Nearly twenty years had passed since Joo's death, and there I was, sitting on our viewing platform, lost in the past and focused on that little trail that had led us to terror. With sadness, my gaze wandered in the direction of the hidden plateau, the flowers, and... Joo's remains, if they hadn't been digested long ago. I also thought of Jia, the chubby little Jia who had grown into a beautiful but sickly woman that had died far too young during the miscarriage of her daughter. I thought of Hyeon and Deiji, who had gotten married and lived down near the sea, and of Ayeum, who still remained in her old house with her father and was decaying more and more on the inside due to her loss. Finally, I managed to tear myself away completely from my thoughts and looked back at Gipeun and the adjacent sea.

The bay that bordered our hometown was vast and entirely surrounded by rocky, mountainous hills, all at least as large as the one on which our viewing platform was located at. Beyond the land, the ocean lurked greedily, giving me dizzy vibes just looking at it. Dirty and foamy, it lay there that evening, seemingly digesting all the waste and ignorance of the people, waiting for careless sailors to drag into its gurgling depths. Pale lights shimmered on the black surface of the sea, reminding me of all the men who ventured out there daily on their small boats to defy the sea and bring us fish so that hunger wouldn't completely overwhelm us. The city itself was not brightly lit; there was no real electricity, and only in the city center could one find a few small lanterns cutting through the night.

My gaze wandered to our neighborhood. I thought of you, Joon-Ho, sleeping next to my mother, and how much I loved you. How much I hoped you could grow up in a different place than this stinking, rotten part of the country. I finally decided to go back home and began to make my way down the mountain, leaving the viewing platform behind. My path led me past the desolate slopes, back to the town and down the hills.

Perhaps I should have gone straight home, immediately back to you, but something inside me prompted me to take a detour through the harbor. To breathe the sea breeze up close one more time. Besides, I often went to the sea and looked out when your father was away overnight, out there between the waves. I missed him a most when he worked out there for days – toiling for us.

Soon, I walked past houses that were built from dilapidated wood and old clay, some roofed with straw, some protected by bricks, huddled in the night, the small plots surrounded by fences. On my way to the harbor, I passed by gardens that had been planted everywhere to at least secure some food for the upcoming winter. Dim oil lamps shone from some of the houses into the night, and I could hear the families inside, laughing or more often arguing, and occasionally, something being thrown against a wall and shattering loudly. Once again, I was reminded of what a hellish place all of this was around me. I liked the people, the community, but the place itself... the circumstances were numbing and threatened to desensitize me even back then. You know I was very emotionless towards you, Joon-Ho, never really ready for a joke and always withdrawn. I think one of the reasons is that Gipeun's bleakness rubbed off on me. I'm sorry that I couldn't show you what you mean to me and how much I love you, but you will never understand me, because you didn't experience what the city did to me. What the city did to everyone... And what invaded into the houses and the people. It began on that evening, I'm sure of it.

When I finally finished my walk to the sea, I paused for a moment to catch my breath.

I stood on the only small piece of coastline that was not rocky or lined with quay walls but still consisted of the old sand, that had been washed ashore a long time ago. Algae and dirty pieces of driftwood were scattered around me, covered in oily slime, and it smelled strongly of dead fish—the scent that the fishing boats brought with them after they had taken the sea's inhabitants, only to kill and eat them later. Fish, just like rice, grains, and cabbage, was one of the main food sources in Gipeun, but the fishing business always seemed dirtier and more disgusting to me than any harvest could ever be.

My eyes wandered over the water and the small waves that brought back garbage and waste from the depths of the sea to the shore, where it all lay like a warning, although no one seemed to care. And there, on the horizon, where the gray sky met the ugly greenish waves and their foam caps, bathed in the last rays of the evening sun, it seemed like there was an abyss, slowly unsettling my stomach. I had often stood there during my evening walks on that decrepit beach—or on one of the hills that ended in cliffs next to the city and seemed to fall into the sea—but today, looking at the vast water and the unseen depth below it made me feel even more uncomfortable than usual. Wasn't something moving over there among the foam caps? I could have sworn I spotted something, a massive body... but of course, I knew that whales weren't usually found so close to the coast, so I must have imagined it. It also seemed like I briefly heard a voice in the wind, softly whispering and murmuring from the unknown abyss of the sea, up to me. It made me think again: Was your father okay? Was everything all right? Had he been caught in yesterday's storm? I felt worse and worse, and a sudden fear made my breaths more erratic, so I eventually decided to go back to the city to get away from the water.

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I hastily left the beach and headed home, taking a shortcut through the docks where workers and sailors were loading their catch and, in some cases, crews were loading goods onto some cargo boats. They recognized me in part and didn't bother me further, knew me because of your father and his great reputation. As I passed a large stack of wooden crates containing various goods, I suddenly could hear frightened curses. The cargo blocked my view, and a horribly biting odor, sulfurous and putrid, reached my nose, forcing me to hold my hand over my face to avoid retching. I had inhaled the fishery stench all my life and thought that no smell would ever get to me again.

But this unspeakable stench of evil...

What could it be?

Finally, I managed to tear myself away from the foul smell and focused on the panicked voices, which were still heatedly discussing something. Although they were quite loud, the wind had started blowing even stronger, and the rising roar of the sea mixed with the men's words.

"...not far off the coast... entire catch... dead, just dead... came home empty-handed..."

What were they talking about? What stank so horridly? I decided to sneak around the crates and get a clearer picture of the situation. Slowly, I leaned against the solid wood and began to circle the huge pile. Part of me was screaming at me to just go home, but what if there was news that also concerned your father? I just had to get closer! I could see that a small group of fishermen was standing near a small cutter moored at the quay. The tiny boat looked old and had probably lived through many storms and rough seas, as I could see brown rust spreading like a cancerous growth all over its metal. The men themselves were wearing raincoats and old rubber boots, as was customary for them, and their bushy, tousled beards made them appear wild and untamed.

I knew the cutter and its crew, but not well. Because my contemptible father had once been one of the fishermen who set sail daily, I harbored a certain aversion towards these people, even though I had married one of them. Joon-Ho, you must know, your father was something special, not as bad and deranged as these figures I saw there...

It didn't help that the gruesome stench was growing stronger. I continued to hold my hand on my face to protect my mouth and nose from the foul air, but it didn't help much. However, the conversation of the men was now more intelligible, and I could follow their discussion more closely.

"...and this reeking smell! Disgusting!" cursed one of them.

"You wanted to take it with you! If it had been up to me, we would have thrown it back into the depths! Such a thing doesn't belong here, not on land, not on the surface! It's a spawn of the deep sea, I tell you!" another one retorted bitterly.

The last one seemed disturbed and stuttered heavily.

"I-It's not from the deep sea, I think. I m-m-mean, it's not that deep here. Maybe a th-th-thousand meters? How could it have gotten here? With the ocean currents?"

"I don't know, damn it! It doesn't even look entirely like a... yeah, like a fish! Completely deformed! No wonder it's dead. Natural selection," the first one added.

"Th-thank goodness it's not alive anymore..."

"What should we do with it? Show it around? Who would want to see such an ugly, malformed... whatever it is? On the other hand, you know the stories of those things that used to wash up here in storms. Slimy, shapeless bodies... Perhaps we should show it around after all?"

"No! Of course not, that would only trigger panic and superstition. Those stories are just nonsense, but many still believe in them. I know you both do, you old fools! But this, it looks completely different from what they supposedly found from time to time..."

"So... what then? What should we do? We should burn it! That's probably the best solution!"

"Y-yes, let's burn it..."

"No, we should keep it..."

My attention was finally drawn to a misshapen bundle that had been placed not far from the men and was still dripping wet. However, I could also see a yellowish-brown thick liquid oozing from it and staining the pier. I didn't want to know what lay wrapped in the old tarp on the ground. But the foul stench undoubtedly came from whatever was hidden inside.

Suddenly, I saw the tarp move. At first, I thought it was just the wind, but then I could see a bluish, dimly glowing piece slowly emerging from the tarp. It looked like a deformed fin with small anemone-like growths and pustules feeding on it. Thank goodness I still had my hand pressed to my mouth, because it was the only way I could suppress my scream. For a moment, I stared in horror at the bundle, which was now slowly twitching, while the men, who were only a few steps away, started arguing.

"Hey, that's enough now, you moron! I'm telling you, we'll burn it!"

"Try to take it away with your puny hands, you stinking oaf! Let's see how far you'll get! I've had enough of your incompetence..."

"St-stop it, no one here will..."

I turned around and made my way as inconspicuously as possible away from the docks and the crates, away from the sailors and their musty, stinking thing they had foolishly pulled from the abyss. I didn't want to know how the situation would unfold, but the panicked, piercing scream and loud yelling behind me hastened my steps until I couldn't smell the stench and couldn't hear the roaring sea anymore.