tip to the flame and took a long drag, my eyes met his.

“…”

“…”

From the moment he jokingly suggested something vulgar the first day we met, I had a sense—this man had no intention of hiding his desires.

Even now, he openly stared at me, his expression heated and unabashed. As the smoke I exhaled billowed across his face, he theatrically coughed, pretending to be bothered. It was amusing to watch.

Finally having a cigarette in my mouth softened my mood, and a faint chuckle escaped my lips. That seemed to encourage him, and his gaze became even more shameless as it roved over me.

“What are you staring at?”

“You.”

“Got something to say?”

Feigning ignorance, I asked. This time, he smirked.

‘Huh? Did I just see something?’

I thought I caught a flicker of something in his expression, but before I could figure it out, his smirk faded.

“I’ve got plenty to say.”

However, he didn’t say another word after that.

***

‘Were you planning to stab me with that?’

‘…’

‘Stop messing around and come here.’

My grip on the knife tightened.

‘Yoon Seoha!’

‘Die!’

As the figure lunged at me with a scream, my vision flickered.

“Ugh…”

I woke up drenched in sweat, every inch of me sticky. From head to toe, there wasn’t a dry spot on my body.

Blinking at the ceiling in a daze, I threw off the blanket wrapped around me, immediately feeling a chill. The sweat drying on my skin had cooled me down to the point of discomfort. Ironically, the heat that caused the sweat had now made me cold.

Shivering involuntarily, I staggered out of the bedroom and headed straight for the front door. When I opened it, there was a pack of cigarettes and a plastic bag sitting there.

I grabbed the cigarettes immediately, hesitated for a moment, then begrudgingly picked up the plastic bag as well.

Two days ago, the same thing had happened—cigarettes and food were left at the door. I only took the cigarettes, and the next day, only the food was left. It seemed the neighbor was punishing me for my selective behavior. His over-the-top meddling was incomprehensible.

As a result, I had spent the whole day yesterday without a cigarette, drowning in intrusive thoughts.

Maybe that’s why I had that dream.

Inside the crinkling bag was a roll of gimbap. Clicking my tongue, I tossed it carelessly onto the floor and lit a cigarette first.

“Hah…”

‘Die!’

I inhaled deeply, filling my lungs with acrid smoke, but phantom voices kept echoing in my head. Maybe it was because of the dream, but I felt an uneasy certainty that the cigarette wouldn’t help much today.

‘It’s raining outside. Let’s go out!’

‘Shall we go see the ocean?’

‘Why did you abandon me?’

‘Die!’

*Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish…*

The sounds filled my ears again, leaving them muffled.

Desperately, I pressed my palms over my ears. I thought if I blocked out all sound, I wouldn’t notice myself sinking into the void, but it didn’t work. All it did was make my arms ache.

Maybe I should think about something else.

But what? No matter where I tried to direct my thoughts, every part of my life was tainted with these suffocating memories. As I furrowed my brow and prepared to give up, something popped into my mind.

— Wanna suck a d*ck?

The neighbor.

The strange, nosy man who seemed to enjoy meddling in my life.

I glanced at the cigarette in my hand, the gimbap lying on the floor, and the closed front door.

Since the day he fed me porridge three days ago, I hadn’t seen him. Judging by the cigarettes and food left outside, he was still around.

— If you want another, leave the door open like you did today.

After a moment’s hesitation, I opened the front door again—this time, leaving it wide open, just as I had on the first day to air out the house.

Then I went back to the sofa and lay down.

*Swish…*

My sweat-soaked body stuck uncomfortably to the cheap leather of the sofa.

Lying there, I let my thoughts drift to the neighbor’s annoyingly handsome face. I focused on him with all my might, trying to keep other thoughts at bay. Questions like, ‘Why does he meddle with me?’ kept me occupied.

Apart from my endlessly resurfacing past, the neighbor was the only thing I could think about that wasn’t directly tied to my pain. He was an unrelated presence in my life.

Because of that, I could breathe just a little easier.

***