The Subway Groper
Min-ah boarded the subway.
It was the first time in her life she had ever ridden one. Until now, she had never had a reason to. Whenever she needed to go somewhere far, her father Eun-hyeok would drive her himself.
Eun-hyeok had put down roots in a satellite city outside Seoul, a place where everything you could possibly need was already waiting. Elementary school, middle school, high school. The supermarket. Cafés. Restaurants. The hospital. The movie theater. The outlet mall. There was even a department store and a massive convention center. All of it within walking distance. And even if something wasn't nearby, a few quiet bus stops would get you there.
Having lived a life of complete convenience in a place like that, Min-ah had no idea how terrifying a rush-hour subway packed to bursting could be.
Huh...? Why are so many people...coming in?
People are said to have an unconscious personal bubble — a psychological barrier that keeps others from getting too close. Min-ah's looks had always drawn a great deal of attention, and so that barrier of hers was unusually wide. Whenever people came near, she instinctively stepped back.
But on a rush-hour subway, there was nowhere to step back to.
Ugh...this is so...annoying.
She retreated toward the doors, trying to escape the crowd pouring into the car. If she put her back to the door, she figured, at least no one could take the space behind her.
The left doors will now open.
The problem was that subway doors weren't guaranteed to open on only one side.
Wh-what...! Why is this side opening?
People who rode the subway regularly — who'd been riding it for years — knew which car and which spot would be the most comfortable. But Min-ah was riding one for the first time in her life. She had no idea where those spots were.
...I'm completely surrounded!
With every station that passed, people poured in from both sets of doors, shoving Min-ah along with them. The ironclad personal bubble she'd always prided herself on had long since become useless. When other people's bodies pressed against her own, she twitched with small, involuntary spasms.
But as that not-quite-stimulation continued across her entire body, Min-ah began to adapt. She looked around and saw plenty of other women. They didn't seem to care at all about the people pressing against them. They just stood there, wireless earbuds in, watching videos on their phones with complete indifference.
The other girls...they're acting like it's nothing.
Min-ah decided she wouldn't be the only one making a fuss. If everyone else was fine with it and she was the only one acting special, she'd only get ostracized.
A squeeze.
But then a problem arose.
...Wh-what??
Squeeze. Squeeze.
Someone had started groping Min-ah's ass.
Who is that...!
Min-ah frantically scanned her surroundings. But the car was packed so tight she couldn't tell who was touching her.
Squeeze. Squeeze. Squeeze.
A hand slipped under the skirt she was wearing. She could feel it with humiliating clarity — the hand on her ass. Thick-knuckled. Fleshy. It was unmistakably a man's hand. The kind of sexual assault she'd only ever heard about was happening to her.
...You...son of a bitch.
Irritation surged through her like a fever. Her body was meant for her father. She'd cultivated that springy, elastic ass so it would feel good in his hands. She'd wanted him to get addicted to that chewy, jelly-like sensation. But instead of her father, some unknown groper's hand was violating her.
A firm press.
"Hh...nn...!"
In that instant, the groper's hand pressed down hard on Min-ah's sex through her panties, right between her ass cheeks. A short moan escaped her before she could stop it. Her mind went white, and then a wave of humiliation came crashing in.
This couldn't go on. She had to fight back.
Press. Press.
When her body flinched, the groper seemed to find it amusing and pressed even harder against her mound. The pressure on her clitoris sent an unwanted jolt of pleasure through her. She barely managed to hold back the moan that threatened to slip from her lips.
Nnh...nnnh......
She wanted to grab that hand right now and make it stop, but her own hands wouldn't move. Fear. That was why. This was the first time she'd ever been groped. People who'd never experienced it wouldn't understand. The panic. The terror. How those things turn a person into a fool.
D-damn it......
Even a girl as smart as Min-ah was no exception. Her own body, being ruthlessly violated by a hand she couldn't even see. That terror was something only those who'd been through it could understand.
...But...I can't just stand here and take it.
She barely overcame the fear and looked around. Fortunately, none of the people nearby looked particularly threatening. Two women. Two elderly people. Two middle-aged men. And...one young man. None of them were especially burly. Based on where the hand was, one of them had to be the one touching her.
They're nothing...they're nothing......
The first step was to kill the fear of not knowing who it was. Only then would her body move the way she wanted it to. Min-ah's physique was top-tier for a woman. A tall five-foot-nine. Every muscle she needed was several times larger than those of other girls her age. She could move her body however she wanted, exactly as she intended. No one around her was taller than she was. No one had a monstrous build.
Jiu-jitsu...I learned it...I learned it as self-defense...!
Less than thirty minutes. That was how long she'd spent learning jiu-jitsu for self-defense from Eun-ha, the General Student Council President.
"If some guy starts feeling you up, you grab his hand like this...and then you bend his fingers like this...!"
"Kyah!!"
Eun-ha had subdued two of Min-ah's fingers in an instant, sending a wave of incredible pain through them.
"Do it like this and you can take down a groper without even breaking a sweat."
Right. She'd learned something.
Stupid...you idiot...you actually learned this and you're still just taking it...!
The hand was still stimulating Min-ah's most sensitive place. She began carefully reaching her own hand toward it.
Just like I was taught...just do it like I was taught......
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Her heart was pounding like mad. Min-ah had always been calm and collected. But lately, that composure had been constantly shaken.
It's okay. There's no problem. I can do this.
In the end, she was the only one who could pull her shaken mind back together. The conviction that even if she failed, it wouldn't matter. That was what she needed.
No problem. No problem. No problem. No problem. No problem. No problem. No problem. No problem. No problem. No problem. No problem. No problem. No problem. No problem. No problem. No problem.
Got it.
Her hand closed around the one groping her sex.
No problem!!
CRACK!
"Gyaaaaaah!!!!"
A young man's voice from behind her. Min-ah immediately turned toward it. Short legs. Thick black horn-rimmed glasses. A fat man with a face full of pockmarks, his features twisted in agony.
Min-ah let go instantly. Filth. The sickening feeling of having touched something unspeakably dirty sent a shudder through her entire body.
This is Geumsin Station. Geumsin Station. Please exit through the doors on the right.
The subway stopped, and the doors on the groper's side opened.
"D-damn it!!!"
"Kyaaah!"
The groper shoved the people around him hard and bolted through the open doors.
"Tch...!"
Min-ah started chasing him.
Eun-ha had warned her about this, but Min-ah ignored it.
I'm sure of it...I saw him at school.
That's right. That man. He was the one she'd seen in her general education class. The guy who sat alone, without a single friend, lurking in a corner and stealing glances at Min-ah. He was a Hankuk University student.
In that case......
Min-ah's mind snapped back to ice-cold clarity in an instant. And she started thinking — about how she could use that man.
Min-ah had been vaguely sensing it.
Dad has a woman now.
She had no evidence whatsoever. But her instincts were telling her so. And there was no one who trusted those instincts more than Min-ah herself.
If I can just use that groper......
A groper who was a Hankuk University student. If she blackmailed him properly, she was sure she'd find a use for him.
Dad's woman...a guy like this should be more than enough to scare her off.
Min-ah was even entertaining thoughts she absolutely shouldn't. A pinch. The fear that her father might never be hers.
The Shaman's words, chilling just to remember, came back to her.
No. Absolutely not. Her father falling for some other woman?
I'd lose my mind. I...I'd definitely go insane.
If that happened, Min-ah would snap.
I have to stop that, no matter what.
A way to stop it had just occurred to her. Ironically, all because of that groper.
Byeon Tae-seop, a second-year Architecture student at Hankuk University. He'd first seen Min-ah in a general education class.
Hahh...a...a goddess.
He'd fallen for her at first sight. He couldn't bear to let her go. So Tae-seop had naturally started following Min-ah in secret. At school. To the Jiu-Jitsu Dojo. And eventually, he'd boarded the same subway she was on — even though he lived in a studio near campus.
I...I want her...I want to touch her.
Having spent his whole life studying, he had no social skills to speak of. He had no sense of the boundary between what he should and shouldn't do.
He grabbed.
In the end, he'd gone and done it. The moment a simple shut-in became a subway groper.