The Plain Girlfriend Is Unexpectedly Targeted (4)

"I'm home..."

My girlfriend Dasom had always been particularly timid and reserved. After finishing her assignments, she looked at me with a tired face and offered a small, faint smile.

"Welcome back. Must've been rough."

I greeted her as casually as ever, as if nothing were amiss.

"Haru, I can't find the shoes I wore at the entrance. Do you know where they are?"

My heart dropped like a stone, but I answered smoothly.

"Ah...! Those were so worn out that I tossed them while I was doing the recycling earlier..."

"Why would you throw them away without telling me?"

"Sorry... I figured you weren't going to wear them anymore..."

"...Well, if they're already gone, there's nothing we can do about it. I understand."

Dasom headed straight into the room. Watching her retreating back, I let out a long, secret sigh of relief.

It was a miracle she hadn't found out.

The memory from a few days ago flashed through my mind—handing over the black plastic bag containing her old shoes and receiving a handful of crumpled bills in exchange. It was something I could never, ever tell my girlfriend.

Lately, Dasom had been going out more often because of classes and assignments. Since we attended different schools, the time we could actually see each other had inevitably shrunk. Sitting alone in our quiet apartment, staring into space and killing time without her, turned out to be far lonelier and more pathetic than I'd expected.

Unable to stand the boredom any longer, I met up with a friend I hadn't seen in ages and shared a few drinks. The guy was Dongjin, someone I'd known since middle school. Honestly, the only thing we had in common was our long history. There wasn't much else about him that I liked.

He was always tearing other people down, badmouthing them at every opportunity. Once the alcohol hit him, he'd spray spit everywhere while putting on ridiculous displays of bravado. It was pathetic to watch. Still, the bitter reason I kept hanging around him was simple: aside from Dongjin, I didn't have a single other friend to meet.

Just like Dasom, I'd been an inconspicuous, gloomy loser since childhood, and even now as an adult I had no real social circle to speak of. While I was inwardly lamenting how miserable my life was, watching Dongjin smack his lips and pick at the snacks in front of me gave me a shallow sense of superiority—at least I had a girlfriend, unlike that bastard. It was a petty comfort, but it worked.

Anyway, I set aside those pathetic memories and focused on the conversation with the friend I hadn't seen in so long. The usual script for two guys drinking together was predictable. It started with newly released Steam games, moved on to the latest anime we were watching, and inevitably ended with talk about women. Eventually the topic shifted to my girlfriend.

Dongjin knew Dasom, of course. He tried hard to act cool, pretending he wasn't interested in other people's relationships, but as expected of a lifelong virgin, every question he asked was downright vulgar.

"What? You still haven't fucked her in the ass? What the hell have you been doing all this time?"

Dongjin's eyes gleamed as he fired off one sticky, boundary-pushing question after another.

I dodged vaguely and tried to steer the conversation in a different direction.

"It's not like we're shooting porn... Oh, right! Speaking of which, she kept wearing those ridiculously old shoes, so I finally bought her a new pair the other day."

Dongjin set his soju glass down with a loud clack.

"Why the hell would you buy her new ones? Women's shoes are basically free anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Are you seriously asking because you don't know?"

When I stared at him with a blank, clueless expression, he clicked his tongue and pulled out his smartphone. After tapping the screen a few times, he shoved the large device right in front of my face.

This guy always carried the latest phone despite being broke. On the screen was a sight that completely shattered my understanding of the world.

Worn-out high heels and sneakers that women had used, along with clothes, panties, and other unimaginable used items, were being sold for surprisingly high prices.

"What the hell is this..."

"Like I said, you really don't know shit about women. Heh heh."

Dongjin laughed, clearly amused by my open mouth. He began excitedly explaining the dark underbelly of this filthy world, claiming there was demand for everything.

A wave of nausea hit me hard. It was a disgusting realm I couldn't comprehend and didn't want to. My stomach was already unsettled from drinking too much, and listening to him made me feel like I might ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠vomit everything I'd consumed.

I half-listened, made some vague replies, and eventually wrapped up the drinking session. After settling the bill, I stepped outside with Dongjin and stopped at a nearby convenience store, grabbing a Choco Mong.

I'd picked up Dasom's habit of soothing hangovers with sweet chocolate milk after drinking. As I walked through the cold night air, the hazy fog of alcohol slowly began to lift.

In the space the nausea had cleared, those prices I'd seen on the screen earlier flickered before my eyes again. Whatever those lunatics who bought used women's shoes did with them in their rooms was none of my business. What filled my head now was the simple fact ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that someone was willing to pay good money for a piece of trash destined for the garbage.

The curiosity and greed wriggling inside me refused to stay buried. I casually asked the friend walking beside me.

"Hey, that thing from earlier... Can you really get that kind of money for it?"

"If you're curious, try selling ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠something of Dasom's."

"Is it as simple as meeting up like on Carrot Market and handing it over?"

"Are you insane? Of course you have to prove it's actually from a woman. You need to upload photos of her tits and pussy, plus go through all sorts of complicated verification steps."

Those words made me drop the idea immediately. No matter how badly I needed money, I didn't want to sell pictures of my girlfriend's body just to get a bit of cash. Turning trash into money was tempting, but the risk was far too great.

Just as I was about to let the whole thing go, Dongjin suddenly stopped walking. He stared at me intently and said,

"Then how about selling it to me?"

"...Huh?"

"I'll buy them. Those shoes."

Under the glow of the streetlight, a sly smile curved Dongjin's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lips. That single casually spoken sentence burrowed into my ear like a sweet yet eerie whisper from the devil.

*****

The sound of the door sliding open reached me as I entered the room to change. I sat down at the computer desk and stared blankly at the monitor.

Haru was never the type to touch my things without permission or take the initiative to handle annoying chores like recycling. Even earlier, though he'd acted calm, it was obvious he was hiding something.

What exactly had he been doing while I was busy and out of the house these days?

I've always had a slightly gloomy side to my personality. Even normally, I would secretly check his SNS or internet browsing history without him noticing—to find out what kind of women he liked or what he was most interested in lately.

Of course I'd discovered he was far more into 2D characters on screens than real women, but I set that aside for now...

Haru's behavior earlier had definitely been strange. My instincts screamed that he was hiding something.

Fortunately, his PC KakaoTalk was still logged in at the bottom right of the monitor. I grabbed the mouse and carefully scanned the chat list.

The top conversation was with me. That made sense—we'd been exchanging affectionate messages right until I got home.

Right below that was the name Dongjin.

Haru's only friend. To be honest, I'd never understood why Haru associated with someone of such low character. The man gave off a creepy, unpleasant vibe, but because Haru had no other friends, I'd never voiced my discomfort or interfered.

'Let's start here.'

I moved the mouse and double-clicked Dongjin's chat room. As I scrolled down with the mouse wheel, sentences that made me doubt my own eyes began to fill the screen.

My fingers gripping the mouse trembled violently.

He had lied, claiming he threw them away because they were old, and sold my shoes to his friend. The image of Haru's face as he looked me straight in the eye and lied so casually at the entrance flashed through my mind.

In front of me he had acted completely normal, but the moment I was out of sight, he had sold my shoes to his friend without hesitation. Not only that—he had mocked and evaluated my scent, willingly joined in the filthy jokes, and even pressed his nose into my shoes while doing it.

I pulled my knees up onto the chair and stared blankly at my bare feet.

What was Dongjin planning to do with the shoes I had worn? Just thinking that the familiar old sneakers which had wrapped my feet until a few days ago were now in that man's hands sent goosebumps racing from my toes upward.

I stayed like that for a long time, holding my breath and trembling, when—

Ding.

A short notification sound broke the silence through the room's speakers. At the same time, a new message bubble popped up at the very bottom of the open chat window.