Chapter 8: The Haughty Neighbor Wife Was Shoplifting at the Mart
Ever since becoming an AV Master, I've been living in a world overflowing with sensuality. Every day, I witness all sorts of lewd situations—and experience them firsthand. But not everything goes smoothly. For some reason, after that day, bad luck started piling up too.
"Why are you so late today?"
That day, I arrived at the company about fifteen minutes later than usual. And somehow, Team Leader Jeong Ji-hye, who had beaten me to work, started chewing me out first thing in the morning.
I was a bit late, sure, but not tardy yet. I still had at least five minutes.
"Sorry."
But I just bowed my head and apologized. Whining about not being late yet would only make things worse—I knew that much.
Lately, Team Leader Jeong had been riding me harder than ever.
"Think before you act. You think this company is a joke?"
Ever since I became an AV Master, she'd been tormenting me even more than before—and she was already prickly enough.
"I'll be more careful."
Even over nothing, she'd nag. And once she started, she never let up easily.
Did she have some grudge against me?
"You must be tired, sunbae."
After Team Leader Jeong left, my colleague Moon-hee came over to comfort me. She was the nicest girl on our team.
"Haa... What a unlucky day..."
Yeah, unlucky. I'd left home at my usual time, but one thing after another went wrong.
I opened the front door, and the elevator happened to stop on our floor. Thinking it was good luck, I headed in—only for the woman already inside to slam the close button.
I saw it clear as day. The moment our eyes met, she reached out and hit the button.
I knew her well. She was the wife from next door, who'd moved in recently.
The elevator left without me, and it took forever to come back. She must've gotten off on the first floor and mashed every button on the way up.
It wasn't paranoia. This wasn't the first time she'd closed the doors right in front of me. Whether going down or up, if she was in first, she'd shut it and leave me waiting way longer than usual.
"Ha. That crazy bitch?"
I couldn't figure it out. I hadn't done anything to her, but she looked at me like I was a bug.
Even running into her in the hallway, she'd glare or mutter something under her breath.
She'd been like that since the day she moved in.
Missing the elevator cost me seven or eight minutes, making me miss the subway. And then the damn train was delayed out of nowhere. That led to today's disaster.
"Oh my! What a nasty woman."
Moon-hee comforted me again after hearing my story.
"Come to think of it, doesn't sunbae live pretty far? Why not move closer?"
Moon-hee, from out of town, was renting a place within walking distance of the office.
"Yeah... I've been thinking about it."
"If you're looking to move, let me know. I can help scout places."
"Thanks."
She was a good girl. I knew she comforted me and did little favors not because she liked me, but because she was just kind at heart.
She had a boyfriend she'd promised to marry, and everyone at work knew how sweet they were.
But my bad luck that day didn't end there.
"Where the hell is your head at? Why's the order number wrong?"
...Yeah, that one was clearly my mistake. But I didn't remember entering that number...
That single day, Team Leader Jeong chewed me out multiple times. Once for my actual error, the other three or four for flimsy reasons...
I couldn't argue back openly. Something felt off. Why did she suddenly hate me so much?
On the way home, I witnessed an unpleasant scene right in front of my place.
As I got off the elevator, a few women were gathered in the hallway, making a racket.
"No, I told you before—take proper care of our Eun-young! So why'd she come home beaten up by that Ji-min kid again?"
"That's not... Eun-young was bullying Ji-min and..."
"What? Now you're gonna pin it on my Eun-young?"
The one raising her voice was the wife from next door. What now?
Eavesdropping a bit, it seemed she'd thrown such a fit that the kindergarten teachers had come to apologize at her home.
"I'm not dropping the complaint, no way!"
"As we said, we've submitted all the CCTV footage..."
"Shut up! You think I don't know it's edited? My husband's gonna have people investigate, and it'll all come out anyway!"
I'd overheard on moving day when they greeted us: her husband worked at city hall—as the mayor's secretary, no less. Basically, an elite civil servant.
At least in Howern City, that gave him some pull. Probably why she acted so superior.
"Huh? What's going on over there?"
She spotted me by the elevator and turned her attack my way.
I shrugged, gave her a what-can-you-do look, and headed inside.
She glared daggers. Scary in her own way.
Even after getting home, I had to endure the commotion outside for a while. Eventually, the teachers knelt and apologized, barely calming her down.
Bam! She slammed her door, and I heard the teachers sniffling as they took the elevator away.
Tsk! I knew she had a bad personality, but this bad...
She didn't even look the type. I pondered her for a moment.
Probably early thirties, housewife with a husband and an elementary school kid. Looked normal enough.
Actually, she was pretty attractive. Cat-like beauty. Tall for a woman, kept her figure post-marriage—no flab, always in tight clothes that hugged her curves perfectly.
Breasts? Hard to tell without stripping her, but they cleared the bar easily.
Appearance-wise, she'd be popular regardless of marriage. If only her personality wasn't so foul...
Hmm... Decision made!
A golden Casting Card appeared in my hand. Holding the card and picturing her face and name—Kim Bora—it flashed and vanished.
I knew my neighbor's name from packages left between our doors and her husband calling her that outside. Not like I was obsessed or anything.
With the golden card gone, anticipation swelled in me.
Alright! Now what would happen?
Last time, Eun-hee contacted me first. But that card was Active Protagonist. This one was Humiliation Protagonist.
Probably meant our connection would form differently. Or did it mean I had to humiliate her wildly? Drag her home?
No way. Ravish another man's wife with no precautions? Unless I wanted half my life in prison...
Her husband seemed connected. But if I followed the settings, no risks.
Setting Card <Sanctuary> — Actresses who have sex with the AV Master cannot harm the AV Master in any way.
So dragging her home and ravishing her freely wouldn't bring backlash.
But I couldn't go wild on blind faith. I'd even tested on my old friend Eun-hee because I was such a coward.
I still wasn't fully convinced about this whole AV Master thing.
I knew I was a scaredy-cat. Better to admit I'm a coward than take dumb risks.
What can you do with a guy like me?
Who picked me for this anyway? Said I was qualified... Me, a coward?
Made sense in a way. Only cowards can do certain things.
My dilemma—how to humiliate the neighbor wife with minimal risk—resolved itself before the day ended.
After dinner, craving cool beer, I hit the local mart and spotted her.
She wore a tight gray cotton dress, pushing her cart through the imported snacks aisle, searching for something.
Normally, I'd avoid her on sight. But today felt different.
After inputting her name into the Casting Card earlier, meeting her here couldn't be coincidence.
I observed from afar, out of her notice.
Why here? Huh? Then it hit me—an unexpected scene.
Glancing around, she snatched a small chocolate, pretended to basket it, and slipped it into her bag.
Well... The elegant, haughty neighbor had a klepto streak.
Not expensive—maybe ten or twenty bucks. Not like she couldn't afford it.
Anyway... I pulled out my smartphone, switched to video, and tailed her.
Felt like this was just the start.
Sure enough, she repeated it several times. In low-traffic spots, she'd scope around, grab random cheap items, and pocket them.
Funny thing: despite her caution, she never spotted me filming.
I hid well, but she seemed blind to me specifically.
No worries while shooting—I kept the phone concealed. If questioned, I'd say I caught a thief and was reporting for public good.
The risk was hers, not mine.
After pocketing three or four trifles, she lined up at checkout with her cart items.
I grabbed a six-pack and queued behind but separate. Fewer items meant I checked out first and left.
Bag of beer in hand, light steps home—I waited at the first-floor entrance.
She arrived soon after, bags from the mart in tow.
I stepped to the elevator, phone out, replaying the video.
She approached beside me. I turned, pretended to notice her, and gave a slight bow.
She scowled. Definitely the type who ignored everyone.
Not just me—even security guards' greetings got no nod.
Always high-and-mighty, arrogant poise ingrained.
Just because hubby's a civil servant? Or born that way?
I knew little about her yet. Time to learn slowly.
The elevator arrived, doors opened. I stepped aside; she entered first and reached—not for our floor, but the close button.