Changeling - 4
"Hey, hey! What are you doing?!"
Se-eun tapped at her phone. Hyun-ah, spotting her dialing Handsome Oppa♡, hurriedly tried to stop her.
"You got chewed out last time you called that number! Don't you remember?"
"Don't worry and just try my tteokbokki."
It wasn't easy for a slave to speak so roughly to a free citizen. But that cold-looking slave had somehow gotten Se-eun's number and convinced her in that icy voice.
"What, if I'm just making one call from a different number, what can she do about it!"
With lines like 'The master has deep emotional scars. If you approach with half-baked intentions and poke at them, I won't let it slide.', Yukiko had persuaded Se-eun. But now, her closest friend Hyun-ah was on the verge of being sold into slavery. If she let this chance slip, Se-eun felt like she could never face Hyun-ah again.
"Did I say I'd do anything bad? I just said if they're looking to hire a slave, I'd ask about Hyun-ah..."
And even if there were emotional scars, Se-eun couldn't imagine this pure, cute girl exploiting them.
The call wasn't answered by a man. That cold voice she'd heard before echoed in her ear.
Hyun-ah was too embarrassed to lift her head. Sitting face-to-face with the man, there was nothing she could do.
Fortunately, the cold slave named Yukiko had met her once and decided, 'This should be fine,' granting her this chance to see the man. She knew it would happen someday, but she hadn't expected it so soon.
She hadn't done anything right, nothing special. The rundown café near her home was too shabby to invite a man to. She lacked bus fare to go farther, and she had no money for a nice place anyway. A men's restaurant would cost a fortune she'd never dreamed of, and even this café was pricier than Yukiko had suggested.
"An Americano and... an iced café latte, please."
When she'd said they were going to a café, Yukiko had told her the man's preferences. Whether from nerves or because her shirt had shrunk in the wash, her chest felt tight and suffocating. The uniform she'd bought for high school enrollment four years ago was far too small for her grown breasts.
When the man entered, Hyun-ah stammered on. For her self-introduction, desperate to seem confident, she'd even shouted too loudly.
Hyun-ah almost wished he'd look at her with eyes full of lust. Even if it felt a bit gross, she wanted her body to have value. But reality was brutal.
His gaze did linger on her chest for a moment—very briefly. He just looked at her like she was a child. He seemed harmless and kind, but that wasn't good for her.
She'd hinted at wanting to become his slave, but got a firm rejection. If she'd succeeded, she probably wouldn't have accepted it herself.
She couldn't keep the conversation going, just fidgeted in tension. Far from pleasing him, she'd only received pity. Like this, even if she became a slave, she couldn't hold her head high.
Someone that nice might take her if she explained her plight and stirred his sympathy. But then she'd just live off sidelong glances, leeching away.
Hyun-ah cautiously raised her eyes to his face. His warm smile, meant to reassure her, tickled her heart. She didn't want to buy mere pity from him. She didn't want to be just another beggar he'd seen countless times.
I'd been wondering what to do ever since hearing about it from Yukiko. I had no intention of taking Hyun-ah as a slave from the start. If luck was on her side, I could help her get welfare benefits or connect her with a charity. If not, I figured spending some of my own money would sort it out.
"Please lend me the money for my mother's hospital bills!"
"Huh?"
"I'll work hard and pay it back for sure!"
Hyun-ah bowed her head earnestly, but I scratched mine.
"You think I don't want a slave right now... because I just don't like you, right?"
"That's not it..."
"If I were really attractive enough to catch your eye, sir—um, mister... even if you had those thoughts, you'd have picked me as a slave."
She slurped her coffee each time her words trailed off; hardly any iced latte remained.
"Truth is, I didn't want to rely on your hands, but I can't delay my mom's treatment just for my pride..."
"Treatment costs like this, I could just give them."
Hyun-ah froze, head still bowed. But only for a moment.
"No. I don't want to be a burden. I'll pay back every penny I borrow. If I can't sell myself to you, mister, I'll sell to someone else somehow and pay it back."
"Ha... got nothing to say to that. Fine. People come first. How much do you need?"
Hyun-ah showed me the estimate from the hospital on her phone.
"Whoa, that's dizzying."
I thought my sense of money was pretty warped compared to average folks. But even to me, this had way too many zeros. If some no-name clinic demanded this, I'd grab them by the collar on the spot. But this was from a university hospital I knew by name.
"Has your mom been sick the whole time?"
"Yes. Her health's been poor for a while... but lately, they diagnosed a rare disease."
"Gotta look into this. Sigh, fine, I'll lend you the money for now."
Hyun-ah's mother's hospital bills nearly drained my account to the brink. Most of my funds were managed by Yukiko anyway; what I had was just pocket cash. Still, it was an enormous sum.
"But... you think you can earn this much working as a slave?"
"W-well, if I work hard and become a slave worth this much... n-not right away! I know I need to try harder..."
My head was starting to ache.
"Sigh..."
"I-I'm asking too much... I'm sorry! Forget what I said earlier!"
"No. Your mom needs to live. It's not about the money... I'll cover the treatment costs. Don't worry."
A bit later, I'd head to the hospital and grill them on this insane bill. It felt unnatural no matter how I sliced it. But I couldn't picture a reputable place scamming a broke family.
"What do you plan to do from now on?"
"I'll go to a slave academy. There's one that opens on a volunteer basis for the poor, so I'm aiming for that..."
"Whew..."
I wasn't exactly worldly, but she seemed even less so.
"You think going to that academy will... raise your value that much?"
"You don't know till you try. I can't stand tall without giving my all."
Suddenly, I craved a cigarette. Hyun-ah was wrong. First off, no one would buy a slave for that price—over ten times the norm. Thinking effort could overcome it was wrong too. From what I'd heard from three slaves about these academies, they were pointless. The info they taught wasn't special or expert-level. Even if there were miracles, it wouldn't double or triple a slave's value meaningfully. And even with that knowledge and effort, getting picked took minutes. Most buyers decided based on the woman's body.
"No. For bills this big, it's not something you can earn as a slave."
"...Yeah, I figured."
Hyun-ah let out a hollow laugh.
"Honestly, I wonder if slave academies or training even matter."
"I know nothing about men, so I think it's essential."
No matter how I thought about it, she was chasing an impossible goal with pointless effort.
"What if I just said... forget all that, come be my slave starting tomorrow. Could you give up then?"
Frustrated and cornered, I just wanted to resolve this right here. Like an ostrich burying its head.
Hyun-ah glanced between her coffee and my face, then blurted with a smile.
"Am I... that pitiful?"
I sucked at the straw irritably. The iced latte had been empty for ages.
Her eyes darted around. The clock's ticking sounded deafening.
"...Yeah."
"Then I can't give up. I can't convince myself right now..."
The world had never convinced that girl, so why couldn't she convince herself?
"I'll come back as a luxury slave, so wait just a bit!"
Hyun-ah bowed politely. The words felt tacky, but I was too worn out to call her on it.