Off to Occupy the Iljin's Place... Departure ♥

Hyejin came over carrying a whole armful of little boxes.

"Please take these. Men's lotion."

"……?"

"These are leftover sample men's lotions from when we ran a couple's product line a while back… Would you like to try them? I don't have anything better to recommend right this second…."

"Ah."

Another word for samples was freebies, wasn't it?

I reached out on pure reflex and took them.

The word free had gotten me before I could stop myself.

Suddenly I thought of my father's vanishing hairline.

I ran a hand over my own head.

Swoosh.

Still thick.

Hair condition: solid.

Whew.

"Try these, and if you like them, would you come visit us again? I'll let you know when we get men's products in stock."

I nodded without a word.

Opening my mouth felt dangerous.

The reason being—

Kim Hyejin….

She was every inch the friendly employee, and yet every so often I nearly slipped into the polite speech I'd used back when I was her kkobung.

Habit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was a terrifying thing.

Anyway—she'd said she'd contact me, and yet she wasn't asking for a single piece of information.

A promise with no expiration date.

It had the exact same energy as running into a friend on the street, saying we should hit the PC bang sometime, and then never texting again.

Wasn't this just… a way to hustle me out of the store?

"…How are you going to reach me, exactly?"

"Umm…."

Look at this bitch.

She'd frozen.

So she'd been trying to breeze past it and got caught….

Treating me like some door-to-door peddler.

I was starting to feel… just a little bit sour about that.

Hyejin ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠must have read the dark look on my face, because she scrambled to keep talking.

"Do you… happen to have a membership on our brand website!? If not… write your info here and I'll sign you up myself!"

She held out a slip of paper and a pen.

Membership signup?

What a pain.

"Forget that."

Even if I signed up, all I'd get was a flood of spam texts, right?

A store I wasn't coming back to. What was the point of joining?

What I needed was Kim Hyejin's number.

"You have your phone on you?"

"Huh? Not right now… We're not allowed to use phones on the floor…."

I held out the smartphone already in my hand toward Hyejin.

"Then put your number in."

"…Huh?"

Hyejin looked flustered.

In a blink she scanned me from head to toe, clearly checking my face, my height, how much money I looked like I had (?).

And then, having failed her personal screening process, she issued the rejection notice.

"I'm so sorry! Exchanging contact information with customers is against store policy…! If you'd just sign up for membership…!"

Ah.

I was getting pissed.

This kind of script was familiar, too.

If I'd been some handsome guy, would she have clung to every little rule like this while turning me down? Fucking hell?

Hoo… I'd gotten worked up for a second there.

I tried to pull myself together and talk her around, but even that felt like too much effort, so I decided to just use the ability.

I tapped the [Not Contracted] sitting next to her tendencies on the Status Window—

and Hyejin's already-judgmental I've-seen-every-kind-of-weirdo eyes went even weirder.

"Um? Sir, what are you doing in midair?"

"Ah. Don't mind me."

The hologram window could be touched.

Only I could see it, so to anyone else it would have looked like I was poking empty air with my finger.

Poke, poke—

In a world crawling with every flavor of lunatic these days, this barely even registered as odd.

Anyway.

I hit Contract, then framed Kim Hyejin in the display.

The moment her tilting head slipped inside the Status Window's border—

That easy?

The contract was done.

The birth of Slave No. 1.

Four years of waiting.

And the longer I'd waited, the harder my cock throbbed at the thought of the masochist sex waiting ahead.

"Well then, sir… I have other customers to help, so if you'll excuse me…."

Kim Hyejin, trying to wrap up the interaction.

Not a chance. You're my slave now.

By the rules, a slave obeyed her master's words.

Not should obey. Not could obey.

Did obey.

Whatever I did, she would follow. No exceptions.

"Playing hard to get? Got a case of dokki-byeong or what?"

"…Excuse me!?"

"Shut up and type it in. Before I spin that yapping jaw of yours clean around."

A coercive tone.

Had I ever spoken like this in my life?

Without the ability, it would have been impossible.

…Fuck, that was charismatic.

In that moment—

there was no trace left of the old jjintta Bae Dosik.

Hyejin tried to force a smile, but shock—or maybe sheer absurdity—was wrestling with the muscles in her face.

"Haha…? You're quite the character, sir."

"I'll get even more fun. Put the number in. Before the ugly words start coming out."

"S-some people really don't like signing up for memberships, you know. Especially the gentlemen…! I should have asked first. I'm so sorry."

"Fucking…."

"Sir! I'll take the number myself!"

She clapped a hand over my mouth in a panic, snatched the phone, and typed her number in.

Tap, tap—

A buzz-buzz of vibration went off at the counter; Hyejin confirmed it and hit the end-call button.

The phone came back to me.

I checked the screen.

…A number that somehow mashed 69 and 74 together into something vulgar and unmistakably Iljin.

She was still on the clock, so for today, I would retreat here.

Even if she was a slave, I couldn't exactly drag her off mid-shift.

"Hm. Then give me a call when the men's products come in."

"…Yes! Take care!"

Kim Hyejin flashed a bright little bow and turned away.

She looked lighter, like she'd finally shrugged off something cumbersome.

…That was kind of king-bat-ne, wasn't it?

Hoo.

Since I was already at the department store, I wandered through the luxury floor.

The way to torment ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hyejin was sex.

As early as tonight, I could wash away the old humiliation in physical pleasure.

With an ability like this, I might as well go all out on the sex.

…Could I ever actually buy stuff like that luxury gear?

…Probably not.

No—wait. Among slave tendencies there was one where getting exploited was what made them feel at ease. If I picked up a rich slave, maybe I could buy things like that?

My head was spinning. Time to go home.

On the way out, Hyejin's counter came back into view. In a lull between customers, she was chatting with a coworker.

I kept her in my peripheral vision and pricked up my ears in her direction.

She spotted me, seemed to remember something, and pulled her phone from under the counter—tap, tap—tapping at the screen.

Saving the name, or—

…She wouldn't be blocking me, would she?

Who does a slave think she is….

The other employee beside her asked what had happened with that guy earlier—

"No idea. Guy's a freak, I think. Comes into a women's cosmetics counter asking for lotion to rub on his crotch…."

"Whoa. Is he a pervert?"

"Maybe? What do I even do… he got my number and everything…."

"Whoa. Stalker much?"

"Ugh, so annoying. Seriously. Why do only these jjintta-ass losers keep latching onto Kim Hyejin's life…!!"

The way she answered. That tone.

…Jjintta?

It was pure past-tense Kim Hyejin, not a single thing changed.

People really didn't change.

Fuck.

That evening.

For an introvert, going out was exhausting work.

After Hyejin's little performance at the end, I had no intention of giving her time to settle.

I almost fell for the friendly act. Like hell her true nature was going anywhere.

The second I got home I knocked out a solid nap and topped up my stamina.

And once the early evening had gone dusky, the place I headed for was an adult toy shop.

I planned to pick up a few items for teaching Hyejin a lesson.

Ding-dong—

A huge welcome chime blared as if celebrating my entrance.

And then, out of nowhere, a middle-aged man popped into existence.

"Welcome."

"Whoa, shit—you scared me!"

The sign outside had said unmanned.

There hadn't been anywhere a person could reasonably be hiding.

Then I noticed the display cabinet wobbling behind him—it doubled as the owner's break room and a door. A shockingly clever little setup.

"Goodness, customer. No need to jump like that."

"…It said unmanned. If I'd known someone was stationed here, I wouldn't have come."

Buying adult products was embarrassing enough on its own.

I'd planned to slip in like a ninja, grab only what I needed, and vanish. And now this.

I felt a tiny pang of regret that I hadn't at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠least worn a mask.

If it was going to be like this, I should have just ordered online!

I will say it again: I am an introvert.

"Nothing to be ashamed of. The ones who can't even own it are the real perverts, you know. I've been in this business ten years. The water my customers have spilled could fill the Han River."

"Uh…."

Was that… a good thing?

Ten years on the job made him basically a master craftsman of adult goods.

In murim terms, past first-rate and into the realm of Transformation.

I somehow felt like I'd stumbled on a hidden master of the wilds.

I almost cupped my fists in a martial salute without thinking.

"I want to enjoy myself with a bit of hitting involved…."

"Customer, you came to exactly the right place. Our shop specializes in sadism and masochism, you know. Bet you didn't know that."

"…Sorry? There are specialty shops for that?"

"Of course, of course."

A specialty shop.

Just the name made my heart race.

To think a place like this existed in the neighborhood—this was providence.

The owner started pulling products without a second of hesitation.

From what I could tell with my amateur eyes: a blindfold, a gag, a collar, handcuffs, ankle cuffs, rope, a whip, alligator clamps, a spatula, a vibrator (?), and more….

Tools spread across the whole table.

Just looking at them made my jaw drop.

"What is all this… I just pick, right?"

"You know how to use them?"

"…No?"

I'd come out with the lighthearted idea that I could just search it up, or check the Status Window's descriptions, and then start punishing her.

The hidden master of the wilds clicked his tongue.

"My, my. Fresh as a daisy, aren't you? Watch closely."

And then the owner's product demonstration began.

He stuck his ass out in a seductive pose—

Smack, smack—

and whipped his own backside while making an indecent face.

Apparently there were even specific points you were supposed to hit?

Then, with a lecherous look, he grabbed the alligator clamps, pulled over a pussy-shaped onahole, and started demonstrating.

Pinch— pinch—

"Like this… like this…! Like this!!"

"Ooooh…."

I was completely sucked into his method acting.

About thirty minutes of live demo.

The longer I watched, the more a slow heat rose in me—I wanted to put all of this to real use as soon as possible.

A thick bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

As he caught his breath, there was only one thing I could say.

"…I-I'll take them. All of it, please."

"Okay! Discounts coming in hot!"

Grin.

Leaving the owner and his tart little smile behind me, I called Hyejin.

From what I'd confirmed on social media—

the second she turned twenty, she'd started living alone?

Hyejin worked the morning shift, so by now she should be home from work—

Right now.

Her studio apartment.

I was heading out to occupy it.

.

.

.