Chapter 21: The Yokai Who Fell for His Friend’s Granddaughter

Sa Hae thought that as he gently sucked at the pale flesh of Lee Young’s wrist, drawing it into his mouth. He bit it, tugged at it, and felt the faint pulse against the edge of his lips. He repeated the same actions several times.

“…”

It felt as though that fragile pulse had passed beyond his lips and settled directly into his heart. Feeling as if his own heart were beating as slowly as Lee Young’s pulse, Sa Hae finally extended his tongue and licked over the dark mark left behind like a brand.

With a mark like this, that damn goblin’s master probably wouldn’t be able to try anything stupid for a while.

“A stamp.”

He had kissed someone else’s wrist without permission, acted so indecently that it was a wonder her heart hadn’t burst on the spot, and yet, when he finally lifted his head, that was what he chose to say.

A stamp. As if there were any stamp in the world like this.

“A stamp?”

“Yeah. A stamp.”

“…”

“Don’t bother covering it up. Walk around with it proudly on display.”

That way, whether it was stray spirits or some weird bastard, fewer of them would be drawn to her.

Sa Hae said it as though it were nothing special, but Lee Young certainly didn’t feel that way. From the moment Sa Hae’s lips touched her wrist, her vision had gone dark.

It felt as though all the nerves in her body had concentrated in that one spot. She could feel every single thing, the warmth of his breath, even the slightest movement of his lips, with almost unbearable clarity.

Was it really possible to feel something this intensely?

“Why?”

This damn old man, no, this damn yokai, had set her heart on fire and was now sitting there with such an unabashed expression.
How could he possibly be like this?

Lee Young swallowed down the sudden surge of emotion and looked at him.

“It’s not fair.”

“What isn’t?”

“Why, why do you get to do it?”

She knew it sounded insane.

But those were the only words that came to mind right now. And, honestly, it really wasn’t fair.

Why was Sa Hae allowed to kiss her so shamelessly whenever he wanted? She had said they should kiss and gotten thoroughly rejected, yet the very same Sa Hae who had rejected her so mercilessly was now confidently leaving marks on her. It wasn’t fair.

“What kind of nonsense—”

Before Sa Hae could finish speaking, Lee Young moved first.

The arm bearing Sa Hae’s bite marks wrapped around his neck, and Lee Young’s lips met his.

Those lips, always so red and pretty that they kept drawing Sa Hae’s eyes, and which had turned his insides upside down because they were undoubtedly pretty enough to catch the attention of other bastards, too, rubbed against his.

“…”

The moment their lips melded together and Lee Young’s moist tongue clumsily brushed over his lips, Sa Hae heard something inside him snap.

“f*ck.”

For an instant, the gentle smile on Sun-young’s face surfaced in his mind, pricking at his conscience.

But it lasted only a moment.

What kind of conscience could a damn yokai possibly have in the first place? If he had one, he would have become a divine spirit long ago.

Sa Hae tossed that conscience, something wholly unsuited to a yokai, to the dogs passing by, then pressed his lips more firmly against Lee Young’s.

“Mm.”

The sweet scent from the pill that damn Jade Rabbit had given her was gone, but regardless of that scent, the natural fragrance flowing from Lee Young’s body drove Sa Hae even crazier.

It was much sweeter.

Only then did Sa Hae understand. He finally understood why his eyes had kept drifting toward Lee Young even after she had taken Jade Rabbit’s antidote. Why those red lips were constantly the first thing he noticed.

Why seeing her smile at another man had made his insides burn.

Now he knew.

“Open your mouth properly.”

“Mister…”

“Hurry.”

At Sa Hae’s impatient command, Lee Young nodded. Soon, his tongue slipped between her lips, which had parted slightly wider than before.

This kiss was completely different from the one when she had been feverish from the medicine. Back then, her whole body had been burning, and she had simply thought she needed to do something, anything. But this kiss was far too vivid.

So vivid that she felt it being carved permanently into her mind.

Feeling Sa Hae’s tongue moving inside her mouth, Lee Young thought that she would never forget this kiss until the day she died.

“Mm…”

Lee Young unconsciously felt her body heating up and let out a soft, breathy sound. Hearing it, Sa Hae felt himself grow even hotter, and he continued kissing her.

Right now, all he could see was Lee Young.

Lee Young’s lips. Lee Young’s sounds. Lee Young’s moist, unfocused eyes.

Those were the only things that held Sa Hae captive.

“W-Wait…”

“Why?”

How much time had passed?

Lee Young’s small hands finally pushed Sa Hae away. He could have refused to move, but Sa Hae allowed himself to retreat a little, just as she wanted, and looked at her.

Her lips were still parted, glistening with his saliva, while her cheeks were flushed bright red. Looking shyly at Sa Hae, Lee Young wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

“I-i can’t anymore.”

“Can’t what?”

“…”

“Why can’t you?”

Sa Hae was genuinely curious.

What exactly did she mean by saying she couldn’t anymore? And if it was what he thought it was, why couldn’t they? He felt as though he were going to die right now, so why was she pushing him away and saying they couldn’t?

“There are… several reasons…”

“Tell me the biggest one.”

“…”

“If I can accept it, I’ll back off.”

At Sa Hae’s words, Lee Young swallowed hard.

If she left things like this, there was no doubt that tonight she would end up spending her first night with this yokai whose hobbies apparently included all sorts of drinking, women, gambling, and pleasure.

She couldn’t have her first time with a yokai who wasn’t even in a relationship with her, or rather, saying they were nothing to each other was too simple.

They were in something complicated, but even within that complicated relationship, words like liking, love, or lovers did not apply.

She needed to say that.

But it was embarrassing.

Somehow, it felt as though saying it would amount to asking Sa Hae for love, to saying that she wanted to become a special “human woman” to him. That was why Lee Young couldn’t bring herself to speak easily.

“Answer me.”

Sa Hae pressed her, his two sharp eyes fixed intently on her.

If her reason was something he couldn’t accept, he had the look of a man who might simply swallow Lee Young whole tonight.

“I-i’m on my period…”

The instant she finished speaking, Sa Hae’s gaze dropped below her.

It was the look of a predator checking its prey. There was something distinctly inhuman in his eyes.

Only then did Lee Young truly feel it.

The person she had almost gone all the way with just now wasn’t human.

“N-No.”

“What can’t you do?”

“I’m serious.”

At Lee Young’s insistence that she was serious, Sa Hae curled the corner of his mouth as though he found it amusing. Then, wearing an expression that said he would humor her, he pulled himself away from above her.

“What’s with that expression?”

“What?”

That expression that said he was humoring her. Lee Young had seen it correctly.

She had forgotten for a moment.

He was a yokai who lived on iron as his staple food.

A yokai who ate iron.

Which was practically the same as saying he was a yokai with an uncanny nose for the scent of blood.

“Then shall we do it after it’s over?”

“…”

“I’m looking forward to it. Will a week be enough?”

At Sa Hae’s words, Lee Young’s cheeks turned bright red as she stared at him in shock.

It sounded like a joke, but she would stake her wrist on the fact that it wasn’t.

Smack.

While Lee Young was half out of her wits, unable to figure out what she was supposed to say, Sa Hae’s lips touched hers once more.

“That’s cheating.”

“What is?”

“With a face that handsome…”

At Lee Young’s words, Sa Hae smiled broadly and gazed at her even more intently.

Lee Young wanted to hide her burning-red face from his gaze, but there was no way Sa Hae would allow that.

“Did you like it?”

“…”

“Did you like it even if it was only a kiss?”

Sa Hae was persistent.

Especially when he wanted to know how Lee Young was feeling, he became even more so. He seemed genuinely curious about what his kiss had done to her.

At Sa Hae’s question, Lee Young had no choice but to nod.

She had liked it. She was certain that kissing anyone else probably wouldn’t have felt like this.

She could guarantee that.

“What about you?”

“I liked it.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah.”

There wasn’t even a hint of hesitation in Sa Hae’s answer. He nodded as though he had made up his mind.

It was the absolute truth, without a shred of a lie.

Born a yokai and having lived all these years, he had never once felt aroused by a woman. And it wasn’t just women. He had never found satisfaction in brushing against a human’s body and feeling their warmth, nor had he ever craved it.

He had possessed a faint affection for Sun-young, the woman to whom he owed his life, but that was nothing more than a friendship that transcended species. Not once, while looking at Sun-young, had he wanted to possess her or felt desire for her.

But Lee Young was different.

He couldn’t think of any other way to put it besides that.

Lee Young was truly different.

“I’m going crazy.”

“…”

“You’re so damn pretty.”

Gently stroking the lips that still glistened with his saliva with his thumb, Sa Hae spoke as though he were troubled by the situation.

The girl in front of him, the girl whose connection with him would end the moment she made a single wish, the girl who could allow him, who had no attachments left in this world, to finally disappear, was pretty.

Insanely pretty.

So pretty that his eyes kept being drawn to her.

If only she were a little less beautiful. Wouldn’t that have been nice?

Then he wouldn’t have become the kind of utterly shameless yokai that even a stray dog wouldn’t take, a bastard who was trying to lay hands on his friend’s granddaughter.

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