Five pairs of eyes looked into Gyeoul’s watch.
“Gyeoul Gyeoul. Don’t be too nice to her. That person was so mean to you in the end so let’s not be too kind, okay?”
Hearing that, Gyeoul typed a message.
[Me: There won’t be any more negotiations.]
“What do you mean, you stupid Goldie. Of course you have to be nice.”
[Me: But I can definitely promise you that the transaction will be done asap… :)]
“Uun? Why?”
“You only know one and not two. Listen. Which do you think would be more annoying: starting off with swear words or getting closer by pretending to be nice and then back-stabbing them?”
“Oh wow…”
“Think about it. Wouldn’t it be more shocking if we start politely and then swear at the very end?”
“Unni, you really are evil…”
[Scammer: I also love quick transactions. ^^ And I think $3,600 is a good price for me as well.]
[Me: Thank you :)]
It was Gyeoul who had personally saved the opponent’s number under the name, scammer.
At this point, Gyeoul was nervous because there would be a little authentication process now according to Yu Jitae. She knew that deceiving a scammer would not be easy regardless of the scammer’s age, not because that person was cleverer than her, but because those that were cautious of others’ doubt were always more skeptical themselves.
[Scammer: :)]
[Scammer: May I please see a photo of the item?]
As expected, it was here.
But everything had already been prepared beforehand.
“Unni! She wants the photo…!”
“Nn. Here you go.”
One of Bom’s ‘friends at the Association’ who was interested in decorating herself had the following perfume and Bom had already received the picture from her.
[Scammer: Wow ? It’s pretty much new!]
That was because the picture was taken at the time it was bought.
Gyeoul widened her eyes hoping it worked but that wasn’t enough to answer the scammer’s doubt.
[Scammer: Can you please write your nickname and today’s date and show it together?]
[Scammer: There are too many scammers these days you know T.T]
“Fucking bullshit. Wish I could rip her tongue out.”
“Uugh, so shameless…”
It was Bom’s job to make the fake proof and she was the best-suited for tasks like this. Naturally, the image matching that requirement had already been prepared.
[Scammer: Thank you, it definitely is real! :)]
[Scammer: ^^ Thanks for letting me have a look!]
Okay! Gyeoul raised her thumb and gave her a thumbs-up so Bom returned one back.
[Scammer: By the way, did you like the perfume when you used it?]
[Me: Yes I did.]
[Me: I used it only once to try out the smell but I really do think it’s a great perfume. The smell also stayed there until I removed it :)]
[Scammer: But if it’s new and you liked it, why are you selling it at such a cheap price?]
[Me: Ah, that’s…]
Gyeoul stopped her fingers and hesitated.
Now was the time to get close to her as Yeorum had suggested.
Gyeoul contemplated. What should she write? Since all of her relationships till now were formed by others approaching her first, she did not know how to approach someone else. She told her sisters that she did not know what to say, and the kids immediately turned their gazes to Bom.
“Why are you looking at me?”
“Unni. You’re super great at that!”
“…Yes, yes.”
“No, that’s not really the case but…”
Bom thought for a bit, before adding more words.
“Hmm… Gyeoul. How about we add a beautiful story to the perfume?”
A story?
[Scammer: But if it’s new and you liked it, why are you selling it at such a cheap price?]
[Me: Ah, that’s…]
[Me: It’s going to be a long story but… would you still like to hear it? Haha…]
[Scammer: What is it? I am curious.]
[Me: Until recently, I couldn’t get a job.]
[Me: I really wanted to work but, I couldn’t find a job for nearly 2 years. Because my qualifications are all quite mediocre…]
[Me: I had 50 interviews at least… and failed all of them. It’s hard to find a job these days…]
[Me: But our house is not financially well-off so not being able to find a job for 3 years made it uncomfortable to sit around at home. I had no other choice so I took an interview for a job at the red-light district but I just couldn’t tell the truth to my family so… I told them I might find a job in retail haha…]
[Scammer: Ah…]
[Me: But my parents were so glad that their daughter could finally get a job, and they gave me a present.]
[Me: They gave me this expensive perfume…]
[Scammer: Ahh… T.T]
[Me: But something amazing happened.]
[Me: At noon of the first day of my work at the red-light district was my final interview at a different company. So I put on the perfume and went to the interview.]
[Me: And like a miracle, I passed it…]
[Scammer: Oh wow really?? T.T]
[Scammer: Woww T.T]
[Me: Yes ? … But the new job I found has nothing to do with meeting customers, so I decided to sell it. So that I could do something better for my parents with that money.]
[Me: I believe it’s a perfume that brings in luck ^^]
[Scammer: That’s amazing unni TT.TT]
[Scammer: I’m so happy for you T.T]
[Me: Thank you T.T]
That was the end.
Bom, who had been giving the lines to Gyeoul with her eyes closed, slowly opened her eyes and found Yeorum, Kaeul and even Gyeoul looking at her with a strange look on their face.
“…My word.”
“What a freak…”
“Uahh… I got goosebumps…”
Bom giggled in return.
“Was that okay?”
“Unni, you are a bit scary… Your lies come out like you’re a vending machine…!”
“It was something random I made up. Seems it was okay.”
Yu Jitae was also quite amazed.
Re-selling was generally the result of some sort of dissatisfaction so answering the question, ‘Why are you selling such a good item?’ was not an easy task. It forced the seller to point out the negatives of the item, but Bom decorated the reason with ‘filial love’ instead and labelled it as a ‘lucky item’.
At this point, even the buyer would consider the perfume special and it was a truly exquisite lie considering it had been made up in just a few seconds.
“Scary bitch…”
Meanwhile, Yeorum was uncomfortable for a different reason as she continued glaring at Bom. Soon their eyes met and Bom returned a faint smile with a wink so Yeorum felt even more uncomfortable.
In any case, the scammer became a lot more friendly thanks to that.
[Scammer: Yes T.T. Unni, it’s really great that you managed to find a good job TT.TT. Congratulations T.T]
[Me: Thank you ^^…]
[Me: Hopefully it will bring luck to whoever…]
“Ah, Gyeoul. Let’s add a heart at the end.”
[Me: Hopefully it will bring luck to whoever buys it ♡]
All the preparations were now over.
*
On the other hand, there was a doubt that struck Gyeoul’s mind as she was about to place the brick into the post box. She asked her unnis whether doing a revenge on someone that has done a bad thing to you was also a ‘bad thing’ or not.
The children showed mixed responses.
“Uum, I’m not too sure. It does seem to be a right thing thinking about all the shock we got, and how that person would be feeling happy from stealing our money but… if we have a way to get the money back and if the opponent regrets it, isn’t forgiving them always a more correct choice…?” Kaeul expressed her doubt.
“Nonsense. Of course you need to return it tenfold. If it was me, I would have taken 10 times the money she stole from me, crushed her legs and burned her house down. I’m not even joking. Honestly, I’m not that happy with what you’re doing right now.” Whereas Yeorum agreed with the revenge.
“Gyeoul. How did you feel when you got scammed?” Meanwhile, Bom asked her a question instead.
When I was scammed?
Gyeoul thought the world was crumbling before her eyes. The stolen money swam in front of her vision and the animosity of someone she didn’t even know was painful.
Of course, she loved money as well but did not like it so much that she would rely on such evil methods to earn money. How could she proudly call that ‘her money’?
“Shouldn’t the scammer at least have an idea of that feeling as well?”
“…Nn.”
“So what you are doing right now isn’t revenge, but punishment.”
“…Punishment? …Different from revenge?”
“It is. A punishment is them paying for their sin, and a warning for them to stop doing such bad things.”
It was a difficult topic without a clear answer. Gyeoul had to ponder deeply for a long time before finally coming up with a conclusion. She decided to punish the scammer,
“…”
So that there will no longer be victims like her.
***
Bom’s made-up story made the whole case more efficient and Gyeoul received the entire payment up-front. The opponent trusted her so much that she would rather do that instead of using a safe transaction site to avoid commission fees.
And in Seoul, Korea.
At a certain elementary school, the scammer Jun Yungji bragged to her friends, telling them that she bought ‘that perfume’.
“What? Really?”
“The same perfume that Kyuchan-oppa used in the drama?”
“Wow. That’s amazing… I’m so jealous!”
Seeing envy dripping from the eyes of her friends, Jun Yungji who was quite clever for an elementary school student, wanted to spread this even further.
Therefore, she chanted the magical words that would spread the news far and wide.
“Don’t tell anyone else.”
It was done. Everyone should know it by tomorrow.
Meanwhile, some of the friends expressed their doubts wondering how she had managed to buy such an expensive perfume.
“Huh? Oh, well. You know, my house is quite well-off right?”
“Did your mum buy it for you?”
“P, pretty much yeah.”
In fact, Jun Yungji’s household was extremely normal. It was an average household that would consider it ridiculous to buy a $4,000 perfume for their primary school daughter. However, Jun Yungji had to lie about it to hide her scams.
“Wow… I’m so jealous. My dad told me no.”
“Ah! Actually, can you lend it to me just once?”
“Wait! Me too, me too!”
The perfume artifact took quite some time to use but the merit was that a fragrant scent would be left behind to last almost perpetually like body odour.
“Do you guys not know how much it is?”
“Ah… right?”
“Sorry…”
“50 dollars.”
“Huh?”
“For one use.”
The clever elementary student Jun Yungji considered this an opportunity. She judged it would sell considering how it was a new product that would last a long time after using once.
The next day, when all her friends got to hear the news, some of the famous students of other classes came to her with money in hand. Using the perfume Kyuchan-oppa had used for just 50 dollars was a plus for them.
Before long, Jun Yungji collected 500 dollars with a bright smile. Although the perfume would be used quite a bit, it would last a long time with one use anyway so it wasn’t a bad business by any means.
“Hey. I heard you bought that perfume.”
“Sorry? Ah, yes.”
“I’m getting it first.”
After a few days, even the scary unni that repeated a grade came and gave her 60 dollars to secure the first spot of the reservation. This unni was one year older than her: she was 14 years old…!
Jun Yungji had long wanted to become friends with her but couldn’t approach her because of the intimidating aura she had so it was a fortunate turn of events.
The 13-year old scammer, Jun Yungji, vowed to herself.
Everything was going the way she wanted.
It was easy to earn money by deceiving the innocent fools.
Things would be different if she were to get caught after turning 14 years old, so she simply had to save up a lot of money beforehand.
Right…
So now all she had to do was wait for the delivery but…?
[Me: Unni~~!]
[Me: Winter-unni :)]
[Me: Are you at work??]
This woman.
She’s replying kind of late today…