Threshold of Change
I called out to the man who had groped my wife. “Excuse me. Hold on a second…”
“…Are you talking to me?”
When I stopped the man who had sexually harassed my wife, he put on an expression that suggested he had no idea what was going on. His attitude irritated me, and I decided to speak more forcefully than I had originally planned.
“Yes, you. Come over here.”
“…Why should I?”
Oh, this bastard’s got some nerve.
“You know exactly why. Are you really not going to come? If you want to make a scene, go right ahead.”
Perhaps because of my firm tone, the man lowered his eyes with obvious reluctance and approached me. Up close, he looked even younger than I had first thought—barely college-aged, if that.
I began interrogating him in earnest.
“I saw everything you did just now.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
This son of a bitch…
“You kept touching my wife’s ass.”
“Huh? Your wife? Uh… you mean your wife?”
“Yes, my wife. You know exactly what you just did, don’t you?”
“Ah… I really didn’t touch her. I swear!”
“You keep playing dumb… This area has plenty of CCTV. Shall we take our time and find out who’s telling the truth?”
“……”
At my words, the man fell silent, his face crumpling as if the world had ended. He had probably thought he’d committed the perfect crime. But now that he’d been caught red-handed, he lost all composure. Panic flooded his features, and pure terror filled his eyes.
It made sense. Sexual harassment is a clear sex crime, classified as a serious offense in every country. The chances of receiving a heavy sentence were almost certain.
“I saw it with my own two eyes. If you keep pretending you don’t know anything, I have no choice. Shall we go to the police station and talk it over slowly? If you try to run right now, I’ll call the cops immediately.”
“The police…?”
The moment the word “police” left my mouth, his face twisted with even greater fear. His legs shook so badly he looked like he might collapse. For a brief second, I felt my resolve weaken at the sight of him, but I reminded myself that this was all his own doing. I steeled myself and pressed harder.
“Ah… no, please. Not the police…”
“So you’re admitting it now? That you touched my wife’s ass.”
“……”
“I don’t want to blow this up either. If I call the police, my wife will eventually find out, and she’ll be devastated.”
“……”
“There are too many people here. Why don’t we move somewhere quieter?”
“Yes…”
I led the man in front of me toward a relatively deserted, open clearing. As I glanced back while walking, I noticed his eyes had gone completely unfocused. Once we reached the empty lot, I turned to face him properly.
“Why did you do it?”
“Ah… well… I’m truly sorry. I won’t ever do it again.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Please believe me. Just this once, let it slide. Sob… I’m still a college student.”
“What? You’re a college student?”
“Yes…”
“Ha… So you’re still just a green kid. Oh, and since I’m obviously older than you, I’m going to drop the honorifics. You don’t mind, right?”
“No…”
“Good. Now hand over your wallet.”
“Huh?”
“What do you mean, ‘huh’? I’m not asking for money. I want to see your ID. I need to know what kind of person you are.”
“Ah… here.”
I took the wallet from him, opened it, and found both his ID and a student card that confirmed he really was a college student. I looked back and forth between the two cards. The man’s name was Kim Yeong-jun. He lived in a villa not far from the apartment complex where my wife and I resided. His student ID showed he attended the same university as Ji-hyeok, our neighbor.
“Ha… You really are a college student. What, is life too boring for you? Already trying to raise the difficulty level?”
“Ah… I’m really sorry. I must have lost my mind. Please, just this once…”
“I’ll just call you by name. Yeong-jun. You do understand how serious what you did was, right?”
“Yes… I’m truly sorry.”
“Sigh… Stop saying you’re sorry. It’s already pissing me off. Say it one more time and I’m calling the police.”
“…”
“Let me ask again. Why did you do it?”
“Um… she was just so beautiful… I must have gone crazy. But I really didn’t know she was a married woman. She didn’t look like one at all…”
“So you’re saying it’s okay to grope women who aren’t married?”
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
“You’re going to get yourself in serious trouble one day. You know you could end up in prison while you’re still young, right?”
“……”
“Is that all?”
“What?”
“I’m asking if the only reason you touched my wife’s ass was because she’s pretty.”
“Ah… well, that’s part of it, but… it’s also because of a fetish I have…”
“A fetish?”
“Yes. I’m especially attracted to women’s lower bodies—particularly… their buttocks. Your wife happened to be standing right in front of me. When I saw her from behind, her… her ass was so incredibly attractive that I just couldn’t hold back.”
“Ha… You’ve got to be kidding me. So you have a fetish for women’s asses, and today my wife just happened to be standing in front of you. That’s what you’re saying?”
“Yes…”
Listening to Yeong-jun, it seemed he possessed a strong sexual attraction specifically toward women’s buttocks. Because my wife had been standing right in front of him, he had lost control and acted on impulse. At first I couldn’t understand it, but when I pictured my wife’s figure, it suddenly made perfect sense.
Even as her husband, I had to admit that Yu-jin’s ass was on another level compared to ordinary Asian women. She didn’t even work out separately, yet it was as if she had been blessed by the gods—perfectly lifted and toned like a woman who trained professionally. The texture was addictive: soft and jelly-like, yet incredibly elastic. And it wasn’t vulgarly oversized like some Westerners’; it had just the right proportions, shaped like a beautiful peach.
Whether on a woman or a man, the most ideal body ratio is one that flatters clothing without excess. Yu-jin’s ass was exactly that—magical. No matter what she wore, it naturally drew the eye. It was the very definition of a bewitching existence.
Even I, her husband, feel this way… so how must it have looked to him?
By the time my thoughts reached that point, my attitude toward Yeong-jun had softened somewhat. Still, I had to do what needed to be done, so I continued questioning him.
“There’s something I’m curious about.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“You said you were standing behind my wife earlier, right?”
“Yes…”
“Then did you also see me kneading her ass with my hand?”
“…Yes. I saw it. Seeing you… touch her ass made me even more excited.”
Ha… I was so sure no one would notice… but someone actually saw?
Maybe it had been arrogance on my part. I had convinced myself that in a crowded festival full of people focused on the performance, no one would pay any attention to what I was doing to my wife. But perhaps my complacent self-assurance had led to this moment. I realized I needed to be far more careful from now on.
“So, you already had a fetish for women’s asses. Then you saw me groping my wife’s right in front of you, and the moment I stepped away, you wanted to try it yourself and touched her like you were me. Is that it?”
“Yes… exactly.”
“Hmm… Well, I get the picture now. More importantly, was this your first time?”
“What?”
“No matter how I think about it, even if you have that kind of fetish, jumping straight to action on a woman you’ve never seen before suggests you’ve done this before. And today, of all days, you’re at a crowded festival… You’re not some habitual offender who plans this stuff, are you?”
“Please believe me. This really is the first time.”
“Hmm… Hand over your phone for a second.”
“What?”
“Look, you did commit a crime. I’m not going to report you to the police. But I still need your contact information in case anything comes up later.”
“Ah… just a moment.”
When I asked for his phone, Yeong-jun broke into a cold sweat. His hands trembled violently as he passed it to me. I took it, dialed my own number to save his contact, and was about to hand it back when a sudden suspicion crossed my mind. I opened his gallery app.
What greeted me was shocking.
The gallery was packed with thousands of photos. The first ones that caught my eye were pictures of my wife from behind. As I scrolled, I found shots of me touching her ass, full rear views of her taken while I was away, and even photos where his own hand was visibly pressed against her backside…
And that wasn’t all. Below my wife’s photos were countless images of other women—different faces, different locations. It was clear he hadn’t targeted just one or two victims.
My initial anger at Yeong-jun for lying about this being his first time with my wife vanished, replaced by disgust at the realization that he was a serial voyeur who secretly photographed countless women.
“Hey! Are you fucking kidding me?”
“What? What do you mean…”
“You still have the nerve to say that after seeing this?”
“……”
When Yeong-jun saw the photos I showed him, he went deathly pale and began shaking uncontrollably.
“You said today was the first time you did this to my wife. Then what the hell are all these pictures? You’re a professional creep, aren’t you?”
“Ah… ah… please, hyung-nim! Spare me. If I go to the police station, my life is over. Sob…”
“Then why the hell do you do shit like this? You know what happens, right? If you get a criminal record for everything you’ve done, you can forget about taking the civil service exam. Your career is basically finished.”
“Please… I’m begging you like this… spare me…”
Finally, Yeong-jun dropped to his knees and began desperately pleading with me. People around us started murmuring, wondering what was going on. What he had done was utterly unforgivable and despicable. Yet seeing a college student who had only just become an adult already facing the end of his life… or maybe it was the sight of him on his knees begging that weakened me. In the end, I decided to let this incident slide.
“Hey… stop crying and get up.”
“Sob… yes…”
“You know what you did is a crime, right?”
“Yes…”
“I could ruin your life, but that seems too harsh. I’ll let it go this one time. But you’re deleting every single photo in your gallery. And I’m saving your number, so if you pull any more crap, you’ll go straight to prison. Understand?”
“Yes! Thank you so much. I swear I’ll never do anything like this again.”
Only after I showed mercy did Yeong-jun finally stop crying. He kept his head bowed low and repeatedly thanked me. Watching the big guy snivel and sob, I realized that despite his size, he was still just a kid on the inside.
After deleting all the photos and returning his phone, Yeong-jun thanked me once more and practically fled into the distance.
Something like this has never happened before… Another man touched my wife’s ass—the same ass that only I had ever been allowed to touch…
Even during the previous incident with the substitute driver, he had never actually touched her body. And after that, the males around my wife had only sent her lustful stares. None of them had dared to touch or covet her directly. But today, it had finally happened.
Ha… In the past, I would have beaten him senseless and handed him over to the police… But now, I don’t feel like going that far. Right now, the thing that excites me most is the simple fact that another man’s hand has touched my wife’s body…
Just as that thought crossed my mind, my phone vibrated. When I checked the screen, it was my wife.
“Where are you, oppa? You said you were going to the bathroom, but it’s been over ten minutes.”
“Ah… sorry. I ate lunch too quickly earlier and my stomach’s been a bit upset.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll head back soon, so wait just a little longer.”
“Okay, got it, oppa.”
I just let him go… Will that be all right? I deleted all the photos and have his number, so he probably won’t try anything stupid…
With that thought, I rationalized my decision to let Yeong-jun go and began walking back toward my wife, who was waiting for me with growing impatience.