Love… is from the bottom of the heart.
Even death cannot put an end to love.
But sometimes, desires sprouting from love…
Can drive a person to death.
"Angel's Corpse"
1
Ladda
"Why is it still here!?"
Da screeched the moment she opened the door. She heard that someone rented the corpse, and they will return to their former happy life, so she came to Shin's room to invite him to go shopping.
But her good mood crumbled when she saw Shin humming a tune while decorating the black coffin, the Angel's Corpse sitting quietly beside him.
Da thought she saw the corpse's red lips smirking at her.
"Something happened to the guy who rented her."
Shin replied as he decided where to put a black ribbon.
"Something? What kind of thing?"
Da demanded an answer, her heart filled with anxiety.
"Nothing. The TV show producer who rented her had a heart failure and died."
"That's not nothing! It's… it's…"
Da struggled to say the words.
"It's a bad omen."
"Omen?"
"Shin, do you not realize it? That client got the corpse and died!"
Da explained.
"Look at her carefully. Her hair and her nails are getting longer. Her skin got pinker. Maybe, she's sucking people's souls so she could come back to life!"
"But I'm with her all the time and I'm still here!"
"That's because the stars are on your side. If the stars changed… Shin, this corpse is reeking black magic. Trust me, you should sell her off."
Da was fearful from the bottom of her heart. She tried to plead Shin, but he ignored her completely.
"Da, that's stupid." He said. "What did you say again? Black magic? It's a perfectly ordinary heart failure. I heard his heart was not strong to begin with. The doctors confirmed it."
Da went quiet, unbelieving, so Shin continued.
"If you don't believe me, turn on the news. It's on every channel. Then you'll know I'm not lying. Or if you want to ask the police, I won't stop you."
The young man challenged Da by holding out the TV remote control.
How could I possibly deny him?
"Fine… Da believes in you."
The woman nodded, even though she felt something was not right.
Shin smiled, satisfied, and emphasized his point.
"Black magic does not exist. Everything's a coincidence."
Coincidence…?
Is it just a coincidence…?
Da glanced at 'the woman' facing Shin. She tried to brush her doubt away, not knowing why she put up with this.
Did she choose ignorance because she loved Shin? Or was it her instincts telling her she should not meddle with this corpse any further?
Ladda did not know.
She really did not know…
The day after the corpse returned to Shin's condominium, Da felt awkward every time she visited. The more she saw Shin decorating her coffin and uploading her photos to instagram, the more she felt empty inside. The only thing she could do on her visits was sit around and play with her cat, Nil.
"Huh…"
Da sighed as she approached the condominium.
But no matter how much she sighed, the lingering doubt in her heart did not disappear. If she could just told her story to someone, she would feel better, but if she consulted her parents, they would force her to break up with Shin. Her single lady friends did not wish to give her advice, so she did not tell anyone about the Angel's Corpse.
What should I do?
Da thought, and then…
"Miss Da, watch out!!!"
The security guard's voice startled Da. She looked up. A black car sped away, missing her by a strand of hair. If she had taken one step forward, she would be descending to the underworld by now.
"Huh? Um…"
Da was shaken by the near death experience. The young security guard rushed to cross the street over to her. He took her hand gently and led her to the condominium.
"Are you alright? Did you get hit anywhere?"
"Ah…Da…Da's alright. Thank you, P'Tadphum…"
[Note: P (Pee) is a Thai honorific used to address someone older.]
Da smiled, but her face was paler than usual.
"Da…Da was lost in thoughts a bit there."
"It's not just 'a bit'! You got me scared to death there! I thought I had to collect your corpse too…"
"Too…?"
Da repeated and looked down at the young guard's other hand. He held a black garbage bag. She didn't know what was inside, but when she saw something that seemed like a heavy lump of meat, she felt disgusted.
When Tadphum saw her expression, he dashed to the security guard booth and hid the bag inside.
"It's nothing, Miss Da. Just a dead dog."
The young man comforted her, but when she heard that it was a corpse, Da went even paler.
"I think it's someone's dog, but I don't know which room. Oh, and a stray dog. Too bad, I used to feed him too…"
Listening to his words, Da knew there wasn't just one dead animal.
"Were they poisoned?"
Da asked, but Tadphum shook his head vigorously.
"Nope, Miss Da. They were bitten by a larger dog. During the afternoon while I was on shift, all the dogs suddenly howled and whimpered. I thought they were fighting like usual so I didn't care much. Later, I heard them again, but they went quiet soon after. It was like that for three or four times, so I thought something was off. When I went to check, the parking lot was littered with dead dogs."
Tadphum shrugged. Da started feeling anxious, but did not stop him from speaking.
"I didn't know what to do. Luckily, on a weekday afternoon there are not much people around. Or they ignored the whole event, I don't know. I loaded their carcasses into garbage bags and threw them away. Then, I saw you almost got hit by a car."
"Will you not tell their owners?"
"Oh, no. The owners didn't care about their pets enough to keep them somewhere safe, leaving them to be hurt by other dogs. If I told those people, I would be sticking my nose somewhere it doesn't belong. And these carcasses…well, they're not pleasant to the eye, Miss Da."
Tadphum held his mouth, fluids pushing the back of his throat. It seemed he couldn't stomach the thought of corpses either.
"Actually… the wounds did not seem like a dog bite."
"Huh?"
"When dogs fight, there are bite marks on their bodies, right? At most, it's a bleeding cut. But the ones I saw… their guts were spilling all over the place… and some parts were missing, like they were… eaten…"
"Eaten?!?"
Da exclaimed.
"Yes. If something like this happened in my hometown, people would go around yelling that a Pop ghost ate them. You know, that female ghost that eats viscera."
Tadphum laughed dryly. He didn't notice that Da was trembling.
"Actually, the Pop is not as scary as our horror movies made it appear. It's a shy ghost. When it eats, it won't let anyone see."
Won't let anyone see…?
"…But really, how can a Pop be in an urban city like this?"
"You're right. Pop doesn't exist here…"
Da nodded in agreement.
But her mind raced to something that still lurked in Shin's room.
"Did you see anyone suspicious?"
"Umm…suspicious person, huh…?"
Tadphum mumbled. It seemed he had an answer but was afraid to say it.
"Miss Da, please don't call me a maniac when I say this…"
The young guard was hesitant, but finally decided to spill it out.
"Actually, when I was collected the dogs from the third floor parking lot, I got chills down my spine. I felt someone staring at me. Moreover, when I bent down to pick the dogs up, I saw legs…a woman's legs…wearing white skirt…but when I looked up nobody was there. I got goosebumps. I thought, I've been a guard for many years, now's the time I got to see something dangerous. My luck is down these days."
Tadphum laughed dryly again as Da thought of something. She felt like floating in a dream that overlapped with reality.
A woman…white skirt…?
Third floor parking lot…?
Pop… that hunts when nobody sees…?
Or…
"No…!"
Da screamed.
Her instincts led her to turn around and ran to Shin's room, ignoring Tadphum who shouted after her. She pressed repeatedly on the elevator buttons, but because her mind was racing, she chose to use the stairs instead.
No, Shin! Please be safe!
The woman panicked when she thought of her boyfriend who kept that thing by his side. She ran to Shin's room, panting, and unlocked the door. Then, she lunged in, the door slamming the wall.
"Shin! It's me, Da! Are you in, Shin?!?"
Da froze at the door. What awaited her was a puddle of blood.
The red puddle was in the middle of the living room. The woman followed the blood's trail which led to a lump of black meat next to the coffin.
"No…No…Nil!!!!"
Da sank to the ground. It's definitely her baby boy Nil. She remembered his black fur and collar bell that she chose herself, but the lump of meat wasn't something that appeared like a cat. It was a pile of black fur, as if he was skinned. The scraps of red meat littering the ground was not enough to piece back into her purring little pet Nil.
Who!?! Who the fuck did this to Nil?!?
Da's teary eyes looked at the beautiful coffin that gaped open. In front was the Angel in her white garment.
However, that heavenly body was stained red with blood.
Da's tears dried in an instant. Her shattered heart changed into pure rage that distorted her face. Her eyes filled with vengeance glared at the Angel's Corpse.
"You…you monster, you fucking bitch… Die!!!"
Da lunged at the corpse and yanked its hair, pushing it backwards and made it crash to the ground. The more she saw its closed, impassive eye, her rage increased a hundred folds.
The woman slapped the corpse, before sitting over that lifeless body and showered it with hits from her hands.
"You demon! I hate you! I fucking hate you! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!"
"Da, stop!!! What's wrong with you?!?"
Shin woke up and pulled Da from behind. She was losing herself.
"Shin, let Da go! Da will kill it! We can't let it live! She's a demon!!!"
Da struggled to free herself, but could not match his strength. Shin pulled Da to face him.
"Da, could you stop yelling? Speak to me logically."
"This…this Pop bitch… it ate my Nil!"
Da shouted with shaking voice.
"Not only Nil. All the dogs in this area… it ate them all! Look at its dress! Every inch is covered in blood!"
She pointed her finger at the corpse, still closing her eye with a serene expression. Its pure white dress was completely red. Shin looked at it in shock, but in a second, his regular expression came back.
And Da's hope of being understood was completely crushed.
"Nil might get injured at rub itself on her dress."
"Shin! Why are you siding with it?!?"
Da felt betrayed. Her heart felt like shattering again.
"Nil is nothing but scraps! How could he… how could he even move like that?!"
"But it's impossible for a corpse to just stand up and find dogs to eat."
"Because this bitch is a Pop!!! It eats when nobody's looking, so you didn't see!"
Da knew she started to screech, but she could not stop. Shin looked at her with a heavy heart.
In the end, he said:
"That Pop ghost doesn't exist. It's just some backcountry people's belief. If you said some psycho killed the animals and threw their carcass into my room, that's more believable."
"Oh, right! You don't believe in anything that might damage your lovely corpse's reputation!!! Even though it's my pet's life, you chose to defend her!"
"Hey, Da…!"
Beeeeeeeep!!!
Suddenly, there was a phone call. Since their ringtones were the same, Da and Shin stopped to figure out whose phone was ringing.
It was Shin's.
He used the opportunity to get away from Da and take the call. The screen did not indicate the caller's number, but it was alright. He turned his back to her and pressed accept the call.
"Hello, Shinabutr speaking."
Shin spoke in an unfriendly tone. He was upset from the argument with Da, but as the other end of the line spoke, his voice got softer.
"What did you say…? You want to buy the Angel's Corpse…for the price…"
Shin exclaimed an enormous sum of money. He saw how Da's face turned into a surprised and satisfied one. That amount of money could feed them for the rest of their lives. It could help them start a business and take care of their children.
But Da had a feeling Shin would decline.
Because he was a headstrong one…
"Um…Mr…"
Shin was at a lost for words since he did not know the name of the caller. The other end of the line introduced himself, and Shin resumed the conversation.
"I'm quite satisfied with your named price, but if you want me to really sell it, the price should be a little…hey!!!"
When Shin wasn't looking, Da yanked his phone away and shouted in it.
"You can pay any price you want! Just get this bitch out of our lives now!!!"
"Give me back the phone, Da!"
Before Shin could take it back, she turned it off and threw it on the sofa. Luckily the phone didn't crack, but the line was cut and no number was recorded.
"What did you do?! God damn it!!!"
Shin picked up his phone and cursed out loud. Da was on the brink of losing her mind.
When will this corpse get out of her life!?!
What if the one who called got the corpse and died too!?! Then that corpse will return to us!!!
No!!! That can't happen!!!
"Shin, you don't need to be rich! I don't need anything! What I need is for you to throw that corpse away now!!!"
"Da, you don't have a say in this. She is Shin's Angel!!!"
"Shin's…Angel!?!"
Da chewed her teeth as those words echoed over and over. She turned around and seized the corpse's arm, then dragged it to the veranda in a flash.
"Good! If you won't throw it away, then Da will!"
"Stop, Da!!!"
Slap!
Shin's right hand slapped Da across the face. She flew sideways, dropping the corpse. The numbness on Da's cheek turned into pain.
"Quit your nonsense! You're delusional! Don't ever touch 'her' again!!!"
Shin growled and picked up the Angel's body gently.
The pain on Da's cheek ate at her entire face. It was the worst injury she ever sustained.
But worse than the pain on her face…was the pain in her heart.
"Da…Da didn't…Da was just…"
She wasn't delusional.
She wasn't credulous…She wasn't an idiot…
She wasn't scared of that corpse. Not a bit.
The emotions driving her actions right now…
Was hatred and jealousy.
Da knew…Da's jealous of the Angel's Corpse…
Since the moment Shin brought the corpse in, she felt he was introducing her to his new girlfriend.
Da never saw it as just a corpse. It was a woman stealing Shin's affection away from her.
But in a relationship, there are always obstacles. Da knew she and Shin could overcome them together.
No matter what it would be…
She still believed, even when Shin started to forget her…
Even when he sucked all his affection out of her and poured it all onto the corpse…
Even when she believed love is stronger than anything…
She always believed…
But, why…?
Tears flowed down her cheeks. Tears from a heart crushed to dust. Da looked at the Angel's Corpse, sleeping soundly in Shin's arms.
She felt the corpse was smiling.
Smiling, smiling… a mocking smile…
Directed at the loser in the war of love.
>><<