Everything Exposed
Everything got exposed.
……………
I waited for her in Kang Haneul's private office on the 12th floor. The meeting dragged on longer than expected. It had been about an hour since I'd been waiting. Sitting on the sofa, fiddling with my phone, I eventually just stared blankly at the ceiling.
Learned helplessness. Stockholm syndrome.
Baek Sehee's words wouldn't leave my head. Was I really in that state? Defending Kang Haneul, thinking she wasn't so bad—was all of it just her gaslighting me?
No, that's not it.
I shook my head. I was fine. My judgment was sound. Kang Haneul was... just a little extreme. Not fundamentally bad. That's what I wanted to believe.
Click.
The office door opened, and in walked Kang Haneul, looking in an incredibly good mood.
"I'm back~"
"Ah, Haneul! How'd the meeting go today?"
I stood and approached her. After being glued to each other 24/7 for days, even a few hours apart felt awkward. Was this another sign I'd been tamed by her?
Kang Haneul held out her hand. I reached out and took it.
"I was bored without you, Yujin. But nothing much happened—"
Suddenly, her words cut off.
"...What."
The smile vanished from her face. Her voice turned icy.
"Yujin."
She gripped my hand tighter.
"I smell another bitch on you right now."
"What?"
What the hell was she talking about all of a sudden?
"Did you meet some other bitch while I was gone?"
"W-what? No, I didn't."
"Don't lie."
She brought my hand close to her nose and sniffed.
"It reeks of perfume. You don't wear perfume, Yujin. You gonna keep lying?"
"No, really, I didn't do anything. I was just at the cafe having coffee."
"Yujin. Smell your own hand."
She yanked my hand to my face. Sniff.
...Ah.
There it was, faint but unmistakable. Sweet, subtle perfume. Definitely a woman's scent.
Then it hit me. Baek Sehee.
I'm fucked.
When she handed me her business card, she'd grabbed my hand. That's when the smell must've transferred.
Ugh, I should've washed my hands right after leaving the cafe...
But I hadn't thought of it then. My head was a mess from our conversation.
"So, who was it?"
Kang Haneul's voice sank dangerously low.
"Uh, that is..."
How the hell do I explain this? That I met Baek Sehee? She'd explode.
(According to her) I'd secretly met that "paranoid psycho bitch," then lied to cover it up.
"Not gonna answer?"
"No, I mean..."
"Yujin. I'm really about to get pissed."
Heat radiated from her hand. Not joking—her temperature felt like 45 degrees Celsius.
"Please, no more lies. Who'd you meet?"
"Uh... really, nothing. Just—"
That's when her gaze shifted to my shoulder.
"...What's this?"
"Huh?"
She reached out and plucked something from my shoulder. A hair. Long, pink.
No way, how?
Yeah, I'd met Baek Sehee at the cafe. True. But we hadn't been close enough for her pink hair to fall on me.
Unless someone tampered with it... or I was cursed with the worst luck imaginable, this didn't add up.
Kang Haneul pinched the pink hair between her fingers.
"What the fuck is this?"
"Uh, that's..."
Her face twisted.
"Who?"
"Haneul, calm down—"
"WHO?!"
Her voice echoed through the office.
What do I even say? If I say Baek Sehee, she'll storm off to confront her. They'd fight. And it wouldn't end in words. Something way worse would happen.
"...Cafe staff, I think."
The lame excuse tumbled out.
"Must've brushed against me when I got my coffee."
"Cafe staff?"
She shoved the pink hair in my face.
"You think there's a single pink-haired bitch working the cafe on the first floor of Association HQ?"
"........."
I was speechless.
"They're all black or brown hair down there. Oh, right, there's one with yellow dye. Pink? Not a single one. I go there every day."
"Th-then—"
"Yujin."
She dropped the hair on the floor.
"Who's the bitch you're lying to hide?"
"........."
No way I could say Baek Sehee now. As I stayed silent, she whipped around and strode to the door.
Click.
The lock engaged.
"H-Haneul?"
Her face cold as stone, she turned slowly.
"Strip."
"...What?"
"Your clothes. Take them off."
I couldn't believe it.
"H-here?"
"Yeah. There might be more you're hiding besides the hair. Gotta check."
This woman is insane...!
Swear words burned in my throat. But I couldn't let them out.
"I told you, there's nothing!"
"Then no problem stripping, right? Prove it."
Utter bullshit logic. If you're innocent, strip? But I had no comeback. Perfume on my hands, hair on my clothes. Plenty of grounds for suspicion. And I'd botched any defense.
Still, this was too much. Even if it was her private office in the Awakener Association HQ, forcing a strip search over suspected contact with another woman? I was pissed. Humiliation surged.
But none of it mattered against Kang Haneul. Reluctantly, I shrugged off my jacket and shirt, dropping them on the sofa.
She snatched the jacket, rifling through the pockets. Outer, inner. Then—deep in the inside pocket, she pulled something out.
...Here it comes.
A business card. The one from Baek Sehee at the cafe. Ironclad proof.
She read it.
"Baek Sehee."
"Haneul, that's—"
"...Keep stripping."
"What?"
"Hurry up! Strip!"
Her voice was pure rage now. She tore the card in half, then folded and tore again. Shredded it to bits.
"Haneul..."
"Shut up and strip."
I took off my pants. Down to my underwear.
She checked everything left. Pant pockets, back pockets, inside the belt. Even my socks. Nothing, of course. Just the one card from Baek Sehee.
And while she pawed through my clothes, I just stood there. In my underwear. In the middle of the office.
Fuck... this is hell.
Not cold—shame made me tremble. New feelings boiled up: anger, disgust, resentment toward her.
……………
As I put my shirt back on, I wondered what to say. How to explain. I was still mad. About the underwear inspection.
But it was partly my fault. Hiding the meeting, lying. Kinda undermined my right to be pissed. Not exactly innocent.
Ha...
I pulled on my pants and buckled my belt. Kang Haneul watched, arms crossed.
"Explain."
No choice but the truth now. Spun as favorably as possible.
"Ran into her at the cafe by chance."
"Chance?"
"Yeah. I was waiting for your meeting to end, and she came over first."
"........."
"I was just drinking coffee. She came up, said hi."
"And?"
"She sat across from me. Couldn't exactly tell her to leave. She's an EX-rank Awakener."
Words sped up.
"The card? She forced it on me. Grabbed my hand and shoved it there. Wasn't my idea."
True. No lie.
But her face stayed cold.
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
"Nothing else?"
"Nope. Really."
She stared in silence for ages. Did she believe me? No clue.
"Haneul."
"What."
"Believe me."
I looked up with pleading eyes. Minutes of locked gazes. Finally, she sighed.
"...Fine. I'll believe you, Yujin."
"Really?"
Relief washed over me. Crisis averted, for now.
But her mood hadn't thawed. Face still hard. No trace of her usual smile.
"But Yujin."
"...Yeah?"
"You need to apologize."
"Apologize?"
"For meeting that bitch Baek Sehee. For lying to me. Apologize."
Ah...
Yeah, I did lie. Said it was cafe staff.
But she'd humiliated me too, stripping me down for inspection.
Still gotta apologize more? I got it, but it didn't sit right. Annoying.
No choice, though.
"Sorry."
"That's your apology? Do it properly."
Properly? How?
"Apologize sincerely. Properly."
"...I'm really sorry, Haneul. Lying was wrong."
She shook her head.
"No, not that."
"Then?"
She pointed at the floor.
"On your knees. Forehead to the ground."
...Dogaza?