World of Masks

Chapter 3

Translator: Seven

Editor: Ana_Banana

Jin-suk gently stroked the plant in front of him. It was a ‘Dendron’. The common name for the plant known as ‘Clerodendrum Thomsoniae’.

With a careful and gentle touch, he inspected the leaves and stem and removed any branches that might affect the plant’s growth.

Snip. Snip.

The scissors in his hand give up crisp, clear sounds.

Whenever this sound was heard, a branch of the dendron held in Jin-suk’s hands would fall into the plant pot below.

Jin-suk smiled as he finished pruning his plant.

Pruning was a very important factor in the growth of a plant, but it was simple repetition, so it was quite boring work. However, Jin-suk overcame this boredom in his own special way.

First, he’d grab the branch that needed to be cut and bring the scissors to it.

Then, he’d imagine that what he was about to cut was in fact a human finger.

As he slowly closed the scissors, the person would surely scream very loudly.

They might cry and beg him to stop, or insult him and shower him with all sorts of threats.

But he would ignore that, and slowly increase the amount of strength he put in the scissors, all with a smile on his face.

When the skin was cut, then the muscles and veins would be cut, the blood would slowly spill out and drip down.

The crimson red blood would surely grab all his attention and at that point the person’s screams would definitely be deafening. (TL: Thoughts of rape aside…I really like this MC now…)

Jin-suk moved on to prune another plant, all the while humming a nice tune.

After the skin, muscles and veins were all cut, the only thing left would be the bones.

The progress of the scissors, which had been moving smoothly, would stop for the first time.

Then, he’d spread the wound open by moving the scissors from side to side.

And finally, he’d put a little more force in the scissors until finally…

Ring. Ring.

At the sound of the bell ringing at the front door, Jin-suk stood up beside the plants that he’d been pruning with the scissors.

For a moment he looked at the branch that the scissors had barely begun to cut through before he walked toward the customer who had come in, putting on the mask he wore during business hours. (TL: another figurative mask)

“You there Bachelor?” (TL: it could also be ‘single-man’ or ‘virgin’…just saying…this ajumma is pretty rude)

The person who came in was a middle aged woman.

She was a regular customer of Jin-suk’s flower shop and lived in the same residential and commercial complex. Her husband was a civil servant.

She seemed to like plants, so she often came to the store.

“It’s you Auntie. It’s been a long time.”

“Yeah. It’s been a long time bachelor.”

It was common for her to buy all kinds of items like new house plants, fertilizers, nutrients, flower pots and soil but he hadn’t seen her recently.

Besides, the slight frown on her face made it seem like everything wasn’t okay.

“What’s wrong?”

“You can tell?”

“You look upset.”

The Auntie frowned some more.

“Sigh. I don’t want to talk about it. This time, my son wrote his college entrance exams. But he was always frolicing about, but it’s his own effort. I couldn’t even go to a temple to pray.”

“It must have been hard. So, did your son do well in his college entrance exam?”

“Well. Even though we went through such trouble and spent a lot of money on it. He couldn’t even get a university in Seoul, I’m so frustrated. My neighbour is boasting how Jae-sung can get into Seoul National University or Yonsei university, now I’m too embarrassed to even go outside.”

It seemed that she was so upset her chest might explode.

Jin-suk could only smile awkwardly and try to calm her down.

The middle aged woman, who had been complaining for a long time, suddenly smiled awkwardly and covered her mouth as if ashamed of her behavior.

“Goodness. I came to the bachelor and started complaining. Anyway, I came to order one graduation bouquet. I’ll come back in three days to pick it up.”

“Is it to give to your son on graduation?”

“No matter how badly he did, he’ll only have his highschool graduation once and I can’t let him regret it.”

Jin-suk nodded at that and led her to a side of the flower shop.

It was not as cold as it was a month ago, but it was still too early to call it spring. Yet, in front of Jin-suk were many flowers blooming as if to mock the seasons.

“Do you see any flowers you want?”

“Well. I like roses, but…”

“Then I’ll make roses the main component. Besides that I’d like to add about five to six other flowers, would that be okay?”

“Uh huh. That would be enough. Then show me your skills, bachelor.”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

As a regular customer she was already used to his abilities. She knew that Jin-suk would satisfy her. (TL: is it me…or is the author being deliberately dirty…)

After they were finished she picked up her hand bag before turning to Jin-suk like she’d forgotten something.

“Oh, was it you who cleared the snow in front of the apartment? You didn’t need to be nice.”

“I didn’t do it on my own. I did it together with the guard. I just felt like it should be cleared.”

She felt that Jin-suk had been pressured, but she didn’t continue asking. How many young men were like that these days. At least in this neighbourhood, Jin-suk might be the only young man who was so filial, sincere and kind.

“Ugh. Other people don’t even try to clean it, they just curse at the guards, but you are like an angel. I don’t know where you came from. Do you have a girlfriend? Do you want me to introduce you to my niece?” (TL: just making it known, she never says ‘you’ she always says ‘bachelor’)

“I’m not thinking about that yet. I still have to think of my parents after all.”

“Tch tch tch. Everyone in this apartment knows that you’re a good son. But the sooner you find a lover is the sooner you get married and start a family. One of the greatest ways to show filial piety is to give them grandchildren. I don’t understand you. If you give your parents a boy or a girl to look down on from the heavens, they would be the happiest they could be.”

“But I still don’t have any such thoughts.”

In the end, when faced with Jin-suk’s smiling face, she could only shake her head and give up.

“Right. Then there’s nothing I could do about it. If you change your mind, just tell me. I’d love to have you as my son-in-law, but I only have a son like Wen-soo. So I could only have you as my nephew.”

As the middle aged woman said this with a smile, she opened the door and walked out.

After the auntie left, Kim Jin-suk sat down and began to prune the plants again.

However, thoughts of his parents who died half a year ago in a car accident kept floating in his head together with the auntie’s words.

If his parents knew that he was such a crazy person, what would they think?

Would they despise him as a monster, or would they feel pity for their son.

The guilt that had previously dried up without a trace gave him a small pang of pain in his chest.