Rabbit Hole

I. Prologue

Sizzling meat on a grill. A savory smell mixed with the stench of burning meat wafting in the air. The young man didn't seem to be bothered by his supposed meal turning into coal. Ah, rather, it seemed he was doing it on purpose. He had another portion of meat ready on the side, and that was what he properly seasoned and grilled this time. What of the burnt, inedible portion then? He put them aside and let it cool as he feasted on the better prepared meat.

"As expected, beef is the best."

As if to burn the fat from what he had eaten so far, he brought out a portable shovel he had with him and started digging at the center of his camp. Not too deep, not too shallow. He was satisfied with the small pit he had dug, and took a quick break as he munched on more grilled beef. After a while, he started to crush the burnt meat he had cooled down, then scattered it in the pit. He kept doing this until none of those black crisps remained on the tray. 'Almost there,' he thought.

Finally he covered the pit back up, flattened up the surface, then started to make a bonfire. It would do him well, as the sun just went down. Finishing up his work, he opened up his tumbler and quenched his thirst with cold water as he sat down on a log.

"Finally done."

The young man then brought out his phone, then went into his gallery and tapped on a photo of a painting. Said painting depicted a bloodied woman with a look of despair on her face. It was a disturbing image not many would prefer to look at, yet this man scrutinized the piece with seriousness, not showing any discomfort towards it.

"Hmm... results weren't good this time either," he sighed. "Ugh. At this point, all my work would become dull. What to do, indeed..."

Turns out, he was the artist of the grotesque piece himself. He muttered his dissatisfaction, but his expression showed an unbothered look. He started spacing out, but got interrupted once he heard his phone ringing. A call from his brother. Seeing this, he picked up the call.

"Hello, hyung." The young man instinctively smiled.

- You seem well.

A deep, calming voice could be heard from the other side.

"You think so? Why did you call?"

- We have a family dinner tomorrow at 8pm. Make sure to attend.

"Do I have to? I'm not even an heir to the company," his tone made it obvious that doing so was a hassle.

- Complain to grandfather then, not me. Stay out of trouble in the meantime. I'm hanging up.

"Mhm."

After his brother hung up, the young man fell into deep thought.

"I've stayed here for too long. Time to go home."

***

Taking down the tent took longer than expected, so it's already the dead of night when the young man got to leave. Not to mention he still had to hike down in order to get to his car, so it was very much tiresome.

From a distance, a gloomy looking figure was headed towards the direction the young man came from. As they slowly got close to each other, the look of emptiness on the person's face became more visible to the young man. The latter pretended to not have seen this, and kept walking. But then...

"...!" The mysterious person paused, then turned towards the young man's back.

"...Hyejin-noona?"

"Hm?"

"So this was where you've been this whole time?"

HAAH!