Jeong Eun-ji's Collapse (2)
I felt a wave of relief the moment Jeong Eun-ji finished explaining everything she'd heard.
No matter how bad things had gotten, at least I hadn't crossed the line into complete human garbage territory. That was the first thing that hit me. Sure, the shit I'd already pulled was still way beyond delinquent-level trash, but still.
The second emotion was pure disbelief. So this crazy bitch had only heard part of the story and then jumped to conclusions, hating my guts for years to the point of wanting me dead. That was ridiculous. I mean, yeah, she'd known me since middle school, so it would've been weirder if she didn't hate me. But even taking that into account, her level of loathing had been extreme. And it was all based on a misunderstanding?
If the things she'd misunderstood had actually been true, her insane hatred would've made perfect sense. But now that it had been revealed as a misunderstanding, there was no reason for me to cut her any more slack.
And the third feeling was a strange sense of victory.
Jeong Eun-ji had already been crushed twice by the disaster she'd brought on herself. On top of that, the very fuel that had kept her hating me for so long was gone. The hatred she'd nursed for years turned out to be nothing but a mirage. The power dynamic between us had completely flipped.
Originally, I'd been the lowest of the low — the scum who'd knocked up her friend and forced an abortion. But now that the truth was out, I was the victim who'd suffered years of one-sided, murderous hatred because of a misunderstanding. Looking at my actual life, I couldn't exactly call myself a pure victim, but it was more than enough to reverse our positions.
And now that the tables had turned, all that remained was for Jeong Eun-ji to fall into my hands.
I'd originally planned to take things slow — work out with her, build rapport over time. But this changed everything.
I deliberately put on my most stern expression and lowered my voice as much as possible, like I was seriously pissed off. (I wasn't angry at all, of course.)
"Th-that's..."
"And then you went and blabbed all that unconfirmed crap to Yuri? Even though we weren't even dating back then?"
"That was..."
I kept hammering her without giving her a chance to collect herself.
"Th-that... I-I'm sorry..."
"Sorry? Is that it? I almost got my life destroyed for no reason, and you didn't even know. You felt so bad for me that you even let me off the hook?"
"That was... th-thank you for—"
"But even knowing all that, you still made another bet with me over test scores? You knew how unfair it was and still tried to turn me into your slave? Are you fucking serious right now?"
"I-I'm sorry. I was wrong..."
Jeong Eun-ji — the same girl whose usual personality was loud, hot-tempered, and tomboyish — had her head bowed so low it was almost unrecognizable. She kept apologizing to me over and over.
"And on top of all that, even while you were doing this to me, I still tried to apologize by winning the bet and treating you nicely? Do you think I'm some kind of pushover just because I stopped causing trouble and started behaving myself?"
"N-no! That's not what I meant... I was going to say something, but the timing..."
"Timing? When? After you'd already beaten me in the bet and done everything you could to screw me over?"
"That..."
"Ugh, the more I think about it, the angrier I get. I was planning to go easy on you this time too, but no. You've been stuck thinking about the old me this whole time, trying to mess me up no matter what. Fine. I'll act exactly like the guy you think I am. Hey. Follow me."
"Ugh..."
When I raised my voice and glared at her with a threatening aura, Jeong Eun-ji — weighed down by her own guilt — couldn't say a single word. She simply followed behind me.
The usual Jeong Eun-ji was fierce and sharp-tongued. But that attitude was mostly reserved for me. With other people, she was surprisingly friendly and easygoing. Still, she knew exactly what kind of person 'Han Seong-jin' used to be. If he got truly angry, he wouldn't hesitate to swing on a girl without a second thought.
Knowing that, her eyes filled with terror and her body trembled violently. No matter how much she trained or how strong she was for a girl, if I really decided to beat her, there was nothing she could do.
Since we'd already worked out enough, I took her and left the cram school behind. Neither of us spoke a word the entire walk.
The place we arrived at was a convenience store near the school. I bought two ice creams, ate one myself, and tossed the other to her.
"Hey."
"...?"
Jeong Eun-ji caught the flying ice cream with a confused look on her face.
"Peace offering."
"Peace...?"
"I didn't knock up your friend. So you don't have a reason to hate me anymore, right? There's no point in us disliking each other. I'll admit I lived like absolute trash in middle school, but I've genuinely changed now. So stop living in the past and quit giving me so much attitude."
"......"
"Oh, and just so you know, whether you want to make peace or not doesn't matter. It's an order. Make peace. Got it?"
"...... Ugh..."
Jeong Eun-ji stood there clutching the ice cream, her body shaking. Then big, fat tears began rolling down her cheeks. Finally, she couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Huuuuhuuung! Waaaaaaaah!"
It took her several minutes to calm down. We sat on a bench by the street. Her sobbing had stopped, but she was still sniffling, tears and snot leaking as she hiccupped.
"Hic... ugh..."
"Never thought the great Jeong Eun-ji could cry like that."
"Hic... S-stop teasing me... I thought I was going to die from fear..."
"Hey, I still haven't heard your answer yet."
"Answer...?"
"I told you to make peace. And to stop giving me attitude. You need to answer properly, don't you?"
"Hic... O-okay. I won't do it anymore."
"Also, obviously, since I've been the one taking all the damage here, this isn't going to end with just a simple reconciliation. I'm in the mood to make peace for now, but you're definitely going to pay for what you've done."
"...Okay."
"You tried to destroy me for years over something I didn't even do, and then you lost two bets in a row on top of that. So yeah, I'm going to take something from you. Don't expect me to keep being this nice."
"Hic... I know."
The Jeong Eun-ji who would've normally jumped up yelling something like 'What are you trying to make me do?!' was now completely broken. The guilt from her misunderstanding, the two consecutive bet losses, and even receiving pity had shattered her pride. She answered with total resignation.
"Good. You know? I like how quick your answers are. Now that you've calmed down a bit, shall we change locations?"
"Where... are we going?"
I turned to look at the hesitant Jeong Eun-ji and gave her a crooked grin.
"Do you really need to know? We're going to go receive your punishment."
"......"
I led Jeong Eun-ji behind me as we headed toward the bustling downtown area. The place we entered was a DVD bang. It wasn't the same one I'd gone to with Yuri — this one was tucked a little deeper into the back alleys.
Among guys like me, it was basically treated as a two-hour motel. Anyone with half a brain who saw us heading into a DVD bang would've immediately understood the intention...
"Are we watching a movie?"
Jeong Eun-ji, who'd spent her whole life only training, was painfully clueless about this kind of thing. Even the straight-laced Yuri knew what DVD bangs were usually used for.
I just jerked my chin toward the entrance, silently telling her to follow without asking questions.
"Two people. We'll pay separately."
We each paid and settled into the room the employee guided us to. Then I gave Jeong Eun-ji an order.
"Go get the movie called XXXXX. And buy us something to drink while you're at it."
Since it didn't seem like much of a punishment yet, she got up without complaint.
......
While pulling two cans of cola from the fridge, Jeong Eun-ji asked for the movie title.
"Do you have a movie called XXXXX?"
She had no idea what kind of film it was. The moment she saw the DVD case the employee handed her, her face turned bright red.
The poster showed a naked man and woman pressed tightly together in a sticky embrace. In the top corner was a red circle with the number '19' and the words 'Not Suitable for Minors.'
'This is a dirty movie!'
Resentment toward Han Seong-jin surged inside her.
'If he wanted to rent it, he could've done it himself. Why make me do it...'
But she quickly realized this was part of her punishment. With a sigh of resignation, she took the erotic DVD while desperately avoiding eye contact with the staff, then practically ran back to the room.
"I-I rented it."
"Put it in and play it."
Han Seong-jin lay back on the large sofa bed like a king, arms folded behind his head. Jeong Eun-ji, now reduced to his subordinate, did as she was told and started the movie. As soon as it began, Han Seong-jin patted the spot right next to him.
"Come sit here."
Jeong Eun-ji sat down exactly where he indicated, right beside him. Han Seong-jin casually draped his arm over her shoulder.
From any outside perspective, they looked exactly like a couple. Jeong Eun-ji flinched and tried to brush his hand away, but he held on with surprising strength. Only then did she remember this was supposed to be her punishment.
'Is he trying to humiliate me like this...? Ugh... Still, I can endure this much!'
She'd never been this close with Gong Yeong-bae either, so a wave of guilt toward him washed over her. But there was nothing she could do about it right now.
The movie started. It didn't take long before the male and female leads were naked, caressing each other on screen.
'Oh god, this is insane... Why would he make me rent something like this...'
It was quite an explicit film. Jeong Eun-ji didn't know where to look and broke out in a cold sweat. She was desperately waiting for the time to pass when—
"Man, watching that is making me so fucking hard."
"......"
"Oh right. I said I was giving you a punishment but never told you what it was, did I?"
"......?"
Han Seong-jin, still lounging lazily on the sofa bed, turned his body to face her directly.
"Eek?!"
Jeong Eun-ji let out a startled scream when she saw the massive bulge in the front of his pants. Without hesitation, Han Seong-jin pulled his pants down, fully exposing himself, and looked straight at her.
"Suck it."