Netkama Punch!!!

Seeing Kim Seyoung’s face crumple like that made the boiling rage inside me settle—just a little.
‘Yeah. That’s the face.’
If he’d looked totally unfazed when he saw me, I probably would’ve lost it. I didn’t come all this way for nothing. But then, as I watched him backpedal with every step I took down the stairs, fresh irritation surged up again.

‘Where do you think you’re going now?’
Thud—!
I slammed him against the wall to stop him from running, pressing him there with one arm like I was pinning a specimen. I could tell he was squirming, trying to get away—but it was laughable at best.

‘With this kind of body… what the hell gave him the confidence to mess with me?’
All that cursing, all those "go die" tantrums—it had all been fake bravado. I could feel it clearly now.
“Ugh!”

Judging from the way he flinched, maybe he was realizing just how big the gap between us was.
‘So he does know he deserves a punch, huh?’
But even so, seeing his shoulders shrink up like I was actually going to hit him was kind of insulting. If I’d really come here planning to beat him up, I’d have done it already. I just watched him from above, silently grinding my teeth.

The face I’d seen in ID photos or from a distance looked different up close. From afar, he looked decently tall at least.
‘So underwhelming.’
Honestly, for a guy, he was too thin to even look presentable. His sharp eyes slanted upward at the corners in this twitchy, angry way, like they might just pop out if he kept glaring at me like that. The only redeeming feature was probably his pale skin.

‘What kind of guy doesn’t even have a damn shadow of a beard?’
I stared at his chin, where only soft baby hairs stuck out, and almost reached out to touch it.
“What the hell are you doing…!”

We made eye contact. Seyoung flinched and shot me a glare like I was something filthy. That raw revulsion in his eyes made the fury start bubbling up again.
‘What the hell did I even do?’
I hadn’t hit him, hadn’t even cursed. I was just blocking him from running again. And yet, just that was enough for him to look at me like I was the scum of the earth.
At some point, he’d started digging his nails into my wrist, clawing at me. I hadn’t even grabbed him that hard, but the red marks were already stinging.

“Are you gay, noona?”
So yeah, I said it—spitefully, just to get a rise out of him. And just like I expected, he shouted, flustered.
“W-What?!”

“Why so defensive? You knew I was a guy and dated me anyway.”
And honestly, the more I said it, the more it seemed true. He had known I was a guy.
He didn’t even react when I kept calling him noona. But now, Seyoung was trembling like he was about to have a fit and snapped.

“What do you mean gay, fuck’s sake…! I just… I just scammed you because you were a dumbass, okay?!”
“……”
“And I gave you the damn staff money back, didn’t I?!”

He glared at me like he wanted me out of his life for good. And with that look, the last shred of hesitation in me evaporated.
“What, so like… ₩20,000 is the cut-off for your conscience?”
At that point, all I /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ wanted was to make Seyoung miserable. When I said it while glancing at the chicken, his face flushed with shame. But even as his lips trembled, he stood his ground.

“…I’ll send the money for the chicken. Right now. Is that enough?”
He let out this little sigh, like that’s that. The coldness of it left me speechless.
‘Am I really… that unwanted?’

I almost blurted something that pathetic. I bit down hard on my lip to stop myself, but inside I was seething.
‘You’re not supposed to be like this, Seyoung.’
Did he think I drove all this way just to demand a damn chicken gift refund? He knew exactly what he’d done. He’d played with me and then vanished. He had to know.

I could see it in the way he kept avoiding my eyes. He knew. He just didn’t want to admit it. And that stubborn refusal to apologize—it pissed me off more than anything.
‘You know what you did, and you’re still playing dumb?’
And if it really was because I was a gullible idiot, then he never should’ve run after taking ₩1.8 million.

I clenched my teeth and stared him down. He’d basically shut his eyes by now, looking like he’d just given up. I could guess what he was thinking.
‘He figured if I ever showed up again… he’d just take the hit and be done with it.’
Right then, I made up my mind. No matter what it took, I was going to see him cry and beg.

And as if the universe agreed, a voice suddenly called out behind us—familiar, but not.
“What’s going on over here?”
It was the owner of the building—the one I’d had a parking spat with earlier.

Seyoung’s face drained of color the second she appeared. He flinched and stammered, clearly desperate not to let her see what was happening.
‘Oh?’
I immediately thought of the most awkward thing I could say.

“Oh, I was just—Seyoung used to be my girlfri—”
“W-We work together! I-It’s a coworker thing!”
Right on cue, Seyoung shouted over me for the first time and yanked me away. I considered resisting and embarrassing him further, but when I heard the sound of him entering the door code, I changed my mind.

SLAM—!
Just like that, I let him drag me inside—into his home, for the first time.
From the outside, the place looked run-down, but inside it was surprisingly clean. And the first thing I noticed as we stepped in… was a strangely nice scent. I glanced at the diffuser on the shoe cabinet shelf, then turned to stare at Seyoung.

‘He’s the one who dragged me in. What’s with that face?’
But the second our eyes met, he scowled and snapped.
“Are you fucking insane?!”

Seeing him flip out like that was honestly satisfying. I stepped aside to let him take off his shoes, but he just kept yelling.
“Hey. You—where do you think you’re going?!”
“What, am I supposed to just stand here? It’s tiny. If you don’t move, I can’t even get in.”

Seyoung shot me a filthy look and kicked his shoes off fast. And then, I finally got a look inside his room.
‘Damn. It is tiny.’
Tacky molding, old wallpaper, a lone steel-frame bed—it was tidy, sure, but you could tell it was old.

‘Living in a dump like this… and you had the nerve to pity me?’
It made me feel gross, like he’d been looking down on me somehow. …That is, until I saw the stuffed cat on the bed.
“……”

That cold, snide bastard had kept the plushie I gave him like it was a treasure.
“…Get out.”
But the moment I entered, he tried to kick me out. I turned to him, confused, still holding the plushie.

“Isn’t this the one I gave you?”
I wish I could’ve shown him his own face just then. He looked stunned, like I’d exposed a deep secret. Then, just as quickly, he recovered and sneered.
“Oh, that? You gave me that? I didn’t know. I’ve just had it lying around.”

“……”
“Great. Take it with you.”
“…Ha.”

Yeah right. Like he didn’t know. He told me once no one celebrated his birthday for years.
It wasn’t like I had cash to throw around either. I didn’t flood him with gifts. He always acted overwhelmed when I gave him stuff—but I could tell he liked it.
He couldn’t even hide how happy that ₩30,000 plushie made him. Did he really think I didn’t know he was lonely?

And come to think of it, he enjoyed the affection I gave him as noona. He really was gay, huh? Maybe he ran because I’m a guy who likes women. And now he’s acting like I’m the idiot who misread everything.
“…So that’s how you’re playing it?”
I shoved the plushie into the trash right in front of him.

The way his face crumpled, like he was on the verge of tears—it was burned into my brain.
‘Told you. You were hurt.’
But he didn’t cry. He just clenched his eyes shut, trembling like he was bracing for a punch. That reaction—it drove me insane.

‘Coward.’
How long do you think you can keep treating me like I’m nothing?
Then, on impulse, I bit Kim Seyoung’s lips.

“Wha… mmph!?”
It was the stiffest, most fucked-up kiss I’d ever had—
“Y-You crazy son of a bitch! What the hell was that?!”

And the way he looked at me, teary-eyed, made me feel euphoric.
At that moment, I knew exactly what I had to do next.