Traces in the Cafeteria
Ahyeon finished her bread and glanced to the side.
Eunhwa was watching her, chin propped on the table.
"Finished eating?"
"Yes."
"Then let's go."
Eunhwa pushed back from the table and rose, heading toward the cafeteria exit.
"Um…."
Was she not supposed to take her used tray? Looking around, it seemed like everyone else carried theirs over to drop them off.
But remembering how she'd been scolded earlier for picking up a tray and trying to get her serving, Ahyeon decided it was safer not to do anything she hadn't been told to do. She left the tray where it was and scampered after Eunhwa, who had already walked some distance away.
And a short while later, once Eunhwa and Ahyeon had moved out of sight, the eyes of several women in the cafeteria turned toward the tray Baek Eunhwa had used.
"…"
Slowly, they picked up Eunhwa's tray, her spoon, and the empty milk carton.
Lick.
Slurp—.
Then they began lapping up every trace Eunhwa had left behind with their tongues.
"Ahh… Eunhwa-unni…."
"That stuck-up bitch…."
Spewing their envy of Eunhwa and their spite toward Ahyeon alike, they kept licking the objects she had used, paying no mind to the strange looks others were giving them.
"Eunhwa… unni."
The word unni still felt awkward on her tongue. No—was it even right to call her that in the first place? Ahyeon had no idea how old Baek Eunhwa actually was.
Thinking this, Ahyeon called out to her anyway.
At Ahyeon's call, Eunhwa turned her head.
"What?"
"Umm… are we not supposed to clear our trays?"
Eunhwa gave a shrug and answered.
"No idea."
"What?"
"I forgot mine once and just left it, but when I went back it was already gone."
"Then why does everyone else clear their own?"
"How should I know."
Before long, they arrived at a wide-open courtyard. Some of the women lay dozing in the shade of the trees, while others could be seen jogging around the open ground, exercising.
To think the prison had a space like this. It almost seemed better than living on the outside—though asking someone to spend their whole life here would be pushing it.
Eunhwa sat down on a nearby wooden bench and looked up at the sky.
Ahyeon couldn't tell what she was thinking, but a somewhat gloomy expression hung on her face as she sank into thought.
Ahyeon shuffled over hesitantly and sat down quietly beside her.
"……"
Seeing that expression only made her more anxious. Was something bothering her?
Even after that, Eunhwa simply kept staring blankly into the distance without a word.
"…Eunhwa-unni."
Ahyeon called to her softly.
But no answer came back.
"Eunhwa-unni… I need to use the restroom."
She tugged gently at Eunhwa's sleeve and repeated herself, and only then did Eunhwa turn to look at her.
Her eyes swept Ahyeon's body up and down, and when that gaze drifted toward her lower half, Ahyeon instinctively shielded her crotch with her hands.
Eunhwa spoke.
"Just go wherever. Anywhere's fine."
"Wh-what?!"
And then Eunhwa turned her eyes back to the sky.
No….
She had to be joking, right? Ahyeon sent her the most pleading look she could muster, but Eunhwa didn't so much as twitch.
Left with no other option, Ahyeon could only fidget and squirm in place.
"Uuuugh…."
She pressed her hands hard against her crotch and tried her absolute best to hold it.
How many minutes passed like that? Finally, Eunhwa let out a sigh at the sound of Ahyeon's whimpering.
"Haah… Come on, then."
When Eunhwa rose from her seat and started walking toward the building, relief washed over Ahyeon's face.
The restroom wasn't far.
Eunhwa leaned against the wall outside and closed her eyes. Apparently, Ahyeon was meant to go in alone.
The moment Ahyeon stepped through the entrance, squat toilets came into view.
Normally a women's restroom would have partitions around the stalls—that much was standard—but there was nothing of the sort here.
Worse, they weren't even sit-down toilets but squat pans, meaning anyone standing in front could see everything in full view.
"Ugh…."
The cafeteria and the other facilities had all been clean and pleasant, so why was the restroom like this? They could have at least put up some minimal screen.
The one mercy was that the restroom was completely empty.
Ahyeon carefully crouched over the squat toilet.
With no pants and no underwear, it was at least very convenient.
…This was fine for now, but what was she supposed to do when other people were around?
Ssshhh—.
The mortifying sound echoed through the restroom.
Please tell me it can't be heard out there.
Praying desperately that Eunhwa couldn't hear, Ahyeon finished her business.
.
.
.
When Ahyeon came out after washing her hands, Eunhwa looked at her and said,
"Did you wash your hands?"
"O-of course I did!"
"Let's go get you some clothes."
At those words, Ahyeon's face lit up.
It might be a place with nothing but women, but wandering around half-naked had been uncomfortable and embarrassing—so she was finally letting her wear clothes? Why the sudden change of heart? She hadn't cared at all until now.
Eunhwa took Ahyeon's hand and walked.
And the place they arrived at was none other than Ahyeon's own cell—one she had never once used.
Inside was a small clothing rack, hung with uniforms bearing the name tag 30, along with several sets of underwear.
Eunhwa entered the room ahead of her, pulled a pair of black panties from the rack, and held them up.
She examined them front and back, turning them this way and that, then came back and handed them to Ahyeon.
"…?"
"Put them on."
At the instruction, Ahyeon put them on. They fit her perfectly, and they were comfortable.
Then Eunhwa simply turned and started walking in the opposite direction from Ahyeon's room.
That's it…?
"What about pants…?"
"Pants don't look good on you."
Excuse me… you're telling me to just not wear pants?
Ahyeon gazed longingly at the orange trousers hanging in her cell, but in the end she followed Eunhwa as she was.
Going around in nothing but panties was still embarrassing, but it was far better than wearing nothing at all.
The place they arrived at was Eunhwa's room.
As Ahyeon followed her in, Eunhwa locked the door and sat down on her bed.
Ahyeon hesitated.
Should she sit close to Eunhwa, or keep her distance?
Every instinct told her to stay far away, but something told her that Eunhwa's eyes would turn dangerous if she did.
Ahyeon cautiously edged closer and sat down pressed tight against her side.
"Are you wagging your tail?"
"…What? No, I'm not!"
Ahyeon shot back a swift rebuttal at the absurd accusation.
Eunhwa snorted a small laugh and rested her hand on Ahyeon's head.
Ahyeon couldn't make her out at all.
Sometimes she treated her with such reckless cruelty, and other times she was gentle like this.
Did she like her, or did she hate her?
She turned the question over, but no answer came.
A short while later—
"So. Why did you end up in here?"
Eunhwa asked quietly.
"……"
She had no desire to dredge up what had happened before she came to this place.
"…Why do you want to know?"
"Just curious."
Her face was utterly blank, as if she truly didn't care either way.
"Then why do you think I ended up in here?"
"…I don't know."
Considering her strength, she might have killed someone. With that kind of power, even an accident could have been fatal.
Or perhaps she was a big name from the underworld. Most of the people sent here had held power of some kind, and Eunhwa was someone even they called Big Sis.
"I don't know either."
"What?"
"I never did anything. They just told me to take someone's place."
"What's that supposed to…."
"Funny, right? And hearing that, I just walked in."
"……"
What on earth kind of person had she been?
Suddenly, Ahyeon found herself remembering her own past.
By pure coincidence, she had been through something eerily similar. Only the outcome had been different.
Watching Eunhwa's face carefully, Ahyeon spoke.
"I… killed people."
Even hearing that, her expression didn't change.
"…Doesn't that disgust you?"
"I suppose not."
"I killed a lot. A lot of them. So many."
"Is that so? Impressive."
Even so, Eunhwa's expression did not ease.
Instead, she patted Ahyeon's head in a way that almost seemed approving.
"…They were bad people."
"Why?"
"I never did anything, but they called me a criminal. And then they destroyed everything I had."
The moment Ahyeon said that, Eunhwa's hand went still.
"…So I killed them. Every last one of the bastards who ruined my life."
"……"
"Hhk… I miss my family…."
Before she knew it, tears were streaming down Ahyeon's face.
Eunhwa gently wiped them away as they fell.
And then Ahyeon buried herself in Eunhwa's arms and sobbed, as if every sorrow she had been swallowing down had burst free all at once.
…And the face of Eunhwa as she held her was terrifyingly blank—so blank it sent a chill down the spine. She seemed to be recalling something as well.
Was it simply because their experiences were alike? Or was there some other reason?
Ahyeon, cradled against her chest, never saw that face. But had she looked up and seen it, she might have bolted from the room—Eunhwa's eyes had sunken into something cold as steel.
.
.
.
It took Ahyeon a good half hour to finally calm down.
And then the shame came flooding in.
I've lost my mind….
To sob her heart out in the arms of the woman who had raped her. She was not okay.
Ahyeon apologized to her. Eunhwa had held her for over thirty minutes, after all—it was an apology for that.
"I'm sorry…."
"It's fine. Don't worry about it."
Ahyeon stole a look at Eunhwa's expression; it seemed slightly darkened.
Is she angry?
Well, it made sense—Ahyeon had bawled all over someone she barely knew.
She wracked her brain for a way to lift Eunhwa's mood.
For a brief moment, she wondered why she was even bothering with this problem in the first place.
Because she might decide I'm annoying again and start tormenting me. Yeah. That's it.
And that was the conclusion she settled on.
What can I even do, though?
How could she possibly make her feel better?
Ahyeon thought back, trying to recall every time Eunhwa had smiled at her.
There had been two occasions.
One was when she was assaulting her… and the other was when Ahyeon depended on her.
The first was obviously out of the question. And the second was—
Ahyeon carefully inched closer, took Eunhwa's hand in hers, and began toying with her fingers with both hands. Pale and soft. Slender, and long…. Looking at Eunhwa's hand, those thoughts surfaced unbidden.
Ahyeon swallowed without meaning to.
Gulp—.
Eunhwa's head turned toward her.
"…What are you doing?"
"Ah, um…."
With no idea how to answer, Ahyeon let the words trail off into nothing.
Right. What am I even doing right now? It's not like this is going to improve her mood.
"Sore again? Want me to rub it?"
"N-no?! No!"
She's seriously unhinged. Is that really the only thing going on inside this woman's head?