The Provincial Transfer and the Sexual Harassment Case (2)

Kim Chirok's suspicions settled on Oh Ha-young.

A complaint filed at Incheon Namdong Police Station meant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the accuser had to be someone from Incheon — and that left only her. He had never so much as spoken with Moon Ji-hye from H Chemical's IT department, nor with Kang Ji-eun from Labor Relations.

And yet she had reported him for sexual assault when he had never laid a finger on her. The sheer gall of it left him speechless.

He had only just learned of his transfer to Changwon. That meant Oh Ha-young had filed the complaint without the faintest idea he was being sent away.

What's more, the Changwon assignment was still nothing more than a verbal heads-up from the director. No official document had been issued. It hadn't even appeared on the company intranet yet. The personnel order would likely go up on the system tomorrow, but for now it remained unofficial.

Oh Ha-young must still think I'm in the middle of a passionate romance with Bang Mihee.

If she really had filed that complaint, she was a vicious piece of work. It was jealousy, plain and simple — a spiteful urge to throw sand in his gears.

She always did look like the stubborn type. Guess her face wasn't lying.

Then again, it might not be her. Maybe that detective had mixed up someone else's complaint and dialed the wrong man.

Either way, he resolved to go to the station tomorrow and clear things up.

His mind was too unsettled for Japanese class, so he skipped it. That evening, at home, he told his mother about the Changwon transfer.

"I've been posted to H Heavy Industries in Changwon."

"What? Another transfer? You only just got to headquarters. And now they're sending you off again?"

Kim Chirok repeated what Director Jang had told him, more or less word for word.

"Apparently the affiliate, H Heavy Industries, is in rough shape. They lost out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to a competitor on an overseas bid. Headquarters wants to send some sharp young people down there to shake up the atmosphere."

"So you'll be back in a studio apartment again."

"Don't worry about the deposit. I've still got what they refunded me when I left the place in Incheon."

"All right. Nothing to be done about it, I suppose. Just do your job well."

"Changwon's nothing like Incheon — they might even pay a hardship allowance. And a studio down there won't run you more than four hundred thousand won a month, even if you overpay."

"Changwon's the city they made by merging the old Masan and Jinhae, isn't it?"

"That's right. It's a pretty big city. Masan and Jinhae are right on the water, so once I get settled, you should come down for a visit."

"Heh heh. All right, then."

His mother didn't seem especially worried about him going to the provinces. If anything, the talk of headquarters sending a capable young man to turn a struggling company around seemed to stir a quiet pride in her.

The next day, the team leader didn't assign Kim Chirok any work. He was told only to hand over whatever needed handing over to Deputy Song.

That afternoon, Kim Chirok asked to leave early for a family matter. He said nothing about a sexual assault complaint, or about going to a police station.

He meant to head straight to Incheon Namdong Police Station after lunch, so he went down to the company cafeteria. And there, once again, sat Bang Mihee and Jeong Chan-young, eating across from each other.

Bang Mihee's makeup looked even heavier than usual. The two of them were actually laughing as they ate. Kim Chirok let out a thin sigh.

Aigoo. Those two are heading for some glittering wedding — and what about me? Banished to the provinces. And as if getting kicked out weren't enough, I'm off to be interrogated on a sexual assault charge. What a rotten hand I've been dealt.

After lunch, he took the subway to Incheon.

He arrived at Namdong Police Station. He had been inside a police station once before — hauled in during college for attending a protest — and this was the second time. He walked into the investigation division office.

The room was full of people in plainclothes. It looked nothing like the grimy station house in the film Memories of Murder. If anything, it resembled a corporate office. The people at the desks could have passed for administrative staff at any company.

"I'm here to see Detective Choi."

A man in the back row looked up.

"That's me. What can I do for you?"

"I was told to come in by three o'clock today."

"And your name?"

"Kim Chirok."

"Ah, Mr. Kim. Have a seat in that chair over there."

About ten minutes later, the detective came over with a file in his hand.

"I'm Sergeant Choi, the officer in charge of this case. You brought identification, I assume?"

Kim Chirok handed over his resident registration card. The detective copied it on the machine without a word, then turned back to him.

"Mr. Kim, a complaint has been filed alleging that earlier this year, at a beer hall near Sindorim Station, you committed sexual harassment and sexual assault. The complainant is Oh Ha-young, an employee of H Chemical."

So it was her. Oh Ha-young.

I'll kill that bitch. Accusing me of sexual assault?

"It's true that I met her at a beer hall near Sindorim Station. But sexual assault? That's completely absurd."

"Just answer yes or no to my questions."

"Ah. Understood."

"That day, you met the complainant, Oh Ha-young, at the Pascucci near Sindorim Station. Correct?"

"She sent me a KakaoTalk asking to meet, so I met her. That's all."

"Yes or no only. You did meet her, yes?"

"Yes. I did."

The detective went on, asking this and that, typing Kim Chirok's answers into his laptop as he went. After a stretch of questioning, he leaned back in his chair.

"That night, after dinner at a shabu-shabu restaurant, you and Oh Ha-young went on to a beer hall for a second round. Correct?"

"That's right."

"That night, you forced drinks on Oh Ha-young, and once she was too drunk to stand, you suggested going to a hotel. Correct?"

"A hotel? I told her the last train was coming and that she needed to go home. That's all I said."

"According to Oh Ha-young's statement, you said you should go to a hotel and then dragged her along by force."

"That's completely ridiculous."

"I have evidence."

The detective produced a photograph. Kim Chirok's stomach dropped. It was him, unmistakably — gripping a drunken Oh Ha-young, pulling her along. A picture her friend, who had been there that night, had taken.

"Th-that's me pulling her along because I was telling her to go home."

The detective let a nasty little smirk crawl across his face.

"Mr. Kim. Let's not play the coward here, just between us men. Does this look like someone taking a girl home? You're dragging her to a hotel, aren't you?"

"God, this is insane. No. Absolutely not!"

"Is that so? Fine. I'll respect your answer. But when the complainant and the accused tell stories this far apart, the case has no choice but to go to court."

"What? What did you just say? Court?"

"If there's a dispute, it goes before a judge. That's how it works."

If Oh Ha-young had been standing in front of him, he would have put his fist through that smiling face.

Kim Chirok denied every allegation. The detective asked another question.

"The statement you've given today — you'd be prepared to repeat it in court?"

"Of course. I'm innocent."

"Then with both sides dug in like this, there's a good chance it goes all the way to trial. That said, the decision to prosecute rests with the prosecutor. We just report what we've investigated."

"Will it really go to trial?"

"Hard to say. If the prosecutor reviews the report and finds no grounds, you'll get a non-prosecution disposition. If the prosecutor finds there are grounds, the case can be sent to trial."

"Unbelievable. I don't even know what to say."

"If a lesser degree of wrongdoing is recognized, it can also be closed out with a fine. That's all for today's interview. You're free to go. We'll call you again if we need you."

Kim Chirok walked out of the station. The more he thought about it, the more infuriating Oh Ha-young became. He wanted to march straight into H Chemical, grab her by the collar, and shake her.

He called her first. She didn't pick up. All those times she had hounded him to meet — and now she wouldn't even answer the phone.

That fucking bitch.

He felt it in his bones: a person had to be decent at the root. She was the kind of woman who had made a habit of schoolyard violence, and you couldn't fake your nature. He was learning that all over again.

Still, he told himself everything would work out. He was innocent. He had said as much, clearly, in front of a detective. Nothing would come of it.

He sent Oh Ha-young a single text.

She didn't reply.

The next day, Kim Chirok's transfer became official. His name appeared on the company intranet among the outgoing personnel. He was being reassigned from the Group Strategic Planning Office to the Management Team at the H Heavy Industries Changwon Plant.

He went to pay his respects to President Jeong-hee. Even if he was heading down to Changwon, a proper goodbye seemed in order. But President Jeong-hee was out at an external event, and her office was empty.

He went to Director Jang instead and said his farewell. Director Jang crinkled his eyes in a slow smile and patted him on the shoulder.

"Go down to H Heavy Industries and make a real name for yourself. Do that, and the company's leadership will look at you differently."

Deputy Song offered to throw him a farewell gathering. Kim Chirok declined. What kind of farewell party did you throw for a man being kicked out the door? He did say he wouldn't forget how well Deputy Song had treated him.

Then Jeong Chan-young called.

How do you think it happened? You and Bang Mihee were pulling strings behind my back. That's how.

The words rose as far as his throat. What came out was something smoother.

"How would I know the company's mind? I'm just a grunt. They say go, I go. They say come, I come."

He thought about calling Bang Mihee, then let the idea die. He didn't even want to look at her face anymore.

And yet a question still nagged at him: had she really been going to an obstetrics clinic?

Was that actually true? Surely she hadn't been seeing some other man before she took up with Jeong Chan-young. If she had, she was a woman with a lot of problems. Dating Bang Mihee was a moment of blindness — something in my eye, that's all.

Kim Chirok decided to leave for Changwon on Sunday. That way he could report for duty at H Heavy Industries first thing Monday morning.

He considered the express bus, then chose the KTX instead. It was simply too far.

He called the Japanese academy as well, and informed both instructors separately — the native speaker, and the young woman who taught the JLPT exam prep class. The young woman said she was sorry to see him go. She hoped he would come back to Seoul to work someday.

Kim Chirok decided, then and there, to forget everything about Seoul. He even found himself wondering whether he might put down roots in Changwon.

At home, he packed what he would take with him. Underwear and a few books went into a travel bag.

And then another thought crept in. If his statement and the complainant's story remained at odds — if the whole thing went to trial — what then? Would he have to come all the way back up from Changwon to Incheon?

He sat down and searched the internet for how sexual assault cases were actually handled.

There were articles. He read them.

There were advertisements, too, urging readers to prepare for exactly that possibility.

There were personal accounts as well, written by people whose cases had actually gone to trial. One of them caught his eye.

If that was how it worked, then Oh Ha-young — who had no shortage of money — would almost certainly hand the case to a lawyer with a name. And if she did, even a crime that had never happened could be made to exist.

Should I call Lim Jae-geun and ask him about this?

Lim Jae-geun was the one who had tormented him without rest all through school. These days he was a lawyer at a top-five firm, riding his father's coattails. But the thought of discussing something as humiliating as a sexual assault case with that man made Kim Chirok's skin crawl. He had been bitten, and bitten hard, and he knew it. How he was supposed to get himself out of this, he couldn't yet see. One thought after another turned over in his mind.

Then another name occurred to him: Manager Lee at H Chemical. Manager Lee had gone with him on the Osaka business trip, and had always been well disposed toward him. If anyone might point him in a useful direction, it would be a man ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like that.

Besides, Manager Lee was married — not a bachelor. He would have a grown man's understanding of the messy business between men and women. That, at least, was something to hold on to.