Chapter Bonus

A man, biting his nails nervously, sat in the car and glanced outside. The alley in Bukchon, now fully cloaked in darkness, was so quiet that not even an ant could be seen. The neighborhood, devoid of any high-rise buildings, reeked of old and backward times.  

He still felt a throbbing ache below his groin whenever he recalled being beaten like a dog here. Chief Secretary Park had warned him not to show up, but he couldn’t help himself. 

That b*tch, does she even know who I am?  

That night, he had been caught off guard because it was dark. He hadn’t expected someone with such a small frame to know how to throw punches like that. This time, he wouldn’t let himself be hit so easily. He had come prepared, just in case.  

With this much, she’d probably be stuck rolling around in bed for days. Just imagining her delicate face made blood rush to his groin. She was the kind of girl he wanted to pin down right away, no matter the time or place. He had held back last time out of consideration for the Assemblywoman, but now there was no need for that.  

Hiding in the deep shadows beneath the wall, the man looked up at the one-room building nestled between the hanok houses. The lights hadn’t been on for days, which could only mean one thing—a man was with her. The thought of another guy enjoying the girl he had marked as his own made his blood boil.

At that moment, the faint sound of heels clicking on the ground reached his ears. A tall woman with long, flowing hair appeared at the entrance of the alley. The man’s eyes gleamed. It was her. Pressing his head close to the steering wheel, he watched as the woman entered the building.  

After pausing for a moment, the man got out of the car and followed her inside. The hallway lights flickered on one by one as he ascended. Reaching the top floor, he pressed the doorbell. He had it all planned out. He’d start by mentioning a lawsuit to get her to open the door, and then…  

Suddenly, the door clicked open, and the woman peeked her head out. For a brief moment, the man extended his hand in excitement, but then he froze. The face before him was entirely unexpected.  

“Wh-who… This is Ji Su-eon’s place…”  

“Oh, so it’s you?”

“…What?”  

“You’re the perverted bastard who kicked my sister out, aren’t you?”  

At the sudden barrage of insults, the man’s face twisted in anger.  

“And me too, huh? The more I think about it, the angrier I get. Because of this crazy bastard…”

The young girl, barely an adult, muttered under her breath, hurling insults at him without hesitation. The man reached out his rough hand to grab her by the collar—or so he thought.

Suddenly, the front door swung open with a loud bang, slamming into his face. Clutching his face, the man groaned in pain.  

“You b*tch. You’re going to die by my hand today.”  

“Do you even know who my mom is?”  

“Why the hell would I care who your mom is!”  

“Assemblywoman Yeo Min-seon.”  

“W-what…!”  

The woman, standing with her arms crossed, tilted her head and smirked at him.  

“Go ahead. Kill me.”  

***

“D*mn it. What a mood killer.”

The moment he heard Assemblywoman Yeo’s name, the man fled Bukchon as if running for his life. To lift his spirits, he headed to a club he frequented. The pounding beats and dazzling lights greeted him, slightly lifting his sunken mood.  

“Hey, bring in some decent girls, alright?”  

Handing a 50,000-won bill to an overly obsequious staff member, he headed to a room where familiar faces—people who practically lived there—were gathered.  

“You’re here? I heard you were working on someone lately. Didn’t go so well, huh?”  

“Just because you ate doesn’t mean you skip coffee. Gotta save money for the fun stuff, right?”  

When he casually tossed his wallet, stuffed with cash, onto the table, the others cheered loudly. His mood improved significantly. Soon, women wearing outfits that revealed their shoulders and legs were led in one by one by the staff. None of them caught his eye.  

If one had a pretty face, her figure was lacking. If one had a decent chest, her face was a disappointment. Settling for the most decent-looking one, he grabbed her by the waist, only for her to recoil in disgust, letting out a noise of displeasure.  

“This guy must run a butcher shop or something. He smells like fatty meat. Haha!”  

The people in the room burst into laughter. Some even leaned in, saying, “Let me smell too,” and crowded around him.  

‘D*mn it, who do they think I am?’

Grabbing the woman by her hair, he slammed her onto the sofa. Despite his outburst, the others continued to laugh and snicker. He poured himself a full glass of alcohol, downed it in one go, and began swaying to the pounding beat. He let himself be consumed by the distorted ecstasy created by the drunken, reckless crowd. The DJ turned up the volume, drowning out everything.  

Staggering to his feet, he threw some bills onto the face of the woman still laughing with her head buried in the sofa, then headed out. The staff bowed deeply as he stumbled past them. After scattering more bills, he left the club, his vision spinning and the walls tilting.  

The man, staggering along, grabbed onto a pillar and unzipped his pants. A weak stream of urine trickled out, spreading across the ground. His limp genitals hung lifelessly. Ever since that incident, things hadn’t been the same. It was all because of her.  

“…Ji Su-eon, d*mn it. I’ll make sure I have you, no matter what.”  

He slurred ominously, his voice thick with drunkenness. That’s when a shoe slammed into his bare backside. Startled, he crashed into the rough stone wall, still mid-relief.  

“Ugh, who the hell…?”  

With the faint light of a streetlamp behind him, a tall man looked down at the crumpled figure. The darkness obscured his face, but even from the edges of his suit and the shine of his shoes, it was clear he wasn’t an ordinary person.  

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you not to pee in the street?”  

The man’s voice, laced with a low chuckle, was surprisingly kind. Yet, for some reason, it sent shivers down his spine. Instinctively, he hurried to tuck himself back in and run, but his body didn’t respond as he intended. His hands refused to move, and the ground beneath him seemed to sway, distorting his vision more and more.  

As he trembled, clutching himself, a shoe came crashing down on him. It was a relentless barrage. The enormous man, beast-like in size, looked down at him with a haughty gaze, kicking his body mercilessly from one side to the other like a cat toying with a mouse.  

“Why… why… why…!”  

Slurred words spilled from his drooling mouth. He couldn’t understand who this man was or why he was being beaten. Everything around him blurred—colors and shapes twisted, and light scattered. The face of the man assaulting him became harder to recognize, as though it were exploding into light.  

Smack! His jaw twisted, and shattered teeth flew into the air. Gasping, he felt as though his ribs had been cracked; every breath was agonizing. Barely managing to prop himself up on the ground, he trembled violently. His palms became damp, and a foul, acrid stench filled the air.  

“Oops. You pissed yourself. Gross.”

The man said again, his voice still carrying a faint trace of amusement. By now, the victim felt as though his entire body would melt into fear. Under the dim moonlight, he stared blankly as the man’s lips curled into a soft smile. Just then, an excruciating pain shot through him, as if his groin were about to burst. He sucked in a sharp breath.  

“Ah… ah… why… why are you doing this to me, Sir…?”  

Curled up like a shrimp, he gasped and groaned. The man looked down at him with a face completely devoid of guilt. His pale white complexion, glowing faintly under the night sky, was eerily beautiful.  

“Hmm, why am I doing this?”  

The man pulled out a cigarette with his gloved hand and lit it. Holding it between his teeth, he inhaled deeply, his cheeks hollowing, before exhaling a long stream of smoke into the air. After a moment of thought, he smiled slowly, as though he’d found the answer.  

“Because you peed.”  

“…”  

“Whipping it out wherever you please.”

The man let out a sneering laugh, like a low-grade thug. Removing the cigarette from his mouth, he held it delicately between his fingers and bent down low.  

A scream, filled with terror and dread, echoed through the alley. But the noise was drowned out by the sounds of traffic and music, leaving no one to pay attention.  

***

At the entrance to the adjacent alley, leaning against a shabby utility pole with no CCTV in sight, Seung-jo’s secretary was engrossed in a game on his phone. Checking the time, he paused the game and pulled a burner phone from his jacket pocket. Holding down a button, he made a call.  

“Hello, this is the police, right? There’s a drunk lying on the street here. Yeah, I’m not sure if it’s alcohol or something else he’s on. Yes, the address is…”  

As he gave the location, a torn piece of newspaper rolled across the ground near his feet. The faint light of the streetlamp illuminated the headline, stamped with dirty footprints:  

<Assemblywoman Yeo Min-seon, sentenced to prison in first trial for embezzlement of sponsorship funds, loses the assembly seat.>