18-324

EP.324 Attempted Murder 

A communal facility transport team vehicle was seen nearby. 

It was probably there to catch the culprit who wrote the malicious post. 

“Hhuuk...” 

Yuna turned on her phone and called Min-jung. 

She felt ashamed to ask for help now, but she had no other choice. 

— Hello? Yuna? 

— Hhuuk... Please help me... 

— Just come to our building. I get the situation, I’ll help you. 

— Thank you... hhuuk... 

Yuna walked through a deserted alley toward the building of the anti-communal system protest group. 

She saw Min-jung waiting at the entrance and hurried over, but... 

“Huh?” 

Something felt off. 

There were a lot of unfamiliar men around. 

Yuna hid behind the building and eavesdropped on their conversation. 

“When is she coming? Is she really coming?” 

“Yes, she’ll definitely come. Yuna has no one else to rely on but me.” 

Who were these men? 

Yuna narrowed her eyes, trying to make out who they were, but they all wore different clothes, making it impossible to tell. 

Just then, a communal facility employee from the opposite building walked over and bowed politely. 

“Hello. Thank you for your work.” 

“Yeah, thanks.” 

“What are you all doing here? There are a lot of eyes on this place.” 

“It’s fine, you can go. We’re just waiting for a heinous criminal who’s about to be executed.” 

Yuna immediately realized they were talking about her. 

“What...?“ 

The employee kept asking questions, so Min-jung stepped in to explain. 

“It’s just the usual. Someone in our group made a serious mistake this time. Basically, I have to take responsibility, so I’m handing over someone else instead of being taken myself.” 

“Oh, I see.” 

Min-jung spoke as if this was nothing unusual. 

“This time, the criminal to be caught, Seo Yuna, wrote malicious posts against the communal facility and tried to run away out of fear of arrest. There’s enough justification, so even if we add extra charges, no one will question it.” 

“True.” 

Seo Yuna had been abandoned by the protest group. 

Taking all the blame and quietly accepting legal punishment was her fate. 

“I never planned for it to be this way... but Yuna wouldn’t listen and kept causing trouble everywhere, so it ended up like this. I thought she was a good colleague, so it’s a shame.” 

“Shame? All you do is make money off the families of victims.” 

“Are you saying that while taking bribes from me?” 

“Money doesn’t lie like you do. It’s always honest.” 

They laughed, exchanging barbs. 

“No way...” 

Kim Min-jung had been in league with the communal facility from the start. 

She claimed to help victims’ families, but took large sums of money, keeping more than half for herself. 

“This is too much... This isn’t right...” 

It made sense now why Min-jung knew so much about the communal system that others didn’t. 

She claimed to empathize with victims, but Yuna had never seen her truly grieve. 

She said she’d help clear Yuna’s sister’s name, but had done nothing. 

“No... It can’t be... Nooo...” 

When did it start? 

What was true, and what was a lie? 

Realizing she’d been deceived by Min-jung from the beginning, Yuna quietly retraced her steps and left. 

She realized there was no one in the world she could trust, and burst into tears. 

“It’s too much!! It’s too much!!” 

Running out of the alley, Yuna tripped over a pile of trash and fell. 

Her knee was scraped and bleeding, 

but the pain in her heart was so much greater that she couldn’t stop crying. 

Night fell. 

Now being hunted by the communal facility, Yuna wandered the streets with nowhere to go. 

“Uuuh...” 

Hungry, she entered an unmanned convenience store in a secluded spot. 

She took a crumpled 10,000 won bill from her pocket and bought cup noodles and a triangle kimbap. 

She had about 7,000 won left. 

She noticed a kitchen knife in the cooking section. 

She remembered an old story from her grandmother: 

If you hold a kitchen knife and jump into the sea to commit suicide, you can curse the living. 

It was a ridiculous old tale, 

but Yuna wanted to believe it was true. 

Beep— 

—4,900 won. 

Yuna bought the knife and used the rest of her money to buy ice cream. 

She bought the most expensive kind without hesitation, thinking of it as her last meal. 

“Hooah...” 

It was a hot summer, but the night air felt chilly. 

Hiding the knife in her clothes, Yuna blindly walked toward the river. 

If she was caught, she’d surely become female livestock. 

Rather than be humiliated and killed like her sister Yujin, she resolved to kill herself with the knife. 

If she could really curse someone... 

she wished all the men in this twisted world would finally get what they deserved. 

“Haa... haaa...” 

She walked for a long time, breathing heavily, 

when she heard a familiar voice from a nearby alley. 

“Ah~ fuck, I told you, it’s so fucking annoying.” 

It was a voice she could never forget. 

Who was it? 

As she closed her eyes and remembered, she realized it was Lee Seong-jun, the communal facility counselor. 

Yuna quietly followed him. 

“Seriously, it’s hilarious... pfft! This is why I can’t quit this job.” 

Seong-jun, hands in his pockets, was chatting on the phone with a friend, unaware of Yuna behind him. 

“Ugh, anyway... I should just quit, but these protest groups make my life hell. The counseling office is like their diary. All the whining is driving me nuts.” 

He spat on the street and mentioned yesterday’s events. 

“By the way, you know that livestock girl who died recently... Seo Yujin? Her sister called and made a huge fuss. Seriously, why make such a big deal over one dead pussy? So fucking annoying.” 

Yuna’s body trembled as she followed in silence. 

“She kept calling, so I’m thinking of framing her as livestock too. She’s dumb enough to fall for anything I say.” 

Seong-jun, unaware she was right behind him, kept cursing and sneering. 

Unable to listen any longer, Yuna stopped and muttered quietly. 

“Apologize.” 

“Huh?” 

Sensing the cold atmosphere, Seong-jun turned around. 

“What the...?” 

A woman he’d never seen before was glaring at him. 

Startled, he sighed and finished his call. 

“Yeah, yeah, something came up. I’ll call you later.” 

He hung up, shoved his hands in his pockets, and walked toward Yuna, looking down on her because she was smaller. 

He spat on the ground in front of her and waved his hands. 

“What did you say? Do you know who I am?” 

“Apologize...” 

“What? ... Ha!” 

He laughed in disbelief at this stranger demanding an apology. 

“Who are you to tell me to apologize? For what?” 

“For insulting my sister... and mocking me... apologize for all of it!” 

“What... Wait, are you the one who called yesterday?” 

Seong-jun’s eyes widened in surprise. 

He sighed and then burst out laughing. 

“Puhahaha!! This is hilarious. Did you come all this way for revenge?” 

“That’s not it... apologize... please, just apologize...” 

“Bullshit. Why would I?” 

Still angry, Seong-jun spat directly at Yuna’s feet, dirtying her shoes. 

“And if I don’t? What are you going to do? Take revenge? I didn’t kill your sister. This is ridiculous.” 

“Uuh...” 

“Well, if you came all this way for an apology, fine, here it is, bitch.” 

He sneered, nodding mockingly. 

“Sorry for saying shit about your dead pussy sister~ Sorry for what I said to you, now go home, cunt.” 

He spat on the ground again and turned away. 

“Hhuuk...” 

It was... 

an unbearable humiliation.