Gwak Hoon, Honorary Chairman
Though he was still technically active, Gwak Hoon preferred to call himself Honorary Chairman. Being of a certain age, he favored things he could touch over digital devices — he always had photos printed out and preferred documents in hard copy. That wasn’t to say he rejected digital entirely. It was simply the way of the world that one had to keep up with improving technology.
Hadn’t the old romantic practice of writing letters evolved from phone calls to texts, and now even to video calls?
No matter how much the world changed, Gwak Hoon believed romance was best conducted in person.
Romance without the smell of skin. Tsk.
He adjusted his reading glasses.
Before him were photos of men who had just gotten tattoos — chest shots, all of them.
The first and second day after a tattoo were his favorite. Swollen areolas and stiffened nipples. And flat yet voluminous chests. Technically not large enough to be called breasts, but Gwak Hoon preferred to call them that anyway.
Gwak Hoon had an obsessive fixation on chests. But unlike most men who went on about D-cups and F-cups — breasts practically the size of a cow’s udder — he wanted none of that. His was a rare taste: he preferred a modest size that fit neatly in one hand. Size aside, the nipples had to be full, and the areolas had to be wide.
Yeonse had been exactly that. It felt as though God, knowing his tastes, had sent the boy down to him as a gift. For a man to be born with something like that — how rare was that?
Ah. He missed Yeonse’s chest. The boy had said it had been his lifelong complex, but to Gwak Hoon it had been paradise. He couldn’t help but cherish and love him.
The memory of nursing from the boy every morning was still vivid.
Until just two years ago, he had been right there beside him — close enough to reach out and touch…
Gwak Hoon swallowed his tears.
And it wasn’t only Yeonse.
That darling boy, Jade — he was gone too.
The one he had adored second only to Yeonse, perhaps loved just as much.
Jealousy. What a thing.
He clicked his tongue.
They say women are the embodiment of jealousy, but that was nothing but a lie. Men — men were the true embodiment of jealousy, the very abyss of it.
They didn’t simply envy and resent. They didn’t hesitate to kill.
That was the conclusion Gwak Hoon had reached after eighty years of seeing, hearing, and living through it all.
“Who’s this one?”
The chest was somewhat lean and underdeveloped compared to his tastes, but it was the photo that drew his eye. He picked it.
Department Head Kim, who had been standing beside him, didn’t even glance at the writing on the back before answering flatly, “That’s Sailor 1.”
“Let me see.”
He flipped the photo over, and sure enough, the words Sailor 1 were written there.
Gwak Hoon peered at Department Head Kim over his reading glasses, and Department Head Kim gave an embarrassed little laugh, saying, “He’s the skinniest one.”
“Even a dog that’s lived at a school for three years can recite poetry — seems you know my tastes even better than I do, Department Head Kim.”
He chuckled.
“Sailor 1 is the one whose genitals were severed, wasn’t he?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
Gwak Hoon smacked his lips.
Normal was fine, but after so many years of this, he found cases with a handicap distinctly more enjoyable. A severed penis in particular was a rare find, which made it all the more enticing. And on top of that, his chest happened to be exactly his type — it was nothing short of a stroke of luck.
“Let me see the rest.”
He went back to examining the remaining photos.
Of the seven, one had a chest so heavily muscled it would put most women to shame. The thick nipples were just right, but the sheer size of the chest was truly a disappointment.
“It’d take time to trim that down, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes. It takes longer than building it up. Three months at the very least, I’d say.”
“Tsk. Keep him on hold for now. What’s his name?”
“He’s Sailor 5 — one of the newly added members this round.”
Department Head Kim got that one right in an instant too.
“You remember him because he’s big?”
“Yes. He has the largest chest.”
“Then what about this one?”
Gwak Hoon held out a photo he was certain Department Head Kim wouldn’t be able to identify.
The man in the photo had a perfectly average chest. There were slight differences in the size and color of the nipples, but they were differences so subtle that an ordinary eye would never catch them.
“Hmm. This one’s a bit difficult.”
Department Head Kim studied it for a long moment before finally giving up.
“Take a guess.”
“In that case, I’ll say Sailor 7.”
“Shall we check the answer?”
Gwak Hoon flipped the photo over and his eyes went wide.
“Well, would you look at that. You’ve practically become a master.”
Department Head Kim grinned and scratched his head.
“My guesses must be running hot today.”
“So modest.”
“Have you made your selections?”
“Yeah. Well, since I’ve already picked them out, I’ll go with these three.”
“Shall I prepare honey as well?”
“No — chests first. There’s no shortage of better options for honey.”
“Understood.”
“But is it feasible? Can you give me one more day?”
Gwak Hoon asked, thinking back to yesterday’s pool incident.
Every single body submerged in that water had been so beautiful, so lovely — after a long while, blood had rushed south. His eyes had been thoroughly pleased, and he’d found himself humming. The image was still clear in his mind — pale, milky fluid shooting from stiff cocks, dispersing through the water. Pure artistry.
“Ah. If that’s what you mean, it should be fine. These three have never ejaculated in the gym.”
“Is that right? Then that’s more than enough.”
“Yes. I’ll have them thoroughly prepared.”
“Good. Anything else?”
Gwak Hoon turned the photos over.
“There’s one more thing. When would you like to begin the development?”
At Department Head Kim’s question, Gwak Hoon let out a soft ah of dismay.
No matter how much was going on, he’d nearly forgotten the most important thing.
What Department Head Kim meant by development was erogenous zone development. In this context, specifically the chest erogenous zones.
Most men had no idea they even had erogenous zones in their chest. They only knew how to suck cock and take it from behind — they were stingy when it came to foreplay.
But Gwak Hoon firmly believed that foreplay and erogenous zone development were the most essential parts of sex. The more developed the erogenous zones, the easier it was to come from foreplay alone. Men and women alike — they all got wet and slick from it. In those moments, he could satisfy his own relentless desire to conquer.
Yeonse had been the same. He’d had that perfect chest and hadn’t known what to do with it. Gwak Hoon had developed Yeonse’s erogenous zones himself, and within a month, the boy was reaching orgasm from chest stimulation alone. Night and day he had begged to be touched. Gwak Hoon smiled at the memory of conquering Yeonse.
Now that he no longer had the time or the stamina for that kind of work, he planned to leave it in the hands of professionals, as had been the practice. With the help of drugs, the pace would be far faster as well.
Of course, the chest was only the beginning. Starting next week, they’d be developing erogenous zones across the whole body.
“After milking them tomorrow, begin then. No point disrupting the milking before it happens.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Gwak Hoon gestured for him to leave.
Department Head Kim bowed crisply at the waist and was stepping back toward the door when he remembered something he hadn’t asked.
“Oh.”
At Gwak Hoon’s word, Department Head Kim stopped.
He waved him off before the man could come closer.
“The one who had a reaction — any side effects?”
“None yet.”
Gwak Hoon was, in the conventional sense, a drug dealer. In his poorer days he had sold low-grade substances like methamphetamine, but he no longer dealt in any of that. Only the highest quality.
It would be a mistake to think of him as a simple drug dealer. He was more genuinely invested in his clients’ health than anyone. Why else would he have bought out a pharmaceutical company?
“It seems like a bit much was released in the pool yesterday?”
He was referring to everyone ejaculating in the pool. His eyes had certainly enjoyed the spectacle, but the more perceptive ones might grow suspicious. Suspicion bred suspicion and spawned useless rumors. It had caused some to panic and attempt escape before things even began. That was why the party held the year Yeonse died had descended into chaos.
Using that day as a lesson, Gwak Hoon had invested heavily in developing an arousal agent that left no visible trace. As a result, it was now being diffused into the air continuously. A colorless, odorless substance with strikingly effective results.
Clinical trials had been conducted, naturally. Most of the test subjects had been sex-crazed to begin with, so they hadn’t even realized that their excessive arousal was caused by the drug.
A few hadn’t made it through the trials, but setting those few aside — particularly among healthy men in their twenties — side effects were nearly nonexistent.
Still, every precaution had been taken. The drug allergy testing during the final physical examination to select Crew members had been conducted with meticulous thoroughness. After all, what was diffused into the air would enter through their noses, mouths, and skin, and ultimately be absorbed into their organs.
He had no desire to watch his precious assets convulse and die before they had even had a chance to bloom.
If they had to die, it should be after the party. Of course.
“No. It seems the molecules suspended in the air were absorbed into the water, amplifying the effect.”
“Ah. Right — that drug has particularly good compatibility with water, they said.”
“Yes. Though oil is still the best match. In any case, from next time, accounting for the absorption rate as well—”
“No. Leave the pool as is for now.”
As it stood, the substance was being dispersed in only the most minute quantities, in specific zones and specific circumstances.
For instance, when they’d been put in chastity devices and had electricity run through them three days ago, or today when the sailors were being tattooed — it had been restricted to situations involving pain. However, the gym and the pool — where the boys, in full vigor, had ejaculated without even being touched — were locations of continuous dispersal. There was no better spot for viewing pleasure, and since he was watching anyway, he wanted the scenes to be a bit more stimulating. Thanks to that, the results had met — no, exceeded — his expectations.
Everywhere else was largely kept as a clean zone. He was particularly careful about regulating the dispersal zones, timing, and quantities to prevent the disaster of them getting aroused among themselves and exhausting all their energy before the party had even started.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It was a pleasure to watch. Still, caution never hurts — let’s adjust the swim schedule to focus on beginners. That way we won’t have to watch them wearing floaties at the party.”
“Yes. Understood.”
After sending Department Head Kim off and finding himself alone, Gwak Hoon grudgingly unfolded the morning paper.
The news had been thoroughly uninteresting lately. Gwak Hoon, who had once checked the morning paper the moment he opened his eyes, now barely managed to open it by evening. Skipping it entirely left him unsettled, so he forced himself to flip through it before bed and skim the headlines at least. Only then did the day feel properly finished.
It feels like just yesterday I started my days with the morning paper — and now I’m ending them with it.
I really am getting old.
Time was indifferent.
And yet he didn’t truly feel old.
He still went jogging every morning, boxed three times a week, and though he had put on some weight, he was muscular. His libido wasn’t what it used to be, but compared to his peers, he was practically in the prime of his youth.
Peers. Old men.
He smiled bitterly.
Ding~ Ding~
An alarm chimed from the tablet.
Gwak Hoon glanced at the clock. Exactly ten o’clock.
This was the time his grandson Tan uploaded the following day’s schedule every night. The boy had even started marking certain entries with stars so his grandfather wouldn’t miss anything interesting. Such a thoughtful kid.
August 16th Schedule
Ah. Today was Liberation Day.
Gwak Hoon, who had been invited to Liberation Day events every year, had begun declining all event invitations — not just Liberation Day — starting last year.
Still, I wasn’t so out of it that I’d forget Liberation Day.
The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth.
It wasn’t that Gwak Hoon, born in 1944, had any particular feelings about Liberation Day. It was because of his younger sister.
Half-sister, really — less than a year apart in age — but she had been the sibling closest to him, the one most in tune with him.
Tragically, she had worked herself to the bone for his sake and died young. If she had lived just three more years, she would have been sitting on a pile of gold and silver, eating well. He would have given her a life of luxury.
His eyes grew red.
To forget his younger sister’s birthday.
Am I really done for now.
The desire to look at the schedule vanished.
He turned off the tablet and sank into the sofa.
His younger sister. His lover. And that boy — everyone he had ever loved was dead.
Gwak Hoon wept in silence.
