The Audacity of Desperation
The phone buzzed insistently from early that morning. Bzzz. Bzzz. I was right in the middle of getting ready for work, and the only reason I answered was the fleeting thought that it might be one of the new raid party members whose number I didn’t have yet. That decision turned out to be a mistake.
The voice on the other end was uncomfortably familiar. For a split second I considered hanging up, but curiosity about what she could possibly want won out. I decided to hear her out.
“Min Jiyeon, calling me first? To what do I owe the displeasure?”
When the raid party members had first told me about her, I’d simply brushed it off without much thought. But hearing her voice directly brought every disgusting memory from the guild rushing back.
The first time I met Min Jiyeon—actually, the first time I met those women—was on a day just like any other. I had been heading back after getting thoroughly chewed out during an end-of-year interview briefing.
“…! What the— who are you?!”
A hand had landed on my backside. No, it wasn’t just a touch. It was a full, greedy squeeze. Even if we had been somewhat close, doing something like that in public would have made anyone furious.
“Hey, you’re Han Junho, right?”
“Pfft… look at him reacting. Cute, isn’t he?”
“Is this the kind of guy you keep around? The only things worth looking at are his face and body.”
Complete strangers had groped me without hesitation and then laughed among themselves as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Whoa, his ass is so firm and bouncy! I wanna strip him and really feel it up.”
The memory of those leering, covetous eyes still burned clearly in my mind.
“Do you people even know who I—”
“Oh, hey, Junho. Now that I think about it, there’s someone I should introduce you to…”
That was when Yu Hyejeong had come running out. She had definitely seen Min Jiyeon grabbing my ass from the front. And her reaction was…
“Ah, you’ve already met. These are my friends. They’ll be joining the guild as executives.”
“Hey, Hyejeong~ Long time no see!”
“Oh my, look at you. You’ve gotten even prettier?”
She hadn’t said a single word in my defense.
“What were you doing just now?”
Even while she was busy greeting her friends, Min Jiyeon kept staring at me with those filthy eyes and kneading my backside. When Yu Hyejeong’s gaze finally landed on her, I—fool that I was—had actually believed she would take my side.
“Hm? I was just touching his ass because it’s so nice and firm.”
“Pfft— are you insane?! Hahaha…”
“Hey, that’s still Hyejeong’s man. Can you just grope him like that?”
While everyone else was watching Yu Hyejeong’s reaction, Min Jiyeon didn’t seem to care at all.
“Aah, if you like him, you can have him.”
Those shocking words hit me like a hammer, but all that appeared on Yu Hyejeong’s and her friends’ faces were delighted smiles.
“…What? Hyejeong, what did you just—”
“Why are you making such a serious face? It’s a joke. Just a joke.”
The way they dismissed what the victim found upsetting as “just a joke” should have made me lose all affection for her. And yet…
“Ah, haha… yeah. A joke.”
“Of course it’s a joke. What else would it be? Sigh, anyway. We’re going inside to hang out, so go buy us some nice drinks. Let’s go, girls.”
I couldn’t even respond properly. Looking back, it wouldn’t have been strange at all if I had gotten angry right then. But the pathetic fool I was back then simply forced an awkward smile and ran off to buy drinks for the very women who had just sexually harassed me. I was the ultimate pushover.
My drifting thoughts snapped back to reality at the sound of that still-unpleasant voice.
“There’s no reason I wouldn’t be doing well.”
It felt incredibly strange to suddenly have her taking my side. This was the same person who had always screamed that everything was my fault while heaping every kind of humiliation on me.
“So what’s the reason for this call?”
“Well, now that we’ve exchanged greetings, I think it’s fine to hang up.”
I could hear a frantic urgency in her voice that hadn’t been there before.
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
I had been casually making breakfast while listening, but my mood instantly soured. My stomach actually churned with nausea.
Wow. After making me feel like absolute garbage every time we met, after sexually harassing me constantly, she was now claiming she had liked me? She must be truly desperate this time. To say something so shameless after everything she did…
It was nothing but revolting.
“…Yes. I remember.”
“If groping someone’s ass without consent and sexually harassing them counts as showing affection, then yes. I remember it very clearly.”
She had acted so brazenly, yet it seemed she did have some awareness that her behavior had been vile. The flustered tone in her voice made that obvious.
I hadn’t brought it up expecting an apology, but the fact that she jumped straight into excuses without a single word of remorse really drove home just how shameless and selfish these women were.
“…Excuse me?”
What the hell was this crazy woman saying? My head was starting to spin.
When something is this absurd, it seems a person doesn’t even get angry anymore. I simply had no words. My mind had gone completely blank.
“…Sigh. Listen, Min Jiyeon.”
I let out a long, heavy sigh and lowered my voice before finally speaking. If I let her keep going, she’d probably spiral into some delusion where we got married and had grandchildren.
“Why on earth would I date you?”
“I’m not interested in your body either.”
This woman really seemed to think everyone in the world was just as trashy as she was. The mindset that everything could be solved with sex was disgusting. At this point she seemed so empty-headed that I almost felt pity.
“I am genuinely, truly not interested at all.”
Here came some new ridiculous logic…
Wow… She was truly something else. I was almost impressed. The sheer level of stupidity and shamelessness was awe-inspiring.
She was like an onion—peel after peel and there was always more garbage underneath. No, scratch that. Onions actually taste good. I silently offered a moment of respectful silence and an apology to the onions I was currently slicing.
“I’ve heard enough. And watch your language. I stopped you from committing crimes back then. I never helped you commit them or covered them up.”
During the time we were together, Yu Hyejeong had never actually committed any crimes against others. If there was one thing I had covered up for her, it was the constant mental abuse she had inflicted on me. I had simply never exposed it.
Seeing Min Jiyeon beg like this brought back memories from the past. When I had stopped her from committing a crime before, she had definitely said this:
‘Hey, I’m not a kid. I’m a grown adult. You’re not my mom—why should you get to vet my relationships? I’ll handle it myself, so back off!’
I never imagined the day would come when those words would be thrown back at her.
“Min Jiyeon, you’re not a child. You’re a grown adult. And I’m not your mother, so why should I have any say in your relationships? You should handle it yourself.”
It had been a pretty traumatic memory for me, and I had worried she might not even remember it since it was probably just a passing comment to her. But it seemed she understood perfectly. A small smile tugged at my lips.
“Then I’ll assume you’ll handle it yourself. I’m hanging up now. I’m a busy person.”
I was about to end the call after politely telling her I had no time to waste on her nonsense when—
Her voice was utterly desperate.
“Hmm, sure. Whether you call again or not is entirely up to you, Min Jiyeon.”
“Of course, blocking your number and refusing to answer is also entirely up to me. Have a wonderful time in prison.”
She seemed to say something else, but I didn’t bother listening and simply hung up.
“Ah… I should have cut her off like this a long time ago.”
Ha. My chest felt refreshingly light. I never thought a day would come when I could feel this way. But because I had never imagined it, the relief was all the sweeter.
“I should eat quickly and head to work. I want to see the team members.”
For some reason, I felt like I could work even harder than usual today. More than that, I wanted to live more diligently and happily than ever before. It was the first time I had felt that way since leaving the guild.