The Black Rose [The Devil Judge]

Trailing the boss

There was a black rose on the third Saturday of every month on Yohan's calendar. Gaon didn't think anything of it during his first month in the mansion, but when the third Saturday of the next month came around, he noticed it because Elijah pointed out how Yohan always got missing every third Saturday.

So there he was, scrolling through Yohan's calendar for the past six years. And surely, on the third Saturday of every month, Yohan had a black rose stamped on it.

No location. No time. No persons to meet.

Just a black rose.

As the second month rolled into a third, Gaon waited.

Yohan spent the Saturday morning in the in-house gym, then he took a shower, ate his breakfast, read in the study, watched TV with Gaon and Elijah, had lunch, read some more books and then by 3 pm, he retired to his room.

Around 5 pm, Yohan emerged from his room in his prowling hoodie, tracks, sneakers and a face mask, all in black. As soon as he drove off, Gaon took a second car and followed from a distance, watching the bug he'd placed on all the cars from the tablet in the car he was in.

Yohan drove for thirty minutes into town, turned into a high-rise area, and then parked his car before he got into the one building in the area that had no signboard. Gaon followed, walking down the deserted alleyway that Yohan had taken from the back to enter. When he got to the door, he knocked. A screen dinged by the door and Gaon was suddenly looking at his reflection.

"Can I help you?"

"Uh..." Gaon said. "I... I was told to come here?"

"Are you new?"

"Yes," he said, quickly. "I'm here to sign up."

The person on the other side of the screen scoffed.

"Youngsters. Sign up for what? Is this school?"

The man hissed, but the door buzzed open anyway.

The small room was painted maroon, with one bulb overhead. There were two doors, both of which were closed. The black door on his right remained closed, but as the door behind slid shut, the white one on his left buzzed open.

"This way, please," a voice said on an intercom.

Obediently, Gaon entered the room.

"Fill in your information, sign the contract and you may proceed further."

A quiet voice in Gaon's head told him to turn around and just go back. These people kept electronic records. They were asking for credentials and a signature. Kim Gaon was a national judge. If this got out and this was a shady place, he'd be in so much trouble.

But then again, Yohan was here. Yohan wouldn't indulge in anything that could come back to bite him in the ass. Maybe it was safe. Besides, Gaon's curiosity had skyrocketed. There was no way he was turning back.

So he went to the table, picked up the tablet and began reading the contract. He was going to sign it, but the lawyer in him couldn't just click "yes" to Terms and Conditions without knowing what the terms and conditions were.

He filled in his name, scanned his fingerprints, took a picture with the tablet. Placed his I.D. card on the scanner and then the T&S page popped up.

The first page was a standard non-disclosure agreement. He signed that.

Then they spent another page talking about community guidelines and etiquette. No rudeness, no violence, no stalking, no interaction with other guests outside of the building unless agreed upon. Various odd guidelines, but nothing wrong with that, so he signed that page too.

By the third page, Gaon was a little confused.

They talked about consent and roles and body proximity. There was a lot of intimation of the human body, in a way that could only be deemed sexual. A long list of rules for Dominants and a long list of promises to Submissives.

It took three whole paragraphs for Gaon to realize what he was actually looking at. A BDSM contract.

Gaon dropped the tablet on the table and stood up, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Do you wish to retract your application, Mr. Kim?" the voice asked.

"I..." he rubbed his face and ran his hand through his hair. "Give me a minute."

"Take all the time you need."

This was a sex club. A BDSM, sex club. Once every month. Yohan went to a sex club once a month.