Min dropped to the floor. A sudden loud bang at the door broke the splitting silence. Another person had now entered the room. Heavy footsteps staggered towards the still scene of chaos. Min heard a disgruntled choke from the same direction. He could tell it was Hyun.

‘Min!’ Hyun desperately called out as he crouched beside him, now coming into view. Unable to speak, Min mouthed ‘Hyung’ to his brother in reply.

At the sight of his brother, the quivering pain centred in Min’s torso came to an ease. Min watched Hyun’s round baby-face, now pain-ridden, tensely writhe at his state. Min felt ashamed. The fact that his brother had to see him lying on the floor in a pool of blood, hurt Min more deeply than the stabbing. Min couldn’t do anything for Hyun now. Lee Joon Young had won.

There was a sudden shift in the lighting. Min’s attention shifted to the figure towering over them casting a shadow. Lee Joon Young was stationary with the knife, still dripping in his blood, firm in his hand. He stood still with an expression of confusion at the scene of farewell unfolding in front of him. Min’s thoughts raced back to the 20 years he had spent with him. Uncle, no- Lee Joon Young had always likened Min to himself. To a monster. Yet no matter how alike he claimed they were, Min could not understand him. And Lee Joon Young could not understand them.

Memories of how he had spent his life were rising up, looking for an escape. He was overwhelmed in an endless circle of reminiscence that felt more like darkness than a bright light at the end of a tunnel. He wondered if this was something that happened to everyone on the verge of death. If this was the petty end to human existence, he wanted to leave with what he had, right now.