He shoves the tablets into his mouth. Squirming due to its bitterness, he sobs without tears. His eyes dart toward a jar full of water and two glasses on a tray in front of him. He wants to reach them but he feels his arms too heavy. He sobs again, cringing his eyes as he lets out a nauseated groan.

Committing suicide is never easy ....

Sobbing once more, he finally extends his left arm, but it doesn't quite reach it. Just as he motions to go forward, the phone rings.

Ring, ring, ring ....

He spins his head, examining the ringing phone. He groans, wanting to click his tongue but the tablets block every single moves inside his mouth. The phone then stops ringing, leaving a deafeaning silence inside the room.

Finally ....

He turns his head again, ready to continue his plan again. However, as he looks to the the transparent water jar, he is hit by a shock.

The jar is empty.

How could it be? Wasn't that full just a second ago?

Ring, ring!

The phone rings again. This time, it sounds louder than before. Snorting and sobbing, his fist hits the floor and he blurts all the tablets that he has kept inside his mouth. He crawls to the phone on the top of small drawer in the corner of the room. Wiping his tears, he picks the phone and holds it against his hear.

"Yes?" he said in husky voice.

The voice across the phone speaks rather fast.

"I am just renting for a few hours. Can't a man rent a room for himself?" he wipes his tears again.

"Yes, you can," the voice replies. "But the time is already up and you need to pay 10.000 won more so you can stay over --"

He hangs the phone harshly and crowls back to the center of the room, feeling really upset.

"What? Another 10.000? No! I am not paying for that when I am going to die!"

He shoves the tablets into his mouth once more, ignoring stronger bitterness in his mouth, and abruptly walks to the bathroom. Opening the water tap, he hastily drinks the water straight from the tap. He swallows the water and the tablets, feeling like choking, but he forces them to run down his throat. When his mouth is clear from the tablet, he closes the water tap and stands up. Gulping, he feels the last tablet disappearing from his throat, leaving him a full sensation on his stomach.

The effect is almost immediate. He starts to feel dizzy. Everything turns into a blur and his room is like floating. He forces himself forward only to stumble on the bathroom mat. Still forcing himself to walk, he feels like his body is getting heavier like boulder. He finally gives up on himself when he falls down forward in a slow motion.
The sound that he hears just a second later was uncear, but he recognizes the anger in it.

"What a ....! ... to stay wi... ....! Huh! Wha..! .... ...e heck!"

He feels his body flipped. The voice he vaguely hears now is intermittent. A second later, there is a force on his stomach. Nausea starts rising up, pushing his stomach painfully and along with the choking, he regurgitates all the tablets he has swallowed, burning his throat like hell.

The only thing that matters now is his head feels like pounded by a hammer and his stomach hurts as if he is sliced from within. He lets out a defeated sigh. It seems that he fails again....

 

*   *   *

 

"Pull his right hand, Min Woo-ah!"

"I am now, Dong Geun-ssi! This man is just too heavy!"

"Stop complaining! Let's pull it together! In the count of three! One, two, three!"

They could finally get that body out of the water. Officer Min Woo put his ear on the man's chest.

"Thank God he is still breathing! Let's get him before --"

Splash!!

The water beside them splashes as another body has just drowned deep down the river. Officer Min Woo look helplessly before he stands up and undress his uniform.

"Oh God .... Not another man wanting to kill himself again ...."

 

*   *   *   *   *

 

---

August 10, 2014

 

Haha, nice prologue, isn't it? Everything will start to be revealed by the next chapter. Stay tuned! :D

 

Schandelierre