The Stalker and the Blade
Since the clerk was nowhere to be seen, Ji-wook had to ask the kitchen staff for directions, finally managing to locate the restroom. But so much time had already passed! There was a limit to how long a person could be expected to wait.
He was hopelessly late, but he figured if he hurried, he might be forgiven with just a light scolding, so he quickened his pace.
"They should at least put up a sign for the bathroom!"
He stepped out of the restaurant and had to navigate a winding side path just to find the building's main entrance. Even for an old building, wasn't this a bit too tucked away? And the restroom was between the first and second floors? Wouldn't people in a hurry just end up peeing against the wall?
He knew he was just nitpicking, but he let out a frustrated huff before stepping onto the stairs. Then, he raised his voice to call for her, Jia, making sure she knew he had arrived.
"Noona!"
At that exact moment, a loud, chaotic thud-thud-thud! echoed from above. And mixed in with the noise was a familiar voice.
Da-da-da-da!
He could tell someone was sprinting down the stairs in a panic. Why were they in such a rush?
"Ji-wook, catch him!"
"...?!"
It hadn't been a mistake. It was Jia's voice. Hearing the urgency in her tone, Ji-wook's senses sharpened instantly. Catch who?
As if to answer his question, someone burst into view from the top of the stairs. A small frame, barely half the size of Ji-wook's. A man with a plain face that didn't stand out in any particular way—but the moment Ji-wook saw him, he knew exactly who it was.
"The clerk?!"
"Ugh!"
It was the male clerk who had taken their order at the restaurant. The same man who had been leering at Jia. The clerk looked horrified the moment he saw Ji-wook, his face twisting in panic. Yet, instead of stopping, he threw his body down the stairs as if he were about to jump.
He was leaping four or five steps at a time; if they collided, someone was going to get seriously hurt. Ji-wook instinctively dodged to the side. In that split second, the clerk slipped past him and bolted outside.
"Don't let him get away! He's a pervert!"
"A per...vert?!"
At Jia's shout, which came a beat too late, Ji-wook realized what was happening. A pervert? The clerk? That meant he had done something terrible to her! And in a secluded place like this!
He didn't even have time to wonder what had happened. Eyes wide with rage, Ji-wook sprinted out after the clerk.
"Stop right there!"
"...?!"
As if to say, "Like I'm going to listen to you!", the clerk ran for his life. The only saving grace was that the winding path made it hard to run at full speed, and the direction the culprit was heading was the same way Ji-wook had come from.
"Pervert!"
"......?!"
If he had run the other way, he likely would have disappeared into the maze of narrow alleys. But the path he took led to a street with plenty of foot traffic. The moment the clerk stepped out of the alley, Ji-wook's shout rang out. The pedestrians' gazes instantly locked onto the clerk.
Perhaps flustered by the sudden attention, the clerk covered his face, not realizing that it was essentially a confession of guilt. Whether it was panic or a guilty conscience, the reaction caused a buzz of whispers to ripple through the crowd.
As people began to pull out their phones, the clerk hesitated for a moment before turning on his heel to flee. But Ji-wook didn't miss the opening; he closed the distance and grabbed the man firmly by the waist. His grip was monstrous—large enough to hold an apple in one hand, and strong enough to crush it.
No matter how much the clerk struggled, he couldn't escape the grasp of a man twice his size.
"Gotcha! You pervert!"
"Ugh, you son of a b*tch!"
"What?!"
With witnesses everywhere and nowhere left to run, the clerk's face twisted into a mask of pure malice. A normal person might have given up, but he seemed to have decided, "To hell with it!"
Spitting out curses born of resignation and rage, the clerk pulled something from his pocket and swung it at Ji-wook. A flash of cold metal. Ji-wook reflexively let go, but he felt a sharp sensation graze the back of his hand. A red line bloomed across his skin, and blood began to trickle down.
"I'll kill you!"
A box cutter gleamed menacingly in the clerk's hand. The blade, extended with a sharp click!, caught the light as if to warn Ji-wook: *This is the weapon that just cut you.*
His hand was trembling as if he were terrified, but the bloodshot eyes staring back at Ji-wook were screaming that he was ready to strike again.
"You crazy bastard...!"
Ji-wook wasn't stupid enough to underestimate the situation just because the man's hand was shaking. A blade was a blade, regardless of whether it was a common utility knife. It was a weapon capable of slicing through skin and drawing blood without effort. And it was in the hands of a man who had clearly lost his mind. The danger was absolute.
He could get hurt, or worse, killed. Having already been cut, Ji-wook felt the tension rise. Fear had a way of making even a smaller opponent look like a giant beast. He felt cold sweat trickling down his back.
Wouldn't it be better to just let him run? There were plenty of people recording this. The culprit's face and appearance were already documented. With such clear evidence, it was only a matter of time before the police caught him. There was no need to risk his life here.
Having reached that conclusion, Ji-wook stepped back to create distance, giving the culprit a chance to run. He kept his eyes locked on the man, even as he retreated.
Go on, run! Stop waving that dangerous thing around! I'll let you go this time, so just get out of here!
But contrary to his hopes, the atmosphere around the culprit was shifting.
"Don't look down on me just because you're big! You think you're so tough because you've got a girlfriend? Huh?!"
The culprit took a step forward, chasing the distance Ji-wook had created. Breathing heavily through his nose, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Ji-wook with pure hostility. *I'm going to hurt you!*
As the distance closed again, Ji-wook gritted his teeth. *Don't mess with me! Have you completely lost it? Do you have nothing to lose?*
Ji-wook's retreating strides grew wider, but the culprit's pace matched his own. The distance between them continued to shrink. The blade drew closer. Ji-wook was certain now: *This guy is serious! He's actually trying to kill me!*
Facing the clear intent to harm him, Ji-wook swallowed hard.
"Showing off your girlfriend, taking her clothes off, you son of a b*tch! You think you're so great?! How much better than me are you?! I was trying to, I, I, you son of a b*tch! You f*cking b*stard!"
I have to resist! He's not going to stop! If I just stand here, I'm going to get seriously hurt! Right, something long! Something to keep him from getting close! I need something to fight back with!
"Ji-wook!"
At that moment, he heard Jia's voice from behind him. He saw the clerk's gaze shift toward her. He saw the clerk's face, distorted by excitement, break into a chilling, grotesque smile.
It happened almost simultaneously: the clerk lunged toward her, and Ji-wook threw his body in front of her to block him.
The box cutter sliced through the air, reflecting the light. The clerk's mouth curled into a grin of pure, malicious intent. The people around them gasped in alarm. To Ji-wook, the world seemed to slow to a crawl.
Could I catch the blade? The thought even crossed his mind. But he knew it was too late. He wasn't the protagonist of some movie or comic book. There was no way a regular person could catch a weapon and disarm someone! He would likely get stabbed in the stomach before he could even try to resist.
Ji-wook was certain that was his fate. *Will it hurt a lot?* He had never been stabbed, but it had to hurt, right? It would be strange if it didn't.
Still, Jia would be safe. Even a guy like this would likely panic and retreat after stabbing someone. And if not, he could just use his size to pin him down. Who would blame him for retaliating after being stabbed? Feeling a strange sense of relief that he would be the only one getting hurt, Ji-wook watched the blade reach for his abdomen, thinking, *I hope it doesn't hurt too much.*
"Move!"
A shout struck his ears. The moment he registered Jia's voice, Ji-wook felt his body being thrown aside. No, it was as if everything in his field of vision had turned into countless streaks of light. It was a sensation of weightlessness, like the jolt of a car hitting a bump.
What? What just happened? It was impossible to immediately grasp what had occurred. But he could clearly see what was happening right in front of him.
The blade that had been swinging toward him was now being swung at her, Jia. He saw her hand wrap around the clerk's arm as if pulled by a magnet. He saw the clerk's body flip through the air, using her as a fulcrum.
It was over in an instant. It was a perfect, textbook judo throw.
"Ugh!"
"Gotcha~! You pervert!"
With his arm twisted, the clerk was pinned to the ground. Jia sat atop him, raising her voice for everyone to hear.
"You tried to pull some perverted stunt in the bathroom and then ran away? And you threatened us with a weapon? Trash like you belongs in prison!"
It was a strange, rehearsed-sounding tone, as if she were reading from a script, but her words reached the ears of everyone nearby. If the goal was to make the situation clear, her shout had done its job perfectly. Realizing the gravity of the situation, several people stepped forward to help her. Some called the police, while others checked to see if she was hurt.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, thank you."
Ji-wook managed to stand up with some help.
"Noona!"
"Ji-wook, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I'm fine!"
Ji-wook checked her for injuries first. Thankfully, there were no visible wounds. He didn't get the sense that she had been hurt, either. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief. It had been a dangerous situation where things could have gone very wrong.
But he immediately furrowed his brows and raised his voice at her.
"What were you thinking! You could have gotten hurt!"
"Huh?! Where? I was trying to make you dodge it!"
"Not me, Noona! You!"
He scolded her, saying that if she had been a second slower, the blade would have been buried in her body. She just flashed a bright, radiant smile and replied:
"As long as you didn't get hurt, Ji-wook, it's fine~."
"No...!"
"Now, stand back a bit. If you touch this guy even a little, he'll try to twist things around."
She warned him that if they were accused of mutual assault—claiming he kicked the guy while he was pinned down—it would be a headache. At her words, the culprit, despite being pinned, began to puff himself up.
"It's already mutual assault! You threw me on the ground and broke my arm! My arm is snapped! How are you going to take responsibility for this?! Huh?! I'm not letting this go! You and your boyfriend are both f*cked!"
"The way he talks...!"
"You exhibitionist pervert, I've got you now! Huh?! You do perverted things and then hit people? I'm going to tear your life apart! Huh?! If my life is ruined, yours is too! Just you wait!"