Backside_Of_One (3)
While Kang Cheol-jin was running himself ragged for a righteous cause,
Bback-sa was sitting in a stall in the men's bathroom, staring endlessly at her phone.
'No reply.'
The message she'd sent to Kang Cheol-jin. The read receipt had appeared, but no reply came.
'Is he looking for me? Or did he just decide to ignore me after all?'
She hoped he wasn't ignoring her.
She wanted to meet Kang Cheol-jin. But at the same time, she was terrified to meet him. A relationship that had already begun with a misstep. She was afraid he'd be disappointed in her if he learned her identity. No matter how you dressed it up, people didn't view the Backside Girl 'Bback-sa' favorably.
In the end, caught between two contradictory impulses, she couldn't make a clear decision. She left the choice to circumstance and luck. Whether Kang Cheol-jin found her today or not would determine this relationship.
'If he finds me, no, if he even just comes here, I'll tell him.'
If Kang Cheol-jin came here, she would admit everything. She was also prepared to receive whatever punishment he'd been teasing and provoking her about in his messages—whatever that punishment might be.
So, apart from the photos she'd posted on Camta, she'd given the clue 'men's bathroom' only to Kang Cheol-jin, because she wanted him to find her.
'But he probably won't find me... right?'
In other words, the only information she'd given Kang Cheol-jin was the men's bathroom. How many buildings and how many bathrooms were there on campus? Finding her with just that one clue was nearly impossible.
Her behavior was like this because the desire for him to find her and the fear coexisted.
But in the end, it seemed the desire for him to find her was greater.
Worried that Kang Cheol-jin might not even get near this area, she sent two additional photos.
One was a photo of the pond near the Fashion Design department building. The other was a photo of the mountain trail entrance behind the building.
With this much to go on, maybe he could deduce the location. She even worried she'd given too big a clue.
But that anxiety soon turned to disappointment.
'Why isn't he seeing it?'
1 minute passed, then 2, and the read receipt still hadn't appeared. Did he really decide to just ignore her completely? That was the moment of disappointment.
Beolkeok.
The sound of a door opening.
'H-he's here!'
Bback-sa moved her trembling hand toward the latch. If she opened this and went out now, finally...
"Yo, you see Camta?"
She flinched.
She pulled her hand back from the latch. It was an unfamiliar man's voice.
"Ahh, Bback-sa?" "Oh, what the... You know Bback-sa too?" "I didn't know about her originally, but someone in the comments mentioned her. I followed the link, and her body was fucking insane." "Right? That ass is just..."
The two guys snickered.
"If only I knew where, I'd go find her immediately." "Right? Can't exactly search every bathroom on campus." "It's the girls' bathroom anyway, so we can't even look." "Who knows? Maybe it's in the men's room." "What? Bwahahaha. You crazy bastard. Say something that makes sense."
Bback-sa held her breath. The thought of getting caught by someone other than Kang Cheol-jin suddenly terrified her.
Even though the promised 10 minutes were nearly up, she couldn't bring herself to leave the bathroom.
*
As I ran toward the Fashion Design department building, I had to admit my thinking was wrong.
'Uphill is so goddamn hard!'
In terms of distance, it was clearly reachable within 10 minutes comfortably. But to get from the Digital Content department to the Fashion Design department, you had to climb a hill. Because of that, more time passed than I'd thought.
Arriving in front of the Fashion Design department building soon after, I scratched my head.
"Tch. Guess it's over?"
I looked at my phone and saw that 5 minutes had passed beyond the 10 she'd said she would wait. Ugh, if only it weren't for the uphill!
No. Maybe the promise to wait had been a lie from the start. Thinking that made me feel foolish for getting excited and running all the way here.
'While I'm here, might as well take a piss.'
Since I'd come all this way, I figured I might as well check the Fashion Design department bathroom—I had to go anyway.
I was climbing the stairs with that thought.
"...Huh?"
I ran into Han Saebyeok. For a moment, confusion clouded my mind.
'Could she be Bback-sa?'
So it wasn't Ju Hana, but Han Saebyeok? Flustered, I gave a small bow.
"Ah, hello." "......"
Han Saebyeok seemed quite flustered too, looking at me with slightly widened eyes. Then, receiving my greeting, she gave a small nod in return.
That was it. Han Saebyeok gave a nod of greeting and then went on her way.
"...What the?"
We're in the same club, and she's really cold. No, since Ah-reum wasn't here and she still returned my greeting, maybe that's progress from before.
'So is she Bback-sa, or not?'
I had no idea. Her face was so expressionless I couldn't read her thoughts at all.
Bureureu.
Feeling the need to piss, I started walking again. I arrived at the floor with the Fashion Design department and was about to enter the bathroom when.
"Ah, I'm so fucking horny. That Bback-sa thing..." "Crazy bastard, there's someone here."
Two guys came out from inside. The one who'd been rambling about sex and Bback-sa looked flustered when he saw me, ducked his head, and hurried past.
'Wow, that's gotta be humiliating as hell for him.'
Anyway, he'd said Bback-sa. Were those guys also looking for Bback-sa?
'No. The bit about the men's bathroom was sent only to me, wasn't it?'
While taking a leak, I checked my phone. Had she posted that it was a men's bathroom on Camta too?
[You have unread messages.]
Then messages I hadn't seen popped up.
A photo of a pond and a photo of the back mountain entrance. Both were places near the Fashion Design department.
"It was the Fashion Design department after all. But what the hell was this girl planning to..."
At that moment, a Teolkeong! noise erupted behind me.
"Wh-what the?"
Startled, I turned around to see one of the bathroom stall doors trembling slightly from the impact. She must've bumped it pretty hard. The lock showed the word 'Occupied'.
At the same time, a new message arrived.
= Is that you?
After reading the message, I looked back again. No way... Bback-sa was in there? She hadn't left even after 10 minutes had passed?
"Bback..."
I started to call out to her but shut my mouth. If I was wrong, I'd be the crazy bastard.
Instead, I replied with a message.
- Was that clattering noise a moment ago you? = Yeah...
Bback-sa meekly admitted it.
I gulped and closed the bathroom entrance door. Since it felt gross, I washed my hands quickly, then stood in front of the stall where Bback-sa was presumed to be.
- If that's you, open up. I'm right here. = I don't want to. - The fuck, you crazy bitch?
Still playing games to the very end?
= What if it's not you? = Let me hear your voice.
She wasn't playing around; she was scared. I cleared my throat and spoke. Just in case, I didn't say Bback-sa's name.
"Hey, come out."
I said it like I was calling a friend.
Cheolkeok.
The lock released.
Kkiiiiik...
The door slowly opened. The identity of Bback-sa, finally revealed.
"It was you after all."
There was Ju Hana, dark circles under her eyes and looking on the verge of tears.
*
First, I got Ju Hana out of the men's bathroom.
"There's no one here. Come out, quick."
Hunched over, Ju Hana scurried out of the bathroom. A sigh escaped my mouth at the sight.
'What on earth was going through her head... never mind, how could I ever understand her?'
Who could possibly understand the mind of a pervert who exposes her body on social media and university communities?
There was a fact I'd realized after emerging from five years of hikikomori: truly, there are so many people in the world you can't understand with common sense. It wasn't just online communities that had weirdos.
"Let's move somewhere else first."
I took the thoroughly cowed Ju Hana toward the campus café. The kid was shaking so much she seemed to need calming down.
"Want something to drink?" "I-I'll buy..."
Startled, Ju Hana started to pull out her wallet.
"Ah!"
But she dropped her wallet, and coins came clattering out everywhere.
"H-huh?!" "Oh boy..."
I helped the flustered Ju Hana pick up the coins. Fortunately, a few kind students helped out so we could gather them up quickly.
"S-sorry. I'll pay..." "It's fine, just tell me what you want to drink. And don't drop your wallet again."
Ju Hana's hands were still trembling like crazy.
At first, seeing her scared face, I'd felt a little gratified, thinking 'Ah, so you do know you've done wrong.' But now, I just felt sorry for her.
How did a kid this timid act like such a total badass on the internet?
'So much for "letting me do it once if I find you."'
The absurdity was beyond even a hollow laugh.
"I-I'm fine with anything..." "Then I'll just order something for you, okay?" "O-okay." "Two hot chocolates, please."
A hot chocolate might calm her down a bit. Something warm and sweet is usually best when you're nervous.
"Here are your two hot chocolates." "Thank you."
We took our hot chocolates and left the café. It wasn't exactly a topic you could talk about openly where people were around.
"Let's sit over there."
I sat down on a reasonably visible campus bench.
Ju Hana, on the other hand, instead of sitting on the bench, bowed deeply.
"I-I'm sorry." "......" "I-I-I'm sorry..."
Ju Hana apologized in a voice that was barely a whisper. What should I say here?
'So you know you did wrong, huh?' 'If you were going to apologize anyway, why did you keep provoking me?' 'Let me do it once, like you promised.'
Hmm, various thoughts came to mind, but I dismissed all of them. The way she looked so frightened was too pitiful for me to be sarcastic or push her like that, and I was a huge fan of Ju Hana's.
'Originally I planned to chew her out completely...'
Seeing her look so thoroughly pitiful, I guess a fan's devotion is a scary thing. No, maybe I'm just a spineless pushover?
"The apology's fine, so how about sitting down first?" "I-I'm more comfortable standing..." "...Alright, do what's comfortable. But drop the formal speech. We're on casual terms now, remember?" "......"
Ju Hana kept her head deeply bowed and fidgeted with her hands. Being only human, I got a little frustrated, and a deep sigh came out.
She flinched.
...She cringes even at a single sigh, huh. I need to reassure her first.
"So, you know, why don't you stop being so scared and relax? I'm not going to do anything to you." "...?" "Mm. I mean, just because I know you're Bback-sa, I'm not thinking of using that to blackmail you or anything. Obviously, I won't... try to force you to do anything either." "...?" "Ahem. That stuff about letting me do it or whatever, you only said that because you thought you wouldn't get caught, right? Even if I really did find you, I'm not planning to demand something like that. Like I said last time, I'm also your fan, and..."
Then Ju Hana cut me off and asked in return.
"Y-you won't? Do anything?"
She had a thoroughly surprised expression. So that was indeed what she'd been worried about.
Putting on the kindest expression I could manage to reassure her, I spoke.
"Of course not. You don't need to worry about that. Just, from now on, it's dangerous so don't post on Camta..." "W-why?" "...Huh?" "Why... won't you do it?" "...?"
What was she saying? I looked at Ju Hana with a slightly dumbfounded expression.
Why are you making a disappointed face?