I'm actually a feminist.
I'm actually a feminist.
"It's because I'm a feminist, you see."
Slap! Slap! Slap!
I rained down slaps one after another, like I was spiking a volleyball.
One side of her face, having been smacked, turned bright red as if it had been sunburnt.
The girls were frozen stiff by the shockingly crisp sound of the slaps and the violence, unable to even rush me.
Park So-mi was half-out of her mind, dangling in the air by her hair.
Drool leaked from her mouth and kept dripping onto the floor.
One of the bullies mustered up the courage to speak.
"S-stop! I'm going to report you to the police!"
"The police?"
A sneer spread across my face.
"Do you think that'll be enough?"
I could see the bitch who yelled looking flustered.
"What?"
"Remember what happened last time when I turned three of your friends into half-wits?"
Her face turned into a mask of despair.
Last time, three bullies were hauled off in an ambulance.
But Seo Young-jin didn't receive any punishment.
The school had pulled some strings, but the biggest reason was that the victims were bullies themselves.
The reality that if things blew up, they would end up suffering too.
Watching them panic made me feel good.
"You're all going to get your faces fixed up after graduation anyway. Since you're going to tear them down and rebuild them, I'm just doing it a little early for you. You should thank me."
"What? You... you crazy bastard."
"You'll probably start with your nose. So."
I pinched Park So-mi's nose, who was still dangling in the air, between my fingers.
And squeezed! hard.
Her perfectly fine nasal bone broke.
Crunch.
"Aaaaargh!"
A hoarse scream erupted from Park So-mi's mouth.
The sound of breaking bone mixed with the screaming was grotesque.
Park So-mi, clutching her nose and screaming.
Blood kept streaming down between the fingers she was clutching it with.
"You're noisy."
I threw Park So-mi, whom I had been holding, forward.
Thud.
"S-So-mi!"
Park So-mi couldn't regain her senses and rolled on the floor.
Still, they were friends, so they surrounded Park So-mi and checked her wounds.
One of them lifted her head and glared at me.
"You fucking pervert. I'm going to call all the Banya members, no, all the oppas, and have them kill you. I'll make sure you pay for what you did to So-mi. I'll get my revenge!"
A voice filled with malice.
But listening to what she was saying, it seemed like she was mistaken.
I kindly corrected her misunderstanding.
"You. I think you're mistaken. 'What I did to So-mi', you say?"
"You son of a bitch. It's no use trying to deny it. We're going to tell everyone. Just you wait! Just you wait!"
"No, that's not it. Did you guys think I was just going to beat up Park So-mi and leave?"
The faces of the three bullies turned pale.
"W-w-what are you talking about!"
"There were four of you who hit me. Why would I only beat up one? That wouldn't be fair."
Fear filled their faces.
I could see So-mi's face. Ruined and torn. And her broken, crooked nasal bone too.
"You're all going to get your noses and eyes operated on after graduation anyway. Just think of it as doing it a little early. I won't charge you for the demolition. Hehehe."
I cracked my knuckles and walked slowly toward the bullies.
Once again, the school was turned upside down.
This time, four female students were beaten up.
Their faces were swollen, and all their nasal bones were broken.
A few female teachers stepped up, saying they couldn't stand by while a guy hit girls, but they were quickly silenced by a single shout from the vice-principal, telling them to stop talking nonsense and just handle the cleanup.
The vice-principal even let out a sigh of relief, saying that since they were all bad kids again, it would be easy to handle.
At the same time, he pressured teacher Han Ye-seul to do something about me for causing this incident.
Han Ye-seul, who was suddenly getting chewed out, was in a foul mood.
She wanted to say something to me, but since I said I did it because I was agitated after my classmate was beaten, she couldn't press me further this time either.
It was true that Lee So-ryeong had been hit, and from the perspective of the school or Han Ye-seul, Lee So-ryeong, who was expected to go to a prestigious medical school, was far more valuable than dozens of such bullies.
In the end, the second incident was also quietly buried under the school's protection—or rather, non-protection.
A dark evening. A Mercedes S-Class was idling in a roadside parking lot on a hillside, where cars out for a drive would stop for a short break.
Inside the car, Han Ye-seul and the aforementioned middle-aged man were sitting side by side.
Han Ye-seul frowned and complained.
"Ugh. I'm seriously so annoyed I could die. Seriously, where did something like that even come from? Sigh. Seriously. I wish he would just disappear."
"Seeing how much you hate him, Ye-seul, he must be a really bad student. Well, not everyone is as kind as our Min-su. There are all kinds of students, I suppose."
Hearing the middle-aged man's words, Han Ye-seul was inwardly dumbfounded.
'Your son is no walk in the park either. Well, he's been a bit quiet lately, though.'
The middle-aged man was none other than Choi Min-su's father, Choi Man-ho.
A director of a dermatology clinic, he was a friend of the school board chairman and the president of the parents' association.
The two had formed a connection when Han Ye-seul helped cover up Choi Min-su's wrongdoing during the Seo Young-jin school violence committee incident.
Han Ye-seul, knowing Choi Man-ho was rich, had approached him, and they naturally continued meeting, eventually developing into an affair.
"Ah. Are you not taking my side right now and taking that guy's side instead?"
"No. No, that's not it. How could I not take your side, Ye-seul? I just meant that there can be bad kids mixed in among the students."
Seeing Choi Man-ho looking flustered, Han Ye-seul pretended to pout and turned her head away.
Seeing Han Ye-seul's sulky expression, a flustered Choi Man-ho quickly took out a paper bag he had placed in the back seat.
"What wrong could you possibly do, Ye-seul? Don't be like that, take this. I bought it while I was at a conference in France, thinking of you."
Han Ye-seul asked, glancing at it sideways.
"Hmph. What is it?"
"What do you mean, what is it? It's cosmetics. So you can apply it and get even prettier, Ye-seul. I bought it especially for you."
Only then did Han Ye-seul's expression brighten.
"Really?"
"Of course. While I was in France, I couldn't stop thinking about you, Ye-seul."
"Really. You're the only one who thinks of me, oppa. I really like you so much, oppa. I love you."
Ye-seul looked up at Choi Man-ho and wrapped her arms around his neck.
As a much younger woman looked up at him lovingly, Choi Man-ho's lust boiled over.
"I... I love you too, Ye-seul."
Choi Man-ho hurriedly laid Han Ye-seul down on the seat. Then he pressed the seat button.
And Choi Man-ho naturally shifted his weight on top of Han Ye-seul.
I walked Lee So-ryeong home through the night streets.
On the way home, Lee So-ryeong was walking in her gym clothes after taking off her wet clothes.
I stood silently beside Lee So-ryeong and walked side by side.
Lee So-ryeong opened her mouth first.
"Thank you."
She should be. But a different answer came out of my mouth.
"For what?"
"For scolding them in my place."
That's right. But as expected.
"I was going to have a go at them anyway, so don't worry about it too much."
"So it's not because of me."
No, it is because of you, but...
"Right. I was planning on it, and the timing just happened to work out."
"Hmph. You're annoying."
Lee So-ryeong pouted.
"Does it kill you to speak a little cutely? In times like that, you should just pretend and stay quiet."
"Yeah."
"What?"
"It does kill me."
"Wow."
Lee So-ryeong looks at me as if I'm ridiculous.
It's the truth.
I hate being dragged around by women.
If I were to divide the shares of my cancer diagnosis, my ex-wife would account for 50, no, 70 percent.
Ah, fuck. Thinking about it makes me angry again.
So, in this life, I didn't want to live being bossed around by women and walking on eggshells.
Even if it's not three wives and four concubines—no, wait, since I'm living again, I'm going to live with thirteen wives and twenty-four concubines.
Thinking about this and that, before I knew it, we were in front of Lee So-ryeong's house.
Since we didn't stop anywhere in between, time flew by.
Ah, fuck.
Where did my resolve go, and why do I feel regret?
I said as dryly as possible.
"Go home safely. And if possible, handle your own business yourself."
Lee So-ryeong looks at me quietly.
"I want to do that too."
"Yeah. As expected, you've got your head on straight."
Lee So-ryeong cut me off.
"But I can't."
"What?"
"I can't do it on my own. I don't know about after I go to college and enter society, but right now, I'm too powerless."
Why is Lee So-ryeong, who is usually bold and full of confidence, showing a weak side?
Don't do that. It makes you look too pitiful.
"I'm still nineteen. A minor, and just preparing for the CSAT is overwhelming. That's why I need someone to protect me right now. And that's why I chose you."
"Why me?"
"Because you only beat up bullies."
Ah! That's right. She's smart.
"Since you don't touch other kids and only go around beating up bullies, you seemed the most usable among the guys who fight."
Isn't "usable" a term used for objects?
But unlike my inner thoughts, I just listened silently.
"You might be offended, but I won't take you for granted either. Until I don't need you anymore, you stay by my side and protect me."
Heart flutter. Fuck. This kid is messing with my heart.
I answered as indifferently as possible.
"Isn't a man protecting a woman too old-fashioned?"
"What are you saying? It's natural for a boyfriend to protect his girlfriend."
You seductive bitch. Trying to bewitch me again with the word 'girlfriend'. I steel myself to give her a sharp scolding, but.
"Where did you hear such boomer talk."
While I'm talking, this kid cuts me off again.
This time, not with words, but with actions.
Lee So-ryeong's face got close rapidly, and her lips bumped against my cheek.
Smooch.
A light kiss.
I couldn't avoid it.
"Bye! See you tomorrow!"
I saw her waving her hand and running into the apartment complex.
Damn it. Always cutting me off in the middle of a sentence.
This kid has bad habits. Very bad.
I watched until Lee So-ryeong's figure completely disappeared, then turned around and walked away.