Prejudice Against Masturbation
The toasted bread and the warm, gently steaming soup felt like a cozy embrace, momentarily coaxing Su-ryeon to forget yesterday's agony.
Though the bread was somewhat dry, to Su-ryeon, who hadn't eaten a proper meal since the day before, its savory flavor bloomed richly across her palate.
As the warm soup slid down her throat, her hollow stomach began to fill. It was a humble meal, yet it offered a small, precious solace to her exhausted body and mind.
It was then that Su-ryeon noticed Eun-hye tearing off a piece of bread and dipping it into her soup. When Eun-hye lifted the bread, the thick soup clung to it, stretching into viscous, thread-like strands before dripping back onto the plate.
In an instant, the memory of the semen-soaked bread she had been forced to eat the previous evening flashed through Su-ryeon's mind, sending a violent shiver down her spine.
The sticky, fishy taste that had lingered in her mouth seemed to coat her tongue all over again. Gasping for air, she gagged involuntarily.
"—Ugh—!"
At Su-ryeon's sudden retching, Eun-hye froze, her bread suspended in midair as she turned a startled, deeply concerned gaze toward her.
"What's wrong? Is your stomach upset?"
Flustered by her own involuntary reaction, Su-ryeon quickly bowed her head, offering an apology to Eun-hye and Ha-jin out of sheer embarrassment.
"I'm so sorry, everyone... especially while you're trying to eat. My stomach just turned all of a sudden..."
As Su-ryeon lifted her head after apologizing, her eyes fell upon the bread in Eun-hye's hand once more. Instantly, another wave of nausea surged. She clapped a hand over her mouth, barely managing to stifle the sound of another gag.
In that moment, Eun-hye realized that Su-ryeon was retching at the mere sight of the bread. Looking down at the piece in her own hand, Eun-hye's brow furrowed as a dark realization dawning on her.
"What did Baek Kang-ho make you eat for dinner last night? Don't tell me..."
Eun-hye couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. In the heavy silence that followed, Su-ryeon knew instantly what Eun-hye had deduced.
Reading the unspoken horror in Eun-hye's eyes, Su-ryeon gave a faint, miserable nod, silently confirming her friend's worst suspicions.
Her grim theory confirmed, Eun-hye set her bread down and let out a sharp sigh. A flash of resentment crossed her face, her eyes burning with a disgust she couldn't hide.
"Ugh, that bastard Baek Kang-ho! It's like he couldn't even wait a single day to subject you to his depravity! Did... did anything else happen?"
Knowing the Duke's nature, Eun-hye waited for Su-ryeon's response, her eyes filled with the grim certainty that he must have forced her into even viler acts.
At that moment, a shiver ran through Su-ryeon as she recalled Baek Kang-ho's touch in the Punishment Room. Yet, try as she might, she could not erase the memory of the exquisite, rapturous sensations her body had experienced.
Her mind rebelled against what her body had felt, and a hot flush of shame and humiliation dyed her cheeks crimson.
There was no way she could ever speak of it aloud. Burying the secret deep within her heart, she struggled to reassure Eun-hye.
"No... nothing else."
Eun-hye caught the faint tremor in Su-ryeon's voice and immediately sensed that she was hiding something.
However, not wanting to distress her further by prying into a truth she clearly wished to keep hidden, Eun-hye chose not to press any deeper.
Thus passed their second breakfast—a meal that had started with a semblance of warmth but ended in bitter discomfort. An ominous, unsettling energy hung in the air, signaling the start of a dark day.
Su-ryeon followed Eun-hye and Ha-jin down into the depths of the estate for their morning task: organizing the Underground Warehouse.
With every step down the stairs, the dark, gloomy atmosphere made her shudder. The flickering wall sconces they passed only heightened her tension, casting long, eerie shadows that seemed to amplify the oppressive aura of the basement.
A sharp, stinging pain flared in her calves with every single step, but she gritted her teeth, holding her breath to suppress the groans as she descended deeper into the subterranean dark.
Finally, a massive door loomed out of the heavy darkness. Eun-hye, who was leading the way, came to a halt. Before opening the door, she turned and handed Su-ryeon a clean white cloth she had brought along.
"Su-ryeon, this is the Underground Warehouse. It's going to be incredibly dusty inside, so cover your mouth with this."
"Yes, thank you."
Taking the cloth, Su-ryeon tied it over her face. She stared at the warehouse door with a mixture of dread and faint curiosity.
Eun-hye grasped the heavy handle and pushed with all her might. The old wood groaned with a sharp, grating creak, releasing a sudden gust of stale, stagnant air thick with the stench of mildew.
Su-ryeon instinctively raised her arm to shield her nose. The suffocating, pungent odor assaulted her senses, making her recoil in disgust.
She closed her eyes for a moment to endure the smell, then slowly opened them. The interior of the warehouse was swallowed in pitch-black darkness, rendering everything invisible.
Familiar with the layout even in the dark, Eun-hye reached out and flipped a switch. A bare bulb flickered to life, bathing the dusty warehouse in a warm, amber glow.
As the light filled the room, a horrifying sight met Su-ryeon's eyes. Dozens of insects that had been lurking in the dark began to scurry frantically, their tiny legs scratching against the floor as they fled the sudden illumination.
It happened in the blink of an eye, but the sight was so repulsive that it made Su-ryeon's skin crawl. Her body flinched violently at the sight of the writhing bugs, and a soft shriek escaped her lips.
"Ah! Insects!"
At her scream, both Eun-hye and Ha-jin turned to look at her. Faint, knowing smiles played on their lips.
Understanding that a former noble lady like Su-ryeon had never encountered such squalor, their expressions were sympathetic, yet their eyes carried a clear message: you must get used to this.
"If you make a fuss over mere bugs, how will you survive? You'll be dealing with things like this all the time now. You need to get used to it quickly."
Eun-hye spoke with deliberate firmness, wanting to help Su-ryeon adapt. Su-ryeon understood her intention, but mental preparation alone could not conquer her visceral disgust.
Even so, Su-ryeon steeled her resolve, trying her best to take Eun-hye's advice to heart.
"Yes, I understand."
Seeing Su-ryeon's body still stiff with tension despite her words, Eun-hye let out a bitter, pitying smile. Such was the reality of a Sex Slave. There was only so much comfort she could offer.
It was then.
A soft, furry sensation brushed against the toes of Su-ryeon's high-heeled sandals. At first, she thought it was just her imagination, but the moment she looked down to check, absolute terror seized her.
"Kyaaa! A rat!"
Forgetting the agony in her back and calves, Su-ryeon leaped into the air, desperate to escape the rodent. Her face drained of color instantly, her heart hammering against her ribs in a chaotic mix of physical pain and sheer panic.
Yet, to Eun-hye and Ha-jin, there was nothing novel about her reaction. The two women simply watched, entirely unfazed by the spectacle.
"Come on, let's clean this place up and get out. We need to hurry if we want to eat lunch."
Hearing Eun-hye's firm command, Su-ryeon took a deep breath despite her trembling limbs. Determined not to be a burden, she summoned her courage and threw herself into the work.
She began moving the heavy boxes scattered around the warehouse, enduring the throbbing pain. The raw wounds on her back and calves screamed with every movement, but she gritted her teeth and bore it.
To make matters worse, as she lifted one particularly worn box, the bottom suddenly gave way, spilling its contents across the dusty floor in a chaotic heap.
Startled, Su-ryeon bent down to gather the fallen items, but she froze instantly. Her breath caught in her throat, and her hand flew to her mouth in horror.
"Ah..."
Scattered before her were splintered switches, frayed whips, and worn, stained dildos. Each object was a grim, silent testament to the horrific suffering endured by the estate's Sex Slaves.
As Su-ryeon's face turned pale and her body began to shake, Eun-hye and Ha-jin immediately dropped what they were doing and rushed to her side.
While Eun-hye and Ha-jin quickly gathered the scattered torture devices on her behalf, Su-ryeon remained frozen to the spot. Eun-hye gently took Su-ryeon's trembling hand and spoke in a soothing voice.
"Su-ryeon, snap out of it. It's all cleaned up now."
At the warmth of her touch, Su-ryeon finally let out her held breath, looking up at Eun-hye with trembling eyes.
"I-I'm sorry, sister... I just got so scared..."
Eun-hye gave her a sympathetic look and gently patted her shoulder. But while Eun-hye was comforting her, Ha-jin was frantically rummaging through the broken box, her eyes searching for something specific.
Watching Ha-jin's hands grow increasingly frantic, Su-ryeon felt a strange sense of unease. A subtle tension filled the air as Ha-jin dug deeper and deeper into the bottom of the box.
Suddenly, Ha-jin's face lit up with a satisfied smile as she pulled something out, having apparently found what she wanted. But when Su-ryeon saw the object in Ha-jin's hand, she froze once more.
"Ha-jin... what... why did you pull that out?"
The object in Ha-jin's hand was a thick, realistic dildo molded in the shape of a man's erect penis. Dumbfounded and deeply unsettled by her intentions, Su-ryeon stared at her with wide, anxious eyes.
Yet, holding the vulgar object so casually, Ha-jin showed not a single shred of shame. If anything, she looked entirely unbothered—even proud. And the words that spilled from her mouth left Su-ryeon utterly speechless.
"To masturbate. There's only so much you can do with just your fingers."
Su-ryeon's jaw dropped at Ha-jin's blunt, shameless confession. Her voice shook, completely unable to comprehend the girl's reasoning.
"But... why would you want to masturbate...?"
Ha-jin looked calmly at Su-ryeon's bewildered face and began to explain her reasoning in her own quiet way.
To an outsider, her words might have sounded crude and depraved, but there was a profound, desperate sincerity shining in Ha-jin's eyes.
"To survive the torture and punishment in this place, you have to find a way to turn pain into pleasure. Masturbation is my way of enduring the agony. It's the only comfort I have left."
"Ah..."
Su-ryeon had always viewed such acts as dirty and shameful. While she couldn't fully bring herself to agree, a strange, creeping sense of understanding began to settle over her.
She remembered how, only last night, she had forced herself to harbor lewd thoughts just to escape the agonizing pain of her wounds. Perhaps her desperate mind had been seeking the exact same escape as Ha-jin.
In her confusion, Su-ryeon's trembling gaze locked with Eun-hye's. To her surprise, Eun-hye was nodding slowly, silently validating Ha-jin's words.
Seeing even Eun-hye agree, Su-ryeon felt the heavy weight of her own lifelong prejudices beginning to fracture.
But, still unready to fully embrace such a radical shift in perspective, her mind remained a chaotic swirl of confusion and doubt.
