A Sensual Choice to Dull the Pain
"Crack—!"
"Aaaagh! F-forty! M-more... harder... please... I b-beg..."
"Crack—!"
"Aaaagh! F-forty-one! M-more... har... please... I b-beg..."
The Punishment Room was filled with the sharp, rupturing cracks of the cane striking Su-ryeon's calves, punctuated by her agonizing screams.
Su-ryeon found herself actually longing for the stinging shock of the very first strikes. Back then, it had been a mere surface pain, but now, it had mutated into the agonizing sensation of her flesh being torn apart.
"Crack—!"
"Aaaagh! F-forty-five! More... harder... please... I beg... of you..."
Each time the cane lashed down onto her already bruised, purplish-black, and split calves, her flesh quivered violently, sending a searing white-hot agony straight to her bones. The cruelty of the blows landing directly on her open wounds was absolute. The pain gouged through her torn skin, burrowing deeper and deeper until it rattled her brain with a numbing shock, causing her entire body to convulse.
"Crack—!"
"Aaaagh! F-forty-six! More... harder... p-please... I b-beg..."
The cane continued to rain down on wounds so raw that even a gentle breeze would have stung. This was no longer mere discipline. Her battered flesh had long since passed the point of endurance; with every strike, it felt as though the muscle beneath was being shredded and torn away from the bone.
"Craaaack—!"
"Nnngh! Fifty! Th-thank... you... M-master..."
The final strike brought a pain so excruciating it felt as if shards of shattered glass were being ground into her open wounds. Yet, as hellish as the relentless lashing of her calves had been, an even more terrifying nightmare lay in wait. Next was the whip, and it was to be unleashed upon her back—which had already been hacked to ribbons just yesterday.
"Slash—!"
"Haaah! One! More... harder... please... I beg..."
The moment the first lash struck her back, her body spasmed. As the leather bit into her already split flesh, the edges of her old wounds tore wide open once more. Rupturing blood vessels and scraping raw nerves, a wave of agony surged across her entire back like a violent electric shock.
"Slash—!"
As the second blow landed, the sensation of her flesh being ripped away vibrated through her entire being. Fresh crimson lines were painted over her existing wounds. This was on a completely different level of agony. It was no longer a matter of merely enduring a whipping; it was the systematic destruction of a body that was already broken.
"Ngh! Two! More... harder... p-please... I beg..."
Though Su-ryeon's voice barely managed to squeeze out, Baek Kang-ho's whip remained utterly merciless. He rained blows down upon her small, fragile back without a moment's pause. Su-ryeon felt as though her entire back had been reduced to shredded meat. With every pass of the whip, she felt her tattered flesh peeling away. This was no longer a beating; it was pure torture.
Baek Kang-ho continued for what felt like an eternity, carving agony into Su-ryeon's back with his whip. The Punishment Room echoed with the relentless cracks of leather and her desperate shrieks, her consciousness gradually slipping away amidst the din. But finally, a glimmer of an end to this horrific torment began to appear.
"Craaaack—!"
In that instant, something hot and sticky cascaded down her back. There was no sense of relief that the final lash had landed. Her back was completely drenched in blood, her skin so utterly shredded that it was impossible to tell where one wound ended and another began. Clinging to the absolute fringes of her consciousness, she counted the final number and whispered her last required words.
"Fifty... Th-thank you... M-master..."
The bloodstains left on the punishment rack were vivid, bearing silent witness to the horrific ordeal she had just endured. They were the physical traces of Su-ryeon's agony, a grim record of the savage cruelty enacted within these walls. Her body hung limp, having long since bypassed its limits, as if it could no longer register any further pain. Yet, the crushing reality that she would have to repeat this exact same torment tomorrow weighed down on her like an inescapable, eternal prison.
Su-ryeon dragged herself down the estate's long corridor. Every single step she took sent a fresh jolt of agony through her, causing her to stagger unsteadily. The agonizing strain of her high-heeled sandals put even more pressure on her shredded calves, and the vicious pain bound her ankles like heavy iron chains, dragging her down with every movement.
"Ugh... ah..."
Her body had long passed its breaking point, but she forced her feet forward through her whimpers, barely managing to reach her room. The moment she grasped the handle and pushed the door open, Eun-hye and Ha-jin—who had been waiting in anxious suspense—rushed toward her as if they had been standing guard by the entrance.
"Su-ryeon! Are you alright?!"
"..."
Su-ryeon didn't even have the strength to squeeze out a reply. Leaning heavily on Eun-hye for support, she was slowly guided over to her bed. She collapsed onto the mattress like a hollow shell, her consciousness teetering on the very edge as her battered, exhausted body sank into the sheets.
Eun-hye's brow furrowed in grim expectation as she took in the sight of the deeper, far more severe wounds marring Su-ryeon's back and calves. Knowing Baek Kang-ho's sheer sadism, she had fully expected him to strike her directly over her existing injuries. She could only begin to imagine the despairing depth of the agony Su-ryeon had endured. Gently stroking Su-ryeon's hair with her fingertips, Eun-hye whispered softly.
"It hurt so much, didn't it? You did so well to endure it, Su-ryeon."
"Mmm... ah..."
But even in the face of such comfort, Su-ryeon lacked the strength to speak. She could only let out weak, shallow groans as she lay motionless. At that moment, Ha-jin, who had already prepared a basin, carefully lifted a towel soaked in ice-cold water and gently laid it over Su-ryeon's burning, tortured skin.
"Haaah... haaah..."
As the icy shock of the towel met Su-ryeon's feverish skin, her body flinched instinctively, but she could do nothing more than exhale ragged, painful breaths.
"Unni, please bear with it just a little longer."
At Ha-jin's tender touch, a faint shimmer of moisture gathered in Su-ryeon's eyes. A single, silent tear traced its way down her cheek, speaking volumes for the unspeakable agony she had just survived.
Deep into the night, Eun-hye and Ha-jin remained by her side, tending to her wounds with absolute devotion to ease her suffering. Perhaps their efforts had borne fruit, for Su-ryeon's expression eventually softened as the throbbing pain subsided, and she drifted into a peaceful, quiet slumber. Seeing this, Eun-hye looked down at her sleeping face with profound pity, gently brushing a stray lock of hair from her forehead.
"You've suffered so much, Cheon Su-ryeon..."
Meanwhile, Ha-jin tirelessly continued to apply the cold compresses to Su-ryeon's wounds even as she slept. She still firmly believed that Su-ryeon was enduring this brutal punishment solely because of her, and she refused to stop her care. Ha-jin's eyes were heavy with crushing guilt.
Staring at Su-ryeon's once-flawless, beautiful calves, now lumpy and disfigured with horrific scars and swelling, Ha-jin let out a heavy, trembling sigh. Unable to contain it any longer, she finally poured her heart out to Eun-hye.
"It's all because of me. If Su-ryeon unni hadn't given me that Recovery Herb... I wouldn't have to watch her suffer like this. I wish it were me up there instead..."
Eun-hye placed a gentle, comforting hand on Ha-jin's trembling shoulder, trying to ease the heavy burden of her guilt.
"Su-ryeon felt the exact same way you do. How could she have just stood by and watched you suffer in such agony?"
"But still... even so..."
Even with Eun-hye's comforting words, Ha-jin's heart remained leaden. Sensing her lingering despair, Eun-hye patted her shoulder gently and continued in a soft, soothing tone.
"If your positions were reversed, Ha-jin... would you have withheld the Recovery Herb from her?"
Ha-jin bit her lower lip, falling into a pensive silence. When she looked at it from that perspective, she knew deep down that she would have made the exact same choice to save Su-ryeon. The realization made her chest tighten with a bittersweet ache.
"...I think... I would have given it to her too."
"Exactly. So please, don't blame yourself."
"..."
Ha-jin silently gazed down at the sleeping Su-ryeon's wounds, her eyes still swimming with sorrow. Though the guilt and pain hadn't entirely vanished, she gently wiped the cold sweat from Su-ryeon's forehead with a tender hand, as if trying to repay her kindness in some small way. Then, she carefully adjusted the damp towel resting on Su-ryeon's back.
The horrific marks of torture carved into Su-ryeon's flesh held Ha-jin's gaze, deepening her distress. The looming dread of the punishments that were yet to come pressed down on her chest like a physical weight. Lowering her voice to a bare whisper so as not to wake the sleeping woman, she spoke.
"Eun-hye unni... knowing Baek Kang-ho, he's going to whip her right over these wounds again tomorrow, isn't he?"
It was a horrifying thought, but because they both knew Baek Kang-ho was a monster fully capable of such depravity, Eun-hye's expression hardened into a grim mask.
"...I pray that won't be the case, but... *sigh*..."
Eun-hye's heavy sigh only caused Ha-jin's eyes to tremble with heightened anxiety and dread.
"Will Su-ryeon unni even be able to survive it? I wish there was some way... any way we could help make it hurt less..."
At Ha-jin's words, Eun-hye's eyes suddenly went wide as a realization struck her.
"Ah! Of course!"
Hearing the sudden spark of hope in Eun-hye's voice, Ha-jin looked up at her with a flicker of anticipation.
"What is it, unni? Do you have an idea?"
However, the brief spark of excitement quickly faded, replaced by a look of deep discomfort on Eun-hye's face. Is this really the right thing to do? The troubling question echoed relentlessly in her mind.
"...But... I don't know if this is actually a good idea. And I highly doubt Su-ryeon would ever agree to it..."
"What is it? Unni, please, just tell me."
Despite Ha-jin's urging, Eun-hye hesitated, the words catching in her throat. After a long moment of internal conflict, she let out a heavy breath and looked at Ha-jin with a deeply conflicted expression. Finally, she spoke in a hushed, cautious tone.
"...I have a highly potent Aphrodisiac. Just a single pill is enough to plunge the entire body into a state of overwhelming sexual arousal. If she undergoes her punishment in that state... the pain might actually be perceived as pleasure."
"...Ah... Where on earth did you get something like that?"
"Where I got it doesn't matter right now. The real issue is whether Su-ryeon would ever consent to this. I don't think she would ever willingly take it..."
Hearing Eun-hye's concern, Ha-jin fell into the same dilemma. If it were her, she would have swallowed the pill without a second thought to escape the agony, but Su-ryeon's noble pride made it highly unlikely she would ever accept such a method. Yet, on the other hand, Ha-jin realized this was no time for hesitation. By any means necessary, they had to make sure she took the Aphrodisiac.
"You're right, unni. Su-ryeon unni would never agree to this. It breaks my heart to say this, but... we have to slip it to her secretly. It's the only way she'll survive."
Eun-hye understood exactly what Ha-jin was proposing, but the thought of drugging her friend in secret left a bitter taste in her mouth. As Eun-hye wavered, torn by the moral weight of the decision, Ha-jin spoke up with fierce determination in her eyes.
"I'll take the blame for slipping it to her. Knowing Su-ryeon unni's kind heart, even if she finds out later, she will definitely understand why we did it."
Eun-hye weighed the options and realized Ha-jin was right. If it's Su-ryeon, she will surely understand. Meeting Ha-jin's resolute gaze, Eun-hye slowly nodded, silently giving her consent to the desperate plan.