Daldal: Main story

Chapter 22

"Why are your eyes so red?"

Eun-oh, who came to get lunch, was asked with concern by Ae.

Lately, the area under his eyes had been dark, but today it seemed even worse with visible signs of bloodshot eyes. It was evident to anyone that he had not slept well.

"Couldn't sleep again?"

"Yes. The snoring was too loud."

Squaring in front of his meal, Eun-oh responded wearily.

"Oh dear, you're going through a lot. But all the men here are like that. Snoring is just repulsive."

"Yeah, it seems that way."

Lifting his spoon slowly, Eun-oh savored the soup without the usual urgency. In the absence of any prompt to eat hastily, he seemed to have shed the previous habit of devouring his meals as if fearing they might be taken away. Now, Eun-oh seemed to have learned to savor the meal with a bit more relaxation.

"It would be fortunate if it were just the snoring..."

As he poured rice into his bowl from the soup dish, Eun-oh crushed a grain of rice with his spoon and muttered. Ae sat beside him, prodding for more details.

"Anything else bothering you? smell?"

"Smells too."

The foul odor from the snorer intensified, given his lack of hygiene practices. No matter how cold the water was, Eun-oh found it hard to believe that someone could go an entire week without bathing.

Recalling the sight of the snorer vigorously scratching his greasy hair immediately upon waking up, Eun-oh felt a light nausea-his appetite waning. Hurriedly, he tried to erase the image of the snorer from his mind and briskly filled his spoon with rice, topping it with a piece of pickled radish. He then took a mouthful, quickly devouring it.

"It's all like that. In winter, some won't even wash, saying the water's too cold. I'll at least pretend to wash up when Mr. Cho gets a little angry" Eun-oh mumbled slowly while chewing a mouthful of food.

"Yep, that wrigt. Awd he uwen rubs"

"what?"

Unable to understand due to the muddled pronunciation, Ae asked again. After clearing his mouth of food, Eun-oh repeated

"He keeps touching himself before sleeping."

Eun-oh's words widened Ae's eyes.

"Touching?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"Everywhere."

"...Just touching?"

"He even touches his private parts. Just rubs away."

"oh my god......."

Ae let out a deep sigh, pondering why the child was putting on weight while the skin beneath his eyes seemed to darken, almost as if he was withering away.

In truth, Ae had never quite understood why he complained daily about not being able to sleep. No matter how someone snored beside you, filling the air with an unpleasant smell, it was common to collapse into sleep after a day of work, tiredness overcoming everything. So she thought maybe his ears were just overly sensitive or he was still too young, that's why he was complaining.

But who would have thought. He was experiencing such a thing.

Yet, another issue that frustrated her arose.

"I don't understand why he does that. It's not like he's using the bathroom; why would he rub on someone else's body?"

Eun-oh was unaware that such actions could be considered harassment.