Chapter 3

　　Following her felt endless. I couldn’t even begin to guess where the hallway ended. We kept walking along a wall covered in black tiles, with no doors in sight. Just as I wondered if this was the end, she turned a corner and went up a flight of stairs.

　　On the top floor of the building, there was a secret staircase leading even higher. My heart beat so wildly it felt as though it might burst.

　　Unable to catch my breath, I stumbled. As I leaned against the wall to gather my composure, she watched me silently with a cold, stern expression.

　　It felt as if she would wait for me forever, yet at the same time, as if she might vanish in the blink of an eye.

　　Whether I could breathe properly or not, regardless of my state, my duty was to keep following her. I took my hand off the wall and straightened up. Only then did she turn back and lead the way up the stairs.

　　Finally, something that looked like a door came into view. She entered a passcode and opened it. A massive, heavy steel door, almost too thick to handle, swung open with a dull thud. Leaning against it, she gestured with her chin for me to step inside. I quickly moved past her.

　　The door closed.

　　All light was cut off.

　　I couldn’t see a single thing.

　　I had no idea what I was supposed to do, so I just stood there motionless. I wanted to ask questions, to ask anything that might ease this indefinable tension and fear, but I remained silent.

　　“You are quiet.”

　　“Very good,” she added. My racing heart calmed in an instant, because it was a compliment. Someone who has never received praise can’t help but be vulnerable to it.

　　“Daisy is the first person to follow me all the way here without asking a single question.”

　　My heart pounded again, but this time, the feeling was sweet. A sweet warmth washed over me, as if I had a mouthful of sugar water.

　　She walked slowly in a circle around me, the click of her boot heels echoing as she moved. I tried to catch her scent, but it was useless. Not even the faint smell of shampoo lingered on her. The room was the same, completely devoid of any scent that suggested human presence.

　　I realized the space was empty. This was truly a secret hideaway, the most secluded spot inside a building in such a bustling district. The sheer absurdity of the disguise made me want to laugh in amazement.

　　“I am going to ask a few questions now.”

　　Her calm voice brought me back to my senses. I relaxed my twitching face, striving to keep my expression completely blank, and waited with bated breath for what she would say next.

　　“Think of it as a simple interview.”

　　“Yes, I understand.”

　　She told me to hold out a hand. Not knowing which hand she wanted, I held out both. She took them both at once.

　　I was surprised by how much larger her hands were than mine. And just as surprising was their warmth. In a person who seemed completely devoid of heat, her hands were so warm that the feeling alone threatened to melt my resolve.

　　Holding my hands, she led me somewhere. “It’s a bed,” she said, laying me down on it. It felt like an examination table, narrow enough that a single person could barely fit.

　　“How do you know K?”

　　“We met in a club. For this… for kinksters.”

　　“I see,” she replied, and began touching my body. As if preparing to evaluate me, her warm hands touched and kneaded me here and there.

　　“Do you like spanking?”

　　“Yes, yes. I like it.”

　　“What aspect of it do you like? Because it hurts?”

　　That question took some thought. When I hesitated, making an uncertain sound, she told me to take my time. She raised my right leg, bending it at the knee, and held it firmly while gently rubbing the inner side of my thigh.

　　It didn’t hurt at all, but guessing where her hand was heading made my heart ache with anticipation.

　　“I like being hit… because when it hurts, I can’t think of anything else.”

　　Sure enough, her hand moved toward my groin. For a second, I almost squeezed my legs shut, but I managed to suppress the reflex. Her hand covered my mound, pressing slightly with her fingertips as she slid downward. Oh God, I’m already wet, I realized at the same moment she spoke.

　　“You are wet.”

　　It was a flat statement, completely free of mockery, but I burned with shame. Letting out a whimpering moan, I raised a hand to cover my mouth.

　　That was when her hand sliced through the air and struck my thigh. Before I could even process that I had been hit, my skin burned red-hot.

　　“Ah!” I shrieked. It hurt terribly. K’s words echoed loudly in my ears, that Won specialized in spanking, that she was a woman, and that she was incredibly gentle.

　　It hurt as if a chunk of flesh had been torn away. In that brief moment, an intense pain unlike anything I had ever known wrapped around my thigh. Digging into every cell, the ache expanded and grew. My body trembled uncontrollably.

　　“Do not do things you were not instructed to do, Daisy.”

　　“I’m… I’m sorry.”

　　Her hand struck my thigh once more. It was a fierce blow. I gasped, frothing slightly at the mouth as my body shuddered violently.

　　“I told you not to do things you were not instructed to do, Daisy.”

　　I didn’t answer. It wasn’t a question, so it required no response. I remained silent, biting my lip to keep from letting out even the quietest moan. Seemingly satisfied, she gently rubbed the flesh on my inner thigh where she had hit me.

　　Tears welled in my eyes from just two blows.

　　To be honest, I had never engaged in play more than five times in my life, nor had I ever been completely satisfied. It was true that thanks to K, I had met decent partners and experienced play that wasn’t bad, but I couldn’t say I had ever enjoyed it enough to crave it again.

　　Yet just two blows here felt amazing. It was a perfect spank, carrying a heavy, deep ache along with the sharp, thrilling bite on the skin. The pain of the blow and the excitement of wanting more shook my entire chest.

　　This woman was definitely Won. The pain coursing through me proved it far more accurately than any words could. It’s her. This is the one.

　　“This interview is to reduce variables.”

　　Won’s hand slowly probed between my legs.

　　“I will allow moaning, Daisy.”

　　I released my bitten lip. My lower lip trembled violently. She must have known the trembling wasn’t from cold or fear. She surely knew it was the thrill of pleasure from being toyed with by her touch.

　　Won’s fingers teased my wet entrance, then slid inside the slick opening. Panicking at the foreign sensation slowly digging into me, I tensed completely. Having never experienced insertion so early in a scene, I didn’t know how to react.

　　“If you tense up like that, I cannot check inside.”

　　“Haa… ah… I don’t know how to relax.”

　　“When you tell me you do not know after getting so wet, I find myself a bit confused.”

　　My face flushed bright red in an instant. Though she showed no intention of shaming me, I felt deeply embarrassed.

　　“I didn’t mean to embarrass you, Daisy.”

　　Her tone was softer than before. I had been twisting my hips to avoid her touch, but I froze. I decided that letting myself feel her touch directly would be better for both of us. Her gentle tone led me to interpret her stern expression in my own way.

　　Even if it was only a superficial impression, the thought lingered that she might not be as cold-hearted as she appeared.

　　“How many fingers have you taken inside?”

　　“…One or two. Honestly, I’ve never done this with a woman.”

　　“I see.”

　　Within K’s network, female Doms were hard to find. The few who existed already had partners they cherished, so there were no opportunities for me. Although a woman was far more comfortable for me psychologically, playing with men was unavoidable in the small world of kinksters.

　　“Then what have you put inside here?”

　　Won leaned down and brought her lips right against my ear. “Excluding cocks,” she whispered.

　　My face flushed again, the heat so intense my earlobe felt as if it were burning. I simply shook my head. Meeting her eyes, I shook my head even harder.

　　“Other than what you excluded, I’ve never inserted anything else.”

　　I added timidly that I didn’t have much experience. I worried that if I seemed too inexperienced, Won might lose interest in me, but I couldn’t lie.

　　In the darkness my eyes had adjusted to, Won’s eyes were clearly visible. Only her pale face and glowing eyes revealed where she stood.

　　“Then what have you been hit with?”

　　“Hands… and paddles.”

　　“What kind of paddles?”

　　“Wood and leather.”

　　I added that I disliked acrylic. When I mentioned how much I hated the feel of it, Won gave a slow, thoughtful nod, her hair swaying slightly.

　　Won said that was enough for now and told me to close my eyes because she was going to turn on the light. I closed my eyes. Through my eyelids, I felt the room brighten intensely.

　　“Open your eyes slowly, and stay lying as you are.”

　　I slowly opened my eyes and remained still. The dampness between my legs was uncomfortable, but that was my own issue and not worth mentioning.

　　Won stepped up beside the bed, then bent down and adjusted something underneath it. With a few squeaks, the head of the bed gradually rose. It was a fold-up exam bed, lifting until I was sitting up as if on a sofa.

　　Won lightly rested her hips on the edge of the incline.

　　“I am going to put whatever can be put inside Daisy.”

　　“…Yes.”

　　“I will hit you as much as I can, so forget about things like a safeword.”

　　She declared that she would do whatever she wished and that I had no right to refuse anything. If I disliked that, she told me to leave. She seemed to detest questions or hesitation of any kind.

　　“I will not ruin Daisy’s body.”

　　Won seemed to read my mind completely. Honestly, to kinksters like us, a safeword is the absolute minimum safety net, like fastening a strap around your ankles before bungee jumping.

　　Being struck and penetrated without even that minimal safety net filled me with pure fear, even though I had never experienced it before. But I had no choice, did I?

　　“From now on, come when I tell you to come, and leave when I tell you to leave. I will not tolerate what happened today.”

　　I wondered how many people had been allowed under Won’s hands with no regard for work hours at all.. Her words sounded as if she were saying that if I was going to worry about work or bruises, I shouldn’t crave this in the first place. In reality, how many people had the freedom to drop everything and run the moment she called? Questions kept piling up, but I knew better than to ask.

　　“And this is very important. Are you listening, Daisy?”

　　“Yes, I am listening.”

　　“I will not have sex with Daisy. I will only do play.”

　　Ah, that was a little disappointing. Hiding my reaction, I immediately nodded. She surely knew I wasn’t thrilled with the condition, since convincing acting was still beyond me.

　　Her expression remained cold and impassive. I wondered if the day would ever come when that composure broke. If playing with me could shatter that mask even slightly, that would be reward enough.

　　I compromised with myself, comforting my heart with the thought that I should be grateful just to be accepted. Surprisingly, I felt okay. I told Won I understood clearly. She nodded and stood up.

　　She stepped to the edge of the bed and faced me, then pulled off her black turtleneck in one swift motion. Her dazzling upper body was exposed. Ribs pressed tightly beneath her pale skin, framing a hollow stomach before my eyes.

　　It was a striking physique: slender yet firm, radiating an extreme contradiction of frail vulnerability and unbreakable strength.

　　She wore no bra. Her full breasts swayed slightly before settling. Her torso was covered in faint, claw-like scars, but against her unusually fair skin, the overall impression remained strangely pristine.

　　“I play in this attire, Daisy.”

　　She told me to close my eyes, and I obeyed. She said she was going to slap my cheek three times in a row and instructed me to brace myself. Saying I understood, I clasped my hands together and rested them on my thighs.

　　A sharp gust split the air. The moment her hand struck my cheek, I lost my balance and tumbled off the bed. My naked body hit the floor with a painful thud. Because I had my hands rested on my thighs and my muscles relaxed, I couldn’t do a thing to brace myself.

　　On top of that, I had assumed she would hit my left cheek and had leaned my weight to that side, but she was left-handed. Struck squarely on my unguarded right cheek, I had gone down instantly.

　　My cheek began to swell immediately. Even without straining, my eyelids quivered from the heavy, stiff pain spreading across my eye socket. Heat rushed to my face. My forehead, which had slammed into the floor, was torn open, and my entire body throbbed from the impact.

　　As my head cleared, despair overwhelmed me, not because of the pain, but because I hadn’t been able to take the blow. I didn’t have the courage to lift my head and look at Won. I could only groan, clutching at the floor as drops of blood stained the ground.

　　“Daisy.”

　　She called my name and lifted me up all at once with both arms. Her grip was as solid as the iron bars guarding the entrance on the seventeenth floor. When she sat me back on the bed, tears spilled down my face as I trembled uncontrollably.

　　“That is not how you take a hit.”

　　She tore off a strip of the bedsheet, rolled it up, and pressed it against my bleeding forehead, commanding me to hold it in place.

　　“You must hold a stance that keeps your body from collapsing.”

　　“I’ll… do better next time. I’m sorry.”

　　“We will stop for today.”

　　My heart sank into my chest. We hadn’t even truly begun, and I had ruined everything with a foolish mistake. I let out a soft cry and wept.

　　“Go back home.”

　　“…Please give me another chance. Please.”

　　“I will. So for today, go home.”

　　I stared at her in silence, silently begging to know if she meant it. My tearful eyes must have said it for me.

　　“Go back. I will call you.”

　　She reached into her pocket, pulled out a phone, and handed it to me. Realizing she was offering me her own phone because my screen was shattered, my tears stopped.

　　“Keep it close. Whenever I call, you must come.”

　　“Goodbye, Daisy.”

　　She turned away without hesitation, slipped through a door hidden in the wall, and vanished. The moment she was gone, the room grew bitterly cold. Hugging my naked body, I hurried toward the door I had come through. It was time to go collect the clothes of ‘Han Seunga’ that I had left behind.

　　Holding my swollen cheek, I walked down the hallway as slowly as I could, longing to remain as Won’s ‘Daisy’ for just a few moments more.