Chapter 25: Behind the Scenes
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 25: Behind the Scenes
Slurp.
After attending a 9:00 AM lecture on Tuesday and having lunch with Kim Woo-jin, Choi I-seo was now spending time with Seo Ye-rin at a cafe.
I feel like last week was exactly like this.
They were repeating the same routine, but I-seo couldn't help but feel that the three of them had grown strangely closer in just a single week.
"I-seo, do you only drink Iced Americanos?"
"Oh, it's because of my diet. I've been eating a lot of fattening stuff lately."
"You don't look like you have any weight to lose, though."
Seo Ye-rin offered the compliment with a smile.
Usually, when I-seo heard things like that, they were laced with jealousy or felt like empty flattery. But Ye-rin’s tone was genuinely sincere.
That was why I-seo quite enjoyed her time with Seo Ye-rin.
She gave off the impression of being a truly good person, and her actions backed it up.
"How’s the exercise going? Is the trainer teaching you well?"
"Yeah! It’s been great! I feel like I’m actually getting healthy."
"PT members can use the gym whenever they want, so stop by when you have time. Or should we go together sometime?"
"Oh? I’d love that! There’s some equipment I’ve been wanting to try, but the trainer was always too busy with other clients for me to ask!"
Thanks to their shared interest in fitness, the conversation flowed naturally.
They were busy chatting about going as early as tomorrow when...
"That’s why I’ve been going jogging with Kim Woo-jin."
"With Woo-jin? Ah, you mentioned that at the PC Bang too—that you guys work out together."
As Kim Woo-jin’s name came up by chance, a strange silence settled between the two.
What is this? It’s kind of awkward.
Why am I acting like this?
Neither of them quite understood why they had suddenly become tongue-tied.
I-seo was about to change the subject to break the tension, but surprisingly, it was Seo Ye-rin who took the direct approach.
"By the way, what kind of appointment do you think Woo-jin has?"
"I know, right? It’s not like he has any friends."
"..."
Both fell silent again. They both disliked the peculiar atmosphere of the situation.
Slurp.
They both just went back to sipping their coffee.
*
A twenty-minute taxi ride from the main gate of Gahyeon University leads to another school called Chungsim University.
While smaller in scale and generally considered less prestigious than Gahyeon, a few of its specific departments were rumored to be even better.
There was a man who attended Chungsim University.
His name was Choi Seo-joon.
With his tall stature, sharp fashion sense, and keen social intuition, he was the type of guy who was popular with everyone.
"Ayy, stop lying!"
"I’m serious!"
He walked alongside his girlfriend, openly flaunting their relationship, but his phone was actually filled with a mountain of chat logs from other women.
The fact that he could treat his girlfriend with such a bright smile even after sleeping with another woman just yesterday proved he was a professional in his field.
"What are we going to do today?"
At his girlfriend’s question, Choi Seo-joon thought for a moment before flashing a grin.
"Want to go to my place?"
"Hehe."
His girlfriend tried to suppress a smile at his blunt suggestion.
Lunch had only just ended, but she felt both giddy and pleased that her boyfriend wanted her already.
After all, this was a guy so famous that his name was known not just in their department, but in other schools as well—and he wanted her.
"Let’s stop by the convenience store to get some snacks to eat while we watch Netflix."
Since she wasn't opposed to the idea, she agreed while offering a subtle excuse. Her reason for going to the convenience store wasn't for snacks, but to buy protection.
"Let’s hurry."
Seo-joon put his arm around her shoulder, looking pleased that she had agreed. He began to quicken his pace, but then...
"Hey."
A man was standing at the main gate of Chungsim University.
His features weren't bad, but he clearly didn't put any effort into his appearance.
He was wearing a plain black sweatshirt, jeans, and Converse sneakers—the classic look of a college student who couldn't care less about fashion.
At first, Choi Seo-joon didn't even realize the man was calling out to him and tried to walk past.
"Hwang Ha-yoon."
The moment he heard that name, Seo-joon froze and turned to look at him.
"What’s wrong?"
His girlfriend looked at him in confusion, but he didn't have time to answer.
The man continued to rattle off names he recognized.
"Choi Ji-an, Jung Ga-eun, Shin Seo-woo."
And then.
"Jung Min-ji."
The man locked eyes with Choi Seo-joon and began walking toward him. His eyes held a cold sneer and an even colder rage.
"You’ve been busy these past two years, haven't you? Ruined quite a few lives along the way."
"Excuse me! Who do you think you are?!"
The girlfriend snapped at the man, but he only responded with a mocking laugh.
"Why don't you ask him who those five people I just mentioned are?"
"What?"
"Who the hell are you?"
Choi Seo-joon stepped forward, his voice dropping an octave. The veins popping out on his neck made it look like he was ready to kill, but...
"Me?"
The man curled his lip as if the display was pathetic.
"The guy who took the fall for the shit you did."
"What?"
Before he could process what that meant, a group of people came swarming from the direction of the main gate.
The moment Choi Seo-joon saw them, his eyes widened.
"Huh?"
The guys who looked like thugs were one thing, but the people following behind them were faces he knew all too well.
They were the guys who were supposed to be waiting at his apartment.
They were his club members—friends who had each paid him 200,000 won for the promise of spending time with his girlfriend today.
Every one of them looked like they had been pummeled; their faces were swollen, and they followed with their heads bowed, drenched in tears.
"W-what? What’s going on?"
As the clueless girlfriend looked around in a panic, the man explained with a smirk.
"Girlfriend? If you had gone to his place today, you would have had to deal with those guys. I heard he took 200,000 won from each of them to let them have their way with you."
"What did you say?!"
"Those five names I just mentioned? No one was there to stop it from happening to them like I'm stopping it for you."
His chilling voice pierced her heart like a blade. The wind suddenly felt like it was cutting into her skin.
"Go on. And pick a better guy next time."
At the man's words, the girlfriend looked at Choi Seo-joon in shock, but Seo-joon could only stare blankly at the situation, unable to offer a single word in his defense.
"Explain yourself! What is he talking about?!"
She screamed in frustration, but there was no answer.
Should he call the police?
Would that be better?
Even as he thought it, the man’s smile told him everything.
He already knows. This bastard came here knowing everything!
The fact that he knew those five women's names meant he likely had physical evidence of everything Seo-joon had done.
He was sure he had wiped their phones and computers clean after he was done with them.
On top of that, he had blackmail material on them so they wouldn't dare move against him.
"Call the police if you want."
"..."
"You feeling confident?"
At the man's words, Choi Seo-joon realized there was nothing he could do.
The fact that he had brought along men who looked like actual gangsters meant he was playing for keeps.
"Or you can come with us. We’ll go to your place instead of your girlfriend."
In the end...
Choi Seo-joon had no choice but to follow the man.
*
"Nice place you got here."
I looked around Choi Seo-joon’s studio apartment with a smile.
The communication devices—phones and laptops—were laid out on the desk. All the passwords had been cracked, exposing the secrets within.
And in front of them, five men were kneeling.
Starting with Choi Seo-joon, these members of a so-called "social club" had been maintaining a twisted relationship where they shared women they dated in exchange for money.
"W-we're sorry!"
"We'll never do it again! We swear!"
Two of them shouted out, trying to get ahead of the situation.
They had already been beaten to a pulp outside the apartment, so they were thoroughly "educated."
"I heard you guys have some blackmail material? Something about making the women say they wanted the encounter?"
"..."
"I’m going to give you your phones. Delete everything you have saved in your emails or the cloud, and then I’ll inspect them. I’ll forgive the first two who finish."
The moment I made the declaration from my chair, they scrambled for their phones and laptops.
"D-do you smoke?"
A thug slinked up to me as I sat there. It was the senior who had hit me on the trail back when I was with Min-ji.
"No. And don't smoke in front of me either."
"Yes! Understood!"
I liked how quick he was to respond. Not just the guy who hit me, but the other seniors were all standing behind me, looking incredibly tense.
I gave them a thin smile.
"Don't be so scared. We reached an 'agreement,' didn't we?"
An agreement.
Originally, I planned to give them criminal records, but after hearing about Min-ji’s situation, I changed my mind.
I’d take their money, but instead of sending them to jail, we reached a different kind of settlement.
"I-I deleted everything!"
"I'm done too!"
"Here...!"
Since I said it was first-come, first-served, they all rushed forward, shoving their phones at me. After checking each one to my satisfaction, I gathered them all and placed them on the table.
"If I find out later that you didn't delete everything, you're in real trouble. How do you think I found you in the first place?"
After a brief threat, I took the hammer I had told the thugs to bring.
CRASH!
One by one, I smashed the phones they had submitted.
CRASH!
One by one.
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
"Technology is amazing these days. They really make these phones sturdy!"
CRASH!
"Is it properly broken? Is that the SIM card?"
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
By the time I had pulverized all five phones, my arm was starting to ache. I really need to start working out.
"Oof, my arm."
I held out the hammer, and a thug took it from me with a polite bow.
Sitting back down, I sighed as I looked at the men who were still trembling.
"Now, I said I’d let two of you go, right? Who was it?"
"Me! It was me!"
"Me too!"
"I was faster!"
"Aha, it’s okay. No need to compete."
I really shouldn't do this.
"Because I was lying."
Seeing their faces fall into despair made it hard to suppress a laugh. It felt like watching a play.
"I know exactly what kind of trashy things you've done. Normally, the right thing would be to let the law handle you, but a lot of the victims said they just want to forget and don't want to deal with that."
In the end, victims have to testify to prove a crime.
Reliving that trauma requires an incredible amount of courage, and I respect their choice.
"Well, it’s not like I want to drag them to court just to see you guys get sentenced... but it feels like shit to just let you go, you know?"
"W-wait a second!"
"It was a mistake!"
"That’s right! It’s because Ch-Choi Seo-joon lured us into it...!"
I had no intention of listening to their useless excuses.
I wasn't exactly a righteous person.
But I wasn't a complete villain either.
Just an ordinary guy.
The kind of guy who says private revenge is illegal and wrong, but then mutters that it's understandable when he hears about a tragic story and a nonsensical, slap-on-the-wrist punishment.
That was exactly where my moral compass sat.
"You’re going to tell the hospital that you guys got into a fight with each other. Got it?"
"...!"
"I don't care if you report it to the police. Let's see who ends up in the gutter."
Sorry, but...
"I have a shitload of money."
With that, I patted the thugs on the shoulder and headed for the door.
"Make sure they stay in the hospital for at least two months. If they want to play with their dicks like that, they have to pay the price."
"Understood!"
"Have a safe trip back, sir!"
"Thank you for the settlement!"
Click.
As I closed the door and stepped outside, the desperate screams of men erupted from within.
Sigh.
Obviously, they weren't following me just because I settled with them.
And for a mere college student, finding out all that information about the victims would have normally taken a very long time.
It wasn't something I could have done alone.
I checked my phone and saw a blunt text message.
Just as I was about to ignore it and close my phone...
Vrrr! Vrrr!
A call came in.
I thought it might be my brother, but the caller ID read 'English Lit Choi I-seo.'
"Hello?"
When I answered, I-seo asked cautiously.
— What are you doing? Are you still meeting that person you had an appointment with?
— Woo-jin, I got promoted to Bronze 3!
Seo Ye-rin’s voice overlapped, suggesting they were still together.
I walked away from the door so they wouldn't hear the screams coming from inside.
"I just finished. I'm heading back to school now."
— Really? Do you know what time it is?
"Hmm?"
Come to think of it, what time was it?
I pulled the phone away from my ear to check the time. It was only 3:00 PM. That meant I still had two hours until my next lecture.
"It's 3:00."
— You ate lunch, met the person you had an appointment with, and finished, but you still have two hours until your lecture.
Wait.
Are they making fun of me?
"Then let's go to the PC Bang..."
I was about to suggest going to the PC Bang together, but...
— Our classes are over. Good luck with that.
— I'm going home!
— Iron Woo-jin's form is insane.
— Like I've been shot~
— If you have a five-hour gap, that's not a hole in your heart, you're just dead.
— Kim Woo-jin, out!
Click.
The call ended just like that.