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Join the ServerBefore he could even realize it, a hot breath touched his lips.
A thick tongue parted his lips.
Just as their tongues were about to meet, Dokyeom grabbed Taeseongyeon by the collar.
“What, are you going to tell me my rank or something?”
“I don’t know. It depends on what you do, Dokyeom.”
The words were like a whisper.
Then a firm tongue touched him, as if colliding.
The flesh pushing between his lips made his fingers curl inward.
It was hot.
He felt like he was melting.
Having invaded deeply with a tilted nose, Taeseongyeon gently patted Dokyeom’s flinching chin.
It was as if he was urging him on.
“Ha….”
In this situation, there was only one thing he wanted.
Cursing inwardly, Dokyeom rubbed his tongue roughly against Taeseongyeon’s.
Taeseongyeon’s hand, having grazed his chin, now felt the soft skin under his ear.
Dokyeom flinched, but a firm hand immediately caught his tilted head and held it in place.
But apparently, that wasn’t enough for him.
“You need to do it harder.”
It took a while for the voice that lingered in his mouth to reach his mind.
Harder…?
Dokyeom exhaled once, then, pressing down on Taeseongyeon’s shoulder, he pushed his tongue up again as if scraping.
When he stiffened his tongue and scraped hard enough to sting the spot where the seal likely was, a low moan came from Taeseongyeon’s throat.
The hand that had been fiddling under his ear also mercilessly scratched at Dokyeom’s seal.
“Huh…”
That was the beginning.
Their flesh rubbed until his tongue felt sore.
Several times, he felt his lungs being crushed so he couldn’t breathe.
Just when he decided it was too much and gritted his teeth to bite her tongue, Taeseongyeon quickly pulled his lips away and rubbed his own seal against Dokyeom’s, which was hot as molten metal.
About to let out a sound, Dokyeom clenched his mouth shut.
His breath stayed short in his mouth before bursting out in gasps.
“Ha….”
The room, with not a single light on, had already grown dark, making even the shapes of nearby objects unclear.
Only Taeseongyeon’s low-glowing eyes were vivid.
It was this bastard.
The one who had sent his magical power into Dokyeom, who was half-asleep and panting in the mountain where he had obtained Dali, was none other than Taeseongyeon.
Why did he realize that only now?
A bitter laugh pressed on his lungs.
“Ah, try opening it, Dokyeom-ssi.”
Supporting his weakly tilting chin, Taeseongyeon pressed his shiny lower lip to open his mouth, then silently examined the inside of Dokyeom’s mouth.
Having confirmed that it was in decent condition despite the rough treatment, Taeseongyeon nodded once and withdrew his gaze.
After that, a brief floating air created silence.
It was like that for a moment.
“You said you had something to ask me, Han Dokyeom-ssi?”
Taeseongyeon asked with a smile, as if readily offering an opportunity.
Only then did the unresolved questions flood up in an instant.
What should he ask first?
Rolling his sore tongue inside his mouth, Dokyeom met Taeseongyeon’s gaze as soon as his breathing steadied.
Even though the room was filled only with dim light and no light source, every feature—eyes, nose, mouth—was distinct.
He felt that perfect.
Surprisingly so.
That made him even more conflicted.
He was angry at himself for having sacrificed the Sahyeon Guild so wastefully, just for Geon Itae.
He was disgusted at his own inadequacy in failing to utilize those outside the line in any other way.
Then what should he do?
“…About the hunters who went to China.”
He just needed to smooth things over, neither more nor less, to the extent that it wouldn’t harm the upcoming events.
At the sudden words, Taeseongyeon leaned back comfortably and stared into the air for a moment.
He too seemed deep in thought.
Dokyeom licked his dry lips once, and anxiety took over.
He continued, “Just tell me if they’re safe or not.”
At least if they were safe, that would mean it wasn’t too late.
The silence was unbearably long.
In Taeseongyeon’s blinking eyes that stared into the air, there seemed to be a hint of inexplicable fatigue.
His tightly shut lips opened lazily as if exhaling a sigh.
“Should I call that safe….”
It was an ambiguous statement.
Yet Dokyeom waited for the rest.
Surely there was more to come.
It had to be.
And indeed, after a short pause, Taeseongyeon added, “They’re all safe except for one. But… that one is the problem.”
Dokyeom didn’t ask who it was.
For now, that was enough.
He could think about the rest later, even if it turned out to be a confirmation rather than a solution.
“So you’re going to China to handle it?”
The gaze that had been directed at the air slowly lowered to look at Dokyeom.
Expecting some sign of distress, Taeseongyeon only saw composure in Dokyeom’s eyes.
His under eyes were red, but his expression was calm.
Even though that one might be Han Yuseong, he showed no sign of agitation.
He just roughly wiped his swollen red lips with his arm and opened his mouth with his eyes raised.
“Forget about the rank. Instead, could you grant me something else? It’s nothing major.”
Taeseongyeon was curious what was in that small head that made him so determined.
What thoughts filled it that he remained unshaken?
“Take me with you to China too.”
Taeseongyeon didn’t answer right away.
But eventually, a low laugh filled the silence.
It was a fairly light laugh, as if there was no other choice.
At that wordless confirmation, Dokyeom fixed his gaze over Taeseongyeon’s shoulder.
The world where dusk was settling flickered beyond the window.
He might see Han Yuseong in a few days at the earliest, but everyone who had heard the news of the accident knew it wouldn’t be smooth.
He hoped that the Han Yuseong he would face then would be the same as on the day they first met: exceedingly upright and solid, seemingly unbreakable.
***
No matter how much he thought about it, the ‘Shanghai, China’ incident wasn’t a major episode that left a mark on readers’ memories.
Rather, it was just a stepping stone that ended without even covering a page of print, arranged for Geon Itae to absorb the Sahyeon Guild.
The incident began with Sahyeon Guild hunters going missing inside a gate in China.
Then, even the hunters dispatched to confirm their survival went missing in the Shanghai gate, causing the gate that couldn’t be cleared in time to undergo a gate break.
This was reported by media in Korea and around the world.
What was important here was that the Shanghai government managed to prevent and mitigate the disaster on its own.
Because of that, ownership of the gate was attributed to the Chinese side, and the Sahyeon Guild fell into deep despair.
As a result, the Sahyeon Guild faced fierce criticism both domestically and internationally.
That was the trigger that started Sahyeon Guild’s steep decline.
The remaining hunters stubbornly ran around trying to protect the guild, but they were just holding onto a collapsing building with no foundation, a reckless situation that continued.
It was only a few months.
As all the businesses managed by the Sahyeon Guild went bankrupt, the guild’s reputation plummeted.
The one who sought out the Sahyeon Guild at that point was Geon Itae of the Uhwa Guild.
Having first absorbed the hunters who remained until the end, Geon Itae then gradually revived and absorbed everything of the Sahyeon Guild.
Yes, the greatest beneficiary of this incident was Geon Itae.
Therefore, this wasn’t a major anecdote to pay attention to.
It was only important to the Sahyeon Guild.
However, the background of this incident corresponded to a major point in the later development, so it couldn’t be overlooked.
That was also why Dokyeom was going.
“Oh, crazy. This is my first time on a private jet. Can you guys see? They said it seats 45. It’s huge, right? All seats are first class, so you can sleep lying down. They said the hourly rental is several thousand—truly befitting the capital power of Sahyeon Guild. The interior? Ah, wait. I’ll show you slowly. First, let me just sneakily… start by filming our Sahyeon Guild hunters.”
A camcorder was suddenly thrust in front of Dokyeom’s face.
When he waved his hand as if shooing a fly, a disgruntled voice sounded.
Baek Jiun grumbled and took a few steps back, then changed his target to Beom Yeonhu, who was following behind.
Dali was also next to him.
“No, seriously, I got ripped off two million won in a week, you know? This is totally a scam. Remember how I said I’d cover the snacks for the hyung’s chimera last time? But seriously, this kid eats nonstop. Turn around and the food’s gone. You think I’m being stingy? Well… I earned a lot from the snowy mountain video, so it’s fi—fine, it’s fine! It’s just snacks for the kid! Right, Dali?”
Bbye?
“Aigoo, this pretty thing. The only person who thinks of me is really Dali.”
As the camcorder suddenly approached, Dali, who was munching on dalgona, paused and blinked.
The necklace with a round ornament on the child’s white neck sparkled in the sunlight.
Baek Jiun looked at it with a feeling of contentment.
“You guys, isn’t this pretty? You ask what it is? Should I call it a name tag… Ah, I guess it’s an identification tag. What? You say it looks like a dog collar? No, these people, to the kid now… It has a phone number written right on the back, you know? So he doesn’t get lost abroad.”
Baek Jiun roughly scrolled through the pile of comments coming in on one side of his phone.
As expected, most of the comments were asking about the child’s identity.
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