Chapter 9: The White Tiger’s Responsibility

After returning home, Hanseong carried Jichan into the bedroom.

He glanced at Jichan, who could barely manage anything beyond a few labored breaths, rubbed the back of his neck, and paced restlessly around the room.

Jichan, whose vision was already spinning, watched Hanseong’s frantic movements through half-lidded eyes and managed to utter a few words.

“Could you… stop… for a…”

He couldn’t finish the sentence.

These days, whenever he tried to speak, ragged breaths kept escaping along with his words, making the whole ordeal unbearable.

His body continued to grow hotter, and even the slightest brush of fabric against his skin sent overwhelming sensations coursing through him.

He wanted to remain still, but his chest kept rising and falling with his labored breathing, causing his stiff shirt to rub against his skin.

His legs and body shuddered at the sensation as heat surged through him.

If only that damn tiger weren’t pacing around right in front of him, Jichan felt as though he would tear his clothes off just to escape the unbearable discomfort.

To make matters worse, his body was reacting against his will, and the resulting embarrassment was becoming impossible to ignore.

“Just… go outside…”

If this was some kind of aphrodisiac-like reaction, perhaps he could find relief on his own and make the effects subside.

That made the biggest obstacle in the room that damn tiger.

Why couldn’t Hanseong simply leave the room instead of making a fuss right in front of him?

Jichan turned onto his side, trying to hide his increasingly obvious physical reaction.

“Haa… Ah…”

Every sensation against his skin and every wave of discomfort made embarrassing sounds escape his lips.

If he endured this any longer, he feared he might end up grabbing himself in front of Hanseong.

‘Please, just save me.’

That was probably what he was thinking.

‘Ah, I’m going to die like this.
But if I die this way, does it count as death from excessive pleasure or what?
The fact that I’m wondering about that even now probably means I’d feel cheated if that ended up being the cause of death on my record.’

Just then, the bed shifted beneath him.

The space behind him sank under a heavy weight, and his body, which he had turned away, was guided back into its original position.

Hanseong carefully but firmly pulled Jichan’s arm toward him, causing another involuntary gasp to escape.

“Ah! Stop… Just… get out…”

Even after hearing those barely coherent words, Hanseong didn’t budge.

Instead, he simply watched Jichan writhe in distress on the bed, his intentions impossible to decipher.

“I’m sorry.
I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

‘Fine, I get it, so please just get out!
I’m in no state to accept your apology!’

Jichan felt anger and frustration rising within him.

He turned his head and tried to pull his arm free.

Then, without warning, Hanseong began removing his trousers.

Jichan stared at him in shock as the fabric slid down his thighs.

With a stern expression, Hanseong continued without saying a word.

“W-What are you doing?!”

Forget speaking politely.

Jichan couldn’t begin to understand what was happening anymore.

“This is my responsibility, so I’ll take care of it.”

“Responsibility?
W-What… what do you mean… Ah!”

Damn it.

Even his voice had become a humiliating mixture of words and involuntary gasps.

“Jujak is going to get medicine from the old man.”

That was a relief.

The strange sensations would finally come to an end.

Jichan began to feel a little more at ease.

“But if we delay any longer, something terrible could happen to you.”

“What?”

“I’ll make you a little more comfortable while we wait for the medicine.
That’s the only way you’ll get through this.”

Jichan stared at him with a deeply furrowed brow, unable to understand what he meant.

Hanseong anxiously moistened his lips.

“I never realized that a god’s vital essence could become poison to you.
I… I only wanted to…”

This was hardly the right time to have a serious conversation with Jichan’s trousers already lowered to his knees.

Unable to control his body, which was burning with embarrassment and agitation, Jichan raised his bent knee.

Hanseong kept his expression serious as he continued to explain.

“Apparently, it’s practically poison.
If we do nothing and let time pass, your life could be in danger.
Having you marked as my mate would be the best solution, but you wouldn’t want that either…”

Jichan was overwhelmed by the unfamiliar situation and the intensity of his body’s reactions.

His vision spun, and his entire body began to tense.

The powerful sensations washed over him so forcefully that he could barely think clearly enough to resist.

Before he knew it, Hanseong had removed the rest of his clothes and leaned over him.

Jichan’s mind was filled with frantic screams, even as he struggled to make sense of everything happening around him.

‘What the hell?
Why does he seem so experienced at this?’

Despite Hanseong’s unhesitating movements, Jichan could do nothing but let out helpless, breathless sounds.

‘That damn vital-essence-sharing business.
I’m never doing this again!’

Unable even to think about covering his mouth against the embarrassing sounds escaping him, Jichan eventually surrendered to Hanseong’s assistance.

As his body trembled and reacted involuntarily, Hanseong lowered his face to Jichan’s chest.

When Hanseong pressed his lips against Jichan’s collarbone, the sudden warmth and softness made Jichan arch his back.

“Ah…!”

Hanseong’s lips moved lower, leaving faint marks against his skin.

Before long, Jichan had both arms wrapped around Hanseong’s shoulders, trembling uncontrollably.

Hanseong continued to kiss and caress him, paying attention to every reaction.

Jichan’s mind felt as though it were about to melt from the unfamiliar sensations.

Meanwhile, the overwhelming physical reaction that had been tormenting him continued unabated.

Jichan squeezed his eyes shut, shivering as waves of sensation ran up his spine.

“Hah… Hah…”

His breathing grew increasingly ragged.

Earlier, he had been so miserable that even the air around him seemed oppressive.

Now, however, Hanseong’s fresh, grassy scent kept drifting into his nose.

“Please… stop…”

Jichan could feel himself approaching his limit.

As his hands tightened around Hanseong’s shoulders, Hanseong increased his efforts to help him find relief.

Eventually, Jichan’s body finally relaxed.

Hanseong didn’t seem to care that his own clothes had become soiled.

He continued to comfort Jichan until the worst of the reaction had passed.

Even so, Jichan felt only somewhat better.

He breathed heavily, as though he had just finished a hundred-meter sprint, and lifted one arm to cover his face.

‘This is so embarrassing.
Even if I couldn’t help it, I can’t believe I ended up losing control in front of another man.’

It hadn’t been something he could avoid, but that didn’t make it any less mortifying.

Only moments earlier, he had genuinely thought he might die, so he had let Hanseong do whatever was necessary to help him.

But the embarrassment that followed was far more intense than he had anticipated.

It wasn’t so much that he felt disgusted.

It was more that he felt utterly ashamed.

He remembered Hanseong’s stern expression from earlier.

Had Hanseong maintained that expression the entire time he was helping him?

Perhaps Hanseong hadn’t wanted to do any of this either, but had acted out of a sense of responsibility.

As the wave of embarrassment washed over him, someone suddenly pulled the arm away from his face.

‘Ahhh, please don’t touch me.
I’m so embarrassed I could die!’

Jichan squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away.

Something soft brushed against the arm Hanseong was holding before withdrawing.

A light kissing sound followed.

“Don’t hide your face.
There’s nothing wrong with what happened.
I like everything about you.”

It was absolutely maddening.

Just how many years had this tiger lived to be able to say such mortifying things without the slightest hesitation?

Then Jichan suddenly remembered what had gotten onto Hanseong’s clothes.

He opened his eyes and looked down.

The lower part of Hanseong’s white dress shirt was stained.

The opaque, sticky substance clinging to the fabric looked as though it might drip off at any moment.

“Ah… I’m sorry.
Your clothes… they’re dirty now.”

“How could anything belonging to my mate be dirty?”

“Oh, seriously…”

‘First the kiss, then all that touching.
And now he’s even seen me completely lose control.
How did Seol Jichan’s life end up becoming this scandalous?’

Although he had finally found some relief, the heat in his body hadn’t disappeared.

He felt a little better than before, but the side effects of the vital essence hadn’t been completely resolved.

“When is the medicine getting here?
I can’t keep going through this.”

“It’ll arrive eventually.
It takes time to travel all the way to Mount Bangjang.”

“Where is Mount Bangjang?
Don’t tell me you’re talking about somewhere far down south.”

“Yes.”

This was disastrous.

Jichan bit his lower lip.

As far as he knew, the round trip alone would take at least five hours.

“Tell him to fly here.
He’s a bird, isn’t he?”

“Well, that’s a little difficult.”

“Difficult or not, could you at least move your hand away from there now?”

Jichan gestured toward Hanseong’s hand, which was still resting against him.

Although he had finally found some relief, the persistent touch threatened to stir up another reaction.

“Well, that’s a little difficult, too.”

“If you keep touching me, I’m going to have a hard time again.”

“You’ll have a hard time even if I don’t.
It might actually be easier for you if I keep my hand there.”

‘Ah, I really want to swear at him.
Damn tiger.’

“Mm, you can swear at me like you did earlier, if you want.
I found your informal speech refreshing.”

“Just change your clothes.
I’m feeling a little better now.”

At Jichan’s words, Hanseong raised one hand and tugged at his tie.

He hooked two fingers beneath it and loosened it, but his other hand continued to gently caress Jichan.

Hanseong’s clothes were slightly disheveled, and there was something strange about the way his sharp eyes seemed to pierce straight through Jichan.

Before Jichan could stop it, his body reacted again.

‘Oh, please.
Seol Jichan Junior, why are you getting up again?
Why now, of all times?’

He swallowed hard, telling himself it was all because of Hanseong’s persistent, wicked touch.

‘If this goes on for five hours, I think I’ll die before the poison even gets the chance to kill me.’

He was so preoccupied with his body’s reaction that he only belatedly noticed Hanseong had undone all the buttons of his dress shirt.

“W-What are you doing?”

“If I’m going to change, my clothes will only get stained again.
I thought it would be better to take them off.
That way, you won’t have to worry about it, either.”

“What exactly am I supposed to do?”

“Keep you alive.”

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