Chapter 30
Chapter 30
-4-
Jihwan took the kidnapped Seolhee straight down to the Basement.
Since he had administered sleeping pills to keep her from waking up on the way, she hadn't regained consciousness yet.
"Fuck! Kim Jihwan, you son of a bitch, I said it was void! Why, why the fuck did you kidnap her!"
"I'm really going to kill you! I'm going to kill you!"
As soon as the Basement door opened and he saw Seolhee, Taesu lunged forward in a fit of rage.
Of course, because the Leash held him back, he couldn't get close to Jihwan.
Even though the Leash was pulled taut and must have been choking him, he glared at Jihwan as if to kill him and continued to spew profanities.
"Ah, you're fucking annoyingly loud, seriously."
Jihwan said that and walked slowly in front of Taesu.
"You fucking piece of shit! Let Seolhee go right now! I said let her go!"
As Jihwan approached, Taesu thrashed about even more crazily and screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Open your mouth one more time. I'll cut out your tongue so you can never speak again."
At Jihwan's words, Taesu fell silent for a moment.
No matter how angry he was, he couldn't afford to have his tongue cut out.
In his mind, Jihwan was the kind of person who would actually do it.
"You lost the Wager. Why are you acting up again? Just answer quietly."
Jihwan gave him a chance to respond to make sure they were on the same page.
"It's because you put the bug in there."
"We already settled that. I told you Minji put it in, didn't I? And in the first place, I never said I wouldn't put a bug in."
"Figures, 'keeping promises' my ass... You were planning to kidnap her anyway, weren't you? You son of a bitch."
"Isn't breaking promises your specialty? I'm pretty sure you broke the promises you made to me in high school over 100 times."
"I didn't break any promises, but even if I did, you're making such a huge deal out of it just because I broke one. Don't you think that's a bit hypocritical, even by your standards?"
Jihwan brought up the past and mocked Taesu.
"Th-that's different from this, you psycho."
"If you didn't like it, you should have held out. From now on, if you bring this up again, I'll just cut your tongue out. If you're curious whether I'll actually do it or not, go ahead and say something."
"..."
Taesu wanted to say more, but he couldn't.
No matter how angry he was, he couldn't risk getting his tongue cut out just to vent a few words.
Jihwan resolved the issue with Taesu and tied the still-unconscious Seolhee next to Minji.
Just like the day Minji first arrived here.
It was right across from Taesu, a position where he could most easily check on Taesu's condition from the front.
"Minji, since you listened well yesterday, I'll give you a special Reward."
As she had played a definite role in the Wager against Taesu, Jihwan had prepared a Reward fitting for it.
"Really? Thank you. Master."
Minji had been feeling quite uneasy and bad after fighting with Taesu.
At the mention of a Reward, Minji found herself feeling better without even realizing it.
Compared to the beginning, when she felt repulsed and ashamed by the very act of receiving such a Reward, she had certainly become well-tamed to Jihwan and life here.
In this cramped Basement filled only with negative emotions like depression, pain, and anger, it was only natural, as the only times Minji could feel happiness were when she received the Reward from Jihwan and when she reached a Climax.
"I'll take off the Leash for a while. You're free to move around inside this Basement now."
Jihwan said as he unhooked the Leash.
He had already shown what would happen if she talked to Taesu, and since their relationship had soured as much as it could, he judged there was no great danger in letting her go.
"R-really? Thank you. Master. Thank you so much."
The Dog Collar was still there, but the mere fact that the Leash was off gave Minji a sense of liberation as if she were flying.
"Right, now that you can move freely in the Basement, you'll be in charge of managing this Basement from now on."
Because Minji had been well-tamed and was certainly obedient, he judged that letting her go this much wouldn't be a problem.
And to carry out what he had in mind for the future, Minji's freedom had to be guaranteed to some extent.
"Yes, thank you. Master. I'll manage it well."
Minji was genuinely happy and grateful for the fact that the Leash was off.
"And this is the food I'm giving you as a Reward. I bought plenty, so you can eat it slowly and save some. Since the Leash is off, I'll allow you to sit at the desk and eat with your hands."
"R-really? Thank you so much. Master. I'll work really hard."
Minji wondered for a moment if this was a dream due to the sudden ultra-luxurious treatment.
Just the fact that the Leash was off and she could sit down to eat made a difference in her quality of life that was almost like the difference between heaven and hell.
'It's about time I gave her some Rewards.'
The fear of Corporal punishment was already deeply ingrained in her bones.
If, until now, fear had forced her to follow Jihwan with the Whip, now he needed to loosen the reins a bit and make Minji follow him voluntarily for the sake of the Reward.
'This way, their relationship will drift even further apart.'
All of this was gained by hindering Taesu and standing on Jihwan's side.
Since Taesu was watching all of this, just seeing this alone would inevitably make their relationship even worse.
'Crazy bitch, how long has she even been here... Is she really Minji?'
Seeing the girl who used to be indifferent even when she got a luxury bag as a gift after selling her boyfriend out, now happy over something like that, Taesu felt his insides burning with rage.
"And there's one thing I want you to do."
"Yes, just tell me. What is it, Master?"
Minji was overflowing with motivation due to the all-time high Reward.
'If I just do this, what can't I do?'
Either way, she had no choice but to do what he told her, even if she didn't want to.
If she didn't, the fear of Corporal punishment awaited her.
Since she had to do it anyway, and she realized that working hard could change her standard of living here, she couldn't help but be motivated.
Somewhere along the line, the repulsion and shame regarding receiving Rewards from Jihwan had disappeared from her heart.
"From now on, you'll be in charge of Seolhee's training."
"Seolhee's training?"
Minji asked back, not knowing what she was supposed to train.
"Yes, you just have to teach Seolhee everything you've learned from me here."
There were two main reasons why Jihwan wasn't training Seolhee directly.
First, she wasn't his direct target of revenge, so he was reluctant to lay a hand on her himself.
Second, by entrusting Seolhee's training to Minji, he wanted to ensure the two of them would never become close here.
"Whether you coax her with words or teach her by hitting her, I don't care. However, if Seolhee makes a mistake, it means you taught her wrong, so you, Minji, will be punished instead."
"Yes, Master. I'll try to teach her well."
At the mention that she would be punished instead, Minji's earlier motivation vanished, and she became dejected.
The pain of the Corporal punishment Jihwan gave was terrible just to imagine.
"Of course, if you teach her well, I'll naturally give you a sufficient Reward like I did today. You can't live in this Basement forever, can you?"
"Yes, I'll teach her hard! Master."
Jihwan gave Minji a small glimmer of hope.
The hope that she could escape this hellish Basement and lead a better life.
Without hope, one cannot endure in despair and pain, but with hope, one can endure no matter how hard it is.
When she was first kidnapped, Minji's hope was to somehow create an opportunity to escape this place.
But as time went by, the hope she had created for herself was slowly broken by fear and despair.
And in that broken place, it was gradually being replaced not by the hope Minji had created herself, but by the hope Jihwan was creating for her.
"Then, I'll be going now. Teach her well, and today, just do what you need to do and get some good rest."
Jihwan left the Basement after giving her some additional instructions.
As for the instructions, there was nothing special; they were just very obvious things.
Do not interact with Taesu, and do not provide food to Taesu and Seolhee at will.
Do not do anything foolish trying to escape just because she could move freely.
That was about it.
It was a generous amount of free time for the first time in a while.
'Ha... how am I supposed to teach her?'
Although she had answered Jihwan confidently, Minji's heart was actually filled with worry.
In a situation where she had been suddenly kidnapped, she didn't think Seolhee would obediently follow her just by being coaxed with words.
'Besides, she has Androphobia...'
Seolhee had Androphobia.
A phobia caused by her father who used to commit domestic violence.
The only man in the world she didn't loathe was her brother, Taesu.
It would be a relief if Seolhee, who had Androphobia, didn't have a seizure, let alone follow Jihwan's orders.
'But I can't force her by hitting her either...'
If they were complete strangers, she would have used Corporal punishment to force her to do it, just as Jihwan had done to her, but since they already had a significant relationship, she didn't feel right about forcing Seolhee to learn through Corporal punishment.
Since she would be the one getting punished if she didn't teach her properly, she had to teach her somehow.
It was a generous amount of free time she had gained for the first time in a while, but she couldn't even rest comfortably, and her worries and concerns about how to teach Seolhee only deepened.