You Eat from a Dog Bowl
When she came to, the ceiling above her was not the one she knew. Something cold and hard pressed against her back. Yoo Jimin forced her heavy eyelids open and found herself in a cramped, suffocating space, boxed in on every side by gray metal.
The walls, the ceiling, the floor — all of it cold steel plate. No windows. Only a faint electric bulb held the darkness at bay. Where was this? There was no place like this in her house...
Had she been kidnapped? Or... that bastard...
Even through the confusion, her last memories crawled back to the surface. Lee Dongwoo. The slave contract. And... the burning brand stamped onto her lower belly. The thought hit her like a jolt, and she jerked her head down to look at her stomach.
She was still dressed, but something had definitely been carved into her... hadn't it? Yet the bare skin of her lower abdomen was as smooth as it had always been. No scar. Not even a flush of red. What? Had it been a dream? No — that pain, that strange sensation, had been far too vivid.
And then a heavy metallic click cut through the silence. The door swung open, and a familiar silhouette stepped inside. Lee Dongwoo. Arms folded across his chest, he looked down at Yoo Jimin — bewildered, trapped in this alien space — and let out a short, mocking snort.
"You're awake?"
He sounded as casual as if he'd just walked into his own bedroom.
"Where the hell am I?! What did you do to me?! What was that thing earlier?!"
The words tore out of her before she could stop them — and in the same breath, the memory of that hot, indecent sensation in her belly surged back. The mark... something had definitely been branded there. But her eyes confirmed it. There was nothing on her stomach.
"...?"
She frowned, baffled. Dongwoo looked amused. He flicked his fingers again.
Snap.
"Aaah!"
In that instant, a heat incomparable to anything before bloomed across the skin of her lower belly, and something rose into sharp, vivid relief. An intricate, obscene pattern — a womb-shaped tattoo, glowing with a wicked intermingling of pink and black. It showed clearly even through her clothes, pulsing faintly, as if it were alive.
"W-what is this?! What did you do to my body, you crazy bastard?!"
Yoo Jimin's scream, thick with terror and revulsion, sliced through the steel chamber. This was no dream. This was irrefutable proof that something irreversible had been done to her.
A brand that had been invisible, now blazing into existence at a single gesture of his hand. This was no ordinary tattoo.
"I'm asking you what this is! What did you do to my body?!"
Her sharp scream bounced hollowly off the cold iron walls. The pink brand glowing on her lower belly pulsed with a sick, ominous light, feeding her terror.
Dongwoo stood with his arms crossed, looking down at her the way a scientist might observe an interesting experimental result. A sneer still hung at the corner of his mouth.
"Simple. I carved the Womb Tattoo of Obedience into that body of yours."
He explained it as if it were nothing at all.
"From now on, whether you want to or not, you'll have no choice but to obey my commands. Purely. Completely. Because that body of yours is going to react that way."
"What...? Obey...? What kind of bullshit is that, you fucker!"
Yoo Jimin shrieked, unable to believe a word of it. A tattoo on your skin and suddenly you get mind-controlled? Was that even a thing people said out loud? This had to be a bluff — a cheap scare tactic. She wanted, desperately, to believe that.
"Haa..."
Dongwoo let out a theatrical sigh.
"You really don't listen. Well. You'll understand once you feel it yourself."
He flicked his fingers again.
Snap.
Instantly the mark carved into Yoo Jimin's belly erupted with a pink radiance far more violent than before. The light punched through the fabric of her clothes and faintly stained the air around her. At the same time, her body began to jerk and twitch beyond her control.
"Hngh...?! Ughk...!"
A current-like jolt ripped through every nerve. Her muscles seized and shuddered of their own accord. Her mind went white. Her body slipped entirely beyond her reach.
A nauseating heat surged up from between her thighs. Clear saliva beaded at the corner of her mouth and dripped, entirely against her will.
"Hey... hey, you son of a bitch! You... what the hell did you... what did you do to me! Ah—!"
Before she could finish, another violent spasm tore a scream-like moan from her throat. Her whole body shuddered. Her vision blurred. This was no threat. No joke. And in the same instant, her legs gave out beneath her.
Lee Dongwoo looked down without expression at Yoo Jimin, slumped on the floor, gasping for breath. A faint tremor still ran through her, the aftershock of the mark that had just wracked her body.
The pink brand on her belly had faded again, invisible to the naked eye — but its presence was vivid to them both.
His voice was cold and flat, as if he were simply stating a fact.
"Let's get along, Uni."
The last form of address dripped with open mockery and contempt.
"Kh... why... why only me...?"
Yoo Jimin managed to lift her head and glare at him. Even through the fear, a raw sense of injustice boiled up. Yes, she had bullied him. But she hadn't been the ringleader.
"There were plenty of other bitches who messed with you! Honestly... Lee Jihyun and Han Seoyeon, those two sluts — they tortured you way worse than I ever did! Didn't they?!"
A desperate cry. She did not want to bear this pain alone. An instinctive, thrashing attempt to spread the blame.
"I know."
Dongwoo answered with complete, unbothered calm. The reaction left her speechless.
"Lee Jihyun. Han Seoyeon. You think I'd forget those names?"
His eyes flashed, suddenly chilling.
"Of course I'm bringing them all here. One by one."
He glanced around the unfamiliar steel room as he went on.
"Thanks to you, space won't be a problem. You made decent money streaming, huh? This house is pretty big. Perfect for a prison."
He was going to catch the others too? And use this house as a prison? The moment she heard that, Yoo Jimin felt — ironically — the faintest flicker of relief. She wouldn't be alone. Even if it was hell, she would have company falling with her. And more importantly...
That's right. I just need that bastard to leave to go after the others.
Her mind started racing. She didn't know how soundproof this steel room was, but if she could just get outside... She would wait for an opening and scream. Scream her lungs out until someone heard. Then this insane situation would...
Even as she plotted her escape, she made a show of nodding. For now, she had to play as groveling and obedient as possible. That was how the opportunity would come. And then—
"Still..."
Dongwoo murmured, almost to himself. He rubbed his chin, looking down at Yoo Jimin on the floor with a meaningful glint in his eye.
"If you vanish from your streams overnight, those suckers... well, your viewers are going to panic, aren't they? Might even cause a scene."
"Uh...? Y-yeah... I guess so...?"
Yoo Jimin answered awkwardly. Why was he suddenly talking about her viewers? She couldn't read his intent at all. But playing along seemed safest.
"So don't worry."
Dongwoo grinned.
"When it's your usual streaming time, I'll let you out of here. That way our Uni can keep making money and taking care of her fans. Right?"
Let me out...? He wants me to stream?
For a split second, something shifted in Yoo Jimin's eyes. Was this bastard actually an idiot? The moment the webcam turned on — the moment the mic went live — she would call for help. She would scream that there was a psycho here, that she needed to be rescued. It was her only connection to the outside world.
That's right. I just have to hold on until then. Just a little longer...
She put on the most submissive face she could manage and quietly nodded. She felt a tiny spark of hope catch fire.
"Good. I'll be out for a bit, then."
Dongwoo nodded, apparently satisfied, and flicked his fingers lightly once more.
Snap.
This time, with a dull clank, a stainless-steel object materialized right in front of Yoo Jimin. A dog bowl.
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Dongwoo produced a water jug from somewhere and poured a thin stream into the bowl.
"You'll be thirsty. Drink up. Be good. I'll grab the other bitches soon and you can all play together, so don't get lonely."
With that, he turned without a shred of hesitation. His figure seeped into the empty air and vanished, as if he had never been there at all. The steel chamber held only the dog bowl, Yoo Jimin, and the echo of his last words.
"...A dog bowl?"
Staring blankly down at the bowl sitting on the floor, Yoo Jimin's face twisted with delayed fury.
"Hey! You fucking bastard! What the hell is this?! What do you think I am?! A dog?! You think I'm a dog?!"
Her belated shout circled uselessly through the empty air. Lee Dongwoo was already gone. All that remained was the humiliating dog bowl — and a hope of escape that was still, for now, only a faint flicker.