Twisted Family Relations
Twisted Family Relations
Due to the nature of the [Punishment room]'s purpose, I wanted to prevent any unforeseen situations in advance.
Seoyun attempting to escape through the window...
Or someone watching the inside of the [Punishment room] from outside the window...
My head was full of nothing but the worst-case scenarios that came to mind immediately.
"But are you really sure this is for watching movies?"
"Yes? Of course. Why else would I have paid so much money to have it constructed?"
The interior design boss, who had finished the construction, sent a suspicious look while calculating the final payment.
There were occasionally customers who wanted soundproofing done in their homes because they wanted a private movie theater.
However, this was the first time a customer had only installed a single recliner chair and a beam projector in a cramped space of only 5-pyeong.
Furthermore, during the construction, he was unnecessarily sensitive about the soundproofing and even performed impact tests.
Just like a prison for locking someone up.
"Hmm... I've received the money, so I'll be going now... Well, if any problems arise, please contact me~"
"Yes, thank you, boss."
What was the point of being suspicious? The interior boss decided to stick to his main job.
Because sometimes, useless curiosity can cost you your life.
"Hmm-hmm~"
Junwoo hummed a tune while looking around the [Punishment room], which was plastered with soundproofing walls.
He was half-doubting, but seeing the result, he was definitely satisfied.
He had decorated it like a movie theater just to deceive others, but he planned to buy the tools and equipment needed for [Corporal punishment] one by one.
"I'm looking forward to it~"
From today, he could start the full-scale pet play.
What kind of expression would Seoyun make when she returned from school?
Already excited, Junwoo went onto an online shopping mall and bought a whole bunch of things he wanted to purchase.
Wii-ing─
A message flew in at a bad time.
The person he had an appointment to meet today was none other than Junwoo's older brother, Kim Junhyuk.
"Haa... fuck..."
Junwoo's face, which had been grinning until just a moment ago, froze coldly.
They weren't close enough to call each other while laughing, so he exchanged texts.
Hey. Do you have time now? Come to the hospital.
Yeah, I'll come now.
Alright.
The awkward meeting was already stressful.
A general hospital located in downtown Seoul.
Since the entire small commercial building was a hospital, its scale was considerable, unlike its appearance.
Junwoo, with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, hesitated for a long time before stepping into the hospital.
It was lunchtime, so there wasn't a single patient.
Only the nurse on duty sitting at the information desk was left all alone.
"What are you here for? You'll have to wait a bit for consultation hours..."
"I'm here to meet Kim Junhyuk... We made an appointment beforehand, so I'll just go up and meet him."
"Just a moment."
Kim Junhyuk, an internal medicine specialist at the general hospital and the hospital director.
It was only natural for the nurse to stop him, as a young, green kid was trying to barge in while calling the hospital director by his name without any respect.
The nurse, who didn't know the relationship between the two, suspected that he might be someone who came to retaliate out of a grudge against the treatment.
She kept one hand on the emergency bell and used the other to call the hospital director to verify the facts.
"Ah... is that so... Yes, I understand... Yes."
The nurse, having finished the short call, looked at Junwoo out of the corner of her eye.
After scanning the hospital director's younger brother, who didn't share a single similar feature, she smiled and cleared the way.
"You may go~ You should have told me beforehand..."
Junwoo passed through the lobby without replying and boarded the elevator.
Because the very fact that he had to meet his older brother was stressful enough to make his head explode.
"Phew..."
The elevator stopped on the 7th floor, one floor below the top floor where the sky garden was located.
The hallway, with its red-carpeted floor and soft orchestral music playing, felt like an unnecessary luxury.
"His taste is really..."
Junwoo frowned and walked down the hallway.
Knock-knock—
"Come in."
When he knocked on the door of the hospital director's office and entered, Kim Junhyuk was standing under a floor-to-ceiling window with a wide-open view.
He had been standing with his hands behind his back, silently watching the city, but as he looked at Junwoo, he raised the corners of his mouth in a sneer.
"Isn't it funny? Some people live comfortably because they were born to good parents, while others are working hard to earn an extra penny even during lunch time."
Junhyuk, far from welcoming his younger brother whom he hadn't seen in a while, openly mocked him.
Of course, Junwoo wasn't the type to just endure it and let it slide either.
"That's true, isn't it? There's also someone who became a hospital director at a young age because they were born to good parents."
The two glared at each other.
Invisible sparks were blazing, but even though they looked like they were dying to kill each other, they were ultimately brothers connected by blood.
Junhyuk, yielding a step, let out a deep sigh first and relaxed his expression.
"Phew, did you eat?"
"Yeah. I ate. We're not exactly on the kind of terms where we'd eat together, are we?"
"This bastard, even when he talks..."
His younger brother, who was 14 years his junior, kept acting out.
He didn't know when Junwoo's personality had become so twisted.
Even when he was forced to become a doctor and had a huge fight with their parents, he was the guy who silently insisted on his own way and switched to the liberal arts track.
He was also the brother who stubbornly held out even when they tried to cut him off because they disapproved of him being close with Lee Seoyun, who lived in the same apartment.
"Looking at you, I really... have nothing to say."
Unlike his younger brother, Junhyuk had sacrificed a lot.
Dreams, future, relationships, hobbies, everything...
He had volunteered for the life of a puppet, living according to the life plan set by their parents.
Junwoo felt that his older brother was foolish.
Even while knowing the fact that he had always been his shield.
"How long are you going to stand there? Sit down."
"I'm leaving soon, so it's fine. I just need to take care of my business."
"Alright, well... suit yourself."
Unable to stop his younger brother's stubbornness, Junhyuk took out items well-packaged in a plastic bag from the drawer.
One large white [Vitamin Bottle], several 10ml ampoules and disposable syringes, and several pink pills packaged in small portions in a small plastic bag.
No matter how you looked at it, it didn't look like items that would be normally exchanged between brothers.
"Here."
Immediately after receiving the items, Junwoo tore open the zipper bag and checked them.
[Female Hormone]s, aphrodisiacs, and muscle relaxants.
They were all drugs full of illegal ingredients that couldn't be obtained through normal channels.
"Thanks."
"So you do know how to say thank you?"
Junhyuk chuckled and leaned back in his chair.
He rested his neck on the embossed, fluffy cushion and stared at Junwoo, who was standing there blankly.
He didn't ask where he would use these items or why he needed them.
Because everyone has secrets they want to hide.
"Hmm..."
"Why?"
The complexion of his younger brother, whom he hadn't seen in a while, had somehow changed.
"Anything good happening lately?"
"No. Why?"
"Just asked, you brat."
Even when he asked out of interest, Junwoo just acted annoyed, as if it were a bother.
"Oh right, hyung. You know there was something else I asked for besides this? What happened with that?"
"You only call me hyung when you really need something, don't you?"
Junhyuk took two document envelopes out of the drawer.
Inside the heavy document envelopes were the property deeds for the apartment where Junwoo used to live and the garden house.
"Here, this is the old-fashioned apartment in the countryside where you used to live. I put it up for a low price, so it should be sold off quickly."
"Yeah. That's a relief. You're definitely taking care of all the items in the house, right?"
"I introduced you to a reliable contractor, didn't I? I gave them plenty of money, so no matter what you have, they'll dispose of it cleanly."
"Thanks."
Junwoo, who kept the existence of the [Small Room] a secret, had moved all his personal collection to a container warehouse with the help of a contractor with strict security.
Because they were like his Achilles' heel—too precious to throw away, but too scary to keep.
"But why are you suddenly selling it? You... what's his name, Lee Seoyun? Did you break up with your best friend?"
"Well... let's just say that."
Junhyuk didn't know anything.
The fact that Seoyun had become a woman and the fact that they were attending the same university.
"Well, you were always stuck together so intensely that I suspected you were gay, but I'm glad to hear that's not the case."
"You didn't say that to Dad, did you?"
"Am I crazy? You're already a child who's fallen out of favor, why would I say bad things about you?"
"Then that's a relief..."
In Junwoo's family, the name [Lee Seoyun] had become a taboo word.
Because the reason for the rift between Junwoo and his parents was after his meeting with Seoyun.
The difference between what is commonly called a [Silver spoon] and a dirt spoon.
Junwoo, who had moved to a provincial city with good air because his health was poor when he was young, met Seoyun by chance at the apartment complex.
He showed such strong obsession that he was always stuck to Seoyun, and his parents disapproved of this.
In a way, it was only natural.
Because it was the moment a [Silver spoon] on the level of a second-generation chaebol, advancing in high society, made a pathetic dirt spoon their best friend.
It meant he had created a weakness that could drag him down at any time, anywhere.
[The class of life is different]
This was the nagging Junwoo always heard from his parents until his ears hurt.
As soon as his health improved, his parents tried to return to the apartment in Seoul, but Junwoo, not wanting to part with Seoyun, stubbornly resisted and insisted on staying.
In the end, Junwoo remained alone in the provincial apartment, enduring a lonely life while being cared for by a housekeeper who visited every day.
Perhaps this was also the moment when his emotional deprivation began.