The Truth of the Rumor (7)
“Sniff… sob……”
Seo Joo-hwan felt a fresh pang of pity for Park Do-hee. When he'd first heard about it from Yoo So-jeong, he hadn't planned on forgiving her at all, but this seemed a bit too much. After going through all the KakaoTalk messages, he couldn't help but feel sympathy.
'Threatening me was unforgivable……'
That moment still pissed him off no matter how many times he replayed it. But knowing it had all been for Jeong Ha-yeon's sake allowed him to shake off his anger. From what he'd heard, Park Do-hee hadn't been the one spreading the rumors. She'd thrown herself into the mess, body and all, just to save Jeong Ha-yeon from his supposed blackmail. Of course, it had all been a huge misunderstanding.
Seo Joo-hwan gazed at her and shook his head.
'So that's what the Accommodation talent is.'
Park Do-hee's S-rank talent, Accommodation, had two dictionary meanings. The first was simply accepting something. The second was the foundational act of appreciation—taking in and enjoying art or works on an emotional level. He'd only vaguely understood it before, but seeing Park Do-hee now, it took on a whole new interpretation.
'Flappy ears.'
It was probably a mix of her innate disposition and the talent, but Park Do-hee's Accommodation made her far too receptive to others' words, believing them all too easily. Just look at her chats with those two repulsive bitches in the group chat.
The deletion of Homophilia and addition of Narratophilia is likely related.
Seo Joo-hwan nodded, convinced by Lucy's words. No wonder the fetishes had shifted so easily. In Jeong Ha-yeon's case, it had taken quite a while for Sophophilia to appear.
Seo Joo-hwan shook his head at the sniffling Park Do-hee, telling her not to cry. She was pitiful and stirred his sympathy, but he wasn't about to comfort her. Instead, he planned to give her a chance.
“…Sniff.”
Park Do-hee swallowed her sobs. Seo Joo-hwan looked at her with a serious expression and asked,
“I'm not letting those two bitches off easy. Dropout's the least of it—I'm thinking legal action if possible.”
“……”
“What about you? Park Do-hee, you got screwed over pretty bad too.”
Park Do-hee's teary eyes wavered. Was she still conflicted? No matter how spineless she was, this was……
But contrary to his expectations, Park Do-hee wiped her eyes and met his gaze with clear resolve.
“…What do I need to do?”
Thick anger simmered in Park Do-hee's eyes as she spoke. People she'd thought were friends had been badmouthing her behind her back, pinning crimes she hadn't committed on her, and even orchestrating her middle school bullying. Even someone as soft-hearted as her couldn't help the rage bubbling up from deep inside.
Park Do-hee bit her lip hard, then spoke with a face set in determination.
“We got the order wrong.”
She bowed her head and continued.
“Oppa, I'm sorry. Punish me. I'll do whatever you say. I'll quit school, obviously.”
“……”
“But in return, order me to do anything. I want Su-ji and Ji-min… no, those two bitches to suffer too.”
“…Good. Let's think it over then.”
Seo Joo-hwan nodded. At that moment, Lee Seok-chan, still scrolling through the KakaoTalk logs, spoke up.
“Hey, Joo-hwan.”
“Yeah?”
“I have a feeling this isn't the end of it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Hm. These fuckers are hiding something more. Just a hunch, anyway.”
Lee Seok-chan spoke without any basis, just a gut feeling. But Seo Joo-hwan took him seriously.
'Gotta trust Seok-chan's instincts.'
Lee Seok-chan's words lacked evidence, but Seo Joo-hwan had solid reason to believe him. He recalled the status window he'd once opened on Lee Seok-chan.
Troilism is what people commonly call a threesome. Narrowly, it's three people; broadly, it can include hundreds. It refers to all sexual acts involving three or more.
Scopophiliac is the sub variant of Troilism. If the standard threesome is one person with two opposite-sex partners, the sub type gets excited watching their own partner have sex with someone else.
Good thing the ranks are low. As I mentioned before, mid-rank is fine, but high-rank fetishes like this make normal life tough.
After hearing about Lee Seok-chan's fetishes back then, Seo Joo-hwan finally understood why he kept pushing for those pension trips.
'Not the point right now.'
Lee Seok-chan's latent S-rank Intuition talent. Its current rank was already B+. If he sensed something, it was probably spot on.
Seo Joo-hwan pondered and picked up his phone again to review the KakaoTalk logs. Then he paused at one message.
The initials 'ㅁㅋ' expressed in Hangul consonants. Since they'd been talking games, he'd assumed it was molkom, short for multiplayer combat. But one future event clicked into place, steering his thoughts elsewhere.
'Molka! There was definitely a hidden camera incident about a year from now!'
Back then, the perp had been pegged as a guy, not a girl. As far as Seo Joo-hwan remembered, one guy from Class B had been fingered and dropped out.
'What happened after he quit? Never heard he got arrested.'
At the time, amid his own string of misfortunes, he'd just been relieved not to be targeted. Now he vaguely recalled rumors that the guy had been found not guilty.
'What if the molka's already there?'
He didn't know exactly when it had been installed. But it was worth checking.
Deep in thought, Seo Joo-hwan pulled Lee Seok-chan aside.
Lee Seok-chan blinked and asked,
“What's up?”
“Time to borrow some chaebol grandson muscle. You know people in law, right?”
“Well, yeah……”
Lee Seok-chan nodded reluctantly. Not just knew them—he'd already called in favors a few times. Back in high school, there'd been plenty of fights over guys slandering Jeong Ha-yeon.
Seo Joo-hwan grinned and clapped Lee Seok-chan's shoulder.
“Kicking those bitches out ain't enough, right?”
“Damn straight. Thinking defamation lawsuit.”
“Nah, I smell something bigger.”
“Like what?”
“At school… Wait. Hold up.”
Seo Joo-hwan cut himself off and pulled out his phone.
“Gimme a sec.”
Soon, Park Do-hee emerged, still under the submission effect, eyeing him nervously as she stood before him.
Seo Joo-hwan clicked his tongue and ruffled her hair playfully. Her eyes widened in surprise at the gesture, but he ignored it and said,
“Got a job for you.”
“Ah… yes. Anything, oppa.”
Seo Joo-hwan explained the plan to the two. It was Friday afternoon class. One more day and it was the weekend. He planned to wrap it up before then.
*
Rumors spread like wildfire. The bigger the issue, the faster they ignite. Especially in a tiny department like theirs.
“That's them, right? Yeah?”
“Yup. Kim Su-ji and Mun Ji-min. Oh, was Park Do-hee in on it too?”
“Nah, Do-hee was a victim—they manipulated her.”
“Ahh, that explains why they were always low-key shitting on her.”
“No shame. Why even show up? Just hole up at home.”
Just a day later, the whole Publishing Content Department knew about yesterday's events. No need for Seo Joo-hwan to lift a finger—the female students who'd been with Jeong Ha-yeon had spread it all.
“…Su-ji, what do we do?”
Mun Ji-min hunched her neck, voice laced with anxiety. Kim Su-ji scowled and glared at her.
“What do you mean? We're done for.”
“……”
“Don't ask me—I'm pissed too. If you hadn't given that bitch Jeong Ha-yeon your phone……”
“B-but I was scared! What could I do? You didn't say shit either!”
“I didn't hand over my phone!”
“So it's all my fault?!”
The two raised their voices behind the empty department building. Kim Su-ji cooled first.
“Hoo. Anyway, not the time to fight. Just dropout.”
“D-dropout? Can't we just take a leave……”
“For how many years? We're freshmen—four years from now, everyone we know's still around. Factor in the NEETs coming back from military vacation, and four ain't enough.”
“…Sob.”
“……”
Kim Su-ji barely held back from yelling again. Did she think she was the only one who wanted to cry? She was scared and anxious too.
