Speak of The Devil

Of course, even if I refused to eat until the end, there were plenty of ways to keep me alive. If forcibly restrained and administered intravenous fluids and nutrients, this life would continue without being cut short. My weakened body would further succumb to Jung Yiyeon’s whims.“You bastard….”Alone in the room, my curses echoed into the void. However, the anger was a hollow, voiceless emptiness.***Another day passed like that.Morning came, but Jung Yiyeon didn’t come. Whether he silently went to work or didn’t go at all, I couldn’t tell. I hadn’t stepped out of the room.The only visitor to the room was the housekeeper. She changed tactics, bringing in a tray of porridge and side dishes. Though the savory aroma filled the room when she knocked and opened the door, I didn’t react.“I made some porridge. Try eating a little, please.”Her worried voice reached me, and occasionally she patted my shoulder, but I just lay there like a corpse. I didn’t touch the food, only taking a few sips of water.After some time, the housekeeper sighed as she took the dishes away, understandingly leaving what she brought back untouched. The same routine repeated at lunch and dinner.Lying there as if waiting to be discovered as a fossil, I marked the passage of time by the housekeeper’s visits.In truth, there was no torture like this. Each time the housekeeper brought food, I suffered from intense hunger. It was even harder to resist when I knew delicious food was within reach, unlike when I didn’t smell the food.Perhaps if I ate just a spoonful, it wouldn’t be noticeable. I could eat and then wash the spoon well afterward, couldn’t I? During the one or two hours when food was in my room, I fought a fierce battle with my appetite and stubbornness. Inside, I was utterly confused about what foolishness I was engaged in.Even amid hunger and unwashed discomfort, the instinct for survival surpassed my imagination. Just lying there made me want to move, even though I had no energy due to hunger. I wanted to go out and forage for food when my stomach growled. And I felt like my body would fly away if I filled my stomach, washed, and slept.But it was all in vain.Each time hunger struck, I curled up tighter under the blanket. I didn’t want to die, but this was all I could do, so I had no choice.After nearly two days of fasting, my body deteriorated rapidly. Even though I wanted to move, the reality was that I felt dizzy just rolling over. So in this miserable situation, all I could do to forget my hunger was sleep. Lacking energy, my body easily succumbed to sleep even in such a terrible situation.But could I sleep deeply? It was only shallow sleep, easily awakened by even the slightest sound.“…Ha….”So, even if it wasn’t a sigh, even if it wasn’t the recoil of him sitting on the bed, I couldn’t help but notice when Jung Yiyeon entered the room.The moment his cautious touch touched my neck, goosebumps spread all over me.Thunk! I pushed his hand away in the darkness and sat up. I reached out and turned on the lamp on the bedside table, ignoring the dizziness that came from the faint light.Jung Yiyeon grabbed my trembling body. I pushed away his hand and collapsed back onto the bed.“…Lee Nan.”Disgustingly, Jung Yiyeon wore a worried expression. As if my state made him so pitifully sorrowful and hurt.“Why.”I asked why you look hurt, when you made me like this.“Oh, you said you had a great time last time we came to the villa. So you want to keep doing that.”I muttered self-deprecatingly.“You probably want to have sex like we did back then.”He said he wanted to eat together, sleep in the same bed, spend time together in the same space, didn’t he? No, I didn’t believe those words. After all, isn’t sex at the peak of a man’s desires?Jung Yiyeon needed to speak straight. It wasn’t just ten times, but countless times until he satisfied his lust, wanting to shove his dick inside me was his filthy desire.“That’s a bit too weak to have no strength from hunger. Now I can do more as I please.”Even if I had no energy to the point of feeling dizzy with just a little movement, could I push him away if he clung to me?“Well, I don’t really care about that.”With a hint of threat in his words, or rather the atmosphere of a threat, Jung Yiyeon was the one who could wield me as he pleased. I already couldn’t do anything as I wished other than starving. Perhaps when Jung Yiyeon began to genuinely threaten me, I wouldn’t even be able to starve.“If you want to rape me, go ahead.”Rape. Jung Yiyeon’s refined features twisted slightly at the word. The pained expression hardened.Ah, what’s with that face? Surely he knows what he intends by that word.Suddenly, I became aware of my condition. It might not be a problem to not bathe for a day, but it had been two days. My hair would be a bit greasy, and my face would be dirty. There might even be a smell from not bathing.The current me definitely wouldn’t be an attractive state that he wanted. So what? Should I clean myself up nicely and spread my legs for him?“…I had something to say that I didn’t finish yesterday.”I looked at him silently. I wasn’t angry anymore. There was no sense of being amazed. Just… just frustrated. I couldn’t guess what else could come out of yesterday’s conversation.“I’ll relocate you anywhere you want. I promise.”“….”“A house for you to live in, a shop with affordable rent. That’s also a promise.”…No. It wasn’t that there was no sense of being amazed. It was just because I didn’t know Jung Yiyeon as a person yet.I was amazed again. Jung Yiyeon’s scale left my mouth gaping. Of course, I didn’t actually gape like a fish, but.“When you start eating properly, I’ll transfer you right away.”“What…?”“Just stay by my side until I’m satisfied.”From comfortable confinement to a guaranteed stable future, my mind stopped thinking. I was just confused, even more confused.Unable to lie down and talk anymore, I sat up amidst the dizziness.“So, what? Are you asking me to spread my legs whenever you feel like it, while you enjoy being unemployed?”It wasn’t a venomous question. It was a question that came out too absurdly.It wasn’t a question filled with venom. It was just so absurd that the question flowed out without any vigor.Are all conglomerates like this? Can they easily give away a house and a shop with just a slip of the tongue? As someone who had never felt the aura of a third-generation chaebol as strongly from Jung Yiyeon, I was just bewildered.“I don’t like rape, is that it?” I muttered to myself. After all, how should I accept being able to do whatever he wants with me, even taking over a house and a shop?He had said similar things before. He wouldn’t count lying down like a log by the number of times. To Jung Yiyeon, my proactive approach to sex seemed to hold such great significance. Even though sex is just a basic act of banging and thrashing.“I…,” Jung Yiyeon sighed and said, “Why would I rape you?”At least the first time among the ten times he demanded sex, wasn’t it almost like rape? Moreover, considering the fact that he had come into someone else’s room at night and touched them, he seemed to shake his head as if he had no intention of that either.“I don’t… want to have sex with you.”“What…?”What kind of nonsense is this again? Of course, I may seem dirty and pathetic now, but if he doesn’t feel any sexual attraction, why did he come into my room at night? And if it’s not for sex, then why bother confining me?“Lee Nan. I will keep the promise I made with you.”I stared blankly at him for a moment, unable to understand his words.“From now on, just twice. And then… I should disappear from your life.”What kind of insane talk is this?After having sex twice, he wants to keep me confined and just watch me because he doesn’t want to let go? I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, and I was left speechless in astonishment.“You said it yourself. So I won’t become any worse than I am now.”As I couldn’t respond, Jung Yiyeon added quietly.“I don’t want to become any worse than this either. I will keep the promise.”With that statement, silence filled the dimly lit bedroom. Jung Yiyeon didn’t lay a finger on me as he simply watched me silently.What a lunatic. The words lingered on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t bring myself to say them. I just felt stunned, with a sense of disappointment deep inside.How did Jung Yiyeon and I end up in such a situation?I don’t know who averted their gaze first as we looked at each other. But at some point, I found myself staring blankly at the bed, and Jung Yiyeon got up from it.“Rest.”Leaving behind those words, Jung Yiyeon left the room. Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind. Was the love I once desired from Jung Yiyeon supposed to come with such a heavy price?If he had returned even a tiny bit of the affection when I was desperately in love with him, I would have been undoubtedly happy as if I had the whole world. All I wanted was a bracelet. That alone would have been enough to prove his affection for me.But now, the reality of the price he was putting on the table didn’t feel tangible to me. And perhaps more than the potential economic prosperity I might gain, Jung Yiyeon’s feelings seemed unreal to me. The pathetic love that confined a person because they wanted to see them and forced sex because they couldn’t let go didn’t resonate with me.Lying in bed, I stared blankly into the darkness. My thoughts didn’t seem to roll properly, perhaps because of hunger and exhaustion.A house and a shop. I might end up having those. But why did suddenly everything feel so melancholic? Why did I keep recalling painful and agonizing memories? What could possibly change?Nothing changed. Nothing. Sooner or later, Jung Yiyeon and I would become strangers to each other.Jung Yiyeon struggling to delay that end. Perhaps, in that moment, I wondered if what he truly wanted from me wasn’t just sex.You should have loved me a little earlier. You shouldn’t have made me suffer like this.Unable to contain the resentment that inevitably poured out, I felt even more miserable and melancholic.***When the housemaid came in the morning, I was already awake. Of course, my body was still lying on the bed.“Mr. Lee, I’ll leave it here, please have some.”Despite the caring and concerned tone of her voice, I didn’t respond. The housemaid quietly closed the door and left the room.Soon, a delightful scent filled the enclosed space. It felt like my stomach was growling at the savory aroma. I was still hungry. Chuckling to myself self-deprecatingly, I slowly got up from the bed.As I had been lying down and waking up repeatedly for about 48 hours, I didn’t feel particularly tired. But due to not drinking water properly and prolonged hunger, I felt dizzy and weak. Slowly getting up from the bed, I sat in front of the porridge left by the housemaid.It was still steaming hot, but I didn’t hesitate to eat. I didn’t hesitate even for a moment as I took a spoonful and blew on it before taking a bite. As soon as the food touched my tongue, the taste buds in my mouth erupted into a festival. My stomach was urging me to swallow more quickly. Thanks to that, both my hands and my heart became impatient.The porridge was quite hot, but it didn’t take long to eat it all. If anyone saw me, I would have been embarrassed by how quickly I devoured it. Even though this wasn’t the situation for me to act like this, hunger always wins.As my body was refueled, warmth seemed to return to my fingertips and toes. Suddenly, a rush of sweetness flooded me, and even my head felt light. Ah, suddenly, the world looked a bit more beautiful. It was amazing that I could feel good in such a situation.After resolving the urgent matter at hand, I began to feel uncomfortable with my unwashed body. Rising from the bed with a squeak, I made my way to the bathroom attached to the room.Considering it had been a few days since my last shower, I didn’t feel too bad. My jawline may have seemed a bit sharper, but I wasn’t as emaciated as a skeleton. It had only been two days, after all.Yes, only two days. Only two days. And Jung Yiyeon came here talking about giving me a house and a shop just because I starved for that long. If I had starved a bit more, he might have even offered me a company. Chuckling to myself, I turned on the shower and adjusted the temperature.Now that my stomach was filled and my body was clean from the hot water, I felt a lot better. The only problem was that although there was a wardrobe in the room I was using, it was empty. My only option was a robe.With the clothes I had been wearing for a few days tucked into my side, I grabbed a tray and left the room. Then, I headed downstairs.“Oh my, Mr. Lee.”Perhaps the housemaid didn’t expect me to come down to the first-floor kitchen, as she widened her eyes in surprise. Despite not having exchanged formal greetings, she spoke to me affectionately and kindly, as if she had known me for a long time.“Have you finished everything? Did you enjoy the taste?”“I enjoyed it very much. Thank you. I need to do some laundry though…”“Oh, just leave it here. From now on, if you put it in the laundry basket in the multipurpose room on the second floor, I’ll take care of it for you. There’s a small door next to the stairs.”“Oh, okay… Thank you.”“Is your stomach okay? Would you like me to prepare lunch as porridge again?”“No, please serve rice.”It felt burdensome to be treated like a patient who needed to eat porridge despite not having been hungry for long. Even if the housemaid was friendly to me, it couldn’t help feeling awkward from my side.“Okay. Is there anything specific you’d like for lunch?”“I’ll eat anything. Please make whatever.”“Alright. Then I’ll make a light beef soup for lunch. If you want anything else, just let me know. I’ll go buy it if I can’t make it.”“Okay…”“Shall I bring lunch to your room?”“No, I’ll come down.”“Okay. Please come down around twelve thirty.”The smiling housemaid seemed… how should I put it? She felt like a friend’s mom, making it difficult to respond coldly. Even in this situation, I couldn’t throw away my basic manners as a human being. Just wearing a robe and walking around in front of her felt impolite enough.But there was nothing I could do without clothes. Trying to ignore the embarrassment that briefly rose within me, I left the kitchen. Even though I wanted to clean up after myself, the housemaid seemed determined not to see me wiping my hands.Scratching my slightly damp hair, I debated whether to go back to the room or just head to the living room. Since there was nothing I needed to see in the room anyway, I decided to go to the living room.Approaching the TV, I opened the console below it. And to my amazement, I burst into laughter.Was this a game room? There were Nintendo, PlayStation, and even Xbox. The game cartridges or discs were plentiful. It was delightful to find the games I used to play with my friends.If I only set my mind to it, I could truly live the ultimate unemployed life. Except for online games, practically everything was here. Besides game cartridges, there were also plenty of DVDs of various movies and dramas. Some famous anime seemed to be among them.Were these things that had been here since before, or were they prepared by Jung Yiyeon to confine me? Did he think I would enjoy playing games and watching TV while being confined?If I could gain a house and a shop by spending some time doing that, would I willingly agree?I would have preferred to be someone who only cared about immediate gains. I would have been better off if I had just been materialistic.Chuckling to myself, I randomly picked a Blu-ray and inserted it into the player. It felt pathetic to lie on the couch wearing only a robe, and I couldn’t help but sigh.“Mr. Lee. Are you feeling better? I brought some fruit to slice.”The housemaid, unaware of my feelings, kindly brought me fruit. As I reluctantly got up from my lounging position, I saw that a fragrant tea was also served in a pretty teapot. From the scent, it seemed to be chamomile.“Thank you.”“Don’t mention it. Do you need anything else? I’ll be back around lunchtime.”Her words implied that there was a separate exit, or perhaps she had a card key in her pocket to unlock the door.For a moment, I imagined snatching the card key from her and escaping from this house. Of course, even if I did leave the house, I knew I would be caught as soon as I stepped out the front door, so it remained just a fantasy.With a sense of regret and bitterness, I lowered my head.“There are snacks in the kitchen cupboard, so help yourself. And there’s porridge left in the fridge if you get hungry.”“Yes… Thank you.”The housemaid smiled kindly and returned to the kitchen.Taking a bite of the apple, cut into convenient pieces, I returned to the sofa. Was it even okay to have such a comfortable life?It was the first day of an unpredictable and boring unemployed life.Even after watching a movie, it wasn’t even eleven o’clock yet. Sometimes I heard noises from the kitchen, indicating that the housemaid, who said she would serve lunch at twelve thirty, was busy.Now what should I do? Time really dragged on slowly. I considered watching another movie but felt too lazy to get up, so I decided to just watch TV. Despite it being a weekday afternoon, there were reruns of variety shows on the cable channels. Although I occasionally watched TV, I never really knew what was entertaining. So I mindlessly flipped through the channels for a while.Feeling a presence from the stairs, I turned my gaze and saw Jung Yiyeon descending. I was a little surprised to see him dressed casually in sweatpants and a T-shirt. Considering the time, he should have been at work now.He didn’t mention anything about going to the office in the morning, but he shouldn’t have skipped work. Moreover, now was a busy time for acquiring hotels in Busan. Not to mention, he was also considering opening a resort in Jeju Island and a duty-free shop in downtown Seoul. Knowing all this, I couldn’t help but be surprised to find him at the villa in Gapyeong at this hour instead of at work.But it seemed Jung Yiyeon was equally surprised. His eyes trembled as he looked at me sitting on the first-floor sofa, a sight he probably didn’t expect.“…Have you eaten?”Why did his voice sound so stiff? I soon found the answer. As Jung Yiyeon approached, a strong smell of alcohol wafted over. If he smelled like this even into the late morning, how much had he drunk the night before?“Why… aren’t you wearing… oh.”After sitting on the sofa for several hours, my gown had loosened at the front. Although it reached down to my knees, due to my reclined position, the front had opened slightly, revealing some bare skin around my thighs.Seeing me in this state, Jung Yiyeon turned his head while rubbing his dry hands.“I’ll move some clothes to your room for you to wear.”“I’ll do it myself. But I’m a bit bored and want to go out.”At my words about wanting to go out, Jung Yiyeon’s eyes flickered.Of course, it was my true desire to leave this villa, but at least my words weren’t a request to let me go. I had no intention of wrestling with someone who had no intention of letting me go in the first place.“Could you at least open the door for a walk in the yard?”“…Now? But… change your clothes…”“Who’s going to see? So you won’t open it?”When I bluntly asked, Jung Yiyeon shut his mouth. Suspicious eyes, perhaps wanting to understand my intentions, followed me. But when I furrowed my brow, he let out a short sigh.“…I’ll open it.”Hearing the answer I wanted, I got up from my seat. Thanks to that, the gown became even looser, but I didn’t bother to fix it. Although Jung Yiyeon was probably uncomfortable seeing my bare body, it was embarrassing to walk around naked even if there was no one around to see.As I headed towards the entrance, Jung Yiyeon stepped forward and took out a card from his pocket to open the door.It was so easy to go outside. As long as it was within the limited freedom Jung Yiyeon provided. It was nothing to bask in the sunlight in the middle of the spacious lawn. I stepped onto the grass wearing slippers.It was transitioning into autumn, but the warm natural breeze filled with the lingering heat of the unending summer, and the sunlight shining down sharply on my black hair. The rustling sounds of the trees that couldn’t be heard in the well-insulated house.After just a few days, I breathed out lazily at the thought of experiencing the natural elements. I felt like throwing off the gown that enveloped my body. Of course, even for the sake of minimal dignity, I had to be satisfied with simply strolling in the garden. Although it wasn’t a particularly large lawn, just being able to walk on the ground and feel the breeze was somewhat relieving to my suffocating chest.I strolled like that for a while. When the sound of footsteps approached, I turned around to see Jung Yiyeon coming towards me.His face looked much more relaxed, as if he had eaten bean sprout soup. As he approached, he stopped at a distance neither too close nor too far.