By Zephyria 
He had screamed so much that his throat was sore and the inside of his mouth felt gritty, but the man wouldn’t let him leave a single grain of rice.
“If the flesh on your ass disappears, where am I supposed to hit and shove it in?”
How could every single word he uttered feel like a nail being driven into Eun-myeong’s temples? Eun-myeong was completely intimidated.
Left with no choice, he forced himself to finish the entire bowl. With a gloomy expression, Eun-myeong mixed the rice thoroughly into the meat soup containing shredded radish. He gulped it down using a gold spoon engraved with ginseng. It tasted good, but for some reason, it made him feel nauseous. Fearing he might suffer from indigestion, he made sure to eat plenty of kimchi with it.
Meanwhile, the man, who had finished his meal quickly, began grooming himself in the dressing room.
“…….”
He seemed exceptionally cheerful today. Wearing nothing but black drawers, he even hummed a tune as he pulled out a gray shirt and covered his body. He popped the collar, tied a black silk tie, and finished it with a perfect knot. After inserting a tie pin with a circular red ornament, he straightened the tie once more.
Then, he approached the sofa. He held a set of documents in one hand. As he placed them on the table, Eun-myeong’s eyes naturally drifted toward them.
“Read this and sign here.”
Eun-myeong looked down at the contract. White was the paper, and black was the ink, but the black letters were packed so densely it looked like a colony of ants swarming over a sweet sugar cookie.
“What is this?”
Eun-myeong asked blankly. The man crossed his legs and answered slowly. His suit trousers strained and stretched tightly against his firm thighs.
“I took over the sashimi restaurant owner’s debt, so we need to rewrite the contract.”
Ah, Eun-myeong let out a small sigh.
“You said you’d pay the money back since the crab shell incident was your doing, right?”
Isn’t that right? the man asked back. His gaze was overbearing, and his tone, as usual, showed absolutely no consideration for the other person. He was a man far too accustomed to crushing others beneath him.
Fearing the man might take it back, Eun-myeong quickly nodded.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Muttering softly, he placed the tip of the pen over his name written next to the word ‘Party B’. Immediately, a frustrated sigh escaped the man beside him. Thump—he swatted the pen away with the back of his hand.
“I told you to read it before signing.”
Eyes devoid of any warmth turned toward Eun-myeong.
“What if I wrote in here that some pervert bastard is going to keep doing it until you’re pregnant with five kids?”
His tone was chilling.
“…Ah.”
Eun-myeong couldn’t find the words to respond. His eyes only darted around.
Setting aside the fact that there were so many words his eyes felt strained, the contract was full of terms Eun-myeong didn’t know. However, he knew the meaning of shame too well to admit he didn’t understand. He figured these were words anyone who had graduated high school would know.
“Huh?”
As Eun-myeong kept his mouth shut like a clam, the man leaned his head toward his shoulder and asked again after a pause. One eyebrow shot up. As always, a suggestive smile played on his lips, but Eun-myeong knew that this was no longer a smile.
A smile was more akin to the silver necklace always around the man’s neck, the flashy pin in his tie, or the suit he wore. It was nothing more than a tool for adornment.
In reality, he looked displeased.
“…Yes.”
Not wanting to irritate him further, Eun-myeong gave a small nod. Even if he read it, he wouldn’t understand what it meant, and even if he did, he wouldn’t be able to refuse.
Besides, Eun-myeong already owed hundreds of millions. He wondered if adding more to it would even make a difference.
“But, if I become an Omega…”
Eun-myeong’s face clouded over. He never thought a sunny day would come into his life, but he hadn’t expected it to get this dark.
“I’ll be sold, right?”
A heavy silence filled the hotel room for a moment.
“…….”
“…….”
Then, a sliding sound followed. The man sank deep into the leather sofa. With a clack, he crossed his legs. He pulled a new pack of cigarettes from his pocket, tore it open with his teeth, and spat the plastic out. Eun-myeong flinched at the vulgar behavior.
The man peeled off the cellophane and put a cigarette in his mouth. As he flicked the wheel of an alligator-skin Zippo lighter, a blue flame burst forth. With his right eyebrow furrowed, he lit the cigarette. The hollow of his sharp cheek deepened.
Then, he tossed the lighter carelessly onto the table. He exhaled a cloud of smoke with indifference.
“Shitty bastard, why does this taste so fucking bad? Are these low-lifes running a free business?”
He uttered vulgar curses with a nonchalant face. He bit down on the cigarette so hard it looked as if it might snap at any moment.
“Mr.—no, Boss…”
He had been waiting for an answer, but had the man not heard him? The man’s eyes snapped back.
“What?”
Eun-myeong felt intimidated by those glaring eyes. He fidgeted with the string of his robe. He felt he needed to hold onto something to stay calm.
“You said yesterday that there was a way to turn a Beta into an Omega…”
He swallowed hard. His voice was so damaged that a terrible sound came out.
“Then, if I become an Omega, I’ll be sold?”
Whether it was the orphanage director or the sashimi restaurant owner, that was all they ever said whenever they opened their mouths. That if he had been an Omega, they would have sold him for a high price long ago, and that it was a pity Eun-myeong didn’t fetch a good price. But the man had clearly said yesterday…
‘Even if you’re a Beta, there’s a way to knead you into an Omega.’
He had spoken as if he knew exactly how to make him an Omega. Only then did the man’s actions begin to make sense. Ah, so that’s why. He realized the man had taken him because he was useless and not worth any money.
“Ah, that.”
He let out a scoffing breath. Looking at him again, he seemed truly perfect. In contrast, wearing only a single robe, Eun-myeong felt like he looked out of place. Moreover, the reddish-purple handprints on his thighs, visible through the gap in the robe, made him feel insanely embarrassed.
“That remains to be seen. I don’t know if you’ll actually become an Omega or not.”
The words he spoke held no emotion. Instead, they were cold and excessively heartless. It was hard to believe he was the same man who had breathed roughly against his neck last night.
Right, this is natural. After all, that’s why we… mixed bodies… A wave of inexplicable misery swept over Eun-myeong, but he comforted himself, telling himself it was okay.
“You’ll have to tighten up well and leak well. That way, Mister can make a profit too.”
A blunt middle finger tapped, tap, tap on the contract.
“When that time comes, I’ll be more than capable of finding you a pimp. Someone who’ll spend a lot of money on you.”
“Yes,” Eun-myeong nodded quietly. His still gaze was drawn back into the contract. He slowly took in the contents.
A single page filled with words he mostly couldn’t understand. At the very end, however, was one of the few words Eun-myeong could actually recognize.
[Debtor Party B, Lee Eun-myeong.]
And right above it was the name of Party A. This must be the man’s name… He softly tasted the three characters of the name he had learned for the first time in his life.
Kang, Pyeong, Won…
The man in the suit left the hotel room. As for where he was going, Bear arrived to escort him, carrying a box of apples under his arm.
Behind the two large figures, the door closed with a thud.
In the room where the man had departed, Eun-myeong slowly crawled into the bed. As he pressed his cheek deep into the fluffy pillow, his reddish cheek squished like a bitten steamed bun. He pulled the thick duvet over his nose. His once-white nose was already rubbed red. It stung terribly because the man had sucked on it so much.
“…Ugh.”
Eun-myeong clutched his lower abdomen. His insides felt like they were being pulled by bolts of lightning. His thin back naturally curved like a shrimp.
Of all times, it happened right after eating. Because the man had threatened not to give back his lower half if he left even a single grain of rice, Eun-myeong had been forced to shove the food down his throat. Because of that, his lower abdomen felt even more chaotic. It felt as if a stone had entered his gut and was being kicked around.
Silence enveloped him in an instant. Even though he was in pain, there was no one to tell. Eun-myeong faced the emotions digging into his chest. A feeling of emptiness in his stomach and as if his ribs were riddled with holes.
…Was this loneliness?
It was a strange thing. Being alone when in pain wasn’t something that happened only once or twice…
His body was a wreck, and his backside still throbbed with a burning pain as if the man were still shoving into him. Lying alone in bed like this, he felt as if he had been dropped off and left all alone in this world.
Eun-myeong bunched up the duvet and shoved a handful of it into his mouth. He decided it would be better to just fall asleep.
Because if he slept, he could at least turn his back on the loneliness.