Discovery: Part 1
Kim Il-woo was strolling through a bustling downtown street teeming with people, arm in arm with Lee Seo-yoon. Unlike the visibly delighted Kim Il-woo, she looked anxious, her eyes darting around vigilantly, as if terrified someone might spot her. She gripped her thick coat tightly, clutching it shut for fear it might gape open even slightly, leaving no room for exposure.
"Il-woo... let's just go home now, okay? Please?"
Lee Seo-yoon pleaded with him desperately to turn back, but he ignored her completely. Her throat parched from tension, she swallowed hard, and the red leather choker around her neck gleamed lewdly under the garish neon lights.
When Kim Il-woo had bought a choker as a gift for his date with Choi Ara, he'd secretly picked up an identical one in a different color for himself. And now, that very choker adorned the neck of Choi Ara's mother, Lee Seo-yoon.
It suits her perfectly.
Kim Il-woo stole sidelong glances at the uneasy woman, admiring the bright red choker on her neck. On the refined, elegant neck of a noble lady, the accessory's bold color and provocative design created a stark, jarring contrast. Even in the deep, late-night darkness, the lewdly shimmering red choker drew eyes from afar with its captivating allure.
After wandering the crowded streets like they were on a leisurely stroll, the two arrived at the entrance of an alley.
"Why here...?"
A narrow passage between buildings. It was a nostalgic shortcut young Kim Il-woo and Choi Ara had often used—and the horrific alley where Choi Ara had been raped not long ago.
Does she really not know?
Choi Ara had given a statement to the police as the victim, but Lee Seo-yoon had been too preoccupied caring for her daughter, whose condition worsened mid-statement. She knew she'd been passive in cooperating with the investigation, leaving it to the police, but it was still odd that she wouldn't even know where her daughter had been assaulted.
This place...
Lee Seo-yoon froze at the sight of the pitch-black alley, like an abyss. She knew fragments of what her daughter had endured, and even where the nightmare had happened. Terror and suspicion flickered in her eyes simultaneously.
"Why did you bring me here?"
Her voice sliced like a blade—sharp and ice-cold. The air around her sharpened to a razor edge, prickling the skin just from being near.
Kim Il-woo instantly sensed the dangerous aura radiating from her and quickly feigned ignorance.
She knows, after all. It'd be weirder if she didn't.
A bit rattled by her fiercer-than-expected reaction, he calmed himself and explained casually, sticking to the plan.
"Ara and I used this shortcut all the time as kids. Hardly anyone comes through, so it's perfect for fucking you outside, Seo-yoon."
To avoid seeming suspiciously innocent in this situation, he laid bare his base desires without restraint. As expected, disgust crept into her previously cold gaze. The seed of suspicion hadn't fully vanished, but loathing, rage, and humiliation—far stronger negative emotions—began to gnaw at her.
"You trash..."
"Your cunt's talking back again? What do you call me?"
Playing the oblivious scum who reveled in his filthy lust for her hidden ripe body, he acted as if he knew nothing of her doubts.
"...Master."
Lee Seo-yoon trembled with fury at his consistent, woman-devouring depravity.
Things have changed a lot thanks to the info from the future.
It was a risky notion that too much ease would spoil the fun, but he was the madman who'd raped his childhood friend. This level of thrill and danger was just the perfect spice for devouring Choi Ara.
She hasn't fully figured it out, so I'll just toss the bait as planned.
Hugging a woman who meekly accepted his lust was no fun. Fucking a completely broken, vulgar slut had its charm, but true savor came from slow, patient ripening. With this, he'd planted the seed of doubt in Lee Seo-yoon's heart: Could he be the trash who raped my daughter?
With mere suspicion but no proof, she'd have to satisfy his lust anyway. That tiny seed alone would surely erode her sturdy mind.
She might even get more proactive to dig out my secrets.
It was time for change—and the day to enact another plan to shatter her resilient spirit.
Will she break? Or hold out?
He was intrigued to see how this haughty noblewoman would react tonight. Would she fall completely into the trap of a man who might be her daughter's rapist, or cling to that seed of doubt and endure?
"Let's go in."
The endless abyss of an alley stretched before them, its thick darkness making it look like a one-way path from which no return was possible.
"What're you waiting for?"
Kim Il-woo stepped in first and called to her. Cloaked in shadow, his silhouette loomed more ominously than ever.
As if shoving Lee Seo-yoon away from entering, a sudden gust of wind howled through. Laden with musty dust and foul stench, it made her heavy steps hesitate even more.
"...I don't want to go in."
For the first time since their contract, Lee Seo-yoon mounted genuine resistance. She'd always grumbled and resisted in show, but ultimately obeyed. This was the first time she'd flatly refused and stuck to it.
Kim Il-woo hadn't expected her sudden stubbornness either; surprise and annoyance wafted from him thickly.
She's scared.
Lee Seo-yoon felt chills crawl up her spine. A strong premonition told her that stepping inside meant no coming back. She'd never trusted woman's intuition her whole life, but the disgust enveloping her now screamed for her to turn away.
"...Do whatever. Then our contract's over."
Kim Il-woo was flustered too, but he couldn't push her harder here. This was the site of Choi Ara's downfall—the thrill was high, but so was the risk. He drew a clean line: Come to me of your own will.
"..."
Lee Seo-yoon watched the man's back as he slowly vanished into the dark alley. Her instincts screamed to flee, but reason shoved her forward for her daughter's sake.
Thud.
One of her feet crossed into the shadows. It was too far to turn back now. Unwilling to let all her sacrifices for her daughter go to waste, she forced her reluctant legs onward into the alley.
"You came after all?"
In the darkness, only Kim Il-woo's eyes gleamed black with desire. His hand extended like an inescapable noose.
It touched the small ring at the center of her choker necklace—then a red leash clipped onto it.
"This is...?"
"A leash to control a bitch who won't listen."
Kim Il-woo yanked the leash lightly, as if walking his dog, and her body lurched forward.
"Eek?!"
Thud.
With a small cry, Lee Seo-yoon sprawled onto the filthy alley floor. Undeterred, he pulled harder, forcing her head up to look at him.
"A bitch wearing clothes? Strip."
Gazing up, his form was shrouded in darkness; only his eyes, glistening with lust, were visible. Under that calm, emotionless stare, she shuddered involuntarily.
Why...?
She'd been defiled countless times by this beast, feared him, cowered—but never like this. His eyes held a eerie stillness amid the base desire, unlike before.
As if entranced, she trembled and shed her thick coat. Beneath it lay scandalously skimpy lingerie, practically naked.
"..."
Even in the dark, the bright red lingerie glowed sensually. Against her exceptionally pale skin, the vivid hue burned even fiercer. The sheer mesh fabric was a sexy battle armor designed to tempt sanity away—if worn in the light, her intimate areas would be brazenly exposed.
"Let's go."
Kim Il-woo issued the quiet order without inflection. Ignoring her pitiful form quaking with shame and humiliation, he advanced slowly into the dark alley.
Something's off.
He'd always collided with her head-on, unleashing endless lust. Yet now, barely sparing a glance at her in lingerie, he walked ahead. The strange dissonance from him amplified her unease.
"..."
The two walked in silence through the pitch-black alley. The distant city noise felt unreal. With no light anywhere, her senses warped strangely.
Ah...
Suddenly, the bright red leash on her neck caught her eye—the sole light in the gloom. As she followed it down the alley, she noticed it sagging.
Kim Il-woo, ahead, had stopped.
"Il-woo? Why'd you stop?"
Despite knowing she should say "Master," terror gripped her; she called the only man she could rely on here with desperate longing. But no answer came.
Staring only at the leash, she sensed something wrong and jerked her head up—nothing. He was gone.
"Il-woo? W-where are you?!"
No reply; her lips quivered. Clutching the red leash as her guide, she shuffled forward on shaking legs. How far had she gone, following the lone beacon in the dark?
A fork...
The straight alley branched sideways, the red leash leading off there. Heart pounding like it would burst, she turned slowly toward it.
Then, like striking snakes, two long arms shot from the side path and snatched her.
"Ah...?!"
Unable to even scream, she let out a dazed gasp as she was dragged into the shadowy branch.
"Mmph...?! Mmmph...!"
Faint, muffled groans of a terrified woman leaked from beyond, but her cries for help sank into the darkness, vanishing unheard.
Soon, low, lewd slapping sounds of flesh on flesh began echoing through the dark alley.