Chapter 31: The Mark of Jealousy

#31

“Hunter Han Yuseong briefly informed me about Dagon, so you needn’t worry about that. We’ll provide the utmost convenience from our end. After all, this concerns Han Dokyeom, and I couldn’t possibly stand idly by.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you so much for that, sir.”

“Don’t mention it. Especially when Han Dokyeom’s eyes are so red right now.”

The words were low and slow, embedding themselves even deeper in Dokyeom’s ears. He subtly blocked Taeseongyeon’s approaching hand with the back of his own. Yet, the hand, brushing like a caress along his inner wrist, swiftly moved beneath his neck.

“But, Dokyeom.”

The hand, having gently rubbed his Adam’s apple with its thumb, moved as if drawing a line. Before Dokyeom could even react, Taeseongyeon gripped his chin, forcing his head to turn stiffly to the side. He felt a gaze caressing his exposed, pale neck. Taeseongyeon then parted his lips, a smile playing upon them.

“You ought to properly leash your dog, shouldn’t you? There’s a wound here, hm?”

“What are you— Ugh…!”

The hand scraped against the mark in an instant. A sensation akin to skin being flayed ignited a fiery breath within him.

Dokyeom squinted his eyes shut, gasping for breath. The firm hand pressing on his mark made his stomach itch. Perhaps due to exhaustion, every sensation surged with agonizing intensity.

The hand, which had seemed to caress the mark, then bent its fingers and scraped down his skin. Dokyeom exhaled a suppressed breath, shuddering. In response to his ragged gasps, a growl rumbled deep within Agon’s throat. The bloodlust was thick and palpable.

Dokyeom stretched out an arm, urgently restraining Agon.

“S-stop it…. Be good. Just… stay still… Ah…”

Taeseongyeon’s eyes curved gently, as if praising a child. His hand pressed down on Dokyeom’s dangerously pounding pulse. The suffocating pressure, like a chokehold, briefly blurred his vision.

Dokyeom’s pupils trembled, then he gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. An overwhelming fatigue, as if he had taken a sleeping pill, washed over him. His entire body ached with a weariness so profound he simply wished to close his eyes, collapse, and sleep.

With a desperate effort, Dokyeom, his lips pressed tight, tore Taeseongyeon’s hand away. His breath burst out all at once, and his heart pounded uncontrollably. When he finally managed to swallow the saliva pooled in his mouth, a chill ran down his spine.

‘Why? Why is this happening?’

‘Why did Taeseongyeon’s touch alone provoke such an extreme, almost chemical reaction in him? Even when Agon had bitten the mark, it hadn’t been this intense. Now, his entire body felt drained of strength, unable to even properly clench a fist.’

Dokyeom, releasing his ragged breaths without restraint, lashed out a kick at Taeseongyeon the moment his paralyzed vision returned. *Thud*, a dull sensation met his foot. However, it wasn’t Taeseongyeon’s clothing that his shoe sole struck, but a gloved hand.

‘This bastard, he blocked it?’

Dokyeom began to kick with both legs.

“If you continue, Han Dokyeom, you’ll only break your legs, so let’s stop here. I’ve clearly gone too far.”

“Cut the crap and choose one: either take the hit or get lost. No, actually, you just need to take a beating, you perverted bastard.”

‘This… this son of a b*tch!’

Taeseongyeon, without even shifting his body, skillfully blocked every one of Dokyeom’s furious kicks with his hands. Even that scuffle was halted when an attendant approached.

“Guild Leader, I believe it’s time for us to depart.”

Someone called Taeseongyeon from behind in an anxious voice. Taeseongyeon merely nodded briefly, then removed the glove from his other hand and tucked both into his coat pocket.

“I’ll send someone within five minutes, so Han Dokyeom, please head to the hotel and rest first. I’ll drop by if I have the time.”

“Oh, just get lost.”

Dokyeom grabbed a tissue box and hurled it. Taeseongyeon blocked it with a smiling face, yet his demeanor remained composed and utterly unhurried.

Taeseongyeon’s retreating back was soon swallowed by the crowd. As Dokyeom’s eyes followed the bustling throng, less than five minutes passed before someone approached him.

“Are you Han Dokyeom?”

“If Mr. Taeseongyeon sent you, I don’t need anything.”

“Excellent. I am Hunter Shin Yiseok, from the Sahyeon Guild. Han Yuseong sent me. I will escort you directly to the hotel.”

His ability to speak without a change in expression was quite impressive. Shin Yiseok, who introduced himself as part of the security team, repeatedly emphasized that Han Yuseong had sent him, then guided Dokyeom and Agon to a nearby car and to the hotel listed on the key card.

The crowd, receding beyond the car window, quickly became tiny specks. Only then did Dokyeom lean against Agon’s shoulder and begin to doze like a sick chicken.

Before long, the car pulled up to a hotel. It was a high-rise building with a clear view of Eulwangri Beach. As soon as Dokyeom stumbled into the room, he took Agon and headed for the bathroom.

He then filled the spacious bathtub, pushed Agon inside, and collapsed onto the floor by the door.

Only silence reigned. Agon quietly breathed in and out within the water, without a sound. In that almost unbelievable stillness, Dokyeom subtly touched his own mark.

‘…He’s a ghost.’

The faint wound, neglected amidst the chaos, was now palpable. The injury Taeseongyeon had mentioned was a fresh scratch from Agon’s earlier biting. Dokyeom slowly caressed the mark, his heavy eyelids blinking softly. In the quiet stillness, exhaustion washed over him like a tide.

‘Just for a moment.’

The moment he thought that, his vision instantly turned black. It was the first prolonged peace he had experienced since emerging from the Gate.

****

Dokyeom distinctly remembered sprawling on the floor, intending to catch a brief nap, yet when he opened his eyes, he was nestled in a soft bed with smooth sheets, wrapped snugly in a blanket.

Before him was Agon’s broad chest, his eyes peacefully closed, with the shadows of night draped over his well-built shoulders.

Whether out of pity or simply finding him pathetic, Agon seemed to have personally carried Dokyeom to the bed. Not only that, but he had also cradled Dokyeom’s smaller body within his embrace, holding him close.

Glancing down at himself, Dokyeom saw he was still in his salt-stained clothes. Indeed, they were the same clothes he had been sick of seeing for the past week. Agon, whom he had pushed into the bathtub, was similarly clad. Lacking any concept of human necessities like clothing, he likely didn’t even know how to put on or take off garments.

‘Still, this feels a bit gross.’

The musty smell emanating from his clothes stung his nose. Dokyeom carefully pulled his hand away and shifted his body, careful not to wake Agon. The moment he moved away from the embrace, a low growl immediately rumbled above his head.

“……”

When he looked up, Agon’s furrowed brow and nose became visible. Dokyeom immediately returned his body to its original position. Agon’s breathing astonishingly settled back into a peaceful rhythm.

Wondering if Agon simply missed the warmth, Dokyeom subtly withdrew his hand from under the blanket and gently patted Agon’s back. This time, a louder growl echoed.

Once more, Dokyeom returned his arm to its original place. He merely tilted his head to look at the ceiling, and again, Agon’s peaceful breathing settled near his ear.

‘…What am I supposed to do?’

‘Don’t get up, don’t touch me—it’s absolutely terrifying, isn’t it?’

Of course, upon closer examination, it wasn’t incomprehensible. As is typical for aquatic species, Agon also disliked physical contact that involved body heat. For an Agon, he possessed considerable patience and rarely revealed his true feelings.

He had also surpassed the level of a brutish monster that would attack whenever displeased. He was closer to a human being, capable of thought, reasoning, and self-control.

The only exception was that his habits and instincts were still governed by the environment he had lived in.

“…Wake up and let’s get you washed and fed. Let’s eat, eat! Ah, food!”

Agon, who hadn’t reacted to the mention of washing, flinched at the subsequent word ‘food’. The arm wrapped around Dokyeom’s waist seemed to tighten, and with just the strength of his core, Agon pulled both their bodies up to a sitting position in one swift motion.

Only then did Dokyeom stretch his stiff neck, cracking it from side to side to loosen it.

“I’ll go wash up and be right out, so just wait a moment… No, actually, since we’re washing, why don’t you just come in with me and we’ll wash together?”

Looking out the window, Dokyeom saw that it was already dark outside. Half a day had passed, so the large crowd had likely dispersed by now.

Dokyeom untied the string from Agon’s tangled hair, then led him to the bathroom.

He then drained the water from the tub, refilled it with fresh water, stripped Agon of his clothes, and helped him in. As he turned on the lukewarm showerhead and brought it to Agon’s tangled hair, a distinctly muscular arm suddenly shot out without warning.

*Whisk—*

“!”

The firm arm wrapped around Dokyeom’s slender waist, pulling him into the bathtub in one swift motion. Water splashed everywhere, and Dokyeom was instantly soaked like a drowned rat. The showerhead, flipped upside down and spraying water haphazardly, hit his arm.

“H-hey, why…? Did you want to do it together? It’s going to be a mess if I try to shampoo your hair.”

As Dokyeom brushed his thoroughly soaked hair and asked, Agon merely stared back. After blinking his quiet eyes for a moment, Agon tilted his head and leaned closer. His rounded fingertips brushed tentatively against Dokyeom’s cheek, then settled on the mark that Taeseongyeon had touched.

Agon’s brow furrowed, steeped in emotions he couldn’t even guess at himself. His eyes narrowed with confusion, shifting his gaze before settling back on Dokyeom.

‘This confusion and these emotions he’s experiencing.’

Dokyeom knew what they stemmed from.

“It’s okay.”

He firmly gripped the back of Agon’s hand, which seemed to writhe with thirst. What Agon was experiencing was the desire inherent in his ‘authority’.

Jealousy.

Desires that wished for Dokyeom to be solely his, to remain only in his grasp, and to share not a single part with anyone else.