1 Unintentional Touch

Once I grabbed the straphanger in the bus, someone also grabbed me wrongfully.

Feeling a hand touch my backside, I turned around to see who it was. A young man in a cheap suit and a necktie which was definitely borrowed was holding on to my backside.

"Hey! You pervert! Let go of my butt!" I exclaimed, causing alarm. Everyone in the bus turned around to see who it was.

(An Hour Earlier)

As an imperfect being, I had a weakness and in order to curb this weaker side of mine, I had set three alarms with the usual expectation: they should wake me up and get me ready for the day. However, these alarms didn't do as I expected. The first rang and woke my mom up. The second one also came alive and so did my dad. And the last one which was the loudest of them all disturbed the peace of my little sister.

All three of them woke up and met each other in the hall. They looked at each other and wondered where the noise was coming from.

Mom, dad and Poppy all entered my room only to find the most shocking scene ever. Despite the three alarms of mine at work, I was heavily giving out sounds louder than theirs. Mom wasn't going to tolerate me today. I always overslept, especially on Monday mornings.

But on this day, once she got to my bed, she held my sheets and rolled me off the bed. I fell to the ground with a loud thud but the disciplinarian did not mind. She walked out with dad and Poppy, all three leaving me to my fate. After getting up, I looked at the time and gave out the expression that always came on a Monday morning.

"Darn it. I'm late", I said to myself and rushed to the bathroom. Once I came out, I was already dressed and didn't bother putting on any make-up. In fact, I've never had the time to put it on so you can call me a natural beauty.

Once I stepped out of my room, my dad, the most caring out of my parents, asked the obvious question: "Amy, are you late for work?"

"Yes dad. I need to hurry up", I replied.

Taking a pie he had freshly baked and wrapped, he said: "At least eat this before you go."

He then threw the pie in his hands at me and I caught it with perfection. Right after catching it, I told him, "Thanks dad", and headed out.

Running at great speed with my short legs, I made it out of the house. Nevertheless, it was quite a distance from home to the bus station. But thankfully, I met Goseong, a delivery boy and a junior back in high school.

Seated on his scooter, he asked: "Sister, do you need a ride to the bus station?"

"Yes Goseong. Thanks a lot", I told him and hopped onto his scooter. Despite it not being a motorcycle, he was quite good at speeding up the vehicle. And thanks to him, I arrived on time at the bus station. "There's the bus!" I said after seeing the blue vehicle come to a halt. Once I got off the scooter, I handed over his spare helmet. "Bye Goseong! Thanks once again!" I said and made a run towards the bus. In fact, I nearly missed it since it had pulled off before I got to the station and therefore, I had to chase it for a while as I shouted at its passengers. "Stop the bus! Stop the bus!" I ordered and finally, someone told the driver to stop.

Getting to the bus, its doors opened and I said to its passengers: "Thanks."

I was so tired and longed to get a seat for myself, but the bus was full, more than full to be specific. I was trying to squeeze my way in and I successfully grabbed hold of a straphanger.

But as I grabbed the straphanger, someone also grabbed me wrongfully.

Feeling a hand touch my backside, I turned around to see who it was. A young man in a cheap suit and a necktie which was definitely borrowed was holding on to my backside.

"Hey! You pervert! Let go of my butt!" I exclaimed, causing alarm. Everyone in the bus turned around to see who it was.

"What? Pervert? Who? Me?" the gentleman asked. He was craning his neck and tilting it around as if he was utterly shocked.

"Yes, who else would I be referring to?" I asked him. Fortunately, I got some backup. An old woman in the vehicle exclaimed: "Oh my! Young men of today! They feel so hot all the time."

Then, a man seated in front of the gentleman asked: "Lady, did he really touch you?"

"Yes", I replied convincingly.

"No, I mean… I didn't touch her intentionally. I was trying to save my bouquet from falling down and accidentally landed my hands on her…" he tried to explain but only made matters worse for himself when the old woman said: "That means you touched her."

In support, I said to all the passengers: "You all heard right? He just admitted to his crime."

Everyone looked at him with great disgust. Unknowingly, the man seated in front of the gentleman was a lawyer hence he asked: "Young man, you do know how serious it is to sexually harass a woman, don't you?"

He tried to deny it by asking: "What? Sexually harass who? Her? Look here, this is all a misunderstanding. I have a girlfriend. I even bought these flowers for her. Why would I grab another woman's…" Once again, he made a statement that worsened his case.

A woman who was dressed in an overly fashionable style took off her shades and exclaimed: "What a lame excuse! Is it a guarantee that a man won't flirt, just because he has a partner?" she asked and gained the support of all the women in the bus as they whispered to each other: "Not at all."

The gentleman yet again tried to defend himself. This time, he said: "I know that having a partner does not guarantee once chasteness outside but I am not that kind of person. I am…"

This time too, he does not end his statement when the old woman asks: "Who are you? Tell us, who are you?"

The gentleman looked at those in the bus and replied: "That I can't reveal."

"Why can't you reveal who you are?" I asked him but he didn't want to talk. I then told the driver: "Driver, let's go to the police station."

He was shocked when I said that and asked: "The police station? Why?"

"Do you have to ask?" I questioned him.

"But young lady, aren't you late for work?" the lawyer who I had met on previous occasions in the bus asked. He just reminded me of my busy schedule.

"Aish! That's right. I have to get to work as soon as possible", I replied with great regret. How I wished I had time on my hands.

Yet still, I had a trustworthy backup. The old woman asked: "Then, should we take him to the station on your behalf?" I was so grateful for her thoughtfulness. But the lawyer made it clear when she said: "Well, that can't be done. She has to be there to press charges and it will take some time with all the paperwork and interrogations."

"Aish, darn it. Hey you! Count it as your lucky day. If we ever meet again, I will make sure to get you behind bars", I threatened him.

He looked to his left to avoid eye contact with me, but ended up receiving a frown from the grandpa who was seated next to him.

After all this commotion, I arrived at my destination and alighted from the bus. As I alighted, the perverted gentleman muttered: "Wow, what a crazy lady."

However, unbeknownst to him, a huge female high schooler sat behind. She tapped him on the shoulder and asked, "Hey, what did you just mutter?"

He was about to utter some insults to whoever it was but after tilting his neck and seeing the giant behind him, he quickly replied: "Nothing."

"I heard you. You called her crazy", she said.

A friend of hers, another crazy-looking female student asked: "What? What did he say? He called her crazy?"

Blowing a bubble gum from her mouth, the huge high schooler said: "Hey ahjussi!"

"Ahjussi?" The gentleman wondered if he was the one being referred to, since the term 'ahjussi' was used mainly for men in their forties and above.

However, the huge female high schooler continued her statement. She said: "Listen up! That sister might have let go of you. But we won't. If we ever see you on this bus or around this neighborhood, then forget about eating ramen ever again. Do you understand?"

Fortunately, the bus had arrived at their destination so they picked up their backpacks and made their way out.

But before they alighted, the huge one turned suddenly, giving the perverted gentleman a great scare. She then told those with her: "Girls, let's go."

Finally, they all alighted from the bus.

After taking in a heavy breath, the perverted gentleman asked himself: "What was that? They were so scary. When did high school girls turn into gangsters and hipsters?"

Elsewhere, I had also arrived at my destination, Crexe Department Store. Before I entered, I could see our rival department store which was directly opposite ours booming with customers.

Once I entered, a junior at work hastily ran to meet me. She looked so excited to see me, and her reason was quite obvious. She said to me: "Amy, you are here. Thank goodness you came."

Her overly enthused reaction prompted me to question her a little. "Why? Is there a problem?" I asked. She bowed down in shame and I made my own analysis. Seeing no one in our store whilst recalling the crowd in our rival's store, I asked: "Wait a minute, why isn't there a single customer in the department store?"

She replied, "That's exactly why we were calling you."

"You called?" I asked and then checked my phone. I was surprised when I saw the number of missed calls. "Wow, twelve missed calls. Alright, what's going on here?" Once again I asked since I wanted to know the exact situation at hand.

Finally, she let out the cat. She told me: "Our archrivals have managed to get all the customers to their side."

"Really?" I reacted, and then asked her: "What did they use?"

She replied saying: "They lowered their prices just to gain all the fans of CREW."

"CREW?" I asked back and she nodded positively in reply.

"Will they be having a concert here?" I asked yet again and she replied: "Yes. Because of that a lot of their fans are already here but we are not gaining anything from them."

Finally, I asked: "When will their concert begin?"

"Their concert begins in three hours", she said.

I then said to her: "So it's a morning concert. Alright, let's make a lot of sales in those three hours."

My comment made her ask: "How?"

And I replied back saying: "By gaining the entire CREW Fan Base."

After saying this, I told her: "Get me the megaphone." Once she brought it, I stepped outside and shouted aloud: "Hello! Are you all waiting for the concert to begin?"

A few of the fans who were outside responded: "Yes!"

I then asked: "Then, will you all like to hear some pre-concert CREW music?" The response was a massive cheer.

"Alright, alright. But how many of you know Jeremy oppa's favorite snack?" I asked and they all looked baffled.

"Oh my, I am kind of disappointed. In fact, I am flabbergasted", I reacted. Seeing that I was attracting the attention of both those inside and outside, I asked: "Then, do you want to know what his favorite snack is?"

They all responded in unison: "Yes sister!"

"I can't hear you well. Is this how you are going to cheer for CREW handsome oppas? Come on, they deserve better. Give me a louder shout!" I urged them and once again, they exclaimed so loudly that even those in our rival's store also joined in the shout.

"Woooo!!!!!" they exclaimed.

Finally, I said to them: "That's better. Then, since you all want to know which snack he likes best, I have no other choice than to reveal it."

After saying this, the excitement on their faces tripled. Even those in the other department store walked out to discover their favorite musician's most liked snack.

After a lot of them had come out, I exclaimed: "Shelf three, the snack with a turtle's picture on it. That's the one."

"Really?" they asked in unison. And I gave them a convincing reply by saying: "Check it out yourselves."

Immediately I said that, they rushed in like swarms of bees and those who were still in our rival's store also joined the race. With that we stole all their customers in a twinkle of an eye.