Substitute-Chapter 52

He came to in an unfamiliar place.

His head throbbed like it had been split open. His entire body ached like it had been beaten.

Frowning, he looked around the room, which was completely white.

For a brief moment, he mistook it for a hospital—only after realizing where he was did his thoughts come into focus.

This was the clinic the Crew called the Clinic.

Jiwon tried to move and sit up but collapsed back down, gagging from a sudden wave of dizziness.

A moment later, he felt someone’s presence. The closed curtain opened, and a man in a white gown and white mask—who appeared to be a doctor—approached him.

“Are you starting to come around?”

He asked in a kind voice.

The doctor pulled Jiwon’s eyelids back and shone a small flashlight into his eyes.

While he did so, another man appeared—dressed in a pale blue nurse’s uniform and matching mask—carrying a silver tray.

Only then did Jiwon notice the IV needle stuck in his arm. When he followed the yellow tube upward, he saw the IV bag was nearly empty. He also realized for the first time that he was wearing patient clothes.

Just like in any other hospital, the gown had the name of the hospital printed on it—Paradise Hospital. The letters felt like a joke.

“Looks like you went into temporary shock. Do you have low blood sugar?”

The doctor asked, and the nurse stepped forward, pressing a cotton swab over the injection site and carefully removing the needle. He then applied a bandage.

“No. I don’t.”

“Let’s see here.”

The doctor tapped on a tablet and said,

“Your nutrition levels were a bit unbalanced, weren’t they?”

“...Ah, yes.”

His health had improved since he entered the facility, but it had still been poor.

“Do you remember anything?”

“Well... the... stage...”

“The stage. You could call it that. That’s right. You collapsed while performing on stage.”

So he passed out while masturbating inside the booth?

All Jiwon remembered were the scents that drifted through the darkness—and the glitter.

“It’s a relief you weren’t hurt.”

The doctor added, genuinely relieved. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

There had been something more—he was sure of it...

But trying to remember made his head feel like it would shatter.

The doctor warned him not to get cocky just because he was young, and that when feeling unwell, he needed to follow the “precautions”—that usually meant pressing the emergency bell or calling the team leader.

Jiwon hadn’t heard that the booths had emergency bells. And with the team leader always around, he’d never felt the need to call for help anyway.

“You came here to enjoy yourself, right? Wouldn’t it be a shame if your health got in the way?”

The doctor added gently.

“If you feel off at all, come anytime. We’re open 24 hours, you know that, right?”

With that, the doctor disappeared.

Jiwon nodded, saying, “Thank you.”

He wanted to get up right away, but the world kept spinning before his eyes.

He asked the nurse for water and drank an entire bottle in one go, then lay back down again.

The nurse left the curtain open and went to sit at a desk where a tablet had been placed. He fiddled with it, checking things and entering notes.

Jiwon kept his eyes shut—opening them made him dizzy. Aside from the faint classical music tickling his ears, there was no sound. It seemed like he was the only patient in the entire room.

The nurse turned a page in a file, then began typing something on a keyboard instead of a stylus.

Hearing the keyboard made Jiwon realize—there was no clock here. He called the nurse over.

“How long have I been in here?”

“About two hours.”

“What time is it now?”

“It’s 4:12 PM.”

It was that late already?

The afternoon schedule differed by team.

His team had followed the captain for a session meant for ejaculation. The place they arrived at had been pitch black.

There had been a shower booth. Gwak Hyesung, Park Gunwoo, and he had been the first to step onto the “stage.” They’d undressed outside and entered the booth. Mist had fallen from the showerhead. Glitter too.

He’d touched himself. Gotten aroused.

Applause! Bravo!

Had he ejaculated? Or did he pass out mid-act?

No... someone got doused in ice-cold water.

Was it him? Or Park Gunwoo?

Everything was jumbled. Faces came and went in a flash.

The deeper he tried to dig, the worse the headache got. Even his eyelids were burning up.

Jiwon asked for more water and chugged another bottle. He couldn’t get up, so he stayed in the hospital room another thirty minutes.

Only when he finally collected himself and got ready to leave did the nurse instruct him to return to his room for now.

“The other Crew members have completed their milking session and are now attending another class. Please rest in your dorm until the captain calls for you.”

“...Thank you.”

He stepped off the bed and looked down—his usual white shoes were gone, replaced by slippers.

“Ah, and when you get back to your °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° room, please place the patient gown in the clothing bin. The slippers too.”

The nurse helped escort Jiwon to the elevator and pressed the button for him.

He passed through the empty hallway on the second floor and reached his room.

He didn’t even have the energy to take off the patient gown—he collapsed onto the bed. Before he could even think, he was fast asleep.

****

The summons came just before dinner time.

After a deep sleep, he was fully recovered. It was like he’d never collapsed. Except for the dull ache in his limbs.

He reached for his meds and spotted the scratches on his knuckles. The wounds weren’t large, but each knuckle was bruised dark red. They hadn’t come from a fall. And they were too neat, too clean to be from punching a wall or anything else.

The most likely cause was the booth.

Assuming it hadn’t shattered.

Fuck. Why can’t I remember a damn thing?

He felt stuck.

He downed his painkillers first, then got ready quickly so he wouldn’t be late for dinner. He dropped off the patient gown in the clothing bin in the second-floor lobby and went down the stairs.

There was still no sign of anyone. His footsteps echoed through the empty space. It gave him the chills. A strange unease crept up on him.

Just then, the place erupted in noise.

Voices chatting loudly, multiple sets of footsteps—muzzled trainees spilled out from the training area. Their faces were all flushed with excitement.

“Oh! What are you doing here?”

Choi Minjae spotted Jiwon and called out to him.

Jiwon had told him not to talk to him like that, but the look on his face was too cheerful to even curse at.

“Weren’t you with Crew Zero?”

He stretched his head toward the hallway and asked.

“No. We were on a separate schedule all afternoon. But why are you coming down from there?”

“Ah. Just... had some stuff to do...”

He didn’t want to say he’d passed out, so he brushed it off vaguely.

“Hello, Jiwon-nim.”

Just then, Nam Gyuwon passed by and greeted him shyly.

Jiwon used the chance to act friendly toward Nam Gyuwon and slip away from Minjae.

“What kind of training did you do?”

They walked side by side.

“Fellatio training.”

“...What?”

“Uh, it was fellatio. Deep-throating all the way to the throat.”

Nam Gyuwon’s face flushed as he insisted on explaining.

“Ah... they teach that now?”

They really teach all kinds of shit, don’t they.

“Yeah. Everyone thinks they’re good at it, but turns out no one actually does it right. So the instructor demonstrated, and we practiced too.”

“With dildos?”

“No. With real dicks.”

Nam Gyuwon laughed as he said it.

Jiwon raised his brows.

“It was, like... it felt like a real dick. It was totally different from a dildo. The mannequin had a dick and everything—it felt real.”

He spread his fingers and pointed to his middle finger.

“The dick was fucking huge.”

“We all took turns sucking it. It was seriously a special experience.”

He beamed.

So that’s why everyone’s faces were flushed.

“It was clean. I swear.”

Nam Gyuwon added quickly.

Of course it was.

Are we going to have to do something like that too?

Not “maybe”—they definitely would. And yet, he wanted to deny it.

When he entered the dining hall, the blue uniforms—nowhere to be seen all day—were receiving their meals. Without realizing it, he looked around for Number 3. But they were wearing their caps, so he couldn’t tell from the back.

The Sailors weren’t here either. They’d have to eat together eventually, so Jiwon waited outside for the team leader and the others to arrive.

“What are you doing out here?”

Son Gunwoo approached, holding his meal tray.

“Oh. My team isn’t here yet.”

“Why weren’t you with them?”

“I stopped by the Clinic for a bit.”

“Really? Then you must’ve gone first, huh?”

His eyes drifted to Jiwon’s chest.

Jiwon wondered why he was looking there—but figured he was probably curious about the tattoo.

“Go ahead and eat. The others will be here soon.”

“Okay. Let’s have coffee together after.”

Son Gunwoo said in his usual cheerful tone.

Even medication can’t stop the crash, can it?

He smiled faintly, thinking about his elbow. No matter how much painkiller he took, it only dulled the pain a little. It still hurt. Son Gunwoo must’ve been the same. He’d disliked him days ago, but now he felt a pang of sympathy.

What a soft heart I’ve got.

He laughed at himself.

Even then, it was another ten minutes before the captain and the rest of the team appeared.

Everyone’s faces were bright. Strangely bright.

“Well, well, our frail little Kim Jiwon. How’s your condition?”

Park Gunwoo shouted in a lame historical drama accent. Just like the muzzled ones earlier, his face was lit up.

“I’m fine. But why are you so chipper?”

“Me? Heh. Honestly, I’m fucking ecstatic! Best of the best!”

Even his voice was too loud.

Jiwon made a show of plugging his ears, and Park Gunwoo suddenly lunged forward and whispered in his ear.

“Jiwon-ah, this place is insane. Fucking insane. It’s unreal!”

Jiwon stared at him, not understanding. His pupils were dilated with excitement.

Park Gunwoo started repeating “positive” like Kim Yunho always did, then pointed to his nipples poking through his clothes.

“You have to experience it. It was fucking amazing.”

“Experience what?”

“What else? Development.”

He was spouting nonsense.

“...What? Development?”

“Development. It’s a thing. Super fucking important. I’m losing my mind. I’m not even hungry.”

He was rambling.

“What about Yunho?”

“Him? He went to change.”

“Why?”

“He came.”

Park Gunwoo snickered.

“Fucking bastard. He was still dripping cum while walking out of the session. I mean, I get it.”

Jiwon still didn’t understand and looked around at the others.

It wasn’t just Park Gunwoo who seemed out of it. Gwak Hyesung and Lee Jihoon had their arms tightly linked, whispering with flushed faces. Jung Hajun and Lee Kangjun were half-erect, giggling to each other.

Did they all take something?

Or were they just riding the high from ejaculation?

“Let’s just eat. I’m starving.”

Jiwon smacked Park Gunwoo’s back and dragged him into the dining hall.

Everyone except Jiwon barely touched their food. On a normal day, the captain would’ve nagged, but now he didn’t say a word.

Jiwon felt strangely left out. It bugged him, like he’d missed something important.

If it was something he’d have to go through anyway, it was best to experience it with the others. Even if it was fellatio training.

But of all people, he had been left out.