The Naked Dogeza
Huh? Isn't it common sense to do a naked dogeza when apologizing? …………… Right there, frozen in the pose with my hand on the front door. I completely froze up.
The bizarre sight unfolding before my eyes. A beautiful woman's... naked body, kneeling and prostrating itself. And what seemed to be her clothes... a suit and underwear. But of all places, she'd chosen to do her naked dogeza right in front of my apartment's shoe cabinet at the entryway.
What... the hell is this? Am I seeing things?
Was this reality or a hallucination? I couldn't tell the difference. Was I maybe napping on a bench at the bathhouse?
No, I can't escape reality like that.
I shook off the fog in my mind and forced myself to face the facts. First, the clothes neatly folded on the floor. It was definitely the top-tier luxury-brand suit Choi Seori had worn during the code review. The underwear... no idea what brand, but it looked expensive too.
So that means the naked woman over there is...?
My gaze drifted involuntarily. Under the light, the curve of her back and waist, her hips came into view.
...Damn, what a body. Seriously. She could make a killing just posting pics on SNS.
No, snap out of it, Han Minseo. Admiring her figure in a situation like this? I had to end this excruciating awkwardness first. I couldn't just standoff with a naked woman in my entryway forever.
My throat was parched, but I managed to force out some words.
"S-Seori sunbae, right? What are you doing in my—"
...Sunbae?
What had I just said? Calling Choi Seori "Seori sunbae"? My mouth had moved on its own. This must be it—Han Minseo's lingering human emotions toward her, speaking through his memories. Because the "me" after becoming Han Minseo had zero good feelings for Choi Seori. I'd never use a friendly term like "sunbae" for her.
At that moment, Choi Seori slowly lifted her head. A vivid red mark marred her forehead, like it'd been pressed into the floor for ages.
"Minseo."
Unlike her voice at the office, it was hoarse and cracked.
As if she hadn't had a drop of water since I stormed out of the company.
"I'm sorry. I was wrong."
"...Huh?"
"You quitting the company? All my fault. I went too far. I admit it."
Choi Seori slammed her forehead into the floor again. A dull thud echoed.
"Forgive me. Please."
What... what the hell is this? Is that really Choi Seori?
The same Choi Seori who'd humiliated me in front of the other employees, saying my code was worse than AI-generated crap. The one who'd turned one-on-one code reviews into personal attacks.
Now she was naked on her knees before me, forehead to the floor, begging forgiveness.
Flustered. If I had to sum up my feelings in two words, that was it.
"It was all my fault. I just wanted you by my side forever."
While my body stiffened and words failed me, she slammed her forehead down again.
"Minseo, come back. I can't live without you."
This... this is... wrong. Something's seriously off.
Something was wrong. Sure, she might be sorry, but a naked dogeza? That was poles apart from any normal apology—like the distance between the South and North Poles.
Hidden camera? Trying to frame me as a sex offender?
Whatever her intentions, this situation was dangerous as hell. From past memories, this multi-family housing had shitty soundproofing. If anyone overheard or saw this, Han Minseo's life was fucked.
First, end this fast... Clothes. Yeah, get her dressed.
I took a step back and spoke firmly, but quietly enough not to alert the neighbors.
"Okay, okay, I get it. Just grab your clothes and put them on first. What the hell is this?!"
But Choi Seori ignored me completely. Instead, still on her knees, she started crawling toward me.
"Seori sunbae!?"
Her hand clutched my pant leg. Cold and trembling.
"No. I can't stand until you forgive me."
She shook her head, looking up at me. Her eyes were red and bloodshot.
"So forgive me. I'll do anything... anything you want. Just come back."
"Seori sunbae, calm down first. Yeah? Put on some clothes and then we can talk..."
"Hit me if you want. Yell at me. Whatever."
Choi Seori cut me off. Still gripping my pant leg, she stared up with pupils shrunken to pinpricks.
"Use this body however you like. Do whatever until you're satisfied. Hell, break me if you want. That's fine too."
Persuasion wasn't working. She didn't even seem to hear me.
"Please... just come back... please..."
She's not listening.
An alarm blared in my head. This woman wasn't in her right mind. She wasn't conversing—she was chanting some spell. The moment I realized normal communication was impossible, that she was an incomprehensible entity, primal fear crawled up my spine.
……………
I was overwhelmed by Choi Seori, speechless, backing away.
Thud.
But there was nowhere left to retreat. The cold front door pressed against my back.
"Ugh."
Trapped like a rat in a corner. Who knew I'd be fleeing this hard from a woman naked on her knees?
And then, over her desperate pleading form, a memory from the past overlaid itself. Seori sunbae's face in the server room—pale and fragile from overwork, slumped and vulnerable.
This was Han Minseo's memory. But since it was this body's too, it felt like something I'd witnessed myself.
Ugh, seriously...
Irritation welled up.
After tormenting me like that, you think a crazy apology like this will make me come crawling back?
But despite the anger, her pathetic state left me unsettled too.
Why the hell is she doing this, though?
Han Minseo's memories whispered: She hadn't been this broken before.
How bad must it have gotten for her to shatter like this... No, focus. She's dangerous. I need to get her out.
Anger, confusion, contempt, faint lingering warmth from the past, pity for her wretched state, instinct toward a stripped, helpless, beautiful woman, terror at this unknowable being. All these emotions tangled in my head, churning chaos.
Lost in the turmoil, unable to speak, her crawling stopped. She slumped to the floor on her knees.
"I'm not that great a person. I got lucky with success, but I couldn't handle it. So I wore the masks—genius, CEO."
Her voice grew quieter.
"...Han Minseo, from college, you saw me as human Choi Seori, not the genius. Only by your side could I just be Choi Seori."
She hung her head, staring at her knees.
"So I just... wanted you close. Even after graduation. But I didn't know how. All show and no substance."
Her confession continued.
"I tied you to my company, kept you in my sight, blinded you to everything else. Thought if I made it hell, you'd only look at me."
She added with effort, "I was... so stupid. Sorry."
As if to prove it, a single tear traced her cheek.
The mask of the tyrannical dictator, the perfect genius CEO Choi Seori, shattered with her own words.
...She's crying? Choi Seori?
It was unbelievable. The woman who'd insulted, threatened, and driven Han Minseo to the brink of death from overwork.
Now weeping before me. Naked, on her knees.
What should I say? To me... Han Minseo was just a college junior. She liked me that much?
That single tear packed more punch than expected. Like flipping a switch, fond college memories with Seori sunbae replayed in my head unbidden.
"......"
She'd always had that fragile air. Solid, but ready to crack under the wrong hit.
I was conflicted. Choi Seori was the demon who'd shoved current Han Minseo into hell.
But she was also the cold, arrogant yet vulnerable, approachable senior past Han Minseo had saved.
Dictator, genius, CEO... and sunbae. Which was the real Choi Seori? I couldn't tell anymore.
"...Haa."
In the end, a long, deep sigh escaped. Surrender, you could call it.
I stopped backing away. Instead, I slowly approached her.
My shadow fell over her kneeling form.
"Okay."
My voice to her felt strangely unfamiliar even to me.
"I forgive you. So... put your clothes on first and let's talk."
I picked up her clothes from the floor. And with her shoulders trembling, I draped them over her myself.