3-Year Friend (1)
3-Year Friend (1)
It might be an excuse.
Let's meet after I earn money. Let's meet after I buy a car. Let's meet after I get my license.
If I had really wanted to meet A-yeon, I would have done it already.
I've been putting it off for such a long time.
Perhaps, subconsciously, I'm reluctant to meet A-yeon.
All those rational reasons are just excuses; in reality, I don't value A-yeon, and I harbor a grudge against her for ruining my life by killing my father.
Maybe I just want to avoid A-yeon, who is no longer my younger sister due to the divorce, but a stranger.
Sometimes I think that.
"...Huu."
It's gloomy outside.
I have a feeling something is about to happen.
"Dohyun, are you up?"
Ha-rin-nuna was lying on the sofa watching TV.
The channel on TV was covering the topic of [ Several Hidden Cameras Discovered in OO University Restroom ].
"Why are you watching something like that in the morning?"
"There was nothing else to watch."
*
Recently, A-yeon had been struggling with one thing.
[ Caller ID Restricted: You didn't come to school today? ]
[ Caller ID Restricted: It's not even a free period ]
[ Caller ID Restricted: Why? ]
A mysterious stalker had appeared.
That was the reason A-yeon hadn't been leaving the house lately.
-Ttururu
"...The phone is ringing."
"Is it that bastard? Is it a restricted caller ID?"
"No, it's a 010 number."
"Still, you never know, so don't answer it. Hang up."
The person staying by A-yeon's side was Kim Su-ah.
She was the only friend A-yeon had met in high school.
"Aren't you scared?"
"Huh?"
"The stalker. This is already the how-many-eth time? They always only swarm around you."
"What's there to be scared of when you're right here?"
Suddenly, a hungry sound came from A-yeon's stomach.
Su-ah rummaged through the refrigerator.
"Is there nothing to eat?"
"There isn't."
"...You really can't do anything without me."
Su-ah put on her sneakers at the entrance.
"I'll go to the convenience store for a bit. Open the door when I ring the doorbell."
A-yeon's new family was harmonious, but they weren't well-off.
Since it was a weekday afternoon, both parents had already gone out to work.
That was why only Su-ah and A-yeon were in the house right now.
"If you're going, let's go together."
"It's dangerous, stay here."
"Aren't you in danger too?"
"Who would like a girl who sticks to you and follows you around? Stay here."
Su-ah left for the convenience store for a moment.
A-yeon looked at the closed front door and recalled the past.
A connection made three years ago.
A-yeon, who had just entered high school, was still a girl full of scars.
Even when someone spoke to her, she wouldn't even reply, just staring out the window and blankly passing the time.
Su-ah was the talkative friend in the seat next to her who would talk to A-yeon 50 times every break.
Thinking that if she kept ignoring her, she would eventually stop, A-yeon didn't even respond to Su-ah's words.
It wasn't just Su-ah.
Even when handsome male students or pretty female students tried to talk to her to hang out, she turned her head as if she had no interest in such things.
Because of that, at first, rumors spread that she was stuck-up.
Among the female students, of course.
The male students just felt a mysterious charm in her cool demeanor.
Then, a student who had attended the same middle school as A-yeon appeared.
That student began enthusiastically spreading rumors about A-yeon.
The fact that her brother killed his own father, or the fact that she was bullied in middle school.
Additionally, some rumors were distorted, and even false information circulated that A-yeon herself had engaged in Compensated Dating.
Naturally, the school was in an uproar.
Even students who had thought well of A-yeon distanced themselves, saying they felt uncomfortable.
The male students began to hover around her even more, thinking, "If I push her, she'll give in."
Even in those moments, Su-ah still kept talking to her and stayed by her side.
She always protected her preciously right by her side.
A-yeon valued that Su-ah more than anyone else.
Except for her brother, of course.
Suddenly, A-yeon thought of Su-ah, whom she had sent outside alone.
"...Did I send her alone for nothing?"
Should I have gone with her after all?
Even though she didn't have much of a sense of crisis regarding her own danger, A-yeon felt anxious about the danger of a close acquaintance.
Just as she was debating whether she should go out now, the doorbell rang.
-Ding-dong
*
Surprise or reaction, it was like that yesterday.
Thinking about it, I am an Egen.
Now that the day had actually arrived, my heart started to tighten, and cold sweat began to pour down.
"...Would it be better to contact her in advance?"
Ha-rin-nuna, who was rolling around on the sofa, pricked up her ears.
"What?"
"A-yeon."
"Ah."
I did tell her I was going to see her today.
Perhaps because Ha-rin-nuna had helped me from behind the scenes, she knew my past well.
"You said you were going to do a surprise?"
"Wouldn't that be too much pressure?"
"Hmm...."
Ha-rin-nuna shrugged her shoulders.
"Actually, many people hate public confessions because they draw attention. Think about it carefully, keeping in mind the personality of the A-yeon you know. How is it?"
"...Hmm."
She doesn't have the personality to like that kind of thing.
"For your reference, I like that kind of thing."
Ha-rin-nuna poked my chest with her finger.
"I'll be waiting, okay?"
Ahem, ahem.
Barely enduring nuna's advances again today, I picked up my phone for a moment.
'Surprise, my ass.'
Where would an Egen man like me get the guts for that?
They say universities have things called free periods, but it's possible she might not be there when I actually go.
Gulp.
The moment I pressed the number I had memorized with trembling hands.
-Tu-tu-tu
"...She's not picking up."
There was no response.
Is she in class right now?
Even after waiting for about 30 minutes and calling again, there was no answer.
'Should I go tomorrow?'
...No.
If I keep putting it off like this and another 6 years pass, it'll all be for nothing.
With my mind made up, I stepped out of the house.
"Why is this so fast?"
The McLaren I was driving for the first time definitely felt different.
The horsepower was on a different level from the cheap cars I drove at the driving school.
They say if you step on it once, it'll zoom off, so I should step on it as carefully as possible.
"Let's just not cause an accident, just not...."
Fortunately, there were no major difficulties.
As I moved according to the knowledge I had injected into my brain over the past week, the car drove down the road without a hitch.
Finally, the car stopped in front of the university A-yeon attended.
How did I know which university she attended?
Surprisingly, nuna knew.
"A-yeon, she goes to Gye Engineering College, right?"
"How does nuna know that?"
"While I was looking for you... no, she's quite famous on social media. As the Gye Engineering College goddess."
When I looked it up, stories were indeed circulating on social media.
A freshman with idol-level looks who appeared like a comet at a male-dominated university.
I even managed to get one of the photos circulating, and she really did grow up to be pretty.
"...Umm."
The university main gate parking lot.
Even after waiting for over three hours, comparing the people passing by with the photo, I couldn't even catch a glimpse of her.
'They say universities have a system called free periods.'
Maybe she didn't come to school today.
Should I grab someone passing by and ask?
'Oh, I need to pee.'
I don't know, let's go to the restroom first.
I held it for too long.
"Wow, look at that car."
"Is that a supercar?"
"Is it Jin-ho-sunbae's car?"
Maybe it's because I dressed up too much, but people's gazes were all directed at me.
Or rather, at my car, to be precise.
Umm, these countless gazes.
It's uncomfortable.
'...Hmm.'
I should go to a more secluded restroom.
Having found a campus with as few people as possible, I was able to find a restroom tucked away in a corner.
The moment I was about to go in quickly.
'...?'
I witnessed a man coming out of the women's restroom.
'...What is this?'
The guy looked around to see if anyone was nearby, and after confirming no one was there, he disappeared from sight with a light step.
Back in my Ssal-muk days, I had to make hiding a habit for monster hunting.
Thanks to that, I was able to witness that scene while hiding behind a wall in an instant.
'...What the hell is that bastard?'
He looks normal.
No, he's more than normal; he's overflowing with wealth.
Not the kind of wealth I artificially plastered on myself, but the kind of aura of someone who was raised preciously from birth.
That flowed from his body like an aura.
Just by looking at him, he was an alpha male.
He was tall, and his face was no joke either.
'But why is a guy like that coming out of a women's restroom?'
The first thing that came to mind was a Hidden Camera.
A very malicious crime of installing cameras in women's restrooms for bad purposes.
Didn't it even come up on the news this morning?
I might have discovered the extension of that.
'What a mess to come here to pee.'
Maybe it's because it's the school A-yeon attends, but I couldn't just let it slide.
If he had been a fat guy in a checkered shirt and glasses, I would have reported him to the police without hesitation.
But on the other hand, I also thought this.
'...Did that bastard happen to have sex?'
Looking like a total alpha male, he might have come out after doing the deed with a woman inside.
As an Egen man, Seo Do-hyeon, it's an act I can't even imagine, but there must be Tetos who can.
But if that were the case, the woman should have come out too, but the only one I see is that guy.
'I'll report it since he's suspicious, at least.'
I carefully followed him.
There was nothing suspicious about the guy from what I observed from behind.
At most, the fact that he was surrounded by women?
Given the nature of engineering colleges, women are extremely rare, but the scene I saw could be considered a women's university.
The sight of him chatting and laughing with four women.
Looking around, everywhere else is gloomy, but only that area's atmosphere is harmonious.
'Did he really have sex?'
Why would an alpha male of that level bother to install a Hidden Camera?
No matter how I think about it, it seems like he didn't install a Hidden Camera but had sex with someone inside.
But I can't just let it go because my criminal detection sensor keeps sounding an alarm.
The sensor that developed while I spent 3 years with criminals in prison.
The guy parted ways with the women and got into a car.
"...Excuse me. What have you been doing since earlier?"
"Not buying."
Ignoring the engineering student looking at me with suspicious eyes from the side, I also got into my car.
'BMW i8?'
I've become very interested in cars recently, so I could recognize the model.
A car that is in the ranks of supercars in its own way.
The price is 150 million won. It's nothing compared to the McLaren.
I quietly followed the car leaving the main gate of Gye Engineering College.
Unfortunately, I'm a driving newbie.
There was no way I could tail another car.
Instead, I just broke into a sweat trying to drive carefully so the supercar wouldn't accelerate suddenly.
'Ah, I lost him.'
Well, I've seen his face.
If a camera is actually discovered in the restroom, I can just go and testify that it was that guy.
The police will handle the rest.
'He's not at school, should I go back?'
Lastly, I decided to stop by the neighborhood where A-yeon was adopted for a while.
If it's a free period, there's a higher chance of meeting her in that neighborhood.
Having arrived at the location, I suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.
"Why is that here?"
The BMW i8 I lost earlier, the one suspected of being a Hidden Camera criminal.
It's parked right there.
The license plate number is the same, too. It's definitely that car.
"...Does he live here?"
That can't be.
I looked into it secretly because A-yeon was adopted, but it wasn't a neighborhood where the wealthy lived.
Then why did he come here?
I have an ominous feeling for some reason.
In my life, my bad premonitions have never been wrong.
I got out of the car and scanned the surroundings.
Then, I was able to find him in the park in front of the apartment.
The guy, who was pacing around nearby, was having a secret conversation with someone.
The person he was talking to was cleverly hidden by objects, so I couldn't see who it was.
If I hadn't discovered him coming out of the women's restroom.
I would have just thought he had a lot of money and moved on without much thought.
But why, of all places, at the university A-yeon attends, doing something suspected of being a Hidden Camera, and why, of all places, in front of A-yeon's house?
I couldn't help but be concerned, so I leaned in to listen.
"So you're saying I just need to act like a stalker in front of A-yeon's house?"
"Yes, it's simple, right?"
"Even so, isn't the cost-benefit ratio too off? I don't want to go to prison."
"A-yeon's house doesn't have money. They'll definitely try to handle it with a settlement. Stalking is just a misdemeanor, and you, Sunbae-nim, have a lot of money, so you can afford to pay that much, right?"
...A-yeon?
Why is A-yeon's name actually coming up?