Puppy and Master Play (5)

A few hours later.

Suyeon swept every last pill from the drawer ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into a paper bag, stepped out of the house, and said,

"Shall we go?"

"Uh… aren't you going to change?"

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠asked, flustered, looking at Suyeon still bare-chested under nothing but a puffer jacket, just as before.

She only shrugged, as if it didn't matter, and smiled.

Before long we were walking toward the same trail where Suyeon had once taken Arin for a walk.

Coming back to that sparsely traveled path, I found the eerie feeling from last time had completely vanished. If anything, it no longer felt frightening so much as lonely and a little sad.

Suyeon folded her arms against the slight chill, gave a small shiver, then spoke out of nowhere.

"You know, that name's actually pretty good. Loser Duo."

"Huh…? What are you even talking about."

"Sounds like a skilled indie band. I like it."

"…You've got some weird taste…"

I snorted a laugh and shook my head.

Eventually we reached the bench at the far end of the trail we'd visited before. A quiet breeze drifted through, gently stirring the leaves that hung in front of the bench.

Suyeon walked up to the tree beside it and slowly traced the small letters carved into the bark.

Byeol ♡ Suyeon

"…The regret and the guilt never really go away, do they?"

When I asked, Suyeon curled in on herself and answered in a low voice.

"You know it too. There are no ghosts — but our eyes keep seeing them anyway."

With that, she pulled the bag of pills from her pocket. Then she began digging into the dirt at the base of the tree with both bare hands. The soil was cold and hard, and it didn't give easily.

"Let me help, noona."

"Mm."

She answered readily and shifted aside so I could dig next to her. And so the two of us squatted there like a pair of ridiculous ground squirrels, scraping and clawing at the earth.

As I dug, I glanced up at the branches and thought, …So Suyeon's ex died right here, from this tree… Thinking about it like that is kind of creepy.

It felt as if a ghost were dangling overhead, staring down at us, and a chill ran along my spine. But Suyeon didn't seem to be thinking anything of the sort; she just kept calmly turning the dirt.

At last, once we'd hollowed out a hole nearly two handspans deep, Suyeon brushed the soil from her hands and said,

"Good. This should be enough."

She picked up the bag ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of pills beside her, turned it upside down, and shook every last one into the hole. When they were all piled in, that deep pit was nearly half full.

"…Whoa… if you'd kept taking these, you'd have had enough for another ten years."

I muttered in shock at the sheer quantity. Suyeon shook her head.

"I don't think so. I'd have burned through them in a month. And then I'd have died."

She lifted her gaze and stared quietly at the distant sunset.

Watching her, it suddenly struck me that this might have been the revenge her ex had planned. Stockpiling a drug no one but a doctor could easily obtain, getting Suyeon addicted to it, and letting her waste away amid the horrific side effects — a revenge designed so Suyeon would feel, once, the pain Byeol herself had endured while they were together. A damp, cruel kind of vengeance only a woman could invent.

Suyeon seemed to be thinking something similar. Hands shoved deep into the pockets of her puffer, she said,

"…Byeol was pretty unusual too. When it came to anything involving me, she never missed even the smallest change. Sometimes it felt like delicate affection. Other times it felt like manic obsession."

"On top of that, she had that jealousy and resentment girls specialize in — and she had it in spades. She knew I was polyamorous when she started dating me, and she still spent the entire relationship insanely jealous of my other partners. Thanks to that, almost no one stuck around for long."

"Arin-ssi lasted a little longer though, right? From what I heard, she seemed to think she was special."

When I asked, Suyeon gave a short laugh.

"She said that herself? That's funny. Well, she was cute enough in her way, but it wasn't like that."

"Honestly, around then I was already thinking of breaking up with Byeol. So I'd dump all my frustrations on Arin. I guess that's why she decided she was special."

"Ah… I, I see. Wow…"

I shook my head, pitying Arin, who was probably still living inside that misunderstanding.

Then we kicked the loose dirt back into the hole with our feet. I stamped the ground flat until it looked the same as before we'd started digging, then turned to Suyeon with a joke.

"This ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠way, no matter how badly you want them, you'll never get them. Not unless you're planning to wrap them in dirt and eat them like a ssam."

"Don't worry. I'm never coming back here."

Suyeon murmured, looking up at the great tree swaying slowly overhead. She stood like that for a moment, then slid her eyes over to me and asked quietly,

"…Can I ask one favor?"

"As long as it's not 'get me more pills,' I'll do anything."

I gave her a thumbs-up. Suyeon smiled.

"I've got a show tomorrow. Come find me. Oh — and one more thing…"

She reached into her pocket, pulled something out, and handed it to me.

The next morning — Sunday.

I went back to the lesbian bar I'd once wandered into without knowing what it was. As I hovered awkwardly near the door, the woman manager glanced at me, then jerked her chin in a quick go-on-in gesture.

Inside, just like before, women in every kind of scandalous outfit were laughing and carrying on through a haze of cigarette smoke. I stood in a corner, face burning, with no idea where to put my eyes.

Right then someone kicked me hard in the ass. I turned — and it was Arin. She flicked her hair and spoke in a prim, cutting tone.

"Hey. Feeling good? Getting an eyeful of all the sexy noonas?"

"Hmm… sexy noonas…?"

I frowned and looked Arin's skinny frame up and down. Her face went red and she snapped.

"What, you bastard. Got a problem with my body? Huh? You clueless little dick—"

"…Hold on, Arin-ssi. There's one thing I've been wondering."

"You've been talking down to me completely naturally since last time. And just now you called yourself noona. But have we ever actually told each other how old we are?"

"…Huh? How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-five."

Arin flinched, staring at me in open panic for a second. Then she cleared her throat and mumbled,

"…Y-you don't just ask a woman her age, you little shit…"

"…Hey, wait. You're younger than me, aren't you? Right? Come on, spit it out."

"Th-the show's about to start, so if you don't sit down you'll lose your seat. Go grab a spot already."

She bolted. I watched her back with a look of pure disbelief, then followed her advice and awkwardly wedged myself into a seat among women dressed up in every wild concept imaginable. The ones around me kept glancing over and whispering, but luckily the stage lights came up and Suyeon appeared, and every eye swung that way.

I let out a breath of relief and joined the applause.

Like a professional, Suyeon smiled easily and waved to the crowd as if the incident on the previous stage had never happened. Then, without preamble, she crossed her legs on the chair, started playing the guitar, and began to sing.

…Gulp.

While everyone else was lost in Suyeon's sweet voice, I swallowed hard and toyed with the switch in my pocket.

The switch Suyeon had given me was linked to a wireless vibrator fixed against her clit, inside her panties. When I pressed it gently, Suyeon flinched ever so slightly mid-song, then slowly opened her eyes. An obscene little smile curved her lips as she looked straight at me in the audience and kept singing.

I grinned and pressed the button harder. Unlike before, the intensity was strong enough that faking composure wouldn't be easy.

Sure enough, the clitoral vibration seemed to tip Suyeon over the edge for a moment — she pulled her mouth from the mic, closed her eyes, and wore a blissful smile. Then she opened them again and, as if it had all been part of the performance, slid seamlessly back into the song.

When a flush of raw sensuality colored her voice and expression, the crowd didn't find it strange — they cheered. I watched, smiling with quiet satisfaction.

The day before, when Suyeon handed me the switch, she had said this:

"…Here. Take it. This is a switch I only give to my Master. Press this button and you can make me come whenever, wherever you want."

"Except when I'm washing or in the bathroom, I'll keep it on my clit the whole time. Just knowing I'm connected to you makes me feel so much safer. I love you, Jihoon."

"…God, you really are a strange person…"

I shook my head, laughing, then cranked the vibration all the way up and left it there.

It happened to be the instrumental break, so Suyeon took her mouth from the mic and came with a bright, happy smile, looking utterly refreshed.

"Nngh… ah… ahn… hehe…"

Then she rose from her seat and began singing on her feet. The clear trail of wetness running down between her thighs was something only I could notice.

When the show ended and I went home with her, the moment we stepped inside I was hit with a kiss so greedy it felt like she meant to devour me.

"…Mmph…! Mmph…! Hah… hah, hah… N-noona…"

"…My Master. Please treat me like a dog."

And then Suyeon fastened around her own neck the collar she had once put on Arin, murmuring with an obscene look on her face.