“You’ve heard about MLS, right? There was even an article about it.”
At the meaningful voice, Jae-min swallowed. Jin-su’s words from the drinking session brushed past his ears. Also his and Yeong-gyu’s reactions of being horrified at the time. Goosebumps rose on the back of Jae-min’s neck.
“By any chance… the one where milk comes from men’s chests…”
“That’s right, the rare disease that’s a hot topic these days. It’s occasionally being discovered in men who’ve built chest muscles, a condition where milky white secretions suddenly come from the chest. They haven’t been pregnant or given birth. No, they’re bodies that can’t even do that in the first place!”
It was still an explanation that didn’t feel real. While Jae-min was bewildered, Yong-seok continued his passionate explanation, even raising his arms.
“It’s a symptom that’s been suddenly discovered recently, so there’s no cure yet, but if it’s not discharged on time and just accumulates, it leads to pain, so you absolutely can’t just leave it alone. The center that helps such patients is exactly…!”
Yong-seok lowered the hand he’d raised in the air and patted his chest.
“Our clinic.”
It was a very proud expression. At the nuance suggesting didn’t he understand everything now, Jae-min, who snapped to attention, turned his body around completely to sit.
“That… helping, what do you mean?”
It wasn’t difficult words, but his brain was refusing to understand. The symptoms Uncle had just explained, the word ‘massage’ he’d heard at the desk. Even though combining them the answer was already there, he ignored it and asked as if grasping at a lifeline.
“To put it simply! We… their…!”
But Uncle’s clear answer was devastating.
“We milk them.”
As soon as he heard Yong-seok’s words, Jae-min shot up from his seat. His face was full of shock.
“Isn’t this totally an adult establishment?”
“What, you punk?”
“There’s no sign! It’s suspicious. I don’t want to do this.”
Only the tone was serious and smooth, but the content was disgusting even to mention. The more he mulled over the explanation, the more goosebumps rose.
‘Knead and milk men’s chests? Me?’
He didn’t even want to imagine it. Before Uncle could catch him, Jae-min hastily gathered his things and quickly approached the door to leave this place.
“Stop right there!”
Just before opening the door, Yong-seok reached out his hand and shouted solemnly. The moment Jae-min hesitated, he urgently continued.
“An adult establishment! It’s not like that, you punk!”
“It’s not? It’s a men-only ch-chest massage shop though.”
“Are all massages adult establishments? Hey, we even officially run a blog. Look at this!”
Yong-seok, who’d grabbed a smart tablet from the desk, approached with quick steps and held it out in front of Jae-min. Jae-min examined the screen with suspicious eyes. But there really was a quite plausible-looking blog.
There was even something like a certificate saying they’d received official certification from some association, detailed explanations about the disease, and detailed content about what treatment they provided and what effects could be obtained.
Jae-min read the content carefully with wavering eyes. There were hundreds of comments, and the consultation reservation board was also active. There were many anonymous review posts too.
“How is it? It’s a medical business, right?”
When he glanced up, Yong-seok had a triumphant face as if saying wasn’t he right.
“…No, if you’re so confident, why didn’t you put up a sign?”
“I’m confident! But it’s out of consideration for the patients who come to our clinic.”
“What consideration? It’s hard to find.”
“Nephew, think about it. Patients with this disease are manly men who are serious about exercise enough to have grown muscles that big, but they’d go in and out of a place with a sign that says it’s a place to milk men?”
Yong-seok shook his head, saying just thinking about the patients made his heart ache and tears blur his vision. Jae-min listened with a distorted face, then tilted his head to the side.
“Still, if it hurts to death, they’d come.”
“No? Men, you know, pride is everything. They’re animals that die if their spirits are crushed. They’d choose to die in pain from inflammation with secretions packed in their chests rather than die of embarrassment from being caught coming here. So we reduced information exposure so they can come with peace of mind.”
Yong-seok’s firm words somehow made sense. Jae-min was easily persuaded by Yong-seok’s verbal skills honed through years of various business genres. But still, there were parts he still didn’t understand.
“No, but I’m supposed to fondle men’s chests like that? I think it’ll be too embarrassing. Both for the person doing it and the person receiving it.”
Wasn’t he also an ‘outsider’ to these muscle men who’d choose death over having their disease discovered by others? It was an unpleasant thing for both sides. But Yong-seok leisurely waved his finger as if this too could be sufficiently defended.
“The patient’s eyes are covered during the massage, so there’s nothing awkward for each other. And we use equipment more than doing it directly by hand, so there’s not much to be so disgusted about.”
“Equipment?”
Using equipment was the most reassuring thing he’d heard so far. Jae-min, who had been tensing his shoulders in a guarded stance all along, smoothly relaxed.
Yong-seok, confirming his nephew who’d been like a cat with bristled fur had become a bit calmer, approached and grabbed the door handle.
“Let me show you around our clinic first.”
For a clinic in an old building with no elevator and only four floors, the interior was deeper than expected. Leaving the director’s office and entering the long corridor next to the desk, rooms with curtains appeared. There were a total of 8 separated spaces—4 on the right and 4 on the left.
“This is the treatment room.”
Among them, 2 rooms had curtains drawn because they were in use. Glancing at the open places, there was one single-person bed like an ordinary physical therapy room, with a simple chair placed next to it.
A staff member dressed similarly to a physical therapist came out from the very last room, opening the curtain. Yong-seok made eye contact with him and asked as if whispering.
“Treatment complete?”
“Yes, I’ve set up the equipment.”
The man, who also answered quietly, bowed his waist in greeting and passed by Yong-seok and Jae-min. When Jae-min looked back with a puzzled expression, Yong-seok put his index finger to his lips and went “Shh.”
Then he walked stealthily with muffled footsteps and grabbed that room’s curtain. Jae-min’s eyes widened as he stood behind him. Yong-seok slightly opened the curtain to let him see inside.
Jae-min held his breath and looked inside the curtain.
A man with his eyes covered by an eye mask and no top on was lying diagonally on his side on the cot. In a basket placed next to him was a black padding jacket. Jae-min realized this was the man he’d encountered on the stairs earlier.
But he recognized that the man was familiar much later. There was a shocking scene that captured his gaze first.
It was a breast pump, like the kind a nursing mother would use, attached to the man’s large pectorals. Round glass tubes that looked vaguely like large cupping glasses were attached to both his breasts, and a “whoosh” sound continuously came from the connected machine, whether it was suctioning his chest.
A milky white liquid splattered inside the glass tube and was sucked straight in along the hose. The white liquid that flowed to the bottle attached below the machine was dripping, drop by drop, pooling at the bottom.
Could that really be coming from a man’s chest? He was doubting his eyes when Yong-seok let go of the curtain he was holding. The curtain smoothly blocked Jae-min’s view.
Yong-seok grabbed the arm of the dumbfounded Jae-min and dragged him out to the front of the desk again. Jae-min, shocked, came out following Uncle with his mouth covered by his hand.
“It’s really milk coming out.”
“Did you think I was lying then?”
Jae-min, completely flabbergasted, stared at Uncle blankly.
‘He’s a man? Milk is coming out? Milk from a man’s chest?’
Question marks kept spinning round and round in his head. Whether his nephew was confused or not, Yong-seok continued his explanation calmly with his arms crossed.
“Anyway, this way the patient is comfortable with their eyes covered. We just need to help the milk come out well. It’s easy work. We’ve prepared 8 rooms, but except when there are many reservations, we’re only using them one at a time.”
“Before using the machine, that… you do the massage?”
“That’s right, correct. The massage doesn’t require advanced skills either. We’ll just help so the secretions can be discharged well. You know sports massage? It’s like that. The work isn’t difficult.”
Anyway, it wasn’t like dairy farm part-time work or anything, so it was hard to readily shout that he’d knead and milk men’s chests. No, even at a dairy farm it’s milking female cows, not bulls, isn’t it?
Seeing Jae-min hesitating, pale as a sheet, Yong-seok, who had been silent for a moment, took a step closer.
“You.”
At his voice that had lowered a tone, Jae-min flinched and raised his head.
“Do you think you can work just a little at the time you want, only about three times a week, and make 3 million a month?”
