Chapter 10
The person on top of the wall wasn’t the pervert.
It was my sister, Son Jaeyeon.
“Son Jaeyeon?!”
“Aaaah! What the—!”
Jaeyeon, who was standing on top of the wall, screamed when she saw me.
“What are you doing here?!”
“I should be asking you that! What are you doing here?!”
We stared at each other with shocked expressions.
“Move aside! I’m coming down!”
“Are you crazy? How are you going to get down from that height?! Wait a second!”
The height was considerable for just jumping down. I was urgently looking for something she could use as a foothold when Jaeyeon, unable to wait, moved her body. In doing so, she missed grabbing onto something in mid-air.
“Hey! Be careful!”
“Kyaaaah—!”
Losing her balance and flailing, Jaeyeon’s body tipped forward. As she fell, she reflexively reached out and grabbed my shoulder. The force pressing down from above was surprisingly strong. At this rate, I would get injured along with my sister, crushed under her body.
“Ugh, uh…?”
As I gritted my teeth to withstand Jaeyeon’s weight and keep from collapsing, my shoulder suddenly felt lighter. When I turned my head, Heerim, who had been standing right next to me, had caught Jaeyeon very easily and was safely setting her down on the ground.
“Are you alright?”
“Th-thank you, um… oh my, oh my!”
Jaeyeon, who had safely landed on the ground, saw Heerim’s face and repeatedly exclaimed in admiration. Somehow, Heerim’s face was bare—I didn’t know when he had taken off his sunglasses and mask.
Jaeyeon looked at me with sparkling eyes, silently asking, ‘Who is this man?’
“Son Jaeyeon. Are you in your right mind? You could have been seriously hurt!”
I deliberately scolded Jaeyeon loudly. It was to divert her attention away from Heerim. Jaeyeon clicked her tongue softly and wiped her dirty palms on the gym clothes she was wearing under her skirt.
“I could have gotten down on my own, but I got startled because of you.”
I was dumbfounded by Jaeyeon’s audacity. Judging by her attitude, this wasn’t the first time she had climbed over walls like this. The school’s top student, scaling walls. I was bewildered by this unexpected aspect of my sister’s school life that I had never imagined.
“Why are you climbing over the wall when there’s a perfectly good main gate?”
“Do you know what was on today’s dinner menu? Stewed potatoes. And we had stir-fried potato strips for lunch!”
“Haah. So what?”
“I told you before. The school meals these days are nothing but potatoes. It’s driving me crazy having to eat potatoes for two meals a day. I’m not Jeomsun-i, you know.”
Jaeyeon spoke with such vehemence, even snorting through her nose, showing how sick she was of potato dishes. I couldn’t understand the connection between potatoes and climbing over walls. Seeing my bewildered expression, Jaeyeon sighed lightly and continued.
“Anyway, I was on my way to buy some tteokbokki. It’s self-study time, so I need to sneak out without the teacher knowing.”
“Hey, Son Jaeyeon, you…”
The reason for climbing the wall was just because of the cafeteria side dishes? I didn’t even know where to begin with my criticism.
“But what are you doing here, oppa? And who is this person?”
“Well…”
“Hello. I’m Heerim. I work with Jaeo hyung. Are you Jaeo’s sister?”
Heerim smiled brightly. At the unexpected appearance of this handsome man, Jaeyeon’s face turned red in an instant.
Oh my goodness. Look at her.
“We came because we heard a flasher has been appearing here.”
“What? Why would the two of you do that? What about the police?”
“Ah, that… We do neighborhood patrol work at our office.”
I quickly answered before Heerim could say something strange. I couldn’t tell Jaeyeon that where I worked was somewhere between an errand service and a private detective agency. If I did, she would immediately insist that I quit. Since I was planning to quit after three months anyway, I didn’t want to be nagged unnecessarily by Jaeyeon.
Jaeyeon, who had seemed suspicious at first, met eyes with Heerim standing next to me and shyly lowered her head.
“The mud… I mean, the flasher has been really scary. You’re doing good work.”
Where had the girl who had called the flasher’s appearances a “daily event” gone? All that remained before me was an innocent high school girl. I was incredulous.
Heerim, not knowing Jaeyeon’s true nature, looked back and forth between us with curious eyes.
“By the way, you two really look alike.”
“What? No way!”
“No, Heerim. How do we look alike?”
Heerim flinched at our simultaneous outburst.
“Ah… aren’t siblings… supposed to look alike? I’m sorry.”
Seeing us shudder at the thought, Heerim rolled his eyes awkwardly.
Though Jaeyeon and I get along well, we tend to react sensitively to being told we look alike. It was because we knew all too well each other’s unsightly habits.
“Anyway, it’s 5:30 now, maybe we should come back tomorrow… Heerim?”
“Wait a moment.”
Suddenly cutting me off, Heerim’s expression hardened and he lowered his voice.
“I think there’s someone in that alley over there.”
“What?”
I quietly looked in the direction he mentioned. The place Heerim pointed to was an L-shaped alley. It was quite far from where we were standing.
“Huh? What can you see from this distance?”
Jaeyeon squinted and tried to walk toward the alley.
“I’ll go check. You stay here.”
Since the person in that alley could be the flasher, I walked toward the alley instead of Jaeyeon.
I hadn’t sensed anything, but since Heerim had immediately noticed Jaeyeon’s presence earlier, it wouldn’t hurt to check.
“Huh?”
It was when I had just a few steps left before the entrance of the alley. Suddenly, something jumped out from inside the alley. It was a man with a small build.
“Aaah!”
“Ugh!”
THUD—!
The man, who hadn’t seen me, collided hard with me. From the impact, the man fell backward, landing on his behind.
“Ah, shit. Fucking hurts.”
The man must have fallen hard, as he cursed and couldn’t get up right away. I clutched my shoulder where we had collided and instinctively examined the man. That’s when I saw it. The gap between the man’s open coat.
“…?”
What is that? A leech? Why is there a leech attached there?
There was something like a strange bug attached between the man’s thighs. I narrowed my eyes, staring at the area between the man’s legs, at something I had never seen in my life.
“AAAAAH—!”
About 3 seconds later, I couldn’t help but scream.
“Aaaah! Disgusting!”
Hard to believe, but it was the man’s genitals. Even though I’m a man too, the psychological shock was tremendous.
“Jaeo hyung!”
“Oppa?!”
Heerim and Jaeyeon, who were on the road, heard my scream and ran into the alley.
“Hyung! What happened?! Are you okay?”
“Aaaah! No, I’m not okay. I feel like my eyes are going to rot!”
“Huh? Oppa! This bastard! The mud-dick man!”
Unlike me, who couldn’t regain my composure, Jaeyeon pointed at the pervert with an unfazed expression.
“Sh-shit! Who are you people!”
The pervert, surprised to be surrounded by us, jumped to his feet.
“Oh.”
Only then did Heerim seem to realize the pervert was half-naked, as he let out a surprised breath with round eyes.
“What are you looking at!”
The pervert shouted while covering his lower half with his palm. The irony was astonishing—he walks around naked to show others, but gets flustered by Heerim’s gaze.
“Excuse me.”
Heerim continued speaking without taking his eyes off the pervert’s lower body.
“I’m telling you this because you might not know, but it looks like you have a boil between your legs.”
“W-what?”
“Oh no. Shouldn’t you go to the hospital? Something like that should be treated quickly.”
“What, what is this bastard talking about!”
The pervert’s face turned red and blue. Anyone listening might think Heerim was mocking him, but Heerim’s innocent expression was full of genuine concern. Having shown his lower body to countless people, the pervert must have heard screams and jeers, but probably never such concern.
“Let me think. Which hospital should you go to? Urology or plastic surgery? Hmm. Maybe dermatology?”
“Y-you—!”
The pervert trembled, unable to say anything in response to Heerim’s serious contemplation of which hospital would be best. Watching Heerim deliver a counter-punch to the pervert with nothing but innocent concern and no malice, I almost felt sorry for the pervert.
“Heerim, that’s enough. He’s going to cry. Jaeyeon, call the police!”
“Got it!”
“W-what? Police?! Shit!”
The pervert, finally grasping the situation, pushed past us and ran out of the alley. I wish he would have at least closed his coat as he fled, but the pervert was openly displaying the “mud-dick” on his lower half.
“Heerim! Run!”
I immediately ran after the pervert. I had to catch him until the police arrived.
“Why is this bastard so fast?!”
The pervert, who had already left the alley, started running down the main street.
“Aaah! What the—!”
“Kyaah! It’s a pervert—!”
Screams erupted from everywhere as the pervert ran with his genitals exposed. I struggled to follow him, pushing through the chaotic sidewalk.
“Aaaah! Heerim! Hurry up!”
“Yes. I’m coming.”
For some reason, Heerim, who had confidently promised the client that he would catch the pervert, was moving sluggishly. Unlike my urgent state, he was merely following behind me with leisurely steps. Because of this, the distance between us and the pervert was widening.
“Heerim?! What are you doing?! We’re going to lose him!”
“It’s okay. We won’t lose him.”
“Ah! Heerim!”
“I told you it’s fine.”
Does he actually want to catch him or not? What’s fine about this situation!
I swallowed the curses I wanted to spew. The distance between us and the pervert was getting bigger and bigger.
“This won’t work. I’ll go ahead!”
I left the unhurried Heerim behind and ran at full speed by myself. As a mere part-timer, I didn’t need to put in this much effort. The person who should feel responsibility for this request and do his best to fulfill it was Heerim, not me.
But I couldn’t just stand by and watch a pervert who exposed himself roam freely around a girls’ school. I had to catch that pervert, even if I had to do it alone.
I heard Heerim shouting “Don’t push yourself!” from behind. My anger rose at Heerim’s leisurely attitude, but I tried to suppress it. Heerim wasn’t the priority right now. I could get angry at him after catching the pervert.
“Excuse me! Let me through please! Coming through!”
The pervert moved like a loach, skillfully weaving between people. It seemed like he wasn’t new to this perverted behavior, as his escape was quite professional. I followed him, apologizing to people on behalf of the pervert. Fortunately, the distance between us was gradually closing. A precarious game of tag continued with about 10 meters between us.
“Ah! Shit!”
The pervert glanced back, saw me close behind, cursed, and changed direction. He was heading toward an eight-lane road.
Don’t tell me he’s going to cross that?!
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
