Normalizing the Rude Bitch! #2
This happened back when Oh Deokhui was still a middle school student. One spring day, someone began carving embarrassing graffiti into her desk with a knife. Her locker lock was ripped off and stinking milk was poured inside.
—Look at her panicking—
—Is she gonna cry?—
She had no idea who was doing it or why. After it happened several more times, Oh Deokhui agonized for a long while before finally telling her teacher the truth.
“There’s no bullying in our class, right? Let’s all get along.”
One month after her trusted teacher’s indifferent response, Oh Deokhui learned that Jin Eunbyeol, a girl from the neighboring class, was behind all of it. The friend who had transferred out told her right before leaving: “Actually, it’s Jin Eunbyeol who…”
It made no sense. Oh Deokhui had never even spoken to Jin Eunbyeol, let alone been in the same class. Why is she ordering people to bully me? What did I ever do to her?
The harassment grew worse and worse. Yet Jin Eunbyeol was clever enough never to do anything that would get her in trouble herself. She always used other people’s hands to torment Oh Deokhui.
While Oh Deokhui suffered from senseless bullying at school, her father’s factory suddenly fell on hard times. Long-trusted suppliers arbitrarily cut off deliveries, and employees who had been with them for years like family spat harsh words and quit, throwing everything into chaos. Their livelihood quickly began to collapse. That was why her father started depending on alcohol.
“If your husband comes home exhausted from work, the least you can do is keep the house in order! What the hell is this side dish? It’s the same thing you served yesterday!”
Whenever her drunk father started yelling at her mother, Oh Deokhui would take her little sister to the park for a walk. Just a few months ago they had been an ordinary, harmonious family. How had it come to this?
“Sis, do you have any money?”
While sitting on the swing, her sister—who had just started middle school that year—asked cautiously. Oh Deokhui thought she wanted to buy school supplies, but the next words were completely unexpected.
“Me and Hyun-jung were at the coin karaoke place when these scary older guys showed up and took our phones… They said if we don’t bring 100,000 won by this weekend, high school guys will come looking for us…”
Hiccup—. Seeing her sister cry, Oh Deokhui’s heart burned with rage. Even her little sister was being harassed now. The misfortune that had befallen her parents, herself, and her younger sister—she was certain one particular girl was behind it all.
“…Eunbyeol. Why are you doing this to me?”
During break, Oh Deokhui went to the next class and asked her directly. Jin Eunbyeol scrunched up her doll-like pretty face. The wrinkle across the bridge of her nose was deep enough to be noticeable.
“What did I do?”
Oh Deokhui was stunned into silence.
“Hey, who the hell are you to suddenly curse at Eunbyeol?”
“We were talking and you interrupted us.”
Jin Eunbyeol’s friends hurled sharp accusations at her. Oh Deokhui was only a third-year middle school student; she couldn’t endure the atmosphere. She wanted to turn and run, but the faces of her parents and sister made her legs feel heavy.
Thud—. Oh Deokhui knelt on the floor.
“If I did something wrong, I’ll fix it. I’m sorry.”
She felt like a criminal. In front of the daughter of a chaebol family, a popular girl loved by everyone, a talented and beautiful young lady, she was a shabby sinner with nothing to offer. So she knelt and begged for forgiveness. Even though she still didn’t know what she had done wrong.
Then Jin Eunbyeol leaned close and whispered into her ear.
Half a year later, Oh Deokhui left Seoul and moved to D City. She transferred at the very end of her third year of middle school and graduated as a complete outsider, without making a single friend.
And now.
Oh Deokhui had finished steeling herself to face that same Jin Eunbyeol again—for the sake of her friend Baek Yeoul. After experiencing so many things on No Leftovers Day, it was fair to say she had gained real courage.
“Deok-sun, are you sure we’re really first in line for the reading? Huh? Now that I think about it, you really are friends with someone amazing! All these people are here to see that Eunbyeol girl, right?”
Baek Yeoul marveled at the long waiting line. Oh Deokhui felt a pang of guilt for not telling her friend the truth.
“Huh? It’s Ha Namjin!”
She spotted Ha Namjin in the queue. Before she could even wonder what he was doing here, the villa’s front gate opened and a crowd of people rushed in with a thunderous roar.
“You must be Miss Baek Yeoul and Miss Oh Deokhui. I’ll hold onto your phones, so please hand them over.”
Following an older woman, Baek Yeoul and Oh Deokhui headed toward Jin Eunbyeol’s room. Inside, Jin Eunbyeol sat demurely in a chair with her back to a large mirror.
Gasp—. The moment Oh Deokhui saw her, her hands and feet began to tremble, her breathing grew ragged, and her vision kept blurring. Even after all this time, Jin Eunbyeol still felt like a terrifying monster.
“Deokhui, it’s been a while. I heard you were attending school in D City, and it’s true. I wanted us to enroll together at Minyeong High in Seoul. What a shame. And you must be Baek Yeoul?”
“Hi! I’m Baek Yeoul!”
“I heard you possess the Bad Luck concept. It must have been really hard. I have a unique concept too, so I was very sad. Sometimes I cried alone in my room.”
“Really?”
“Yes. You wanted to find Seo Gaeul, right? With my second-awakened Prophecy concept, finding her would be easy. But I’m not the type to work for free.”
“D-do we need money?”
Baek Yeoul was trembling. Her family was poor right now and had no money. Jin Eunbyeol smiled beautifully.
“That’s right. One billion won.”
“O-one billion…!?”
“If you don’t have one billion, simply placing your hand on this stone will be enough.”
With a smooth motion, Jin Eunbyeol held out a stone from her palm. It was slightly larger than a thumbnail and pitch black.
◈ Slightly larger than a thumbnail
◈ Pitch black
“Oh? It’s a concept stone. What kind is it?”
Baek Yeoul recognized it immediately. She had seen Ha Namjin pull similar stones from the bodies of monsters every time he killed one.
“Concept stone…? You can call it that. Yes, it is a concept stone, but even I don’t know what concept it holds.”
Jin Eunbyeol scrunched up her pretty face again. The wrinkle on the bridge of her nose was deep.
She’s lying.
Oh Deokhui felt a strong sense of déjà vu from that expression. It was the exact same face Jin Eunbyeol had made when Oh Deokhui had gone to confront her in the past. A wave of nausea rolled over her.
“So I just have to put my hand on it?”
Baek Yeoul reached out and placed her hand on the concept stone. The instant she did—
The black stone began to vibrate with a low hum.
Instantly, Jin Eunbyeol’s expression turned ice-cold.
“…Nanny, the party ends right now. Send everyone home. No, I’ll tell them myself. You two wait here.”
Clack—. Showing a strange reaction, she kicked her chair back, slammed the door shut, and left. Click, click. Baek Yeoul and Oh Deokhui tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. It had been locked from the outside.
“Eunbyeol! Why did you lock the door? Why? I really need to use the bathroom!”
Both Baek Yeoul and Oh Deokhui were bewildered by the sudden turn of events.
Tap, tap, tap—. A girl wearing a black evening dress descended the stairs and stood before me. Black hair, black eyebrows, black eyes—everything about her was black. Was she a crow?
“Are you Jin Eunbyeol?”
“Are you Ha Namjin?”
Jin Eunbyeol let out a kik kik laugh in front of me.
“I heard so many stories and had high expectations, but pfft—what is this? You’re nothing special. Just a noisy little mutt that barks all the time. No refinement, no grace whatsoever.”
She really was a sly wench, making guests wait and then sending them away. Spoiled rotten and didn’t even know her place in the world.
“Laugh while you still can. I’m going to make you cry and snot and piss yourself. Even if you apologize, I won’t let it slide.”
“Really? Did everyone hear what this guy just said? I’m scared. He’s threatening me.”
“What kind of language is that to use with Miss Eunbyeol!”
“Who the hell are you!”
“What are you doing! Throw that bastard out immediately!”
“Crazy bastard! How dare you come here!”
The surrounding aunts and uncles seemed to be criticizing me—Ha Namjin—rather than the ill-mannered Jin Eunbyeol. Was this how things were? How did the peninsula once called the Land of Eastern Courtesy end up like this! The person speaking the truth was being treated like a madman.
It seemed I needed to instill some proper values in these people.
“If you’re pillars of the nation, you should be watching over the people’s livelihood on the streets. Instead you rely on superstition and fortune-telling, which is why this stinking little brat doesn’t fear the tiger and acts so arrogantly.”
What Jin Eunbyeol had overlooked was that my attacks dealt additional damage to rude bitches.
“Hey! Ha Namjin! Whatever you’re about to do, don’t! Hey! No! Nooooo!”
Jang Hyun-ah grabbed my back and tried to pull me away, but it was already too late. My hands were launching toward Jin Eunbyeol’s chest like a comet striking the Earth.
Namjin Press!!!!
Fwaaaaah—!
My two palms flew straight toward the perky breasts rising beneath her evening dress. To a woman, the chest is a critical weak point equivalent to a man’s groin. Once grabbed hard, they can’t move an inch. I learned that fact while stimulating Yu Yeoleum’s chest.
Squeeze—!
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
My prediction was spot on. Jin Eunbyeol, who had been acting arrogant and haughty without the slightest fear of Ha Namjin, let out a blood-curdling scream and collapsed to the floor. It was incredibly refreshing! Normalizing the abnormal!
“Kuhaha! I love educating ill-mannered bitches the most!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! You son of a bitchhhhhhh! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
The normalized Jin Eunbyeol screamed like a possessed demon. The adults who had been trying to drag me away just moments ago were now hesitantly backing off.
“S-shouldn’t we call the police?”
“Someone stop him! You men! What are you doing!”
“That guy’s gone berserk! How are we supposed to stop a rampaging Awakened?!”
“Just film it! Get the camera!”
Everyone’s faces turned deathly pale with fear at the sight of Jin Eunbyeol screaming with her mouth gaping open like the gates of hell. But I was completely unfazed. I had watched Seo Gaeul throw tantrums and go berserk plenty of times. Compared to her, Jin Eunbyeol’s rampage was downright cute. Seo Gaeul’s fits had completely different stages… ugh, don’t even get me started.
Still, there was one thing that bothered me. No matter what others saw, my Emotion concept couldn’t be fooled.
“Hey, Jin Eunbyeol. Stop acting. Honestly, it doesn’t even hurt that much, does it?”
“…….”
The screaming abruptly cut off. Then she covered her small face with both palms and began to chuckle.
“Kik kik kik—”
“Khuhuhu—”
It was a strange laugh. At that moment—
“Hey, Ha Namjin! What the hell did you just do?! Why are you even here?!”
Wang Ja-hyun, who had been missing until now, suddenly burst onto the scene. That’s right. My real business here wasn’t with Jin Eunbyeol’s A-cup; it was with him.
Wang Ja-hyun looked back and forth between the chuckling Jin Eunbyeol on the floor and me, then let out a short laugh and twisted his lips into a smirk.
“Hey. Can you handle the consequences of this?”
Handle it? I had wanted to handle things a bit more gentlemanly and smoothly, but it had become too much of a hassle. I decided to charge straight through like a real man. The stage was perfect, too.
“Ahem, testing, testing! Wang Ja-hyun! I heard you possess evidence that Seo Do-cheol, chairman of Seonam Group, and current President Nam Tae-geon colluded with unregistered Awakened known as the Villains and committed arson at N Mart!”
“…Wh-what?! You—fuck, what the hell are you saying?! Are you insane?! What kind of bullshit is that?! Don’t do something you can’t handle! I’m warning you…!”
The confident expression on Wang Ja-hyun’s face instantly drained of color until he looked like a corpse. Even Jin Eunbyeol, who had been laughing in that unpleasant kik kik way, stopped laughing and glared at me with a deeply furrowed face.
“Ha Namjin, you…”
One year remained until the apocalypse. Training Seo Gaeul was already tight on time; I had zero interest in wasting any on pointless garbage. As expected, a man should just break straight through, right?
“You guys are the ones who have to handle it. My tractor doesn’t have brakes.”