Interlude: The Swamp (1) [Soyoung, Nayoon]
“No. Why are you like this?”
“Like what?”
Their voices were low and irritable, bouncing off the walls of the cramped studio apartment.
The blonde woman lay on the bed in her pajamas, half-buried under the blanket and facing the wall. The man stood beside the bed in nothing but his underwear, his expression nearly blank as he confronted her.
“You have to tell me what’s wrong if you want me to do anything about it. Is something going on?”
His questioning wasn’t specific. His pride as a male who’d just been denied sex was wounded, and he wasn’t used to having conversations like this.
“Nothing. I just don’t feel like it.”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t feel good.”
“…So tell me exactly where and how it hurts. So I can decide whether to take you to the hospital or not.”
It sounded more like an interrogation than concern. Nayoon answered irritably.
“Forget it. I’ll feel better if I just rest.”
“Shit… seriously.”
“……”
“Are you on your period?”
“…Ah, fuck. Why does everything have to be about my period with you?”
When Nayoon’s voice shifted from irritation to fury, the man’s face darkened as well.
“What? Fuck?”
“Yeah, fuck.”
“Is that how you talk to your boyfriend who’s worried about you?”
Nayoon suddenly exploded at those words.
“Wow. Fuck. His Highness the Boyfriend is personally worried about me. I’m so fucking sorry. Should I bow in gratitude or something?
I’ve covered for you more than ten times when you got wasted and couldn’t make it to class—begging seniors and classmates to lend you their notes. Am I your fucking attendance manager?
What the hell have you ever done for me? Every time we go to a café or anywhere, you just grope my ass and tits like a horny dog in heat.
You even forgot my birthday and went clubbing until you were completely smashed.
Do you have any idea how fucking disgusting it felt to get a call in the middle of the night, take a taxi, and drag your drunk ass home?”
“No, fuck! That was ages ago—why are you bringing that shit up again? That’s exactly why I’m worried about you right now. I was gonna go buy you medicine!”
“Ah, whatever. It’s not that bad. I’ll feel better after some sleep, so just go home today. I want to be alone.”
“…Call me later.”
“……”
Bang.
“Fuck… who the hell does he think he is, giving orders?”
Nayoon really did feel like absolute shit.
Everything had gone to hell ever since she met that woman.
Her Findom account was now flooded with mockery and sexual harassment. Her follower count had actually increased, but the flood of men desperate to meet her in person was anything but welcome.
After applying and taking the medicine that woman had given her, her body recovered quickly. She’d even gone straight to a motel with her boyfriend afterward, thinking she could return to a normal life and leave Findom behind.
That had been the plan.
“Feels good, doesn’t it?”
“So fucking good! Shit!”
“You’re especially into it today?”
“I don’t know. Just fuck me already!”
It was a lie.
She didn’t feel good at all.
Her jaw ached from sucking him off for so long, and she had to force out moans while he was inside her. She even needed more lube than usual.
“Oppa. Lube.”
“Oh, right.”
Her boyfriend, still wearing the condom, climbed onto the bed but hesitated, staring at the lube as if he wanted to go in with just her natural wetness. Nayoon felt a surge of irritation—wondering if she was dating a boyfriend or babysitting a child—but she swallowed it down and coaxed him like always.
“Oppa, they say sex with just natural lubrication is actually really hard. It only happens in porn, not real life. Don’t you see that when you look at me? Lube isn’t optional—it’s essential. If I gushed like they do in those videos, I’d get dehydrated.”
“No, I know. I didn’t say anything.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
It was strange.
That woman had raped her the first time they met.
Yet every part of it had felt natural.
The sex had been agonizing, but it hadn’t hurt in that way. At least, not that kind of pain.
Plus, the woman had said it was her first time using a strap-on. Even though it was her first time having sex with another woman, she’d quickly found Nayoon’s sensitive spots and ravaged her mercilessly.
In truth, the lube had completely dried up midway through.
It had been the first time Nayoon had sex using only her own fluids.
That fact gnawed at her mind every single day, wearing her down.
She tried to bury the memory by having sex with her boyfriend every day, but it was useless. If anything, his flaws only became more obvious.
And if someone asked whether her experience with that woman had been good—no matter how many times she looked back, the answer was absolutely not.
Rape. Assault. Torture. Humiliation.
A nightmare that made her shudder just thinking about it.
A woman she never wanted to see again.
Her actions and gaze held no interest or acknowledgment whatsoever.
Just thinking about it made her skin crawl.
Her looks were nearly perfect, but everything else was the worst.
Nayoon couldn’t understand why she’d climaxed so many times with a woman like that.
If that woman had been even slightly—just a single grain—kinder…
Then maybe—
“Fuck!”
What a ridiculous thought!
Nayoon kicked off the blanket and shot upright, only to let out a pained yelp when her tangled hair caught on the bed.
“Ow! Shit! Ah, seriously! Fuck! Everything’s fucked! Aaaagh!”
Suddenly, she wondered if it was because of some kind of drug.
A woman who had aphrodisiacs probably wouldn’t hesitate to use them.
But she couldn’t recall eating or being injected with anything before the rape, so she anxiously bit down on her lip.
“That can’t be it… She definitely… she definitely did something to me. There’s no way I’d be like this otherwise……”
Ever since that day, the more she had sex with her boyfriend, the more her body itched.
An unbearable itch gathered in her lower body, refusing to be relieved no matter what she did. It was driving her insane.
She even felt the urge to scratch herself raw with a ridged dildo until she bled, but she knew that wouldn’t satisfy the real craving.
This conviction hardened into certainty: it was all that woman’s doing.
The three million won that woman had left behind.
She couldn’t bring herself to spend it, so she’d hidden it away somewhere no one would find it. But its existence kept gnawing at her, making her restless.
The woman had told her to stay quiet for a week, but two weeks had passed with no contact. Now Nayoon lived in constant anxiety, never knowing when or where the call might come.
Before she knew it, she no longer had the mental space to care about her boyfriend, and today she’d even kicked him out.
Ding.
An awkward notification sound.
Nayoon hurriedly checked her phone.
There was only a single call emoji.
“Fuck… that crazy bitch……”
Ring… ring ring ring……
The call tone kept ringing.
Once. Twice… five times……
(What the hell, why isn’t she picking up?)
Just as Nayoon was growing anxious and irritated, a voice came through.
“Nayoon, it’s been a while. Have you been well?”
The voice was like an educated older sister speaking to a younger sister she’d been close with for a long time. It gave Nayoon chills.
“Why are you only calling now?”
“……”
“No… I was… waiting for your call……”
“……”
“S-sorry for speaking informally……”
“…Ah. Sorry. I was crossing the street. What were you saying?”
“……”
(Ah, shit……)
Nayoon felt embarrassed for having jumped to conclusions and gotten scared on her own. She pulled the phone away and cursed inwardly.
“Why did you call?”
“Just because. I suddenly wondered how you were doing, so I called. Are you managing okay?”
The casual question, as if she were a friend who’d moved far away, left Nayoon breathless with disbelief. Finally, she burst out.
“Am I managing okay? You’re asking me that? Because of you… because of you, I’m going through so much right now, and you’re asking me that? You know everything and you’re still doing this, aren’t you?”
“Hmm……”
“You lied about having an owner, didn’t you? You just wanted to torment someone like me, so you tricked me. Please just say that’s it. No— I did everything wrong, so please just leave me alone. My body feels weird. Ever since I met you, I feel like I’m dying a little more each day. Please undo whatever you did!”
“Undo it… how?”
“What do you mean, how?! You drugged me, didn’t you? Aphrodisiac, narcotics, something—you must have given me something!”
“So?”
“That! Shit…! So! Even when I masturbate, nothing helps—it just keeps itching!”
“…Don’t tell me you broke up with your boyfriend?”
Nayoon flinched at the woman’s words.
She hadn’t wanted to admit to this woman that sex with her boyfriend wasn’t enough, but it felt like she’d been caught red-handed.
“Why would you say that? We didn’t break up. We’re doing just fine.”
“Doing just fine… yet you’re complaining to me about your sexual frustration……”
“Shit! Did you call just to ask crap like that? Anyway, fix this for me!”
“Why should I?”
“What?”
“I don’t have any reason to do that for you.”
The woman’s voice remained calm, but her indifference was unmistakable.
Nayoon’s voice began to tremble.
“Y-you’re doing this to mess with me. I know it. You’re a lesbian. You’re treating me like a toy.”
“Ah… your effort to understand is admirable, though I’m tempted to say it’s different… but for now, incorrect.”
“What… do you mean……”
“A toy is a concept that presupposes both ‘ownership’ and ‘play.’ I have no intention of owning you, nor of playing with you. That fact won’t change in the future, so keep it in mind.”
Her calm yet emotionless voice chilled Nayoon more than the summer air ever could.
“What… then what the hell are you doing to me… What was that wallet and slave stuff last time?!”
“That was punishment to make you understand your place. I thought you’d be grateful I didn’t make you pay tribute, but you really are a bit slow.”
“Y-you……!”
For some reason, Nayoon felt irritated not just by the woman’s tone but by her choice of words, yet she couldn’t curse—only let out a whimper.
“Anyway, that’s a relief.”
“…What?”
Thud. Thud.
Small footsteps were drawing closer.
Nayoon somehow felt they were coming for her.
The moment the footsteps stopped in front of the door—
“Looks like coming here wasn’t a waste of time after all.”
The voice on the phone was now coming from outside the door.
“You said you wanted it fixed. Open the door.”
She had given the woman her address last time, but she’d never imagined she’d actually show up like this.
Caught off guard, Nayoon swallowed dryly and fell into thought.
(She won’t torment me like last time, right…? She doesn’t even have a reason to anymore. No matter how crazy she is, she wouldn’t go that far. Besides, giving back the money would probably put my mind at ease too… Shit.)
Creaaak……
When she opened the door, the woman strode inside without hesitation.
“Long time no see.”
“……”
“So… you said you wanted it fixed?”
“Yeah.”
“As it happens, I’ve got something that needs fixing too.”
“What… is it……”
“What do you think?”
Smack──!
Thud──!
Nayoon’s head snapped to the side before she collapsed to the floor, unable to withstand the impact.
“Last time you insulted me, and this time you’re questioning my very existence… What should I do with you?”
Even through the pain, Nayoon immediately remembered what the woman was referring to.
“You lied about having an owner, didn’t you?”
The words Nayoon had said during the call earlier.
“Ah, ugh… I, I, didn’t, mean. Ah. That……”
Nayoon was too dizzy to form proper sentences.
“I know. That wasn’t your intention.”
The woman—Soyoung—crouched down and looked at Nayoon.
“But my feelings say your words were fucking disgusting. When the listener can’t empathize, it means the speaker failed to communicate.”
“Ah, aah… aaaaah……”
“To elaborate…
As a functioning member of society, I have the capacity to empathize with you, but I don’t feel the need to, so I won’t.
As a bitch, I feel you shouldn’t be forgiven.
Don’t expect me to care about your sincerity or intentions in the first place. I’m not your boyfriend. Watch your own mouth. Don’t use speech that pisses people off and then demand they figure out your true meaning.”
Soyoung grabbed Nayoon by the hair as she continued to let out dazed whimpers and yanked her upright.
“I’ve heard parent insults from my sister before, but ‘do you even have an owner’ is a first. Congratulations. You took my first.”
Nayoon regretted opening the door. She wished she’d called the police instead.