The rest of the day was finally a peaceful respite from the terrors around us. We didn't leave the house and didn't care about what was happening outside. It was just you, me, and your father. I would give anything, Joon-Ho, for you to truly understand how much he loved us both. I can only do so much as to describe to you in this letter what he did in those days. I can't bring him back to you, and it breaks my heart, as our moments together didn't last forever. It's a bittersweet comfort to know that times like those, no matter how long they last, are never long enough. And when I went alone to Deiji and Hyeon the next day while your father rested and watched over you, the beautiful moments passed like smoke in the wind. I just wanted to see if they were alright. I just wanted to make sure that my friends had not been hurt by the darkness in the people surrounding them...

I realized something was amiss even before I entered the street where Deiji lived. The men, women, and children I encountered looked at me with venomous glares and wrinkled their noses. They began to chatter behind my back, and I felt gazes from the grey houses across the gardens. There was a stench in the air, damp and rotten, and terrible odors kept wafting toward me. Fences were damaged everywhere, and gardens were partly trampled. The further I went, the worse it got, and the more I felt like I was stumbling into a pit of aggressive venomous snakes.

"She's from up there; I know her. Maybe she has something to do with it..."

"Yeah, look at her, casually strolling around here. Just because there isn't enough good water uphill for everyone down here, she's acting like she's something special... We should take it for ourselves..."

I started to panic. Can you imagine that, Joon-Ho, walking through streets that are so familiar to you, but feeling like a terrible stranger faced with biting disgust on people's faces? Faces of those who once greeted you with smiles? People you helped tend to their gardens as a child when the officials demanded it? They looked at me as if they barely remembered me, as if I were something they deeply despised, like a cockroach. But I had to get to Deiji and Hyeon; I had to make sure they were okay! Maybe, just maybe, they would come with us? Your father wouldn't have minded...

Finally, I reached the grimy door to my friends' house and knocked, all the while feeling the piercing gazes from the buildings around me.

Suddenly, an old man stepped up to the garden gate behind me, looking at me as if he were inspecting vermin. An ugly, cold smile curled his lips, and he held an old rusty scythe in his hand, from which, to my horror, blood was dripping.

Was it human blood? Was my imagination running wild?

"What's someone like you doing down here?" the man asked in a sweet voice.

"Have you lost your way? I... I can help you... I can help you get to where you... belong."

He took a step toward the property, in my direction, but a shrill female voice interrupted him.

"You scumbag, what are you doing?"

Another woman had approached and looked at me. She didn't hide her contempt but eventually turned away from me to face the man.

"You're running around here instead of taking care of the garden! Are you serious, you dumb shit? We need food! You idiot! Can't you get anything right? I want meat, and you're leaving it behind to chase after some slut! What if the dirty neighbors steal it? Go and continue with the chopping, or I'll gouge your eyes out!"

For a moment, I thought the man would attack the woman, but then he gave me one last scrutinizing look and walked away with her, trembling with cold anger. It took me a while to recover from the shock. Somehow, it felt like I had only narrowly escaped a cruel fate. I had to gather myself before knocking on the door again.

"Deiji! Hyeon! It's me! Can I come in?"

No response.

"Deiji, Hyeon, are you there?"

Still nothing. I began to feel anxious, but then, an irritated female voice came through the door.

"Come in! Come in..."

As I closed the door behind me, I didn't feel well. The awful smell had not gone away and still hung in the air, even in this room. Deiji sat in the corner and briefly glanced at me with a dark look. Her eyes hardly lifted from the laundry she was washing in an old, dirty tub as she curtly greeted me.

"Hello. You've decided to show up again...?"

I hesitated.

"I was just here recently, wasn't I? Is everything okay with you?"

"With me... yes. Everything's fine. It's just... the people around here, they've become hostile. They don't have the common good in mind anymore. It's hard not to let it rub off on you... Sorry. How is it with you?"

"Eun is back."

"I'm glad for you."

Her voice was unusually tense and icy. She did not look up as she pressed a shirt into the murky water.

"How is it here in the neighborhood, Deiji?"

"How do you think it is? Terrible. Those foolish kids next door screamed all night long. I couldn't get any sleep. And everyone is so..."

She sighed finally and turned to me, somewhat friendlier this time.

"They're all losing it. It's disgusting. The kids have nightmares, wake up at night, and claim that some figures are roaming around the houses. They say they can see them through the gaps between the shutters. Completely insane. And the people, the people... they're nasty, violent. There have been several fights. Even some more deaths down by the docks. They scream at each other over the slightest things. They trample their neighbors' gardens to make them starve for asinine reasons. And the security officers are much tougher too. There have been more injuries at the well. Not just the one woman we saw... Some retaliated and beat down Hang-Sun. Since then, more security officers have been brought in from neighboring villages by the administration to maintain order. And amongst all that, everyone is on the lookout for the South Korean shit face responsible for all of this. If we find that rat... he'll see what he gets. When we catch him. He'll see..."

A smile curled on her lips as she spoke those last words. Her eyes lit up with delight as she imagined something I'd rather not know.

"How do you know it's a South Korean man?" I asked cautiously.

Deiji narrowed her eyes.

"Everyone knows that!" she grumbled and turned back to her tub.

Suddenly, she licked her lips, and a little saliva ran down the corner of her mouth.

"Everyone...? Deiji... are you..."

Without warning, she crouched down, looking at the dirty water as if it were a treasure. For a moment, she lifted her face above the surface, and I heard her whispering softly.

"Yes... you're right... I think so too..."

Then she plunged her head into the dirty tub, greedily and insanely sucking up the water.

I screamed and tried to rush to her, to pull her out, but she had already risen again and was looking at me. Her black hair hung dirty and wet in front of her face, and her eyes flashed between the strands. It had happened so quickly...

"Deiji... please, what..."

Then, a terrible and desperate feeling hit me like a punch to the stomach.

"You drank it... the water... why... WHY DID YOU DRINK IT?!?"

As she answered me, water poured from her mouth and splashed onto the floor.

"I was THIRSTY! THIRSTY! I had to drink, do you not understand? I had to drink! God, you're so spoiled! YOU never had to live off this well, always had your fresh water from up there. I WAS THIRSTY! YOU BITCH!"

She was out of her mind and slowly rose up. With her wet muddy clothes, she looked almost like a creature emerging from a dirty swamp.

I wanted to get away, far away...

Then, the door swung open.

Several people were outside, peering in. They all looked disheveled and downtrodden, with bloodshot eyes, some wet and unkempt. Some had sticks in their hands, others carried butcher's cleavers, and still others had pitchforks and hand drills. They grumbled and hissed among themselves. They kept turning around and scanning the street. A few of them had strange pimples on their faces, almost resembling sea sores, or wore dripping, wet clothes, but there weren't many of those. One of the women who stood at the front spoke before she even fully entered the room, visibly excited.

"Deiji, where's Hyeon? We need you! We're going to find that miserable bastard! Make him pay for what he's done to us. He poisoned all of us with his lowly ways and his pus... Wait, who is this...?"

Suddenly, silence fell. They had noticed me and were staring at me.

"Deiji, who is this?"

The words sounded soft, like those of a snake about to strike. The woman's face now displayed icy anger.

"Where... where did you come from?"

A murmur spread through the crowd, and the mob moved slowly toward me. They pushed forward as a single mass, growing steadily. They clutched their improvised weapons, and I could see dried blood on the blades. I felt sick. I looked to Deiji for help, who still stood there, emotionlessly watching me from deep, dark eyes peeking out between wet strands of hair.

"Tell them who I am! Please!" I begged now, as tears and fear threatened to overwhelm me.

Then I noticed a smile curling on her lips. But she said nothing, just looked at me.

"Please, Deiji, tell them that... Please, I'm just visiting! She's my friend! I've been here so many times, getting water. I've talked to some of you so often... It's me, Haru... Haru Choi..."

Still just cold faces, but slowly something seemed to simmer beneath the people's features. A darkness ready to explode at any moment, and I was the target. It was pure madness.

I was certain that I had seen some of these people before. Gipeun was a not a small town, and I didn't know where this group had gathered from, but the woman who had spoken definitely came from the neighborhood.

But... these people also seemed foreign. Absent. And seized by something that wanted to tear and shred everything, even if I didn't know what it was exactly. Had they all drunk the water? Had the voices driven them to madness? Even Deiji, my best friend, was so strange, cold, and insane...

"Haru! Sorry! I didn't recognize you at all. Forgive us. We're all very agitated. She's from here! She's from Gipeun, a friend!"

Yi-Jeon pushed through the people who had frozen at her words and now looked undecided. The frail woman had tied an old apron around her thin waist as if she had been interrupted while cooking. In her hand gleamed a kitchen knife that she let dangle at her side almost carelessly.

"Child, what are you doing here?" she asked sternly. "In these times, you shouldn't be in neighborhoods where you don't live! You could be taken for a traitor where you're not known! We almost..."

The woman who had spoken at the beginning now stood less than two meters away. She first skeptically looked at me, then at Yi-Jeon.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I know her, she's been here many times. I could not see her clearly from back here!"

An old man, with greasy, matted long hair partially receding into baldness, backed me up as well. Again, murmurs ran through the crowd.

"She's right, she's my friend! Don't do anything to her!"

It now also came from Deiji, who had snapped out of her trance.

Her ugly smile had disappeared, and now she looked fearfully and confused in my direction as she dried her hair with an old towel. Maybe the water hadn't completely ensnared her in its terrible spell yet? Perhaps she could resist it...?

"It doesn't matter. As long as you're on our side! Grab anything you can use to give this piece of trash from the South a slow death and come with us. We need more people. You must accompany us! You have to, it's your duty as someone who is part of this community! Come!" a young woman, almost a teenager, urged.

I was about to protest when Deiji suddenly stood next to me, also holding a kitchen knife.

"Come on, Haru, what are you waiting for? Let's get rid of this filthy maggot from the South!"

"But... I need to go back to Joon-Ho. She needs me..."

I tried to get out of the situation. But it was futile. Just as skepticism was about to flare up in the crowd's eyes again, I quickly stood up and nodded.

"You're right. The sooner we find him, the better..."

Internally, I prayed that they would believe me and stop scrutinizing me with suspicious looks.

"All right, let's go," Ji-Yeon said as the others marched out of the house and headed towards the neighboring building.

Just as I was considering sneaking away, Deiji handed me an old pair of garden shears.

"Here, take these and come."

To my despair, the crowd wasn't large enough for me to slip away unnoticed. When I spotted the uniforms of two young men waiting outside on the street, I gave up any thoughts of a quick escape. I'm ashamed, Joon-Ho. I'm ashamed of not having been strong enough. I'm ashamed of not having shown courage back then. But I also had to think of you. You needed me. You were just a baby. What would happen to you if I were no longer there? So, I decided to join them, to blend in, not to attract attention...

Our march led us further down the street, towards the shore. It was windy, and the cloud cover still blocked the sun from reaching us, but at least the temperatures had become more pleasant. Despite that, I shivered as I walked there, clutching the old garden shears. Like a single organism, we wound our way through the streets, slowly but steadily growing with each doorstep. Part of me wanted to participate more actively in their search, just to not be alone and vulnerable. I repeatedly heard ominous whispers around me.

"We'll get him... make him pay for what he did... poisoned us all with his lowly ways and pus..."

"He must suffer, he must suffer... Or maybe they sent a woman..."

"We'll find out. We'll definitely find out..."

The security people marched ahead. They had added rifles to their batons and kept looking around, examining side alleys and debris piles where someone could hide. I was sweating now, despite the mild temperatures. Would they find anyone? And then what? Would they give up the search? Or would they find someone else afterwards on whom to vent their hatred and anger? Someone like me, someone who lived up the hill with easier access to clean water?

Deiji marched beside me, her face a contorted mask. I had never seen her like this. The water must have overwhelmed her in those moments, turning her usually calm being and demeanor into something that sought only revenge. The other people around me seemed similar. It was almost palpable in the foul air. Suddenly, I became aware that the people around me emitted a repulsive, biting, unidentifiable odor that enveloped them like a cloud. That now enveloped me as well. And in that stench was a feeling, a feeling I couldn't place, but it was infinitely dreadful.

Sometimes I thought I saw others like me, still... normal, also trying to hide their panic behind feigned indifference.

"Deiji, do you think we'll find... someone soon?" I asked weakly.

She didn't answer, but her face twisted. Still, she ignored me, making me even more uncomfortable than I already was.

"Yes, I think so. I can almost feel him. A man, the man who poisoned us. All of us. Who made us fight against each other... He will pay!" Yi-Jeon hissed instead.

There was certainty in her voice, and I didn't want to argue. Who knows what the once kind woman might have done otherwise?

The further we marched, the more atrocities I had to witness. Houses with their doors kicked in, dead rabbits in front yards, mutilated. Squashed gardens that had once provided food, now reduced to dust amidst torn plants. The worst was the man sitting dead against a house wall, slumped over, an axe still in his chest. I recognized him with horror. It was the man I had seen a few days ago, the man who had killed the poor dog... Now he had himself been judged...

Decay now permeated the air, completely polluting everything around me. People seemed not to notice any of it, though. As I struggled to contain my fear, they continued forward, clutching their weapons, eager to find someone to blame for all of this.

Then, after what felt like an eternity, we neared the docks. The path split, and we had to decide whether to head towards the sea or towards the mountains. Something urged me not to go towards the depths of the ocean. I remembered the thing in the tarp, wrapped up - yet alive. I couldn't go to the sea. I couldn't. The sea... it was evil. It had come from the sea; I was sure of it...

"He's probably headed towards the mountains and hiding," I called out to the crowd.

People turned to look at me, and I hoped they'd buy my feigned enthusiasm.

"No, he's definitely at the beach! He wants to escape across the sea! Behind the mountains is the demilitarized zone; he can't get through there! They'd just shoot him, or maybe he'd step on a mine. No one's that stupid!" someone protested from behind.

"Yes, he must be at the beach, I'm sure of it!" Deiji shouted.

She shot me a brief, glaring look and then turned towards the beach and the docks. I dared not say anything against her. She was my friend... and worse, she had drunk the water. It was unclear what she would do if I didn't do things her way... And a part of me had the terrible suspicion that this was exactly what she hoped for...

"Yes, that's true. You are right. He probably wouldn't dare..." I replied cautiously.

Murmurs surrounded me, sprinkled with bitter words. People started getting restless and expressed their dissatisfaction with those walking next to them. Others began to complain of thirst. There were insults, angry glares, and even more severe accusations. And always with us, the rot in the air.

"Maybe... Maybe he's among us? Or her? Maybe it's one of us...?"

"Then it could be you, too! Now that I say it, I've never seen you before, who exactly are you?"

"I've lived here forever, you fool, but I've never seen you..."

I felt as if I were in a powder keg about to explode at any moment. It was hell, Joon-Ho. It was as if I were trapped in a nightmare from which I couldn't wake up. I just wanted to live, wanted to see you and your father again and hold you in my arms... But my path led me away from you, away from the mountains and towards the beach.

As we walked there, now nearly a hundred people strong, we approached the surf and the algae-covered sand. The salty water was fresh in my nose, but the putrid stench still lingered in the air.

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"It can only be one of us... Isn't that the best cover? To march along with us?"

"But how? How could no one have recognized him?"

"Well, we're all very upset; maybe we overlooked someone...?"

"Yes, she's right. It would be the smartest move on his part. I think it's him, that one..."

"Oh yeah? You're just mad because I fucked your wife, you stupid idiot. And you know what, she was good in bed! Probably the first time she enjoyed pleasing someone!"

"YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

It was too much. One of the men started beating another with his club, crazed and driven by terrible zeal. Dull thuds filled the air as the club met a skull, and piercing screams shattered any remaining composure within me. Two women rushed forward and stabbed at the attacker with their knitting needles.

"You only beat her, day in, day out, you son of a bitch! What did you expect...?" one of them screeched, repeatedly jabbing her small metal needles into the man's eyes until he lay twitching on the ground.

I'm sorry... I must tell you these things too, Joon-Ho. I know it's horrible and brutal, but that's how it was. That's how the place I saved you from was...

It would have turned into a complete catastrophe if a barking voice hadn't echoed through the air, freezing everyone in place.

"I SEE HIM! THERE! THERE HE IS! THERE!"

And there he was, far away but still visible.

A man lay on the beach, near the northern slopes. He lay beside the remains of a small wooden boat that had apparently been washed ashore along with him.

Everyone looked toward the distant figure. No one else was on the beach, and I wondered why no one had noticed him earlier. Where were the people who usually went about their daily business along the seaside roads? Where were the women taking their children to the tracks in the north for community work? Everything seemed deserted, there was only the rough sea and the pale sand, and on it, a body that seemed to be moving slightly...

As the crowd began to stream towards the stranded man, two corpses were left behind in the sand. No one cared about the man with the shattered skull anymore. The man with the bloody eye sockets, his lifeless gaze fixed on the sky, had become equally inconsequential to the masses...

I, however, struggled to avert my gaze from them. I wanted to follow the others and play along, but the two bodies on the dirty ground held my thoughts.

However, soon the people picked up their pace, quickening their steps, and I had to make an effort to keep up, so eventually, the two corpses were left behind, soon forgotten by all those who now walked in rising excitement across the desolate beach to the north. But with each step I took toward the shipwrecked man ahead of us, it became clearer to me that I, too, was approaching a corpse, the corpse of a man who just didn't yet know he was already dead. Like in a trance, the people around me continued to move forward, and I soon heard faint, hateful whispers around me, spreading like a malignant growth.

"There... He is there... We've got him... This monster..."

"Yes... he must pay... Pay for our pain..."

"I think, I think he's what's wrong with this world..."

"We must make sure he understands that too..."

"Yes, yes, he must understand what you do to people who blasphemously and arrogantly intrude into a better country and poison it with their presence and their venom..."

The wave of people flowed toward the lone man and eventually reached him. I was part of it, even though I wished to be somewhere else. I wished to be only with you, Joon-Ho. But in the end, we had formed a ring around him, only interrupted by the sea that had spat him ashore. Deiji and I stood in the front row, looking down at him. Dozens of eyes scrutinized him like a trapped animal that would naturally be tormented and eventually killed.

Now that I could take a closer look at the situation, everything became even worse. It was a simple man in tattered clothing, lying on the sandy ground, breathing heavily, and barely conscious. He had apparently crawled a few steps inland to escape the greedy sea, which had probably almost dragged him into its watery stomach. The wreckage of his small boat lay nearby, but not much was left, and most of the wood had probably already been washed away. He coughed weakly.

Seaweed and algae clung to his hands.

But he twitched.

One of the uniformed men stepped forward. Slowly, like a predator, he approached the castaway. Everyone else just stood there, their eyes on the semi-conscious man, their mouths watery and partly foaming at the corners, as if they were looking at a feast to devour. Eventually, the officer reached his target and nudged the man's back with the butt of his rifle several times.

Initially, the shipwrecked man didn't react, but then water gushed from his mouth, and he coughed terribly. Finally, he opened his eyes, dazed, and looked around at the crowd.

"Please... please... I'm shipwrecked... my name is Jaemin... Storm, a terrible storm... I was out with my son... It... The currents took us... He's... He's... Alone. I'm alone... He's gone... Please, help me..."

He twitched and tried to sit up, but was pushed down again by the uniformed man.

"Where are you from?" he wanted to know.

His voice sounded low and predatory. Jaemin seemed not to notice, confused.

"I... Sokcho... I'm from Sokcho... where... where am I...?"

Slowly, a terrifying realization spread across his face.

"I... where am I...?"

The uniformed man just looked at him, and everyone else remained silent. It was as if they were savoring his misery.

Then, everything happened very quickly.

At once, men rushed toward Jaemin and lifted him up. They held him in an iron grip, and one of them punched him in the face.

"Traitor. You're from the South! Sokcho is in the South! It's him! IT'S HIM!" the crowd roared.

But there was no joy in their voices, only seething hatred.

I... I don't know if I should describe what happened next, Joon-Ho. The things I've written down so far are already terrible and grotesque enough. But I must tell you. You have to know everything. I'm sorry, but what follows now... It was...

They dragged him away, and I was swept along with them.

Jaemin protested, semi-conscious. Initially, he didn't understand what was happening to him. Twitches ran through his body as he struggled against the people who held him tightly and dragged him away. His wet boots left furrows in the sand. He eventually looked around in desperation, his gaze brushing over me as well. I had to give my all not to look away because fear welled up in me, the fear of being noticed, the fear that they might lump me together with him through some insane conclusions. The people around me had clearly lost their minds, and I had to do my best not to draw attention to myself. I had to return to you, Joon-Ho, and to your father! Do you understand?

Eventually, the mob reached the old square and the well. They tied him to the wooden frame that held the bucket, and everyone gathered around him as voices grew louder, demanding revenge. Jaemin himself whimpered like a dog. His face showed that he didn't even know where he was.

But no one cared.

"What do we do with him? How do we punish him? Fire?"

"We could skin him alive. Or rip out his fingernails and teeth..."

"No, we have to bleed him dry... I want to see his blood, every drop!"

"Yes, I want him to pay for what he's done to us!"

The voices grew more insane, and even more horrific things were shouted across the square. Suggestions pierced the air. Amidst it all, Jaemin's unbearable wailing as he begged for his life.

"Please! I don't know what's happening! I don't know what you mean! Please, no! Please, let me go..."

No one paid attention. It was as if the man were an insignificant rat that annoyed people but wasn't worth their attention.

"WHAT IS ALL OF THIS ABOUT?"

Suddenly a voice rang out from somewhere on the edge of the square.

The shouts fell silent instantly. Angry, frothing looks searched for the one who had dared to interrupt their deliberations. An elderly man with a snow-white beard and countless wrinkles on his face stood there, leaning on a cane. I knew him; I had seen him years ago after I had escaped from the plateau with my friends...

"What's this, Hoon, you damn geezer? Why are you defending this maggot? Why...?"

They snapped at him, but the old man didn't even flinch.

"Shut up, you idiot! That is no what I mean! What I am saying is... How does any of this help us?"

Jaemin seemed to draw hope for the first time and stared towards the edge of the small square. Some approached Hoon, raising their weapons, slowly.

"You're truly mad! Or are you... one of them in the end...?"

But Hoon just stood there, squinting.

"You've always had shit in your brains! You stupid children! Don't you know what's going on? What you are planning is so short-sighted and stupid! All of what you stinking pigs are rambling is nonsense... It's clear what we should do... You know it..."

Suddenly, he burst into guffaws and spat on the ground in front of the people who had approached him.

"Hasn't anyone listened? Has no one ever listened to us? I've told you everything! Everything! And you? You dimwits? Do you still think they were just fairy tales? All our stories? Do you? No, you should know better now. It's clear: His death won't heal the water! But... I believe there's a way..."

Everyone froze. Even those he had insulted just moments ago paused to think.

"What... what would you propose we do?" Ji-Yeon finally whispered in Hoon's direction.

Others followed suit.

Jaemin seemed close to fainting.

"Come on! I have told you so many times! You know it... They were once here, a long time ago... the Others. Before they left us, we worshipped them, and you... you've forgotten about them! Everything! You fools. All of you have forgotten...! But we... we've told you, just as our elders used to tell us... I know... how to offer sacrifices to them..."

"NO!" Jaemin screamed when he realized that Hoon was also insane.

No one cared.

Agreeable murmurs began to fill the square. Some seemed to remember the stories he was alluding to, but I did not.

"But how... how...?"

Old Hoon, still standing there on the edge of the dirty square, now almost seemed like a godless prophet who proclaimed an unholy truth. It was a cruel scene. Everyone listened to his profane explanations for the sacrificial ritual, and I was feeling increasingly nauseated. The urge to flee seized me so strongly that it took all my strength not to just run away. After all, they all seemed busy. But what if not? Would they also...?

So, I decided to push myself to the back of the crowd to not have to see everything. But I couldn't risk behaving conspicuously either. If I looked away for too long, if I closed my eyes... someone might notice. And then it would be my turn. I knew there were others who felt the same way, who were also trapped here with me in this rabid crowd. But we were too few.

In the end, I had to witness everything, clenching the shears I still held as hard as I could.

They brought a table and tied Jaemin to it with outstretched arms and legs, while he struggled so much that eventually his wrists rubbed bloody against the ropes. He screamed like crazy, begged for mercy, for his life, promised everything he could, and more. But it did nothing. Because he was no longer talking to normal people, but to corrupted souls who felt nothing but hatred and contempt for him. While Jaemin writhed and begged, the old man began to chant a monotonous, terrible song.

"Ebrugh... Ebrugh... Ebrugh..."

Slowly, the others joined in. They spoke the words over and over again, their voices monotonous, words that meant to summon the Others, to make the planned sacrifice appetizing.

Then, a burly man stepped forward, dragging a massive blunt axe behind him. He was dirtier than the others, wearing torn clothing, and moved with a determination that filled me with deep dread.

"NOOOO! NOOOO! PLEASEEE," Jaemin screamed.

"I HAVE A WIFE! SHE WILL BE ALL ALONE! PLEASE! I JUST GOT CAUGHT IN A STORM... PLEASE! LISTEN TO ME!"

Ji-Yeon suddenly approached and slowly brought her kitchen knife towards his face. He fell silent and tears welled up in his tired eyes. Silent pleading was visible in Jaemin's gaze, but it was in vain.

The sickening sacrificial ceremony had begun. This inhuman ritual that Hoon had proposed to us, and to which everyone had enthusiastically agreed...

It had begun.

"You shall never sleep again, never dream again! The path to their perfection shall be forever denied to you! We sacrifice your dreams so that they know we are desperate and need their help!" Hoon shouted into the crowd.

"Ebrugh,... Ebrugh,... Ebrugh...!" people shouted, some madly dancing.

I screamed along with them. I didn't want them to notice me... Oh heavens, I was screaming those words like the other crazed monsters around me who were consumed by blind ecstatic hatred.

It gave Ji-Yeon a nameless pleasure to torture the defenseless man. Everyone around her only cheered her on with their shouts and contorted dances. The knife brushed across Jaemin's lips and he tried to stay calm, but his trembling made the flesh press against the blade and first blood trickled from his upper lip. Then Ji-Yeon moved the knife toward the prisoner's eyes. For a moment, it looked as if she was going to plunge the blade directly into his iris. But then, after what felt like an eternity... she took his eyelids, pulled them toward her, and cut them off.

I cannot describe the sounds Jaemin made. His pupils were twitching around, blood streaked, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't wipe his eyes, and he would never blink again....

"Ebrugh... Ebrugh... Ebrugh..."

Now, Hoon raised his voice again.

"You shall never again speak, never again utter words that go against their wishes! You shall be barred from whispering your words that have the enemy in them!"

"No, NO!" was all Jaemin could get out before Ji-Yeon began to cut out his tongue.

The man's last intelligible words faded away and he spat and retched his own blood into the air. It was cruel that his body was trying to keep him alive while the eyeballs that were twitching around were without a doubt yearning for death.

But Jaemin did not die from those wounds.

"Ebrugh... Ebrugh... Ebrugh...!"

Hoon raised his voice one last time. He looked satisfied, as if his mind had been cleansed by those deeds.

"You shall lose everything and become what They once planned for everyone!"

The shouts died away. Everyone around fell silent and looked at the writhing man who was still spitting blood into the air. Suddenly Ji-Yeon stepped back and instead the muscular man who was now standing next to the table raised his axe.

Soon, he was hacking away at the mutilated man's arms and legs. The axe was blunt, and it took him several blows, but finally he had amputated Jaemin's limbs.

I threw up on the ground and others did the same. I tried to retreat to the far corners of my mind, but I could not. I must have started laughing like mad and thought I was losing my mind. The crowd around me was laughing too... But their laughter sounded joyful, as if new life had flowed into everyone.

"There, you filth! Become a sacrifice to atone for what you have done to us!"

"Be silent and remain as you are until the end of your days!"

"It is done, we have done it, the Others, we have made our sacrifice to them!"

"They will save us now, they will help us!"

"Praised be the Others!"

Gurgling sounds still erupted from Jaemin, but he was now slowly losing consciousness. There was a part in me, a terrible part, that was glad that his suffering had now come to an end as his life faded.

"The well! Fetch water from the well! Clean the wounds! He may survive... he must survive... he must not go yet...!" Hoon hissed suddenly.

This insane old man, who was trapped in his old wives' tales and myths and had finally lost his mind to the tainted waters... Did he know no end at all? No mercy? What sick stories did he still know, what twisted words would he still utter? Couldn't he leave this poor destroyed man alone? Couldn't everyone just finally... Oh heavens, what had I gotten myself into...?

I thought about Eun and about you. I thought about how it was good that you were spared this violence and that I had not taken you with me. I hope you will never experience those depths of humanity...

They fetched water from the well and poured it over the wounds. Each time the liquid touched his bleeding flesh, Jaemin winced and choked sounds came from his red-smeared mouth. His eyeballs seemed to tremble, but without his eyelids he found it excruciatingly difficult to express himself. Of course, everyone knew what he wanted, but that only made it all the more horrible....

The water sloshed over him and again and I saw the purulent yellow streaks travel over the wounds. The things in the water, the hateful voices, they were now pouring over his open flesh as the people around him danced and laughed and indulged in a mad ecstasy.

And Jaemin's open flesh seemed to proliferate and grow. It turned yellowish brown at first, as if it were moldy, but then little spikes sprouted and intertwined into slimy stumps, at the end of which twitched transparent hairs, almost like the tentacles of anemones. It looked as if Jaemin's spirit was returning with each new sprout to a body that he would have preferred to give up long ago.

"Behold! They answer us! They tell us that he is now ours! That we must make him pay for longer! They are really still here, the Others! The stories, they are true! I've always said it, you fools!"

Hoon was dancing now too, leaning on his stick.

They tied the twitching Jaemin, who was now fully conscious again and didn't understand why he hadn't found relief from his misery, to the well with a collar and a leash.

"Our poor Haeng-Un, that faithful animal, died because of what you did to our water. It is only fair that you take his place. Although, of course, he was a much better dog than you will ever be. You almost look like a Mulgda now, you slimy scum!" an old lady laughed wickedly.

Others joined in and danced around the mangled man writhing on the floor, unable to do anything. Unable to die.

To my infinite relief, the crowd now seemed to disperse, the crowd that had set out like a sick, confused animal, intent on finding and killing its prey, boiling with hatred. Grotesquely, the aggression had subsided, and some normalcy returned to the hearts of the people as the ritual was done with. For a dreadful moment, I even thought that everything would be fine now and that we had truly persuaded those so-called "Others" to help us. But that was just a simple, foolish thought, a mechanism to protect myself from what I had seen, what I had been a part of. At first, I stood there dazed, but then Deiji came to me.

She radiated positivity.

"It's over, oh, it's finally over! We're saved! Did you see it? They accepted our offering!"

With that, she pulled me away from the square where eventually only a mutilated body was left behind, its eyes darting around, trying to understand what had happened.

I fervently hoped that someone would come at night and bring him salvation...

Upon arriving at Deiji's apartment, we sat down at her table, exhausted, and I finally put the garden shears aside. I was completely worn out.

"My goodness, what a day," she sighed.

I didn't know how to deal with her, still disturbed and desperate.

"Deiji... How... How are you...?" I asked her cautiously.

She looked at me and remained silent but smiled.

"Deiji... should we wait for Hyeon to come home? Or should I leave now...?"

I hoped she would just let me go, but somehow, I felt she wouldn't. Suddenly, she started laughing hysterically.

"Hyeon? Yes, you'd like to know, wouldn't you?"

"Yes...? That's why I asked..."

"But of course. That's why you asked. Of course. I don't think he's getting up again, you know?"

Completely bewildered, I looked at her face, which now resembled a mask again.

"What? What do you mean...?" I asked quietly, with a trembling voice.

"He's in the next room. In bed. He's been there the whole time... Didn't I tell you that? Silly me... He drank too much, the poor thing. I made him too much tea, because he was even thirstier than I was... But I think the rat poison I added did not serve him too well. In the end, I had to force it down his throat while that weak drooling fool tried to resist... So ungrateful, considering I've taken care of him for so long..."

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?", I yelled at her.

I had jumped up and was about to lunge at her. Had she really killed him, like one would a pathetic garden rat? Her husband whom she had loved dearly for so many years? Hyeon, who had always been our friend? Oh, Joon-Ho, I couldn't believe it, it was all too much. Too much, you know?

Deiji continued to look at me from her hellishly sparkling eyes and then it burst out of her, quietly at first, lurking, then getting angrier and angrier.

"I gave him what he deserves. I know about you two. I know you and him are fucking behind my back like rabbits. Just because your Eun is always gone. You miserable bitch! And I thought you were my best friend..."

What the hell was she talking about?

"I never..." I tried to protest, but she just exploded.

"LIES! I KNOW IT! He's had a crush on you ever since I can remember! Everyone wanted him, but he only had eyes for you! He built those stupid stone seats for you! He urged us to explore the wilderness that day because YOU WANTED SOME FUCKING NEW FLOWERS! You arrogant, smug cockroach! And you didn't even realize it at the time! But I bet you were just playing hard to get. But for too long, am I right? Because then... he chose me! After all those years! I won! At least that's what I thought, but I also knew deep down I was always just the fallback solution. HE ONLY WANTED YOU! ALWAYS YOU! And your chance and FUCKEND HIM! YOU BITCH!"

She was out of her mind and once again a trickle of brackish water ran out of her mouth, but now it was also coming out of her eyes as she began to cry, quivering with anger. Or did it just look that way?

Her words had frozen me, because some of them made horrible sense, even though they could not have been the truth! Or were they? Was she right in some of what she said? Did Hyeon really have a crush on me...? I don't know, Joon-Ho, I really don't know. The terrible thing is, it's possible... Now that I think back, he had always done everything to make me feel good... But we were just friends, you know? That's what I told Deiji as well. But it only made her angrier.

"YOU LIAR! I HATE YOU! YOU HAVE TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM ME! MY LIFE, MY LOVE! COMING HERE TO VISIT US, ALL THESE YEARS! You HYPOCRITE! You are the worst piece of shit that walks this earth. Worse than that scum they rightfully make suffer at the well right now! I wish they would have taken you! I so wish you would crawl there like a maggot! Like the filthy maggot you are! I almost did it as well, they almost took you... But that wretched Ji-Yeon saved you! Well, now I must settle for less, but that is still okay... I will slaughter you and feed your corpse to Hyeon! I'll make sure he still knows what he eats before he dies for good. Then I will get your brat that should have been mine... I ALWAYS WANTED A CHILD! And you, you drag this runt here, day in and day out! Just to hurt me! I will make your child suffer more than you can ever imagine. And then... I will go to Eun and tell him that they tore you and that rotten child of yours apart down at the harbor! He will be very sad and seek comfort.... And then I will fuck YOUR man, you WHORE!"

I couldn't even take in those words, so deep and vicious and full of pure hatred were they. More and more of the filthy water ran out of her mouth and the floor turned wet. She walked toward me, smiling at the thoughts she seemed to have. Her words had stunned me, so she had come very close and finally leapt at me like a savage.

I will make your child suffer more than you can ever imagine.

These words drove me to reflexively smash my fist into her face. Not a moment later, I found myself grabbing the old shears on the table. I stabbed her in the neck so many times that my muscles went limp. All turned red. Then, silence.

Finally, I looked at Deiji... or what had once been Deiji before the hatred in the water had overwhelmed her. Everything was bloody and dark. Her lifeless eyes and her mouth were open, but she was still smiling her hostile smile... Finally, the water had stopped leaking out of her and only blood was pouring onto the floor.

I just sat there squatting and crying. When I was done and had no more tears left in me, I got up and ran to the adjoining bedroom. I found Hyeon, but he was long dead and flies and maggots were already feasting on his corpse. I guess the stench of the city had drowned out his stink and that's why I hadn't noticed it before....

I finally went to the door and ran home, my mind numb. The people seemed not even to care that I was drenched in fresh blood. They looked shocked and happy at the same time, but had their own problems to deal with.

Deijis last words... Which of them had been true? What had she really thought of me and what had been the water? Joon-Ho, I can't tell. A part of me fears that they were her true feelings that she had hidden for a long time. But maybe... Maybe it had been just the water...?

I had killed my best friend... For you... But it was worth it to. Because she was already gone at that time and you're alive and well now. I'm glad that Jia had died a long time ago and didn't know about those events... What would she have said? Or had she known some of it back then already, when the four of us went into the mountains...? That Hyeon had always...?

All lies! Lies of the waters!

I entered our small dining room with only the oil lamp burning again, I collapsed. Your father came rushing in, stunned, escorted me to the old chair by the fireplace and ran his hand through my hair, soothing me. Your grandmother also came rushing over and asked what was wrong. They were filled with fear when they saw the blood and when I told them what had happened, their faces turned white as chalk.

"So... Is it over now?" your grandmother asked thoughtfully, almost hopefully.

"What do you mean? She's dead!" I muttered, exhausted.

"No, no, I am talking about the man! They sacrificed him, so is it over now because of that?"

I couldn't believe my ears. Was that what mattered? Was that what concerned her? But she looked dead inside and seemed to want to distract herself, I believe... Or had she somehow drunk some of the water when visiting friends...? The thought scared me, but I brushed it aside.

"No, I don't think so. I don't believe it's over. The poor man, someone has to help him...!"

"But he is from the South! What does it matter?"

There was a subtle pleasure in her eyes that made me nauseous. Eun seemed to be in shock and couldn't say a word.

"Mom, what do you mean? Haven't you heard what I've told you? What they did? What I did?"

She looked like she was struggling with herself but then remained resolute.

"It's a cruel fate. Terrible. But if it's over now... Then a dirty stranger from the South is a cheap price to pay... And you, you did the right thing. She wanted to kill you and do worse!"

Your father finally joined in.

"It doesn't matter who it is! What has been done is wrong! And what you're describing, Haru... What Deiji did, what she has become... Just horrific! I've had enough! We're leaving. We're leaving this nasty town. I'll take care of it tomorrow," he said firmly, placing his hands on his hips.

Away, away from this city, away from Gipeun...

A strange thought. This city... with its embittered people who became more malicious and consumed by hatred with every passing hour... with its run-down houses and the soil in which almost nothing grew... with the mountainous hills that concealed horrendous relics of a bygone era...

It was still my home. It was all I knew. It was the place where I had suffered a lot, but where I had also had friends. And my family...

Still, your father was right, Joon-Ho. He was right! It must have been difficult for him to make this proposal, and I anxiously glanced at the door, fearing that someone might have overheard us and misunderstood these plans... and might even attack us.

"I'm not leaving here. Never," my mother said defiantly.

Her words were short and curt, but I knew I couldn't change her mind. She had a strong will, just like you...

I just nodded. Your father tried to persuade her, but, of course, he failed. A lump formed in my throat as I realized that I would soon see her for the last time. I remembered all the moments she had been with me, helped me, comforted me. How she had tried to stand up to my drunken father and protect me, even though she never really succeeded, only gaining new wounds and scars each time...

You were lying in your crib throughout all this, sleeping, while your father and she continued to argue for a long time. Eventually, we went to bed.

I slept long and deeply, deeper than I had expected, though the horrid images pierced my sleep again and again and made me wake up trembling. They still do to this day...