11 Chapter 11

I decided to follow Park Deokgu in order to see what kind of person this Jung Hayan really is.

When we arrived at the place that I suspect to be where she usually stays, we saw a bit pretty girl in her early twenties being harassed by a middle-aged man wearing glasses.

As she desperately tried to pull her hand away, she heard a loud voice from behind her.

"Hey, Hyung-ssi. If you don't want that hand of yours to be broken, you better let go."

"Huh?"

Kwajik!

"Aaaaaaaagh!"

"Ah!"

Park Deokgu was unable to contain his anger after seeing this scene and decided to interfere before the situation escalate.

In that fleeting moment, the young girl who I presume called Jung Hayan was unable to comprehend what had occurred.

As soon as that huge shadow had fallen across her face, she had closed her eyes.

But that scream had been real enough.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Park Deokgu, who was silently looking down, and the glasses-boy, who had fallen to the ground, screaming.

"Deok-Deokgu-ssi?"

"Ahhhngaaaa…"

"I had no idea we had this brand of scumbag here. Alright, it's not broken, so don't be such a crybaby."

"Aaaaagh…"

The scene was quite comical to be honest, if any person arrive here at this moment, they'll certainly be confused between who's the real victim.

It's true that Park Deokgu had hit him, but he was well measured not to cause damage to the glasses-boy, I guess even in his anger state, he still kept a cool head.

I don't know if he really felt pain or he is pretending to be victim after being caught red handed.

A large fist cut through the air once more. The sound of an impact rang out as the blow fell precisely on glasses-boy's head.

It was almost unreal to see him sent sprawling to the floor as though a heavy, blunt weapon had struck him.

"Ahhhh! Uh… Uhhh…"

"Quit pretending. I didn't even hit you that hard… Someone might think you were a wailing newborn with all the racket you're making.

A big foot struck out, and his body was thrown into the air.

He had been kicked.

Seeing him crashing into the wall, Jung Hayan who was stunned from the sudden turn of the events snapped out of her daze and decided to interrupt them, I guess she was afraid that the situation would spiral into something bigger.

"I-It's okay now, so please stop. You're going to hurt him. Deok-Deokgu-ssi."

"Ah…"

The glare he shot in glasses-boy's direction was vaguely terrifying.

However, her actions were unnecessary, if she was afraid that Park Deokgu might kill him, then this means that she didn't understand the true character of Park Deokgu, I guess they didn't know each other for long. Even though I only knew him for short period of time, but he was the easiest one to read, he had a quiet honest and kind personality.

Seeing him hunched over and trembling on the ground made her anxious.

"Don't worry too much, Noonim. All I did was give him a little shove and a kick. Well, this Hyung-ssi is just a cry-baby…"

But if what made her anxious is the reaction of the people here after seeing this situation, then I guess her worries are justified.

I could see some people rushing over after hearing glasses-boy's screams.

"Stop!"

"…"

"What are you doing? Seokwoo-ssi, are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine…"

The most conspicuous of them was, of course, Lee Jihye. As she led her herd towards them, abject confusion shone in her eyes.

I decided to watch how the situation going to develop. Since most the survivors are gathering here, this is the perfect opportunity to analyze how this people think and behave in this kind of situation.

"Hey, what the hell is going on here? Violence is forbidden within the shelter."

"That man sexually harassed Hayan-ssi. So I gave him a beating."

"Is that true?"

"I saw it with my own two eyes."

"It's…not."

"What?"

"O-of course, it might have looked misleading because I grabbed Hayan-ssi's hand… B-But he was mistaken…"

"You're still running your mouth."

"Alright, that's enough, Deokgu oppa. Like I said, violence is prohibited here. Even if Seokwoo-ssi did something wrong, hastily swinging your fists at someone without hearing them out first creates disharmony amongst group members. This way of doing things… is not right. Before anything else, you need to determine if anything wrong is even taking place."

"…"

"Seokwoo-ssi, did you really grasp Hayan-ssi's hand to then sexually harass her?"

"N-n-n-no. A-absolutely not. I never meant to do such a thing."

"Then what Deokgu oppa saw…"

"I-I think there was a bit of a misunderstanding. O-of course, it's true that I expressed my feelings towards Hayan-ssi, but I mistakenly thought that Hayan-ssi had accepted them… I-I think that's what happened."

"Really?"

"Yes, yes… R-really."

' I see what she's doing, I guess glasses-boy is one of her followers.'

I think she roughly knows what he has done, but she decided to support him anyway, I guess she thinks he's still useful, but in order to do that she had to manipulate the public opinion to her advantage in order to turn the predator into victim.

"Please repeat exactly what you said."

"I told Hayan-ssi I wanted to get closer to her, and Hayan-ssi reciprocated… I guess I was just mistaken."

"Hayan-ssi, please clarify. Is what Seokwoo-ssi just said true?"

Several gazes landed on Jung Hayan. Of course, this wasn't something she could suddenly get used to.

It was because their gazes were far from being friendly.

She quickly realised that there was no one on her side.

As her arms and legs started to shake from tension, Lee Jihye's face, and her stare as though urging her to hurry up and speak, came into her view.

For some reason, she had trouble opening her mouth.

' is she socially awkward, or she's isn't good at the crowd, whatever her personality is, being silent or cowardly in this situation isn't a good thing.'

"T-that's true. B-but after that, Seok-Seok-Seokwoo-ssi… F-forcibly pulled my arm, and… that if I want to have a pleasant time here… H-he spoke like that… I-I was a little surprised…"

She spoke in flustering tone, I guess she isn't used to being stared at her with that kind of gaze that the crowd is giving her.

"Please speak properly, Hayan-ssi. I can't understand what you're saying. Take it step by step."

"S-so…"

"So it's true that Seokwoo-ssi said he wanted to get closer to Hayan-ssi and you agreed?"

"Sorry? Yes… B-but I didn't know what he meant… I-I didn't know…"

Agreeing in this scenario isn't wise a wise thing to do, the best thing to do is to mix the truth with lies and playing the role of the victim until the end.

The majority of people tend to always stand on the side of the woman, in any case of injustice, and in this kinda of situation where the crime is sexual harassment and most of the people here are women, then the situation will be in Jung Hayan favor, that's only if she played the role of the victim properly.

"I asked whether it's true."

"I-it's true. B-but…"

But she can't....

"Excuse me, Hayan-ssi."

"Yes?"

"So isn't it Hayan-ssi who acted misleadingly and allowed this situation to develop? Come to think of it, you've been hanging out with Seokwoo-ssi ever since you came here. Am I wrong?"

"That's true, but… It was always… Seok-Seokwoo-ssi who approached first…"

Because she's a naive little girl who had yet to see the malice and cruel side of the human beings.

"This is what happens when your behaviour is problematic."

"No… Well, that's…"

"Do you think it is acceptable to create this type of misunderstanding and then back down like that? The same goes for Deokgu oppa. I can't believe you hit a person without even considering the actual situation…"

I have to give a few points of praise to Lee Jihye, she managed to twist the truth and turn the situation that was originally disadvantageous into advantage.

She knew Jung Hayan timid personality and exploit it well.

When she turned her head a little to look at Park Deokgu, she noticed a tinge of confusion on his face.

He was likely thinking, 'Maybe I made a mistake.'

"Is he telling the truth? Noonim?"

"I-I did agree that we should get closer… B-but…"

She was so bewildered she didn't even know where to begin.

She had no idea how to respond to this situation which had popped up out of nowhere, or how she could fix it.

Her face flushed and her eyes filled with tears.

"Do you think crying will solve anything?"

"I- I'm sorry. I… I…"

"It's not a matter of whether you're sorry or not. To be honest, the mood in the shelter hasn't been good recently… Deokgu oppa… Of course, I appreciate you giving a helping hand to a woman in a situation like this, but don't act so rashly unless you know what's going on. I think you were a little… too reckless this time."

"Yeah…"

"Especially when it's a situation where it's unclear who the victim and perpetrator are…"

She turned the victim into the predator....

"I-I'm sorry."

The one who should be getting apologized to....

"Am I the one you should be apologising to?"

"Apologise directly to the victim, Seokwoo-ssi."

Become the one to apologize.

"S, S… Sorry…"

But unfortunately Lee Jihye plans are futile, because even if Jung Hayan is timid...

"What's going on here?"

There's someone who's covering for her.

***

"What's going on here?"

As the protagonist who set up this stage but didn't expect this turn of events, made his way towards the scene.

It was a situation that Lee kiyoung could read with ease giving his scheming mind.

I guess he was expecting something to happen sooner or later, but not like this.

He never imagined that they would launch an offensive filled with accusations at this scale.

Park Deokgu wore an embarrassed expression and seemed to be on the verge of tears. Meanwhile, Jung Hayan was shedding tears like a waterfall.

Of course, there was no such thing as 'justice' here.

At a glance, the assailant and victim were clear.

Well, I was able to interfere earlier before the situation got escalated, but I didn't, it was none of my business if Jung Hayan really tried to take advantage by glasses-boy, But thanks to her I was able to find how this shelter operate and the personalities of the people in it.

To put it bluntly, they were useless, a sheep that follows their owner's order, they don't give their own opinions and just follow the flow, but I guess that's to be expected since all they wanted is to survive, in this new world, the weak has to bow his head towards the strong.

At Lee kiyoung appearance, Lee Jihye was the first to speak.

"It's good to see you, Kiyoung oppa. Presently…!"

"Are you out of your mind?"

He's first sentence wasn't an attempt to separate the assailant and the victim.

"Sorry?"

"Jihye-ssi, are you out of your mind?"

His goal was to change the attention of the crowd on the current issue.

"W-what are you…"

"Do you think this is some kind of local playground? Do you think no one will hear you when you're making such a large commotion? Just because we leave the shelter regularly to clear outside, that doesn't mean we can't take care of internal matters as well."

She seemed to have realised that she had made a mistake.

"Ah… So the situation right now is…"

"I saw it from afar, so I roughly know what's going on, Jihye-ssi. Just as Jihye-ssi said, in a situation like this, where the assailant and the victim have yet to be clearly identified, even I would be scared if I were cornered by a group such as this. And yet, what situation do we have right now?"

"But that woman is clearly the one at fault…"

"Jihye-ssi, can you say for sure that Seokwoo-ssi is wholly innocent?"

' he's cornering her. The moment those words left her lips, it would become her, not glasses-boy, who would bear the responsibility for them.'

And so, she had grown hesitant, displaying an anxious and flustered appearance.

"And based on Hayan-ssi's reaction, I don't think that is the case… But most of all, Hayan-ssi isn't that kind of person. I can guarantee that."

His 'guarantee' was over the top. Completely over the top.

According to my observation, he doesn't seems to be that close to her or knows her for long so he can completely vouch for her.

But his expression doesn't seem to be that he's lying, he spoke with sincerity that left me a bit puzzled.

Suddenly I remembered an important thing, in the status window there's a [disposition] which describes the character of the person, if he used his ability on people to know their personalities then exploit it to his advantage, that could make it easier for him to win over the people.

I will be lying if I said I'm not a little bit envious of his ability.

I mean this is the perfect ability to collect useful tools.

As this thoughts played on my mind, I continue to watch the drama that is currently happening.

Jung Hayan, who probably felt that she wasn't worth the hassle, was likely extremely grateful for a statement in her defense.

But others wouldn't feel the same.

If I remember correctly earlier Lee kiyoung said a 'pure things are easily dyed.' at first I wasn't sure what he meant, but now I'm certain that he was talking about Jung Hayan, her [disposition] is likely to be saying pure or something like that, so after he saw that, he decided to exploit it, and make her more depending on him.

In the first place, it was wrong to question the victim from a standpoint that they had done something wrong when the crime involved sexual harassment.

There was no way that Lee Jihye, a woman, wouldn't know that. Her insistence on siding with glasses-boy was likely done with the intention of furthering the exclusion of outsiders and consolidating her existing power.

Or maybe the goal was to screw with Jung Hayan from the start.

But I guess what Lee kiyoung trying to do now is to show his authority in this camp.

"Hayan-ssi doesn't deserve this."

"Ah… that…"

There was a great contrast between Jung Hayan, who stared at him whilst wiping her tears, and those who glared at Jung Hayan with hostility clear in their gazes.

Perhaps in their minds this was a very unreasonable situation. Someone who appeared out of the blue and browbeat them into letting go of the situation, was also seemingly overly partial to one person.

'so he's turning the people's hate to her, so that she has no place other than his side.'

She was bound to become an object of hatred; a person whom everyone else could not help but direct their dissatisfaction at.

Especially for someone like Lee Jihye.

"Everyone's still just standing around… Yoo Seokwoo-ssi needs to get his injuries treated. However, after that, I will ask him to explain the exact situation again. For now, let's move Seokwoo-ssi first."

"Y-yes sir."

"Jihye-ssi, please clean up this place quickly, so that you can start your daily activities. It will soon be time for Hyunsung-ssi to return. Monsters might start rushing in at any moment, so Deokgu, please patrol the surrounding area."

"A-alright, Hyung-nim."

"Also… Hayan-ssi, I'd like to speak with you for a second."

"Yes."

Lee kiyoung quickly took advantage of this situation and started to give orders.

Some people were whispering, Lee Jihye was biting her lips, and glasses-boy seemed to be rather fretful.

Only

I could clearly see what all of them were thinking.

I could make out some of their words, but no one openly disapproved of his actions.

"What… that woman."

"Bitch."

I looked at Jung Hayan.

A woman with a good potential that Lee kiyoung was desperately trying to get.

"What a pitfall little girl..."

My lips titled upward and I said with a low voice that no one could hear.

"Now, how should I play with you...."