The Fox's Tail, and the Trap

Lazy afternoon sunlight slipped through a gap in the curtains and spilled across the head of the bed.

The moment ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I lifted my heavy eyelids, what stirred my senses was the weight of someone else's body heat pressing down against my waist — and the thick, sweet, faintly musky scent of last night's sex still saturating the air.

I turned my head.

A woman lay breathing softly, a pale shoulder bared through a tangle of disheveled hair. Seo Jisu.

Last night she had thrown off the mask of the lofty student council president, clinging to me from below and howling like an animal. Now she was dead to the world, sleeping the sleep of the thoroughly spent. The gold-ringed choker I had fastened around her throat last night peeked out from the covers, catching the sunlight. It was a beautiful shackle that would never come off — proof of who she belonged to.

"Sleeping like a baby, huh."

I smirked and slowly traced an index finger down the smooth line of her back. She flinched, a little tremor running through her, but she didn't wake. I could guess well enough how thoroughly I'd worked her over through the night.

I slipped carefully out of bed and picked up the smartphone from the nightstand. The first thing I checked were the USB drive ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and the recordings Jisu had offered up yesterday like a tribute.

It was airtight. One leak of this and Shin Nara's burial would be a matter of time. Dishonorable expulsion from the university was the least of it — these were ironclad, inescapable pieces of evidence that could put her in criminal court. The harvest Jisu had gathered so meticulously, so viciously, using every ounce of her authority as student council president.

Good girl. That's my president.

I smiled, satisfied, and checked the next messages. KakaoTalk from Yura had piled up across the screen.

Yura was holding up her end just fine. Drip-feeding information to stoke Shin Nara's greed, luring her straight to me — the perfect decoy. Every piece was in place. The trap was set, solid and waiting. The bait had been scattered, rich and irresistible. All that remained was for the starving fox to walk in on her own two feet and offer up her throat.

"Mmm... Dohun..."

Jisu stirred in her sleep, mumbling. I pressed a light kiss to her forehead and headed for the bathroom. The face in the mirror wore the faint, crooked smile of a predator.

Today was going to be a very entertaining hunt. And a very cruel one.

The bell marking the end of afternoon lectures rang out. Students drained from the classroom like a receding tide. I gathered my bag and stood at a leisurely pace.

If my prediction was right, she would be waiting at the mouth of the corridor that led to the administrative office. A starving fox, nostrils flaring at the scent of blood — or rather, the scent of money.

"Excuse me — Park Dohun?"

The moment I rounded the corner, a familiar and thoroughly repulsive voice called me to a halt.

TA Shin Nara.

She was standing there in makeup far more elaborate than usual, wearing a tight silk blouse that left every curve of her body on shameless display. Twenty-seven years old. She carried a ripe, sultry atmosphere that set her apart from the green college girls around her — like a piece of fruit at the peak of its season. To my eyes, though, she was nothing but a greedy little social climber soaked in avarice.

"Ah, TA. Good afternoon."

I greeted her with a carefully manufactured look of surprise.

"Class just end? I hardly see you around campus these days, Dohun. Been busy?"

She drifted closer, wearing that signature melting eye-smile of hers. A brush of skin against a man's arm. Wide, moist puppy-dog eyes looking up from below. The exact same technique she had used in my previous life to seduce the naive version of me and shove him straight into hell.

It didn't work anymore. All it did was make my stomach turn.

"Yeah, well. I've had a few things going on."

I answered listlessly, looking away. An attitude of complete disinterest. That would only make her more desperate.

"Hey, do you have a minute? Want to grab a cup of coffee with me? I'll make you something good."

She caught my arm, her invitation thick with implication. There was real force in her fingertips.

"Coffee? I've actually got something after this..."

"Come on, it'll just take a second. You know the TA Lounge, right? They just put in a new coffee machine and it's actually really good. We can talk quietly, just the two of us. A private conversation."

Just the two of us. She put a sticky, lingering weight on those words.

In my previous life, my heart would have been hammering out of my chest. Now her intentions were so transparent they were almost insulting.

I nodded, as if I were giving in.

"Well... if it's just a minute, I suppose that's fine."

"Great! Come on, Dohun."

She hooked her arm through mine and led me toward the TA Lounge. Her full chest brushed against my arm — almost, not quite, close enough to press — a calculated little jolt of stimulation.

Damn. She's desperate.

How completely blinded she was by the coin-trading gamble was written all over this aggressive approach.

The TA Lounge. A secluded, closed-off space used only by faculty. She shut the door and carefully lowered the blinds as well. A perfect sealed room.

"Sit. I'll get you a coffee."

She brewed a capsule coffee and sat on the sofa across from me, crossing a pair of sleek legs that emerged from beneath a short skirt, angling them to draw the eye.

"So, Dohun. I hear you've gotten pretty close with Yura lately?"

She cut to the chase. No circling around, a fastball right down the middle — which told me she was running out of time.

Can't wait to go long, you greedy bitch? Figure if you get in now the profits will be huge.

I swallowed the laugh that almost burst out of me at how obvious she was.

"Yeah. A little, I guess."

"Yura mentioned something. That you've been giving her coin tips. Managing her money, too."

Her eyes glittered. Greed. The word money was carved into those dark pupils, burning.

"Oh, she said that? She's got a loose mouth."

I picked up my cup, answering as if it barely interested me.

"So... it's true? That Yura made four hundred million off the last crash?"

"That's right. I had her short it, just like I told her to. She made out pretty well."

My casual confirmation left Shin Nara's mouth hanging open. Four hundred million won. The jealousy and naked envy of a mere undergraduate throwing around that kind of money were written all over her face.

"Th-that's incredible. I'm seeing you in a whole new light, Dohun. I always thought you were just this quiet student. Turns out you're a total powerhouse."

She leaned forward, closing the distance. The deep valley of her cleavage was plainly visible between the buttons of her blouse.

"Where do you even get information like that? Could you... maybe tip me off, just a little? Just me. I'm really good at keeping secrets."

"Information? I don't know about that."

I leaned back deep into the sofa, putting on an arrogant expression.

"It's pretty expensive information. And even if I told you..."

I looked her up and down, as if I were appraising her from head to toe — the knockoff designer pieces, the cheap off-the-rack filler.

"Do you even have seed money, TA? Information matters with coins, sure, but at the end of the day it's money making money. No ammunition, and you're wasting your time. You need to be moving at least a billion won before it even gets interesting."

The blatant dismissal flushed Shin Nara's face a deep red. Her pride had taken a serious hit. But she swallowed it. She had no choice. She needed the golden key sitting in my pocket.

"I have money too! I do. It's just a little tied up right now. If I liquidate, it's a decent amount."

She bluffed.

"How much?"

"Uh... well..."

As she hemmed and hawed, I smirked and pulled out my phone.

"Want to see? How much I'm actually moving."

I opened the exchange app and held it up in front of her eyes.

Shin Nara's pupils blew wide, as if they might burst.

7.68 billion won. A fortune that had already swollen from the 4.5 billion it had been just days ago. A number she had never seen in her entire life — a number she had never even imagined — stamped onto that tiny screen.

I could see her hands trembling. Her breathing going shallow. It was a shock that went beyond astonishment, something closer to terror in the face of overwhelming power.

"That's... all yours...?"

"Yeah. Shorted the last crash, made a bit. Got lucky."

I put the phone away as if it were nothing.

"Now you understand? There's no point in me giving you tips, TA. Ants pushing around pocket change just bleed it all away in fees. It's a waste of time."

"......"

Shin Nara couldn't say a word. This was not the Park Dohun she knew. The pathetic returning student who used to sit in the corner with no presence at all. The man sitting in front of her now was a man worth over seven billion won.

Cognitive dissonance. And then the wretched, bone-deep realization of how small she actually was.

But something even larger than that wretchedness crashed over her.

Desire.

The desire to scavenge even the crumbs of that enormous fortune — a desire close to a survival instinct, the urge to latch onto this man like a leech and parasite her way into money.

"Dohun..."

Her voice went wet and plaintive in an instant.

"The truth is... I'm in a lot of trouble right now. I feel like I'm going to die. I was trading coins too. But... I got wrecked. Everything. Even the loans. I'm about to get liquidated."

And there it was — her nauseating method acting. In my previous life she had squeezed out fat, theatrical tears over her sick mother's surgery bills. This time the repertoire was slightly different. At least she hadn't sold a parent she didn't have. I supposed I could give her a slightly better score than last time for that.

It wasn't true yet. But it wouldn't be long before the lie coming out of her mouth became a prophecy so accurate it would make your skin crawl. Then again, it wasn't a complete fabrication. The part about maxing out every loan she could get her hands on — going all-in, leveraged to the hilt — that much was a desperate, unvarnished truth.

"And?"

"There's nowhere left to borrow. The banks, the credit cards... everything's shut. If I miss this month's interest, I become a credit delinquent. I'll get fired from the school too."

She looked at me, eyes welling, pleading.

"You've got money. You've got talent. Can't you help me out a little? I'll... I'll be so good. I'll do anything."

"Help you. You mean you want money."

"No — I want to borrow it! I'll pay you back, I swear! You've got great intel, so I'll invest whatever I borrow exactly the way you tell me, grow it, and pay you back! Please... I'm begging you..."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

She came across the table and seized my hand. Her palm was clammy with sweat. A touch dripping with desperation.

I peeled her hand off, cold.

"TA. Nothing in this world is free."

"......"

"Why should I help you? It's not like we have that kind of relationship."

I drew the line without a shred of warmth. Shin Nara's eyes shook as if an earthquake had hit them.

If she backed down now, it was over. She knew it instinctively. If she couldn't turn this man's heart, her life had no reverse gear left.

She stood up. Then she walked quietly to the lounge door and turned the lock.

Click.

The sound of the bolt sliding home rang loud in the silent room. The exit was sealed.

She came back. But this time, not to the seat across from me. She sat beside me, very close. Close enough that our thighs pressed together with no gap at all. A wave of her heavy perfume rolled over me.

"Not that kind of relationship... that's a little hurtful."

She let out a peculiar little laugh and rested her hand on my thigh. Her fingers crept inward, sliding slowly, steadily downward.

"We're teacher and student, aren't we... We could become something much more special than that..."

"Something special?"

"Mm. I can be whatever you want. A girlfriend. A fuck buddy. A slave..."

She put her lips to my ear and whispered. Hot breath tickled the shell of it; the wet tip of her tongue brushed against me.

"You said I should show some sincerity. This is my sincerity."

She nipped lightly at my earlobe.

"What do I have to do for you to accept it? Hmm? Tell me, Dohun. Just lend me the money and I'll do everything."

A naked seduction. The ugly, honest face of a woman who had thrown away pride, dignity, everything, in front of money. Not a trace remained of the haughty ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠creature who had blackmailed and mocked me in my previous life. All that was left was a groveling no different from a whore selling her body for cash.

I slid an arm around her waist. Through the thin blouse I could feel her heat, the soft give of her flesh.

How should I cook this fox of a woman? Take her right here, right now? Or play with her a little longer and drop her all the way to the bottom?

For now... maybe a taste.

"TA."

"Yes...?"

"This isn't enough."

I grabbed her breast, rough.

"Ah—!"

She let out a moan, twisting.

"You're going to have to show me some real sincerity. Don't just talk. Prove it with your body."

I leaned back against the sofa and spread my legs wide.

"Here. Right now."

Shin Nara's face flushed deep red as she read the look in my eyes. A humiliating demand — to offer her body to a student, inside the sacred TA Lounge, on school grounds.

But she didn't refuse. No — she couldn't refuse. Standing before 7.68 billion won in capital, and the man who held every ounce of it, she was nothing. Powerless. The one who needed, facing the one who had.

"Okay... I'll show you... my sincerity..."

She slowly slid down off the sofa, between my legs. She knelt, and her hands went to my belt buckle.

Trembling fingers. But what lived in that tremor was less humiliation than a desperate, consuming hunger — the knowledge that if she let this lifeline slip, she was dead.

I looked down at the crown of her head and smiled, faint and crooked.

This was not the end of the hunt.

This was the beginning of the slaughter.

Shin Nara.

Let's see just how wretched you can become for money. Let's take this all the way to the bottom.