abandoned
Written by Malranggong.
*The material for this article was kindly provided by LOYA-S.
*Please note that this article contains violent scenes.
“Is the child who came in this time any good?”
A wealthy man asked me this question. I had to answer it because it was my job and my way of making a living.
“Yes. It’s A-class.”
“Only an A-class? No S-class?”
“They were all sold out yesterday.”
The man raised his hand high and slapped me across the face. "How do you manage this? If you sell one, you have to bring another." The man spit on my shoe and left. I couldn't even fight back. I'm not rich, I'm just a part-timer.
The boss also slapped my cheek hard. It stung because it hit the same spot as before. My lip felt like it was bursting and bleeding. The boss scolded me, but I couldn't hear anything. It was as if the world had stopped. No, my world had stopped to begin with. I simply apologized and bowed my head before returning to my seat. There was still the kid who had almost been sold earlier but hadn't. He was a kid who had excelled in all his studies at a young age, not even 13, just like the other kids. However, the reason he was an A-class kid and not an S-class kid, and the reason he was abandoned, was because he was bad at just one thing: physical education.
That child, like the others, seemed resigned. Already, in my heart, a drought seemed to have descended upon his world. I'd seen many children like this before, but perhaps his particular attention was drawn to him because he resembled my sold brother. I approached him, crouched down, and brought my eyes to his level. Up close, his eyes still held the same sense of drought.
“My name is Jung Ho-seok. What’s your name, kid?”
“…”
As expected, the child maintained a dry silence. Even though it was the expected reaction, I felt awkward and scratched the back of my head. Then, the child looked straight at me and opened his mouth. His eyes were still filled with a drought.
“……Sir, do you understand this situation?”
“…”
I was left in a sudden silence by the unexpected answer.
"You're happy about this situation, aren't you, sir? Studying is something we should just do. We can just pass it on to others, saying we're the future. Then we don't have to take responsibility. Isn't that right, sir?"
“…Little one.”
“Okay. You’re just like them. That’s why you work for them. Adults are all selfish.”
I was just like them. I couldn't argue with that, or feel wronged. It was true. But I wasn't sympathizing with them. It was just my way of surviving.
One day, with the change of president, a bizarre system of buying and selling children was established. If anyone said, "My child is so bad at studying," their child would be immediately dragged off to prison and forced to focus on their studies. Parents rejoiced, no matter what punishment was inflicted. No one tried to stop them. Only the people being punished, the students, resisted. But that resistance had no effect. It was just the resistance of the powerless students, so who would listen? That's when the students began to give up. And more and more students began to take their own lives.
“Sir, what did you do when you were young?”
“…”
“Were you an adult from birth?”
I was silent for a while, not knowing what to say, when a fellow part-timer came up to me and said.
“No. A-1809. Disposal.”
“What are you talking about? How can you call someone a waste? And that kid has a name.”
It was a word I usually just let slip, but today, it brought out the emotions I had been suppressing.
My coworker ignored me and ordered others to take the child away. Fear began to creep into the child's eyes, which had been dry until just a moment ago. He struggled, refusing to go. But they coldly punched him in the stomach, rendering him unable to struggle, even in pain. The child, having eaten nothing, vomited up his stomach acid.
“What are you doing… Can’t you stop it right now??”
At my shout, my coworker looked at me with a strange look and said,
“Why? All of a sudden.”
Suddenly, my heart sank. Even as the child was dragged away, he didn't take his eyes off me. He was writhing for help. But I turned away. I had to live. This was my way of surviving.
"stop."
Survival. What kind of survival is this? Is there any point in surviving in a country with no future?
I pulled the child away from them. The child was coughing constantly because he had been hit so hard in the abdomen.
“What are you doing, Jung Ho-seok?”
“Yeah. I don’t know why I’m acting like this. But this doesn’t seem right. They’re still children. They need protection. It’s the adults like us who are responsible. We can’t just leave it to them.”
My coworker didn't budge at all. He just picked at his ear as if it was annoying. Then he looked straight at me and said,
“Have you said everything you wanted to say?”
Truly… this country is a mess. Only then did I realize what I had forgotten: my country was already in a drought from the start.
Desolation_End.