Chapter 4
She heard the screaming. The shouting and vulgar language her parents used. Calling each other new names every single day. Both of them accusing the other of cheating and screaming at the top of their lungs.
Yoohyeon held onto Gahyeon tightly, hiding in the closet just to have some kind of barrier from their parents. Tears were spilling down both of their cheeks. Both hiccuping as they sobbed.
It was late. They couldn’t make a sound or else it would be directed at them.
Yoohyeon held her sister tightly, allowing the younger to bury her face into her chest to attempt to muffle their sobs.
They weren’t afraid of their parents hurting each other. They were afraid of their parents hurting them.
So many instances they heard their parents. So many times they heard the common phrase to their sobbing.
“Keep crying. I’ll give you something to cry about.”
It was something they had grown to hear a lot. Gahyeon had seen Yoohyeon stand up to her parents a handful of times. Shouting right back at them only to be punished immediately after.
She remembered seeing her father grab Yoohyeon by her wrist dragging into the bedroom before hearing the loud sounds of something hitting her before her loud screams following the sobs.
Gahyeon learned very quickly never to cross her father. His immediate go was physical harm.
“Are you going to give me attitude too?” He glared at the younger child.
Gahyeon didn’t say a word. She shook her head, watching him sit back on the couch.
“Good.”
Gahyeon left the living room, finding her sister curled up under the bed, tears still rolling down her cheeks as she cried. She saw the discarded belt on the floor, having a feeling that was what he used on her.
Yoohyeon was only eight. Gahyeon was only six.
No child should ever go through that much pain. That much suffering.
Gahyeon, however, crossed her mother consistently. She had a very large attitude and hated her mother.
Which of course led to the same route her father usually had. Except it wasn’t the belt. It was a hairbrush and it stung. Not nearly as hard as the belt had the week prior from her father but it hurt just as bad.
But now, they were trying to contain their cries, desperately trying not to be heard by their parents. Until Gahyeon started coughing.
“You have to be quiet,” Yoohyeon tried to calm her sister, trying to keep her voice down. She patted her sister’s back, trying her absolute hardest to sooth her before their parents found them. “Please Gahyeon,” she whimpered.
They heard footsteps. The heavy, angry footsteps that were the tell for their father. They heard the quick heavy steps, their mother.
Both of them were coming.
Yoohyeon tensed the second they heard the closet door open, her grip on Gahyeon tightened until she heard the shouting from her mother, telling their father to stop.
“Come here. Now.” He snarled, grabbing Yoohyeon’s wrist and yanking her away from Gahyeon.
Gahyeon let out an ear piercing shriek, trying her best to follow her sister, clinging to her as much as she could until she felt the familiar sting of the leather belt hitting both of them.
It was a mess of screaming and shouting. Yoohyeon begging for him to stop. Gahyeon screaming for someone, anyone to help.
They didn’t hear the pounding of the door. Didn’t hear it being broken in before they heard the shouting of men in their home.
Yoohyeon had a blanket wrapped around her, Gahyeon the same, both sobbing as they watched their parents being walked out of their home in handcuffs.
The younger of the siblings glared at their parents, tears still rolling down her cheeks. Even at eight she knew exactly how she felt toward her parents. Knew that they were horrible. That no parent should ever be as mean as they were.
Yoohyeon, on the other hand, screamed and shouted for her parents, having to be held back by the police officer.
It broke something in Gahyeon to hear her sister scream like that. Hearing her cry for their parents as if they didn’t just beat them with their father’s work belt. Both of them had welts on various parts of their bodies. Their torsos, waists, back, legs, everywhere that made a hit essentially.
Gahyeon woke the next morning, her body was exhausted, her head was pounding, and everything about the day wasn’t going to be okay. She was happy it was the weekend, allowing her to relax further in the bed until she felt the woman next to her get up. Her eyes caught the clock across the room, seeing it was barely eight in the morning.
She could hear the sounds of the city outside. The faint echos of cars honking, engines and everything that showed the world was going on without her. Even Handong got up without her.
No doubt to do everything herself this morning. She knew she should’ve set an alarm. Just to wake up and get everything prepped. Especially after the night they had. She caused so many problems. Handong barely got any sleep because of her. Gahyeon didn’t either, but the entire night was filled with Handong checking on the sub a hundred times.
Handong held the counter, watching the coffee drip into the mug slowly. Her mind swirled with various thoughts. Gahyeon had never shut down like that before. She knew five months was too soon to have any kind of major breakthrough. Gahyeon needed someone else and this wasn’t helping anymore.
She took the mug from the machine, letting out a sigh before setting it on the counter. Her eyes slowly closed, the headache from lack of sleep was slowly catching up to her. She was about to move to find pain killers when she felt arms wrap around her waist and a body leaning on her back.
“I’m sorry, Mistress,” Gahyeon whispered.
“Don’t ever be sorry.” Handong hated when she apologized for these things. Especially if they kept her locked in her mind like that.
“It’s hard,” Gahyeon sniffed.
“I know…” Handong turned, allowing the girl to get a proper hug. She held her in the kitchen, her mind slowly going into different areas of thinking. Gahyeon needed stability. The older woman assumed she needed authority but it was slowly making everything worse. “I have some ideas but… I don’t know how you feel about them…”
She felt Gahyeon tense in her arms. The hesitant nature of the younger woman was slowly making its way to the front, consuming her.
“I’m starting to think this relationship isn’t going to cut it,” Handong sighed.
Without warning Gahyeon dropped to her knees, mimicking the perfect posture Handong taught her. She could see the wobbling stance, and saw the pain that flashed through the younger woman’s face the second her knees made contact with the tile floor.
“I’m sorry, mistress,” Gahyeon quickly said. “I promise it won’t happen again. I won’t, I won’t keep you up. I won’t think or anything. Just please don’t end this. I need you. I can’t… I can’t,” Gahyeon pleaded.
Handong stood in shock watching the younger woman on her knees, the tears bubbled up and free fell down her cheeks. She wasn’t even finished talking and yet this was what Gahyeon thought. Her mind jumped to the absolute worse scenario possible.
“Baby… kitten… Love, please look at me,” Handong knelt down in front of her, cupping her face gently. “I’m not ending things between us,” She whispered.
“You’re… You’re not?” Gahyeon hiccuped.
“No, love,” Handong chuckled. “I was going to say that I wanted to try something for you. It might help you mentally,” she whispered.
Her hand dropped down to the collar around Gahyeon’s neck. She was never fond of the leather so hers was black velvet. A cute little bow with a blue bell on it to match. Her finger tapped the bell, causing it to jingle for just a brief moment.
“It’s just an idea,” Handong whispered before reaching around to take the collar off.
She could feel the tension oozing off the younger woman. It was clear she was still terrified. Still afraid of what would happen next.
“You’d still be my submissive. My kitten,” Handong whispered while eyeing the collar. “But… I want to dom train you,” She frowned. “I know it’s… chaos in your mind… allowing me to have control over you feels familiar. Feels comfortable… But this… will give you control… Do you understand?” She asked her.
Gahyeon nodded her head once. Knowing what she meant.
“If I have a submissive come in… she would be yours,” Handong whispered. “And mine,” she added quietly.
“Will that be okay?” Gahyeon frowned.
“I think it’ll clear your mind enough… let you work through things…” the older woman explained. “If this doesn’t work… then you need to see a professional… I can’t… I can’t keep filling that void especially if it isn’t what you need…” she frowned.
“I don’t want things to change…”
“Things won’t. You’ll still be my kitten. But someone else’s dom… do you understand?” Handong placed a hand on her cheek, wiping away a few stray tears with her thumb.
“Yes, Mistress,” Gahyeon whispered.
The day was calm. They kept inside, relaxing while trying to regain their missed hours of sleep. Gahyeon had long fallen asleep on the couch, allowing the older woman to make the necessary phone calls.
“And you’re sure?” Yubin sighed.
“You’re the only other switch I trust. Especially in this setting,” Handong frowned. “It could very well work out in both of our favors if it does go well. She needs to have an outlet…”
“Yes, but I don’t handle pain well…” Yubin explained. “If there’s pain play involved… or even punishment…”
“How are you sure there will be pain involved?” Handong scoffed.
“With you? It always is. Why don’t you call Siyeon? She loves pain,” Yubin muttered.
“Siyeon will egg Gahyeon into aggression. Remember when Gahyeon nearly broke her hand because Siyeon teased her to the point of punching a concrete wall?” Handong frowned.
She heard a small chuckle and then a sigh.
“You have to admit. It was funny,” Yubin chuckled. “Look, I would love to sub out for her, but I just don’t think it’ll work out with me. Especially in her condition,” she explained. “I’m not… I’m a hard, painful dom and a very princess-like sub. It wouldn’t work with me. You need someone who’s going to match Gahyeon’s energy.”
“I know… Thanks anyway,” Handong frowned before ending the call.
The older woman glanced at the sub, frowning at everything. Siyeon was bratty either way, but it would match Gahyeon. She would be able to take anything they threw at her.
And with that, she scrolled through her contacts, picking the familiar name and hit call. She placed the phone to her ear, listening to the rings.
“About time you called,” Siyeon muttered.
“Are you busy? I have a favor to ask of you,” She frowned.
“I mean, I’m at work… So, what’s the favor?” Siyeon was never one to fully listen to authority. Even if said authority handles her paychecks.
“Gahyeon needs a sub. I have a theory and it just might work,” Handong whispered.
“Done.”
“No questions?”
“No questions.” She heard the small laughter, and it made her wonder just why Siyeon agreed in the first place. “I’ll explain later, but I’m yours and hers. So when am I needed?” She asked.
“If you could come tonight that would be great,” Handong smiled.
“Already so eager to kick my ass. Love it,” Siyeon smiled.
Gahyeon wasn’t entirely sure how she was functioning on very little sleep. Her eyes stinging from lack of sleep, head pounding, and no, it didn’t help that one of her co-workers were laughing so loudly that it made it worse.
She both hated and loved her job.
Hated that it had long hours, hated that the people were pretentious, hated that they just saw her as some kid. She was incredibly smart, not once had she ever given them reason she was stupid. At least academically she was intelligent. She may have done stupid things, and not thought before she talked for a brief moment, but it didn’t mean she was stupid.
“Gahyeon, can I speak with you in my office?” Her boss asked, catching her attention.
Anxiety sparked in her entire body as she walked down the entire hall, stepping into the large office. The walls were glass, which didn’t leave much to the imagination. The entire office was decorated minimalist, save for the giant frames of people her boss met, his family, some of his award winning horses… he was simple but not entirely simple.
“You’re not in trouble,” he chuckled the second he saw how anxious she was. “You’ve been here for over a year now, and I wanted to let you know that you’ve been doing a fantastic job,” he smiled.
“Oh, thank you,” Gahyeon let out a breath, relieved that she wasn’t in trouble.
“And that you’ll be getting a raise of course. One to properly match the cost of living,” He added.
Gahyeon knew the cost of living was higher, but she wasn’t going to say she was living with someone. She wanted that extra money. She needed it actually.
When she got to the apartment at the end of the day, her brain was fried, her body was aching and nothing was going to make her feel better.
“Kitten?” Handong’s voice was laced with concern, not once showing any kind of need for her to do anything more than just look in her direction.
The younger woman turned, seeing a guest already in their shared space.
“Hello…” Gahyeon whispered to the man.
“Hello, and you are..?” He stood and extended his hand toward her.
Gahyeon hesitated, glancing down at it before looking at Handong. She took a small step back before hearing her mistress clear her throat.
“She doesn’t… do formalities,” Handong explained.
“Oh, I’m… I’m sorry,” he frowned before sitting back down.
“Are you alright, love?” Handong whispered when she saw the anxiety still deeply written into her face. She was answered with a small head nod, eyes never finding hers. “Well go to your room… I’ll call you when dinner is ready,” She explained.