Justice Served to the Party Ruiner

Someone keeps staring this way—or rather, he's staring at Ms. Jia. I wanted to rush out and grab him immediately, but this wasn't the kind of place where I could do that.

'I can only move if Ms. Jia wants me to catch him...'

The man who had been staring gradually approached the table where we were sitting.

"Excuse me, what's the name of the short woman over there?"

"Who are you?"

I stepped in front of the man who was trying to approach Ms. Jia.

"Are you a bodyguard?"

"You seem to think so. Please don't make things difficult by continuing to approach her."

"Hey, nameless woman, would you like to go out with me?"

Ignoring me, the man kept peeking at Ms. Jia and hitting on her.

"I said stop."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Look around you right now."

Everyone's eyes turned toward the man. Unable to overcome his lust at such an important gathering, he had tried to hit on someone whose name he didn't even know, and now everyone there was glaring daggers at him.

"What the hell? Why is that bastard here?"

"Why is that crazy piece of trash here? Didn't they screen him out?"

The people around us began condemning the man in increasingly loud voices. The man then pointed at Ms. Jia and started cursing.

"W-What! What did I do wrong? Isn't it that slut's fault for coming here?!"

"Let's stop this."

"Why? It's true! Who the fuck brought that whore to the party?!"

"I said, stop!"

"Puhahaha! Did you fall in love with that whore? Did her pussy feel fucking good?"

Hearing that, I felt something snap inside my head. I grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him outside.

"W-What the fuck?!"

"You fucking piece of shit, you're going to die today."

I beat the man. I hit him twice in the head first to bring him to his senses, then drove a knee into his solar plexus; hitting him in the head alone would knock him unconscious. After that, I lost all reason and kept pummeling him. I knocked him down, climbed on top of him, and drove my fists down madly. Hitting only his head would actually kill him, so I avoided his chest and solar plexus and continued beating him elsewhere. Something felt as though it had broken in the fallen man's arm, but I ignored it and kept hitting him.

"M-Mr. Minsu! Stop! Please stop!"

Ms. Jia told me to stop. Why?

"Mr. Minsu! Please! You'll kill him!"

This time Ms. Jiyeon came running over and grabbed the arm I was swinging.

"Huff... Fuck..."

Hearing the desperate voices of the two women clinging to both my arms and trying to hold me back, I finally came to my senses.

"Haa... You piece of shit. Just let me see you again. I'll kill you then."

I spat in the man's face, stomped on his leg until I broke it, and went outside.

"Aaaaaah!!!"

I could hear the man's scream, but I didn't care. I would definitely kill that bastard.

*

I was scared because I could constantly feel a man's gaze on me. Most people had looked at me at least once, but this man was different. He kept looking me up and down without taking his eyes off me. His stare was so relentless that I actually felt afraid.

"Hic, u-unnie... Someone keeps staring at me..."

"I know. He's being far too blatant. Try to endure it for just a little longer—really, just a little. If he keeps it up, tell unnie and I'll protest."

"Thank you, unnie..."

Still, anyone who attended a place like this had to have considerable influence. Even if the problem couldn't be resolved immediately, if he approached me too blatantly, the organizers would probably listen if I complained.

"Huh? I think he's getting closer, unnie..."

I hoped I was mistaken. Please, don't come any closer... But they say bad hunches are always right, and sadly, the man openly approached me and began hitting on me.

"Who are you? Stop this."

Fortunately, Mr. Minsu stepped in front of him, but the man didn't stop. He kept peeking at me from behind Mr. Minsu and making blatantly sexual remarks. At first, he had only said something mild like, 'Would you like to go out with me?' But when Mr. Minsu, who had come as my bodyguard, kept blocking him, he apparently grew irritated and began sexually harassing me outright.

'You have huge breasts, your ass is hot, I want to fuck you, and so on...'

As I listened to him, my field of vision narrowed until I couldn't even see unnie in front of me. My mind went completely blank, and I bowed my head and covered my ears. But the man's increasingly loud voice continued creeping into my ears.

"You fucking piece of shit, you're going to die today."

It was Mr. Minsu's voice. The man had spat out filthy remarks about me, saying things like, 'She's such a whore,' and, 'Her pussy must feel so good that Minsu's gone crazy.' Mr. Minsu had restrained himself as much as possible and warned him several times to stop, but when the man began insulting me by mentioning my genitals, he couldn't hold back any longer. He cursed and dragged the man outside.

"Aaaaaah!! Somebody help me!!!"

Mr. Minsu had dragged the man quite far away, but the man's voice rang out as he shouted in panic, apparently because Mr. Minsu's punches hurt far more than he had expected. I shouldn't have come to the party. I hadn't even been invited in the first place; Jiyeon unnie had only brought me because she wanted to look after me. If I hadn't come, this wouldn't have happened... When I thought that far, I realized I had to stop Mr. Minsu from committing murder, so I ran outside. Unnie must have had the same thought, because she ran with me.

"Mr. Minsu! Stop!!"

I ran in the direction Mr. Minsu had gone and shouted, but he didn't seem to hear me. I found him quickly, but he had completely lost control and was beating the man as though he intended to kill him.

"Mr. Minsu! Please! Stop!"

Mr. Minsu continued beating the man as if he couldn't hear me. He wouldn't stop.

"Minsu! I said stop!!"

Jiyeon unnie was so flustered that she even dropped the formal speech she usually used with him. But he still didn't seem to hear her. Blood began to stain Mr. Minsu's fists as he kept driving them down while avoiding the man's solar plexus. It must have been the victim's blood.

"M-Mr. Minsu! Stop! Please stop!"

I grabbed Mr. Minsu's left arm and tried to hold him back.

"Mr. Minsu! Please! You'll kill him!"

Unnie grabbed his right upper arm and held him back.

"Huff... Fuck..."

Only then did Mr. Minsu seem to hear us. He stood up, exhaling heavily.

"Hide for the rest of your life. The moment even the tip of your hair shows itself, I'll hunt you down and kill you, you piece of shit!"

Mr. Minsu spat in the man's face, then stomped on his leg until he mangled it. Breathing heavily with a furious expression, he went outside. Two men who looked like his juniors followed him... I stood frozen in place, unable to move. Tears filled my eyes. Had this happened because I had foolishly failed to recognize my place and come somewhere I didn't belong?

"Jia, I'm sorry..."

Unnie said that and pulled me tightly into her arms. Unable to hold back the tears welling up inside me, I burst into tears.

"Hic, unnie, I'm sorry... Sob, I followed you for no reason... Hic, waaah!!"

I was afraid—not of the man's blatant sexual harassment, but that Mr. Minsu would be charged with murder. That terrified me...

*

The man's name was Lee Kangho, the eldest son who was to inherit Gangho Group, founded by his father, Lee Kangseop. It was a massive conglomerate that competed for first through third place nationwide, and no matter how much it wavered, it had never fallen below third place. It was a formidable group.

"Damn it, everyone is looking down on me... I'm Lee Kangho, the son of Gangho Group!"

Kangho was furious. His father, Lee Kangseop, had planned far ahead, deciding in advance to name his future firstborn son Kangho and naming the group he would inherit Gangho Group from the start. As the son of such a man, and with Gangho Group possessing considerable influence, Kangho had never had to fear anything. He went around dating women indiscriminately, and whenever he arrived in a luxury car with an expensive designer bag as a gift, there was no woman who refused him. Even women who already had boyfriends would meet him behind their partners' backs or declare their breakups on the spot, further feeding Kangho's sense of victory.

As a result, he drove drunk and was repeatedly dragged to the police over women. Each time, Lee Kangseop wondered whether he should pass the group down not to his eldest son but to his second child, his eldest daughter. So he gave Kangho one final chance: at the New Year's party held in January, he was to greet everyone older than him who attended, including people from Eunha Group, another conglomerate competing for the top three places nationwide, and do whatever he could to restore the reputation he had ruined himself.

"Ha, I'm the eldest son of Gangho Group. Why should I go around greeting people? They should be greeting me."

That was what the shameless Kangho thought. In the end, he went around looking only for women and approached Jia, whom he considered the most exceptional of them all. Jiyeon beside her also appealed to him, of course, but Jia was younger and had an even more impressive figure, so he approached Jia first. Everyone at the party hated Kangho for ignoring them all without offering even a single greeting, and some of them even wished he would die. Kangho was such a vile man that he was suspected of being a murderer. No—he wasn't even human.

"Secretary Hwang, I have something for you to do."

"Yes, Chairman. What is it?"

The secretary answered Chairman Kangseop's call.

"Erase the eldest son—no, erase that bastard. Leave no trace behind."

"Will that really be all right?"

"You ask if it's all right? Of course it isn't. All the most influential people in the country have gathered here. There may not be any politicians, but this is still a major party. And there he was, sexually harassing someone again and laying hands on a member of a family he should never have touched."

"......"

The secretary couldn't say anything. In truth, even he thought getting rid of a man as trashy as Kangho would be best for his father and the group.

"The man who beat Kangho—thank him and compensate him for any damages. If anything was caught on CCTV, erase it all. And that woman who was victimized—I don't know her name, but treat her with the utmost courtesy and compensate her generously."

"Should I leave right away?"

"I won't say it twice. Go immediately."

"Yes, sir."

The secretary thought, 'Ah, shit. I'm screwed.' If he failed to wrap this up properly, he had no idea what would happen to him. Cursing Kangho, he hurried to the party venue.

"Ah, yes. I'm Secretary Hwang from Chairman Lee Kangseop's office at Gangho Group. I'm going there now to handle the aftermath, so could you please tell the woman who was harmed to wait a little longer? Please."

"Pardon? Y-Yes, understood."

The staff member was startled by the call, but since it came from Chairman Lee's secretary, he decided to follow the instructions immediately.

*

"Jia, are you all right now?"

I could hear unnie's voice as she held me tightly.

"Yes... I think I've calmed down a little because you're hugging me..."

How much time had passed? It felt like about twenty minutes. Unnie held me tightly the entire time, while people around us rushed over and apologized for being unable to stop someone with influence. They also apologized for the party being ruined.

"Shall we go home? I'm sorry, Jia. Your makeup is smudged too... I'm sorry..."

"No, it's okay. If you had stood up to protest, we don't know what else that man might have done. And I'm the one who didn't clearly say no..."

"No, Jia. You endured it well. Since I was the one who brought you here, I should have taken responsibility..."

It seemed that unnie had cried a little too, because the makeup on her beautiful face was beginning to smudge.

"...Jiyeon."

"Father..."

"Oh, miss, I'm so sorry..."

Jiyeon unnie's parents came over. Her mother helped me to my feet, and both of them apologized to me.

"No... I shouldn't have come when I didn't even have the right to attend..."

Perhaps my words shocked them, because Jiyeon unnie's parents insisted that wasn't true at all. They said that if Jiyeon was my guardian, then I was practically part of her family, which meant they were responsible too. Unnie looked on the verge of tears, so she simply nodded without answering her parents.

"Jia, let's go remove your makeup."

"Yes... Let's remove it quickly and go home, home... Sob..."

While we were removing our makeup, Jiyeon unnie's mother came in and said that someone was looking for us, so it might be best not to remove our makeup completely and redo it instead. I wondered why, but I thought, 'There must be a reason,' and decided to follow her instructions.

"Uh, unnie... Why did she tell us to put our makeup back on?"

"I'll tell you what I know, but Jia, you don't know anything, okay?"

"Yes."

"That man is Lee Kangho. He's the eldest son of Gangho Group and was supposed to inherit the group soon."

"Th-Then he really is someone powerful..."

"That would normally be true... but not anymore."

"What?"

"The current chairman of Gangho Group, Chairman Lee Kangseop, was apparently furious about what his eldest son did and ordered him to properly compensate the victim."

Unnie spoke while removing her makeup. I finished wiping mine off too and focused on what she was saying.

"Jia, you're practically part of our family, just as Mom said. So no more blaming yourself like you did earlier, okay?"

I nodded silently. Unnie wiped her face clean and began applying her makeup again. Perhaps because her face was a cheat code—beautiful even without makeup—she applied it lightly.

"You haven't learned much about makeup yet, so I'll do yours for you. Wait just a little, okay?"

"Okaaay..."

I actually thought I looked better without makeup, but for such a public occasion, it seemed better to wear at least a light layer. After doing my makeup too, unnie and I took care of everything and came back out...

"I am terribly sorry!"

A man in a suit came out sweating profusely and bowed deeply to unnie and me.

"I-I'm fine now, so please lift your head..."

"I am Secretary Hwang, chief of the secretarial office at Gangho Group."

The man handed me his business card and continued.

"But why have you come to see me...?"

"Chairman Lee ordered me to treat the victim with the utmost courtesy and compensate her generously, so I came to take care of that."

"W-We just want to go home..."

I shook my head at the man, refusing.

"Please, I beg you. It's fine if you go home, but then my neck..."

The man drew his thumb across his own neck. It felt like too much pressure, so I nodded to indicate that I understood.

"Oh my, the chairman personally ordered this?"

Unnie looked surprised.

"Jia, since the group chairman personally asked us, shall we stay a little longer before we leave? The other people weren't bad, right?"

"B-But... Mr. Minsu..."

"Oh, please don't worry about him. There probably wouldn't be a problem even if we didn't help, but this time our side will take responsibility and make sure it's treated as though nothing happened."

Secretary Hwang said that politely when I trembled with concern for Mr. Minsu.

"May I ask your name?"

"I'm Han Jia..."

"Yes, Ms. Jia. Let me tell you one thing: Lee Kangho is hated by everyone who attended this party. No, he's hated by people all over the country. That's how much people despise him—comments saying that Lee Kangho should die have received over a hundred thousand likes, with not a single dislike."

"B-But he's still a person..."

"Jia, he wasn't a person. There are limits to how bad someone can be."

I nodded at unnie's words and went back into the party venue. I received so many apologies that it became overwhelming. The most influential groups in the country bowed to me and apologized for standing by while it happened, which left me terribly flustered. I also heard many people say they were grateful for what Mr. Minsu had done, saying things like, 'Could you thank that bodyguard for me?'

*

"Senior..."

"I'm fine. I'm not bragging, but even if they make an issue of it, it won't become a serious problem."

Subin followed me with a worried expression and spoke.

"Senior Minsu, are you really all right? That Kangho bastard was trash, but if you had gone any further, he would have died..."

The male agent who had come with Subin was speaking when someone came over and interrupted him.

"Mr. Minsu!"

"Uh... Huh? Ms. Jiyeon? What brings you here...?"

"Jia is all right. The chairman of Gangho Group personally sent someone to apologize, and they said they'll provide compensation too."

Jiyeon took a deep breath before speaking, apparently having hurried over despite wearing heels.

"That's a relief. I'll wash my hands and then go."

"Everyone is grateful to you too, Mr. Minsu. The group also said they would take full responsibility and make sure nothing comes of this."

"...Is that so? That's a relief. I'm sorry you had to see me like that."

"No, Mr. Minsu. The way you stood up for Jia was really wonderful. I might even have fallen for you... Though it was a little scary."

"I'll be back shortly, so please stay with Jia."

I was a little flustered. No matter how bad the man's reputation was, what I had done was assault. If he wasn't someone I was supposed to apprehend, then it was simply ordinary assault. Well, considering my status, nothing would probably have happened even without anyone's help, but I had no intention of refusing it.

'I can't believe she suddenly said something that sounded almost like a confession... That startled me...'

Subin and the male agent looked so shocked that they seemed to have lost their minds.

"You two, go finish your duties. I need to calm down the people who were startled because of me."

After washing my hands in the restroom and coming back out, I spoke to the two agents, who were still standing there dazed.

"Huh? Oh, yes, Senior..."

Subin and the male agent stood there blankly for a moment, flustered.

*

"Jia, now that I think about it, are your feet all right? We ran in heels."

"Oh... That's right, I was wearing heels... How did I run in them? Hehe..."

I must have moved so desperately because I was so startled. The heels unnie had prepared along with the dress weren't especially high, but since it was my first time wearing heels, I shouldn't have been able to walk in them skillfully. I suppose riding in Mr. Minsu's car had made me notice the discomfort less.

"Now that I look at you, you're really pretty, our Jia."

"I'm glad the dress suits me..."

"Let's sit down and massage your feet. Your muscles must have been in shock."

"Yes, unnie."

We returned to our seats and were about to take off our heels when a party staff member came over with cold packs.

"Please use these for your foot massage."

"Thank you."

Fortunately, the redness subsided quickly once I applied the cold pack. Mr. Minsu returned after tidying his clothes, and we went back to our seats while he received thanks from countless people. He must have exerted himself considerably, because he had taken off his suit jacket and was wearing only a white shirt.

"Mmm~ This is delicious."

Once I had calmed down, the food laid out on the table finally began to taste good.

"Let's eat, drink, and forget all about it today!"

"Yes! Unnie, hehe."

Perhaps my mood had finally improved, because I was able to smile brightly. After all the dishes had been served and the party was coming to an end, we were shocked when we heard the details of the compensation.

"Th-That much money...?"

"The chairman said that considering the injuries Ms. Jia suffered, this was a small amount."

"Y-Yes... I'll accept it gratefully."

I decided to accept it, thinking that refusing would only make things harder for me. Fortunately, the party's atmosphere improved again, and once unnie and I felt better, we were able to enjoy the party with smiles on our faces.

*

"Jia, aren't you tired?"

"Yeees..."

"Oh my, she fell asleep..."

Since Jia had fallen asleep, I would probably have to ask Mr. Minsu for help.

"Mr. Minsu, could you help us? We're going home."

"Understood. I'll carry Ms. Jia."

Mr. Minsu skillfully carried Jia in his arms and headed for the car.

"Ms. Jiyeon, I went too far. I apologize."

"No, I was quite startled, but... it was necessary."

"Well, once everyone hears about the things he did behind the scenes, anyone would be calling for his execution."

Mr. Minsu said that, placed Jia in the back seat, and started the car.

"Sleep well for a little while, Jia."

I fastened Jia's seat belt and headed home. When we arrived, I woke her, removed her makeup, washed up with her, and put her to bed. She was worried that her dress and heels might have been damaged, so I reassured her, and she fell asleep again as soon as she lay down.

"Not a thing is damaged, Jia... You were so careful with them."

After petting Jia for a while, I fell asleep too.

*

"Mmm... Did someone come...? The bell is ringing..."

I came out in my pajamas and checked the intercom. Secretary Hwang, whom I had seen the day before, was standing outside.

"This is part of the compensation from our group. We'd appreciate it if you accepted it."

"Y-Yes... Thank you."

Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I carried the things Secretary Hwang handed me inside.

"I'll be going now. Have a good day."

"Goodbye~"

When I waved goodbye, Secretary Hwang seemed a little surprised to see me. 'Why did he look so surprised...?'

"Hmm... What is all this...? A Korean beef gift set, high-end shampoo and conditioner... A salmon set, a new phone, tablet, speakers, and even a laptop... Huh? There's a note too?"

'If there is anything you need, please contact us. We will deliver quality items immediately.'

"...Unnie?"

A little flustered, I rubbed my eyes and called out to unnie as she came out of the bedroom.

"Uh... Are those things the group sent?"

"Yes, they're all new... I think. The meat looks incredibly fresh too..."

"Oh my, they even sent A-brand electronics because they were worried Jia might be inconvenienced."

Upon closer inspection, they weren't domestic brands. They probably sent products from the leading overseas brand rather than those of a domestic competitor. It was Saturday morning, yet a group employee had come in person instead of an ordinary delivery service... It felt like I had dreamed it all. The compensation felt sudden and far too generous, but after what had happened to me, I decided to accept it.