Episode 3: Turned Away in the Snow and a Cold Sneer

Episode 3: The snow-covered front door and the cold sneer. What is flesh and blood? The fact that we were born into this world sharing the blood and flesh of the same parents, is it a holy shield that protects our souls, or is it a bondage of the most cruelly cutting curse? The night before Christmas when the snowstorm raged so fiercely that it was impossible to see even an inch ahead. In front of Nolbu's mansion, which stood like a fortress on the highest hill of Chilsan Village, a man's torn soul was kneeling on the cold stone floor. Park Heung-bu (28 years old). He had thrown away his last remaining dignity as a human being and was bowing his head on the frozen snow.

Rejection at the Gate. The camera captured the imposing, red-painted high gate of Nolbu's house at a low angle. Heungbu's rough, blue hands were trembling and digging through the gap in the huge door. The man's rough, rough hands covered in mud and blood. His fingertips, trembling like aspen trees, were groping the air, desperately trying to catch the warm air of the ondol room and the delicious smell of rice flowing through the crack in the door.

“Brother... please... please give me just one spoonful... our children... our poor little ones are starving to death... just one spoonful... even just one spoonful of rice is good... so please open the door...” Heungbu’s voice was trembling thinly as it was torn by the sharp wind. White icicles were already hanging from his eyebrows and beard, and his single-layer linen clothes were of no use against the biting cold. The warmth flowing through the gap in the gate was like a heavenly mirage. The warmth of the warm floor, the smell of sesame oil, and the smell of well-cooked fish.

However, the sound coming from inside the tightly closed gate was not an echo of mercy or sympathy. The coquettish laughter of the gisaeng erupts along with the sound of wind music,

And it was Nolbu's arrogant and sharp yelling sound as he chewed the fatty meat and spit it out. “Hmph! How dare you, such a lazy bastard, try to cross the threshold? I don’t even have a single grain of rice bran in my house, let alone food for you! I bet you can’t get out of here!”

bang-! The heavy towering gate closed tightly, and the iron bar locked with a clanging sound. The camera quickly zoomed out starting from the moment the door closed. A huge closed red gate and Heungbu’s face lying face down, looking as small as a handful of dust thrown away in front of the huge door. The extreme contrast in scale overwhelmingly conveyed the man's sense of complete isolation and misery across the screen. Inside the gate, the servant Chun-sam was carefully snooping through the crack in the door. Chunsam was a long-time loyal servant who had watched over his two brothers since they were children. In his eyes, the sight of Heungbu crying in the snow was so heartbreaking and sad. 'Oh my, Master Heungbu... How can you be treated so cruelly... He was such a kind and gentle person when he was alive...'

Chunsam wanted to secretly take out half a boiled potato from his pocket and stick it through the crack in the door. However, Nolbu's harsh gaze, his blue eyes glaring at the main hall, was piercing his back. “Chunsam! Why are you standing there blankly? Don’t close that dirty door right now!”

As soon as Nolbu gave an angry command, Chunsam had no choice but to tremble like an aspen tree and stuff the potatoes deep into his pockets again. It was a cruel reality in which long-standing recognition and human compassion had no choice but to remain silent in the face of power and wealth. Sneering Face Behind the Gate. Nolbu was looking down at his younger brother, who was lying face down in the snow, with a mean look through the small side bars of the gate. In his hand was a greasy chicken leg, and on his lips was a rotten smile that seemed to mock the world. “Go back! Don’t say anything more! Did you ever consult me when you had children? Why should I have to feed so many of your children? The world is survival of the fittest. It is the law of nature that those without power freeze to death.”

“Even though I blame heaven, you dare try to go into my house’s treasury! Tsk!”

Nolbu spit out the side window. The dirty droplets of saliva fell coldly onto the back of Heungbu’s neck as he lay face down in the snow. Heungbu could not raise his head. Shame and humiliation burned his whole body like fire. But the children's lives were at stake. He bowed once again, pressing his forehead against the cold snow.

“Brother... I did something wrong... I am poor and foolish, so I am living like this... My life can be whatever happens to me. You can use me as your servant, or you can use me as a barrack for the rest of your life. Please... Please save only the little ones... The youngest... The youngest, who is not even one year old, is starving and dying... Brother, aren't they our nephews... Don't they belong to the same Park family...!" However, that heartbreaking, bloody plea did not leave even a 0.1 millimeter scratch on Nolbu’s heart.

Rather, the word 'blood' strongly stimulated Nolbu's twisted judgment. “Bloodlines? Ha! What kind of pride are you talking about having poor bloodlines? Those bastards who tarnish my last name! Hey, Madangsoi! Chunsam! Hit that guy with a club and throw him into the stream below! If he snoops around my house again, I will report him to the government and give him a hundred spanks!”

Some neighbors who were watching this tragedy at the entrance of the village were hiding behind the wall and whispering. “Tsk tsk tsk... Nolbu, that bastard will be punished from heaven. How can you be so cruel to me when my own younger brother is starving to death with his little ones in his arms?”

“Don’t even talk to me. How human is this guy? Isn’t he the guy who took old man Park’s three fields last fall and took it away just because he was a day late?”

“But what can we do… Everyone from the governor of the government to the foreigners has fallen for Nolbu’s bribes, so what can the helpless peasants do…”

The neighbors clicked their tongues, but did not dare to come forward for fear of getting caught by Nolbu. The entire Chilsan Village was suffocating, caught in the web of greed spun by a huge spider named Nolbu. Heungbu was desperately abandoned like Godo, left alone in the world in that cowardly and helpless silence. Cold Rejection and Fall. Nolbu's wife, Mrs. Park, also came out to the veranda and screamed in an angry voice. Mrs. Park was a cruel and vicious woman who was even more sophisticated than Nolbu.

Her face was painted with a thick layer of powder, making her pale and excited, and her thin lips were always shining with harsh words that slandered and cursed others. “Oh, that bastard! Aren’t you embarrassed to even look at your sister-in-law’s face? There’s some kind of beggar who comes to my nobleman’s house every day, trying to steal his fortune! If I give rice to a guy like that, all the beggars in the neighborhood will come and rip out the roots of the pillars of my house! Look! Bring me the salt bucket from the kitchen! Sprinkle a lot of salt in front of the door so that you don’t have any luck!” Coarse grains of salt brought by the servants rained down on Heungbu's head and back as he lay face down in the snow.

Sharp particles of salt hit your cheek with a blizzard. It was the worst insult that would ever be given even to an animal. Coarse grains of salt penetrated Heungbu's wounded cheek and torn forehead, causing a burning sensation as if being cut by a knife. But Heungbu couldn't even scream. This was because his heart was already collapsing from the destruction of his soul that went beyond the pain of his body. Then the gate burst open and servants holding clubs came running out. Chunsam couldn't bear to swing the club, so he pushed Heungbu's shoulder and whispered lowly.

“Young Master... Please get up and go... If you hold out here any longer, I will unleash the real hounds on you... Hurry and avoid...”

However, another servant, Eoksoe, had a fierce temper and kicked Heungbu’s side violently. puck-! “You can’t really put it out! You bastard!”

Heungbu was kicked and rolled over in the snow. Heungbu's body, stuck in an icy snowdrift, no longer had the strength to stand up. The gate slammed shut again, and the sound of the metal being locked rang through the air like a final death sentence. Heungbu Fallen in the Snow. Heungbu lay face down in the snow, unable to move. High Angle Shot. The camera soars high into the sky, below the huge snow-covered mountainside and the magnificent tiled roof of Nolbu Mansion.

I looked down vertically at Heungbu's body, which was small and miserable, like a single dot. A man dressed in rags abandoned in the middle of a pure white snow field. Non-stop snow was falling from the sky, piling up silently on the back and legs of the fallen man. The eyes looked as if they were going to bury a living man alive,

A cold white shroud was covered over his spine and shoulders. Heungbu gasped with his cheek pressed against the snow. Ice particles entered my lips and nostrils. The blood on my cheek melted the snow and formed a red puddle, but the warmth was only momentary and immediately hardened into blue ice. My entire body was becoming numb. The pain from the tips of my fingers, toes, and even my torn forehead was sinking into a distant numbness. It was a symptom of death. It is said that right before a person freezes to death, the brain blocks out pain and falls into a strangely calm and languid world of hallucinations.

Visions began to glimmer before Heungbu’s eyes. Twenty years ago, there was a time when my mother made me and my older brother Nolbu lie down in the warm underfloor heating room and covered them with cotton blankets. My mother always said to my two brothers while stroking their heads. “Nolbu, Heungbu. Brothers are an incomparable gift from heaven. After your parents die, there are only two of you left in the world. Whether you are happy or sad, you must share at least one bean with each other and wipe each other’s tears. Can you promise?”

At that time, ten-year-old Nolbu answered cheerfully, squeezing young Heungbu's hand. “Yes, mother! Because I am your older brother! I will protect Heungbu for the rest of my life!”

The voice of that young day lingered in my ears on the wind. The warm barley rice balls my mother made for me, the summer days when we caught crayfish together in the stream,

The reliable and warm feeling of crossing the stream on my brother's back. Where is that kind and warm older brother going?

Who is the monster chewing meat bones and sprinkling salt behind that door? Hot bloody tears flowed from Heungbu’s eyes. “Brother... why did you become like this... why...”

His sobs were lost in the blizzard. In the abyss of despair, a thought flashed like lightning in Heungbu's head. Children's faces. The fourth child cried from hunger, pulling a thin mat inside the room.

The second daughter, holding her frozen hand and blowing “ho-ho-ho-” on her breath,

And the youngest baby, who was struggling to breathe. 'If I... I freeze to death here... what will happen to my babies...'

That thought struck Heungbu's paralyzed brain stem mercilessly. I couldn't die. Resting comfortably in the cold snow like this was nothing more than an irresponsible run away from starving my children and throwing them into the abyss of death. He had to live. Even if I had to crawl like a dog or vomit blood, I had to return to my children. Heungbu pointed at the snow field. His fingernails were broken and blood was gushing out, but he didn't care and lifted himself up through the snow on his elbows and knees. Crump-

Frozen joints screamed. The inch-thick snowbank that had piled up on my back crumbled. He stood up unsteadily. The wind shook his thin body mercilessly, but Heungbu planted his feet firmly on the frozen ground. In his eyes, the dying flame of life began to burn once again. It was a father's superhuman maternal and paternal love that transcended human weakness and sought to protect his child. He felt his waist. A shard of a broken porcelain rice bowl was caught in my fingertips.

Heungbu squeezed the sharp fragment in his palm and drew blood. It was a baptism of pain I inflicted on myself in order not to lose my sanity. Heungbu went down the hill and stopped for a moment at the village's common well. The well was already frozen so hard that not even the bucket could go down. He looked at the branches of the sea pine tree standing on the hillside next to the well. Pine needles that stand firm and do not lose their greenness even in the bitter cold. Heungbu stretched out his frozen hand and ripped off a handful of green pine needles.

“At least this... Let’s boil this and feed it... If you brew pine needles, it will have a fragrant smell, so it will be able to soothe the children’s stomachs a little...”

He cherished the pine needles inside his red hemp chest. The sharp needles of pine needles pierced the frozen man's chest,

To Heungbu, it felt like the most precious and warm treasure in the world. While he stumbled and walked towards the thatched house by the stream,

A blizzard was still dancing in the sky. But Heungbu’s steps were no longer steeped in despair. Even though I was slapped by my older brother and chased away like a dog,

He was a great father who gave up everything for his children. No amount of wealth or fame in the world could trample on this poor man's noble love. The red blood stains that followed Heungbu were,

It was the most sacred and saddest trace of life carved on the snow. When he finally opened the door to the thatched house and entered, his wife and children greeted Heungbu, crying silently. Heungbu took out a bunch of green pine needles and a few dry twigs he had picked up from his chest. "Honey... guys... I couldn't find rice... but look at these pine needles. It's a precious herb given by the mountain spirit. If you boil this and drink it, your stomach will become warm and your strength will surge."

Heungbu smiled in a cheerful voice. I put a dry twig in the broken kitchen furnace and struck a flint to light a small ember. Pour melted snow water into the cauldron and shake in the green pine needles.

Soon, steam began to bubble up from inside the pot, and a soft, clear scent of pine trees spread into the small thatched house. The children gathered around the pot, basking in the warm steam. “Wow... it smells good, Dad!”

“It smells really delicious!”

Heungbu carefully scooped hot pine needle tea into a broken bowl and gave each child a sip. Although it was plain water without a single grain of grain,

The warmth that the father risked his life to hold in his arms became the spark of a miracle that bloomed in the children's frozen bodies and hearts. Poverty crushed their bodies, but their love for family and their souls shined brighter and warmer than any other rich family. At that time, on the high wall of Nolbu's mansion. The eyes of female singer Jieun and rapper Taemin, who see through the dimensions of time and space, were following Heungbu's back as he fell and got up. Taemin rapped while breaking the beat in a low, rough voice. "A closed door, a kicked out step, a bloody stain on the snow. What comes back when begging for a spoonful is ridicule and cold salt. The name of flesh and blood is torn to pieces by greed,"

My younger brother's screams are fleetingly buried in the snowstorm. But look, the moment the fallen father stands up again,

The flame of that holy sacrifice will one day melt the frozen world. You who built the golden tower, weigh your sins,

“The dice of judgment thrown by heaven have already been rolled.” Ji-eun sang a mournful Christmas carol in her high vocal range. “Go back, you who coldly cried out no more,”

The salt you sow will return as a wound to your heart. On the holy night of Christmas, angels wipe away the tears of the poor

I prepare a messenger to knock on the door of the arrogant. Tinkle tinkle... hear the sound of the bell ringing,

“It is the sound of the bell that digs the grave of your greed... For those without mercy, only judgment without mercy will remain...”

The song spread through the wind, over the roof of Nolbu's mansion, and through all the frozen valleys of Chilsan Village. The invisible clock of the spirit world was already ticking its final seconds toward midnight. Nolbu closed the window in the main house and started counting the coins on the floor again. However, the palm that had just hit Heungbu's cheek was strangely burning and tingling as if it had been burned. “That’s strange... Why does my palm throb so much?”

Nolbu looked down at his palm. In the middle of his palm, his younger brother Heungbu's bloody rice paste mark was clearly engraved, like a red brand. A bloody stain that cannot be removed no matter how much you rub it on silk clothes and pour alcohol on it to wash it off. The stain pulsed and throbbed like a living, breathing creature. Thump... Thump... Thump... The pain in my palm was slowly spreading down my wrist and towards my heart. At that time, Nolbu's wife, Mrs. Park, came into the room and squeaked. “Young man! You definitely kicked that beggar out, right? My insides feel refreshed! I just threw a bucket of salt on his face, and it looked really good! Ho-ho-ho!”

But Nolbu, who normally would have been giggling and joking with each other,

Strangely enough, my wife's shrill laughter sounded like an ear-piercing noise. “You’re noisy! Shut up!”

Mrs. Park's eyes widened and she closed her mouth at Nolbu's sudden shout. “No, old man? Why are you losing your temper with me? What did I do wrong!”

“I’m out! I want to be alone, so go across to the other room right now!”

When Nolbu screamed like a thunderbolt and threw the inkstone, Mrs. Park grunted and went out, slamming the door. Nolbu, left alone in the room, was breathing heavily. But it didn't take long for him to realize that he was not alone. A faint sound of breathing coming from the corner of the ceiling,

And a strange chill spread along the cold wall and wrapped around the back of his neck. There wasn't even a breeze outside, but the chains and windshield under the eaves were shaking and rattling strangely. The large grandfather clock on the main floor began ringing a heavy bell, signaling midnight (12 o'clock at night). Dang-dang-dang! Twelve metal clangs. The very moment the sound reached the twelfth,

The hundred or so candles that were lighting up the room were amazing! They all turned off with a sound. Complete darkness. In pitch-black darkness, where all the light in the world seems to have disappeared in an instant,

The temperature suddenly plummeted to dozens of degrees below zero. The heat from the ondol on the floor disappeared without a trace, and the hanging scrolls on the wall rustled and froze. The lacquer on the gorgeous mother-of-pearl cabinet froze and cracked, filling the room. A thick layer of white frost appeared on the surface of the copper mirror, and the distorted image of oneself reflected in the mirror was coldly stuffed like a corpse locked in a coffin. Nolbu couldn't even breathe. The air that entered my lungs was as cold as liquid nitrogen and seemed to burn my bronchi. And in the very center of that darkness,

Two red eye lights flashed in a lump of black smoke floating in the air. It wasn't a human eye. A huge, eerie flame, blazing like the burning coals of hell. Those red eyes looked straight into Nolbu’s eyes. A dull, heavy metallic sound, like a chain being dragged, rang through the air in the room. "Nol... boo... hey..."

The voice that vibrated the air was heavy and majestic, like thunder reverberating from deep within the earth. Nolbu froze on the floor without even being able to scream. The real horror of Christmas Eve was just about to begin. An eternal judgment that will shake the soul of a man blinded by greed.

It arrived at his doorstep. Will this man be able to face the approaching dawn alive? The river of time stopped, and the measurement of souls began. It was a moment when the sins of greed he had accumulated became a huge mountain range and weighed down the back of his neck. The holy light of Christmas has consumed the darkness, and is now ready to uncover the ugly truth hidden deep in the man's heart. The judgment of eternal silence fell heavily on the quiet snow fields of Chilsan Village.