Cheongwol's lips twitched.
Of the three rounds, the first one was done. Now two remained.
When should she say it?
She had already steeled herself, but it was hard to do it now while Han Seojin was bustling around everywhere.
He went to grab a candle that had been placed near the stairs, then slowly returned to her.
His footsteps didn't stop.
How close was he planning to get?
A distance so near she couldn't escape.
In the end, he stopped about a step away.
A distance where if they stretched out their hands, they would touch right away.
The nearby candle brightly illuminated both their faces.
Cheongwol suddenly thought she wanted to hide her expression from that light.
Han Seojin kept looking down at her as if gazing at something, and Cheongwol thought to herself.
...Now?
Her twitching lips moved.
"I... I..."
"-That would be no fun."
But Han Seojin immediately cut her off.
Cheongwol flinched in surprise at his words and looked up at him.
"We've already done that once, so it should be easy, right?"
"...Wh...?"
"Cheongwol."
Han Seojin called her name.
And Cheongwol could see it.
In Han Seojin's eyes, there was something new that hadn't been there before.
Lust? Excitement? Or greed?
...Whatever it was, he was suppressing it through his slightly heavier breathing.
At that sincerity, Cheongwol's heart squeezed tight again.
She pretended not to notice, but to her, who had spent years reading the room at the Emei Sect, those emotions were crystal clear.
And in this moment... strangely, they didn't feel bad.
On the contrary, the fact that she wasn't running away despite seeing them made her fingertips tingle, as if she were doing something she shouldn't again.
"You said it with your own mouth."
"...Eut!"
No one knew better than her what she had said with her own mouth.
"You're a vulgar, filthy woman."
Cheongwol froze.
"...Right?"
...At his words expecting a response, she inevitably reacted.
-...Nod.
Han Seojin continued from arm's reach.
"But... it's hard to believe just words alone. In my eyes... I still see the Emei Sect's Thousand-Year Flower. Still too... pure?"
The Emei Sect's Thousand-Year Flower was visible?
...At that obvious statement, she felt an illusion like her shoulders growing heavy for a moment.
The burden of reality she had forgotten in this space returned.
Cheongwol stiffened, waiting for his next words.
After a brief silence, Han Seojin finally commanded.
"...So, how about taking off that uniform down to your shoulders?"
"Wha...?"
At that suggestion, Cheongwol unconsciously covered her face with the back of her hand and her chest with her remaining arm.
But Han Seojin was persistent.
"...Only if you take off even a little will I be able to believe your words."
Out of shame, Cheongwol whispered back like a counterattack.
"...Y-Yeah, you're such a pervert it's starting to make me disgusted now."
But Han Seojin brushed off such insults easily.
"You're the one who came looking for a pervert like me."
"..."
His counter made Cheongwol feel even more humiliated instead.
He continued relentlessly, calmly, persistently.
"There's no need to show that much disgust. I've already seen your body before."
"Eeut..."
"Back then, I saw it even more blatantly? Your thighs, hips, back... I even admired your pale skin completely."
Cheongwol hid her expression behind her hand.
Her body reacting with chills to every word he said felt strange.
She mulled over his words.
He wasn't wrong.
In the previous act, she had shown even more of her body.
Hadn't she felt intense helplessness back then too?
Compared to that, showing just her shoulders should be possible.
...But the difference was that this time, she had to do it voluntarily.
Han Seojin said.
"...Or do you want to be the Emei Sect's Thousand-Year Flower even in front of me?"
"..."
"Miss Cheongwol. Shall I treat you that way?"
-Grip...
At his formal speech, Cheongwol's hand clenched involuntarily.
'Emei Sect's Thousand-Year Flower'.
Was there a name more burdensome and heavy?
A being that had to be noble, prim, and above reproach by anyone.
That title was never praise; it was always shackles.
But if there was a moment she could set it aside.
Wouldn't this place be the only one?
The moment she shed that name might be the freest moment in the world.
He was right.
She had only shed the pressure verbally; her body was still clad in the Emei Sect's uniform.
She hadn't escaped those shackles even a little.
The atmosphere in the air, her rejection of the Thousand-Year Flower title, and faint excitement... ultimately moved her once again.
Yes.
Just like he said.
It was a body she'd already shown once anyway.
-Swish.
Her hand trembled as it moved.
Cheongwol couldn't bring herself to look at Han Seojin at all.
His gaze pouring onto her body felt like needles pricking.
Yet Cheongwol didn't stop.
She understood now too.
If she did this act alone in the room.
...There would be no excitement at all. Just undressing.
But because there was Han Seojin, who accepted even this ugly side of her, and because he was watching this sight, all the liberation was felt.
If it weren't in front of him, this feeling wouldn't even start.
With trembling hands, she loosened the sash holding the uniform just a bit.
Cheongwol's heart was pounding madly.
She glanced at Han Seojin.
His gaze was fixed on her chest and nape.
At that, Cheongwol was swept in mad shame, and that shame spread chillingly down her spine like pleasure.
And that feeling.
...Was just a little... good.
Finally, she grasped the uniform near her shoulders.
Her hand seemed frozen, unwilling to move...
'...Or do you want to be the Emei Sect's Thousand-Year Flower even in front of me?'
At Han Seojin's voice echoing, she closed her eyes and steeled herself.
And slowly...
-Sluuur...
Cold air enveloped her shoulders.
At that chill, Cheongwol shuddered again.
She undressed herself.
In front of a man.
Like whispering, like a vulgar and filthy woman.
Was she going mad?
It was something she believed she'd never do in her life.
Yet now, she was following this humiliating command of her own accord.
"...Pretty."
While trembling in shame, his voice rang out.
Cheongwol unconsciously shrank again.
Too much strength went into the hand gripping the uniform.
"Now, shall we say those words again?"
"...!"
Dazed, Han Seojin pressed her.
Say those words in this state?
She thought saying it once would make it easier, but Han Seojin had raised the intensity so simply.
Before, it was just uttering the words; now...
"...Cheongwol. Did you hear me?"
But at his following pressure, Cheongwol committed her body.
Hesitating more would make it weird.
On the contrary, pretending she couldn't resist his pressure and obeying the command would be more comfortable.
That was the most plausible excuse to protect her current self.
"...I... I am... vulgar and..."
He smiled.
"...Right. Now it's a bit more believable."
"Eut...! ...A filthy woman."
Her breath grew ragged.
Her chest heaved up and down with it.
Ashamed of such a chest, she tried to suppress her breathing somehow, but the more she did, the more ragged it became.
Cheongwol was curious about Han Seojin's reaction.
She lifted her moist eyes to look at him.
The moment their eyes met, he whispered.
"...Too pretty."
That feeling again... pleasure.
"...Good girl. Cheongwol's a good girl."
-Swish.
"...?"
It wasn't just words; Han Seojin slowly reached out a hand.
A hand to stroke her hair.
The original her would have reflexively slapped it away.
She, who wore propriety and chastity like convictions, wouldn't permit such a touch in this state.
The proud Emei Sect heroine doesn't yield herself to a man's hand.
"..."
...But now.
Even that conviction had been set aside somewhere.
Here right now wasn't the pure and elegant Thousand-Year Flower.
...Just as she uttered, only a vulgar and filthy woman was here.
And such a dirty, vulgar woman doesn't refuse a man's touch.
On the contrary, she acts coy and feminine with it.
...She wouldn't go that far.
It was just an act for a moment.
Once all this ended, she could return to her lofty self.
So just now.
...Just now, for that one man who accepted even her disgusting side... she felt like pushing a little harder and enduring.
The more she set aside the name Emei Sect's Cheongwol, the greater the freedom she felt grew.
The weight that always pressed on her heart had vanished completely in this moment.
And perhaps in this central plains, Han Seojin was the only one who could treat her not as Emei Sect's Cheongwol, but as woman Cheongwol.
Han Seojin's hand approached as if to stroke her hair...
"...No. You have to say it to the end."
With those words, he withdrew his hand again.
The touch that might have been warm never reached, leaving only cold air above Cheongwol's head.
Only after he withdrew did Cheongwol exhale the breath she'd held.
She swallowed her ragged breathing with effort, trying not to let him hear her heart's sound.
She thought it fortunate.
Better that his hand didn't touch.
She couldn't predict what strange feeling she'd get from being stroked by Han Seojin.
It might bring tremendous regret.
Yet, she was also terribly curious.
...He said he'd stroke her once all this was done.
What would that feel like...?
"Shall we go to the last one now?"
At Han Seojin's suggestion, fear first bloomed in Cheongwol.
How could there be more than this?
If it was to take off all her clothes, even she knew she couldn't endure that.
No matter the strange stimulation she felt from him, they weren't that close.
It was absolutely not a relationship to reveal herself in just undergarments.
Han Seojin smiled and said.
"Our distance between us. Remember it. Don't move. I won't move either."
"...?"
Cheongwol looked at the distance between her and Han Seojin.
-Sizzle...
And during that, Han Seojin extinguished the candle flame with his fingers.
Complete darkness fell over the basement.
At night, some light seeped in, so one vaguely knew where they were.
But in a place with not a speck of light, it felt like falling into the abyss.
And from that intense darkness, Han Seojin's voice echoed dreamily.
"Cheongwol."
And the moment the light went out, she could predict his next words.
"The last one. Take off the uniform... completely."
In the end, Cheongwol cried out.
"Ar-Are you insane...?"
But it didn't come out as strong as she hoped.
The words meant to shout roughly flew out weak and uncertain.
"Like you, I can't see anything either. Even if you undress, there's nothing I can see."
"St-Still, you're right in front...!"
"I told you I can't see? I'm just going to stand here. That's all."
"Huu...! Eueuk!!"
Intense shame made Cheongwol groan.
But Han Seojin's following suggestion rang sweetly too.
"Here, you're a vulgar and filthy woman. Not the Emei Sect's Thousand-Year Flower, right? Then why are you still wearing the Emei Sect uniform? You don't need it, do you?"
"...Eueu... Huu..."
Her breath kept getting shallow.
The resolve to do it was too great for her body to follow.
"Isn't there a Buddhist saying like that? Come empty-handed, leave empty-handed... something like that? You came empty-handed too, Cheongwol, so clothes, pride, expectations... let's set it all aside for a bit."
Was that really the saying for this? Cheongwol wondered, but she had no time to care.
He commanded overbearingly.
"This is the last time. Take it off."
"..."
"And after taking it off, you know what to say, right?"
****
In the pitch-black darkness, I was trying to plant both shame and liberation in Cheongwol simultaneously.
A completely secret space.
Absolute darkness without a single point of light.
The only sound there was Cheongwol's ragged breathing.
My job was done.
My plan ended here.
Now, only waiting remained.
I thought the buildup had gone sufficiently well.
Tension and confusion, anticipation and shame.
The process of gradually heightening and stacking all those emotions.
Honestly, as a novice sadist, I want to say I did pretty well.
If scoring, about 90 points?
The 10 points deducted were because I got caught in my own emotions midway, freezing and panicking a few times.
If it were a woman not as scary as Cheongwol, I wouldn't have kept this much reason.
It would have been much messier.
Anyway.
Once everything ended, what remained for me was... gloomy, but satisfying my desire.
"The choice is yours."
I said, pretending to regain composure.
"I'll just lightly extend my hand. If you take off the uniform, put it on my hand. That's how I'll know you really took it off, right?"
My voice was low and calm, but from Cheongwol's side, suppressed groans kept leaking.
Darkness sharpens the senses.
Hearing breaths I hadn't before so vividly was thanks to this darkness.
I'm tense too.
Would Cheongwol hand over her clothes to me?
I couldn't know what was happening inside her.
She might break down crying and give up here.
All I could do was wait in this unseen darkness.
...And assuming I don't die, I wanted to receive that uniform.
We stood like that for a long time.
Cheongwol's breathing was the only stimulation filling this basement.
I didn't urge her.
I waited for her to make her choice fully.
How much time passed.
-Swish... swish...
An unidentified sound rang from Cheongwol's side.
Maybe the sound of retying the uniform.
Or maybe writhing in agony.
I just waited.
Until some reaction came from her.
-...Plop.
After a long time, something warm fell powerlessly onto my hand.
Something with a person's warmth.
My heart clenched tight.
I couldn't be sure what it was.
In this darkness, nothing was visible.
I could only guess.
My heart pounded at that weight and warmth.
While frozen like that, a voice as beautiful as her appearance rang out.
"I... am."
I blinked. Slightly wrong line. But no time to care.
She was at arm's reach if I extended my hand—what state was she in?
What expression, what look as she said this?
What feelings. What shame.
Curiosity swirled dizzily.
My hand kept twitching.
I wanted to reach out.
But survival instinct stopped me.
Instead, I gripped tightly with both hands the choice she handed me.
The voice rang again.
"Vu... vulgar and... filthy..."
One letter, one syllable.
Obeying my command even in shame.
The greatest stimulation since entering this world.
"...Wo... man..."
Between her trembling voice, a slight wetness was felt.
Cheongwol herself wasn't visible.
Only the beautiful voice of a woman stimulated me.
Perhaps because of that, my fear was less than before, and so that voice sounded utterly beautiful.
"Good—"
Like that, the moment I tried to convey honest feelings bursting out.
-Bang!!
A sound suddenly jolted my mind back.
A sound from outside the basement.
"Wha...?"
Cheongwol let out a shrill sound.
'Seojin! We're here!!'
It was a cringe-inducing voice.
The moment we were rushing toward emotional peak, our world was mercilessly severed.
'Huh? Where'd Seojin go?'
'Isn't he holed up in the basement again?'
'Go check.'
Fuck.
I shattered the atmosphere I'd forcibly maintained and shouted urgently.
"Ah, Uncles!! Don't come in!! I'll come up!!
Flailing in the darkness, I threw myself toward the basement door.
I nearly tripped over something with my foot, and my body bumped into the instruments scattered around.
In this unseen darkness, I moved solely on crisis sense.
'Seojin's in the basement. Going down, Seojin!'
"If you open the door, you're dead!! I said you're dead!!"
No lie, pure sincerity.
Really. Really dead.
Imagine Cheongwol facing Beggars' Sect beggars in just her undergarments.
Her living with that memory?
Absolutely not. We'd all die.
Dead serious.
-Thud! Crash!!
In urgency, I ran forward bumping everywhere.
My hand finally touched the wall, and I groped my way.
'What noise is that, Seojin!'
"I said wait!! I'll come up!!!"
I crawled up the found stairs on all fours.
And before the uncles could open the basement first, I stepped out.
-Creeak.
The Beggars' Sect uncles' faces were visible.
All looking like drowned rats from the rain.
"Why... why'd you come."
I asked unconsciously.
Leading Gwak Du Uncle frowned and said.
"Why'd we come? Do we need a reason to visit your house?"
"You do! It's my house, Uncle!"
"Came to avoid the rain, kid. You're so heartless disappearing. Brought booze and dumplings instead, so let's eat. But you're extra prickly today? Black-haired beast isn't for raising, huh..."
I firmly closed the basement door and stood in front of them.
Beggars' Sect uncles.
Don't think of them as just beggars.
Beggars with damn sharp instincts.
If chased out recklessly, they'd nine times out of ten catch on 'he's hiding something down there.'
And they can't resist such curiosity.
It'd be a matter of time before they crawl down.
So I had to act composed.
"...Ah, no, I was just about to come find you guys, couldn't wait. Left the leather frames in the basement and was heading out."
"Yeah?"
"Th-This time sold some ropes to Emei Sect, pockets are full. I'll buy, let's go to an inn. Don't dirty my house with rainwater...!"
"But what's that, Seojin."
"Huh? What..."
"That."
Gwak Du Uncle pointed at my hand.
Ah.
Seeing it, my eyes trembled.
...In my hand was Cheongwol's uniform.
Her uniform, still warm.