Chapter 20
Chapter 20
-1-
"Apply it consistently every day until it heals."
"Thank you, Master."
He gives me a disease and then the cure; the bastard applied medicine to my nipples.
At that kindness and small favor, I felt a sudden warmth and gratitude before I could help myself.
Rather than feeling hatred for him having just inflicted the punishment, I felt a desire to do well in the future so I could keep feeling this warmth.
I shouldn't be thinking like this....
I don't know why I keep having these thoughts without meaning to.
Is this what Stockholm Syndrome is?
When I was outside, I thought that was all bullshit, but now that I'm actually facing it, I understood a little bit why such a term exists.
The thought of wanting to do well in the future to keep feeling this warmth.
In such an extreme situation, even a little bit of kindness felt much bigger than it actually was.
Don't let your guard down!
That bastard is a devil, he's a devil, a devil!
I repeated this to myself, trying to steady my weakening heart.
After all the corporal punishment was finished and he told me a few things to be careful about, he left the basement.
I knelt down, lowered my head, and greeted him as he left the basement.
"Ugh... Goodbye, Master."
The jewelry part of the nipple piercing I got today dangled and touched my thigh.
A groan escaped my lips at the unexpected pain.
Perhaps because I had just gotten the piercing today, my nipples were incredibly sore even when I just stayed still.
Moreover, if it bumped into something or got scratched like it just did, the pain was truly unimaginable, as if my nipples were being torn apart.
Every time I felt the pain, it reminded me that such a vulgar object was attached to my nipples, plunging me into an endless quagmire of shame.
Even though he had completely left the basement, I couldn't bring myself to lift my head out of shame.
'Ugh...'
Every time I stood up and walked, the piercing dangled, making me suffer from endless pain.
To stay as still as possible, I sat on a chair and tried to calm my mind.
What should I do about tomorrow?
A thought that occurred to me while sitting blankly in the chair.
I didn't know what kind of fate would befall me if I failed to satisfy him again tomorrow.
The nipple piercing alone was this terrible and painful, so I couldn't even imagine what it would be like to have such things attached to my clitoris or labia.
He might even bring in a punishment worse than the piercing. Because he was the kind of human who was capable of that and more.
This wasn't the time to be doing this.
I had to do whatever it took to satisfy him tomorrow.
I searched through the laptop to find plays he would like.
'Do I really have to do this too?'
'This is a bit...'
I even put the plays I had excluded yesterday while thinking this into the consideration list.
Face and shame were now secondary.
No matter how shameful or pride-crushing it was, I had to do it.
Otherwise, I would end up suffering even greater humiliation and corporal punishment like today....
Seeing how he did this to me last time, wouldn't this be his preference?
I pondered what play to do tomorrow, reflecting on the actions he had taken toward me so far.
It's a truly fucked-up reality, but worrying about what play to perform for him has now become my important daily routine.
"Haa~"
Once I decided what play to do tomorrow and had a little breathing room, a sigh escaped my lips at the situation I was in.
This narrow basement of about 20 pyeong.
The world is vast, but now my world was nothing more than this basement of about 20 pyeong.
Even when I lived in that wide world, I lived thinking the world revolved around me and that I was the protagonist.
But now, even in this cramped basement world that had become my everything, I was no longer the protagonist.
From morning until I go to sleep, my world now revolves around him, not me.
When I wake up in the morning, I wash, decorate, and groom myself for him, not for me.
When he comes, I greet him, get evaluated on my appearance, and start serving him.
When the service is over, I get evaluated and receive a reward or corporal punishment.
When he leaves, I write a Gratitude Diary, embellishing everything I did to him and everything he did to me as 'gratitude.'
Until I go to sleep, I have to keep worrying about what to do to please him tomorrow.
Finally, I read the Slave's Pledge to remind myself once again of my status as nothing more than a slave, and end the day.
This small world he created became my everything.
And the center of this world, which had become my everything, was him, not me.
The fact that I, who had lived thinking I was the protagonist of the world, could no longer be the protagonist even in this narrow space.
The fact that I had become a mere supporting character, no, not even a supporting character in a world where he is the protagonist. I had become nothing more than a mere plaything.
Those facts were so miserable and sad that they weighed down my heart like a rock.
I had vowed to somehow be strong and endure it.
I had vowed that I would really stop crying now.
In the face of the harsh reality, my tears didn't understand my heart and blurred my vision.
The vision blurred by tears felt like my future in this place, making me even more overwhelmed.
-2-
In a small, sealed room less than half the size of the basement where Minji was.
Taesu, whom Jihwan had kidnapped, was left tied up there.
'Please... just someone, anyone, come.'
When I first came to my senses in the room, I had thrashed about, screamed, cursed, and acted like a total lunatic.
But that kind of acting out only lasted 1-2 hours.
When there was no reaction at all, I got exhausted and collapsed on my own.
Having been left tied up for two days without food or water, I was almost at the point of total exhaustion.
He was a sturdy man, so that was why; if he had done this to Minji, she might have already fainted and collapsed.
Click.
As I heard the sound of the door opening, I squeezed out every last bit of strength I had, even in my semi-exhausted state, to lift my body up.
"Wh, who is it?"
Being in a place without a single ray of light, my eyes were dazzled when the door opened, so I couldn't yet identify the face of the person who kidnapped me.
"Don't you remember me?"
My vision gradually returned, and Taesu identified the face of the person who had kidnapped him.
"Ki, Kim Jihwan? You were the one who did this crazy thing?"
Perhaps because I hadn't been able to drink water for two days, my voice wasn't normal.
Perhaps because he was the ringleader who bullied him the most severely, unlike Minji, I remembered Jihwan's name exactly.
"Can't you grasp the situation?"
"You're out of your mind, cough, do you think you'll be safe after doing this?"
Even while clearing my throat because my neck hurt, I said everything I wanted to say.
"No wonder you two are a couple, your reaction is the same as Minji's."
"D...don't tell me, you kidnapped Minji too?"
Jihwan nodded.
"You crazy bastard, just try touching Minji, I'll kill you!"
My words were extremely harsh, but there was no strength in my voice, so it didn't feel scary like it used to.
"You, who even pissed your pants, look at your current state. Forget killing me, can you even lay a finger on me?"
"Crazy... what do you want? If you kidnapped me like this, you must want something."
My anger was rising to the top of my head, but like Jihwan said, I grasped the situation and held back my anger.
"What do you think I want?"
"Revenge? Don't tell me you're doing this just because I bullied you a little?"
Taesu was a person who didn't have an ounce of guilt for the actions he had committed.
"A little? If bullying me like that isn't a problem, then it's not a problem if I bully you a little right now, is it?"
"You idiot, what is this loser bastard saying? Is that the same as this? A man being so petty over something from when he was a kid."
"That's why you were bullied. You loser bastard!"
Having a hot-tempered personality, he eventually couldn't hold back his anger and poured out curses.
Cough, cough.
My throat was in such bad condition that I coughed after shouting.
It must be difficult just to talk, but seeing him shout and get angry like that, he certainly didn't have a normal personality.
He would rather die than apologize and bow his head to a loser bastard like that; it was something his pride could never tolerate.
"Wow~ As expected of the Ilseong High School boss. Yeah, it's fun only when you act like this. Let's see how long that attitude lasts."
"Since it doesn't look like you have any intention of apologizing, I'll be going for today."
After Jihwan teased him like that, he tried to leave the room, leaving him abandoned again.
"W...what about Minji? Where did you lock up Minji? You didn't kill her, did you?"
I was going to ask him to at least give me some water as he was just leaving, but because of my pride, I couldn't ask for water and instead asked about Minji's condition.
Seeing that he didn't surrender and put his pride first even in this situation, his pride and mental strength were certainly worth acknowledging.
"Don't worry, I was planning on having you meet her tomorrow anyway. I don't know if you'll be able to hold out until then, though."
Imagining what would happen tomorrow, a smile naturally spread across his face.
'I should have just kept my mouth shut.'
After Jihwan left and I was left alone in the dark room, regret set in.
I couldn't control my temper and got angry for no reason, which only made my throat hurt more and my thirst even worse.
'Let's definitely apologize when he comes next time.'
As my anger gradually subsided and I felt extreme thirst, regret washed over me for not being able to hold back my anger earlier.
No matter how important pride was, it wasn't more precious than my life.
Of course, given his hot-tempered personality, I didn't know what would happen if he got heated again.
After leaving Taesu abandoned again.
Jihwan left the house by car for the first time in a while.
It was to buy things that were missing among the items Minji requested, and to buy food and items to give her as a reward.
'I only pushed her too hard today.'
I had prepared it quite diligently, but in reality, I only gave her punishment.
To completely tame Minji, punishment was good, but it was necessary to mix in rewards appropriately.
That way, she would fear the punishment and work hard on her own to receive the reward.
There's a reason why the saying 'carrot and stick' exists.
Also, if I only push her too hard, she might mentally collapse completely and make an extreme choice.
I needed to consistently improve her life as a reward and inject hope into her to continue her life of confinement.
Also, if her own living environment improves through such rewards, she would try to work even harder on her own.
'Would this be enough?'
Jihwan stopped by an adult goods store and bought the necessary items.
'I can just order the rest online.'
The items Minji requested weren't all there. I planned to order the ones I couldn't buy online.
Including the food and items to give to Minji as a reward, I bought only what I could get immediately for the time being and returned.