Paradigm

Chapter XVII

TW : gore description

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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. March 1998.

The underground train station where San and Seonghwa had stopped reeked of urine a mile away. It was, however, the only one in the vicinity with an eating area, and both were in dire need of a snack. So they pulled up to this unwelcoming place and entered the building, which, from the looks of it, was not the freshest. The chances of them coming out of there with a medieval disease were significant.

A thick layer of grime covered the dull tiles. A small, jaded student stood at the counter. She did not even bother to greet them.

The editor rushed to the coffee machine, ignoring the pungent stench to satisfy his visceral need for caffeine. Trembling like a junkie in withdrawal, he frantically slipped all his change into the machine and filled two paper cups (after checking that no cockroaches were running around in the bottom, there was room for doubt). Both for him, too bad for San.

He turned and found the writer standing three meters behind him, straight as an "i", eyes devoid of life and complexion as pale as death. His half-open mouth was turning blue as if he had spent fifteen minutes in freezing water. Panic surged in Seonghwa's veins : something about the situation was terribly wrong.

"Mr. Jung ?"

Paul was ghostly. In fact, he said nothing. He could not see the editor, could not hear him... The little salesgirl watched them from a distance, unable to grasp the seriousness of the writer's condition.

A coal-black substance dripped from his nose. It was not blood, contrary to what he had thought in the hotel bathroom of the cruise boat. This observation left Seonghwa into a strange perplexity. He lost himself in the contemplation of this unknown liquid, which was already trickling down the young man's chin. Suddenly, a hideous white worm crawled out of his nostril and crashed straight to the ground. A scream of horror rose in the editor's throat : he let a cup fall to the floor and let out a hysterical howl as tears welled up in his eyes. The puddle of coffee splashed onto his sneakers and the bottom of his pants. The heat penetrated the fabric and burned his legs.

Alerted, the salesgirl rushed over and discovered the young man's strange state. Luckily, she didn't see the worm crawling at his feet.

"We have to call the emergency !" she exclaimed in perfect English ( it was most probably the only obvious quality that had enabled her to be hired here).

Seonghwa hesitated for a few seconds : San literally had worms coming out of his body, and it did not take six years of study to know that it is biologically impossible to get living insects out of one's body by bleeding from the nose. Bleeding was not even an appropriate term !

Then, if the author was put in hospital, his name (or at least one of his false identities) would appear in the hospital records, a godsend for Hongjoong and his henchmen.

Seonghwa really had to refuse.

"No, no, no ! No. Forgive me for alerting you like this. My friend suffers from frequent attacks of this type, so we just have to wait it out. It's just... every time it happens, I'm always so scared for him."

The girl looked at him suspiciously.

"Sir, he is in a serious condition, it's irresponsible..."

"I know what I'm doing, so you'd better stay out of it", the editor asserted, imitating Paul's imperious tone when he was trying to intimidate people.

The salesgirl did not insist and returned to her post, watching them warily. She found these two travelers suspicious so she was keeping herself ready to call the police at the slightest slip-up.