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It’s Thursday again. 

And it is raining as anticipated. This is perfect. 

What that jerk wants is a day like today. He may be mumbling that this is a good day for murder as he looks out the window at the rain. 

He may show up today. No, he must show up. 

자살을 택하지 않으면서 빠르게 죽을 수 있는 방법을 찾는 건 쉬운 일이 아니다.

그렇게 죽을 방법을 찾고 있던 중 신문에서 연쇄살인에 관한 기사를 읽었다.

It wasn’t easy to find a way to die quickly if suicide was not an option. I came across an article about serial killings while I was looking for a way to die.

그래, 이거다, 나 자신을 위험에 노출시키면 된다.

이미 몇 명이나 사람을 죽인 살인자에게 

나 하나 더 죽이는 것쯤은 일도 아닐 것이다.

다소 무모해 보이는 계획이었지만 사건 자체에 대한 호기심과

우리 동네에서 일어나고 있다는 가능성 때문에 해볼만하다는 생각이 들었다.

This is it! I only have to expose myself to danger. Killing one more person would be nothing to the murderer who had already killed several. The plan seemed rather reckless, but I thought it was worth a shot since people were curious about the cases and the murders were taking place in my neighborhood. 

나의 목적은 간단한 것이다.

연쇄살인범의 손에 살해당하는 것.

그러면 하린이 앞으로 6억이라는 보험금이 지급된다.

My objective was simple – to get killed by a serial killer. Then, 600 million won in insurance money will be paid out to Ha-rin.

내가 할 수 있는 일이라곤 비오는 목요일이 되면 

무작정 집을 나서 여기저기 거리를 쏘다니는 것이었다.  

The only thing I could do now was to go out and wander the streets on rainy Thursdays.

결국 네 번째 외출에서 살인범과 마주친 것이다.

I ran into the killer on my fourth outing.

# Interview 2 (Jeon)

The main character gets murdered by the serial killer and his daughter ends up with the insurance money, just as her father had planned. But this is not a happy ending. The main character could have caught the murderer, but the author gives this story a tragic ending, which means that the main character really had no other options. Written after Korea was hit with the 1997 financial crisis, this story demonstrates how hopeless the situation was for individuals back then. The ironic title and depressing story of “Happy to See You, Murderer” show individual Koreans’ hardships and struggles for survival in the post-crisis years. 

한 참 동안 살인자는 내 귀에 휴대폰을 대어주었다.

덕분에 마지막으로 하린이의 목소리를 들을 수 있었다.

작별인사라도 해야 하는데, 

있는 힘을 다해 입을 움직이려 해 보았지만 

살인자는 핸드폰을 폴더를 덮었다.

사랑한다는 말은 끝내 해줄 수 없었다.

The killer held the phone against my ear for a long time so that I could hear Ha-rin’s voice one last time. I should have said goodbye. I desperately tried to move my lips, but the killer took away the phone. I couldn’t tell her that I love her. 

흐릿해진 눈으로 살인자를 바라보았다.

나는 하린이에게 말해주려고 모았던 마지막 힘으로 그에게 말을 건냈다.

그것이 세상에서 내가 했던 마지막 말이다.

I stared at the killer with my clouded eyes. I used up my last energy to tell him something. It was the last thing I said in this world.

“반가웠어....살인자....” 

“Happy to see you, murderer.” 

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Seo Mi-ae (Born in Gyeongsangbuk-do Prov., 1965~ )

Debuted by winning the Daejeon Ilbo spring writing contest with “The Peony Has Bloomed” in 1986