Chapter 13
Minsu held my hand tightly as he headed toward the parking lot. Perhaps because he was so tense, or perhaps because he was so shocked, the hand holding mine was gripping quite hard.
"Mr. Minsu..."
"Yes, is there anything else troubling you?"
"Well... Your hand..."
"Huh? Ah, oh, th-that... I'm sorry. I think I grabbed your hand a little too freely."
Like a child caught sneaking out of cram school to go to a PC bang without telling their parents, Minsu was startled and hurriedly let go. Holding my hand had probably been an unconscious action meant to protect me, so I didn't mind... But he had been gripping it so hard that my hand hurt.
Like a child caught sneaking out of cram school to go to a PC bang without telling their parents, Minsu was startled and hurriedly let go. Holding my hand had probably been an unconscious action meant to protect me, so I didn't mind... But he had been gripping it so hard that my hand hurt.
"No, it's all right. You grabbed it unconsciously because you wanted to protect me. But... you were holding it too tightly, so it hurt a little..."
I really had been in pain, so I raised my right hand with a slight grimace. I would have endured it under ordinary circumstances, but a large, strong man had squeezed it tightly, leaving my hand truly red. If he'd applied any more pressure, might he actually have cracked a bone?
"I'm sorry... I was so angry that something like that happened to you while I wasn't there, Ms. Jia..."
"That means you were worried about me, right? I'm grateful, if anything. Hehe."
I was happy that someone genuinely worried about me, so I broke into a bright smile without realizing it. I wondered whether I had smiled too brightly, but Mr. Minsu was smiling brightly too, so it was all good. Then my stomach growled.
"......!"
I hadn't eaten only a little at lunch, had I...? Ah... Come to think of it, it was already past six in the evening. The police investigation had taken longer than expected. There hadn't been much for Minsu and me to testify about; the police had mostly reviewed the footage recorded by the perpetrators and then asked us a few simple questions.
"Come to think of it, it's already evening."
"That's right. If we'd gone straight home, it would have been around four..."
"Is there anything you'd like to eat?"
"Hmm... Dakgalbi? But not spicy, please."
Come to think of it, it had been a really long time since I'd eaten dakgalbi too. Other than the watery dakgalbi I'd ordered for delivery, I think the last time had been when I was in high school...? Maybe on a school field trip. If we ate a reasonable amount of dakgalbi, we could fry up some rice afterward. Mmm~ That would be delicious. Mr. Minsu had also worked hard running around and using his strength, so it wouldn't matter if I couldn't eat much, would it?
"Shall I call Ms. Jiyeon too?"
"Yes! I think it would be even better if Jiyeon unnie ate with us!"
I felt happy at the thought of eating with unnie again, and a silly grin spread across my face. I didn't know why, but Mr. Minsu's face looked a little red too. Had he fallen for unnie?
*
Today, I felt refreshed. I had spent a long time with Jia because we had undergone psychological counseling together, but that feeling didn't last long.
"...Is that really true?"
[Yes... The man who attacked us at the courthouse yesterday and the man who approached Ms. Jia today were both members of the same group.]
"Was anyone hurt?"
[No, but... I'm worried that Ms. Jia may be suffering terribly psychologically.]
"It would be nice if I could live with Jia and reduce the amount of time she spends alone..."
[Then I'll look for real estate in that direction as well. If Ms. Jia is all right with it afterward, let's do that.]
"The best thing we can do for Jia is probably to stay with her and laugh with her."
[The investigation may take some time, but if you're all right with it, would you like to have dinner together later?]
"Yes, I'd love to. I'll wait at home after work."
Jia had suffered another horrible incident, and this time it had happened two days in a row... I hoped she could live without fear. She must be under a great deal of stress, so I was worried about her physical condition too. I should arrange for her to get an examination on Friday.
I had seen that news too. They went around as a pair, lured attractive women with money, brought them onto internet broadcasts, then used and discarded them... They were the worst of the worst. They hadn't even reached trial yet, and they were already thinking about doing something like that again... It was strange that they had been released without detention too... Just how powerful were the people backing them?
"Ms. Jiyeon? Is something wrong?"
"Ah, um, well..."
"You look really unwell."
A fellow nurse passing by spoke to me with a worried expression.
"I heard that Jihoon, who was discharged last Friday, almost became a victim of sex offenders yesterday and today..."
"Oh my, is Jihoon that patient with the rare disease?"
"Yes... I just received a call saying that something like that happened again today, and he's giving a statement at the police station right now."
"Ah... So that's what happened... You should go see him as soon as you get off work."
"Yes, I should."
I couldn't control my expression at all. I had already been worried because Jia had seemed to be struggling during psychological counseling today, and now criminals were causing trouble too. What the hell were the police doing...?! With that many prior convictions, shouldn't they at least have been fitted with ankle monitors? Jia was already having a hard time continuing to live in her current home, so I should bring her to my house. We could even go on dates together on the weekends...
*
On the way to the dakgalbi restaurant in Mr. Minsu's car, Jiyeon unnie called, so I answered immediately.
"Unnie! We're on our way to the restaurant. Traffic is heavy, so it might take a little while."
[Jia! Are you really all right?]
"Huh? Ah~ I'm fine. Nothing happened to me this time."
[Violence isn't limited to being physically harmed, Jia. Hearing cruel words is violence too. It's practically the same as being hit by a bad person.]
"Yes, yes..."
I really was fine, but unnie must have been extremely worried. Her voice was trembling so much... She seemed to feel guilty too. Ten minutes later, after parking and getting out of the car, we met unnie as she happened to be walking over from nearby.
"Jia!"
When unnie saw me, she ran over and hugged me tightly.
"Oh, unnie?!"
"Are you all right, Jia? You really are all right, aren't you? You aren't hurt anywhere?"
"Yes, I'm really fine. With you and Mr. Minsu here, I'm safe."
"Let's eat first, then talk."
Jiyeon unnie was flustered and hugged me tightly while checking me over to see whether I was hurt anywhere, so I smiled and assured her that I was really fine. Mr. Minsu calmed her down by suggesting that we eat first. We went inside and ordered a medium portion of dakgalbi. Unnie and Mr. Minsu simultaneously asked them to make it less spicy, which made me chuckle. Having the two people who cared for me say the same thing at once gave me a warm, family-like feeling, and I was happy.
"Fortunately, it isn't spicy. I think I can eat comfortably."
"Really? That's a relief."
Jiyeon unnie said this with a bright smile. I was very happy to see her smile again.
"Thank you for protecting me today too, Mr. Minsu."
"It was my job. You don't have to thank me."
"Come to think of it, when we were leaving the police station earlier, I heard some people say that we looked like a nice couple..."
"Pfft! Cough, what did you say? A-a couple?"
"Yes... I heard it when you took my hand and led me out of the police station."
Perhaps he was flustered, because Minsu spat out the water he had been drinking and started coughing. Unnie smiled broadly and whispered to me, 'Try calling Mr. Minsu oppa just once,' and although my face turned bright red too, she said he would like it, so just once, I eventually gave in.
"M-Minsu oppa..."
It was incredibly embarrassing, but I could call the person who had protected me even after being stabbed yesterday oppa at least once. He really was older than me, and I had also felt a little uncomfortable constantly calling him Mr. Minsu, so I said it without much resistance.
"...!"
Minsu couldn't say a word and sat there dazed, his face completely red.
"Mr. Minsu? Are you all right?"
"Ah, yes. I'm fi... fine."
"I must have startled you. I called you that once because I wanted to thank you for protecting me yesterday and today... And you are older than me too..."
"Ahem, this is too embarrassing for me... I'd appreciate it if you just called me Mr. Minsu."
We finished our meal and left in such a harmonious atmosphere. Unnie and Mr. Minsu suggested that living alone was dangerous for me and that I should move to Jiyeon unnie's home for a while. I said, 'I'll go right away if you're all right with it, unnie. But to move my things...' I would probably have to call a moving company, right?
"But to move my things, shouldn't I call a moving company? It should be fine if I move everything sometime in January."
"No, I'm too worried about Jia. Come straight to our house."
"No, I'll help you, so let's move at least some of your things right away."
Unnie and Mr. Minsu spoke at the same time. I nodded and got into Mr. Minsu's car with unnie. The car headed straight for my home, and we decided to pack a few things. Fortunately, nothing else had happened there. Minsu must have prepared in advance, because he took several boxes suitable for packing things out of the trunk.
"For now, I think I only need to pack my clothes..."
"Right. We can call a moving company for the rest of your things anyway. It's getting late, so let's just pack your clothes and sanitary pads and go."
We packed the clothes and shoes I needed right away, along with some sanitary pads just in case, and left the house. Perhaps because it was late at night, they had been making a little noise? Or was the timing simply strange? The men who had come to my door before had opened their door and were looking toward my home.
"Excuse me, is something wrong? Who are you, and why are you looking into an empty house...?"
"Mr. Jihoon is unable to return home right now, so I came to bring him some clothes."
"Really? Oh my, now that I look, that woman from before is here too."
"Yes, that's right. Jihoon is in a difficult situation, so I decided to help him."
"Ah... I understand. Sorry for bothering you."
Fortunately, the neighbors seemed to believe me. It would have been difficult if they had become suspicious and aggressive because there were other people there besides me. It was hard to believe they trusted my words based on the one time they had seen me before, so they had probably decided that, with Mr. Minsu there too, it would be best not to cause an unnecessary conflict.
"Phew, I'm glad there was no trouble."
"I know. I was worried they might report us as suspicious people."
"Exactly. I was worried too because I didn't want to get into a fight."
We loaded the boxes into the trunk, grateful that nothing had happened, and set off immediately. Our destination was, of course, Jiyeon unnie's house. I wasn't sure whether it was all right for me to impose on her... But if I postponed it because I felt embarrassed or sorry and then became the victim of a crime like last time—or an even worse one—I would make the two of them bear unbearable pain and guilt.
'Under ordinary circumstances, I would have assumed there was no way I would become the victim of a crime...'
Honestly, my current body attracted the attention of women as well as men. The criminals were trash for doing things they shouldn't, but it would be difficult for any man not to get aroused at the sight of this body. Ordinary people simply didn't act on such feelings because doing so was illegal. When I had only looked at a body like this, I had thought it was truly enviable, but living in it came with all kinds of difficulties.
...Even if I were given a hundred more chances and told to choose again, I would still want to live in this body. That's only because it had powerful advantages that completely covered all its drawbacks, though...
*
Before I knew it, we had arrived in front of unnie's house. We took the boxes out of the trunk and saw Mr. Minsu off.
"Thank you, Mr. Minsu. Let's eat together again sometime!"
"Yes, please rely on me whenever anything happens in the future. You don't need to feel sorry. It's late, so Ms. Jiyeon and Ms. Jia should go inside and get some sleep."
"We will. Goodbye~"
Unnie waved goodbye brightly, and I thanked him and said goodbye too. When I carried the boxes inside unnie's house, I felt... excited, even though I wasn't here as a guest. Since I would be imposing on her until I moved into my new home, I thought I should sleep on the floor and quickly unpacked my things. 'I should probably at least take out some pajamas to wear after my shower, right? I brought enough underwear...'
"Jia, shall we wash up together?"
"Huh??"
"It's so late. If we wash separately, you'll have to go to bed in the middle of the night... A beauty needs plenty of sleep, you know?"
"We shouldn't go to bed too late, so all right."
Why had an event that might or might not happen even after a year of adjusting to my body happened twice in less than a week? Fortunately, unnie's bathroom was larger than mine and had two showerheads, so washing up didn't take long. Except for washing my hair.
"Aah~ I feel refreshed~"
"I know. I wanted to wash up quickly, so I'm glad we did it before it got even later."
"Right. Let's just dry our hair and go to sleep. I'll dry yours for you."ら