The Man's Proposal (2)
The man continued speaking. “Tomorrow, Miss Ah-young will be taken to the courthouse for a ‘formal’ trial. There, they will verify the Brand of Livestock and confirm Lee Ah-young’s crimes and punishment.”
“Hic… Sob… Sob…”
Ah-young lay sprawled on the bare floor, on the cold ground. Her legs were spread wide in an awkward, exposed position. Unaware that she was displaying the pussy she had once fought so desperately to conceal, she wept uncontrollably, tears and snot streaming down her face. She felt the full force of the electric shock’s agony once again. Ah-young was in utter torment. The fact that she had been framed as a criminal, the fact that a single gesture from this man could summon horrific electric pain, and the fact that she had never once worn proper clothing in front of him, always left in some shameful state. Everything tormented her. Every single moment was nothing but despair, and those circumstances refused to let her tears stop.
Faced with such a pitiful woman, the man showed not the slightest hint of sympathy. He simply watched her with an expression of mild amusement. The man went on.
“Once the trial ends, criminals sentenced to the ‘Brand of Livestock’ will be transferred to a ‘Special Criminal Detention Center,’ where they will labor for the rest of their lives. They will endure prison conditions far harsher than ordinary facilities, living like livestock.”
Ah-young’s pupils trembled. Still sobbing on the ground, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her face was streaked with tears and mucus, her eyes red and swollen, eyelids puffy from crying. Her terror-filled gaze turned toward the man. As she sat, her pussy scraped against the sandy dirt. Ah-young didn’t even register the sensation of her most intimate flesh rubbing against the bare ground.
“Haah… Haah…”
The reality of being framed and branded with the Brand of Livestock as Lee Ah-young. She realized just how much more horrific her situation truly was. Spending the rest of my life locked in a detention center, doing nothing but hard labor. The thought made her heart hammer violently. Breathing in short, ragged gasps, she stared at the man’s face.
“However, there is another form of special punishment that does not involve the ‘Special Criminal Detention Center.’ It is the path of becoming a ‘Special Livestock’—living among ordinary citizens for the rest of your life while contributing to the state.”
“…”
“If the criminal voluntarily applies to become a ‘Special Livestock,’ they will not be sent to the detention center. They can live what appears to be an ordinary life within society. …Criminals bearing the ‘Brand of Livestock’ serve their sentences as convicts and prisoners, but those who become ‘Special Livestock’ become true ‘human livestock’ in every sense of the word.”
“Special… Livestock…? And… what do you mean by an ordinary life…?”
Ah-young’s lips quivered violently. Human livestock. She had never heard the phrase before. No words could have felt more viscerally wrong. The two terms—human and livestock—were utterly incompatible.
Ignoring her question, the man continued. “Miss Lee Ah-young. After the trial, you will tell the official in charge that you wish to volunteer for the special punishment of becoming a ‘Special Livestock.’ You will state that you want to contribute to society as a ‘human livestock.’”
“…”
“If you accept my proposal, exactly three years from now—on September 1st—I will clear every false charge against you.”
“…Pardon? Y-you’re serious?”
For the first time since her abduction, a glimmer of hope appeared on Ah-young’s face. The instinctive revulsion she felt toward the words “human livestock” vanished in an instant.
“Yes. Once you voluntarily apply for the special punishment of becoming a ‘human livestock,’ and after you have lived that life for exactly three years, I will erase all the false accusations against you. I will return you to your normal daily life. I give you my word.”
“I-I’ll do it! I accept the proposal!”
Ah-young, who might otherwise have lived the rest of her days as the worst kind of criminal, carrying false charges to her grave. Since her kidnapping, not a single ray of hope had appeared. In her crushing despair, this felt like the first beam of light breaking through.
“Very well, Miss Ah-young. Since you have decided to accept, there are several things you must know.”
“Yes, yes! I understand!”
“You must remember every word I say from this point forward. Do not forget. First, after tomorrow’s trial, inform the official that you are voluntarily applying to become a ‘Special Livestock’ and receive the special punishment. Tell them you wish to serve the nation in society rather than be confined to a detention center. If they question you further or issue warnings, emphasize that you fully understand the details and that this is a decision you have made of your own free will.”
“…Yes! I understand.”
“Maintain the stance that ‘this is what I want to do’ until the very end. Additionally, any criminal wishing to apply as ‘human livestock’ must memorize certain phrases before submitting their application.”
The man handed her a small, laminated sheet of paper. Ah-young accepted it with both hands. Several lines were written on it in small print.
“Read the sentences on that paper now and memorize them completely by tomorrow morning. The content is not difficult. Because Special Livestock must live in open society—unlike ordinary livestock—there are specific principles they must always keep in mind. That concludes my explanation of the proposal. If you accept and wish to clear your name after three years, remember and carry out exactly what I have told you. If you refuse my proposal… naturally, your false charges will never be lifted.”
“…Yes! I understand.”
It sounded less like a proposal and more like a threat, yet from Ah-young’s immediate perspective, it offered her no downside.
“Tomorrow morning, before we head to the courtroom, we will finish the remaining preparations. Sleep well.”
The man turned away from Ah-young, who still sat on the dirt floor, and entered the building. Left alone, she clutched the laminated paper and stared blankly after him. After a while, she stood and brushed the dirt from her pussy and the rest of her naked body.
“…Thank goodness…”
Any ordinary person hearing the man’s words might have questioned whether volunteering to become “human livestock” was truly safe. But such doubts never entered Ah-young’s mind. All she felt was relief.
Special Livestock is an additional punishment imposed on criminals whose crimes are deemed especially heinous. Unlike ordinary prisoners, they receive punishment with a distinct purpose.
Among those sentenced to the Brand of Livestock, the criminal judged to possess the greatest culpability is designated a Special Livestock by decision of the Supreme Court.
Unlike ordinary serious offenders branded with the Brand of Livestock, Special Livestock are not confined to detention centers. Instead, they reside in social institutions created for a special purpose.
Criminals receiving this additional punishment are branded on their right buttock with the Special Livestock mark in addition to the Brand of Livestock already seared onto their left buttock.
Those sentenced to this punishment must live the remainder of their lives in ordinary society alongside civilians, bearing the status of human livestock and contributing to society.
Special Livestock live as human livestock in the truest sense. Unlike ordinary livestock criminals who serve their sentences in closed facilities, the principle is that they receive punishment in open, public spaces.
Naturally, Ah-young had no knowledge of the detailed contents regarding Special Livestock.
In the dead of night, in the open yard. A stake had been driven into one corner. An iron chain fixed to that stake ran into a doghouse. Someone inside stirred awake.
Where am I…? Why am I lying in a place like this? What am I doing here? Could this still be a nightmare? Will I wake up in my own bed to the sound of my phone alarm?
All kinds of hopeful fantasies flickered through Lee Ah-young’s mind. She lay curled into a tight ball inside the cramped doghouse.
It’s so cold… Has summer already ended…? The day I was kidnapped was September 1st… so this must be the early morning of September 3rd.
It was not yet truly cold autumn weather, but Ah-young faced the predawn breeze almost completely naked. This kind of body was not suited for sleep without covering. She had no blanket. To fight the chill she curled her entire body as tightly as she could. The doghouse entrance had no door. It gaped wide open. The cold wind swept in, stroking her buttocks and back. The part of a woman’s body that should be warmest—her pussy—felt frozen inside, as if filled with icy air. No matter how she huddled, warmth would not come.
“…This… isn’t a dream, right…”
Ah-young whispered to herself. She had cried so much that it seemed she had no tears left. She could not fall back asleep. In this environment that was only to be expected, yet… since her abduction she had eaten nothing. The hunger she had not noticed yesterday amid misery and shame now crashed over her in the predawn hours.
This time she touched her left buttock. It still burned. How long would this brand continue to hurt…? She steadied her mind. Yes, the situation was despairing. Yes, it was unfair. But still… she had… hope left.
“Three years… If I can just endure three years… I can go back…”
Ah-young had lived a dazzling, perfect life. She had expected to continue living one. She had always been that flawless, that superior a woman. And yet she had fallen into the abyss. Inside that pit, however, a single rope of hope had been lowered. Of course the very person who had pushed her into despair was the one offering that rope, but Ah-young refused to dwell on it. She was simply grateful that she only needed to survive three years.
Relying on the faint moonlight, she read the text on the paper the man had given her once more.
Special Livestock obey the commands of all citizens.
Special Livestock are not treated as persons.
Special Livestock cannot refuse anything.
Memorizing it was not difficult. But it was absolutely not something she wanted to memorize.
The next morning. Without a word the man removed the collar from around Ah-young’s neck.
“Huk…? Th-thank you.”
The man led her into the building. Ah-young took a shower for the first time in days. When she emerged clean, the horrible cropped top was gone. In its place lay the dress, underwear, shoes—every article she had worn on the day of her abduction, September 1st. All her normal, pretty clothes.
Memories of her life before the kidnapping brought a bitter ache, yet among all the expressions she had worn since arriving here, this was the brightest. For a woman who had been forced to remain half-naked for days, simply putting on real clothes felt like pure happiness.
The man gave her a meal while she was properly dressed. For the first time, Ah-young was receiving human treatment from him. It might be the first and last such treatment, but… she had one final conversation with the man about their agreement. She would apply to become Special Livestock, and in three years he would clear her name. For Ah-young, it was a tolerable morning.
A prisoner transport vehicle arrived at the building. Ah-young boarded alone. Police officers cuffed her wrists. As the vehicle pulled away, she gazed out the window. The doghouse where she had lain. The place where she had suffered. All of it receded into the distance.
…She never wanted to see any of it again. If only her wrists were not bound in steel, it might have felt like she was finally going home.