The lives of five different men take a dark turn when they're each approached by Choi San, the enigmatic owner of 'The Garden'. A twisted playground where free will is an illusion and desires of the flesh is encouraged.
"I want to go to the ball Lee...
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II. Dependent • 2 Months Prior...
The boy bit his nails, which were jagged and bloody from the nervous tick, preparing himself to open his mailbox in the lobby of his run down apartment. The linoleum beneath his feet was raised and warped and years of nicotine smoke had stained the walls a piss yellow. Everything in this place seemed to be falling down around him as time went on but the owner didn't appeared to care about its state of disrepair and, honestly, neither did it's tenants.
He thought the similarities between himself and this place were fitting.
I swear to God if it's not in there... He thought panicked before reluctantly unlocking and opening the flap with a shaky hand. His heart sank staring into the bare slot.
Nothing. Fucking nothing again.
He closed then opened it again as if it would magically appear somewhere in that empty space. He could feel the anxiety begin to creep back in and coldly coil around his heart as he slammed the mailbox closed. He was desperate. This was the second time it hadn't shown up and he'd rather die then have to do those things again.
"Fuck..." He hissed under his breath. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" He screamed enraged. He punched the mailbox so hard until it dented and his knuckles split dripping red onto the floor. His chest rapidly rose and fell as he thought of how he'd kill him if he ever saw his face again. If he doesn't get me my money I swear to God I'm going to ruin him...
"Hey!" His landlord's scream echoed from the stairwell. The man standing there was a good twenty five years older than him with stringy black hair and the rasp of a smoker's voice. He peered down at him with eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Don't make me kick your sorry ass out of here again!"
He froze at the sound of his voice and felt bile well up in his throat. If I'm lucky maybe he won't say anything... He took a few calming breaths before pushing away from the wall and turning to go back up to his apartment. This is just what he needed. To lose his cool and end up sleeping in the alleyway like last month when the check hadn't shown up either. He passed his landlord on his way up who loudly cleared his throat to catch his attention.
"Where's the rent huh?" He asked dangerously using that same finger to dig into his shoulder. "And no more of your bullshit excuses either..."
The boy whipped his head to look at him and blinked. He didn't have it. Thanks to him he wouldn't be able to pay rent for the month and he was now reeling inside his mind trying to think of where he could come up with the money.
"You don't have it," His landlord muttered obviously peeved. "I'm not going to go easy on you this time. You get it to me tomorrow else you're outta here for good." The boy trembled as the anxiety came back. As much as he hated it here he didn't want to end up on the streets...
