The Tiger's Den
Having unexpectedly developed a hobby for being a trainer, he finally managed to make her behave and sat her down on the bed.
“Hnnng...”
“Don’t even make that sound.”
“...Master’s scent is just too addictive.”
I already showered, so I don’t smell like anything. What kind of smell are you talking about this whole time...
“No, it’s not that. If I bury my nose right here in the crook of your neck...”
Wait. Stop right there.
“Yes? Ahhh...”
“Don’t think you can just sneakily cling to me like that, you filthy slut.”
“...Master, you really do have a tiresome personality.”
It sounded as if she had used that phrase as a substitute for calling me a "quick-witted bastard," but I decided to let it slide for now. When she said she would sleep in the study next door, I gave a rough nod and gestured for her to get out. Living together was already exhausting (and terrifying) enough; the thought of sleeping in the same bed as that monster made my skin crawl.
Then again, ‘Doesn’t the study lack a bed? Is she going to sleep on the floor?’
Who cares.
“Oh, you’re here.”
“We’re doing this right away. Seriously, I looked it up because I wanted to buy this, and it’s twenty million won. Like, does that even make sense?”
“You make plenty of money.”
My friends Jeongwon and Hoyeon had arrived. As you know, Jeongwon is the one who makes good money, and Hoyeon is...
“Koisuwwwww, he’s already off the clockwwww.”
“Can you please stop with that otaku talk?”
“Hee-eung....”
Hoyeon, who only got off work at 10 PM on a Sunday, is a third-year resident in emergency medicine at a university hospital. He’s an aspiring doctor obsessed with those weird online communities and light novels. I wonder if those two worlds can even coexist, but...
The reason he does that is:
“This is a meme. I’m telling you, it’s not otaku talk.”
He brings the latest memes to keep me updated. Even if he seems like he’s missing a few screws, he’s a remarkably smart guy. His personality is decent, too. Anyway, we all went inside to play games. Before the guys arrived, I had shoved my flight simulation chair into the game room. Even though she had become a bitch who swore loyalty to me, I was worried that if she heard these loud voices and tried to hold it in, she might just snap.
“Absolutely, absolutely do not crawl out.”
“Yes... then, if I walk out...”
“No, just stay locked in the master bedroom. Don’t come out even if I call you.”
“Chee, how can you be like that...”
Before my friends arrived, I emphasized it to her twice—no, about five times. I warned her, ‘If you even think about coming out, I’ll tear your limbs off! Got it?’ But the response I got back was:
“You’re just saying that to be rough on purpose, right...? If you say that and I come out to the living room, you’ll... you’ll touch my butt and cheeks a whole lot...♡ Ah, what do I do, I’m already wet...♡”
Because that led to a total failure, I made a deal that if she promised to stay locked in the room, I would ravage her roughly right then and there. Of course, after hearing that, she grabbed my wrist as I was about to leave the bedroom with a satisfied expression and said,
“R-right now, once... and once more after they all leave...♡”
So, I had met my friends after being sucked dry since the morning. Can’t I just kick this crazy bitch out? You might ask, why not just grab her by the collar and throw her off the balcony? It’s obvious my father would scream profanities I’ve never heard before right in my face. Her father and mother would definitely come chasing after me, shouting, "Can't my daughter make a mistake once in a while!" Even if she did something like that, she’s the daughter they raised like a precious jewel; would they really take my side?
That woman could put on a show, screaming at the top of her lungs outside the front door, threatening to kill herself with a knife. If that happened, not only would I have to move, but her tantrum—captured in some way I don't even know—would spread all over social media for at least a month, and reporters would hound me every morning on my way to work, asking questions until I was humiliated beyond belief.
And...
‘Maybe she really could kill me.’
As the days went by, her masochistic tendencies grew, and at the same time, a chilling aura began to emanate from her. Thinking back on it, it seems like that trigger activates whenever she’s in danger—for example, if she’s kicked out of this house, or if there’s a risk she might be kicked out. That’s why I couldn’t kick her out. I truly understood why people negotiate with terrorists instead of fighting them.
Why did I do that? I should have strongly insisted we meet outside, I muttered to myself, a self-deprecating regret mixed in. With that, I left her locked in the master bedroom and started playing with my friends.
“You idiot, change your mouse, seriously, ah...”
“No, can you catch a Tristana who uses Flash and runs away? Is it my fault?”
“Uh, if it were me, I would have used Flash too.”
“Don’t you see I have Ignite and Teleport equipped?”
“You’re the idiot. If it were me, I’d drop Teleport. Change your mouse.”
“Stop criticizing me blindly and give me some realistic, constructive advice. It’s not like I can change it right now...”
“Just sell all your items and surrender. The way you’re playing is no different from a KOSDAQ-listed stock on the verge of delisting after hitting the lower limit three times in a row, so what realistic...”
We were having the kind of heartwarming conversation only best friends could have while gaming. I was watching Hoyeon play Blitzcrank while he claimed he came over to play DCS, and then,
“Wow... that brain-dead mortar-head... seriously... is he even human...?”
“Whatever, TV, he’s better than you.”
“What are you saying, you Bronze scrub... move aside, let me play with Suhyun.”
The League of Legends match we started was going poorly, and now the arrows of rage were pointed at me.
“Oh my... looks like you’re screwed. Jeongwon, who is full of baseless confidence, has been cut down by defeat—!”
“Ah... seriously, Han Suhyun, why didn’t you use your ultimate, damn it, ah seriously, ah!!!!!!!! Are you just saving it?!!!!”
Bang, bang, bang. Jeongwon was slamming his desk, and I was waiting to respawn, completely dazed.
“No, there was no kill angle!! If I used my ultimate and missed, you’d just yell at me anyway, but wait, you’re being super discriminatory. Why aren’t you saying anything to Hoyeon?”
I glanced back at Jeongwon, who was fuming at me, and he spoke with an incredulous look on his face. He stared at his monitor for a long time, watching the Nexus shatter, and said,
“Honestly, I don’t have the confidence to fight that kind of otaku... Even if I’m going to yell, I have to yell at a normal person for it to even register...”
“So, what did you talk about with your wife?”
“Don’t get married! Long live being single!”
“You... please, be quiet...”
Why are you suddenly bringing up my wife? Please, don’t talk about that... There’s a monster inhabiting the master bedroom...
After our crushing defeat, I got up saying let’s stop, and Jeongwon and Hoyeon, who followed, sat on the living room sofa and started chatting about this and that, until the topic of my wife came up. They seemed secretly curious, and Hoyeon, who hadn't been there, seemed to have heard everything already; his eyes lit up, he wiped away his otaku tone, and fixed his gaze on me.
“So... well, just...”
“You came back because you still have lingering feelings, right?”
“No, well...”
“You really have to crush that kind of thing from the start. No, hey, I heard from the guys that you wanted to get divorced too. I heard everything about how your wife—no, that woman—used to nag you and swear at you? The way you were treated like leftovers, the more I hear about it, the more ridiculous it sounds.”
Please, shut up, unless you want to see one of your friends die...
“Wasn’t there anything Suhyun couldn’t do for her? Every time I called him to go grab a drink, he couldn’t come because his wife told him to clean the house...”
Hoyeon chimed in from the side, agreeing with Jeongwon.
“For a husband who makes billions in annual salary, even if you shouldn't care about wealth, seriously...”
“Can’t we... can’t we talk about something else?”
That crazy bitch is going to jump out of the room, you assholes!
“Since the subject came up, I’ll say it: I think it was a year ago, when you had the housewarming party for your new newlywed home, she kept looking at me with a face that said she wanted me to leave quickly. She couldn’t even hide it, it was so obvious, whew, I couldn’t go back.”
“Right. I only managed to come after begging and pleading, and she found us so annoying. You didn’t know, did you?”
Was that so? I hadn't been paying close attention to my wife's expressions back then...
“Marriage is just a bunch of pretense anyway, right? Hey, that woman definitely approached you for your money.”
“No... we dated for a long time, and I’ve known her for a while...”
“Korean women are all snobs anyway. You’re the idiot for trusting her. That’s why I told you to go on blind dates in college, but you didn’t listen...”
What are you talking about? I was dating someone back then.
“Then, if you could go back to that time, would you date her again?”
“...A-ah, no...”
“See.”
Hoyeon chuckled and leaned back comfortably into the sofa.
“Didn’t you have that girl who kept chasing after you even when you were dating in college?”
“Don’t use the expression ‘chasing after me.’ And I really don’t have feelings for her.”
“Oh, I know her. I think she works for a Doowon affiliate? Was it a few months ago? She was working at a public corporation and then moved there.”
Are you still in contact? No, more than that, that girl works at our affiliate?
. . .
If I try to remember, the girl immediately pops into my head. Eun Byeol, a junior by one year. I remember her well because her name is a single syllable. Among the industrial engineering students of that year, she was the only woman. Not only was she the only girl in the department, but she also came to drinking parties often, so I knew her. If I have to remember her for that reason,
“Senior, they say if you do this mentoring, they give you a scholarship.”
“The purpose is good.”
While looking at the notice posted on the large bulletin board on the 3rd floor of the lecture building, I turned my head and she was there. I thought the purpose was good, so I said exactly what I thought.
Then,
“I got a C+ in Introduction to Industrial Engineering. But you’re famous for getting all A+s, Senior... and you’re the top of the department...”
“You just have to work hard. If you work hard too, your grades will go up soon...”
After saying that, I turned around and disappeared, and Eun Byeol, who had secretly written his name and her own on the mentoring application form, caused an incident a week later.
“I tried putting it in as a joke, but it actually worked, so I have no choice but to do it. Right, Senior?”
There was a time like that. Of course, I didn’t tell Seo Jia. At that time, the love between the two of us was burning particularly bright, and after a few years, it hit its peak and then began a gradual downward trend. It was the perfect thing to trigger jealousy. I wasn’t so oblivious that I would do something to ruin the mood when we were in a happy relationship.
“But if you’re in Industrial Engineering, usually... don’t you go down to a local factory? Then there’s no reason to meet—”
“That’s true, but there are a lot of them at headquarters too. They go to the EF Center or the Management Research Institute, and there’s the purchasing department, too.”