Runner-up's Revenge

The face that had been lingering in Dahye’s mind wasn’t just a figment of her imagination. In fact, Dowon’s face looked even more hollow and worn out than she’d envisioned.

Dahye had been waiting to get in touch with Dowon, but not like this. She was at a loss for how to navigate a situation like this.

She knew she would have to apologize, to tell him she hadn’t realized just how hard things were for him. Unlike Yoonah and their other classmates, she would make sure he understood that, if she had known he was struggling, she wouldn’t have treated him so harshly. She had just been seeking an outlet for all those years of pent-up frustration.

“Um…” she mumbled. “So, um…”

He didn’t raise his head to meet her gaze. He had fully prostrated himself before her, forehead resting on the ground.

“You…”

The words felt stuck, like they were caught in a drain. She clenched her fists and forced herself to speak.

“You broke loser. You’re asking for money? After you blocked me?”

“I’m—I’m sorry.”

Ah, shit. This isn’t right. Dahye resisted the urge to grab a fistful of her own hair in frustration. Instead, she stared at the top of Dowon’s head as he muttered his apologies to the floor.

It was the same sight she’d so many times before—the crown of his head. In fact, there was once a time she would have gloated over this moment. To think that the once-arrogant and rude Dowon would bow his head, and beg for her help, having reached his limit. If high school Dahye had known this future awaited her, she might have studied even harder.

It was one of the achievements Dahye had dreamed of. Regardless of Dowon’s struggles, she shouldn’t feel bad for the pathetic vision before her. And yet… she didn’t feel good.

This is… not the right way. I didn’t crush him below my feet. Life did.

She’d wanted to bring Dowon to his knees solely with her own superiority. Seeing Dowon fall apart because of his circumstances was not pleasant at all for Dahye. All she had wanted was to mess with him just a bit. She didn’t want her revenge to be undermined by circumstances beyond her control.

That’s why she felt like this, she told herself over and over—it wasn’t that she pitied or sympathized with Dowon; it had to be something else. Dahye crossed her arms and looked down at him.

“What will you do if you can’t pay it back?”

“Huh?”

“I said, what will you do if you can’t pay it back?”

Dowon suddenly raised his head from where it had been buried into the floor. For a moment, he seemed to hesitate, unsure if he had heard her correctly.

“I’ll write an IOU,” he blurted out. “I’ll make sure to pay the interest on time. If I can’t repay the loan, I’ll sell my organs to pay you back. My body’s still in good condition.”

“I don’t need that, you crazy bastard!” she half-shouted with a shudder. “Why the hell would I accept something like that?”

Dowon was the picture of desperation. His fingers gripped the front of his thighs, trembling as he straightened halfway, He kept his body bent at the waist, head dipping even lower. Despite Dowon being much taller than Dahye, she could clearly see the back of his neck.

“You might as well kneel down,” she scoffed.

“Do you want me to? I can.”

“Don’t bother.”

Dahye looked at Dowon’s trembling shoulders, thinking. Then she kicked the tip of his shoe. Dowon instinctively lifted his head.

“Forget the interest,” she said. “I’ll lend you the money, but do something else for me instead.”

“Wh—What is it?”

Dahye narrowed her eyes at Dowon, folding her arms tighter.

“Be my emotional punching bag.”

Dowon stared at her, dumbfounded. “What do you mean?”

High school Dahye couldn’t have fathomed Dowon making such a stupid expression.

“You don’t understand? I said, be an emotional punching bag for me.”

“How am I supposed to do that…?”

“I’ll call you whenever I’m in a bad mood, and make you come meet me. Then you come running like a dog and listen to whatever I say without speaking.”

Dowon closed his eyes tightly and opened them again, still bewildered.

“Is… Is that all?”

“What do you mean ‘is that all?’ You think it’s too much? You’re looking for an easier way out now, huh?”

“No, no!” he said hastily. “It’s just… too easy. I thought there must be more to it.”

Dowon watched her, waiting for a reaction. Dahye groaned.

“You think it’ll be easier than dealing with drunk customers and selling cigarettes? Absolutely not. I’m going to whine so much your ears bleed. Does working at Hanban Bank sound that easy to you? You think it’s a stress-free job?”

“No, that’s not it.” He shook his head. “I don’t think you’re not stressed… Just tell me what to do, Dahye. I’ll do whatever you want to the best of my ability.”

When Dahye gave a slight nod, Dowon knelt and touched his forehead to the floor once again. She could hear the sound of his quiet sobs from below.

“Thank you… Really, thank you so much… I promise I’ll pay back the money…”

***

“Oh, Dowon. That was quick.”

Dahye lay on her bed after a post-work shower. She’d immediately called Dowon afterwards, inwardly smirking upon hearing Dowon’s voice.

“Say whatever you need to,” he told her.

He must think this is really a simple job.

Dahye had no intention of letting him off easy. She planned to whine so much that he would contemplate returning to manual labor instead.

From the start, tormenting Dowon had been her way of relieving work stress, but now, he had even taken that away from her. So she decided she would torture him even more viciously, adding her resentment on top. Dahye knew interest rates better than anyone. She’d ensure he was thoroughly crushed, calculating the amount based on the benchmark rate.

“Well, I don’t know how much you’ll understand about work-related stuff, Dowon… But today was awful. My boss suddenly gave me extra work one hour before I was supposed to clock out. But—Oh, you probably don’t know this either, Dowon—Recently, it has become a common workplace policy for computers to automatically shut down at the end of the workday, so you don’t do any more work. The idea is that it will stop you from working after-hours. But then, the boss just asks the employees to work on their personal computers instead…”

It was a delightfully extensive conversation that belittled Dowon while simultaneously allowing Dahye to vent all the frustrations she’d accumulated today. Dahye complained to Dowon with a sense of ease. It would be fun to see Dowon trembling with nerves and forcing appropriate reactions. Then, if he rediscovered his arrogant attitude, there would be the pleasure of destroying him.

However, the response that actually came back was unexpected.

“I see,” he murmured. “That’s way too excessive. The policy exists for a reason, so how can they just work around it like that? If you’re on your personal computer, you can’t even get paid overtime, right?”

“Uh… Yeah, that’s right. That bastard was really nasty. I don’t know why such an evil prick is considered good at his job.”

“People like that always expose themselves in the end. Reliable employees who are good at their job, like you, Dahye, will inevitably rise to the top over pieces of garbage like him.”

“Uh… Yeah, right…”

What is this feeling? Dahye was momentarily dazed as she listened to Dowon’s sincere comfort, praise, and validation.

“It must be really frustrating. Did you manage to leave work at a reasonable time? Or did you come home late because of the extra work?”

“I really felt like punching him,” she agreed. “I did work overtime, but I finished a bit early.”

“You’re really good at your job, Dahye. Just like I figured you would be. Is that why they keep giving you work?”

“Well, the boss does like me best,” she admitted.

Dahye hung up after allowing Dowon a few more comforting words of praise. She threw her phone on the bedside table and pondered the feeling swirling inside her.

“What is this?”

The conversation had been… enjoyable. It felt good to be able to put Dowon down while venting about work. But on the other hand, a sense of discomfort lingered just beneath. Dowon’s reassurances made her uncomfortable.

“Is that bastard just thinking of me as some troublesome, drunk customer?”

Dowon had truly comforted and validated her with all his heart. If she had encountered a worker like him in a department store, she would have probably gone to the website to write a glowing review for the impeccable service. And that was the problem.

Dowon was dealing with her. He was being considerate and catering to Dahye’s mood for interest that he didn’t even have to pay. He probably had no intention of sincerity.

“I feel…”

She did feel bad. But at the same time, Dahye felt the corners of her mouth creeping up.

“But maybe it’s okay…”

Since joining her company, had she ever been able to get these things off her chest? No. Complaining to a friend? That never happened either. There was no one to talk to, and even if there was, it was obvious she’d have been mocked for it, or accused of lying about her wonderful job.

It didn’t matter what Dowon was thinking while he listened to her woes. Dahye’s stress was relieved. That was enough. Satisfaction rose up and shook Dahye’s head, overcoming any remaining negative feelings. Maybe this system wasn’t a bad thing after all.

“I should do it again tomorrow.”

***

It had been a week since Dowon had accepted the position of Dahye’s emotional punching bag. Dahye called frequently, and Dowon talked to her every day. In fact, she now even called once on the way to work and once on the way home.

Dowon had reached the point of having a seizure just hearing his ringtone.

A humorless chuckle escaped his lips.

To be honest, he had thought it would be an easy job, despite Dahye’s threats. Of course, he thought it would at least be easier than jobs that prevented sleep and overworked his body. He knew talking to Dahye wouldn’t be all fun and games, but he thought he could just listen for a moment and let it go.

But that wasn’t the case. What he was doing wasn’t much different from a bartender who listened and offered drinks in exchange for tips. On top of that, the constant flow of words he didn’t mean was more draining than he’d expected. He felt like his mind was slowly being consumed.

“Here it comes again…”

Of course, he was grateful. Truly thankful. He was already grateful that she would consider just talking as payment, without charging interest, doing what Dahye’s friends and mentors couldn’t do.

Thanks to Dahye, his mother could receive the treatment she needed, and Dowon could sleep a little more at night. That alone was enough to be thankful for.

But quietly listening to Dahye’s mockery mixed with complaints about her daily life gradually chipped away at his mental strength. He felt envious, ashamed, humiliated, desperate, inferior, and it all felt like deceit, but Dowon comforted her all the same.

He was a machine that converted abuse into comfort for the sum of a few coins. A strange sense of despair had taken over Dowon, as if he had sold off every precious thing in his life. And in this situation, the fact that he was still trying to make sense of it all was laughable.

“Again?”

Beyond that, even while with Hana, he received calls and had to leave her house. If she was going to call at all hours, he should have expected she’d call even when he was with Hana, but he hadn’t thought of that complication before agreeing. He had underestimated the situation. Of course, even if he had thought about it, it wasn’t an offer he could refuse. It was the consequence of being pushed into a corner.

He made excuses a few times, but in the end, Hana noticed. For some reason, it was hard to be honest with Hana.

“Oh, sorry…”

“Is it Dahye again?”

“I’ll be back, just give me a minute.”

Hana had asked why Dahye’s calls had become frequent, but he found himself unable to admit the truth: He borrowed money and agreed to become Dahye’s emotional punching bag instead of paying interest. How on earth would Hana take news like that? Even when Dowon spent time running through scenarios in his head, no reasonable excuse came to mind.

“Dahye must be going through a lot recently.”

“Oh, I guess so,” Dowon mumbled.

“She calls a lot. Every day, it seems.”

Hana looked at Dowon with narrowed eyes. Even though her face was expressionless, it was scary. It was the face of an interrogator.