Masquerader Chapter 3

So this wasn’t his first rodeo. Seol-ah looked up at Seo Gyo-jin’s light-colored eyes and thought. The chairman’s annual event. Her mother’s job. Threats. Hunting in the mountains. Partner. The two of them. Thoughts entangled in a chaotic web quickly reached a conclusion.

 

She had to get out of here.

 

“But I wonder—could you keep acting so defiant while getting fucked by my dick? I’m really curious.”

 

Just as Seo Gyo-jin’s gaze, which had been hovering over her rounded chest, suddenly fixated on the radio, Seol-ah spun her body to the side without hesitation. At the same time, she pushed off the ground and sprang up.

 

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

 

However, before she could take a step, a firm grip seized her by the nape of her neck. Feeling herself yanked backward, Seol-ah gritted her teeth.

 

“Let go, you crazy bastard!”

 

She swung her elbow with all her might. Her desperate movement struck Seo Gyo-jin directly in the stomach. He groaned, doubling over.

 

“Ugh, fuck….”

 

Seizing the opportunity, she tried to crawl away, but he grabbed the scruff of her coat, making escape impossible. Even as he lay sprawled on the ground, Seo Gyo-jin spewed profanities, clutching tightly onto her coat.

 

“You fucking bitch. Do you have a death wish…?”

 

“Die yourself.”

 

Seol-ah shrugged off her coat as if shedding old skin. She sprinted forward, but this time, he grabbed her ankle. Her forward momentum was suddenly disrupted, and she stumbled. Seol-ah fell once again.

 

Thud! A dull impact echoed as her body hit the wet ground, and a flash of stars exploded before her eyes. Her arm was crushed beneath her, twisting her wrist at an unnatural angle, sending a sharp pain through her.

 

“Ugh….”

 

But there was no time to feel pain. Seol-ah widened her eyes, looking up. She struggled violently to shake off Seo Gyo-jin, who had pinned her down.

 

“Ah! Let go!”

 

Blows landed back and forth, and she could feel her cheek swelling in real time from the hits she had taken. Seo Gyo-jin groaned in pain when she kicked his shin.

 

“Ugh, you fucking bitch. Can’t you just stay still?”

 

During the struggle, she caught sight of the radio, which had been flung from her coat, lying some distance away on the ground.

 

“You still don’t get it? You’re fucked, you fucking—”

 

While Seo Gyo-jin muttered, rubbing his shin, Seol-ah ignored her aching body and lunged forward. Just as she stretched her scraped and bleeding hands toward the radio—

 

Bang.

 

A gunshot rang out. The bullet shattered the radio, sending pieces flying into the air. The sight unfolded in slow motion. A piercing ringing filled her ears, growing louder and softer in waves.

 

Seol-ah gasped and covered her ears with her palms. It felt as if her head had been split in two. The pain wasn’t just in her ears—it felt like a massive iron rod had been driven straight through from one ear to the other.

 

“That’s why I told you to be careful. I said it would hurt if you didn’t use earplugs.”

 

Seo Gyo-jin casually tossed aside the earplugs he had been wearing as he approached. He swung his gun like a golf club, sending the already-broken radio flying with a loud clatter.

 

“Your clothes are a mess.”

 

Seo Gyo-jin flipped over Seol-ah’s trembling body, which was still lying on the ground. Looking down at her dazed, half-conscious state from the gunshot’s impact, he clicked his tongue.

 

“This would be better off.”

 

Rip. Buttons flew off in all directions. The shirt parted open, revealing a thin camisole underneath.

 

“Why are you wearing so many layers? Makes it a hassle to strip you.”

 

Despite his complaint, Seo Gyo-jin’s face was alight with amusement. Setting his cumbersome gun aside, he straddled Seol-ah’s limp body lightly. Seol-ah blinked dazedly. The sunlight filtering through the dense canopy above flickered across her face intermittently.

 

Was something wrong with her eardrums?

 

All sounds seemed distant, as though she were submerged deep underwater. Her stomach churned with nausea. She couldn’t quite make out what Seo Gyo-jin was saying as he murmured above her. Just muffled noise.

 

However, her vision was still intact—she saw him tilting his head toward her. His snake-like tongue flicked against her bare skin before sliding her camisole aside.

 

“Pure white, huh?”

 

Seo Gyo-jin’s lips curled into a long, sinister grin as he glanced at her bra. The foreign weight pressing down on her body was both unfamiliar and revolting.

 

Something stiff and rigid ground against her flat stomach. She had known for a while that this disgusting man was aroused. Her limp hands trembled slightly.

 

“I’m so fucking turned on.”

 

At the moment when Seo Gyo-jin smirked and licked his lips, Seol-ah clenched her fist tightly. Without hesitation, she grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it.

 

“Argh!”

 

Seo Gyo-jin screamed, squeezing his eyes shut. Seizing the opening, she lifted her knee and drove it into his groin. With the intent to utterly crush it.

 

“Kwaaagh…!”

 

This time, a beastly wail, as if his throat had been slit, burst forth. Seo Gyo-jin clutched his crotch and toppled backward. His face turned beet red as he rolled on the ground. While he was writhing in pain, Seol-ah quickly grabbed the magazine and fled.

 

“You fucking…! Bitch, you think you can just run away?”

 

His bloodshot eyes flared wide. Did he really think she would stop and turn around just because he said that? Without looking back, Seol-ah sprinted toward the base.

 

“You better pray I don’t catch you.”

 

Seo Gyo-jin staggered to his feet. Seol-ah pushed herself forward with every ounce of strength left in her body.  

 

***

 

“Huff, huff…”

 

Her breath, ragged and erratic, wavered between loud gasps and barely audible whispers. Seol-ah wiped the sweat off her forehead roughly, swallowing a groan between her clenched teeth.

 

This was bad. The problem with her eardrum didn’t seem temporary; the strange ringing in her ears persisted, and her sense of balance and direction was completely out of sync.

 

She had retraced her steps, running back toward the base—or so she thought—but instead of reaching a well-trodden path, the terrain grew increasingly rugged. By now, she had to admit it.

 

She was lost in the mountains.

 

“Seol-ah, Yoon Seol-ah. Why don’t you just give up now? You’ll be caught anyway, so why waste your energy? I won’t even get mad.”

 

“Stop right there while I’m still being nice. You fucking bitch, do you even realize what you’ve done? You… fucking…!”

 

Coaxing, threatening, persuading, and intimidating—none of it reached her ears anymore. After what felt like an endless game of chase, scrambling over dirt and climbing through the mountains, it seemed she had finally managed to shake off Seo Gyo-jin.

 

But she couldn’t let her guard down. Her ears were failing her, so for all she knew, he could be right behind her.

 

Seol-ah kept running. Even as cramps seized her thighs, she climbed the steep inclines without hesitation. Clutching onto vines, she pulled herself up, her scraped and torn palms burning from the friction.

 

How much farther did she have to go? The uncertainty of this chase gnawed at her. Would it ever end?

 

Lost in movement, she suddenly found herself tumbling down a steep slope. Her foot caught on a protruding rock.

 

“Ah—!”

 

She tried to stop herself, but her exhausted ankles couldn’t bear the downward force. Losing her balance, Seol-ah fell forward, tumbling down in a chaotic mess of damp leaves.

 

The world spun violently. Her body finally crashed into something with a heavy thud, and only then did the dizzying chaos come to an abrupt halt.

 

“Ugh…”

 

Every muscle in her body screamed in pain. Groaning, Seol-ah forced herself to stand. The thing she had crashed into was a barbed-wire fence.

 

Her eyes widened. Without time for second thoughts, she hooked her fingers into the gaps between the wires and began climbing. However, the fence was coated with something—perhaps to keep wild animals away—making her footing slippery. A harsh, oily smell filled her nostrils.