Ante Mortem

THE GOOD FRIEND Natalie L. Sin

Hyun tried sleeping on the couch but Joon’s rhythmic moaning, along with the Vietnamese woman’s more frantic pitches, made it impossible. Resigned to a late night, Hyun slipped into a pair of house shoes and padded out onto the deck. The resort Joon chose for their vacation, a graduation gift from his father, was the sort of place most traveler’s could only dream of enjoying. Set in a secluded patch of forest in Vietnam, the rooms consisted of twelve luxury cabins encircling a private lake. Each cabin had a sitting room and small kitchen, in addition to the bedroom, and a deck overlooking the water.

Joon and Hyun’s cabin had two full beds, with the understanding that if either guy brought home a girl the other would take the couch. As Hyun sat down and dipped his feet into the lake, he reflected that Joon would likely not be spending any nights contorted on narrow cushions.

“Aren’t you afraid of a turtle biting your toes?”

Hyun was startled to find he had company. In the cabin to his left, a woman regarded him from her hammock. He thought she must have just woken up: Her long, dark blond hair fell in all directions across her shoulders and face. She pushed the worst of it away from her eyes and warned him again about turtles.

“Seriously, your toes probably look like little fish to them.”

Though not convinced his feet were in peril, Hyun stood up and waved shyly to the woman.

“That’s better. I’m Mai, by the way.”

“Hyun.”

Back in the cabin, Joon began to roar dirty talk in Korean. Mai cocked her head.

“Wow. Your friend is having a good time.”

Hyun felt himself turn red. “I’m sorry. He met a girl and…”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Mai swung her legs over the edge of her hammock. Her first few steps were wobbly, and for the first time Hyun noticed the wine bottle in her hand.

“I had a roommate in college like that. I’d wake up in the middle of the night and hear her telling some frat boy she was a bad girl and needed a spanking. Traumatized me for life.”

“You are lucky you don’t speak Korean.”

Mai smiled. “Want to come over here? We can have wine and wait for your friend to wear himself out.”

Hyun hesitated. He didn’t want to disappear on Joon, assuming he ever emerged from the bedroom. Then again, he would probably fall asleep as soon as the woman left.

“OK, I’ll come around.”

“You could jump over. Much quicker.”

Hyun eyed the distance warily. It was over five feet from his deck to Mai’s, and he would have to jump from the railing.

“You can do it.” Mai encouraged him.

It was a stupid idea, Hyun was nearly convinced of it. Yet coming out of a pretty girl it sounded much more sensible.

“You really think I can make it?”

“Yes. But don’t fall in.” Mai giggled. “The turtles will get you.”

Hyun wasn’t afraid of turtles, he was afraid of getting hurt. Landing wrong on Mai’s deck could result in broken bones. Hyun tried not to dwell on it as he stepped up onto the railing, his right hand clinging to the edge of the roof.

“Count of three?” Mai asked.

“Yes. No. I mean, I’ll do it.”

With a deep breath, he went for it. For a split second, Hyun was sure he was going to land on his feet. Then gravity grabbed him by the balls and plunged him under water.

When his head popped up, Mai was reaching for him. She pulled him onto the deck, where he flopped onto his back like a dead fish.

“Are you all right? Did you swallow a lot of water?”

Hyun shook his head. He was about to speak, when Joon’s voice rang out, this time in English.

“Harder, I’m a bad boy!”

Hyun and Mai looked at each other and burst out laughing. When his eyes teared up, she wiped them away with her thumb, then leaned in to kiss him. She tasted like white wine and cilantro. A long trail of wet clothes later, they were adding their own sounds to the night.

“What happened?” Hyun asked drowsily, when he awoke to Mai brushing his hair with her fingertips.

“You fell asleep.”

“I did?”

He didn’t remember falling asleep. He remembered her lips on him, all over him, until they met his again and he was inside her.

“It’s all right, you’re cute when you sleep. Can you stay?”

“Let me leave my friend a note, so he doesn’t worry.”

“That’s sweet.” She kissed the tender spot below Hyun’s ear. “Your clothes are still wet, better take my bathrobe.”

With Mai’s robe cinched tight around his waist, Hyun walked over to his and Joon’s cabin. At first he was relieved not to hear any noises, but soon the silence became disconcerting. Joon usually snored like a bull.

“Joon?” Hyun called out.

Frightened that his friend had gone looking for him in the forest, in which case he would surely become lost, Hyun pushed open the bedroom door. Inside, he saw Joon pinned to the mattress by what looked like a monstrous insect. Long serrated legs, bent backwards like a cricket’s, braced the beast on the floor while, on the other end, smooth mandibles jutted from beneath a shovel-shaped head to wrap around Joon’s throat. A bulbous thorax hung between Joon’s splayed legs and thrust viciously into him.

Before Hyun could react, a wet splat and the hum of giant wings drowned the air. The creature’s mandibles released, and Joon began to scream. Whether frightened or simply through with him, the bug pushed itself off Joon and scrambled over the bed towards Hyun. With nothing to defend himself with, Hyun raced out of the bedroom, his eyes darting everywhere in hopes of finding a weapon. Once outside, and still empty handed, he prepared to make a sharp turn for the lake but was tackled from behind. Hyun twisted away and kicked as hard as he could with both feet. The right foot caught the monster in the eye, making it stagger away.

“Hyun, catch!”

Mai was standing in the doorway of her cabin, an empty wine bottle gripped menacingly in her hand. Hyun caught it in the air and spun around to bash it against the skull of his six-legged attacker. When it cowered, Hyun hit it several more times until, with a deafening shriek, it fled to the sky and vanished.

Joon had stopped screaming by the time Hyun and Mai got to him. He lay on the bed, barely responsive, as Mai pulled blankets over his lower body. There was blood everywhere, along with a vicious black substance that smelled like burnt salt. Already, his neck was turning black and blue.

“Joon, can you hear me?”

Hyun took Joon’s hand and was relieved to feel him squeeze back. On the other side of the room, Mai picked up the phone to call for help. Joon started to moan, and Hyun comforted him as best he could.

Things got worse when the paramedics arrived. As they were strapping Joon to the stretcher, his body started to shake violently. Sedatives were administered until, finally, his body was still. Hyun watched his friends eyes roll back into his head, and tried not to think about the blood soaking the bed sheets. At the hospital, after calling Joon’s family, he paced the waiting room until Mai arrived and forced him to be still.

“The best thing you can do for him is be calm and patient,” she said.

She coerced him into laying down for “just a little bit.” With his head in her lap, Hyun struggled to stay awake despite Mai stroking the back of his neck.

It wouldn’t have done any good to stay up. While Hyun slept, Mr. Cheong phoned the hospital and forbade the staff to speak of his son’s condition. Hyun could only get the doctors to tell him that Joon was stable and “responsive.” When Mr. Cheong arrived late the next day, Hyun was abruptly dismissed. He knew there was no use in arguing. Since they were first friends, Mr. Cheung considered Hyun an asset to his son’s life. Though from a lower class family, Hyun got excellent grades, stayed out of trouble, and in turn kept Joon from getting into as much as he would have otherwise. Now Hyun feared he had fallen out of favor: Mr. Cheong was fiercely protective and made enemies easily.

Despondent, Hyun retreated to the resort where he found his cabin cordoned off. Not knowing what else to say at the time, he had told police that a stranger broke in and attacked Joon. The hotel manager allowed Hyun to collect his things and offered him a free weeks stay in the future, by way of apology. When the man left, Hyun went to Mai’s cabin and took her up on the wine she’d offered when they met. When the bottle was drained, he curled up beside her in bed and talked about Joon: how he had always looked out for Hyun, ever since they met, and how he never cared about Hyun’s parents working in a factory, or that he wore clothes from Good Will.

“Everything will go back to normal,” Mai said when he finished. “Just give it time.”

“I don’t want to go back alone. My flight to Chicago is tomorrow.”

“Where in Chicago?”

Hyun told her his address. When she didn’t respond, he asked what was wrong.

“Nothing. It’s just,” Mai shook her head in disbelief, “Hyun, I live two blocks away from you.”

“Are you sure?” It sounded ridiculous, but wonderful.

“Very sure. Why don’t I cut my trip short and come back with you?”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to. I’ll miss you if you leave.”

“You just met me.”

“Granted.”

Mai sat up in bed and looked at Hyun. Something in her eyes made heat spread across his stomach.

“However, under the circumstances I think we’ve bonded more than time would have otherwise allowed. And I want to go back with you.”

As soon as he said yes, Mai was on the phone with the airline agency. Luck was on their side, and she managed to get on the same one as Hyun’s. By the time the plane landed at Chicago airport, his thoughts were racing. He still hadn’t heard from Joon, and his exhausted mind taunted him with morbid possibilities. Distraction came when they reached his apartment: there was an envelope stuck on the door and Hyun’s key didn’t fit in the lock. Disoriented, he let Mai read the letter.

“Mother-fucker,” she spat.

“What?”

She looked up from the paper clenched in her fist, and her expression turned from rage to sorrow.

“It says that your things have been moved to a storage facility. The address is on the bottom. Your friend’s father has generously paid for the first month’s fees.”

“He kicked me out?” Hyun asked, unable to fully process the news.

“This is ridiculous. I’m sure when Joon feels better, he’ll straighten things out. Do you have someone you can crash with for a few days?”

Hyun shook his head. “Joon was my only friend here. I haven’t even started my new job yet.”

“All right, well, at the risk of sounding impetuous you can crash with me. I don’t think they let you sleep in those storage places.”

“I can’t do that to you.”

“Sure you can.” Mai took his hand and led him back to the elevator. “I have an extra room you can use. Right now there’s nothing in it but book shelves and a fish tank. It was going to be my home office.” She rolled her eyes.

Hyun didn’t argue after that, he was too miserable. It was easier to follow Mai. Since she didn’t have anything for him to sleep on, she put Hyun in her bed and took the couch.

“We can buy a futon or sofa bed, if things take some time to work themselves out,” she assured him.

Over a month later Hyun still hadn’t heard from Joon, despite sending him numerous emails and phone messages. Eventually he felt compelled to tell Mai he would need to get his own place, he couldn’t count on her charity indefinitely.

“It’s not charity if you pay rent,” she countered. “Honestly, you’d be doing me favor.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“I’m serious.”

With gentle prodding, Hyun learned the whole truth. Mai explained how her family had money once, and how her father loved to travel. Especially in Asia. Vietnam was his favorite, he named her after one of it’s native flowers. Unfortunately, a series of bad investments had bankrupted the family. Still, he clung to the dream of seeing his favorite vacation spot one last time. When he died, Mai did the best she could: She laid her father’s ashes to rest in the waters of the resort lake. It drained her bank account, leaving her to juggle credit cards until she got back on her feet.

“Don’t feel pressured, I swear I can get by. And if you get sick of me you can always leave, no notice required!”

Hyun couldn’t imagine himself getting sick of her, so they moved his things out of storage that afternoon. The next night, he got a text message from Joon.

Where are you?? Your things are all gone!

Hyun called him right away. Joon answered on the verge of panic.

“Hyun, why did you leave? Are you mad at me?”

“No! I didn’t want to leave. Your father…” Hyun bit his tongue. It didn’t seem right to disrespect Mr. Cheong.

“My father did this?” Joon sounded calmer, but still unhappy. “That’s ridiculous, he can’t kick you out on the street. Come back.”

“I’m not on the street, Joon, don’t worry about me. Are you all right? When did they let you out of the hospital?”

“Yes, this morning. My father wouldn’t let me call anyone or use my computer. He’s ashamed of what happened.”

Hyun thought back to the cabin and repressed a shudder. “But you’re all right now?”

“I still ache sometimes but they gave me pills so it’s not so bad. Can I see you?”

“Of course, I can come over right away.”

After saying good-bye, Hyun told Mai the news. She was happy, but her smile dimmed.

“Are you going to move back right away?”

“I’m not moving.” Hyun felt genuinely surprised at his own words. “Joon will understand. He would have been happy to have his own bachelor pad, if he didn’t worry about me.”

“I won’t be pissed if you change your mind. You two are like family.”

“So maybe I should go move in with my mother,” Hyun teased.

Mai laughed and he pulled her close.

“I’m not leaving,” he promised. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

As soon as Hyun was in the door Joon eyed him suspiciously, then grinned.

“You’ve been a bad boy. Who is she?”

“Her name is Mai. You’ll like her.”

“Who cares if I like her?” Joon poked Hyun playfully in the ribs. “Do you like her?”

“Yes. We’re living together.”

“So soon? Ah, you were always the romantic type.”

They sat at the kitchen table and Joon became serious.

“So you’re not moving back in?”

“Does it bother you?”

“Be with your woman.” Joon patted Hyun on the back. “We’re grown men, right?”

Hyun nodded, grateful.

“Is your father still angry at me?”

Joon sighed. “He always likes to blame others.”

“What did you tell him?”

“What could I say? He’d think I was crazy.” Joon took a napkin and began to nervously shred it into tiny pieces. “You saw it too, right? Sometimes I feel like I went insane that night.”

“I saw it. So did Mai.”

“That was Mai?” Joon looked thoughtful. “I remember her, a little. How did she know to come help?”

“I was with her that night.”

“That’s why you didn’t hear the window break.” Joon muttered, more to himself than to Hyun.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, you weren’t doing anything wrong.” Joon chuckled. “Is that why you were in a bathrobe? I thought I imagined that!”

“My clothes were wet from falling in the lake.”

Joon howled with laughter. “You fell into the lake? Oh shit, you have the spend the night. I need to hear everything I missed.”

Hyun agreed and made a quick call to tell Mai. She told him to have fun and say hello to Joon for her. Meanwhile, Joon stood a few feet away and pretended to make out with a pillow. Hyun gave him the finger; it felt like old times. They ordered pizza and beer and spent the night talking about easy topics. A few times Hyun noticed a sense of discomfort on his friends face, but Joon waved off his concern.

“It’s fine, much better than before. When they first took me to the hospital, I couldn’t shit for a week.”

It was the closest he came to talking about the incident again. Once the pizza was finished, Joon put in a “Girls Gone Wild” DVD and they played “real or fake.” With no way to know for sure, it was a silly game, but it was their tradition. If they had eaten take-out Chinese, they would have put in old Kung Fu movies on mute and made up their own dialogue. Around midnight, both Hyun and Joon were starting to nod off, despite the barrage of “barely legal” Spring Break breasts on the wide-screen TV.

“I think I’m going to call it a night,” Hyun said.

“OK, but where are you going to sleep? My douchebag father took your bed.”

“The couch is fine.”

“The couch is shit. Come on, my bed is big enough so that we can sleep without bothering each other.”

Hyun shrugged. As kids, they had sleep-overs all the time. It wouldn’t be the first time they shared a bed.

“All right, but don’t hog the covers.”

“Right,” Joon winked, “you need your beauty sleep for your woman.”

Because it was a pleasantly warm night, both men stripped down to their boxers before getting under the sheets. Hyun noticed that Joon’s abdomen was swollen and bruised. He quickly flipped over, so Joon wouldn’t catch him staring and become self-conscious. He was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

At first, Hyun thought the hot breath in his ear was Mai. When his eyes opened to Joon’s bedroom, he jolted awake. A strong arm pushed him back down on the mattress.

“I’m sorry Hyun.”

Joon’s voice was ragged and trembled over the words. His hands grasped the edges of Hyun’s boxers and pulled them down.

“What are you doing?”

Joon put his hand over Hyun’s mouth.

“I’m sorry,” he said again. “But I need it out of me.”

Hyun struggled but Joon took his arm and contorted it painfully behind his back. Hyun yelped against his friend’s hand.

“Don’t fight,” Joon hissed. “It hurts more if you fight.”

The skin of Joon’s stomach burned the small of Hyun’s back.

“Raise your hips up. I’ll be was quick as I can.”

When Hyun shook his head, Joon wrenched his arm harder.

“I can hurt you, Hyun! Do you want that?”

Hyun jerked his head back, sending his skull squarely into Joon’s nose. Joon fell back and Hyun flipped around to punch him in the stomach. His hand sunk in up to the wrist, and white hot pain lanced the sides of Hyun’s palm. As Joon tumbled off the bed, Hyun pulled his fist back to find two puncture wounds weeping blood.

Down on the floor, a pair of black glistening eyes peered out of Joon’s abdominal cavity. A spasm shook his body, sending the giant larvae out in a swirl of intestines.

“Hyun?”

Joon’s voice was dreamlike. Hyun went to his side, careful to avoid the squirming maggot on the floor.

“Is it gone?” He smiled and Hyun forced back his bile.

“Yes, yes Joon. It’s gone.”

He took Joon’s hand and told him to hold on, that he needed to call for help. Joon was dead before he even finished the sentence. Unable to let go, Hyun wept.