Showcase (2)
Showcase (2)
When viva la vida started playing from my earphones,
the manager's expensive‑looking car pulled up, and at the same time,
a police car arrived.
The manager, who had gotten out of the car, approached me first.
"Seong-hwan-ssi, are you hurt anywhere?"
"I'm not hurt anywhere. Thank you."
When I bowed my head in greeting, the manager also said it was a relief and let out a sigh of relief.
Indeed, coming out of that madness without a single scratch could be considered quite lucky.
Even just browsing Qtube, you can see scenes of celebrities or actors being assaulted, right?
In particular, I know that things like throwing water bottles or eggs onto the stage are quite common.
That's why celebrities always travel with bodyguards.
The police, who had been observing the situation inside the convenience store from their patrol car, sent a radio message somewhere before finally getting out of the vehicle.
They were aunties who looked quite formidable.
They approached the manager, who had made the report, and explained.
"We've requested backup, so they'll arrive soon."
"Before that, may I ask you to explain the situation?"
Since I was the only one who knew the details, I told the officers directly.
I explained, step by step, that a customer had uploaded a photo of me and the convenience store sign to a huge online community, calling it a proof shot, and people came after seeing that post.
The officers nodded as they listened, then held their notebooks horizontally and began writing things down.
"What is the reason those people came looking for you, student?"
"Well... um... my wife is kind of a celebrity..."
"What's the causal relationship between your wife being a celebrity and them coming to see you?"
"I appeared on her Qtube channel... and they said they were fans..."
"Aha... I roughly understand what kind of incident this is."
The officers, who weren't from the main police station and hadn't asked any in-depth questions, nodded.
It wasn't a frequent occurrence, but since it could happen occasionally, they must have dealt with something like this before.
Oh, right.
I should tell them everything, including about my chest being touched earlier.
Any passerby would see that as sexual harassment.
I almost forgot.
"Um, officer?"
"Is there something else you'd like to say?"
"Actually... when I was coming out of the convenience store earlier, I don't know who did it, but..."
"It's okay, so please speak slowly and clearly."
"Someone intentionally touched my chest..."
I squeezed my eyes shut and confessed.
Honestly speaking, I could forgive something like having my chest touched.
But to set an example, I had to make them pay properly.
I've seen news articles about patients with delusional disorder who, in cases like rape or stalking, use absurd excuses like 'We're lovers,' 'You liked it too,' to try to get a lighter sentence.
So I can't just let it slide.
Someone who got the wrong idea in a weird way might try to assault me.
For reference, in this world, touching an unknown man's body is a crime.
Forget the chest; just stroking someone's hair can constitute sexual harassment.
So women don't casually stroke even young boys' hair.
In contrast, men are shown boundless mercy.
To give a somewhat extreme example, if I asked women walking on the street if I could touch their chests, 9 out of 10 would allow it?
And the one who refused would very likely be a married woman or a nun.
But if you just grope without saying anything, you'll get arrested for sexual harassment, similar to over there.
The ridiculous slap-on-the-wrist punishments are similar too.
After I confessed the sexual harassment, I opened my eyes and saw the manager's face was red.
That flush wasn't from embarrassment.
A vein stood out on his forehead, and he seemed to be holding back boiling rage to the point I thought he might collapse from high blood pressure at any moment.
"Those sons of bitches, how dare they sexually harass my store's part-timer?!"
"Uh... Manager?"
"Seong-hwan-ssi, I'll definitely catch that bitch and make her eat prison food, so don't worry."
"Huh? Ah... yes. Thank you."
And then he started calling someone.
It seems he got very angry about the fact that a part-timer managing his store had been sexually harassed.
A manager who cares for his employees this much...
Tears blurred my vision.
"It's because Seong-hwan-ssi is a guy. If it were us, it wouldn't have been like that, right?"
"Hey, no way. He's such a good boss."
"Let me give an example. How much meal allowance did the manager allow you, Seong-hwan-ssi? For reference, mine is 6,000 won."
"What? 6,000 won?"
What's this?
The manager had told me I could spend freely on meals.
Of course, I only took it to heart and ate simply within 5,000 won.
From the other part-timers' perspective, isn't that discrimination-level?
"That's not it. The difference in revenue they bring in is huge."
"I think I heard that before, but is the difference really that big?"
"It's partly because it's the weekend daytime shift, but also because some people come all the way here just to see Seong-hwan-ssi."
They say it sometimes easily exceeds double.
I guess the free meal allowance was like consideration for me, tired from so much work.
Indeed, without something sweet, I might have collapsed.
It's truly something to be grateful for.
"Maybe that's why, not a single one of the part-timers thinks it's discrimination."
"Haha... well... should I say that's a relief?"
I scratched my head awkwardly.
Since other people don't think that way, what can I do?
What can I do about it?
While I was talking with Hye-eun, the manager, who had already finished his call and was talking to the police, let out a sigh and approached us.
The officers also came along.
"For now, you can just go home today, and when we contact you later, you can visit the police station."
"I don't have to go today?"
"Well, because there are too many perpetrators."
The officer gave a bitter smile.
Even though it's the weekend, to investigate all those people, they'd have to give up going home.
I also had to go to the studio to film A-raTube, so if they'd told me to come to the station, it would have been a bit troublesome, so I'm relieved.
I'll tell A-ra after everything is over.
After that, because the manager urged me to leave early today, I had no choice but to take off my vest and prepare to go home.
The 'perpetrators' who had been trapped inside the convenience store were loaded into the police cars that arrived one by one in response to the backup request, and all were arrested and taken away.
Some resisted, and it's said that obstruction of official duties charges will be added.
They also secured the CCTV footage as evidence, and it seems they identified the person who touched my chest.
The video confirmed that my chest was intentionally grabbed.
***
On the way home after finishing the A-raTube shoot, I told A-ra what had happened at the convenience store today, and she was absolutely furious.
It was the first time I'd seen A-ra genuinely angry, so I was a bit surprised, but her concern for me was so evident that I started to feel sorry.
First, she said she's going to call the agency's Director and properly file a lawsuit.
Things like trespassing on private property will be handled by the convenience store manager, but the insults and sexual harassment in the community posts, and the sexual harassment of touching my chest at the store—we'll have to file lawsuits for those.
And as for the woman who took my photo, she can't be held criminally liable, so we'll have to pursue a civil case and demand damages.
Since I'm a layman when it comes to law, I don't really know what all that means.
Even now, she was slapping my forearm, looking furious.
"If something like that happened, you should have told me! You should have!"
"It hurts! It hurts!"
"Hurts, my foot! The guy who's fearless and overthinks everything! Really!"
"I-I'm sorry! It hurts! Stop...! Noona, stop!"
"Does... does it hurt a lot? Did I hit too hard... I'm sorry..."
It hurt, but what could I do?
I did something deserving of a beating.
Though it hurt, I didn't dodge.
Well... I also didn't have the ability to dodge A-ra's hits.
"Putting aside when you were at the convenience store, hiding it from me even before the shoot without telling me was wrong. You know that?"
"I know... I'm sorry..."
"My goodness..."
A-ra quietly hugged me.
And with one arm she stroked my back, while with the other she gently supported the back of my head.
"Seong-hwan-a, you decided to do Qtube, right?"
I was puzzled that A-ra suddenly brought up Qtube, but I nodded.
Appearing on A-ra's channel is fun, but running my own channel—how fun would that be?
Just imagining it is thrilling.
"Yes..."
"Then let's quit the convenience store. It'll be better for both you and the manager."
A-ra's point was valid.
After today's incident, I won't be able to continue working there.
Working in the service industry with my face known is absurd...
"Okay... I'll tell the manager myself."
"Yeah. And tomorrow, let's go to the agency together with noona."
"Tomorrow?"
"If we're going to do it, it's better to sign a contract with the agency, and the company has a legal team."
Wow... So, through the agency's legal team, we're filing lawsuits against people?
I thought it was a good idea, but at the same time, it scared me.
If it were individual versus individual, the perpetrators might have a chance.
But if the side filing the lawsuit is a large corporation?
And if, at the point of filing, I'm affiliated with that corporation?
The perpetrators' hope becomes worth less than the stocks that were scattered in the sky during the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
A-ra's quiet anger even made me feel like the car's air conditioner had turned on—an illusion that gave me goosebumps.
I just kept my mouth shut and held my arm that had goosebumps and the forearm A-ra had hit.