SADISM

3.2

He closes the door; there’s no reason to, but it’s become a habit.
He sits under his comfortable duvet and opens the lid of his coffee. His lips are still bruised, and he can’t drink hot coffee. He lets the top open to cool it off.
Breakfast is always the same. Egg sandwich and some hashbrowns. Hanseok takes a small bite of
his sandwich; careful not to bruise his lip again. Yesterday he bit his lip and blood seeped through. The bruises on his lips always took longer to heal than any other part of his body.
He easts his breakfast slowly and stares at the wall where the television used to be. The only thing left now is a null circuit with ripped wires poking through. He wishes he could watch something, anything. His favorites were historical dramas and Hanseok missed watching them. Hanseok laments over the things he used to have and blinks slowly at his current state. He scoffs as he realizes how pathetic he is being. He needs to be stronger. Hanseo is back. Hanseo can be manipulated! Hanseok opens the newspaper and his stomach sinks at the front page. His breathing hitches, and
his eyes burn at the sight of his brother’s face on the front page. There is a full portrait picture of
his brother with his pearly white teeth. Hanseok slides a thumb over the picture and reminiscences about their past together. He doesn’t know what to feel. It’s a bit a nostalgia, but more animosity towards his brother. The title of the article reads ‘ New CEO of Babel Group announced.’ Hanseok shakes his head in difference. How did the board of directors accept such an incompetent foot? Vincenzo must have done something to influence them. When Vincenzo forced Hanseok to give up and sign off his position in Babel Group; Hanseok believed Vincenzo would take over as the new CEO. To his surprise, the position remained open.
Now, looking at the front page, it made sense. How whipped was Vincenzo? He gave all that fortune to Hanseo. How close were they? Hanseok reads the first paragraph of the article. It’s Hanseo’s re-introduction. It reads like a biography. Nothing but fluff is written in the article. The only mention of Hanseo’s inexperience is a one liner about the failed revelation about the merger news – something that caused the stock price to drop. The journalist excused it as a misunderstanding within the company. Hanseok scoffs
at that. The rest of the article is about Hanseo’s already proven record and his clean public image. Hanseok sneers, “Nothing but fluff.” He moves to the back pages of the newspaper where
yesterday’s stock prices are listed. He runs his finger down to where his company’s ticker is
written and reads the price.
The stock price is decent. When the announcement had come of Hanseok’s exist – the stock price
had plummeted. In some bitter way, Hanseok feels proud to have such an effect on the price. From
what Hanseok read after returning to the apartment – the board of directors from the company ran like headless chickens for months. He didn’t know the price had gone down. During that time, he was sitting in the warehouse and suffering. When his newspaper privileges began in the apartment – that was the starting point of
the stock recovery as well. The price was back to normal now – but Hanseok still found joy in what happened to it.
Hanseok goes back to the article and swallows at the mention of his name. It’s a small paragraph stating Hanseok’s exit.

The End