By Zephyria 
The man hummed a tune as he walked down the narrow, long corridor. Whenever he walked this path, he was usually filled with feelings of annoyance and irritation, but this time was different. And for good reason—wasn’t his idol, whom he had only seen on screen for years, waiting for him right now? Although the timing was far too late and the boy had become a dull, insignificant ‘adult’ rather than the young, radiant figure of the past, if one looked closely, traces of that era remained. Thinking of it that way, there was plenty to enjoy. There was still time before the event for ‘Hope,’ so it would be fine to play around a bit in the meantime.
When Ben found out that ‘Hope’ had been captured and brought here, he had nearly burst into tears of emotion. Was this not proof that God was looking after him? To think that the beautiful boy he had yearned for his entire life had finally fallen into his grasp. This was a gift from God. He would explore it with all his might, devoting everything he had.
He would realize every single act he had dreamed of while watching ‘Hope’ through the screen.
Ben took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to soothe the ragged breathing caused by his excitement. Despite his efforts, however, his engorged member still pushed prominently against the front of his trousers. Ben chuckled as if it couldn’t be helped and tapped the bulge of his pants with one hand.
“Alright, I’ll put it in soon.”
Humming, he opened the door to the basement and took a deep breath in and out. The musty, damp smell of mold rushed at him all at once. It was a scent that always displeased him, but today felt different. Ben skipped down the stairs two or three at a time with a light step. In his hand, he carried a box containing bread and water for the children.
He tossed the dry bread and plastic bottles of water into the cages one by one, carelessly, as if feeding beasts. Each time he passed in front of a cage, the children turned pale and trembled, then scrambled to grab the bread and stuff it into their mouths. The man would often intentionally drop the bread on the floor or pretend to flip a water bottle over to spill the contents right before their eyes. Every time he did, it was so amusing to see those stupid children turn ashen, as if they were about to die right then and there.
This time, he didn’t play such malicious pranks. His entire interest was currently focused on his superstar. After roughly distributing food to the ‘merchandise,’ the man moved toward Chrissy, a faint flush appearing on his face.
“Hope, it’s me.”
Finally arriving in front of the cage where Chrissy was, the man called out to him with a bright smile. Chrissy, who was huddled uncomfortably inside the cage, felt his stomach churn at the unwelcome name, but since he had eaten nothing, nothing came up.
“You missed me, didn’t you? Here, eat. You must be very hungry…”
He took out the last remaining water and bread from the box and pushed them through the iron bars. Chrissy had no desire to eat at all, but hiding his true feelings, he cautiously reached out. Holding the bread, he curled the corners of his mouth into an awkward smile.
“Thank you, Ben. You’re so kind.”
As he bowed his head, acting as fragile as possible, Ben’s mouth opened wide in pleasure. After taking a small bite of the bread, Chrissy intentionally let out a sigh and spoke.
“I’m surprised you recognized me. It happened more than ten years ago… and the image quality wasn’t very good.”
“A remastered version of the video was recently re-released. You didn’t know?”
Fuck, goddammit.
Contrary to the man’s excited tone, Chrissy’s mood plummeted through the floor. How fleeting was the progress of technology. Chrissy wanted to rush out right now, find those videos, and burn them all, but the reality before his eyes took priority.
Furthermore, if they had spread on the internet or elsewhere, how could he possibly stop it?
Completely unaware of Chrissy’s miserable state, the man continued to chatter excitedly.
“Everyone has been missing Hope. They were all so happy when the footage was restored. There’s even a screening planned soon. Just think about it—everyone gathering to watch videos of you in your prime. Your cute ass and hole filling the screen…”
It was nearly a miracle that Chrissy didn’t fly into a frenzy and try to strangle the man at that moment. Perhaps his entire body had frozen due to the sheer horror of the situation. Regardless, Chrissy narrowly avoided a critical crisis. After slowly exhaling a deep sigh that mixed terror, anger, disgust, and despair, Chrissy suddenly realized something. There seemed to be another meaning behind what this man had just said.
It was only a few short seconds, but he noticed. This was the very ‘opportunity’ he had been desperately searching for.
Slowly lifting his head, Chrissy spoke.
“…And?”
“What?”
The man, who had been grinning with excitement, asked in confusion. Chrissy narrowed his eyes and whispered.
“Be honest with me. You’re preparing such a grand event, but you intend to keep me, the protagonist, shoved away in here? If that’s the case, I’ll be terribly disappointed in you all…”
He intentionally furrowed his brows and added a lamenting tone. He didn’t forget to slowly stroke his lower lip with the tip of his index finger.
If this man was truly a fan of ‘Hope’ as he claimed, he would surely remember. This gesture was practically a signature pose that ‘that man’ had ordered ‘Hope’ to do.
As expected, Ben’s eyes flashed, and his breathing quickly became heavy. Without hiding his excitement, he panted and nodded.
“Of course, I’m definitely preparing for it. You’re the main event. Actually, public opinion is still divided on whether to put you on stage in person. As you know, you’re too old now. People generally don’t want their memories ruined.”
Ben grinned and asked, “You understand, right?” But for Chrissy, this was an opportunity he couldn’t miss. He put down the bread and reached his hand through the bars. He felt Ben flinch as his fingertips touched his face. Chrissy slowly stroked his cheek as if tickling him and murmured like a sigh.
“Of course I understand. But it’s too cruel for my fans to enjoy themselves without me. I want to see it too; is there any way?”
Ben stared blankly at Chrissy’s face for a moment, then snapped out of it and shook his head.
“I don’t have that much authority. I just follow whatever the higher-ups decide…”
“I’m sure that’s true. I wouldn’t want my fan to be in danger either.”
Chrissy spoke firmly but soon put on a bitter expression.
“I just want to see it—the me from back then. I only filmed the videos; I never got to properly see what I looked like.”
He let out a sigh, pretending to be heartbroken.
“Besides, everyone is gathering to watch the videos, yet I’m not there… You said it yourself, I’m old now and nobody looks for me. That makes it feel even more real, and I feel so lonely…”
It was as if fans were gathering to watch a masterpiece of the century that had won an Academy Award. In reality, it was nothing more than a perverted act of restoring and collectively enjoying child sexual exploitation material.
Forcing down his nausea and appealing to the man’s sympathy, Chrissy found that Ben fell for it easily, as expected. Ben seemed to scratch the back of his head before stroking his chin with a serious expression. Chrissy leaned against the bars, pretending to be fragile, and pleaded once more.
“I’ll just hide and watch. I just want to see people getting excited while looking at me. And then I can just come back here. How about it?”
Chrissy added in a weak voice.
“You say you were my fan, but you can’t even do that much for me?”
“Ah…”
Ben stammered, sounding flustered. It was almost as if Chrissy could see the cold sweat running down the man’s back. Sure enough, after a short while, Ben let out a groan and spoke with a sigh.
“Alright, but in exchange…”
He whispered, stroking the front of his trousers.
“I’d like you to pay the price first.”