Chapter 37
A chilly sensation ran sharply down my spine.
His voice was simply too cold.
There wasn't even the slightest hint
that he was playing with me.
“What are you doing? I said let's go for a walk. Go on ahead. Or do you want to follow behind me?”
The clinking metal leash bit sharply into my ears.
I could tell instinctively that the leash attached to the back of my neck was in his hand.
Gently,
so it wouldn't choke me.
And yet enough for me to feel his strength.
Because he was pulling me along.
“Hey, hey, Kang Ju-hyeok…! Th-this isn't right…. Just—wait, wait, loosen it….”
“Go. Forward.”
Until just now, it had only been embarrassing; it wasn't something I absolutely couldn't wear.
I could claim it was a choker, a fashion item.
But not anymore.
…Anyone could see it was a dog leash.
A dog collar.
We looked like nothing but a couple enjoying an obscene game in public, heedless of time and place
Maybe,
it was even worse than that.
“Wait, wait! I'll go, so tell me why you're suddenly acting like this….”
“Seeing those pretty girls suddenly got me worked up. But I can't have sex, so we might as well go for a walk instead.”
Kang Ju-hyeok's flat voice, devoid of any playfulness, made him seem inhuman.
If he were a demon, I think he would have treated me with more emotion than this.
Even if he was the master and I looked like a pet, this was out on the street, wasn't it?
Shouldn't you and Kang Ju-hyeok be embarrassed?
What the hell was he thinking, doing this where other people might see…!
“If you're that embarrassed, go somewhere without streetlights. Or I'll go first, and you can hide behind me.”
“….”
I didn't want to walk.
I didn't want to lead the way, and I didn't want to be dragged along by the collar like a dog.
But I had no choice but to match my steps to his as he pulled me along.
If I started choking on the street and someone so much as looked at me, I'd faint.
I followed him, drenched in cold sweat.
Clomp, clomp.
Clomp, clomp.
Jangle, jangle.
“Haa, haa….”
“Is the collar too tight? Want me to loosen it?”
“Ah, it's not that….”
It wasn't even that loud, but my ears hurt so much that my head began to spin.
I couldn't have walked even ten steps, yet my legs were trembling so badly that I felt I would fall without the leash.
I had no idea why this man had suddenly gotten angry, but first, I had to calm down.
He had definitely been in a good mood until a moment ago. That man.
Think back from the beginning, Ha-eun.
Whew….
Wheeew….
“Mmph…, haa….”
Right, I'd lost to this man after making a bet out of pointless pride.
I'd even set the condition that he could touch me anywhere except my sensitive spots.
But when it came down to it, he didn't seem interested in touching me.
He suddenly suggested taking photos,
or tried to put a tattoo sticker on my stomach while saying we were going to get waxed.
After showering me with nothing but humiliating remarks….
…Ah.
“Wait, wait! Kang Ju-hyeok! Let's go home, home. Take this off. I-I changed my mind, you know?”
“…What?”
The fact that the man who had won the bet had gone out of his way to offer me a choice clearly meant there was a right answer he wanted me to pick.
It was obvious what that was.
What this man wanted to do to me was something that was rape, but wasn't rape.
What was this called again?
Anyway, he'd definitely done the same thing from the beginning.
He'd somehow sweet-talked me, made himself an excuse he could hide behind, and then had his way with me.
This man just wanted to have me without any trouble afterward.
If I told him he could have me, he'd surely calm down at once.
“Yeah, yeah, I, uh, suddenly… whatever. Because it got cold. I want to go home, cover myself with a blanket, and sleep. I'm scared to sleep alone, so with you….”
“Walking will warm you up. If we take a lap and come back, you'll sleep better.”
“Ah, that's not it…! Right, the photos. You said earlier that you wanted to take photos, remember! Let's take them at home, at home! You can make them a little lewd. Yeah, let's go. Hurry. So just take this off….”
“We can take photos here too. Cameras work well at night these days.”
I looked around to make sure no one was passing nearby and pleaded with Kang Ju-hyeok as he walked ahead of me, my heart pounding.
But he coldly rattled my leash, turned around, and decided that my answer was wrong.
…What the hell, seriously.
What was I supposed to do?
Was he seriously telling me to walk all the way home like this?
With a dog collar around my neck?
…No.
Seriously, absolutely not.
If someone saw me,
it felt like the sight would leap out of my dreams for the rest of my life.
“Wait, seriously. Seriously, Kang Ju-hyeok! I can't walk like this…. I'm scared, I mean it. This. It's so, so embarrassing….”
“Embarrassing?”
“It's a dog collar, of course it's embarrassing…! You bastard…. Ah. I didn't mean to curse at you….”
“…Want me to take it off?”
“Yes, take it off. Please. Please take it off….”
“….”
Kang Ju-hyeok stared intently at me as I trembled and sweated profusely, then suddenly took out his phone and snapped a picture of me. He stretched out his hand and unfastened the metal chain hanging from the back of my neck.
When the clinking sound I'd hated so much finally dropped to the ground, I couldn't even keep my trembling legs straight and sank onto the pavement.
My heart could barely keep beating after such a horrifying experience that I couldn't even manage to sob. I hugged myself, lowered my head, and let out a long breath.
…Haa, haa.
Whether I found this man disgusting or whatever,
I didn't know anymore.
For now, I was just relieved.
Relieved that no one had seen me….
“Hey, if you sit like that, you'll snag your stockings. Get up.”
Although my skin was burning hot, I was shivering inside, filled with cold; an incredibly warm voice flowed into my ears.
It was a tone so sweet that, under normal circumstances, it would have been nauseating, even disgusting.
Even now, I should have been afraid and on guard,
but that warm voice, along with the icy palm touching my skin, brought the temperatures of my outside and inside closer together.
“If you hated the choker that much, you should've said so. There were other things too.”
I was forced to my feet and leaned against his chest, breathing heavily.
The dog collar, which had felt so suffocating that I couldn't stand it even though it hadn't been tightened, came loose after his hard fingers touched it a few times.
He was a vicious criminal bastard I ought to kick in the groin, run to the police station, and report at once, yet I couldn't stand without leaning against that bastard's chest.
My legs are trembling. I can't.
I can't even get home by myself.
My heart is pounding too hard.
I can barely breathe.
Haa….
“Ha-eun, do as I say. Breathe in deeply. Hold it, then exhale slowly. Breathe in deeply, yes. Then slowly exhale. Good.”
As he patted me while I panted, he gradually steadied my breathing at a leisurely pace.
In…
….
Haa….
In…
Phew….
Haa….
The more I followed his instructions, the more my spasming heart gradually calmed down,
and my limp legs recovered enough for me to stand somehow.
…And along with that,
my increasingly clear mind began screaming at me to kick this crazy bastard.
What are you doing, Seo Ha-eun.
The man holding you,
is a fucking lunatic psychopath.
“Haa, haa…. Kang Ju-hyeok. Wait, let me go….”
“…You haven't calmed down yet, I suppose. Breathe in deeply…, hold it. ….”
Just a little more,
and once I was a little more lucid, I would kick him.
If I kicked him now, it wouldn't hurt at all.
With that comforting thought, I followed his instructions, breathed in deeply,
and held it.
…Held it.
When I began to feel like I wanted to burst out with my breath,
“Hoo….”
“Ugh…, mmh…!”
His breath suddenly rushed into my ear.
The breath that had filled my lungs escaped helplessly all at once.
My body, which had gradually been regaining its tension, went limp again and ended up relying on his body.
The cold sweat that had been pouring down my body had gone cold at some point,
and my whole body felt chilled.
But unlike his hard fingers,
his heart was pounding warmly.
“Mmph…, chu….”
His breath was blown into my shrunken lungs.
A mint scent that was refreshing to the point of bitterness.
A slight taste of alcohol.
The bumpy tip of his tongue.
Slightly rough lips.
Today, a smooth philtrum and chin.
“Puh, haa…, mmph…, ngh….”
His icy palm had slipped beneath my skirt at some point and was kneading my buttocks, gradually stealing away my warmth.
Rather than push it away, I was too busy exhaling the breath he blew into me and swallowing it back in to think about anything.
He was clearly reaching beneath my stockings and gently pinching my bare thigh,
but whether it hurt or not,
whether it was embarrassing or humiliating, I couldn't tell.
The mint scent was too intense.
“Hoo…, heh, haa…. Hah….”
“…Seo Ha-eun.”
“Mmh, uh, yes….”
“Repeat clearly after me. ‘In front of other people, we pretend to be lovers.’ Hurry.”
“In front of other people, we pretend to be lovers…, ah. Right….”
Only after turning my head into a jumbled lump of clay did he whisper the surprisingly simple answer into my ear.
I thought he looked rather foolish for sulking over something so trivial….
No.
There was no way this man would do all this over something so trivial….
“Repeat clearly one more time. ‘I always keep my promises.’”
“…I always keep my promises…?”
“Good. Next. ‘I don't take back words I've said.’ Repeat it.”
“I don't take back words I've said….”
“Good. …When we get back, make sure you keep that, okay?”
“Huh…?”
Maybe I was the fool after all.
My head was dazed,
and I couldn't even remember what I had said earlier.
But,
…I think I said something I shouldn't have.
notes? no