The Perverted Mask Alibi
“Let's hear your reason, then...”
Yu Seoyeon looked up at me with an utterly incredulous expression. Her attitude practically screamed, 'It's obvious you're the perverted mask guy—what kind of reason is there to give?!'
“I'm a victim in this too, in a way, aren't I?”
“What the hell did you lose?”
At her sharp retort, I let out a light chuckle before answering.
“Didn't you sexually harass me?”
“Th-that was just to find my smartphone...!”
“Even so, you can't just grope someone like that. What if I turned the tables and groped you the same way?”
“Hah, but you're a guy! I'm a girl!”
“Why does gender matter here?”
“Ugh...”
Seoyeon just ground her teeth in frustration at my question, swallowing her anger. But after a moment, she pouted her lips and spoke up.
“...Fine. Sorry. I'll buy you food, okay?”
“Perfect. Then let's get this cleaning done quick.”
With her agreement secured, I grinned from ear to ear and pitched in to tidy up the place. Of course, Lee Eunha, standing right beside me, helped out too. Thanks to us, the mess Yu Seoyeon had made in an hour was spotless in under thirty minutes.
“Whoa... this is way cleaner than my room's ever been.”
I said that as I closed the window we'd left open for ventilation. Instantly, pride lit up Eunha and Seoyeon's faces. These girls were beaming with accomplishment over their cleaning job. I shook my head in disbelief and continued.
“...Anyway, I'm starving. Let's go.”
“Yeah!”
Eunha stuck close to my side with an eager reply. Seoyeon, who'd been basking in her smug glow for a bit, suddenly got wary, glancing back and forth between me and the room before following us out.
“By the way, I still don't know your name. What's it again?”
Right after stepping outside, I tossed the question at Seoyeon with feigned nonchalance. She shot me a look like I was the most infuriating person alive and replied.
“You really don't know? For real?”
“For real. I don't know a thing about you.”
I kept playing dumb to the end.
“...”
Seoyeon furrowed her brow and glared at me for a while. Then, with a hint of resignation in her voice, she finally said,
“...Yu Seoyeon.”
“Ah, got it. I'm Kim Yuhyun. Twenty-five. You?”
“Are you interrogating me right now?”
“Huh?”
Her snappy tone caught me off guard, and Eunha, walking beside us, jumped in quick.
“Why are you being so prickly? Do you still suspect my oppa or something?”
“No, it's not that...”
“Then what?”
I let out a small sigh of admiration at how Eunha fearlessly pushed back against her elder by five years. Yeah, this bold, no-BS, unreserved side suited her perfectly.
'Though her shy side is cute too...'
The image of her blushing and apologizing flashed in my mind, heating up my cheeks.
“Just tell him already! Fine, I'm twenty-seven!”
Seoyeon huffed and stormed off, yelling, “I'm getting chicken!” before vanishing into the shop alone. Left stranded on the sidewalk, Eunha and I exchanged awkward laughs before hurrying after her.
“Weird noona, huh?”
“Totally.”
Eunha whispered as we headed to Seoyeon's table. I nodded in full agreement.
'She seems kinda personality-disordered.'
But aside from that, she was a flawless woman.
'...Pretty. Tall. Nice rack. Family's loaded, too.'
She never worked a part-time job through college, and she didn't use polite speech with anyone else—clear signs she'd been spoiled rotten by her family. A delicate flower grown in a greenhouse, basically.
'But with that attitude, corporate life'll be rough.'
Maybe she was one of those who flipped to sweet and eager at work. Plenty of people like that around. I'd seen tons in the military—our company commander was a prime example. All stiff and soldier-spirit lectures normally, but bootlicking like a sycophant around the battalion commander or brass.
Life's like that, sure... but did she really want success that bad?
“What do you want?”
Seoyeon spoke up suddenly. Eunha and I sat down and scanned the menu.
“Fried for me.”
“Same.”
Seoyeon gave a half-hearted shrug.
“Then one seasoned, one fried.”
She flagged down a server, placed the order, then fixed her gaze on me.
“...You're the perverted mask guy, right?”
“Still on that?”
Eunha yelped from beside me. I calmed her down and replied.
“Nope.”
“Then why'd you go along with my demands so easily? It's weird. Normal people would've snapped first.”
“I was pissed, in my own way.”
Truth was, I was too flustered to even think of getting mad.
'Should've stayed cooler...'
No prep, total surprise—confusion won out.
“You were?”
“I don't blow up easily.”
“...”
Even so, suspicion lingered in her eyes. Looking back, I'd given her plenty of reasons to doubt: frowning at Eunha subconsciously, scrambling for excuses over yelling, and tensing up when we first met.
'She looks like any normal girl... A healthy guy getting spooked by her? Doesn't add up.'
But none of that proved I was the masked perv. Just her hunch. Without hard evidence, she couldn't pin it on me.
Though her vibe said she still thought I was guilty.
“Mind if I ask something?”
“What?”
“Why suspect me? And this perverted mask guy... who is he? Did he do something to Eunha?”
I glanced at Eunha, who frantically shook her head.
“N-no! I'm fine, oppa! Totally fine!”
Her flailing to prove her innocence cracked me up.
“Yeah... you'd have kicked that perv right in the nuts.”
“Wh-what's that supposed to mean? I am a girl, you know!”
“Sure, sure.”
I nodded along to her indignant outburst, then turned to Seoyeon. She tapped the table with her finger.
“What he did to me and what he did to her were too different.”