The Waters That Hated

Hate of The Crowd

The rest of the day was finally a peaceful respite from the terrors around us. We didn't leave the house and didn't care about what was happening outside. It was just you, me, and your father. I would give anything, Joon-Ho, for you to truly understand how much he loved us both. I can only do so much as to describe to you in this letter what he did in those days. I can't bring him back to you, and it breaks my heart, as our moments together didn't last forever. It's a bittersweet comfort to know that times like those, no matter how long they last, are never long enough. And when I went alone to Deiji and Hyeon the next day while your father rested and watched over you, the beautiful moments passed like smoke in the wind. I just wanted to see if they were alright. I just wanted to make sure that my friends had not been hurt by the darkness in the people surrounding them...

I realized something was amiss even before I entered the street where Deiji lived. The men, women, and children I encountered looked at me with venomous glares and wrinkled their noses. They began to chatter behind my back, and I felt gazes from the grey houses across the gardens. There was a stench in the air, damp and rotten, and terrible odors kept wafting toward me. Fences were damaged everywhere, and gardens were partly trampled. The further I went, the worse it got, and the more I felt like I was stumbling into a pit of aggressive venomous snakes.

"She's from up there; I know her. Maybe she has something to do with it..."

"Yeah, look at her, casually strolling around here. Just because there isn't enough good water uphill for everyone down here, she's acting like she's something special... We should take it for ourselves..."

I started to panic. Can you imagine that, Joon-Ho, walking through streets that are so familiar to you, but feeling like a terrible stranger faced with biting disgust on people's faces? Faces of those who once greeted you with smiles? People you helped tend to their gardens as a child when the officials demanded it? They looked at me as if they barely remembered me, as if I were something they deeply despised, like a cockroach. But I had to get to Deiji and Hyeon; I had to make sure they were okay! Maybe, just maybe, they would come with us? Your father wouldn't have minded...

Finally, I reached the grimy door to my friends' house and knocked, all the while feeling the piercing gazes from the buildings around me.

Suddenly, an old man stepped up to the garden gate behind me, looking at me as if he were inspecting vermin. An ugly, cold smile curled his lips, and he held an old rusty scythe in his hand, from which, to my horror, blood was dripping.

Was it human blood? Was my imagination running wild?

"What's someone like you doing down here?" the man asked in a sweet voice.

"Have you lost your way? I... I can help you... I can help you get to where you... belong."

He took a step toward the property, in my direction, but a shrill female voice interrupted him.

"You scumbag, what are you doing?"

Another woman had approached and looked at me. She didn't hide her contempt but eventually turned away from me to face the man.

"You're running around here instead of taking care of the garden! Are you serious, you dumb shit? We need food! You idiot! Can't you get anything right? I want meat, and you're leaving it behind to chase after some slut! What if the dirty neighbors steal it? Go and continue with the chopping, or I'll gouge your eyes out!"

For a moment, I thought the man would attack the woman, but then he gave me one last scrutinizing look and walked away with her, trembling with cold anger. It took me a while to recover from the shock. Somehow, it felt like I had only narrowly escaped a cruel fate. I had to gather myself before knocking on the door again.