Kidnapping, Like Angry Waves Crashing Against a Cliff #1
I have a type of guy I hate most in this world. The ones who turn into complete simps the moment a girl so much as looks at them, trembling like leaves. Those bastards don’t deserve to be called real men. Me? Ha Namjin? I’m the kind of Alpha Male who can still say no to the woman he loves.
“Hey, Seo Gaeul. Do I look like a fucking idiot to you?”
“...What?”
The moment I dropped my usual gentlemanly act and hit her with some real talk, Seo Gaeul’s lips started trembling. It looked like she’d discovered some twisted new charm in me. Beside me, Baek Yeoul—who usually glared at Seo Gaeul like an angry raccoon—grabbed my side in a panic.
“Hey, hey, what are you doing…?”
“Let go. Hey. What the hell is fun about this party? Seo Gaeul, are you actually enjoying this?”
“What are you even talking about?”
“I’m asking if it’s fun. Standing around with people you don’t even like, talking about money and cars. That’s not you.”
I still remembered the day Seo Gaeul had shown up at my rundown shack like it was yesterday. Sometimes it even appeared in my dreams. That day, she was covered in wounds, soaked from the rain, and looked utterly miserable—yet she still shone like a jewel. Even while grumbling about how filthy my house was and taking off her stockings, her face—though completely scrunched up—hadn’t lost its vitality. That was the Seo Gaeul I had fallen for.
“You’re not acting like Seo Gaeul at all right now.”
The Seo Gaeul from that day had already been perfect on her own. She hadn’t seemed to need anyone’s help. But the Seo Gaeul standing before me now was different. She actually reminded me of the guy who used to mutter to himself in the junkyard. A junkyard and a luxury penthouse. A loner who talked to himself and the star of the party. Our situations couldn’t have been more different, but I understood.
The current Seo Gaeul was lonely. So lonely that she wanted meaningless, noisy chatter to fill the space around her. It was the same as turning the TV volume up loud when you get home and no one’s there to greet you. In that sense, this party was basically her TV. Sprinkled with just a bit of spite and malice as garnish.
“Stop messing with Baek Yeoul too. I don’t know what kind of relationship you two had in the past or what happened between you, but it’s childish and disgusting. Today’s mess was all your doing, wasn’t it?”
The reason the model girl could openly show hostility toward Baek Yeoul was because the host of tonight’s party—Seo Gaeul—had silently approved it. Maybe she had even ordered it. I was telling Seo Gaeul to stop provoking Baek Yeoul for no reason. Because when I had scanned the party for potential “Traitors of Humanity” who might stab Seo Gaeul in the stomach tonight, Baek Yeoul had the highest potential score among them. She had enough grudges and motives. Therefore, I had no choice but to hope that Seo Gaeul and Baek Yeoul would get along.
“......”
Seo Gaeul, who had been casually brushing off everything thrown at her, finally shut her mouth. Her expression was as cold as ice. Our relationship had now officially hit rock bottom.
“Do you think you can handle the consequences of what you just said?” Seo Gaeul asked me.
I wanted to ask her the same thing.
“You’re the one who has to handle it. I just gave you a chance. You know what? The moon is really beautiful tonight.”
I looked past Seo Gaeul’s shoulder, through the penthouse’s wide windows, at the sparkling moon in the distance. It was a gorgeous full moon. The night when Seo Gaeul was at her weakest. The real reason I had come to this corporate party was to scout where she lived, the entrances, escape routes, and everything else. Thanks to wandering around the building collecting bottle caps, I had gathered quite satisfactory information.
The kidnapping of Seo Gaeul would happen tonight.
“Then asta la vista!”
After delivering that cool farewell line, I headed home.
“Hey, are you okay? You said you liked Seo Gaeul, didn’t you?”
Baek Yeoul—or Ppang-daeng-i, as I called her—had been silent for a while before finally speaking up with difficulty.
“After what happened today, she’s probably going to hate you completely. Honestly, it was a total disaster.”
Was she worried about my romantic pursuit of Seo Gaeul? Even though we had a partner contract, she was surprisingly responsible.
“I don’t care if she hates me. My feelings for Seo Gaeul haven’t changed. Even if she hates me, as long as I like her, that’s enough.”
“...Why?”
“Why what?”
“I’m asking what’s so great about Seo Gaeul that you like her so much. You know how bad her personality is now. She acts like nothing’s wrong in front of people, but behind their backs she torments them, makes their lives hell…”
“Why do I like her, huh…”
“Seo Gaeul has always been popular. She used to be really nice. But then she suddenly changed. I don’t know why, but I… I think I should say what I need to say too, just like you…”
Baek Yeoul gripped the hem of her skirt tightly. She kept moving her lips like she wanted to say something but kept choking on her words. Opening up about your true feelings is hard. While she struggled, I quietly thought about why I liked Seo Gaeul.
“Why do I like Seo Gaeul? She’s pretty. Her eyes are red like rubies. I like red.”
“......”
Apparently my answer wasn’t to her liking. Baek Yeoul pressed her lips together tightly and frowned.
When we got home, Baek Yeoul buried her face in her bed and sobbed her heart out. Thanks to that, her makeup and snot got all over the pillow, but she didn’t have the mental space to care.
“I couldn’t say a single word in the end!”
When she had decided to attend the corporate party, she had sworn to herself that she would face everything head-on. No matter what happened, she would push through strongly. But the moment all those gazes and criticisms turned toward her, old memories rose up like trauma and her mouth wouldn’t open. The memories of being humiliated at parties because of Seo Gaeul. She had wanted to get satisfying revenge, but once again Baek Yeoul could only tremble in fear.
Instead, it was that male student—Ha Namjin—who had been her worst first impression, the one who boldly said out loud even a little bit of what she had wanted to say to everyone.
‘Why is he so confident?’
Aren’t you scared of being hated by everyone? Baek Yeoul stared at the luxury bag she had borrowed from her mother with great determination, lost in thought. It reminded her of the time everyone had mocked her for having a tacky bag, and that male student had stepped forward to save her by offering his fake shoes.
Even when the model Jeon So-mi attacked her, he had jumped in like it was his own business and taken all the shame and humiliation for her.
‘Why did he do that? D-does he… like me?’
No, that couldn’t be. That male student had shamelessly declared to everyone that he liked Seo Gaeul. Seo Gaeul was a bad person, yet she was popular with everyone. She was genuinely awful. So why on earth did Ha Namjin like someone like her?
“Because she’s pretty? Is that all?”
For whatever reason, Baek Yeoul felt a little angry. At herself? At Seo Gaeul? At Ha Namjin? She wasn’t sure exactly who she was mad at, but she knew she couldn’t stay like this. Baek Yeoul stood up from her seat.
“I need to change too.”
But how? Baek Yeoul imagined what kind of person she should become. The image that came to mind was that male student who hadn’t been intimidated even in front of those arrogant VIP boys earlier. Honestly, she didn’t think she could change that much, but—
“Let’s start with the outside.”
Baek Yeoul picked up a pen and drew a luxury logo on her old school bag. In an instant, a fake Chanel was complete. It was crooked, but she actually liked that part.
“Fake or real doesn’t matter. If I decide it’s real, then it becomes real, right? Everything depends on what I decide!”
A realization burst in her head like a refreshing soda. At this rate, she felt like she could finally get used to the Concept she had never been able to control—Bad Luck.
Creeping, creeping—.
Now that everyone was asleep, Baek Yeoul got up and rummaged through her mother’s drawer. What she pulled out was hair dye. She didn’t even know what color it was. She squeezed the entire tube into a bowl, then slathered the sticky, thick dye all over her hair in the dark room. The strong chemicals stung her scalp, but the sensation wasn’t as bad as she expected. She hoped it would turn out ruby red.
But after washing her hair and looking in the mirror, Baek Yeoul’s new hair color was—
“Hiiiiiiiyaaaak!”
“Ha Namjin, my friend. Please tell me I didn’t do anything wrong. Tell me it was right to leave the comfortable embrace of those female students and escape the corporate party with you!”
Changsik was completely lost in anguish and torment on the way home. I had no choice but to wake him up to the harsh reality.
“All the girls sitting next to you were wearing rings. They had boyfriends. They were just messing with you for fun. You know that, right?”
“...Ugh.”
Changsik looked genuinely heartbroken. I knew all too well how painful it was to be rejected and mocked by girls, so I comforted him from the bottom of my heart.
“Here, take these at least.”
Swish—.
I took out about ten of the bottle caps I had collected today and placed them in his hand. They were mostly crown caps from beer or delicious cola bottles. Honestly, even for Changsik, giving these away hurt a little.
“It’s fine. I have plenty of these at home.”
But Changsik refused my kindness. He had tons of bottle caps at home? I wanted to hear more about that story, but Changsik just trudged away and got on the bus. Now I was the only one left.
I blankly lifted my head and stared at the night sky. The full moon was still shining brightly. The corporate party would end around midnight. It would be best to wait until everyone had left and Seo Gaeul was alone before carrying out the kidnapping plan. I would have to use my LeapConcept to its maximum potential. I might even have to risk my life.
Since the topic came up, maybe I should do some practice runs? I headed to a nearby park and lightly warmed up. During today’s “Special Class,” while doing yoga and meditation, I had thought of ways to strengthen my LeapConcept, and now I wanted to put them into practice.
“Leap isn’t actually about running. It’s about jumping.”
Pop—.
When I lightly jumped into the air, my body rose about two meters. Honestly, I was dissatisfied.
“Jump! Jump!”
I was hopping around the park like Mario hunting for mushrooms when—
Step, step—.
I sensed someone approaching me. It was a woman wearing a hoodie and dolphin shorts. Her long, slender legs and the prominent chest area pushing against her hoodie stood out especially.
“You’re… Yu Yeoleum, right?”
“No.”
“Ah! That’s right! It’s Yu Gureum! A name like the natural environment!”
“Yu Yeoleum.”
Yeah, yeah, that was the name. Even in Class F—an elite group that judged people by their background—she was called a genius. According to Taeseong, she was so talented that even Seo Gaeul yielded to her. And now that very Yu Yeoleum was radiating healthy beauty under the streetlight. Was she out for a jog? What a diligent person, I thought, when she asked me a question.
“What are you doing? It looked like you were jumping into the air.”
“Ability development.”
“Ah— So you’re trying to raise the rank of your Concept. Want some tips?”
“Tips?”
“Concepts are born from powerful desires. And the main fuel for using this power is emotion. Hatred, jealousy, envy, fear—those kinds of emotions are our source.”
Swish—.
Yu Yeoleum looked me up and down with her gaze from beneath her hood.
“From what I see, yours seems to be ‘anger.’ Every time you use your Concept, you’re drawing power from rage, aren’t you? You must have gone through something that made you incredibly angry. That’s when you acquired the Concept.”
“Anger? Me?”
“I’m the same, so I know it well. I don’t know what happened, but it must have been something that filled you with enough rage to awaken a Concept. Think back on that day’s emotions.”
Anger. Was the emotion I felt when I acquired the LeapConcept really anger? Even I didn’t know. Had I been that furious that day?
“I train here at Central Park every night. If you have any questions about strengthening your Concept, come find me.”
The hooded girl Yu Yeoleum showed me great kindness. Suddenly, I became curious why she was going this far for me. I knew better than anyone that there was no such thing as kindness without reason.
“Why are you trying to help me? Do you like me or something?”
At my question, Yu Yeoleum took off her hood. Her hair was neatly tied back, and she had a strong, beautiful face with bold features. Was her skin slightly tanned? It looked like it had been evenly kissed by the summer sun. If I hadn’t met Seo Gaeul first, this girl might have been my first love—
Just as I was thinking that, Yu Yeoleum opened her mouth.
“I—”
“Sorry! I already have someone I like!”