22. Living Together
22. Living Together
22. Cohabitation
"Is a dog bowl mandatory too?"
"No, it isn't. However, even if it's just during times of punishment, you must use it."
Is there some kind of 'Slave Life Rulebook' or something?
I'd like to read it sometime.
"They say some slaves play the role of the Master-nim's lover. Of course, they aren't real lovers, but they eat at the table together and perform services like feeding the Master-nim."
"A lover-like slave... Are you envious?"
"No. We slaves don't have a choice, but that's the kind of slave I'd least like to be."
"Why?"
"It's really happy at first, but the ending is bad. Most of those Master-nims treat you really touchingly at the beginning, but just when you start to open your heart, they suddenly change and force you back to your original position as a slave. At first, the slaves feel betrayed or lost, but a moment later, they realize they were originally slaves and are in a position where they can't even have such feelings. That emptiness and agony are probably the hardest emotions a slave can feel."
"Since we slaves are always in a painful situation, we easily end up believing in the Master-nims just because they treat us a little well. From the moment we're dragged into the Organization and receive Conditioning, our hearts are already shattered. When a Master-nim reaches out a hand at such a time, they don't just look like a Prince Charming, but like a savior or a god. When the person who became my everything suddenly drops me into the abyss one day, I really lose even the strength to kill myself. Perhaps the mental Conditioning of slaves in the Organization has a part that's for the slaves' own sake."
Shin A-yeong, who talks about things she's heard through the grapevine, and Kim Hyeon-ah, who calmly tells her own story.
When Father accepted Kim Hyeon-ah as a substitute for Mother, did he treat her well by design from the start? Or did he realize Kim Hyeon-ah wasn't Mother while he was treating her well in Mother's place, and then drop her?
"Other cases end badly too. There are Master-nims who treat you really well, but then get bored at some point and, while they don't abuse you, they sell you off to another owner. They say Master-nims who are nice at first usually get bored of their slaves quickly."
"Sometimes, they treat you well at first because they don't know how to handle slaves, but then they see how other members of the Organization handle their slaves, or they get advice from a supervisor and think they've been deceived, and that's when the hell begins."
Whether she saw such slaves herself or was trained at the facility, she rattles off stories about other slaves and masters.
More importantly, isn't the story about a master who treats you well at first... about me?
"Please understand why we dare not readily accept the Master-nim's kindness. If you ever get bored of us, please dispose of us as you wish. We've already received more than enough mercy, and I no longer grieve over such things."
"It's fine if you treat us well now and then suddenly drop us like you did with Hyeon-ah omma. Just please don't abandon us."
"Wow... So your conclusion is that you don't trust me at all?"
"We are sorry. Master-nim."
"We are more afraid than we are grateful to the Master-nim. We're so afraid. The better the Master-nim is, the more afraid we are."
It seemed like Shin A-yeong said something like this when she first ate yesterday.
We've spent one day together now. To me, they are my first slaves, my first women, and my first cohabitants, but to them, I am just one of many men, someone they've only spent one night with, and one of the many people in the Organization with the qualifications of a Master.
Even if they feel my goodwill, feeling trust is a difficult story.
"Shut up. You bad bitches. You even took my virginity, yet you say you can't trust me? Once I reach the Chrysanthemum Rank, I'm going to dump you all. I'll dump you and buy new slaves who will trust me."
I intentionally spoke jokingly, afraid that responding seriously to stories related to their deep wounds would only hurt them more.
"We are sorry. We were too rude."
"We are sorry. We will believe the Master-nim's words."
Perhaps it wasn't a joke to them, as they apologize abruptly.
After spending the night together, they were talking a bit more comfortably, but now they are apologizing as urgently as when we first met.
"No. It's too late. As for the new slave, hmm... Should I get one with a great body who's shy? Or maybe one who's pretty and a bit lively..."
"Master-nim. If you purchase a new slave, we can be satisfied even as 'baby slaves'."
"'Baby slaves'?"
"It means the Master-nim sets the hierarchy, and we become slaves to the slave. If the Master-nim wishes, we will become her slaves."
Looks like they have all sorts of things.
"I don't need that. If it's a 'baby slave', isn't A-yeong the baby slave? Hyeon-ah's baby?"
I try to escape this atmosphere with a silly joke.
"Master-nim. Should we serve Hyeon-ah omma as our Master-nim?"
But it seems these two are still not in the mood for jokes.
"We will satisfy the Master-nim by showing you us receiving Conditioning, punishment, and performing service for Hyeon-ah omma."
"Master-nim. I will become A-yeong's baby slave. You will enjoy watching an old, ugly slave become a slave to a young slave. And it will be much better for A-yeong to serve the Master-nim directly."
"No, mother-daughter play is enough. I told you, I'm the kind of Master-nim who treats you well and then dumps you, so I have to do as I please. Anyway, what do you want for breakfast?"
"Master-nim, I have a request."
"Anything. Tell me. I can cook everything from Korean, Western, Japanese, to Southeast Asian food."
"That's not it, but the words you said earlier about abandoning us... you didn't mean them, right?"
"Even if I say I didn't mean it, you won't believe me. Just tell me the breakfast menu."
"Master-nim. I'm sorry. From now on, I will believe the Master-nim's words more than God's."
"I don't need that. Now I can't trust you. I'm going to buy a new slave later."
Knowing from my expression that I'm not serious, A-yeong hugs me.
"Master-nim. You have to use things carefully. They say you should use a used car roughly as your first car. We are used, but please use us carefully until the term ends."
A-yeong says with a bit of aegyo.
"Sounds like a used car that doesn't trust its owner and keeps setting off the anti-theft alarm?"
"Things that are broken can usually be fixed if you hit them."
Shin A-yeong wiggles her hips.
"Yes? Master-nim~"
"I don't know. Just tell me the breakfast menu."
"I want to eat Kimchi stew."
"I'm going to dump you later anyway, so I should at least feed you something delicious before I send you off. What if rumors spread that I'm a Master-nim who doesn't even feed his slaves properly?"
"Master-nim. You must not forget your first woman, Shin A-yeong."
"Yeah, I won't forget. I've decided. I'll call the pretty and kind new slave I buy 'Shin A-yeong'. I won't forget you."
"No, you already have that distant look in your eyes as if you've forgotten me?"
"She was a good woman... except for the fact that she couldn't trust me and liked poop."
"I don't like it!"
"I'll only do good things for the new slave that I couldn't do for A-yeong."
"No, I'm still here."
The atmosphere lightens as we exchange jokes.
"Shall I prepare the Kimchi stew? It's embarrassing, but I'm not very good at cooking."
"I know how to make simple things too, but..."
"No, I'll do it. Why would I settle for food made by someone who cooks worse than me?"
The two women are surprised by my words. They must have seen my skills yesterday.
"Master-nim. Can't we just eat animal feed?"
"What? Does my cooking look worse than animal feed?"
"No... It's just that your words about treating us well and then dumping us don't feel like a joke."
"Joke or not, cooking is a hobby."
I used to enjoy cooking while living alone, but after acquiring the Cooking Card, cooking is even more enjoyable.
"Hyeon-ah, you tell me what you want to eat too."
Kim Hyeon-ah finds the joking atmosphere more difficult than Shin A-yeong does. I ask Hyeon-ah, who hasn't said anything for a while.
"I like Kimchi stew too."
"No, we can't eat rice with just one stew. Tell me a side dish. Nothing that takes too long."
"If it's food made by the Master-nim, I will eat anything deliciously."
"Yeah. Okay. I'll buy two new slaves. The second slave will be a slightly older one who doesn't make the Master say the same thing twice. I'll name her Kim Hyeon-ah."
"I... I'm sorry."
"Kim Hyeon-ah... She was a good woman. She said she'd do anything, but when I actually asked, she couldn't even show aegyo, and she was a woman who couldn't even pick a side dish..."
I chatter on like I did with Shin A-yeong earlier.
"....Rolled omelet. I want to eat a rolled omelet. Not the sweet Japanese style, but the Korean style."
"Yeah. You should have said so sooner. Thanks to you, I ended up having to buy two new slaves. 3 billion has gone out."
"I'm sorry."
"Then, while I cook, you two clean the annex. For a while now, the three of us have to do all the housework."
"Yes, understood. Master-nim."
"Wash the bed sheets, mop the floors, and clean the open-air bath we were in yesterday."
"It feels like we've become housekeepers instead of sex slaves?"
"You have to do both from now on. Can't be helped. I'm Bamboo Rank in the Organization, and a Bamboo Shoot among them."
"I hope your rank goes up quickly. The Master-nim is not someone who should be at the bottom of the Organization."
"If my rank goes up, I'll be able to buy slaves, so it'll be a farewell, but... hmm. If Hyeon-ah wants, I'll try to get to the Chrysanthemum Rank quickly."
"I'm sorry. That was a slip of the tongue."
"Yeah. Stop with the useless talk and focus on the mountain of housework starting today. You were the ones who said you'd stay here. From now on, you have to take responsibility for the household. We are slave and master, but also man and woman, and cohabitants living in the same house. We'll do the housework together."
"Yes, understood."
"I'll work hard."
-You have acquired Emotion.-
At my words to take responsibility for the housework as cohabitants, they didn't say it to me, but they felt genuinely happy.
I left them in the annex and headed to the main building to show off my cooking skills.
Just as I writhed in pleasure yesterday even though I knew what was happening, today, I will make them writhe before my cooking, even though they know what's happening.
