Is This All You Want? (annyeongz version)

Chapter 9

Yujin wishes she'd stayed at home. Would she say she has regrets? No, not exactly.

But Yujin can't forget.

Something stirred in her that night.

What would she call it?

A kind of blinding rage bellowed in her throat. It filled her lungs with fire and her heart with spite.

Yujin doesn't understand.

She's surrounded by her intoxicated colleagues. Yujin doesn't like going out or having team dinners but Rei dragged her into it. She kind of wishes she just made up an excuse. Minju doesn't like socializing much either. But she looks like she's having a nice conversation with Rei and Ningning about some law school debate she had in class the other day. They banter about who's right and wrong, who's innocent and guilty. Yujin dips out of their conversation once it becomes too technical and shifts her attention to the men beside her.

She kind of wishes she didn't.

But Yujin understands this. She works in a man's world -- corporate law. And apart from the large wage gap, less opportunities and constant, discreet degrading of women in the workplace, there are other matters that make it worse for a woman to work in an office such as this. Yujin understands this. She'd bump shoulders with men in the workplace. Literally. Whether intentional or not. Usually, it was them who did the bumping and the light patting on her arm and the uttering of fake apologies. Yujin would say they're inappropriate. Of course, they are. But no one would listen to her if she were to ever speak up about it. Yujin understands this. This is a man's world . And she hates the saying "boys will be boys" because it reinforces the idea that men can get away with anything simply because they are men . Yujin has always let it pass. Shrugs it off. Never questions it.

Until this moment right here.

"She's got a nice ass..."

Yujin bites her tongue.

"... and she's so tight..."

Her nostrils flare.

"... and when she screams..."

She grits her teeth.

"... and then I slap her..."

Fists form under the table.

"... and I put my hands around her neck..."

Her nails dig into her palms. She turns her head slightly to their direction. And they're laughing , smiling, drinking as if they didn't just hear the most disgusting words coming out of Junyeong's -- no, that animal's mouth.

Yujin shuts her eyes. It feels like the puffs of air her nose is blowing out are steaming hot.

She doesn't want to hear it, his words, his voice, the way he speaks about this woman. How could they speak about her that way? How could they even be with another woman when they're in committed relationships?

Worst of all, how could he hurt someone like that?

Hitting a woman...

There's a sting in her eyes. Her knuckles turn white with rage and her palms bleed from her nails breaking into her skin.

"Her name's Wonyoung. Ask for her next time you go."

-

Yujin doesn't do this sort of thing.

No, she stays at home. She drinks tea and cleans her apartment regularly. She attempts to do yoga but then ends up watching YouTube videos till it's midnight, and then she goes to sleep.