The Delinquent Girl (Revised)

"Huh? Seo Mi-na's dead, though?"

That was the filth Jeon Yu-rim spat after eavesdropping on my conversation with Auntie.

"...Excuse me, do you happen to know our Mi-na?"

"Yes. We went to the same school."

Yu-rim was looking at me with a smile that was basically a sneer.

"Would you call it death by falling?"

So the little shit had been there when I jumped to force a Regression. There was a chance she knew what had become of Seo Mi-na. The soldiers had said they hadn't even found the body. Then again, she might have seen the fall and bolted, in which case she wouldn't know where Mi-na ended up. Either way, before I got a single useful word out of her, I needed to muzzle that snake of a mouth.

"But why are you still alive? You were definitely with—"

I cut her off.

"Been a while, Jeon Yu-rim."

She tilted her head. Back in school I couldn't even meet her eyes, so she must have found it strange that I was looking straight at her and greeting her like a person. In those days, unlike now, I'd been naive. After I grew up I spent a long time regretting it. The delinquents I'd been so afraid of were people too—what had been so terrifying? Sure, I might have eaten a few hits, but not fighting back hadn't stopped the hits from landing. I'd felt like a spineless idiot, and I'd regretted it even knowing the past was never coming back. Now was the time to show her I'd changed.

"So where's that precious brother of yours?"

"...What?"

Yu-rim's face twisted. To put her brother simply, he was the male edition of Jeon Yu-rim the fucking bitch—a fuckhead, her gender-swapped twin. As you can see, Yu-rim is tall. Five foot six, and slender.

It gave her a model's air, but height wasn't the only thing she'd been born with. The bone structure was excellent. You could tell from the hips. And the brother squeezed out of the same mother's belly? A hulking build, a massive frame. He'd been born with exactly the talent required to be something people feared. Kids who hadn't even hit puberty couldn't have hoped to scrap with him. Hell, puberty had nothing to do with it. Her brother had the body of a grown wrestler. And in school, the delinquents in your own year—and the ones above them—were scarier than any teacher or adult. She used that brother to crown herself queen of the delinquents, and with a pretty face on top of it she kept a little court of handmaidens trailing after her. A queen bee, through and through.

The absurd part was that some people secretly wanted to be bullied by Jeon Yu-rim. She was sharp, though, so she ignored that type completely. Didn't torment them. Didn't spare them a glance. She looked slutty, but she filtered out the perverts. Looking back, I sometimes wonder if I should have been a masochist too. Then she wouldn't have paid me any attention. But I was painfully normal—a diligent student who actually tried at school because I was worried about life after I grew up. I never thought that would be the problem. An orphan kid from a group home, grinding away for a better life, was exactly the sight that whetted Jeon Yu-rim's appetite.

I'd even considered driving a ballpoint through her neck and killing her. Throwing away the rest of my life over a bitch like that, though, felt like too high a price. This was the first time I was going to talk like a man to the legendary piece of work who'd made even my innocent self sit around plotting something evil.

"Clothes ripped, cuts all over you. Ran off with your brother, he croaked, and you made it out alone. That about right?"

"Hey. You out of your fucking mind?"

"Then go ahead. Prove me wrong."

"...Ha. Why's this worthless little shit running his mouth?"

"Must be all that whoring around. You've seen so many tiny dicks the word just lives in your mouth."

"Hey!"

"Just because your brother's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dead, don't go holding a funeral for Seo Mi-na while she's still breathing. That won't bring him back."

Honestly, what she'd claimed wasn't entirely wrong. She still should have had the sense to be careful. Who casually tells a parent their child is dead, right to their face? She was rotten from the mind out. Watching her choke on the anger—unable to get a word out, heaving, practically seizing—I figured changing the subject had landed exactly the way I wanted.

"Watch your mouth. What are you gonna do if my friends suddenly show up here?"

"Your brother's already dead. You think those guys are still alive? And even if those bottom-feeders walk in, nothing changes. The world's already gone to hell, and it's going to stay that way. So shut up and go get your rice balls. Rations don't come out every day. Eat while there's food."

"...Ha... wow... ha... you're insane..."

"We're not friends, so don't talk to me from now on. Don't talk to Auntie either."

That seemed like enough of a beating. I decided to leave it there. Maybe I'd come on too hard—Auntie had gone mute as if she'd swallowed her own tongue, just blinking at me.

"...W-Woong-sung."

I set a hand gently on her shoulder.

"Let's go get our rations too."

"Y-yeah."

I couldn't really call it a crisis averted. One look at Auntie's face and I could tell her mind was already racing. Of all the places for that fucking bitch to turn up. It was getting under my skin something fierce.

"...What if that girl really did see it..."

"She's always been a lunatic. It's nonsense. Don't worry about it."

"...She looks perfectly pretty, though."

"Other way around. The brain's the rotten part."

Two days had passed since Jeon Yu-rim showed up. From the first day on, she'd been glaring at me without a break. She wasn't gunning for me. She was cunning enough to know that a grown man would be stronger than she was, so she was clearly trying to rattle Auntie's nerves and drive a wedge between us. She had a track record. Even the losers back in school had quietly fawned over her, because they treated her bullying like a prize. Me, no matter how much she mocked me for being a bum, I ignored it and let it slide—and that only provoked her stubborn streak.

"Why do you secretly stare at my chest every single day?"

She'd said it loud enough for everyone to hear. Around us were packs of top-tier delinquents and the second-string wannabes who admired her. From that day on I was their target, and the bullying started. I needed to watch her if she tried to get close to Auntie. Better, if I could manage it, not to leave Auntie's side at all. The problem was I couldn't stay glued there forever. I had to fix whatever had gone wrong with my Regression.

Not that wandering around would solve it. There wasn't anywhere to wander in the first place. Still, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠condition for Regression was tied to sex, so I had to try having sex. Doing it with Auntie would have been ideal, but she was in a bad place mentally, so I had to rule her out and look for someone else. In the temporary shelter, the only person my age right now was Jeon Yu-rim, and I had absolutely no intention of sleeping with her. I loathed her that much. If we did it I'd feel something—of course I would—and the thought of that was revolting. Feeling anything because of Jeon Yu-rim was disgusting in itself. Even if a Regression erased the moment, it would live in my memory forever. I didn't want to manufacture a black mark that fucking ugly.

There were plenty of women here. All of them older, though. Forties, fifties... grandmothers, even further along. I was raised to respect my elders, so grandmothers were out. They needed to be excluded on several counts. Which meant I'd have to set my sights on the forties and fifties. Looking at that crowd, Auntie was pushing fifty, and yet she looked younger and prettier than any of them. If a stranger walked into this place, depending on his taste, she could easily outrank Jeon Yu-rim in her twenties. I could just grab anyone and rape them, sure. That would be insane. There was no guarantee it would repair the fault in my Regression. If I didn't come back, the soldiers would subdue me, call it a breach of the rules, and throw me out of here. I'd be nothing but a living fleshlight. No Regression. I'd die getting fucked to pieces.

I was sunk in that misery when I noticed the soldiers moving in a hurry. They weren't bothering with radios. They were running messages on foot, and their faces looked grim. If they used the radios, the civilians in the shelter would hear, so they were clearly passing word by mouth to keep that from happening.

Maybe I should listen in...

I wasn't the only one thinking it.

"...Is that true?"

Some woman in her fifties, bellowing at the top of her fucking lungs. One look and you could tell she lived to stick her nose in.

"Is that really true?!!"

So much for eavesdropping. What the hell had she heard?

"Auntie! What are you talking about?"

"Soldiers, could you please explain?!"

"You mean this place isn't safe anymore either... No..."

Fear spread in a heartbeat. Maybe I didn't have much time left.

"Auntie, I think we need to find a way to Regress, and fast."

"...All right. The way you keep talking about Regression, there must be something to it... Fine. I'll try believing you, Woong-sung."

"Thank you."

"Is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠there anything I can do?"

"Hmm..."

She hesitated a moment, then forced the words out.

"If... if it's all right, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we can."

"...Sorry?"

"You said the condition was... sex. If Auntie's good enough... then it's all right."

It looked like she'd made a serious decision. Her face had gone red. And then—

"Whoa. You two are gonna have sex?"

Jeon Yu-rim's voice. I'd been so deep in that grave talk with Auntie that I hadn't been watching her. Judging by how delighted she looked, she'd just caught herself a prize.

"You're saying Auntie and this guy are gonna have sex?!"

"Oh my god, what is she saying?"

"Over there—they're talking about something weird, aren't they?"

Yu-rim's voice was plenty loud. She clearly wanted other people to hear. Thanks to this fucking bitch, I might not even get an opening to sneak off and have sex somewhere. The shelter's rules for keeping order covered sexual conduct too. If we got caught, we could probably talk our way out of it as a couple and walk away with a warning. The problem was they might crack down harder on anything sexual. They might even separate the men from the women and make it impossible to find a chance.

"You're putting out for your own daughter's friend? Lose your kid and go crazy, Auntie?"

I already knew shutting this bitch's mouth was a lost cause. Luckily the woman who'd started the earlier uproar carried the day, and we got through it. The real crisis didn't hit me until the next day. Jeon Yu-rim's brother—the one I'd thought was dead—showed up at the temporary shelter. From the look of things, Yu-rim had thought he was dead too. Just as I'd guessed, the two of them had been on the run and only she had made it out. Or so it had seemed. Sure enough, that monstrous physique of his must have pulled him through somehow. His gait was a little off, so he'd taken a hit.

"Oppa!!"

If you didn't know Jeon Yu-rim was a villain, it would have been a tearjerker of a family reunion. Fuck.