06. You don’t listen to me

The Vice Minister’s Office at the Men’s Comprehensive Welfare Center.

There, a middle-aged woman and a young woman who seemed to have just come of age were living alone.

The two of them were sitting on the office sofa in the center of the vice minister’s office, and unusually, a young woman was sitting in the seat of honor.

The young woman in the senior seat was elegantly enjoying the tea, and the middle-aged woman in her last seat was watching the young woman.

It was a very heavy and cold atmosphere.

The first to speak was a middle-aged woman.

“Hey, do you like the taste of tea?”

“Yes, I like it.”

“Did you have any inconvenience coming here?”

“Yes, I didn’t.”

“That… That’s good.”

At the young woman’s short answer, the middle-aged woman began to panic, not knowing what to do.

The middle-aged woman, who was trying hard to break her cold atmosphere, clapped her hands lightly as if she finally remembered something, and spoke her words again.

“Yes, it is. The other day, I went on a business trip to the countryside… I bought some local specialty sweets. This tastes amazing, so try grabbing it——”

Click.

“Vice Minister.”

The young woman purposely set her teacup down on the table, as if to interrupt her middle-aged woman, her vice minister.

“Do you think I came here to get a snack?”

The young woman glared at her vice minister with her cold, fearful eyes.

“—I am really sorry.”

The Vice Minister quickly bowed her head and apologized to the young woman.

The deputy minister lowered her head, and the young woman, who was staring at her wordlessly, sighed and said.

“Haa, excuse me. I’ve been a bit rude lately because I’ve been a bit sensitive. I apologize.”

“Oh, no. Rather, I am sorry for being careless.”

“Then let’s get straight to the point.”

The young woman went on with her arm resting on the arm of her sofa and resting her chin on her.

“I received the male directory you sent. But is this really all?”

“Yes, yes. The men of marriageable age in our shelter are all listed on the directory.”

“Then, are all the personal information and information written in the directory clear?”

“Yes, that’s right. It was all written with no lies.”

“Ha ha.”

At the words of the vice minister, the young woman shook her head and sighed once again.

At the sound of her sighs, the vice minister trembled once and carefully asked her.

“Hey, over there. If there is any problem with the person list….”

“There was no problem with the directory itself. Only.”

The young woman expressed her displeasure by tapping her finger on the armrest of her sofa, apparently dissatisfied with her.

“The problem was that, let alone usable men, there were all men of inferior rank.”

The young woman spoke as if she were judging men by comparing them to her goods. At her words, the vice minister was surprised and said.

“Hee, Hee-jae. Anyway, a little bit….”

“Why? Did I say something wrong?”

The young woman, Hee-je, glared at the vice minister and crossed her arms in displeasure.

From noble mtl dot com

It’s like, so what are you going to do? It was like saying.

“Sociality that does not know how to do anything alone.

An affinity based on hostility toward women.

Adaptation that cannot be lived outside of shelters.

All the men on the directory were like this, if not a few men.

Will good words flow out of my mouth after seeing such an energetic document?”

“… ….”

Despite Hee-je’s sarcastic remarks, the vice minister could not refute anything.

“I’m really curious. It must have received strong government support and generous investment from companies. And yet, how did things not get any better?”

“I’m sorry. Even if you have ten mouths, you have nothing to say.”

“It’s only natural that I have nothing to say! And I don’t mean to say the obvious!”

“Oops, sorry! I’m really sorry!”

In the end, Hee-jae could not hold back his anger and exploded.

She raised her voice and pushed her vice minister harder and harder.

“If the budget was insufficient, we filled it, if there was a shortage of manpower, we hired people, and if the site was not enough, we built a building. Isn’t it?”

“… ….”

“But what are these results? Does it make sense now that I couldn’t raise or even get a useful man after all that investment?”

“… ….”

The Vice Minister didn’t even respond to Hee-je’s sharp criticism, and she couldn’t even raise her head. It was because she, too, had many corners to be stabbed.

When her vice-minister didn’t respond, Hee-ja sighed deeply again and continued her words.

“Haa, are there no excuses now? It’s downright incompetent. Let’s stop now.”

“──!”

“As of today, we will stop supporting the Ministry of Men and Women. Just know that.”

“Hee, Hee-jae! Please stock up!”

At Hee-jae’s declaration of suspension of support, the vice minister exclaimed with her bluish face.

“Please, please! Just a little time!”

“You want me to wait here longer? Are you kidding me?”

“A bill amending the protection policy and education policy for men is now on the agenda of the National Assembly! If only this passes, I will find a man Hee-jae will be satisfied with—”

“How much longer are you going to wait!

And do you really think it will pass? Say something that makes sense! I really can’t listen anymore.”

As if he didn’t want to talk anymore, Hee-je got up from the seat with a wrinkled expression.

At this rate, it’s really the end.

It should never be dried.

Thinking so, the Vice Minister hurriedly got up from his seat to stop Hee-je.

The moment the loan takes place,

Smart—!

“Cha, Vice Minister! This is an emergency!”

Suddenly, the door burst open and the secretary hurriedly entered.

The vice minister shouted at the secretary’s behavior, which did not show even the slightest hint of courtesy.

“What is this? Aren’t I talking to a VIP right now!”

“Hot! Excuse me!”

“All right. I was just trying to get out anyway. Look at your business.”

“Yes? Oh, that, thank you for forgiving me.”

“Hee, Hee-jae! Please tell me!”

Hee-je walked towards the door, ignoring the words of the vice minister who called her out. In order to stop her, her vice minister also followed her.

Even in such a situation, the secretary approached the vice minister as if in a real hurry and hurriedly spoke out.

“Vice Minister! What an urgent matter!”

“What kind of urgency is this called! Where did the chief of staff go? Shouldn’t you guys be able to handle it yourself! Get out of the way right now!”

“This is not our business, Vice Minister!”

“Ha, what a spectacle.”

Hee-je laughed at the sudden skit between the secretary and the vice minister.

But then, ignoring the skit as if he wasn’t interested, he passed the secretary and headed out the door.

“Hee-jae! Please hold on! Eight! Get out of the way!”

“Vice Minister! There is a man who wants to voluntarily leave now!”

“You take care of that!… What, what?”

“…… Ha?”

Hee-jae, who was about to go out the door, stopped at the secretary’s words.

And now, is what I heard right? I looked at the secretary agent with a wanting face.

“Ji, what did you just say? A man who wants to voluntarily leave? Don’t play around!”

“Really! Currently, men and their families who wish to voluntarily leave are heading this way!”

“You mean real?! Who the hell is that?! Who the hell was the person who wished to voluntarily leave the prison!”

“That’s Jinhyo!”

“… Jinhyo?”

At that time, Hee-je, who had been silently listening to the story, turned to the vice minister with a question.

“Your name isn’t on the directory, so who is it?”

“Uh, that’s it, Jinhyo-nim is still too old to report on the list….”

“Are you saying you’re still a child?”

“That, to be called a young man is a bit ambiguous….”

“Haa, it’s really frustrating. Just bring all the documents that contain information about the man named Jinhyo.”

Hee-je turned around and went back into the vice minister’s office, then went back to the seat of honor he had just sat in and sat down again.

When Hee-je returned and sat down, the vice minister decided that the opportunity was now.

Then, he quickly moved into action.

“Okay! I’ll get the paperwork done right away!

Hey! Go to the records room and bring all the documents related to Jinhyo!”

“Ha, but Vice Minister. Voluntary expulsion….”

“Ah, you have to read the basic information to decide whether or not to voluntarily go through the discharge process!

Okay! Since this is an urgent matter, I will take care of it myself, so you can follow me!”

“Ah, I see!”

“Hee-jae! I’ll get the paperwork right away! Please wait!”

The vice minister slammed the door as if running away and left the vice minister’s office with the secretary.

Left alone in the vice minister’s office, Hee-je glared at the door the vice-minister had left with a puzzled expression.

“Hot! Like running away.”

She leaned back on the back of her sofa, once criticizing her deputy minister.

Calming down on the soft sofa, she slowly muttered to herself as she remembered what had just happened.

“Rather than that, I voluntarily leave the facility…. Are you the first person to come out since the revision of the Special Protection Act for Men?”

The corners of her mouth curled up slowly, as if in amusement.

“It’s fun. It’s very funny. What kind of man are you? I’m really curious.”

With a meaningful smile on her face, she calmly waited for the vice minister, no, the documents related to Jinhyo.

◈◈◈

Suddenly, a commotion broke out at the Men’s Welfare Center, which had been quiet.

The cause of the commotion is none other than

It was because of the appearance of a person who wanted to voluntarily leave the hospital for the first time since the enforcement of the Special Male Protection Act.

The appearance of a person wishing to leave the hospital voluntarily turned the entire Men’s Welfare Center upside down.

And the person who wants to be discharged is,

I was the one who voluntarily declared my discharge from the school after being pampered by her mother.

Yes.

I was the cause of the commotion.

I, who caused such an uproar, now,

“… I’ll check again, Jinhyo-kun. Are you sure you want to apply for expulsion?”

“Yes. I want to leave.”

“… Okay. Once a man is released voluntarily, it is impossible to re-enter the shelter. Do you still want to apply?”

“Yes. I want to leave.”

“… To be honest, I’m saying that it’s the same man, but life outside the shelter can be difficult for Jinhyo. I will live a community life including women, and in addition to national activities——”

One-on-one counseling was conducted with a male counselor invited by the government.

Going back in time, about an hour ago.

Excited by my declaration of hope for discharge, my mother, holding me in her arms, was about to storm into her vice-minister’s office.

However, she did not have to go to the vice minister’s office thanks to the chief of staff who hurriedly came down to the agent’s emergency call.

The chief of staff calmed down the excited mother. After she asked me a few simple questions, she made sure that she had really expressed her intention to leave.

Within seconds, the chief of staff, who confirmed that my discharge declaration was true, directed us to a place other than the vice minister’s office.

While guiding the way, the chief of staff explained to me and my mother how the check-out process went.

Among the many complex procedures, the part I listened to was the consultation review.

To put it simply, the consultation review was like this.

It was a psychological examination and examination through counseling to see if the man was really willing to leave the hospital and whether it was really okay for the man to leave the hospital.

The only part where I was directly involved in the process was this consultation review.

In that way, the counseling room I arrived at after being guided by the chief of staff was a counseling room decorated like an interrogation room that could only be seen in a movie.

Lights installed on the central ceiling.

A long table and two chairs under such lighting.

A magic mirror that allows you to look into the counseling room from the outside.

It was just an interrogation room.

As soon as my mother saw the bleak environment of the consulting room, she started to worry about me.

“Jinhyo, don’t overdo it if it’s difficult or scary. Mom is fine, okay?”

Certainly, I fully understood her mother’s concerns.

What parent would want to leave their child alone in a counseling room with such a bleak atmosphere?

Even if I were a parent, I would have worried unconditionally.

I tried to reassure my mother who was really worried about me, but I couldn’t shake her mother’s worries until the counselor came.

My mother looked back several times and was genuinely concerned about me until she left the counseling room completely.

After my mother left the room, a counselor came into the counseling room.

That’s how I started 1:1 counseling with a counselor.

That’s how the consultation started and now.

I was starting to get annoyed at the counselor’s repeated questions and consultations.

“Jin Hyo-kun’s decision is worthy of praise. However, I am deeply concerned about whether Jeon Jin-hyo really knows the horrors of society. In particular, it seems that you do not know the fear of women well. I don’t know about Jinhyo-kun——”

How many times has this already been the same thing?

The words the counselor said were slightly different, but in the end, the content and essence of the words were all the same.

For men, women are very dangerous.

There are so many women out there.

Therefore, it is very dangerous outside the shelter.

Would you like to leave?

Think again.

He had been explaining this same thing to me for several minutes already.

I started to get annoyed with the counselor’s repeated repertoire.

“Counselor. I really want to get out.”

“… But Jinhyo-kun. Think carefully again. Women are very violent and frightening beings——”

“I am well aware of that. Nonetheless, I have decided to leave.”

“… Hmm, hmm.”

I interrupted the counselor and once again clearly expressed my intention to leave. The counselor cleared his throat and avoided my gaze, as if surprised by my spirit.

“… I understand well, Jinhyo-kun.

Then I will explain the difference between the shelter and the outside one more time. Once outside the shelter—”

“Haa, Counselor.”

Eventually, I reached the limit of my patience and glared at the counselor.

“How many times do you say the same thing already? And I have already given the same answer several times.”

“… I know you’re bored, but listen to me a little longer. I am really speaking for Jinhyo-kun.”

Ha, for me?

If it’s for my sake, get me out of this prison-like place right away!

I was barely able to contain myself from bursting out laughing at the counselor’s absurd words.

Still, the counselor was much older than me, so I couldn’t be rude.

So I said, holding back a laugh.

“My answer is the same, Counselor.

I want to live with my mother. I will be released from the shelter.”

“… Family is important, of course. But—”

“Counselor.”

During the consultation, a famous line from a movie that was famous in my previous life came to mind.

Surely this was the line, right?

“You’re not listening to me.”

Can I tell you a joke, Murray?

No, Counselor?

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