I got sued (3): The Police Station Showdown
The next morning after getting sued. Normally I would've slept until a late lunch, but today was different. The reason was simple enough—I had to be at the police station by 2 p.m.
"I can just throw on whatever, right?" The only clothes I owned were underwear and the T-shirts I'd worn back when I was a guy. They wouldn't refuse to settle just because I dressed sloppy, would they? Still, I'd wear the cleanest thing I had. Please, just forgive me...
"Ah, got one." Hearing the taxi app announce a match, I stepped out the front door. It had been a full 307 days since my last outing, so even standing at the threshold made my heart pound.
"Welcome aboard, little miss~"
...I'm not a little kid. I wanted to argue, but it would only tire my mouth out, so I kept quiet. Anyone looking at me right now would see nothing but a little girl.
"Heading to the police station? Did you do something bad?"
"Yes."
"Oh dear. You didn't just refuse to eat your veggies or anything, did you? If you do, monsters will come out of a Gate and gobble you up!"
"I... have been picky with food. But that's not why I'm going."
As a successful member of the Fire Tribe, I'd never once eaten properly. Health? Who cared. An Awakener's body didn't get ruined by greasy, stimulating food. Every single day it was burgers, pizza, chicken.
When I got tired of greasy stuff, I'd switch to bread and ice cream. Even after eating like that every day since my body changed, there wasn't a single sign of weight gain. This was the Awakener physique. Incredible.
"I've got a daughter about your age myself~"
Thanks to the chatty taxi driver, the ride wasn't boring. Surprisingly, meeting other people doesn't make me that nervous. For a shut-in hikikomori, wasn't my social skill pretty decent? I was thinking that when—
"...Ugh."
The moment we arrived at the police station, my body started trembling like a leaf in the wind. Seeing the police officers and civilians bustling about, the human phobia I'd forgotten came rushing back. Was I really going to be okay?
"Excuse me, what brings you here?"
"Hik...?!"
A voice suddenly came from behind me. I let out a stupid sound and hunched my shoulders, and the other person's eyes filled with pity. Apology came as a bonus.
"I, I, I came to, to meet someone..."
"Someone? Are you someone's daughter or little sister? I'll help you find them."
"Th-that, uh..."
Social avoidance, distrust of humans, fear of people, fear of women. All my neatly assembled mental issues came crashing down at once. Words that came easily on the internet or at home wouldn't come out properly. My breathing grew rapid, my vision went white, and my mind turned pitch black—
"Hey, hey! Are you alright?!"
"I-I'm..."
I'm not alright. Please save me.
Seeing me curled up and shaking, the officer looked flustered. C-calm down. Calm... just calm down... I took deep breaths and tried to steady my racing heart. Deep breathing really was the best when you were nervous.
"Even the way you calm down is cute."
"Pardon?"
"Ah, nothing. So, what brings you here?"
"Well..."
It was embarrassing to say out loud. How was I supposed to tell a police officer that I got sued for writing something on a community board? Especially to a cop!
"I got sued."
"Sued? By who?!"
"K-Kim Yeeun... the Hunter influencer."
"Ah, that person."
Just how many people had she sued and dragged to the station for the officers to remember her name? The police really had it rough.
"I'll take you there. She actually arrived at 1 p.m. and has been waiting."
"1 p.m.?"
How long had she been grinding her teeth? She told me to come by 2, yet she showed up at 1 herself? What a nuisance to the other officers. A famous influencer, and an A-rank Hunter at that, hanging around for an hour—who could possibly work comfortably?
Can't they arrest her for obstructing official duties or something? No, of course not. If she was A-rank, the Hunter Association would go crazy protecting her.
"Be careful. Last time, she made someone who badmouthed her online apologize naked."
"...Ugh."
She wouldn't make me do that too, right? I didn't have any exhibitionist hobbies.
"Alright, go through here and she'll be inside. Once you're in, greet her and tell the person at the desk why you're here today."
"Thank you for guiding me."
"Mm-hmm. See you next time. Ah, but since it's a police station, we shouldn't meet again, right? Yeah. Let's not meet again!"
"Okay."
Weird person. But a good one. I waved back at the officer waving at me. At least I got to relax a little before facing the big moment.
Ding—
"Hello..."
"What brings you here, little miss?"
"I-I'm the person who got sued by Hunter Kim Yeeun. She told me to come by 2 p.m...."
"What?"
The officer looked at me, then at the paper in his hand. Then he said one thing.
"The documents clearly say the age is..."
"That's right. The age written on those documents."
"So you're not a little miss, just a miss. Haha!"
With that, the officer guided me toward where Kim Yeeun was. Unexpected. I'd braced myself to be treated like a criminal, but...
"Still, she says she's willing to settle, so don't worry too much. It'll work out fine. Got it?"
"I hope so."
Ah, come to think of it. I pulled out my phone and logged into the Hunter Gallery. I'd come all this way—if I didn't post proof, people would complain again.
I switched my phone to silent mode. I had no idea what would happen once I went inside... but I hoped I'd make it out alive.
Impatience. That was the emotion Kim Yeeun was feeling right now. First, the account holder's gender was male. Age thirty-three. She'd tried thinking of people around her who were thirty-three, but no one came to mind. That meant it wasn't anyone in her immediate circle.
"Hunter Kim Yeeun. The perpetrator has arrived."
"Understood."
After answering the respectful officer, Kim Yeeun stared at the door she'd entered through. What kind of person was it? What did they look like? If someone was willing to post about her private life like that, they were definitely...
Definitely someone more disgusting than I can imagine.
Someone who only lurked on communities from their room. Eating delivery food every day, belly sticking out, hair slick with grease, face covered in pockmarks, wearing thick-lensed glasses that made their eyes look weird...
The more she thought about it, the more the image of the person who'd written that post twisted into something horrifying. Not a person, but something that lived in a warped underworld.
Click—
They're here...!
With the sound of the doorknob turning, the door slowly opened. Knowing they'd done wrong, they must be scared to come in. If they'd at least been confident, she might've given them some points for amusement, but the way they were acting—
"...Hello."
A mumbling voice. But it was far from the unpleasant feeling she'd imagined.
What was that voice?
Just hearing it felt purifying. Even without any aegyo, it was the kind of voice that made your heart melt.
"I-I'm the person who got sued. You told me to come to the police station if I wanted to settle..."
"Uh, uh..."
Faced with something completely different from her imagination, Kim Yeeun kept making stupid noises. The officer standing beside her was no different. Both of their eyes widened like saucers as they looked at the girl who'd entered hesitantly. After all, they had their prejudices.
"You said they were thirty-three, didn't you?"
"According to the documents, they were definitely thirty-three."
"And you said they were male."
"That... was also correct."
"Maybe they used an account their parents made?"
"That's possible too."
The two people, having barely come to their senses, began discussing the child in front of them. Wondering if they'd borrowed their parents' account to post on the community.
"At this point, we might need to bring the parents in."
"Since we can't sue a minor..."
After a brief moment of deliberation, Kim Yeeun decided to drop the lawsuit. No matter how much the world called her a serial suer, she wasn't cold-blooded enough to sue a child. More than anything, the girl was incredibly cute.
"Th-this isn't my parents' account. It's mine."
But the words that came out of the girl's mouth exceeded Kim Yeeun's imagination. It wasn't her parents' account—it was really hers?
So that means... Thirty-three? With that face? That height? That... flatness? Then what about the "male" part? Maybe she'd lied because she'd get in trouble if her parents found out?
"Seo Eunha. Thirty-three. I was originally male, but my body changed like this after awakening."
"No way..."
Kim Yeeun's mind went completely white from the flood of information. Gender changing upon awakening? That couldn't be possible.
No, wait. It's not entirely impossible.
One of the first Awakeners had a record of changing gender upon awakening. If the girl in front of her was the same type, it wasn't entirely unreasonable. Of course, her doubts wouldn't disappear easily.
"Alright. Then shall we properly attempt a settlement?"
Having regained her usual pace, Kim Yeeun spoke in her characteristically high-handed voice. If the other party was an adult, she had nothing to hold back.
Of course, unlike all the people she'd sued until now, this one was small, cute, precious, and looked soft and squishy. Still. Still...! There would never, ever be a second time when she showed mercy.
Yes. Never again.