Who's the Masked Pervert?
……Why is that woman here?
They say there's always a taller mountain beyond the one you climb, and this situation was exactly that. I swallowed hard, forcing a calm smile as best I could.
In the meantime, Shin Ye-eun approached our table, bowed her head politely, and greeted us.
"Hello."
At her greeting, Yu Seoyeon flashed a meaningful smile and spoke up.
"Hey? You're Shin Ye-eun, the one who called me today, right?"
"Yes."
"Alright, have a seat here for now."
With that, Seoyeon scooted over inside, making room for Ye-eun. Ye-eun sat down, maintaining her signature expressionless face.
"……Shall we start with some light introductions? I'm Yu Seoyeon, 27, office worker. And over there are Lee Eunha and Kim Yuhyun. Both college students."
At her introduction, Eunha and I looked at Ye-eun and chimed in.
"I'm Lee Eunha, second-year student."
"Kim Yuhyun here. Fourth-year college student."
After hearing our introductions, Ye-eun tilted her head slightly before looking at me and asking,
"Is sunbae a victim too?"
"No. I'm here to help catch the culprit."
I answered calmly with a gentle smile, trying my best to win her over. But it seemed like it wasn't quite enough—there wasn't even a hint of goodwill in the way she looked at me.
Of course, that didn't mean she found me unpleasant or harbored any hostility. She was just indifferent. Treating me like one of the countless average guys in Korea.
At least that's a silver lining.
Honestly, that was the normal reaction.
……Yu Seoyeon was the weird one.
I'd hit the jackpot with my luck, for better or worse.
"Ah, I see."
She nodded in acknowledgment, then glanced at us alternately before speaking.
"……I'm Shin Ye-eun. Second-year. Nice to meet you."
With her perfunctory introduction done, Ye-eun turned to Seoyeon. Seoyeon grinned like she was plotting something and said,
"Ye-eun, doesn't that guy remind you of anyone?"
"Hmm?"
"Doesn't he seem like that masked pervert bastard?"
"……."
At Seoyeon's words, Ye-eun looked at me again. Finding nothing unusual, she tilted her head and replied,
"……Hmm?"
"Doesn't he look similar?"
"Sure, he looks similar. But guys like that are a dime a dozen. There are at least three just in this café."
She was right—there were easily three guys in the café with a build like mine.
"What if we assume that guy is the masked pervert?"
"Why?"
"Huh?"
"You're a strange person. Why are you forcing that on me?"
"No, I……."
"Is there proof sunbae is the culprit?"
"W-well, no, but……."
"Has sunbae admitted it himself?"
"……."
"Aren't we here to catch the culprit? Why suspect sunbae out of nowhere? And from what I heard earlier, he came to help us—is this okay? Would you suspect me if I were a guy?"
Yu Seoyeon looked flustered by Shin Ye-eun's rapid-fire barrage, her face paling as she glanced around. Then her eyes met mine, and for some reason, her cheeks flushed bright red.
Was she asking for help? Or just embarrassed?
After a moment's thought, I spoke up to calm Ye-eun.
"Anyway, how do you plan to find the culprit?"
My words prompted Eunha beside me to jump in.
"Yeah, let's hurry up and find the perp!"
With Eunha and me speaking in unison, Ye-eun's gaze finally shifted to us. Meanwhile, Seoyeon stared out the window with a crumpled expression.
After gazing outside for a while, she seemed to calm down and spoke.
"Fine, let's catch the culprit."
Her voice half-resigned, she turned to Eunha.
"……You know that thing I asked for? Get it out."
"Ah, sure."
Eunha pulled a sheet of paper from her bag.
"Any names you recognize here?"
The paper listed several men's names, including a few I knew.
"A few."
At that moment, Ye-eun pointed to names on the list one by one.
Seoyeon took out a pen and circled the ones Ye-eun indicated.
"Good. Let's start tracking these guys down."
"W-wait a sec!"
Eunha yelped in surprise at Seoyeon's words.
"What?"
"You're not planning to just barge in like yesterday, right?"
Seoyeon frowned.
"What's the problem?"
"Of course there is! Oppa was nice yesterday, so we let it slide, but anyone else and we'd be at the police station already!"
"Then how do we find out? By going up and asking, 'Are you the masked pervert?' You think he'll just say, 'Yes, I am'?"
"……."
Eunha clamped her lips shut, at a loss for words. I spoke up quietly.
"How about this? Some of these I know, so I'll get their smartphones naturally."
"You can do that?"
"Probably."
I shrugged. With the decision made, we got up and headed out to find the men from the list that Ye-eun also knew, starting with the first.
"Huh? Hyung, what's up?"
The first was Jang Seokhun, a junior from our department. Like Eunha, a second-year, and a friendly guy—we'd grab drinks together sometimes.
"Hey, wanna meet a girl I'm hooking you up with?"
"Is she pretty?"
"Gorgeous."
I dragged him outside and showed him the three women waiting—Eunha, Seoyeon, and Ye-eun, of course.
Eunha and Ye-eun aside, Yu Seoyeon was undeniably a beauty, so I could say it with confidence.
"Huh? Eunha noona and Ye-eun? Wait, hyung—is it that woman?"
Seokhun gawked at Seoyeon in disbelief.
"What do you think?"
"Hell yeah!"
He shouted excitedly, bouncing on his toes, begging me to introduce her. I chuckled lightly and said, Okay, hold on, beckoning Seoyeon over.
"……."
She shot me a dirty look but climbed the stairs anyway.
"Ah, hello."
As Yu Seoyeon stood before us, Seokhun—uncharacteristically—greeted her with a trembling voice. She nodded curtly and said, "Hi."
It was pretty half-hearted, but he grinned even wider, thrilled by the response. He was beaming so hard I wondered if his mouth would reach his ears.
"Well, formal blind date later—how about swapping numbers first?"
"Ah, yeah! Good idea! Could you put your number in?"
Seokhun handed his smartphone to Seoyeon. Surprise flickered across her face—she clearly hadn't expected this ploy to snag the phone.
But she quickly remembered her goal and started fiddling with it.
"Um, excuse me……."
Seokhun spoke up awkwardly as she toyed with it far longer than needed for just entering a number. I slung an arm around his shoulder like I'd been waiting.
"Hey, getting a beauty's number takes time. Be patient."
"Mm……."
He looked dissatisfied but held his tongue—respect for his senior, and a stunner right there.
Instead, he just watched her anxiously. After a few minutes, Seoyeon, apparently finding nothing, handed it back.
"Nothing."
"No luck?"
"Nope."
Without lingering, she headed down the stairs. I told Seokhun, Hey, drinks on me next time, and followed her.
Standing beside her, I asked,
"Mind if we search his place?"
"Doesn't look like it—why bother?"
She snorted dismissively and strode past.
Something fun is about to happen soon. Hehe...