After three days of suffocating pain, the door to the basement finally opened. Hyok stepped inside like nothing had ever happened, green hair catching the dim light as he looked down at me.
"Get up," he ordered, voice sharp but steady.
Yeah it was obvious that he is still mad at me for God sake who knew what.
How the hell did he expect me to stand up while being chained? I wanted to speak but was afraid to bear the pain again. What if he does worse, like touching me. I had no choice but to speak.
"M-master," I asked nervously.
"Spit the damn word out."
"Uhm…I…well…I am still chained up. Could you set me free from those chains?"
My heart beat fast and I was shaking like a pendulum. He came forward, let out a key then got rid of the chain.
My legs and arms ached as the chains came off. I could literally see the marks imprinted on my skin. I followed him upstairs, every step heavy, stomach hollow. The smell of food on the table nearly made me dizzy. I was hungry. I haven't eaten in days. I would dig myself deeper in despair if I even dare to ask for food.
"Sit on the table." He asked me to sit on the table where the food was in front of me. Obviously I couldn't eat it, but why do this torture to me?
After a while of silence.
"Eat," Hyok said flatly. "Can't have my experiment starving to death."
I sat, scarfing down spoonfuls of rice and kimchi while his blue eyes followed every move I made. Only when the worst hunger subsided did I dare to speak.
"You eat like a dog. Oh right you are a dog. My little obedient dog."
I looked down at my food. I didn't know what to say. He is right though I am his dog. He doesn't even treat me like a human being in the first place. Right, there was something I needed to ask.
"Master… I need to work. I have to pay off my debt somehow. Since you won't play with me anymore."
He tilted his head, expression almost amused. "Your debt? And what exactly were you thinking — crawling back to the streets?"
I gripped my spoon tighter. "If I can't find another job, what choice do I have, Master?"
"Right, I did stop playing with you. Didn't you used to play with others before I met you?"
He smiled so nicely that I could sense it's fake.
"Master, may I please?"
His smile turned cold. "Remember who told you to stop doing that in the first place? Me." He leaned forward, voice like a blade. "You begged me to get you out of that filth. And now you want to run back to it?"
"I'm not saying I want to, Master—"
"But you would." His tone hardened. "You'd sell yourself again in a heartbeat. I won't let you. Not until you're what I'm making you — a dominant omega. You're too valuable to waste on strangers. And we planned on having a kid, right?."
"But who's going to pay off my debt, then, Master?" I asked, voice cracking despite myself.
He slammed his palm against the table, making the plate jump. "That's not your concern. You just do what I say."
I lowered my head, swallowing the anger — and fear — that threatened to choke me.
"M-master, may I please have a job?"
"What are you gonna do? The debtor isn't going to kill you!"
"He's GONNA KILL HWAN THEN." Oh shoot, my life is over. How could I dare to raise my voice?
"Who the hell is Hwan?" Funny, how his voice remains calm.
I don't want to tell him. He's gonna use Hwan against me. Shoot. Shoot. Shoot.
"Oh right, Hwan is your cousin right? The kid you used to live with your uncle."
Shoot. I'm messed up.
I fell on my knees and begged for mercy.
"Master, please spare Hwan, he's just a kid. He didn't even do anything wrong."
"Hmm… should I? Should I not?" The more he thinks the more my tension grew. I can't let the poor kid suffer because of me. He's still in college.
"Okay sure. If you make a promise."
"A promise? About what.?
"That promise is that you remain by my side forever. I'm your only master, you can not be with anyone else."
"Yes M-master. I promise."
"Very well then. I'll allow you to have a job."
My eyes lit up hearing this. This is shocking. He allowed me? He just refused me a second ago?
"T-thank you m-master."
"But-"
But what. What is he planning to do? What will he do?
"You must have my bodyguard with you at all times, wherever you go and 2nd of all you can't have anything to do with sex as a job?"
"Y-yes M-master."
The next day, I went to look for a job along with his scary gorilla bodyguard. It was raining.
Rain hammered the pavement like it had something to prove. I shoved my hands deep into my jacket pockets and kept my head down, but the water still found me, dripping down my collar and soaking the cuffs of his sleeves.
I didn't even care. Why should I?
I remember that he worked at a company as a head director because back when he was with his friends or colleagues they were cheering about some project they completed in Hanil's company.
Still, I manage to remember him. The man in the sharp suit who was tired pulled me out of danger. A stranger with eyes like chocolate, who tried asking if I was okay.
Something about him stuck — like a thorn in my chest. I wanted to meet him again. See his smile. I wanted to smile brighter than him. I wanted… Well, I wasn't sure what he wanted. After all, I am just a stranger, so why would he want to meet me? But working at Hanil Group had felt like a way to get closer.
So with Hyok permission I took an interview with the boss. And got rejected.
I was sitting on the sofa next to Hyok while he was typing on his computer. My job was just to view him. I couldn't even let my eyes off, but suddenly Hyok showed me the email he got from my interview. That's right, I don't have a device.
The email had come that morning — polite words, stiff and rehearsed: We regret to inform you that your application for Hanil Group has been unsuccessful. No reason given. No feedback. Just the cold wall of rejection.
Guess I'm not good enough for the almighty director Tae Jihwa's company, he thought bitterly, though Jihwa himself had nothing to do with the hiring panel.
Hyok suggested that I work at his restaurant. So I agreed.
By then it's been 2 weeks since I have been working at that restaurant. During my time all I ever could feel was the smell permanently of soy sauce and dishwater. I felt hurt, my apron clung to me, and the pay barely covered rent.
But work was work.
Money was money.
Hwan's save is crucial.
The dinner rush blurred together: clattering plates, sizzling woks, the hum of conversation and laughter. I moved between tables with a practiced half-smile, jotting down orders, balancing trays.
Then the doorbell chimed.
"Table for one," said a calm voice.
I looked up, and my breath stopped.
Standing in the doorway, shaking rain from his umbrella, was a man with blonde hair and brown eyes. Tae Jihwa. The same man. The same sharp suit, though his shoulders were damp, and droplets darkened his hair at the temples. His expression was composed, distant — but he was real.
What the hell is he doing here? His smile still remains.
Manager Min bustled forward, bowing. "Welcome! Please, this way."𝐯𝐫𝐜𝐠𝐫𝐯:
My legs moved on instinct, carrying me toward the corner booth where Jihwa was seated. He gripped his notepad so hard the paper crumpled.
"Good evening, sir," I said, trying to be𝐱𝐰 casual. "Can I take your order?"
Jihwa glanced up, polite — then did a double take.
"…You?"
My throat went dry. "Uh. Yeah. Me. Hi."
I hesitated.
"You work here?"
"Temporarily." I laughed awkwardly, shifting his weight. "You know. Until… things."
"Thanks for trying to save me."
"Why didn't you tell the police about it?"
Shoot, if I tell him, I was sold as a lab experiment and I spread my legs to pay off debt, he'll be disgusted. What should I say?
"Uhh, well you seee…I am a Masochist. I wasn't being harassed." Ah shoot, this sounds as embarrassing.
He looked at me reassuring me if I was telling the truth.
"So you are into S&M?"
"Uhh yes…?" I paused. " What would you like to eat sir?"
"Bring me whatever you recommend," he said softly. "I trust your taste."
I blinked. "Uh, okay... Coming right up."
I spun on my heel and hurried back to the kitchen, heart pounding so hard I barely heard Manager Min shouting for more rice. Why would a man like Tae Jihwa remember him at all?
And more importantly — why did I feel like this was only the beginning?