It’s rare to find someone who doesn’t walk out without a single spec of dust. Won was no exception.

‘I need to stay alert.’

Won kept repeating it to herself as she was grabbed by the guards and dragged to the stabilization room. It wasn’t where she wanted to be right now, she was going to have to cause an accident or two eventually to go.

The only way to get to the CR is through the nurses’ station. If she wants to investigate around the nurses’ station under bright lights, she will need to be dragged to the stabilization room.

Won came to this conclusion and observed the interior.

There was one wall covered with monitors, showing real-time images of various parts of the hospital. It was the area that the CCTVs covered.

The others were lined with shelves for patients’ personal items, such as snacks, cigarettes, and staff lockers.

Past the nurses’ station were four cubicles. At the end of the hallway was a steel door leading to the outside. It was the same door Won came through when she first entered the ward.

The arrangement didn’t make sense.

She didn’t understand why they would put the CR so close to the door. Wouldn’t patients be more likely to escape if they could see the way out? Is it an expression of absolute confidence that patients couldn’t escape? Is this how they demoralize them?

While her mind was racing, they laid her down on a bed in the CR and restrained her.

‘I won’t be able to free myself.’

Won frowned. If nothing else, the staff at this hospital were experts at tying people up.

‘Who wanted me in this position?’

A suspicious staff member sensed something was amiss based on the CCTV footage, and they ordered her to be dragged to the CR for interrogation. She thought she had a good guess as to who it was, but until she saw it with her own eyes, she wanted to remain hopeful. If it was who she thought it was, things were going to become more annoying in the future.

The door to the stabilization room opened, and a figure approached with soft footsteps. The hem of their white coat gently swayed. Won sighed seeing who the newcomer was, closed her eyes, then reopened them.

‘Why is my sense of foreboding never good?’

“Good evening, Lee Won.”

The man said, trying to sound friendly. One would think they were on friendly terms, but that could never be true.

He was too impatient to wait for Won’s reply. He continued his one-sided conversation.

“Seeing you like this reminds me of the first time I met you. When you had your hands tied and your mouth gagged just like now, and you were drooling.”

The man, lost in his own thoughts, fiddled with the rim of his glasses like he was recalling some great memory. He stared down Won with his slender eyes.

“I’d like to try something else and see if it is the same, like putting a bib on,”

Won shuddered as his gaze swept over the corners of her mouth. It was like a snake was crawling around her.

“But that will have to wait for another time. I have a few questions for you to answer today and I’m looking forward to it. The next time you come here, I’ll give you something much better than a gag. It might be painful at first, but once you get used to it, you’ll enjoy it while squealing about how delicious it is.”

‘I can’t take this anymore.’

“Cut the crap and get to the point.”

“Shall we?”

Smirking, Dr. Madison stepped closer. Bending down to get his face right in front of Won’s nose, he asked.

“What the hell are you, Lee Won?”

“Normal.”

Won bluntly answered, feeling the eyes behind his glasses keenly watching her.

He was watching her pupils and breathing to see if she was lying or not.

“I’m a normal person who got locked up in this asylum because of a quack doctor’s bullshit diagnosis.”

No one can control the size of their pupils with their will. As soon as she heard the question, her sympathetic nerves would have activated and her pupils would have dilated. At this distance, it would be obvious and she would be caught, so she can only pretend it is something else.

Pupils dilate in panic, but they can also dilate in excitement.

“It’s so obvious, so why do you ask? Are you playing with me?”

It wasn’t that hard to feign outrage. She actually resented him in many ways, and the memory of the humiliating physical still made her blood boil.

Won glared at Dr. Madison. Their noses were close enough to touch, bringing an unwanted view in front of her. She could notice how his snake-like eyes were covered in surprisingly delicate lashes, and how his vaguely white face was still pretty sharp for a man.

He was undeniably handsome, but the arrogant gaze of an elite who knew all too well that was smart overwhelmed all other positives.

Looking into those eyes, Won felt like a guinea pig in his lab.

“Playing?”

The corners of Dr. Madison’s mouth turned upward.

“We haven’t even started playing yet.”

He straightened out his hunched back and paced the room with a brisk gait.

“You know, but I don’t know. There is nothing suspicious going on, and that makes it more suspicious.”

‘Crazy.”

He was suspicious of her because she wasn’t acting suspiciously. If she was suspicious, he would have said it was expected.

It was a predetermined response. The swearing and cursing went hang in hand.

“Is it not suspicious because you are really innocent or because you are a professional? I wonder what the answer is.”

“What are you talking about-”

“So I’ve come up with a test; a way to see if I can figure out the answer. If not, at least it will give me some please.”

Dr. Madison grinned and pulled a brush out of his pocket. Won’s eyes widened at the unexpected object.

‘What are you going to do with that… by any chance…?’

One possibility flashed through her mind and Dr. Madison spoke up.

“I mean, tickling is pretty fun… in moderation, it is uplifting and arousing, but if you go overboard, it’s torture.”

Running his fingertips lightly over the bristles, he pulled something else from the pocket of his robe. It was a vial of an unidentifiable liquid.

“This is a drug that makes you more aware of the itch. I’m going to dip the brush in it and tickle your sensitive spots.”

He unscrewed the cap and dipped the brush into the solution.

“Armpits, waist, ribs, sides, soles of feet, belly button, ears, thighs, groin. You can pick your favorite.”

“Are you out of your mind? Even if you’re a doctor, you can’t do this kind of nonsense to a patient-”

“Won, isn’t it time you figured out that I am the law in this hospital?”

Cutting off her protest, Dr. Madison flicked the drug-soaked brush out of the bottle.

“If you don’t have a particularly favorite spot, shall we start with your armpits?”

“Crazy asshole. Stop-”

Before she could finish her sentence, the damp brush touched her armpit. Won bit her lip.

‘Is this asshole even a doctor? He’s using drugs without checking to see if I would have an allergic reaction?’

The solution soaked her clothes that stuck to her skin. As the mysterious drug soaked through her skin, a strange sensation of heat began to emanate. It was apparently a fast-acting drug, too.

‘Fortunately, the effects seem to be minimal…’

If she was conscious, she could feel a slight tickling sensation where the drug was applied, but it wasn’t unbearable. Even if her limbs weren’t bound, she wouldn’t react much.

It was a moment of relief for Won, who had been tense. The soft bristles of the brush slowly stroked her armpits. She arched her back at the sensation of tiny bugs crawling over her skin.

“You’re more sensitive than I expected. Are you naturally ticklish?”

Dr. Madison giggled and slowly stroked her armpit in the opposite direction. A small shiver ran down her spine as the fine hairs brushed against her clothing, almost touching. Won squeezed her eyes shut. Every cell in her body was twitching with the brush’s movements.

A moan escaped her lips as the top of the brush repeatedly teased the indentations in her armpits.

“Hmph!”

“You like it that much. You’re making me shiver.”

“It’s not good, it’s ticklish…”

“That’s enough to make me want to shove it in your armpit.”

“What the fu- Huck!”

Won stopped, her whole body twisting as the brush ran down her side. No, her limbs were tied, so she only squirmed a little.

The bristles of the brush were drenched with the drug, and Dr. Madison slowly stroked it up and down her side. Her clothes, dampened by the fluid, clung to her side and revealed a sharp line.

Won shivered at the subtle heat that enveloped her side. Experience had taught her that when the paintbrush touched her sensitive flesh, the drug…

He moved the tip of the brush delicately, stroking her side. Won flinched like she was electrocuted and her vision turned white.

“Ah!”

“That sounds good, be more coquettish.”

“Ahhh!”

The brush tickling her side was driving Won crazy. She couldn’t keep still, so she tried to jerk away, but her limbs wouldn’t budge under the restraints. She was so frustrated and tormented by being unable to do anything, and she felt as if her brain was going to be destroyed.

She tried to pull herself away from the brush as much as she could, but the restraints were so tight that it was fruitless. Her chest burned with helplessness, and the strange sensations were steadily building as the brush slid over her clothes.

“Ah… ugh… hmph…”

A paroxysmal moan escaped her lips despite her gritted teeth. Tears welled in her eyes from the constant stimulation of heightened sensory points. She was unable to even struggle, let alone escape.

“Oh, you weakling.”

Dr. Madison murmured in a soothing voice and wiped the corners of her eyes with the hand that wasn’t holding the brush. Only then did she realize she had tears in her eyes.

“Since you’re having such a hard time, I’m going to tickle a spot that isn’t as sensitive next time.”

Dipping the brush into the bottle, he asked questions like a professor teaching a student.

“There’s one part of your body that I mentioned earlier that doesn’t tickle as much. Where would that be?”

Kofi