Just Scare Her
For Min-ah, it had been the worst day imaginable.
Tae-min's slimy advances. The molester on the subway. And then A-rin, her father's colleague, on top of everything else. Not a single thing had gone the way she wanted.
A-rin, above all, was the one she couldn't stop turning over in her mind.
What's her relationship with Dad?
Something was definitely going on. They were not simply colleagues. Min-ah's instincts were screaming it at her: her father and that woman A-rin were already lovers.
No. That's impossible...
She shook her head hard. She didn't want to admit it. He was the father who only ever looked at her. The father who never so much as glanced at another woman. So why would he suddenly—?
Wait...
She worked at Dad's hospital. Had been there a long time, apparently. And she was his junior from school.
Don't tell me... she's been after Dad this whole time...?
A chill slid down the back of her neck. To snatch him away, the woman had spent years stacking up a bond with him, layer upon careful layer. And if she had been waiting for the day Min-ah became an adult to make her move??
"...Damn it!!"
Thud!
Min-ah slammed the pillow down again. She couldn't let her father catch even a hint of her rage.
The shaman's words rose unbidden in her mind.
Min-ah felt like she was going to lose her mind from the frustration. There was nothing she could do.
Could she really do what the shaman had said? Doubt gnawed at her.
I'm sure of it... there was chestnut blossom scent on Dad's lips.
Chestnut blossom scent. They said it smelled just like a man's semen.
Which meant...
"Aaaagh!!"
Min-ah buried her face in the pillow and screamed. An unholy scene had unfolded behind her eyes.
A-rin. That woman taking her father's cock into her mouth. Her father's face, flushed with pleasure as he received it. His semen spilling onto that woman's tongue. That woman swallowing it down like it was delicious. And then the kiss.
Thud!
Thud!
"AAAAAGH!!"
Rage flooded every one of Min-ah's senses. If her father's lips had smelled of semen, there was only one explanation. That scenario, and that scenario alone. Dad is mine...!! She drove her fists into the pillow. That fox of a woman...!! Thud. How dare she...!! Thud. She's trying to steal him from me!! Thud.
Rage. The fury surging up wrapped itself around her entire body.
But that wasn't even the real problem.
That woman... she's no pushover.
Min-ah was smart. A-rin was a sharp woman too. That was how both of them had gotten into the best university in the country. The problem was the years they had lived. A-rin had been alive nearly twice as long as Min-ah. Their life experience wasn't even in the same league.
"Dam...n it......"
If A-rin had taken that hospital job specifically to get her hands on Dad... she had invested an enormous amount of time. Could Min-ah even beat that?
She already knew who would win. That was what made it so unbearable. She kicked her feet and thrashed on the bed. Min-ah had never done anything like this in her life. Even she found her own behavior alien — and of course she did. Until now, everything had always gone exactly the way she wanted.
This was the first time she had ever come up against an opponent this overwhelming. The agony of having no way to win — that was what had her writhing.
"What do I do... how do I......"
She kept punching the mattress, helpless. Then something flashed through her mind.
"That's it...! If I do that......!"
After wringing her brain dry, a method had come to her. But somewhere in her chest, an uneasy feeling began to creep up — the sense that she really shouldn't.
"It's not that bad... it's not going too far......"
She was telling herself it was nothing.
"It's better than letting her go on that trip with him......"
The East Coast trip this weekend. To stop it from happening, Min-ah's mind kicked into overdrive.
"That's it! We're done for today."
"Thank you for your hard work."
It was Eun-ha's third day teaching Min-ah self-defense. Min-ah picked up everything she was taught almost instantly. And yet — how to put it? There was a dissonance that hadn't been there on the first day. Min-ah's mind was somewhere else. The person standing in front of Eun-ha right now didn't feel like Min-ah at all.
What's going on with her?
Eun-ha found it strange that Min-ah would be this troubled — and she was curious, too. What on earth could have a girl that perfect so beside herself?
Should she ask? Should she not?
Eun-ha wanted to ask right then and there. But in truth, she and Min-ah had known each other for less than a month.
What is this? Why do I even care this much......
She didn't understand herself. Eun-ha had never been the type to take an interest in other people's business. But Min-ah was different. She was worried. She wanted to help. She didn't know why. There was only that inexplicable pull, and nothing else.
"I'll be going, then. See you tomorrow, unnie."
"See you tomorrow."
"Yes."
"Min-ah."
"Yes?"
"Never mind. I had something to say, but I forgot."
"Then I'll see you tomorrow."
Eun-ha watched Min-ah leave with a polite bow, her gaze lingering on the girl's back.
Min-ah took a taxi. The fare would be steep given the distance, but she had no choice. After the incident with the molester, she couldn't stand the thought of riding a packed subway.
"Haa......"
She leaned her head against the headrest in the back seat and closed her eyes. Her mind was a tangle.
That woman A-rin, glued to her father's side. Two days left until the East Coast trip with her. Anyone could see it was a stepping stone toward becoming family — a scheme to smooth things over between Min-ah and A-rin.
Ah, shit......
It was because of the shaman's words. She couldn't refuse. She couldn't throw a fit, either.
What the hell am I supposed to do, then.
She couldn't think of any way to skip the trip besides that one method. She'd considered going to school as usual and then suddenly claiming she was sick on the day of.
They're not the type to miss a thing.
But both her father and that woman were sharp. They'd definitely see through something that thin.
Min-ah believed every word the shaman had told her. It was because of the astonishing prophetic ability the shaman had shown her. From the very beginning until now, everything had unfolded exactly as the shaman said. Which meant that if she didn't follow those instructions, winning her father would become forever impossible.
Shit......
Her head was a mess. Tae-min's slimy advances. Everything she had to do as the freshman class representative. All the things she still had to learn, having just started university.
Even that alone is enough to make my head explode...... and now I have to deal with a fox throwing herself at Dad, too......
Min-ah was agonizing over it — whether she should go through with what she was thinking, or not.
Ah... shit, what do I do.
Her reason told her not to. But her emotions were screaming that she had to. She wrestled with the decision over and over, so lost in thought she didn't even notice the taxi meter climbing endlessly.
Let's talk. Come to xxx.
The next day, Friday. After her general-education class, Min-ah left a note for Tae-seop, who had been trying to sneak out without her noticing. Needless to say, his face went stiff.
The location was a quiet neighborhood park two bus stops from campus. Talking anywhere near school was far too risky. If anyone saw her with Tae-seop, the damage to Min-ah's image would be catastrophic.
That fucking bitch. Even if I was in the wrong, who the hell does she think she is, summoning a senior around like this?
He had sexually harassed Min-ah. In exchange for looking the other way, she had told him to do as she said. He had completely forgotten the enormous crime he had committed, and was instead seething over being summoned somewhere so far he had to take a bus.
The playground at the address Min-ah had given him sat at the top of a hill.
"Huff... huff... fuck... fuck......"
Sweat poured off his massive frame as if someone were wringing the broth out of him — and this was early March, when the weather still felt like winter.
Min-ah was already there. She shot him a look of pure disbelief as he struggled up, dripping.
"You're seriously slow as hell."
"Y-you...!"
Tae-seop wanted to hurl curses at her, but he held back. The moment he saw her face, it all came back. What he had grabbed. What he had touched. And that this was why he was suffering like this.
"What... what did you call me all the way out here for."
He wiped the sweat with his hand and looked around. A neighborhood park in a residential area on a weekday afternoon was deserted. Just Min-ah and Tae-seop. The two of them, and no one else.
"You dare ask me that?"
"......"
"Don't talk back. Just do what I tell you."
Tae-seop's fists clenched. The venom shooting from Min-ah's small lips stabbed into his heart like an awl.
"Wh-what is it......"
"Here."
Min-ah handed him a photo of A-rin — a printout of a picture she had secretly taken when they were having dinner together.
"I just need you to scare this woman a little."
"Wh-what?!"
Tae-seop's body started to tremble.
"...You want me to hurt this woman?"
"How did you even get into Hankook University with a brain like that? Scare her. Scare. That's it!"
Min-ah jabbed her index finger against her own temple as she sneered at him.
"H-how am I supposed to do that!!"
Under Min-ah's pressure, Tae-seop yelped. It wasn't a manly shout — it was the pitiful squeak of a cornered rat.
"Tonight. Wait in front of the hospital written here, then follow this woman."
Poke. She jabbed the rolled-up paper into his enormous belly.
"And scare her before she goes inside her house."
"Y-you want me to play robber?! No!! I can't do that!! Absolutely not!!"
"Augh!! Come on!! Just scare her!! Like, 'Wah!' Like that!! Then you run away immediately."
It was a simpler order than he had expected.
"S-so I really just have to scare her?"
Tae-seop asked again, suspicious. Only then did Min-ah's lips curl up, as if they were finally on the same page.
"But."
"B-but?"
"Dress like you're up to something. Like a robber. Suspicious clothes. Sunglasses. And a mask, too."
"Uh......"
Tae-seop was a little confused.
"So I really... just scare her before she goes inside, and that's it?"
"That's right."
"For real... right? You're not going to pile on extra stuff?"
"You absolutely cannot lay a hand on her."
"Got it....."
He still had his doubts, but Min-ah's relatively simple order — scare the woman without touching her — filled him with enormous relief.
"Then don't screw it up."
Min-ah glared at him, her eyes ice-cold.
"If you fail... I'll report what you did. Straight to the police."
"Eek... eeeek!! I got it!!"
Tae-seop bolted from the spot as if fleeing Min-ah's killing intent.
It'll be... fine, right? This much should be okay.
Min-ah watched him scramble away, her face clouded with worry.