Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: The Creepy Uncle Stalker
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“Kim Ga-eun, why did you go on ahead without me!”
I hooked my arm through Kim Ga-eun's and yanked her sharply toward me.
The middle-aged guy who had been clinging to her like he was her dad flinched and backed off.
I deliberately avoided looking his way and pressed my phone to my ear. Pretending to talk into the dark screen, I unleashed a torrent of words.
“Uh, yeah, Dad. I found Ga-eun. Oh, I don't know~ I told her to wait for me, but she went ahead anyway! Where are you, Dad? Oh, that convenience store? Got it~ I'm coming!”
“……”
“Kim Ga-eun! My dad says he's right over there. No place to park, so hurry up. Let's go! But who's that guy?”
Gripping Kim Ga-eun's arm, I eyed the still-flustered middle-aged man.
'Mid-50s, about 5'7''.
His height, hairstyle, the general style and color of his clothes. If we ended up reporting this to the police later, I'd need his description etched in my mind. Whispering just loud enough for everyone to hear, I asked Ga-eun,
“Is that your dad, Ga-eun?”
“...No.”
“Then a relative?”
“...No.”
“What? Then he's nobody! Let's go!”
Dad said he'd dock my allowance if I got a ticket. Invoking my nonexistent dad at every turn, I dragged Kim Ga-eun's arm relentlessly.
Toward bright lights. Bright, crowded places for sure.
Somehow, we ended up heading not toward her original path or my house, but toward Gugu High School. Didn't matter. As we went, I chattered loudly about nonsense.
“So our homeroom teacher wrote some 19+ fanfic... Jae-kyeom got caught reading it in class...... and had to come up front and read it aloud as punishment......”
Her steps, which had been casually steady, picked up speed.
By the time we reached the edge of the bustling district with Father Touch and Olive Young, we were both running.
“Huff, huff...”
I glanced at Kim Ga-eun, who was gasping for breath.
Her usually slightly furrowed face was pale. Our hands, clasped without knowing who started it, were clammy with cold sweat.
Our eyes met. I nodded toward the shop next door.
“Wanna grab a cola?”
“...He's not a total stranger, actually.”
I was hungry, but eating now would ruin my sleep—and tomorrow's studies.
As I sipped my water to stave off hunger, Kim Ga-eun sat across from me, hugging her bag and slurping her cola.
Only when the ice-filled cup started rattling did she finally speak.
“He seems to work at the moving company up the street. I ran into him once at the convenience store during a break from academy...”
He'd been first in line trying to check out, and I'd been behind him.
He'd grabbed a 1+1 drink special, apparently. The clerk asked him to get another one, but he didn't get it and panicked, so I just grabbed it for him. Break was almost over, so I wanted to pay quick and go.
Then he thanked me and gave me the extra one? It was my favorite, so I took it.
Next day at the convenience store eating ramen, we bumped into each other again. Felt awkward to ignore, so I greeted him. Then he asked if a student like me hadn't eaten dinner and bought me a triangle kimbap... so I gave him one of my jellies.
But after that day, he kept...
“Acting all chummy?”
“...Yeah.”
He asked if I went to Gogogo High School, if I attended Ibaji Academy nearby, said his daughter was starting high school soon and asked what the academy was like, so I told him all about it.
“...But then one day, whenever I'd finish academy and come out, there he was waiting up front. At first I thought it was coincidence...”
“It wasn't.”
“Yeah. ...Feels like he's waiting for me. Keeps following me....... Says if I haven't eaten dinner he'll buy it, that the anju at the bar up ahead is great, that it's fine to go with an adult. Calls me 'like a daughter.'”
“Fucking psycho pervert.”
I said it flat out.
“Isn't he a stalker? Why's he waiting for some random girl student in front of the academy?”
He should just pick up his own daughter! I slammed my fist on the table in rage. But Kim Ga-eun looked uncertain.
“We need to do something about this right now!”
“But...”
“But what!”
“What if it really is just coincidence, and he's being nice because I really seem like his daughter, and I'm just misunderstanding and dragging some innocent guy into this? What if I'm wrong about a good person...”
“Even if he's a good person, uncomfortable is uncomfortable!”
What was she saying? I pounded the table three times.
I reached across, grabbed her hand. Meeting her startled eyes, I said,
“A truly good person would understand that you're uncomfortable in this situation.”
Even if his intentions weren't bad, he should acknowledge that his mere presence makes you anxious and keep his distance.
“The moment he gets upset and says 'that's not what I meant, why are you twisting it,' he's not a good person anymore!”
The best kind of guy leaves a girl alone!
“That much-older guy making you uncomfortable doesn't care about you—why are you the one agonizing over his feelings? You that nice?”
That's not nice; that's just naive!
Sharing a couple 1+1 drinks and a triangle kimbap?
Look at how far he's crossed the line now after shoving a few gifts your way!
“Wake up, in this harsh world!”
“...Okay.”
“Good.”
Whew.
“Your parents? Did you tell them?”
“...No.”
“Why?”
“Something like this happened before... Dad said it's because I don't act properly, and if it happens again, he'll shave my head...”
“……”
She hadn't just not told them—she couldn't.
“Your mom?”
“Mom too... said there are lots of weird people out there, so don't stir up trouble for no reason, keep your temper in check and endure it.”
“……”
This is the big trouble, Mom.
“No other adults?”
“Grandma's around, but she'd probably just say girls shouldn't go to academies anyway.”
“……”
Stay calm.
“Can't skip or switch academies?”
“My grades shot up since Ibaji. If I say I won't go for no reason, Dad'll kill me.”
“What about telling the academy teachers?”
“No use. I already told the homeroom teacher there.”
“Academy homeroom?”
“Yeah.”
“And?”
“He just bragged about how pretty you are.”
“……”
Makes me mad.
I could tell from her face how much she'd been stewing over this.
People only have so much time and energy in a day.
How many kids lose focus on what matters because creeps like this drain it all?
“So, Kim Ga-eun, what do you want to do?”
I snatched the cola cup from her lips, now blue from sucking it dry, down to ice water. Gave her my water instead.
“I can walk you home after academy for about a month.”
“How? You'd be in danger too.”
“True. And it's not a real fix anyway.”
“……”
“There's a second option... but honestly, it probably won't work.”
Still wanna try? I asked Ga-eun.
She nodded—anything but telling her parents—then suddenly asked,
“But can you afford to spend time on this? Don't you need to study? You're terrified of losing even one point.”
“How can I study with you looking like death next to me?”
“……”
“Kidding. I have trauma from older guys blocking girls' paths.”
“……”
“Done eating? Let's go.”
“...Yeah.”
“And I'm not shaking over one point. It's 0.1 points that terrify me. Don't underestimate.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Next day. School.
“Hey, we have to report him, obviously!”
“Yeah, report him!”
“Tell the cops to stake him out and nab him!”
Excited Se-in and Su-a yelled. Over their shoulders stomping about how insane he was, Do-yeon shot me a curious look.
Kim Ga-eun was between us, so she was holding back out of consideration.
'Gotta sort this out later too.'
“After school today, let's go report him!”
I awkwardly told Se-in, who was clenching her fists.
“Actually.”
“Yeah?”
“We already reported him yesterday...”
Because with cases like this, the sooner the better...
Reporting right after the incident counts as evidence that it made me feel strongly violated.
“You reported him?!”
“What happened?!”
“...Well.”
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.
To those expecting soda.
Sorry in advance for not delivering.
All I got right now is sweet potato—want some anyway?
(rustle rustle)