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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Past: The Day of the Transaction
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#Past, Day of the Transaction
The boy born in winter was at the mansion with his parents. The ceiling loomed high, the walls distant—somehow, it didn't feel like a place where people lived. It was chilly, oddly so. Autumn outside, yet winter indoors. Winter didn't like the season he was born in. Cold and lonely.
He'd thought the guide was a servant, but was surprised to learn she was the chairman's daughter. Quite the age gap. She looked like she was in her twenties. He'd have believed it if she were the granddaughter. Quiet demeanor. Her face somehow shrouded. Peering carefully through her hair, he saw an expression dusted with snow.
The old man, longing for youth, awaited the arrival of his purchase. No small talk.
"Strip."
"Pardon?"
"I said strip. Gotta check the merchandise."
Rough, curt. Winter was mortified. Even if she were his sister's age, stripping without hesitation in a place like this was no easy task. It was humiliating. Especially for a boy on the cusp of twenty. With strangers all around. The chairman's daughter, the servants' stares—they all mattered. They looked flustered too, even if they hid it. He was sensitive to others' moods.
The chairman spoke.
"If you wanna ruin the deal, stay dressed. Don't need your body anyway—full clone transplant works just fine."
Ayoung's gaze turned to her father. Accusation laced with disdain for the lie, but she looked away first when their eyes met. The chairman dismissed his daughter with a pathetic sneer.
The boy's parents grew tense. Frozen smiles, poking his back.
"Do as the chairman says, dear. Okay? Be a good boy?"
His mother's voice sounded like she was coaxing a stubborn child.
The stone in his heart grew heavier by the day, now crashing painfully against his quaking pulse. Hot chill rising to his throat. Familiar, so he endured. Soon, it wouldn't weigh any more. Right. As long as he could live with a true heart, even in a false life.
Eyes downcast, the boy shed his layers one by one.
"Underwear too."
He hesitated. But briefly. Humiliating, yet he stripped it off. Finally, utterly naked. Raw, human, standing there, meeting the chairman's eyes—Is this enough?—and the old man dreaming of humanity grinned in satisfaction.
"Prime stock. Excellent."
Chairman Go Geoncheol drew close, prodding, pressing, kneading the boy's body. Seemed pleased with the firm build. Tall too. The chairman's crown didn't reach his collarbone. Might've made it big in entertainment, given the chance.
"Face to toes, all perfect. Good. Yeah, gotta be this quality for who'll use it."
If only it stopped there, but the chairman leaned in, sniffing deeply. Muttering about body odor mattering too—the boy wanted to die of shame.
But the worst demand was yet to come.
"Get it up."
"Pardon?"
"Make it hard."
Tapping the penis with his fingertips. Winter was dumbfounded, but Chairman Go Geoncheol was dead serious. Everyone watching froze in shock. Ayoung, knowing it futile, stepped in anyway to stop her father.
"Enough! The doctors guaranteed he's fine! Isn't this sufficient?"
"Sufficient? Sufficient?"
The chairman scoffed.
"Fifty billion. Even if guys earning a hundred mil a year saved half, it'd take a century. Pocket change for me, but a lifetime dream for him. What's the gripe with inspecting a fifty-billion-won item?"
"But…"
"But my ass. I've been a merchant my whole life. Never bought on someone else's word! Gotta check myself for certainty! Tsk, my one daughter's such a soft pushover…"
Words were impotent tools, after all.
To the onlookers—especially Winter—it was absurd. He swallowed rage too. Even his parents couldn't bring themselves to demand this much of their son, mouths clamped shut. Just anxious.
Only the ruthless merchant pressed on undeterred. He'd shown willingness to pay. No need to drag out the deal. Chairman Go Geoncheol prodded mercilessly.
"What're you waiting for? Get it up quick. Don't play innocent like you've never jerked off."
Small mercy: those around turned away. Winter tried lewd thoughts, but failed. Especially under the old man's piercing glare.
"Sorry. I can't."
The chairman snapped.
"Don't wanna earn money?"
"…"
"Think pocket change from others is easy? With all the VR slackers committing insurance fraud, you hit the jackpot with no rejection risk—sell the body, lounge forever! Be grateful! At least try, then I wouldn't say shit!"
"But… I really can't."
The boy trembled with humiliation. Yielding to the grudge-weighted stone, he wanted to scream, wail. Irrational situation. Anyone would understand Winter. But it only fueled Chairman Go Geoncheol's ire. Whence such vigor in that aged frame? His already loud voice boomed louder.
"Damn kids these days lack grit! Effort! Effort! EFFOOOORT! Willpower makes anything possible!"
The stubborn elder huffed, winded by his own fury. But the boy stood petrified like stone. Muscled frame or not, he looked small, pitiful. Emotions imploding inward.
Scowling, the chairman called his daughter.
"You. Suck it."
"…Pardon?"
"Suck it hard."
He hadn't misheard. Ayoung was aghast. Winter's eyes widened round; his parents and the servants wore what-did-I-just-hear faces. The tyrant pressed his daughter.
"What're you standing around for? Do it."
"Are you in your right mind? I'm your daughter!"
To Ayoung's protest—What parent orders this of their child?—the chairman grinned like she'd made his point.
"Right. My daughter! Know what that means? You wouldn't exist without me!"
"How could you ask this of your married daughter?!"
"Makes it easier! You've done it for your husband!"
No one could withstand such brutality. Ayoung shook, blood boiling. She glared. The chairman snorted.
"Glare at your father? Cocky brat. Think you'd survive without me? Toss you out, think hubby'd keep you? Dragging your brat, living on your own? Huh? Speak. What's your take?"
Mention of the child drained strength from Ayoung's eyes. Pretty granddaughter, but her father loathed her. Women fundamentally impure—no joy in her birth. He'd said it to his daughter holding the baby a day after birth.
Ayoung's husband hadn't married her for love. Not Go Ayoung, but the Hyesung Group heiress. Lose that status, get discarded. He liked her body, but better ones abounded. He cheated now.
Only she could protect her one-year-old. Disowned, no job prospects—all doors barred. Ayoung yielded to reality. Knelt before the winter-born boy.
"H-Hey, w-wait a sec…"
Grabbing Winter's retreating hands with both of hers, Ayoung said in a sunken voice.
"It's fine. Just endure a little."
Having soothed him, she took his penis in her mouth before he could react.
"Ugh…"
Her father barked that practice made perfect, but truth was, Ayoung had no experience. As an adult, she knew of it. But never yielded to her husband's demands. Pride. That's why her bed-crushing husband lost interest in her.
No point explaining.
The boy had imagined such things, but reality dwarfed fantasy. Guilt, shame, suppressed fury. Despite the negatives, each throb stole his breath. Reason stabbed coolly through his mind, but that was all.
Ayoung gauged the moment. Nausea rose.
Showing it would just draw mockery. Expressionless, she stood, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, eyed her father.
"Satisfied now?"
"Hand over that handkerchief."
Taking it, the chairman gripped the boy roughly, wiped off her saliva. Inspected girth and length dry. Only then nodded, pleased.
"Not bad. Sturdy."
"…Is it over now?"
Trembling question met curt reply. Softer than before, though. Rare for the moody chairman—known only to family and close aides.
"Good experience, why whine? And no, not done."
Not over. Fear now flickered in the boy's eyes. What more? Chairman Go Geoncheol said calmly.
"Gotta see you cum."
"…"
Ayoung, meeting his gaze, gave up protesting. Winter groaned.
"Please…"
Please what? Even he might not know. But sometimes, unclear words ring clear. Understanding, Ayoung felt her reluctance fade. Poor kid. Empathy stirred. Despite her disgust, she wanted to be kind to him.
Behind the boy, stroking his hair with one hand, embracing, she whispered in his ear.
"Think of it as a dream. When it passes, just a bad dream."
"Ugh, ngh, ah, no, can't…"
The gentleness absent even from family shook him. Sweet breath in his ear, soft breasts against his back, body heat everywhere, dizzying warmth clouding his head, above all those pale, long fingers—humiliatingly sensitive. Silky palm friction too.
Ayoung coaxed release. Skilled with hands from rebuffing her husband, unlike her mouth.
It burst. The old chairman exclaimed in admiration.
"Yes! That's it. Healthy as hell."
Chairman Go Geoncheol smiled rarely. Patted the boy's shoulder in praise.
"Good job. Satisfied."
Winter blinked rapidly. As if the madness were illusion, the chairman was utterly composed.
"Now my turn to show payment."
"The money…?"
"Among other things."
Chairman Go Geoncheol continued sternly.
"I'm a fair merchant. Broken laws, sure—but never my code. Said it: check yourself for certainty. I inspected your goods, so you inspect my payment item by item. Money's key, yes. But for you, far more vital is the VR you'll live in forever post-deal, right?"
"Virtual reality…"
True, money mattered most to Winter's parents, but the chairman's payment included more than house and cash. The VR for the boy's "storage" was part too.
To the chairman, a sort of barter. He'd checked the boy's quality; the boy must check the VR's.
"Best to experience it yourself. Have them bring a terminal here."
No real need for reply. The boy nodded meekly.
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