Chapter 20
Midnight.
After tossing everything except the drinks to Kang Joo-hyuk, I returned alone to my bedroom and spent the whole time fiddling with my phone.
That man might sneak around without my noticing, so I left the bedroom door wide open and kept watch for any sign of him lurking around.
But this⋯.
I'm so sleepy.
“Yaaawn⋯.”
Thanks to flooding my body with caffeine, I could barely keep myself awake, but strangely, even after I gave Kang Joo-hyuk a drink that should have helped him sleep, he didn't go to bed.
I'd even brought him a pillow and blanket so he could sleep soundly on the sofa.
I quietly slipped into the living room every hour to check whether he was asleep, but he was still wide awake.
The date had changed, so it was about time he went to bed.
“Kang Joo-hyuk, aren't you going to sleep⋯?”
“I should go to sleep soon. Now.”
Fortunately, seeing Kang Joo-hyuk open his bleary eyes and finally show signs of sleepiness, I figured I only had to hold out a little longer.
He'd changed into the new T-shirt he'd bought earlier, but he was still wearing the same bottoms.
His phone had to be in that bulging pocket.
⋯He won't spring awake just because I touch it while he's sleeping, will he?
Just as I was wondering how long I should leave him alone so he'd sleep deeply enough not to wake up,
“Let's go to sleep now. Come inside.”
“⋯Huh?”
He gathered the blanket and pillow I'd given him into one arm,
brushed past me, and entered my room,
then sprawled out on the bed as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Let's sleep. I'm tired.”
“⋯Uh, wait, what?”
“Isn't this the bedroom? If I sleep on the sofa after getting injured, my back will give out.”
Rolling up his sleeve and showing me the knife scar once again, he wore the same shameless grin.
⋯What does injuring your shoulder have to do with your back, you perverted bastard?
It didn't seem like he'd listen even if I said anything, so I considered fleeing to the living room instead, but seeing Kang Joo-hyuk's sly smile gave me an idea, and I changed my mind.
“What? We're sleeping together?”
“⋯You weren't planning to leave even if I kicked you out, anyway.”
“If you knew that, why did you keep kicking me out?”
“I thought you'd leave if I kicked you out. I didn't know a person could be so shameless.”
“If I weren't shameless, I couldn't become friends with someone better than me.”
Kang Joo-hyuk let out a quiet chuckle.
His eyes were definitely sleepy, and his speech had become so relaxed and sluggish that it was obvious he'd fall asleep within an hour at most.
The question of whether he'd wake up if I touched him would be largely settled if he slept in my bed.
“⋯You're not even going to say some clichéd thing like you'll report me if I touch you?”
“Would you listen if I did?”
“No.”
“I figured, so I didn't say it. ⋯As long as you don't do anything weird, do whatever you want. We won't have any reason to see each other from tomorrow on, anyway.”
“It's past midnight, and you're going to let me stay another day?”
“Don't nitpick my words. It's annoying.”
The moment I turned my back and lay down, Kang Joo-hyuk clung to me as if he'd been waiting and pulled me into his arms beneath the blanket.
His hand was still resting on my stomach, but he would definitely start touching my breasts before long.
It was naturally unpleasant, heavy, and creepy enough to make me shudder and want to shake him off, but as long as he didn't pounce on me like before, I could grit my teeth and endure it.
That phone was a million times more dangerous than this trivial touching, so it was worth putting up with.
“⋯As long as I don't do anything weird, right?”
“⋯.”
“Then I won't hold back.”
I couldn't be bothered to answer his question—whether he could do whatever he wanted as long as he didn't do anything weird, even though he was already doing something weird.
Taking my silence as a sign of consent, Kang Joo-hyuk, just as I'd expected, grabbed my breast and let out shallow breaths.
⋯You fucking perverted bastard.
I had no idea what was so special about this lump of fat that it could make him horny enough to blackmail and rape someone.
It was a nuisance, but I had never wished they were smaller.
Yet today, I found myself wondering whether it might have been better if they were smaller, since then I wouldn't have become the target of a man like this.
⋯Seriously, so annoying.
I hadn't kept men at arm's length all this time just to hand myself over to someone like you.
“⋯.”
His breath kept brushing against the nape of my neck, tickling me.
Hot, heavy exhalations.
He couldn't possibly be asleep already, but all I had to do was stay awake a little longer.
Since this man was too distracted by fondling my breasts, I could wait for an opportunity and quietly search his pocket.
Thirty minutes would be too short, so I needed one hour.
Don't fall asleep. Stay awake.
Don't fall asleep⋯.
***
“⋯Gasp.”
A prickling sensation at my shoulder blade startled me awake.
I hurriedly turned on the phone I'd left beside my head and checked the time.
⋯1:14 a.m.
I must have nodded off for about 20 minutes.
Still, thank goodness.
I hadn't slept for too long.
“⋯You fucking perverted bastard⋯.”
Kang Joo-hyuk, who was beside me, was still kneading my breast while roughly rubbing his chin against my cheek.
I felt disgusted, but I had woken up because his stubble felt scratchy, so I'd let it go this once.
It wasn't as though I'd ever have anything to do with him again.
“⋯.”
To keep Kang Joo-hyuk from waking up, I gently reached my hand behind me and felt along his hip.
Somewhere around here.
Feeling along the outside of his pocket with my fingertips, I fortunately found his phone right away.
It would've been a huge problem if it had been in the other pocket, so that was a relief.
“Phew⋯.”
I took a deep breath and slowly slipped my fingers into the pocket.
The pocket was loose, so my entire hand slipped in more easily than expected, and I felt the hard, cold touch of glass.
I pulled my hand out even more slowly than I'd put it in, then brought my arm back across my chest.
⋯Done.
He didn't wake⋯.
“Mmm⋯.”
Just as I was about to relax, Kang Joo-hyuk suddenly pulled me tightly against him and began sniffing at my scent.
My whole body stiffened, thinking for an instant that he'd woken up, but before long I realized it was merely sleep talk, and curses rose to my throat.
⋯You crazy fucking pervert, seriously.
How could even his sleep talking be like that?
“⋯Haa. Phew⋯.”
I swallowed back the curses that had risen up and carefully removed the fingers resting on my breast.
Nothing else, just his right thumb.
I pressed the home button against his disgustingly large, thick thumb.
I watched the screen with bated hope, cursing the sound of my pounding heart,
“Nngh⋯.”
⋯The lock came off.
I nearly let out a cheer, but I held my breath and managed to stop myself.
It's done. I've come this far, so that's enough.
First, the recording.
“Ah⋯.”
Found it—the voice memos.
There were dozens of recording files once I opened it, but I didn't have time to distinguish between them, so I deleted them all in one go.
Whether there was anything important among them was none of my concern.
I even opened Recently Deleted and erased everything thoroughly, then returned to the home screen and searched for the photo album.
⋯Shit, why doesn't this man have an album on his home screen?
I swiped all the way to the right and rummaged through the screens; only then did I find the hidden album.
“C-crazy⋯.”
The moment I opened the album, an explicit thumbnail appeared.
A woman with nothing on, smiling at the camera.
⋯Fortunately, it wasn't me, but it was an obviously pornographic video.
Feeling an anxiety I couldn't hide, I searched a little further and noticed a pitch-black thumbnail where nothing at all was visible.
The recording was over two hours long.
⋯This feels ominous.
“Phew⋯.”
Just in case, I muted the media volume, played the video, and skipped ahead a little.
It was still pitch-black.
I skipped ahead a little more.
Still pitch-black.
A little more⋯.
“Mmph⋯.”
When the obscene naked body spread out before my eyes appeared, all I could do was cover my mouth.
⋯A woman with pale skin.
A woman whose breasts were as large as mine, but whose waist was slender.
“Haa⋯, haa⋯.”
A woman with fairly wide hips.
⋯A woman with little pubic hair.
A stupid woman with her vulva spread open by thick fingers,
twitching without even thinking to cover herself.
“⋯⋯.”
⋯But,
a woman without a mole beneath her breasts.
I barely held back a scream and took a deep breath.
⋯So it wasn't me.
Her face never appeared, so for a moment I'd nearly mistaken her body for mine.
Haa, at least even a piece of garbage like him hadn't secretly filmed me, right?
I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but the arm of the fucking perverted rapist blackmailer was in the way, so I couldn't⋯.
“Ha-eun⋯.”
“⋯⋯!”
⋯.
Sleep talking again.
My heart nearly stopped, but thankfully, it was only sleep talking.
I desperately held back the urge to cut off Kang Joo-hyuk's dick, then was about to put the phone back when an unpleasant thought suddenly occurred to me.
⋯Are you sure there really isn't one?
I haven't checked everything yet.
“⋯Phew. Mmph⋯, haa.”
I swallowed hard and searched through the phone again.
This time, a dirty video of a woman whose breasts were relatively small but whose face was incredibly cute began playing.
Next was a tall woman with tanned skin.
Next was a photo of a muscular man showing off his biceps.
⋯I didn't even need to look. It was Kang Joo-hyuk.
Next was a fair-skinned Western woman and a dark-skinned man about the same size as the one from earlier.
Next were two similar-looking Japanese women and one man.
Aside from the occasional photos of his own body, the whole thing was full of porn.
⋯Does this man have anything but that in his head?
Just as my fear was gradually turning into disgust, I reached the final photo much sooner than expected and was able to confirm that this phone contained no erotic videos of me.
“Shit, there isn't one⋯.”
⋯I was trembling for nothing.
Right, honestly, it made no sense.
No matter how drunk I'd been, there was no way I wouldn't have noticed him filming me so openly.
I'd deleted the recordings, so as long as there were no videos, I wouldn't have to keep being manipulated by this man.
As long as he didn't find out I'd secretly touched his phone before morning, all I had to do was throw him out of the house, and it would all be over.
I wanted to press charges and throw him in prison, but if I did, I had no idea what horrible thing he might actually do, so I'd let it go.
Haa⋯.
Now that my mind was at ease, all the sleepiness I'd been holding back came rushing over me.
I'd just put the phone back in his pocket and go to sleep.
I hated everything about this man, but at least one of his arms was thick enough to make a good pillow.
I blinked sleepily, and just as I was about to put the phone back where it belonged, slightly off guard,
“⋯What are you doing?”
“Eek⋯!”
⋯He had grabbed my wrist.
From inside Kang Joo-hyuk's pants pocket.