Thank You!
It was an unfamiliar sensation, but it didn't bring confusion.
Rather, my chest felt as though it were swelling to the brim.
What is this? Gratitude? Is this what genuinely being thankful feels like?
I tried to puzzle out the origin of that gentle tickling in my chest. It felt like owing a debt, but at the same time, it made me want to do something more for her. The warmth deep inside my ribcage seemed to mirror the soothing heat radiating from her body.
"Thank you, Seohee-nuna. Thank you."
"Yeah... I'm thankful too, Jeongseo. Thank you... sniff."
At my words of thanks, she suddenly burst into tears. I wrapped my arms around her back and held her tight in silence.
Until now, I had believed I could always tell at a single glance which women were capable of stirring my emotions. Apparently, that wasn't necessarily true. I never imagined she would be the one to awaken such a tickling flutter inside me.
"I'm so grateful that... what should I do for you?"
"Snort... hic. Just get better. Get examined, and as long as there's nothing wrong with your body... that's more than enough."
Gratitude truly was a strange emotion.
For as long as I could remember, I had lived by the rule that whatever was received had to be returned. I would subjectively calculate the value of what was given and what was received, ensuring that every favor was repaid down to the last penny. Recently, I had even come to realize that repaying a debt didn't always have to take a material form.
Yet actually feeling grateful belonged to an entirely different register than merely thinking about settling a score. Repaying an obligation ended the moment the debt was cleared, in whatever shape or form. But this feeling of gratitude felt as though it would linger on, even after I gave something back.
I wonder how long this feeling will last.
And there was one more thing. It felt like an emotion I could hold onto forever without issue. It placed no burden on me whatsoever.
"Jeongseo. You don't need to worry about anything else. If you're really thankful, let's hurry up and get you checked out, okay?"
After a moment, she sat up. The rims of her eyes were red.
"Are you sure? I could do a favor for you, or..."
"I'm sure. You don't have to do anything at all. Just hearing you say that gives me everything I could ever want."
"Ah. All right."
I had incurred a debt to her today and thought I needed to pay it back by any means necessary. But hearing her words after feeling genuine gratitude made me realize that perhaps this really was enough. Our hearts had already met and traded something between us.
And yet, I couldn't put a price on it. Despite judging it impossible to assign a value, my compulsive instincts didn't flare up in agitation. It was fascinating.
"Oh, right."
"What is it? Is there something I can do?"
Even if it wasn't a burden, clearing a debt was always best done if possible. Just because I felt grateful didn't mean I intended to throw away the personal rules I had maintained for so long. So the moment she seemed to recall something, I quickly prompted her.
"Should we make that call first?"
"A call?"
"Yeah. Get dressed. Put your clothes on and call your mother first. I'll clean things up here."
After nodding in agreement, I pulled on my clothes and stepped out of the car. I drew my phone from my pocket.
Why does this feel so heavy?
Unlike my usual self, my finger hesitated over the speed dial for Mother's number. All I had to do was state the facts of what had happened cleanly and plainly. Was it because my emotions had been stirred by Seohee? For some reason, the phone felt unusually weighty in my hand.
After making the necessary calls, the medical examinations began. While I was undergoing the various tests, Yeo-eun was the first to arrive at the hospital. Mother must have sprinted over the moment she heard from me, arriving before the preliminary screening had even concluded.
In the end, I was admitted. They weren't satisfied with just X-rays and scheduled a brain MRI as well.
"Fuck. I'm going to tear that bitch limb from limb."
Coming out in my patient gown, I caught the sound of Yeo-eun snarling under her breath. Earlier, she had been bowing repeatedly while holding Seohee's hand in tearful relief, yet now she was seething. I had never seen her this enraged. Her voice didn't even sound like the sister I knew.
The moment I came into view, Mother swatted Yeo-eun for her fury, telling her to watch her language.
"Nuna, I'm really fine. I told you, I won the fight."
"Ah, Jeongseo. Come lie down, hurry. Right here."
"I'm totally fine. You heard the doctor, didn't you?"
The hospital we had come to wasn't the one where Leehyun worked. I had briefly sent Leehyun a message explaining what happened. She had wanted to rush over immediately, but since my family was with me, I told her we should meet next time instead.
Seohee had returned home after Mother arrived. My sister and Mother had bowed to her countless times in gratitude, even promising to reward her handsomely at a later date.
Unlike Yeo-eun's fiery rage, Mother maintained a remarkably composed demeanor. It seemed she understood that my inner emotional state didn't operate like an ordinary person's.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Yes, please come in."
"Good evening. My name is Jin Seook."
"Ah, Prosecutor Jin. Hello. I am Jeongseo's mother, Noh Dongja."
Aunt Seook had arrived despite the late hour. Mother and Yeo-eun welcomed her warmly, showing not the slightest hint of annoyance at the timing. Business cards were exchanged between Aunt Seook and Mother. It was a meeting prearranged through Seohee.
We gathered around a small table in the room to talk.
"There is still a great deal left to investigate."
The adults' conversation began. Aunt Seook laid out the detailed overview of the case. It appeared they had already extracted a statement from Park Hyeji while I was undergoing my medical tests.
As expected, Park Hyeji had been stalking me. Ever since the day she gave me directions to Cafe Daltturak.
The police had uncovered a mountain of evidence, with her laptop being the most damning piece. Inside, they found countless secretly taken photographs of me.
"We also discovered other hidden cameras, photos, and video recordings."
Additional crimes committed by Park Hyeji spilled from Aunt Seook's lips. Apparently, she had engaged in illegal filming using spy cameras long before she ever crossed paths with me.
"Because of that, the investigation will likely take quite some time."
In short, Aunt Seook was tearing Park Hyeji apart down to the bone. Custodial detention was a given, and her studio apartment had been turned inside out. Digital forensics had been deployed alongside an exhaustive sweep of her internet search histories. Even though the suspect had confessed, they were determined to unearth crimes Park Hyeji herself might have forgotten.
"A prison sentence is guaranteed. It's too early to offer a definitive personal opinion, but..."
The reason Park Hyeji had acted as if she had abandoned all hope earlier now made complete sense through Aunt Seook's explanation.
In this world, penalties for sexual offenses were ruthless. From the very moment she dragged me into her studio apartment, Park Hyeji had anticipated spending time behind bars. And not just a few years, either. Staggering sentences like ten or twenty years rolled effortlessly off Aunt Seook's tongue. All this, despite there being no penetration or comparable acts between Park Hyeji and me.
The fact that she had restrained me, touched my body against my will, and rubbed her genitals against me was more than enough. Assault, abduction, false imprisonment, sexual assault, indecent act by compulsion, and stalking. While I hadn't been raped in the literal sense, under the laws of this society, what she had done was treated with the exact same severity as rape.
"The issue lies in what took place inside that studio. That little bitch keeps changing her story... Ah, forgive my language."
"Not at all, it's quite understandable."
Park Hyeji was currently attempting to recant her initial confession. Her parents had swiftly retained an attorney, which likely had something to do with the sudden shift. I waited for Aunt Seook to finish speaking before interjecting.
"May I say something?"
"Are you up to it? If it's too difficult, you don't have to push yourself."
"I'm fine. It's not difficult at all."
"Then could you tell us what you remember, comfortably? Ah, this isn't an official deposition, so you can speak freely."
Off the record, as she put it. I began from the bank restroom, methodically recounting every single interaction with Park Hyeji exactly as I remembered it. I omitted nothing, down to the most trivial details, including the moment she dropped a used tampon stained with menstrual blood onto my face.
"That fucking bitch, seriously..."
"Tsk. Noh Yeo-eun. Mind your mouth. The prosecutor is right here."
"No, but isn't she completely out of her fucking mind?!"
When I mentioned how Park Hyeji had rubbed her genitals against my stomach, Yeo-eun could no longer hold back her curses. Judging by the expression on Mother's face, she felt the exact same way, only she was forcing herself to exercise restraint. I recounted everything that followed as well, right down to how the physical fight played out.
"Well done. Jeongseo, you did wonderfully."
Aunt Seook praised me, telling me I had been truly impressive. Even after hearing that I had struck the woman with a stun gun, bound her, and beaten her, she showed not the slightest hint of concern.
"Prosecutor Jin. Could that perhaps become an issue for him?"
Mother, on the other hand, seemed worried about the fact that I had beaten Park Hyeji. She immediately voiced her concern to Aunt Seook.
"There will be no repercussions for Jeongseo whatsoever. It is a clear case of self-defense. And he handled the beating afterward quite skillfully; the woman didn't sustain any serious permanent injuries..."
The legal standards for self-defense here were completely different from my past life. The aunt explained that even if I had gone further, it almost certainly would have been recognized as legitimate self-defense.
"At any rate, Park Hyeji is currently keeping her mouth shut."
After that brief detour, the conversation returned to Park Hyeji's testimony. Aunt Seook mentioned that the suspect seemed intent on concealing certain details of what had occurred between us—specifically, acts that lacked hard physical evidence. For instance, she had initially admitted to indecent assault, only to turn around and deny it.
"That makes no sense at all. She literally knocked him unconscious and kidnapped him!"
Yeo-eun questioned whether such blatant lies could ever hold up in court. Unfortunately, only Park Hyeji and I knew what had truly transpired inside that room. Depending on how thoroughly my account could be corroborated, the length of her sentence could vary significantly.
"Would it help if I gave an official victim's statement?"
"Of course. If you assist us, Jeongseo, their side will have a very different reaction."
My testimony would carry substantial weight—a consistent, articulate account from the victim himself. Photographs had already been taken documenting Park Hyeji's blood on my abdomen. Even so, providing a detailed victim statement would allow them to seek a far heavier sentence.
Without hesitation, I declared that I would formally provide my testimony. Aunt Seook offered to seek alternative methods, but there was no reason to take the long way around when an easy path lay right before us.
"Their side will likely propose a settlement. Of course, even with a settlement, she won't escape prison time. But whether you wish to pursue practical compensation..."
At the mention of a settlement, Mother's brows furrowed deeply. I had assumed Mother was keeping her composure, but I was wrong. Quiet though she was, she was burning with a rage greater than anyone else's in the room.
"There will be no settlement. None whatsoever."
Mother declared that she would mobilize every resource at her disposal. Earlier, Yeo-eun's voice had sounded unfamiliar, but now it was Mother's turn. It was a chilling tone that felt as though it dropped the ambient temperature of the room by several degrees.
"The victim's own wishes matter most. What do you think, Jeongseo?"
Three pairs of eyes turned toward me. Meeting the gazes of Mother, my sister, and Aunt Seook in turn, I spoke.
"I have no intention of settling either. As soon as I'm discharged, I'll go give my statement right away. I'll actively cooperate with whatever is needed."
"Will you really be all right?"
"Yes, I'll be fine. It's not like I'm afraid of that woman."
"Indeed. You are strong, Jeongseo."
Aunt Seook spoke to me in a gentle tone. I had only delivered side dishes to her a few times, yet the return on that small favor felt disproportionately immense.
"Thank you so much for coming all this way."
"Think nothing of it. Get your tests done properly, Jeongseo, and if you have any questions, feel free to call me anytime."
Our conversation with Aunt Seook went on for quite some time, revolving primarily around how thoroughly they intended to crush Park Hyeji under the weight of the law.
"Thank you! Please get home safely tonight."
Thanks to the new feelings Seohee had awakened in me, I was able to offer that gratitude from the bottom of my heart. Normally, Aunt Seook had seemed like nothing more than an imposing, large-framed woman, but tonight she was an unshakeable ally.
"Oh, wait."
"Hm? What is it, dear?"
"I just remembered something I need to tell you."
Just as she stepped out of the hospital room, a sudden memory flashed through my mind. Hurrying out into the corridor, I called out to stop her in her tracks.