Chapter 2 (2/2)
At the end of the day, he was no closer to the truth, but still, he got to grips with this ability of seeing the world in green, that could be turned on and off at will.
The winds of change swept him away as soon as he began applying this power to his everyday life. However, when that ability suddenly disappeared, that was the day his life rapidly spiralled out of control.
The Seol-ark Land was a casino located in the city of Sokcho, in the Korean province of Gangwon.
Regardless of winning or losing, people robotically pressed the play b.u.t.ton and flipped the cards, as the soundless gasps of joy and sorrow intermingled with one another.
A young man was staring at the Blackjack table with a tense expression etched on his face. He took a quick glance at the dealer, but only got an expressionless poker face in return.
The young man stared at the table with an intensity befitting a predator waiting to devour its prey, before opening his mouth with great difficulty.
”St…. No, wait!! Double down!”
As if the dealer found this call a path to his salvation from the lengthy, boring wait, he impatiently placed his hand on the deck.
The young man's throat clammed up. Sweat soaked him from his chin all the way down to his lower back.
However, completely disregarding his anxiety, the dealer's hand simply flipped the card.
The result was… the young man wrapped his hands around his head in despair.
Once more, joy and sorrow… they came and went.
”Oh, hey. Park hyung, you got lucky today?”
”Ohh, Mister Choi. h.e.l.lo.”
A bespectacled man s.h.i.+vering outside the casino with a cigarette hanging loose between his lips, shook his head in denial when a well-built man greeted him.
”Lucky? You know, my foot's more like it. I've only managed to break even. What about you, Mister Choi?”
”Yeah, me too. Also breaking even and nothing else besides. Today's not my day, it seems.”
”I came outside to take a short break. My head's hurting and all, staring at one table for hours. I think this early morning cold winds will do me some good.”
When the bespectacled guy feigned being ill, the well-built man let off a short chuckle.
”Yeah, I get you. Me too… Hmm?”
Just as Mister Choi slid his hand inside the pocket to fish for his own smokes, a loud shout broke the relative silence of the morning. When the surprised eyes of the two men sought out the source of that noise, they eventually found a young man not too far from them, holding a smartphone to his face.
Mister Choi frowned slightly, before tilting his head slightly.
”He looks kind of familiar, no?”
”Who?”
”That guy, with the phone over there. You know who that is?”
”Oh, him? Yeah, I know. I think he's been coming here even longer than you, Mister Choi. If I remember correctly, the first time I saw him was probably around three, four years ago.”
Choi was inwardly thinking that indeed, Park hyung had been here the longest. He then looked at the youth with a somewhat stunned expression.
”Three, four years? Even though he's so young?”
”Yeah…. Not sure if he's in the mid 20s now. That kid, he used to be really famous around these parts.”
A sign of certain regret could be spied on Mister Park's face as he licked his lips. Meanwhile, Choi simply shrugged his shoulders.
”Really? I saw him play a couple of times, but I thought he wasn't all that much.”
”He's like that now, but for his first year, he was the business. h.e.l.l, back then, some people even tried their luck on the tables that guy did his thing.”
”Huh? I guess he used to have some skill, then?”
”No, no, it wasn't like he had mad skills or not…. Maybe I should've said that he knew exactly when to go all in. It was as if he knew exactly when to put everything on the table for the winning hand, you know what I'm saying? He also kept a strict rule he set for himself - he didn't go overboard, always brought along a small amount every time he was here, and never more than that…. I never got that feeling from him, that feeling you get when looking at an addict. Anyways, he was a weird one.”
”So, how can a guy like that, end up looking like that now?”
”I don't know, myself. Oh, right. He said something about not being able to see it anymore, out of the blue. Or, some c.r.a.p like that….”
Park clicked his tongue and resumed sucking on his cigarette. The young man was still holding on to his phone. He looked so pitiful and desperate, as if he was pleading his heart over the line or something.
Choi snorted out almost derisively.
”In any case, I'm not liking what I see here. He's so young, yet he's here gambling, instead of making money the old fas.h.i.+oned way.”
”Well, as long as you can walk, you're allowed in here, no? And besides, let's be honest here. You are still a young man, too.”
”Eiii~ I've pa.s.sed forty, like, ages ago.”
”Does age really matter, anyways? This casino here is just a lowly gambling den with a fancy t.i.tle, is all. The moment you set your foot inside, you lose what little sanity you have left. That's it.”
”Oh well. That's also true.”
Two men, feeling somewhat sick and tired of looking at that young man, began sharing meaningless jokes between each other.
”Dad! Please! This is the last time, so please, help me out just this once!”
- ”I'm hanging up. Don't call again, you b*stard!”
”But, dad!”
The line went dead after that. Swear words leaked out from the young man's mouth almost automatically.
”Haah… I'm going f*cking crazy here.”
He even lost what little seed money he was able to scrounge up.
All he had left in his pocket was a handful of casino chips, and a couple of notes inside his wallet for the taxi fare. A small but tempting thought of 'Should I go and try out the slots and recover whatever I can?' entered his mind. However, if he lost that, then he'd have to walk home.
His eyes scanned the list of contacts on the phone's screen one more time. When the name 'Yu Seon-Hwah' showed up, he didn't even hesitate and called the number. Unfortunately, the time was still early in the morning, nay, still dawn, so no matter how long he waited, no one answered the phone.
He then accessed the banking app to check his bank balance but that only served to confirm the depressing truth. He could only sigh out after seeing the minus in front of the numbers.
”d.a.m.n it. Why aren't you answering your f*cking phone already….”
He stewed in anger for a long time, before suddenly tilting his head upwards to take in the heavens above. The early dawn's sky was still dark.
This youth was Seol.
Seol let off yet another sigh, and then, lifted his hand up high to call for a taxi.
”Hey, taxi!”
The taxi stopped in front, and the driver asked him.
”To where?”
”To Gangnam Station… no, wait a minute. Take me to the Nonhyeon Station, instead!”
”Get in.”
Shortly afterwards, the taxi carrying Seol slipped into the early morning darkness.
< 02.=”” a=”” son=”” of=”” a=”” b*tch=”” (1)=””> Fin.