Onew had never before been to a Keeper.

There were at least fifteen Keepers in Hangeong’s capital city of Hwaegoong. Of that, only two or three catered to the likes of nobility and dealt in Pleasure Halflings.

The different factions of slaves were somewhat complicated but being a person who would someday own them, Onew had understood the system since he was young.

There were only four different types of Halflings. There were Feline Halflings which resembled cats in the human world, Canine Halflings which resembled dogs, Cunicular Halflings resembling rabbits and Bovine Halflings resembling bulls. Commoners simply called them cat slaves, dog slaves, rabbit slaves and bull slaves. Cunicular Halflings were often just called Rabbit Halflings, even by nobility, as their Latin name was so cumbersome.

Cat and rabbit slaves were the two most common forms of pleasure slaves. Speaking to the fact that all slaveholders were men, their popularity derived from their slim bodies and lack of dominant tendencies. Only the most attractive of the cat and rabbit slaves were trained as pleasure slaves, the rest were instead given minimal training for normal household work. Bull slaves were almost never pleasure slaves, so rare of an occurrence that only one or two owned them as such. They were more commonly used for hard labor and occasionally as household slaves. Dog slaves were the most versatile as they were often found to be household slaves, occasionally hard labor slaves and sometimes pleasure slaves.

Pleasure slaves had to be chosen carefully. They were judged on their looks, general health and intelligence. All pleasure slaves had to be trained in language as well as etiquette. They were so expensive to hold and train that only the wealthiest of people could afford to buy one from a Keeper. And, because of their expenses, only a few Keepers could afford to train them in the first place.

The Keeper that Onew found himself at this particular afternoon was well known among nobility as having the best selection of pleasure slaves. Onew’s father had acquired all of his slaves here, including all three of his female rabbit pleasure slaves, as did the king and Taemin.

It was a large brick building in the center of Hwaegoong's shopping district with a large wooden sign outside that read Hwang’s Halfling Keeper. A disturbing, yet somehow suiting, location in Onew’s mind. But it proved to be good for money as it was a location many of the wealthier citizens frequented and thus had a constant flow of clientele.

Onew had passed by the building many times while shopping in the area but had never been inside. He had often witnessed the slaves being brought out of the warehouse connected to the back of the building, in shackles, and put into vans to bring them to whomever had ordered them. Slaves worked much the way furniture did, you picked one you liked out in the showroom and ordered it. It was then delivered to your home in five business days. In the case of slaves, after one purchased them they had to be given hair cuts, sometimes baths if they were common slaves (pleasure slaves were always kept clean), given vaccination shots and had papers and licenses filled out as well as their fingerprints taken to put them into the system as a bought slave.

The inside of the building was dark and loud. It was not big but was well kept. There was a set of double doors to the right of the entrance and as someone walked through it, Onew could see that it was a large room with a stage at the front used for bidding on common slaves. He could also tell that this was where most of the noise came from.  To the left of the entrance was a large desk made of cherry wood where a suit clad middle-aged man stood. Onew assumed this was where he should go.

“Yes, hello sir,” the man said upon spotting the young man and bowed, no doubt knowing by his expensive clothing that this was no normal client. “How may I help you?”

“Yes, I’m here to meet my father, Lee Jinwoo, Duke of Iksan.”

“Ah, yes! Lord Jinki,” the man smiled after conferring with a small computer in front of him. He typed something on the keyboard hidden behind the wood and not even a moment later another well-dressed man in a suit appeared beside him.

“Right this way, my lord,” the new man said, also bowing.

“Yes, of course.”

The man led Onew down the hallway directly in front of them. It was just as nice as the entrance with cherry wood walls and a red runner on the floor, the walls covered in lovely artwork. The hallway took a sharp turn to the left and suddenly the artwork was much more sparse on the walls, instead being replaced with numerous doors on each side. They stopped at a door with a brass nine on the front and the man opened the door for Onew.

“Your father is right inside, my lord.”

“Thank you,” Onew bowed politely and stepped inside.

The room inside had cherry wood walls and floors, just like the rest of the building Onew had seen. There was a large Persian rug in the center of the floor and a burgundy loveseat with matching armchair in an L formation, both situated so that a small stage and door at the back of the room was the focal point. There was a coffee table in front of the couch with what looked like coffee and croissants situated on it. In the back corner of the room sat a small table with a small computer on it and a printer under that. The walls were once again covered in sconces and tasteful artwork. In the armchair sat Onew’s father, typing away on his cell phone.

Lee Jinwoo was a large man, very widely built and with a classic sense of entitlement about him. He loved his power almost as much as he loved his money. He had the same small eyes as his son, as well as height and strong nose but not much else. Onew had rarely seen him smile but knew he hadn’t inherited that from his father. He hadn’t inherited his personality or hunger for status either. The only thing they shared in common aside from a few physical characteristics were their book smarts and their bloodline.

“Jinki-yah! It’s about time you came. A bit late, no?” the Duke’s voice boomed across the small room and Onew withheld his eye roll. It always seemed he was doing something wrong.

“I apologize, Father. It is my fault,” came his soft reply.

“Right, right. Well sit down, then. It’s time you get yourself a Halfling!” his father boomed again. “So what type were you thinking? A rabbit Halfling, perhaps? Maybe one with blue eyes? Their bodies are fantastic, you know. Especially the females.”

Onew sat down on one side of the loveseat and suppressed a sigh. He didn’t really know what to tell his father as he hadn’t thought about…well, any of this. “Well, Father…”

“Yes?” the older man prompted, ever impatient.

“I was thinking a rabbit or feline Halfling definitely,” he lied. Onew wasn’t sure he could bring himself to choose any of them as a slave and not hate himself.

Without another word the Duke pressed a button on the side table between the couch and chair. Only a minute later did a man walk in, just as well dressed as the others had been, and gave a deep bow.

“Hello, my lords. My name is Kim Daeyoon and I’m here to help you find the perfect Pleasure Halfling! All of our Halflings are fully trained in the Korean language and have been determined physically fit by our special Halfling veterinarians. Now are there any criteria that you wish to tell me before I go fetch some?”

Onew froze for a moment. Criteria? It had been hard enough for him to choose a type of slave much less things like hair color and disposition. However the young man soon realized both his father and Kim Daeyoon were staring at him expectantly.

“Right, well,” he cleared his throat. “I was thinking a rabbit or feline Halfling-“

“Yes, my lord.”

“-around my age and my height-“

“Of course, my lord.”

“-with, uhm… a good level of intelligence-“

“Wonderful, my lord.”

“-and I suppose that... is it,” Onew finished a bit lamely.

“Fantastic, my lord. Are there any other more physical attributes you wish to focus on? Such as hair color, skin color or gender, perhaps?”

“Oh, no,” Onew laughed though his words came out a bit as a squeak. “I’m rather open to options…”

“It’s his first Halfling, you see,” the Duke interrupted with a boisterous laugh. “He’s not sure what he wants yet.”

“Yes, of course, my lord. I will make a few selections from our warehouse and be back momentarily with only the most handsome of our selection,” Daeyoon bowed once more before leaving.

Onew shrunk into the burgundy cloth of the couch below him, knowing how terribly unprepared he had sounded. A man of nobility, four years passed the point most choose slaves, and he had no idea what he had wanted? Surely this was not what his father had expected. Judging from the man’s unhappy face, this assumption was correct.

After only a few minutes that felt much more like twenty with the heavy silence that hung in the room, the door on the stage reopened and Daeyoon walked through again.

“I have brought some of the best of our selection, my lords. I will bring them in one at a time for your evaluation,” he announced and then clapped his hands. Onew sighed.

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So here's part two! A bit boring, I know, and still no Key but he's coming I promise! I hope this didn't too hard... I was worried it would be too long if I didn't break it here. 

Thank you so much for reading and please let me know what you think! =]