The Hidden Purpose of the Bullying
"Didn't you say they resort to severe violence if you stay too long in the medicine room or take your time changing in the locker room?"
"Yes……."
Eunyoung nodded.
She frowned slightly, as if the memory was still vivid.
"They probably planted that violence in everyone's minds so no one would linger in the medicine room, making it easier for them to sneak out drugs. In the locker room, they needed to hide the stolen items, so they beat people to force them out quickly before anyone could notice."
"Ah…… So that's why……?"
Eunyoung's eyes widened.
"Well, it's just my theory, so feel free to take it lightly—like, 'Oh, I guess that's one way to look at it~'"
I shrugged.
"Also, you mentioned they dump an overwhelming amount of work on new nurses. That fits the same pattern. If a new nurse is buried under insane amounts of tasks, they stay too busy to observe their surroundings. No one would notice what the head nurse is doing in the medicine room or what she's hiding in the locker cabinets."
"……"
Eunyoung stared at me, speechless.
"And if the bullying is bad enough, new nurses quit fast. The longer they stay, the higher the chance they'll notice something suspicious. So kicking them out quickly is safer for the culprits. You said plenty of new nurses couldn't endure it and left, right? It wasn't coincidence—it was intentional."
"Oh my god……"
Eunyoung covered her mouth with her hand.
"So all that abuse they put me through…… was just to cover up their embezzlement?"
"Probably. It wasn't because they hated you personally. It was simply a means to hide their crimes."
It was a bitter conclusion. The reason Eunyoung had suffered so much was merely to conceal a crime.
To those people, she hadn't been a human being—just an obstacle that needed to be removed.
From beside me, Eunbi also stared at me with wide eyes, clearly surprised.
Her gaze seemed to say she was seeing me in a new light.
Feeling like I'd finally shown some senior-like competence, I shrugged again.
Hey, I'm still a chemical engineering student at Seohan University, you know? Even if it took me three tries to get in.
At that moment, tears began streaming down Eunyoung's face.
"Ah…… Thank goodness……"
Her voice trembled.
"It wasn't because I was incompetent or bad at my job…… I wasn't being bullied for that……"
She wiped her tears with the back of her hand, but they kept falling.
It was as if seven months of pent-up injustice and sorrow were pouring out all at once.
"The discomfort I carried in my chest has completely disappeared. Thank you so much, Counselor."
Eunyoung spoke through her sobs.
"That was the best counseling session I've ever had. I came here after seeing the post, not really expecting much, just grasping at straws…… I never imagined the straw would turn out to be a solid rope……"
"No…… This is only my hypothesis……"
I waved my hands.
"For all we know, they might just be genuinely evil people who bullied you because you weren't good at the job…… Mmph!"
Before I could pour cold water on the moment, Eunbi, who had been sitting beside me, shot me a sharp glare and clamped her hand over my mouth.
Her eyes clearly said, Shut your mouth.
"Thank you so much."
Eunyoung wiped her tears and bowed deeply.
"You two are my saviors…… I won't forget this kindness. I'll make sure to promote the Career Counseling Club actively."
"No, please don't do that."
I said it with genuine desperation. Counseling really didn't suit my personality at all.
I never wanted to do something like this again.
"Oh dear, look at me…… The tears won't stop……"
Sniffling, Eunyoung gathered her bag.
She headed toward the door as if rushing to the restroom, but before leaving the clubroom, she turned around once more to bow.
"Thank you again. I'll drop by again when I have time. Ah, or would that be a bother……"
Eunyoung trailed off, then suddenly blushed and added,
"And, um…… that kiss……"
My heart dropped.
"It felt good……"
Eunyoung smiled shyly, her tear-streaked eyes tinged red.
"I'm glad my first kiss was with someone as wonderful as you. Sniff, hehe."
With that, she waved her hand.
"Goodbye, then."
The door closed.
A heavy silence filled the clubroom.
What did I just hear?
First kiss? Wonderful person? Was she talking about me?
My mind went blank, and from beside me, I felt a terrifying, icy aura.
I slowly turned my head.
Eunbi was staring at me with a completely expressionless face.
"Senior."
"Uh…… Yeah……?"
"What was that about a kiss all of a sudden?"
Her voice was cold.
"Ah…… Well……"
I couldn't speak properly; my breath caught in my throat.
"In the locker room, we just…… I guess the atmosphere got to us…… It was just a light kiss, I think that's what she's referring to……"
I tried to downplay it as much as possible, but it didn't work at all.
Eunbi's arm, which had been loosely draped around my shoulders, suddenly tightened and pulled me in hard.
It was an anaconda-like headlock that squeezed the air out of me.
My neck was completely wrapped in her forearm, cutting off my airway, while my face was pressed firmly against her chest. It was incredibly soft, but I couldn't breathe.
Eunbi's scent tickled my nose—the sweet perfume only made it harder to breathe.
"So you two kissed in the women's locker room?"
Her voice had dropped to an icy tone.
The usual bright lilt was completely gone.
"Cough…… Could you loosen this first…… Urgh……"
I struggled, but her arm only squeezed tighter.
Why was this woman so strong?
"Why did you leave out something this important last time?"
"It wasn't a big deal…… I didn't think I needed to mention it…… Cough…… Just a second……! I can't breathe!"
I tried to pry her arm off, but it didn't budge.
My vision started to blur.
My face was crushed against Eunbi's chest; I felt like I was going to suffocate.
"Kissing isn't a big deal to you, Senior?"
Eunbi's voice murmured low near my ear.
It was a cold tone unlike her usual self—part sulky, part angry.
"No…… It is a big deal…… It is…… But first, let me breathe……!"
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because…… Cough…… It was embarrassing……"
"If it was embarrassing, you shouldn't have kissed her in the first place."
"I didn't kiss her! I was kissed!"
The moment I managed to spit that out, the pressure on her arm eased slightly.
Air finally rushed into my lungs and I gasped desperately.
"……So you were kissed unilaterally?"
"Y-Yeah…… The cabinet was too narrow…… I couldn't dodge…… It's true……"
I panted, making excuses.
More importantly, why did I have to explain myself to Eunbi? She wasn't even my girlfriend.
Eunbi looked down at me.
She still hadn't released the headlock.
"Hmm……"
Eunbi pursed her lips, as if thinking.
"Then what about your first kiss, Senior?"
"……What?"
"Eunyoung said it was her first kiss. What about yours? Don't tell me it was also your first kiss?"
My face burned at the question.
I was a twenty-seven-year-old lifelong single; of course I didn't have a first kiss to speak of.
But admitting that honestly would wound my pride too much.
"Th-That's……"
"Your face is turning red, so I guess it was."
Looking as if she was upset that someone else had stolen my first kiss, Eunbi tightened the headlock again.
While her right arm applied pressure, her left hand deftly unbuckled my belt and slipped inside my pants.
"Wait……! Not there……!"
I resisted desperately, but with my face crushed against her chest and the powerful headlock, I couldn't stop her hand from reaching inside.
"Huh? What's this?"
She frowned when her fingers met the hard, flat sensation of metal instead of what she expected.
Wanting to see what she had touched, she yanked down both my pants and underwear in one swift motion.
"No…… Don't look…… You can't look!"
Eunbi stared in shock at the flat-type chastity cage sitting where my manhood should have been.
So startled that her headlock loosened, I quickly escaped.
"Wh-What……? Is that a chastity cage……?"
"……"
How was I supposed to explain this?
I had never even imagined that anyone other than my younger sister would discover the chastity cage.
A grown man walking around with a chastity device on his dick. There was no excuse that wouldn't make me look like a pervert.
Since I couldn't come up with a decent lie, I decided it was better to just tell the truth before she started interrogating me.
"My…… My younger sister put it on me."
I barely managed to speak.
"She likes me too much……"
"Eeeh……"
Eunbi's face twisted.
She looked genuinely disgusted.
"Your own sister put a chastity cage on her brother? What the hell…… That's gross……"
Her eyes looked as if she were staring at a disgusting insect.
"What is this? A dysfunctional family?"
Said the girl whose mother was a judge, father a detective, and brother a prosecutor—while she herself forced a senior to cross-dress, blackmailed him, and raped his ass on a regular basis. But I swallowed those words.
"Haah, this is ridiculous."
Eunbi sighed deeply and pressed a hand to her forehead.
"I was planning to put one on you first, damn it."
……What did she just say?
Profanity coming out of Eunbi's pretty mouth. It was the first time I'd heard her swear like that.
"I can't believe someone beat me to it."
Eunbi muttered through gritted teeth.
"Tch, I never imagined my rival would be his little sister."
……?
The fact that I was wearing a chastity cage didn't seem to bother her at all.
Instead, she looked utterly unable to accept that my sister had claimed that part of me first. She ground her teeth and slammed her fist down on the desk.
With a dull thud, the old desk rattled as if screaming, and the pen holder on top flew off and rolled across the floor.
"What…… What's wrong with you……"
I asked, flustered.
"Senior."
Eunbi looked me straight in the eye.
There was no trace of her usual playful expression.
"From now on, I won't stay still either. I think we need to speed things up."
"You…… You were never still to begin with."
She'd already been plenty aggressive—forced cross-dressing, blackmail, pegging and all.
"Look forward to it."
Eunbi grinned.
But her eyes weren't smiling.
"Since you let your sister put the chastity cage on you without any resistance, I can't forgive you that easily."
She stared at me with burning eyes. It was terrifying.
More frightening than when she'd pegged me in women's clothing.
"You promised to grant my wish, didn't you?"
"Uh…… Yeah……"
"As punishment for letting your sister put the chastity cage on you without resisting, you'll take off all your clothes—underwear, shoes, socks included—get on the desk, spread your legs, and open your ass."
"That sounds more like an order than a wish……"
What exactly was my crime supposed to be?
I'd been sleeping soundly when they tied me up and forced it on me!
In the first place, it was my body, yet they were treating it like some prize to fight over.
No one asked for my opinion. My will was completely ignored.
This was my body, yet it no longer belonged to me. It had become a trophy that Jang Eunbi and Seo Jiheon competed to steal.
One used blackmail and forced feminization; the other used obsession and a chastity cage. The methods differed, but the result was the same.
I was nothing more than a stuffed toy being tossed between them.
I needed to steel my resolve.
To protect my body. To protect my pride.
I swore I wouldn't be dragged around anymore, that from now on I'd refuse them outright.
……But would it really be that easy?
What was going to happen to my life from here on out?
A sigh escaped me.