Page 48 of Obsession of the Egoist
“SO?” YUGO ASKED AS SOONas Greg entered his office the next morning. The bright sun filtering through the blinds threw sharp, horizontal lines over the floor and Greg’s black baggy suit.
Yugo’s impatience reached its crest, his fingers bombarding the polished surface of the desk with taps. He wasn’t sure what he would do if the results matched, but he needed to know anyway. Thinking and overthinking, he couldn’t find a cure for the hot abscess that grew larger in his stomach with every passing hour.
“Not related,” Greg said. His military boots clanked against the floor when he approached the desk and offered Yugo a wide, flat envelope.
“Not related, huh…” Without looking inside, Yugo grabbed the envelope and tossed it on the desk. “Were they familiar before?”
“Don’t think so, Boss. The doctor said that the woman begged him for Kuon’s name and address. It looks like they just met a few weeks ago. So, what do we do?”
Yugo didn’t reply. Scratching his chest through his starched shirt, he tried to ease the burning itch, but it only grew stronger. “Only just met, huh?”
He remembered the kiss and how her slender body pressed against Kuon’s solid frame. Getting up from his chair, he grabbed his jacket from the backrest. “I’ll let you know.”
NELLY TURNED OUT TO BEa lively and open girl. Kuon instantly found himself attracted to her inexhaustible energy. Running around him and Kristina in circles, she kept bragging about how brave she had been, and that she almost hadn’t cried even when she was scared and didn’t see anything.
Her vision hadn’t been completely restored yet, and she mentioned that everything was still blurry and distorted, but at least it wasn’t dark and scary. Her buoyancy and spirit, so characteristic of young kids, did something to Kuon within hours. Talking to her, he felt the darkness draining from his soul, taking his fears away.
In the park, they played blind-man's buff, but he was the only one catching. When he managed to snag one of the girls, they giggled and squealed in delight. Kristina yielded more often than Nelly, and Kuon noticed that she had a great body—toned, slim.
Kuon caught himself thinking that he could get used to the constant attention, family warmth, and care. With Kristina, Kuon could see a future. A stable life, a decent job, kids. She could give him something of his own—his flesh and blood. That thought visited his head more often with every passing day, but at the same time, it stirred a deep longing in his soul. Every evening, falling asleep, Kuon listened to the silent apartment and wondered why Yugo hadn’t come for yet another day. Since his last visit, almost a week had passed.
YUGO’S VISION PULSED IN SYNC WITHthe abscess bubbling in his stomach. With his back against a tree, he watched Kuon catch the woman and laugh; a brilliant smile brightening his face. Giggling, she didn’t recoil but wrapped her arms around his torso, swirling him, disorienting him. The motion and the wind, playing with her yellow dress, revealed her long, slim legs.
The longer she held Kuon, the darker the bright, sunny day became. The birds chirped, but Yugo didn’t hear them anymore. He didn’t see the dusty leaves, begging for the rain to come. He didn’t see the happy smiles of the passersby. Monochrome, dark, the world lay gloomy in front of him, as the pulsing in his chest became unbearable.
His eyes burned, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away, absorbing Kuon’s happy expressions and the flirty behavior of the woman. Soaking through his skin, it fed his abscess.
“We should go, Boss,” Greg said as he leaned on the other side of the tree.
Yugo didn’t move. The woman rose to her toes and kissed Kuon’s cheek. The little girl with the unruly mop of platinum hair grabbed Kuon’s knee and tried to tug him somewhere.
“Come on, Boss,” Greg tried again, his voice full of sympathy. “Gustavo is waiting.”
Bending forward, Kuon lifted the girl in the air and twirled her around. Yugo’s chest constricted as the abscess vibrated, expanded, and burst, marring his soul with sticky, burning jealousy and hatred. Kuon didn’t belong to them. Kuon belonged to him. Him only.
Unblinking, Yugo said, “Kill the woman. Make it look like an accident.”
THE CAR STOOD IDLE.The climate control was off, and the air heated, making Yugo sweat under his jacket; the smell of leather hung heavy in the compartment.
“Will you drive already? Didn’t you say Gustavo is waiting?” Yugo said; annoyance bounced in his chest, unsettling him even more. When Greg said nothing, and still didn’t turn on the engine, Yugo asked, “What’s your fucking problem?”
“Kuon looks happy, Boss.” Greg twisted in the driver’s seat, looking over his shoulder.
“When the fuck did you buy immortality? Or is this a suicide attempt?” Unable to believe his ears, Yugo squinted. Greg shrugged.
“I’m just saying that he looks happy. Didn’t you want that?” He turned back, hiding behind the wide driver’s seat. A muscle on Yugo’s face jerked.Yeah…That was before he let me touch him.“Boss, what do you think will happen if you kill her?”
“You talk too much. Drive already.”
Greg didn’t. He rummaged in the pockets of his jacket before passing a square piece of paper to Yugo.
“What’s this?” Yugo asked, snatching it out of his fingers. Glossy and monochrome, it looked like a glitch on black and white TV.
“An ultrasound picture. My wife is pregnant.” Greg’s wide smile reflected in the mirror. “It’s a girl.”
Taking another look at the picture, Yugo tried to understand what it showed, but everything looked like white noise. “Congratulations. You’re fired.”
Suffocating, he opened the window. The wind, breaking into the car, chilled the wet skin on his nape.
