* * *
‘Convenient. Too bad they never used these when they were torturing me underground.’
“Quit lazing around. Get up.”
I feigned weakness, collapsing again the moment I tried.
With an irritated grunt, he yanked me upright.
Han Jihyuk clicked his tongue quietly as he watched me, still dazed and disoriented.
He knew that if Park Jaerim and Seok Kiwoo hadn’t approached, I would have softened subtly toward him, just as I had in the mansion’s basement.
With his own hands, Han Jihyuk straightened my disheveled clothes.
When he reached to fix my tousled hair, he paused, frowned, and pulled back.
“Let me say it again—you’d better not do anything unnecessary,” he whispered threateningly.
“Unless you want to end up disabled.”
Without waiting for a response, he lifted me up under his sharp gaze and, in an instant, transported us back near the campsite, just as he had when we first arrived.
After setting me down among the dense trees, Seok Kiwoo’s eyes swept over me briefly before he returned to his spot.
I silently watched him before slumping down, exhausted.
Leaning against a tree, I exhaled heavily.
Though I’d used a purification potion, my crumpled clothes remained untouched.
Anyone who looked closely would realize I’d been rolling around with an esper.
About ten minutes passed before I sensed movement nearby.
Slowly, I opened my eyes—only to find Seok Kiwoo staring down at me with an unreadable expression.
He leaned in close, his voice low.
“You smell like cock.”
“…Fuck off.”
“Is it because you’re a rabbit in heat…?”
Seok Kiwoo brushed his thumb along his jaw before murmuring suggestively,
“If you’re in heat, why not play with me? Hm?”
His hand slid up to my neck, tracing the marks left behind—ones Han Jihyuk hadn’t bothered to heal with anything but a basic purification potion.
His fingers dragged slowly over the bruises.
“I wouldn’t be as rough as him. Handprints don’t suit skin this pale. Instead…”
He paused, lifting my wrist to his lips.
A sharp sting made me flinch. When he pulled away, a fresh hickey marked my skin.
“Now this kind of mark? Much better.”
Seok Kiwoo smirked, his eyes curling with mischief.
Seok Kiwoo found the guide in front of him endlessly fascinating.
His initial interest had been trivial—just a vague curiosity that led him closer.
He hadn’t expected to take a liking to him.
Even after entering the gate, he kept catching himself staring at the guide without realizing it.
Park Jaerim was the same.
Having worked together for so long, their tastes had aligned.
Whoever Seok Kiwoo liked, Park Jaerim usually did too—and vice versa.
Even when they were supposed to be scouting, they deliberately turned away other guides.
Why bother when one had already caught their eye?
Now, Seok Kiwoo studied the exhausted guide looking up at him.
It was obvious he’d just been with another esper—his hair damp and tangled, his whole body radiating a strange allure.
During their earlier scouting, he’d only thought of him as having an odd face.
Objectively, the guide wasn’t his usual type.
His assigned pair, Koo Seojin, had a terrible personality but was undeniably pretty.
In comparison, this guide was plain.
But there was something about his untamed, rabbit-like demeanor and his smooth, pale skin that Seok Kiwoo found appealing.
Yet now, looking at him like this—loose-limbed and flushed—he realized the guide had a surprisingly lewd face.
His slender frame and milky skin only made it worse.
Seok Kiwoo smirked.
“Park Jaerim. Right?”
As if summoned, Park Jaerim appeared beside him.
“You little shit, you could’ve told me you were leaving.”
“You knew anyway. Why bother?”
Seok Kiwoo tilted his head, genuinely not seeing the point.
Park Jaerim gave him an exasperated look before turning his attention to the guide.
Even now, leaning against the tree, the guide gave off an indecent aura.
He looked even more disheveled than before—like he’d been thoroughly wrecked.
His usual sickly aura had deepened, making him pitiable.
In other words—tempting.
This is dangerous.
The guide they’d already been interested in was now stirring something far more carnal.
Park Jaerim glanced at Seok Kiwoo and saw the same hunger reflected in his eyes.
“…Ugh. Both of you, piss off. You’re annoying me.”
The guide glared at them before closing his eyes again, long lashes casting shadows under his lids.
Up close, Park Jaerim noticed details he’d missed before—subtle, pretty features.
His scent was sweet too, though currently tainted with the musk of sex.
Kneeling, Park Jaerim pressed a hand to the guide’s forehead. His skin burned.
“You’re really sick, squirrel. You’ve got a fever.”
The guide didn’t respond.
During their scouting, he’d been sharp-tongued and energetic—now he was quiet.
Or maybe he’d decided ignoring them was better.
“Hey, Seok Kiwoo. Got any healing potions?”
“Only esper-specific ones.”
“Tch. Then that’s no use.”
Park Jaerim vanished, promising to be back soon.
Left alone, Seok Kiwoo plopped down beside the guide and stared—hard enough to bore holes into him.
Sure enough, the guide’s brows twitched before he finally opened his eyes, glaring.
“I told you to leave. Why are you still here, being a nuisance?”
“Can’t stand seeing a wild rabbit in pain.”
“How many times do I have to say I don’t give a damn about your rabbit bullshit?”
“Yeah. Got it.”
“Got what—?!”
The guide cut himself off, realizing he’d been dragged into another pointless exchange.
He turned his head away sharply, body tense.
To Seok Kiwoo, he looked like nothing more than an angry, puffed-up rabbit.
Kinda cute.
Smirking, Seok Kiwoo poked his stiff back.
Once. Twice.
“You goddamn psycho—!”
The guide couldn’t hold back any longer and turned his head to glare at Seok Kiwoo.
Kiwoo, eyes sharp and unflinching, wasn’t the least bit intimidated.
To him, the guide still looked like nothing more than a herbivore.
The image of a horned rabbit angrily thumping its hind legs overlapped with the guide’s face.
Just as he was blankly staring at the rabbit-like guide—
Thud!
The guide suddenly shot up from his seat, as if he’d had enough.
Clearly, he’d decided that leaving was better than wasting his breath arguing.
“Ah…!”
But he barely took a few steps before his legs gave out, and he slumped back down.
Dizzy, he clutched his forehead with a groan.
Seok Kiwoo effortlessly scooped him up.
“Let go! Put me down, damn it!”
Still disoriented, the guide thrashed violently in Kiwoo’s arms, demanding to be released.
But Kiwoo only found him even more endearing—this little creature, who had just collapsed from dizziness, was now putting up a fuss with all his might.
“I’ll put you down when Park Jaerim gets here.”
“Let. Me. Go, you bastard!”
“Then tell me your name. If you do, I’ll let you down.”
The guide started clawing at him, but Kiwoo remained unfazed.
It didn’t even hurt—just tickled faintly.
At one point, the guide even bit his shoulder, but when Kiwoo didn’t react, he finally went limp, exhausted.
He must’ve realized there was no escaping those arms.
“…Fine.”
A faint murmur came from below.
Kiwoo tilted his head.
“Hm?”
“Yoo Eunsung, you fucking—!”
A curse slipped out with the name, and Kiwoo’s lips curled into a silent smirk.
What an expensive name.
And it had taken this long to hear it.
“I’ll let you down when Park Jaerim comes, just like I promised.”
“What?! You goddamn—!”
Just as Yoo Eunsung—no, Go Yeonwoo, who had lied about his name—was about to explode in anger—
“What’s this? Playing without me? How hurtful.”
Park Jaerim had reappeared without a sound, dangling Kim Sungchan by the scruff like a ragdoll.
Sungchan’s face was pale, his lips trembling.
* * *
