[Raccoon Man Beginning]

Hannam-chung, huh? That's the first time I've been insulted with that word. To begin with, I haven't talked to any young women other than Sion since my school days. Especially since I went straight to the military right after graduating high school.

The girls back in my school days were too young to be tainted by such narrow-minded ideologies. Even if it was possible back in high school, most of them knew how stupid that sounded.

I can't guarantee it didn't exist at all, but at least I'd never seen it. But seeing it right in front of my eyes now, it's surprisingly shocking.

The anger I'm feeling right now isn't a fiery rage; it's the anger of disbelief.

If you don't understand, just think of a child throwing a tantrum and being unreasonable. Kids don't have the intellect to understand logic; they're just faithful to their desires.

Do you get angry when a kid throws a tantrum? Of course, you have to get a little angry for discipline, but that emotion isn't a fire-like rage.

That's because you know it's your own loss to get angry at someone who can't judge rationally and doesn't even understand the concept of logic.

"Did I say something wrong? Like you said, Reporter-nim, I said that just because they're a female police officer doesn't mean they can't do police work, so is that wrong? And the one whose words don't add up isn't me, it's you, Reporter-nim."

"You've been making misogynistic and sexist remarks from the start!"

"I don't know where the misogyny or sexism is. Is stating facts hate and discrimination? The facts as they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are will never change. You'd be better off trying to cover the sky with your hand."

If a virus spread right now and leveled the playing field regardless of gender, that would be one thing, but it's an obvious fact that there are differences between men and women.

It's not saying that men are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠superior to women, just that men have their own strengths and women have their own strengths.

The female police officer who is the cause of the problem right now can also search female suspects or protect rape and sexual assault victims who might be afraid of men.

"I can't talk to you, Boss. I'll end the interview here."

"Let's do that. Oh, wait a second. I got a call."

The business is done anyway.

She provoked me, so I'll just make her pay the price.

I pretended to get a call and dialed. Then I greeted the person on the other end.

"Ah! Lawyer Kim-nim!"

[Sajang-nim? What's going on? Is it something like last time......?]

"No, it's not that."

It wasn't on speakerphone, so she wouldn't be able to hear Lawyer Kim's voice, but she could definitely hear my voice.

I intentionally raised my voice so she could hear.

"By the way, how is the case with those high school brats who hit me going?"

[Ah, don't worry about that case. As I told you before, we're proceeding slowly so that they'll receive their full sentence without any reduction once they become adults. Forgery of official documents, special assault, underage drinking... and thanks to the CCTV footage President Sion-nim gave us, we've even grasped the circumstances of those kids driving without a license while drunk. It's obvious they can't avoid prison time; the only question is how long the sentence will be.]

"Is that so? It's going well then. Thank you for your hard work. As expected of someone from a large law firm, your work is fast."

When I blatantly praised him, Lawyer Kim seemed to notice something.

[Are you in a similar situation right now? Is someone next to you?]

"Yes, that's right."

[It's not a big commotion, so it probably isn't a violent incident......]

Smart people are quick to notice. A faint laugh came from over the phone.

Reporter Lee Eun-jeong, who had flinched at the mention of a lawyer, turned pale at the mention of a large law firm. She probably didn't think I'd already hired a lawyer and was handling the case to this extent, did she?

Well, it's hard to imagine a chicken shop owner having connections to a lawyer. Thanks to that, it's become easier to screw her over.

"Lawyer Kim-nim. If I were called a Hannam-chung to my face, what grounds could I sue for?"

"S-Sajang-nim?!"

I ignored the shouting Reporter Lee Eun-jeong and focused on the conversation with Lawyer Kim.

[There have been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a lot of problems with that lately. I've heard about that case from seniors and juniors I know, so I know roughly about it.]

"Does it fall under something like defamation?"

[No, defamation applies when social reputation is damaged. In this case, it would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fall under criminal insult.]

"Criminal insult? What is criminal insult?"

[To put it simply, it's established if you felt contempt from being insulted. If you were called a Hannam-chung, it's criminal insult; if it spreads to people around you and affects your social reputation, it's defamation.]

"Ah, that's the difference."

I glanced at Reporter Lee Eun-jeong.

The confident attitude she had just a moment ago was gone, and she muttered quietly while flinching.

"Th-there's no evidence."

"......?"

"Th-that's right! Do you have proof that I said Hannam-chung? You don't, right?"

She realized what she had said, perhaps having blurted it out, and became confident again.

I haven't heard of criminal insult many times either. Even if you get into a fight on the street and raise your voices and curse at each other, it's hard for that to become criminal insult. Because there's no evidence.

Of course, there could be witnesses, but the probability of a third party who has nothing to do with it being there, and even if they are, the probability of them being a witness is low.

And it's the same now. There are only me and Reporter Lee Eun-jeong in the cafe, and the cafe owner ajumma is at the counter. It's not close enough for her to hear what we were talking about here, and besides, she's an acquaintance I know from running our shop.

I looked at the table and said.

"You have a recording."

"Ah!"

Reporter Lee Eun-jeong snatched the recorder as if grabbing it. Since the situation wasn't favorable, deleting the contents wasn't an option right now, so she probably thought hiding it was the priority.

She seemed anxious about even that, so she tucked the recorder inside her top. She held the recorder tucked near her chest with her arm and glared at me.

"If you touch my body, I'll sue you for sexual harassment!"

"Oh my, my standards are high, so I don't turn my eyes to a woman like you."

Why don't you say that after being even one ten-thousandth as pretty as our Sion? She's not ugly, but compared to Sion, she's a firefly in front of the sun.

It's impossible to take the recorder in that state. If I touch her, there's a high possibility I'll definitely be framed for sexual harassment. She didn't hide it in her pocket but tucked it into the chest area of her top, so naturally, the location makes that inevitable.

"You talk about gender discrimination, but what are you, Reporter-nim, who is actually using that gender as a weapon?"

"Sh-shut up!!"

To take that away, the female police officer who caused this problem would have to come. Because to avoid a sexual harassment issue, a female police officer would have to touch her.

But well, there was no need to call the police this time.

"I said I had a recording. I didn't specifically say it was your recorder."

I showed her my phone.

I had already thought about the possibility of the conversation turning out like this, and keeping in mind that she might manipulate the media, I had also turned on the recording function.

[First of all, regarding the incident that happened two days ago. How did you......]

As she heard the voice flowing from the phone, the face of the owner of that voice turned pale.

The conversation we had earlier came out exactly as it was, and soon that problematic line came out.

[Sajang-nim, are you perhaps a Hannam-chung?]

As clear evidence, and evidence in my hands at that, appeared, her pupils began to shake uncontrollably.

This is inescapable. Of course, this one remark isn't enough to get her prison time, and at most it would be a fine, but if I don't intend to end it there and drag it out, she's the one who will lose in the end.

Above all, if the story recorded here spreads, it's enough to end her career as a reporter.

"S-Sajang-nim! I-I was wrong! Please let me go just this once......"

"Where did that confident expression from earlier go?"

What was it? They said it was 'that expression' where you look down on someone as if you're looking at someone intellectually inferior to you, full of superiority.

She didn't have any of that confidence now.

"Just once, I'm really sorry, so please just let me go this once!"

"Don't grovel and get lost."

Come to think of it, this is something to celebrate.

She overcame the difference between men and women.

Right now, there is no distinction between men and women, just someone cornered and begging for mercy.

By the time I got back to the shop, business was almost at the end. I said it wouldn't take long, but what the hell. It took fucking long.

Of course, there's a reason why it turned out like that...... but for now, I finished it up roughly. I brushed off Reporter Lee Eun-jeong, who was begging with her hands together, and left. She tried to follow me to the shop to do that, but I told her if she didn't want to be charged with obstruction of business on top of that, she should just quietly accept the lawsuit.

So she went back without any incident. My mind won't change, so there's nothing to be done.

"Ah, Hyung. Is the talk over?"

"Well, roughly. Did Seo-ae-ssi go in already?"

"Yes, I just need to clean up."

"You worked hard. I'll help you together."

Why are there so many troubles lately? Shouldn't we hold some kind of exorcism or something?

Still, I'm glad it ended well. The rest is a problem for time and Lawyer Kim-nim to solve.

"When I'm done cleaning up, should I quickly go pick up Yejin? I couldn't do it yesterday because she went out to play."

"I should save up money and buy a car soon too. If I buy a decent one, at least it'll be more comfortable to drive than the Lamborghini Hyung is going to lend me."

"Make sure to buy a foreign car. Our country's cars have separate versions for overseas and domestic use."

"I know that too."

"Or I could talk to Sion and have her look into it. Maybe if it's Sion, she has connections with the chairman of some car company, so you might be able to buy it cheap."

"Wow, Hyungsu-nim is really an amazing person. Thinking about that, I wonder if Hyung saved the world in a past life."

"I've tried the opposite."

"........?"

I cleaned up the shop and prepped the ingredients for tomorrow, putting them in the refrigerator. With this, today's work is done.

I wondered what I should do this weekend, and it turned out that Hyungsik's father's surgery was on that day. I should go and pay my respects.

"Baek-ri, what are you doing this weekend..... ah, you said you were going out to play with your younger sister, right?"

"Yes, why?"

"No, just have fun."

Suddenly, the fact that I hadn't asked where he was going came to mind. It wouldn't be going far, so it would be around Seoul. Going to the mountains, or going to the river, it's one of two options.

I asked where he was going, and Baek-ri answered.

"Ah, Yeouido Han River Park. It has a swimming pool and it's nice, you know."

For some reason, I felt a little uneasy.