* * *

The club was a sweltering mass of heat, alive with the energy of people dancing to the thumping beats of loud music.

It was a scene no different from any other club, except for one peculiar detail—the writhing, sweaty bodies on the dance floor were all men.

Beyond the dance floor was a staircase leading down to the basement.

Woohee brushed past the men who tried to catch his attention and descended to the SM playrooms below.

He could have avoided the hassle of finding a new partner every time by committing to one Master and forming a BDSM couple, but he had yet to find someone who truly piqued his interest.

Men seated at tables sipped their drinks, sending discreet glances his way.

It was possible some had been lingering there all night, waiting for him to appear.

Among the crowd, Woohee spotted the largest man, shifting in his seat as if he were about to approach.

He looked to be at least 190 cm tall.

‘Tall guys always have bigger dicks, right?’

Fueled by anticipation, Woohee approached the man.

“Hey, if you don’t already have a partner for tonight, want to head into a room with me?”

“Wha—me? You mean, with me? Really?”

What the hell?

This guy seemed hopelessly clueless.

A wave of foreboding washed over Woohee, but he decided to put his faith in the man’s thick, muscular arms.

Imagining those gym-built hands spanking him hard sent a thrill through him.

After drafting a BDSM contract, the two entered a playroom designed to look like a subway car.

The man fidgeted nervously, glancing around the room.

“What are you doing?”

As if the situation wasn’t frustrating enough already, instead of pinning Woohee against the wall by his collar as he should have, the man stammered out, “Huh? Huh? Huh?” like a fool.

Woohee let out an exasperated sigh.

“I’m asking if you’re going to play or not.”

“Oh, yes. I will. I am.”

The man’s face flushed bright red.

He looked at Woohee, then wiped his sweaty palms on his pants.

Suppressing his irritation, Woohee sat on one of the subway-style seats.

The man sidled up close and leaned in toward his face.

Attempting to kiss him on the first encounter? How unbelievably rude.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

The man apologized and leaned back. It became clear that this was his first time at an SM club.

‘Out of all the people I could’ve chosen, why him?’ Woohee thought, clicking his tongue.

Today was shaping up to be a bust, but he decided to give it a bit more time.

After all, the man had seemed so confident when he saw “Enjoys domination in forceful scenarios” written on Woohee’s BDSM contract.

“What kind of scenario do you want to go with? Subway molester? Maybe a boss catching the subordinate he’s always wanted to screw?”

“Subway molester.”

“Alright, I’ll stand by the door. You come up behind me and grope me.”

The man stepped up behind Woohee and grabbed the front of his pants.

“Ah!”

“Stay still. Do you want the other passengers to see? A guy getting molested by another man?”

Despite his earlier doubts, Woohee found it wasn’t going as badly as he’d feared.

The man’s large hands gripped his waist, and Woohee could feel the hardness pressing against the cleft of his ass.

The giant of a man pushed him up against the faux subway door.

Hot, sticky breaths tickled Woohee’s ear, sending a shiver down his spine.

Woohee thought to himself, ‘Not bad,’ but immediately revised his assessment upon seeing the man’s reflection in the glass—specifically, his penis.

‘Is that a penis? Where’s the rest of it? Seriously, that’s all?’

The man had a decent face, was tall, had a great body, and wasn’t bad at acting during play sessions.

But his dick was ridiculously small, like a mouse’s.

That was enough to rival the worst of partners—those with ugly faces, short stature, pot bellies, and cringeworthy acting during scenes.

A tie for the absolute bottom.

No matter how perfect someone might be in other areas, a true master needed to be flawless down to the last detail.

Woohee quickly called out the safe word.

“Sweet potato.”

“We haven’t even started yet.”

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s going to work. I’m not feeling it. Sorry, but I’ll be going now.”

Woohee wasted no time leaving the playroom.

‘Why are there no worthy candidates to become my master in this world?’

Was it too much to dream of finding the perfect master to whom he could completely devote himself?

Sighing deeply, Woohee exited the SM club.

He figured he should catch the last bus home before it got too late.

Checking his phone for the bus schedule, he saw it was about time for one to arrive.

Yet no vehicles passed by the road.

Feeling uneasy, Woohee glanced around nervously like a meerkat.

That’s when it happened.

“What? What?!”

Out of nowhere, a truck swerved into the bus stop.

Before he could process what was happening, his body was airborne.

He tumbled to the ground, pain tearing through his limbs as if they were shattering into pieces.

Blood trickled from his head, blurring his vision.

‘Am I going to die?’ he thought.

‘No. I don’t want to die. I want to live.’

Squeezing his eyes shut, he prayed desperately to survive.

Amidst it all, his phone buzzed with a notification for a BL novel, ‘Poverty Isn’t a Crime,’ that had just released its free chapter.

Even in the face of death, his curiosity about the next chapter compelled him to tap the screen.

The story was set in a world where dominant alphas behaved like gods, and omegas were treated as their property.

To ordinary readers, it would seem like a dystopian nightmare, but for someone like Woohee, with his particular inclinations, the novel’s universe felt like heaven.

‘If I could be reborn, I’d want to be an omega in Poverty Isn’t a Crime.’

This world wasn’t where he belonged; his true home lay beyond the pages of that novel.

His bloodied fingers slipped, and the epilogue screen appeared.

Black text on a white background glimmered before him.

And then, there was nothing.

---

‘What the—?’

‘Mind blown.’

‘That ending was insane. I’d have kept thinking Na Taejoon was the main uke if I hadn’t read the epilogue.’

‘No wonder the novel was told from the villain uke’s perspective. Turns out he was the protagonist all along. Freaking wild.’

‘What kind of story is this? I was rooting for the Jinwoo-Taejun couple, and now I’m just… stunned.’

‘I can’t believe I paid for this series. I want a refund.’
ᕙ( ︡’︡益’︠)ง

The author posted a summary of all the hints showing how Jinwoo orchestrated everything to claim Woohee. Here’s the blog link:
http://blog.na5er.com/qekphfka/22268921930

‘Unreal. Unreal. Unreal.’

I’m in shock too.

At this point, I wouldn’t even be surprised if a one-legged man threw away his crutches and ran.

* * *