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Mohrbooks Literary Agency Marie Arendt |
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CHEAT DAYS
Hitae knows better than to kill. But no one's perfect.
In order to fit into society he keeps his psychopathic tendencies pushed down no matter how awful the people he meets may be, except for one "cheat day" a month when he allows himself to let loose. He only targets people the world will be better off withoutlike an alcoholic neighbor who turns violent when he drinks, or the eighteen-year-old delinquent who mercilessly tortures younger students and drives one of them to suicide.
By day Hitae is diligent and caring in his job as an elementary school teacher. The origins of his split personality lie in his difficult childhood, with a mercilessly abusive father and an indefatigably loving mother who begged him not to give in to his violent urges. After his mother was killed by a drunk driver who then got off with a slap on the wrist, Hitae decided that he could use those same violent tendencies to rid the world of the people that make it a bad place to live.
Although Hitae tries to keep the two sides of himself separate, it starts to become difficult. He finds one of his students, Minseo, using her craft scissors to mutilate a baby chick. Hitae realizes that she has the same violent tendencies that he had at her age and commits himself to helping her adapt to society. Then, on his next "cheat day," he's carrying out a plan to abduct and punish a woman who he's learned is a murderer and child abuser, when a mysterious figure in black appears and abducts her from right under Hitae's nose. The investigation is difficult, but finally he manages to find out who the man is.
The man, Dong-gyu, is Hitae's mirror image. He's a psychopathic killer who lives a seemingly normal life as a police officer, and the loving father of young Minseo. Hitae is forced to grapple with how to understand him. Is he a criminal who deserves to be punished? Or an ally, someone like him? Hitae decides to manipulate Dong-gyu into helping him take down an illegal drug distributor. But he's pushed ever deeper into a situation he can't understand or control.
By day Hitae is diligent and caring in his job as an elementary school teacher. The origins of his split personality lie in his difficult childhood, with a mercilessly abusive father and an indefatigably loving mother who begged him not to give in to his violent urges. After his mother was killed by a drunk driver who then got off with a slap on the wrist, Hitae decided that he could use those same violent tendencies to rid the world of the people that make it a bad place to live.
Although Hitae tries to keep the two sides of himself separate, it starts to become difficult. He finds one of his students, Minseo, using her craft scissors to mutilate a baby chick. Hitae realizes that she has the same violent tendencies that he had at her age and commits himself to helping her adapt to society. Then, on his next "cheat day," he's carrying out a plan to abduct and punish a woman who he's learned is a murderer and child abuser, when a mysterious figure in black appears and abducts her from right under Hitae's nose. The investigation is difficult, but finally he manages to find out who the man is.
The man, Dong-gyu, is Hitae's mirror image. He's a psychopathic killer who lives a seemingly normal life as a police officer, and the loving father of young Minseo. Hitae is forced to grapple with how to understand him. Is he a criminal who deserves to be punished? Or an ally, someone like him? Hitae decides to manipulate Dong-gyu into helping him take down an illegal drug distributor. But he's pushed ever deeper into a situation he can't understand or control.