Please Turn On the Light

The stretches between reaching for the chicken grew ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠longer and longer. In this body—smaller by a full head, no, two or three heads than the one from my previous life—finishing even half a bird felt like a real struggle.

The beer was much the same. Until now the low food and drink costs had seemed like a quiet advantage, but tonight was different.

There was no phone, that magical little escape hatch from awkward silences, and Senior and I were not the sort of people who simply chatted.

I did not want my backside hit either. Being bound all day and forced to climax until I was spent was hard enough, but the spanking was hard in its own way. Pain was not something you grew used to; I did not want those five strokes. A thin thread of relief still ran through me, though.

So stuffing chicken and beer into my already swollen stomach was the least miserable option left. I picked up a drumstick that would not even fit properly and began to nibble. The fried coating scraped the roof of my mouth and left a faint sting.

"You don't have to finish it all."

Senior, already full, had been sipping her beer; now she looked at me and said that. Her hand rose above my head. I shut my eyes on instinct, but she only stroked my hair.

Ha.

Fuck.

I muttered the words inside and answered that I could still eat more. She asked if I wanted more beer; I nodded. When I shifted the chicken to one hand so I could pick up the glass, my fingers shone with grease.

We touched glasses again. I sipped. A dish I used to order at least once a week tasted of nothing today. It had been my favorite brand. I even preferred beer to soju.

I took the tiniest bite of the slightly soggy chicken. Because I did not want to be hit.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw two drumsticks still left.

"...Heh-heh."

Senior kept making that soft nasal sound, watching me as if something delighted her. The beautiful smile was so unnerving that I dropped my gaze back to the floor. My awkwardly stretched legs, the fried crumbs scattered across the fluffy blanket, and the thoroughly reddened skin of my thighs all came into view.

"..."

The plump meat felt like chewing cardboard; my chewing slowed.

"I'll put the punishment off until tomorrow. If you want to stop eating, you can stop."

She spoke without lifting her chin from her hand, so the little table trembled.

"Ah—th-that..."

Goosebumps rose along my arms.

"Pfft. It looks like you're forcing yourself."

"I-I'm sorry..."

"Mm, no. Give me your hand."

She held out her palm. In the other hand she already had a wet wipe I had not seen her take out. The moment I laid my hand on hers, a sudden terror that my fingers might snap flooded through me.

"Heup..."

I held my breath so I would not scream.

The thought that she might actually break them never quite formed in front of someone like her. Of course she did not break them.

"Aww. Rest a little, then we'll go wash up. Was the chicken good?"

"Y-yes..."

"So—your butt? Taking it tomorrow?"

"...Yes. Yes. P-please..."

I answered with my head bowed deep. Senior nodded as if she would grant the request and said all right. She bundled the chicken box, the plastic bottle and the bag onto the nightstand, then folded the table aside.

Nothing remained in front of me. Senior settled her hips onto the blanket, then stretched with a long, creaking groan.

"Ugh. Drinking makes me so sleepy~."

"Ah, haha... Y-yeah..."

"Still have laundry to do... What a pain."

Idle talk. I had no idea what to say, so I simply laughed.

"Aigo! Time to get up. Company tomorrow. Weekends I have to play with Heeyeon, so I'm busy."

Offering that completely unnecessary consideration, she rose from the bed, bound both my wrists again, promised she would be right back, and left the room. She would not be hand-washing, so she really would return soon.

I pushed the especially irritating strands of hair out of my face and flopped onto the mattress. Even sitting had become exhausting.

"Ah..."

Rescue—when would it come? When I closed my eyes I saw myself safely free. No trauma at all. Whether that would truly be the case I could not know.

Once I returned to ordinary life, would I stop eating chicken? I remembered the old man at the end of a war film saying he never went near the beach again. If even an ordinary shore could terrify him, would something similar happen to me?

It was a question I could answer only after I was free. And the mere fact that I was worrying about it already felt like proof I could overcome any trauma splendidly; that thought gave me a small, private satisfaction.

It would probably make the news in big letters. Surviving like this and being rescued—at least in Korea, as far as I could remember, no one had done it. Had they? Anyway, if I got out I might become rather famous.

I could write a book. If the trauma was not too severe I might even appear on television. Would I get to meet the MC I liked?

"Heuk..."

The sound slipped out of me on its own and my nose suddenly stung. Senior did not look like someone who would kill me, so the future I was imagining was actually possible. I was fairly pretty even by my own standards, and people could feel pity for a snowman if it was pretty enough.

But why were the tears coming? Why?

I tried to wipe them, yet my bound hands would not move, so I blinked hard instead. The Senior who returned might see me crying and slap my cheek for it.

Blinking furiously, I made a vow. I would keep my heart strong. I remembered a survival manga from childhood that said the most important thing was never to give up. Besides, they said a month, but it could be far shorter.

Thinking that, I counted the days that remained. Today was Tuesday.

Five days had already passed.

Just washing Heeyeon and drying her hair had already pushed the clock past ten. Why did time move so fast?

"Shall we sleep?"

"Ah, yes..."

Her voice was weak, yet clear relief ran through it. A sudden fantasy flashed across my mind—grabbing her hair, slapping her cheek, ordering her to touch herself—and I crushed it hard. I did not want to become a lover who went back on her word.

"Haam... I don't want to go to work..."

Saying that, I pulled her into my arms. Heeyeon, who had been sitting awkwardly on the bed, let out a short little scream. I held her and simply lay down. The warmth of her bare skin and the beat of her heart felt good. That rapid thump-thump-thump-thump was adorable.

"Ah, haha..."

She laughed as if she were happy.

"Shall we sleep together?"

Feeling that soft warmth, I did not want to get up again, so I asked. Her body stiffened for a moment, then she answered, "Okay...! Hehe." Cute. Was she only saying it because she was afraid of hurting my feelings?

A little disappointing, but I still had to rise. We had not known each other long; sharing a bed still seemed to weigh on her.

"Pfft, no. Unnie will go downstairs to sleep. I'll leave the pet camera on, so if you get thirsty or need the bathroom just say so. All right?"

"Ah—th-that, y-you're turning it on... yes. Ah, okay..."

"Mm. Good night. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠See you tomorrow?"

I brushed her bangs aside and pressed my lips to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her forehead. The soft sound made her answer good night in return.

I left the room smiling. Down on the first floor I entered the bedroom, plugged in my phone, turned the volume all the way up, and opened the pet-camera app.

The room above admitted no light at all; the screen was perfect ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠black. Night vision? I should look for a camera that had it later.

I set the alarm, switched off the bedroom light, and listened. Heeyeon's breathing came faintly through the speaker. Because the restraints were a little looser I could also hear her shifting on the mattress. The breathing grew louder. A nightmare? The rustling of the blanket increased.

...Something felt wrong. I had been trying to fall asleep when I suddenly sat up and closed the app. There was nothing dangerous in that room, and after the punishment she had received I did not believe she would try anything, yet simply listening made me want to go upstairs at once and keep her where my eyes could reach her.

So I covered the phone and forced myself to sleep. Tomorrow I would wake an hour early again, make her breakfast... Punishment—ah, had I left any punishment for her? What a pity. Tsk.

Come to think of it, I had not had sex with Heeyeon even once today. When I woke I would hug her first thing. As I began to sort the thoughts, sleep finally came.

I woke more refreshed than expected, surprising given how much beer I had drunk the night before. Strange, but well—refreshed, not invigorated. I still had to go to the company.

I got out of bed and began preparing the meal kit I had bought yesterday. I still could not cook properly, so this would be better for Heeyeon too. It was breakfast that also had to serve as lunch, so I had chosen a generous portion; when I transferred it to a plate the amount looked larger than I had thought.

I set chopsticks and a spoon on the tray, covered it, and carefully carried it up the stairs. With a little more practice now, I braced one side of the tray against my knee and opened the door.

"Heuk, heuk. Heua. Ah—ah! U-Unnie...! Unnieee...!"

"Oh? You're awake?"

"U-Unnie, Unnie. J-just a second—l-light, the light first, turn on the light, please? Okay?"

When I stepped inside, the peacefully sleeping Heeyeon I had expected was nowhere to be found. Instead I found her still bound, somehow having pulled the blanket all the way over her face, trembling hard. Her voice cracked; perhaps she had screamed her throat raw the day before.

"Just a moment?"

I set the tray on the nightstand and switched on the light. She thrashed. Thinking she wanted the blanket down, I drew it away; the terror on her face eased a little.

"Did you have a nightmare, Heeyeon?"

Curious, I sat on the edge of the bed so our skin touched and asked. Her whole body was slick with sweat; when I laid my palm on her the dampness felt unexpectedly pleasant, so I moved my hand to her chest and kneaded gently.

"...Heu, heuk. Y-you're too much...! I—I screamed so much, kkeuk..!"

She answered like that and began to cry in earnest. Startled, I jerked my hand away, panicked for a second, then undid the restraints and pulled her into a tight hug. It must have been hard to breathe, yet somehow she began to calm.

When the tears stopped and she started to squirm a little in my arms, I laid her back down, wondering what on earth had happened, and opened the phone. I tapped the recorded black screen. Nothing visual changed, but Heeyeon's breathing grew louder and louder on the audio.

I dragged the playback bar roughly two hours earlier. A sudden, tearing scream almost made me fling the phone across the room. I remembered turning it off last night without muting the sound.

Heeyeon flinched beside me as if she had heard it too.

What kind of screaming was this? I scrubbed back through the markers that flagged loud sounds and listened in order.

A sigh left my mouth. I had been a little short-sighted. Had she not slept at all? When I looked at her she was watching me with an exhausted face, glancing up again and again. If I had known, I would simply have left the light on.

I felt so sorry that I lay down beside her and pulled her into my arms again. She slipped into the circle of my body, trembled a little longer as if still terrified, then gradually closed her eyes.

I lowered the volume and played the rest. I wanted to hear a little more.

Heeyeon, lost in panic, had babbled, then—believing that if she did something wrong I would come up to punish her—had begun calling me Senior, and finally had simply poured out curses. Those weak vocal cords could not make the swearing sound threatening at all; it almost seemed as if she had been begging for the punishment.

She cursed for a long time, then suddenly apologized in fright, then sobbed.

It was not as unpleasant to listen to as I had expected, so I saved the file and woke her.

"Heeyeon."

"Euk—ah. I-I'm sorry. I j-just dozed off for a second—"

"Unnie is really sorry. I turned it off so you could sleep comfortably. I never thought you would be this scared. Will you forgive me?"

I offered the apology. Life had taught me that after a mistake the fastest apology was best.

"Ah—i-it's fine, it's fine..."

She answered.

"I'm sorry I woke you too. But Unnie has to go to the company, and if you don't eat now you won't eat all day."

"Th-that's—"

"Rest well today. All right? And the punishment can wait until tomorrow. Ah—the five spanks on your butt as well."

Her eyes snapped wide open. The pupils that had been darting everywhere finally locked on me.

"Together... together...?"

"Mm. Between lovers, words like 'you fucking bitch' are a little much, don't you think? That part was a bit your fault. Right?"

"Ah..."

She made a dull little sound and buried her face against my chest. A damp warmth slowly spread there; she was crying again.

Crying while held in my arms. I was glad I could be her support.

"Mm. It's okay. Unnie is right here."

When I said that, her shoulders began to shake.