Pride’s Victim

During the same year of the rule of King Myungsoo and the madness of Howon the merchant, there was a boy. He lived in a village deep in the East, situated close to the sea. He was sitting on the beach of white sand, staring out into the ocean and wondering what lay beyond it. It was still very early, and the sun was just beginning to rise from behind the sea of crystal blue.

“Sungyeol! You’ll be late for school!”

Sungyeol turned his head and saw his mother waving to him from their house. He gave her a reassuring smile and waved back.

“Yes, mom! I’ll be right there!”

When he saw the first few rays of the sun reached his toes, he stood up and dusted off the sand from his pants. Just then, he felt his left forearm get slit. He glanced at it and noticed a thin cut about as long as his middle finger. A drop of blood slid out of it and slithered down his arm. He was confused. Why all of a sudden…

Then he noticed something glinting on the sand beside his foot. He picked it up and saw it was a shard of a mirror. There was still blood on it from his forearm. He decided to pocket it and examine it later, for he was going to be late for school.

“Hey Sungyeol, do me a favor!” A pair of hands slammed down on Sungyeol’s desk. He need not look up to find out who it was.

Sungyeol sighed. Here we go again. “What do you need now, Ilsun?”

A boy with a black mop of hair on his head scowled. He leaned close to Sungyeol’s face. “That’s not how you address me, province boy,” he growled quietly.

Sungyeol pursed his lips and curled his fist under his desk. This boy frustrates him so much… So much.

“Hey, are you listening to me?”

Sungyeol took a deep, controlling breath and looked up at Ilsun. “What is it you need, Ilsun?”

Ilsun smirked. “That’s more like it,” he said, patting Sungyeol’s head like a puppy. Then he a bunch of paper to his face. “Write my essay for language class. I need it at lunchtime. Don’t be late.”

Then he left. Sungyeol followed Ilsun through his peripheral vision until he was out of the classroom. Then he gathered up the pieces of paper he was given in a messy bundle and went out as well, only he made a beeline for the rooftop.

Up there, he glared at the grounds below. He clutched the paper harder, tearing some of it. His anger grew when he saw Ilsun crossing the front lawn, laughing and smiling along with his friends, feigning an angel, only he was a devil inside.

I’ll get back at you, Ilsun. Someday, you’re going to regret everything you did to me. Remember that.

The day passed by quietly. If not for his towering height, no one would have noticed Sungyeol’s existence, except maybe for Ilsun and his gang of baboons. Sungyeol went to Ilsun’s classroom when the lunch bell rang and handed over a neat, star student-quality essay in a clean folder to Ilsun without a word.

“Very good, puppy,” said Ilsun, stretching his arm and patted Sungyeol’s head again. His friends sniggered.

Sungyeol gritted his teeth. “I’m not your puppy, Ilsun.”

Suddenly, Ilsun grabbed a fistful of Sungyeol’s hair. He pulled his head towards him and said, “Aren’t you?”

Sungyeol didn’t reply. Ilsun let go of him and waved his hand, signaling for him to go away. Sungyeol clenched his fists, but did not utter a single sound as he walked out of the room.

Back at home, his mother greeted him with a happy smile. “How was your day, Yeollie?”

Sungyeol managed to smile. “It was okay, mom. Normal, mostly. Nothing really happened much.”

“Oh, that’s nice. How was Ilsun doing?” she asked, oblivious to the two boys’ on-going rivalry.

“Uhm… He was fine, mom. He told me he submitted a great essay for language class and got full marks,” lied Sungyeol.

“Aw, that’s sweet. You should try to be more like him, honey. I know you’re part of the top students, but you could try some more and maybe reach number one like Ilsun.”

Sungyeol grunted in response. He gathered up his school things and books and went to his room to study.

The salty, cool sea wind was blowing through Sungyeol’s open window. It ruffled his hair as he read and re-read his lessons for the day. His seashell curtains swayed along and produced tiny trickling sounds. The faint sound of pen scratching on paper could be heard through the silence and peacefulness of the surroundings.

But Sungyeol couldn’t concentrate. Something was tugging at the back of his mind. Something he had forgotten to do. He stood up from his desk and walked around for a while. Just then, he felt his left pocket grow heavy. He reached into it and cut his finger on the glass. He pulled out the shard of the mirror and examined it.

Twice you have wounded me. What is it with you?

He looked into it. He could see nothing extraordinary out of it, just his face. Then he saw a mirage of Ilsun behind him. He looked, but there was no one. He looked back into the mirror, and Ilsun was still there, wearing that devious smirk of his.

Ilsun’s voice spoke in his head.

You’ll never beat me. You’ll never be enough. Even your own mother wants me to be her son instead of a failure like you.

“Come out, you coward! In my territory I’m not afraid of you!” yelled Sungyeol while he scattered his eyes around the room and looked wildly for Ilsun. But there was no sign of him. Yet the disembodied voice kept speaking.

So, you’ve been afraid of me all this time? Who’s the real coward then, you or me?  You are a fool, Sungyeol.

—flashback —

“Baek Ilsun, 100 percent.”

The entire class applauded as a young Ilsun walked up to their teacher and claimed his exam papers. At the top, written in bold red ink, are the symbols ‘100%’. As he passed by Sungyeol’s desk, Sungyeol gave him two thumbs up.

“Lee Sungyeol, 99 percent.”

Ilsun and Sungyeol have been classmates since they started school. Their parents were good friends and honest business partners. So the two kids grew up knowing each other, and they were the best of friends.

Even as kids, Ilsun always beat Sungyeol to the top, even by just a decimal point. Sungyeol never minded, since he always came in a close second. But all that changed when they stepped onto high school.

Ilsun gained a lot of friends due to his top-student status. He joined the school’s basketball team and became top athlete as well. Everyone fawned over him, wanting to be close to him, and wanting to be him. Ilsun got blinded by stardom that he almost forgot his best friend.

Sungyeol, on the other hand, remained the quiet nerd boy he was in elementary. He spent his hours studying in the library or conversing with the professors. He didn’t share the limelight shining on Ilsun.

The problems started when Ilsun’s new group of friends found out that the school’s kingka used to be close with the nerd boy. They showed him the prospects of such a relationship; more simply so, they told Ilsun that Sungyeol could do his work for him so that he had more time with other activities.

It didn’t help that the Lee family’s business failed and they relied on the Baek family for a living. The Lees had to move to quieter place. Ilsun started making fun out of Sungyeol due to his friends’ comments about the issue. The two boys grew further and further apart, until the time came when Ilsun looked at Sungyeol a lot lower than he used to. And Sungyeol hated him for it, but he can do nothing.

—end of flashback—

“I’m not afraid of you, you bloody git,” sneered Sungyeol. “I never was.”

A laugh erupted in the air. It echoed through the entire room.

You know you always feared me. You were afraid of what else I can do. You were afraid to fight back because of what my family can do. Who are you fooling, Sungyeol?

“Show yourself, you coward, and I’ll show you what I think!”

Well, then, come and get me.

The disembodied voice laughed. It led Sungyeol out of their hut, out onto the streets, and finally right in front of a big stone house. Sungyeol glared at it with contempt. It was the Lee’s old home, before they were forced out of it. Is this where you’re hiding, huh, Ilsun? He thought with contempt. You make the strangest choices.

He marched right it, for it had not been occupied since they left, and therefore there was no one guarding it up front. He knew how to unlock the gate, and he swung it open, revealing a front yard that has been long-since tended. He sauntered up to the front door.

“Come out, Ilsun. I know you’re here.”

Come and find me, you idiot.

Enraged, Sungyeol kicked the door and it broke in two. The inside was dark and musty, and it was clear that no human being has been in it for years. He scattered his eyes along each and every corner they could reach.

“I SAID COME OUT YOU PATHETIC GIT!” Sungyeol yelled.

“Sungyeol?”

Sungyeol turned, eyes frenzied with the desire to see Ilsun, and his wish was fulfilled. The boy he loathed stood gaping at the broken front door.

“Wh-what are you doing here? Did you break this door? You’re going to get in so much—”

In a flash, Sungyeol was behind him and was stopping his mouth with a palm.

“Get in so much what, coward? Trouble?” Sungyeol scoffed. “You’re going to be in much more trouble than I will ever be.”

Sungyeol roughly pushed Ilsun to the ground. The latter coughed from all the dust he inhaled, but even before he could get up, Sungyeol was hovering over him and stomped a foot on Ilsun’s chest, causing him to have a coughing fit.

“S-Sungyeol… I c-can’t…breathe…” wheezed Ilsun. Sungyeol just laughed.

“I know.” He pushed his foot deeper, and Ilsun squirmed under him. “Of course I’d know. You were—were, take note—my best friend. But what did you do? You traded me for a bunch of hyenas.”

“I…was…mistaken…I know. I…shouldn’t have…done what…I did…” said Ilsun slowly, having difficulty breathing.

Sungyeol picked him up and pushed him against a wall, holding him still by his collar. “Oh, shouldn’t you?”

“I’m…s-sorry,” coughed Ilsun. “I came by your place, looking for you. I wanted to apologize. But your mother told me you went out…”

Sungyeol narrowed his eyes at him. “Why?”

“My father… He somehow learned about school… And he reprimanded me… I realized how wrong I was… I want to apologize for everything… Please, Sungyeol… You’re my best friend too…”

Sungyeol was half-ready to believe him. He was half-ready to forgive. But an old habit of his—putting his hand in his pocket—prevented what could have been a happy ending. His fingers brushed against the mirror shard and wounded him again. A small amount of the black entity managed to penetrate the broken skin this time and it made its way into the enraged boy’s system, but it was enough to turn him around completely.

A new voice spoke within him. Without him, you will be the best. Everyone will love you. You will get everything that should belong to you: the fame, the power, and the glory. All you have to do is get him out of the way to your success.

Sungyeol’s eyes blackened like soot, and he glared ferociously at Ilsun. “Liar.”

He lifted the coughing boy and threw him across the room, right against the dusty couch. The great impact made the couch rip open and stuffing flew all over the place. Ilsun’s coughing and sneezing grew a lot worse, for the poor boy had asthma.

“S-Sungyeol!” Ilsun pleaded. He reached out, but no warm hand took his. Sungyeol just stared at him coldly, before turning around and locking the door after him.

Later that night, a caretaker was sent to clean up the old Lee mansion. He discovered the body of the son of the Baeks—cold and lifeless—slumped on the dusty, broken couch. He ran out, yelling for help. The Baeks went on a wild search for their son’s killer, and Mrs. Lee came along, because her own son went missing. But their efforts were futile.

It was like Lee Sungyeol just disappeared into thin air.