Locked in Darkness… and His Message Reached Me

Even if he had nothing to hide, being told he would be body-searched was inevitably shocking.

There was something he absolutely must not be caught with.

He needed to stand tall and deny it boldly.

But he wasn’t good at lying.

There was something far too important.

Flustered, Haejin’s eyes darted around before he shook his head.

“I-it’s nothing!”

“If it’s nothing, you should be confident.”

“The way you’re acting guilty, there must be something.”

Although Haejin said not to, his uncle grew more suspicious and reached out.

A struggle ensued.

If his opponent was someone he could overpower physically, he would have pushed him away from the start.

The difference in size and strength was immense.

His uncle, not considering the other person, searched his body indiscriminately.

He pressed down as if he didn’t care if he scratched his face or injured him.

As his clothes were forcibly pulled open, buttons popped off.

They became so tattered they could hardly be called clothes, exposing his chest.

Even if there was no sexual intent, it was humiliating.

But there was something more important to protect.

So, he kept repeating like a parrot for him to stop, trying to close his clothes again.

Thump, a heavy something fell to the floor.

Ah, no.

Everything else could be discovered, but not this.

So Haejin flinched and bent down, trying to snatch the envelope before his uncle saw it.

His uncle was faster.

He shoved Haejin, who was bending to pick it up, knocking him to the floor.

Then he picked up the envelope and checked its contents.

He laughed absurdly upon confirming that the envelope contained over a dozen 50,000-won bills.

“There really is money in here?”

“…….”

“Ha, so I allowed you to work part-time, and you were planning to run away?”

“You were planning to sneak off in the middle of the night, weren’t you?”

It was the money he had worked intensely at the restaurant for a month, intending to use for the goshiwon.

He had been caught after all.

It was something he absolutely couldn’t be caught with, so he had deliberately kept it on his person.

He hadn’t expected a body search.

He needed to deny it.

But the situation was so undeniable that no words came out.

As Haejin remained silent and still, his uncle, even more convinced, shook his head as if amazed and let out a hollow laugh.

Then his uncle looked back at Haejin.

His eyes, which had been absurd just moments ago, instantly turned sharp.

There was a murderous glint.

Haejin knew this look.

It was the face right before his eyes completely rolled back and he started beating him until dust flew.

Knowing that face made it even more terrifying.

Haejin gulped dry spit and instinctively stepped back.

His uncle approached him, envelope still in hand.

His uncle quickly caught up with Haejin, who was hesitating.

He lightly slapped Haejin’s cheek with the envelope.

“Where could you possibly go if you run away?”

Smack!

“I am a bit curious about that.”

“What were you planning to do?”

Smack!

It wasn’t a beating until he bled like usual.

But each time he was hit with the money, a sense of humiliation welled up.

Knowing that the money was already taken and in his grasp made it feel even more so.

Flushed with unfairness and humiliation, no words came out.

His uncle pressed again, asking what he was planning to do if he had gotten away like that.

But he couldn’t tell the truth.

The plan to use part-time money to enter a one-room apartment wasn’t that grand.

They might not even think that far, and it would mean revealing the method.

Also, telling them would mean fully admitting he was trying to run away.

Even if the money was taken, he couldn’t answer.

So Haejin stubbornly denied it.

“It’s really not…….”

“I was just trying to clean up…….”

“Ha, still with that nonsense.”

“Who do you take me for, some idiot?”

Haejin denied that he was trying to run away.

His uncle was angry that Haejin was lying even after being caught red-handed.

He took it as an insult.

When he asked what the plan was, he looked somewhat interested.

Now, thinking he was being disrespected, his face turned even uglier than when he discovered the attempt to run away.

Just as Haejin had a complex about his education in his past life, his uncle similarly had a persecution complex about someone looking down on him.

Knowing he would flare up and have a fit at times like this, Haejin hurriedly tried to defuse the situation.

“I-I’m not disrespecting you, I……!”

Thwack!

But before he could explain, his uncle couldn’t hold back his anger.

He swung his fist at Haejin’s face.

This time, it wasn’t with the money envelope but with a bare fist.

It hit his cheek like a sandbag without mercy.

Haejin, who had been standing, lost his balance and fell to the floor.

He couldn’t see anything before his eyes.

A thin, sharp ringing sound echoed in his ears.

Because of that, he couldn’t even get up and just lay there.

His uncle took a large step towards Haejin and asked again.

“Won’t you talk properly?”

“Huhh, Uncle……, I-it’s really not…….”

“You’re hopeless.”

“Come with me.”

“Huh?”

“No, I don’t want that, Uncle……! Aak!”

At the words ‘come with me,’ Haejin’s complexion paled even more.

In an atmosphere like this, ‘come with me’ could only mean one thing.

Knowing that meaning, Haejin habitually clasped his hands together, ready to beg profusely.

His uncle didn’t give him a chance to speak.

He grabbed Haejin’s hair as if he would tear out his scalp.

Like a demon dragging him to hell, he dragged Haejin with his strong hand.

Although both were men, Haejin was undernourished, and his uncle had grown large in a lanky way.

The difference in strength due to physique and the fundamental fear Haejin felt towards him made proper resistance impossible.

Since this was a common occurrence in this house, his aunt and her child just watched Haejin being dragged.

They thought, ‘Again,’ without helping.

While Haejin looked at them with despairing eyes, they soon arrived in front of the basement room.

The basement room was used as a storage for unused items.

It had one more purpose.

“I’ll give you time until you speak honestly.”

“Time to think…… a day should be enough.”

“U-uncle!”

Time to think—its purpose was to lock someone alone in an enclosed underground space.

Haejin hated being left alone in this space more than being hit by them or being cut with sharp words.

As Haejin said he didn’t want this and tried to cling to his leg, his uncle heartlessly kicked Haejin in the stomach with a thump.

He slammed the door shut.

Haejin, kicked in the solar plexus, staggered back and curled up.

Seeing the door close, he quickly crawled, trying to cling to him again.

It was futile.

The thick door closed with a thud.

The sound of metal locking followed with a clank.

“Huhh, open this, please!”

“I-it’s really not like that! Uncle……!”

Haejin desperately tried to shake the door.

He hit it with his fists and called for him.

The sound of footsteps faded away without any hesitation.

Even hearing him leave, Haejin wanted to hold on somehow.

He pounded on the door, crying and shouting.

But eventually, he left so completely that even his footsteps couldn’t be heard.

Haejin, who had been practically hanging on the door, belatedly realized he couldn’t hold him back.

He slowly turned around.

Honestly, there was nothing special about the basement.

There were no rumors of ghosts.

It was just a room where no light entered, untouched by human hands, dusty, and with some bugs.

But for Haejin, the simple fact of being underground wasn’t the problem.

He was wrapped in the learned fear of punishment.

From some point on, whenever he was locked alone in a suffocating space, he felt as if oxygen was insufficient.

His breath caught in his throat, and his head spun.

He had been so scared that he had even looked into apartments with his meager money to leave the house.

But the stuffy apartment rooms reminded him of the basement.

So he couldn’t bring himself to go.

Trying to rent a slightly more comfortable place was financially impossible.

It was a vicious cycle.

“Hahk, ha……”

Today as well, with his heart beating faster and faster, Haejin repeatedly squeezed his eyes shut and opened them.

He clenched and unclenched his fingers, trying to divert his attention elsewhere.

The only consolation was that his claustrophobia wasn’t extreme enough to make him faint…….

But even so, the thought of being locked up here for a whole day felt overwhelmingly distant.

“Aunt, Uncle……”

The ironic fact that the people he could rely on to get him out were the ones who locked him in.

Haejin called out to them blankly.

Then he leaned his back against the door and slumped to the floor.

At that moment, a vibration rang from his pocket.

Bzzzt—

“Uh……?”

Feeling strange, Haejin took his phone out of his pocket.

Originally, when locking him in the basement, they confiscated his phone too.

It seemed they forgot to take it in the heat of the moment.

Although the signal was weak underground, it wasn’t completely cut off.

Thinking it was fortunate he had something, Haejin turned on the phone screen.

A message that had just arrived appeared on the screen.

[I heard you quit your job.]

[Can you move your belongings by yourself?]

Sender: Gu Beomwoo.

It was still a message showing he was looking into Haejin’s affairs.

Seeing it, Haejin didn’t feel bad.

Instead, his heart fluttered with a different meaning.

The moment he saw the familiar sender’s name, his heart trembled with a meaning different from the fear of being locked in the basement room.

Since returning to this life, Haejin had tried hard not to form a connection with Beomwoo.

Unlike his past life, where he craved affection, he had only pushed him away.

For some reason, Beomwoo kept coming closer, contrary to his efforts.

He knew Beomwoo was helping because he wanted something from him, not out of special meaning.

But remembering how Beomwoo had come to meet him directly and showed consideration when his phone was confiscated last time came to mind.

Most of all, the words he said at the playground—that he would help even without marriage—came to mind at this moment.

Asking for help…… maybe it would be okay to ask.

He had refused his help, thinking it would be unfair to ask for help when the outcome was clearly set.

He had wanted to try escaping on his own.

But whether it was because he had become vulnerable from the basement punishment he feared most, or because this seemingly insignificant message melted his heart, Haejin impulsively sent a reply.

[Help me]

After sending the message, his mind snapped back to attention.

Impulsively, because his heart was so shaken, he had asked for help without thinking.

Not only had he asked him for help, but the message had asked if he could move his belongings alone when moving.

Replying like this out of the blue might make it seem like he was just asking for help moving.

Moreover, asking him for help with something like this also seemed like something he shouldn’t have done.

‘This is no good.’

‘I should say I sent it by mistake.’

‘It really wasn’t right to ask for this kind of help from him.’

As he was about to send another message, his phone lit up and vibrated.

It was a call from Beomwoo.

Precisely as he was about to send a message, the call came in.

He unintentionally pressed accept.

Seeing the connected call screen, Haejin was startled and tried to hang up.

He ended up awkwardly answering.

“H-hello?”

– “What’s wrong?”

It was a voice more urgent and worried than usual.

It sounded like a voice that had sensed there was another meaning in the short ‘help me’ message.