Chapter 42: Incomprehensible and Irresistible

They had been swept away by the moment.

There was no other way to describe it. Yeowon, perched on the edge of the bed, glanced sideways. A man lay beside him, deeply asleep and naked. Outside, the window now revealed a sky completely dark.

Tiny, rice-grain stars glittered across the monochromatic heavens.

Fragments of that light seemed to transfer into Yeowon’s dark eyes.

“……”

He recalled everything that had transpired in that room.

Though only a few hours had passed, it felt utterly unreal. This act, above all the countless mysteries he had encountered since returning to the Middle Realm, was unequivocally the most incomprehensible.

“Yeowon.”

The voice that called his name was fervent, almost desperate. His already strengthless hand simply dropped, falling limp. As he offered no resistance, Sagyeol’s face drew closer, his lips covering Yeowon’s own.

“…!”

It was a kiss far deeper and longer than any they had shared in the cinema. He continued to draw on Yeowon’s lips until breath grew scarce and his tongue tingled, then, with careful hands, he began to undress him.

Sagyeol’s lips trailed down Yeowon’s neck and collarbone, pausing at the rough, uneven scars. Enduring the touch of lips was one thing. But when a tongue licked the scars, Yeowon honestly wanted to flee.

“Does it hurt?”

That single question rooted him to the spot.

*Does it hurt?* These were the marks of torn flesh. Of course, it had hurt when the deed was done. But the true pain, the real agony, had been when this very spot was still pristine.

From the moment the contract of subservience was carved onto him until he escaped the hellish Demon Lord’s Castle—every single day had been agonizing.

Yet, Sagyeol was the first to ever ask if he was in pain. Only upon hearing those words did Yeowon realize he no longer hurt. If asked if he was ‘okay,’ he might still hesitate, but about the pain, he could speak with certainty.

Neither the scars nor he himself hurt anymore; instead, he felt as though his entire dark life had been comforted.

“If it hurts, please tell me. If you don’t want to speak, push me away. I’ll stop immediately.”

Sagyeol’s touch was gentle, and every word was tender. Yeowon could feel his entire focus centered on him. In that moment, he was the axis of Sagyeol’s world. His throat felt constricted, as if a heated stone had settled there, and his body burned with a feverish warmth.

Far from pushing away the man who charged like a bull, Yeowon embraced him. He realized then that perhaps he had been terribly lonely all this time.

“…Ugh.”

Beneath his cool skin, a pulse throbbed wildly. He could almost hear his own heart beating in his ears. The excited gasps, spurred by him, were intoxicating. All of it felt wondrous and welcome.

Somehow, he knew. In this moment, whatever he said, Sagyeol would listen. It felt like holding something beyond the power of life and death in his hands.

Throughout their entire encounter, Sagyeol had been utterly subservient. He behaved as if a single accidental push from Yeowon would kill him instantly. Eventually, his words and actions diverged.

He poured all sorts of sweet words into Yeowon’s ear, yet his movements became increasingly impatient and uncontrolled.

“Yeowon. Look at me. Please, look here.”

Pressed beneath that massive, pleading body, Yeowon met Sagyeol’s yearning gaze. In it, he glimpsed the man’s entire world.

Hair like a curtain swept back, revealing his forehead and eyes. The impassive expression he couldn’t quite maintain faltered slightly. His firm muscles twitched with tension. His normally pale skin was flushed red. His stubborn lips let out a moan.

It was him.

Sagyeol’s world, in that moment, truly took on Yeowon’s form.

“Ha…”

Stopping mid-dress, Yeowon opened his mouth. He shivered lightly, a small smile playing on his lips. That smile gradually distorted, eventually becoming a fully furrowed brow.

“Why,”

He looked back at Sagyeol, who was sleeping soundly, oblivious to the world.

“Why must it be you, of all people?”

The hollow words did not reach Sagyeol’s dreams. Yeowon’s hand, resting on his thigh, lifted. It reached across the beautiful, empty sky—now pink and indigo with only the traces of the sun—and touched Sagyeol’s disheveled hair.

He showed no reaction to the touch. This man, capable of effortlessly destroying a city if he so wished, was lost in a slumber so deep it bordered on unconsciousness. What did that signify? Yeowon deliberately cut off his burgeoning thoughts.

Instead, he thought: A son bears no responsibility for his father’s sins.

But if a son were to exploit his father’s sins to claim the victim, could that son truly be considered innocent?

He climbed onto the bed. Carefully, so as not to put his full weight down, he positioned himself above Sagyeol. His strong, calloused fingers encircled Sagyeol’s neck. And then, slowly, he began to tighten his grip.

Once the intention was set, his body moved fluidly, on its own. He merely had to surrender to it. If asked whether he truly intended to kill, he would say, “Perhaps.” But he couldn’t endure it without at least making it seem so.

The lost hatred still churned beneath his ribs.

“Kh… Huk?”

Under the pressure, Sagyeol’s eyes snapped open. Meeting those painfully distorted eyes, Yeowon found himself unable to exert more force. Yet, he couldn’t release his grip either, freezing in an awkward deadlock.

Sagyeol didn’t immediately grasp what was happening. The events just before he fell asleep flashed through his mind like an old film reel.

Sagyeol opened his mouth, but no sound emerged. Behind the sensation of agony, Yeowon’s face finally came into view.

With his usual impassive expression, Yeowon was choking him. Sagyeol gripped his wrist, an instinctive reaction. Beyond Yeowon, the window showed only darkness. Apart from the intermittent lights from the airship, there was only moonlight and starlight.

Finally, Sagyeol shifted his gaze back to Yeowon and slowly closed his eyes. He desperately suppressed the instinct to struggle for his life. If he wanted to, reversing this situation would be no challenge. Just freezing and shattering Yeowon’s arm would turn the tables instantly.

Even without that, he had many other methods. But Sagyeol did nothing, simply closing his eyes. Seeing this, the strength drained from Yeowon’s hand. As the liberated Sagyeol coughed, a loud sound erupted.

Bang!

The door burst open as if it had been kicked in.

Men rushed in, tearing Yeowon away from Sagyeol and restraining him. There was no resistance. Sagyeol croaked a command for them to stop. No, he *thought* he had shouted, but only gasping sounds escaped his throat.

‘Damn it. Did I damage my vocal cords?’

Shaking off the crew members who asked if he was alright, Sagyeol stepped onto the floor barefoot. He pursued Yeowon, who was being dragged away, but stumbled after a few steps and collapsed to his knees. His oxygen-deprived head spun with dizziness.

“Guild Master. Please compose yourself.”

A crew member helped Sagyeol up. Although he was part of the airship’s crew, he was also a hunter and a combatant. Sagyeol grabbed him by the collar, his voice harsh.

“Where did they take him?!”

Though terribly cracked, a proper voice finally emerged this time. The answer came from elsewhere.

“The cargo hold. It’s the only place with equipment to restrain a hunter.”

Lee Hyun-su walked over calmly and supported Sagyeol’s other arm. Sagyeol glared at him.

“It’s a place with pressure and temperature control. It won’t be as comfortable as a cabin, but as a hunter, he won’t die. For now, please get dressed.”

“Lee Hyun-su!”

Sagyeol shook off the support and grabbed Lee Hyun-su’s shoulder instead.

“Calm your head. Do you even realize you almost died just now?”

Lee Hyun-su was stern. Yet, his anger was as fierce and intense as Sagyeol’s.

“I hope you understand that not killing him on the spot was already an uncharacteristic order for me. If the same situation occurs again, I cannot guarantee the outcome.”

“Are you insane?!”

“I am perfectly sane. Are *you* insane? Your neck was being choked, why did you just sit there, so unlike yourself?”

“……”

“Quickly regain your composure. The fact that you’ve made me say such things already indicates that this isn’t normal.”

Only then did Sagyeol objectively examine himself. He was certainly not his usual self.

If anyone else had choked him, his first thought would have been to freeze and shatter their arm. But he hadn’t been able to. Because it was Yeowon. The moment he met that face, looking down at him, concealing its turmoil beneath an impassive mask, his mind became utterly consumed by him.

“You’re right. You’re absolutely right.”

Lee Hyun-su’s words contained no falsehood. No matter how precious a Returnee might be, they were not more precious than one’s own life.

‘I really tried to die.’

Sagyeol felt a belated chill. Half of it was for the recent situation, the other half for the unfamiliar emotions he was experiencing now. Sagyeol staggered to his feet. Lee Hyun-su supported him. This time, he didn’t push him away.

“That’s enough. I’ll escort the Guild Master, so everyone else, please return to your posts.”

“Ah, understood.”

From the crew’s perspective, these were two incredibly high-ranking individuals. The hunter, caught like a shrimp in between their intense atmosphere, brightened with relief and hurried away.

Sagyeol returned to his room and put on his clothes. Once presentable, he emerged, tenderly touching his neck, which was clearly bruised.

“I feel like a cactus.”

More precisely, he felt like a shriveling, dying cactus. Unlike other plants, he had never craved or lacked water in his entire life, yet now his very survival seemed to hang on a single drop. The biggest problem was that the only person holding that water had tried to kill him, failed, and was now dragged off to the cargo hold.

“…Don’t lose your mind.”

Lee Hyun-su’s concern was, for once, genuinely heartfelt. Sagyeol merely snickered repeatedly.

“I just told you to pull yourself together. What if you completely lose your wits?”

“I’m perfectly calm right now, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Right, as if you are.”

This man has finally lost his mind. Lee Hyun-su thought, a mix of lament and certainty. Indeed, if he were sane, he wouldn’t have let the person who choked him go, Returnee or not.

Meanwhile, their steps had already brought them to their destination: the security room. Sagyeol, released from Lee Hyun-su’s support, practically ran inside. His eyes immediately found the cargo hold’s screen among the myriad monitors.

Yeowon was bound to a steel wall like an animal, wearing handcuffs designed to restrain hunters.

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