Chapter 9

　　“…That’s all. Don’t you feel it, too?” Yeonsu asked, panting.

　　It couldn’t be a sensation only she was feeling. There was no way he couldn’t feel the formless energy passing between their touching skin.

　　“Nonsense. I am not a Guide. Get your hands off me.”

　　Seunghyun flatly denied her claim. People who neutralized an ability user’s backlash—those called Guides—certainly existed. But in his twenty-seven years, he had lived as a normal person, neither an ability user nor a Guide. He had never shown any signs of manifestation. Her words, therefore, were not worth considering.

　　“Whether you’re a Guide or not, I don’t know,” Yeonsu said, pulling his hands from her shoulders. The spots where his large hands had gripped her throbbed. “When I touch you, something flows into me. Don’t you feel it, too?”

　　Her hands slid from his wrists to cover the back of his. As she exhaled, she closed her eyes with a shudder, as if savoring something. The energy flowing from him was inconsistent and sometimes overwhelming, but it was undeniably erasing the pain of her backlash.

　　“When it comes from you, my backlash disappears… But right now… ahngh… that energy is too strong. Can’t you control it?”

　　He didn’t even know how they were exchanging energy, let alone how to control it. Seunghyun clenched his jaw at her slow, hot touch. Looking only at what was happening, her words seemed correct. An unknown energy was certainly flowing between them. He couldn’t deny the feeling of her heat seeping into him whenever her body touched his. That heat was transforming into something else, slowly burning away his reason. Still, he couldn’t be sure if it originated from him or from her. There were too many holes in her story. For one, he was not a Guide.

　　“That’s your opinion and your problem. There’s no reason for me to accommodate you,” Seunghyun spat, trying to pull his hand from hers.

　　She gripped it again. His eyebrow twitched. Unfazed, Yeonsu’s eyes held a madness that went beyond desperation.

　　“Let go. If it’s the backlash, there’s a Guide at the main office. I’ll connect you right away, so just endure it a little longer.”

　　Seunghyun was about to take out his phone to call the office when Yeonsu yanked his hand toward her. Losing his balance, Seunghyun dropped his phone.

　　“What are you doing?!”

　　As he tried to push her away, Yeonsu wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

　　“…I need you. Right now.”

　　She buried her nose in the crook of his neck and let out a sigh of relief. As her hot breath touched his skin, Seunghyun gritted his teeth.

　　“Get off me. I don’t want to use force,” he murmured, his voice low with warning.

　　But Yeonsu didn’t hear him. The fragments of backlash he had stirred up, along with her uncontrolled ability, were running rampant through her body. Her golden eyes churned, devoid of reason.

　　“Jang… Iseok.”

　　As their contact lengthened, Seunghyun’s memories began to faintly flow into her, read at will by her. Yeonsu plucked a name from a corner of those memories and whispered it into his ear.

　　“…What?”

　　“Your partner. Did he die?”

　　Burned. Melted away. Jang Iseok. When his partner’s name and cause of death came from her lips, Seunghyun’s expression hardened. He grabbed her face with both hands, pulling her away from him, and growled, his voice thick with fury.

　　“How do you know that name?”

　　“Are you curious?”

　　Yeonsu leaned her cheek against the hand holding her face. She smiled faintly at the energy flowing from him. That smile was the final straw.

　　“Jang Iseok! Explain how you know that name!”

　　“If I explain, what will you do for me?”

　　“Hah, what the hell are you trying to pull? Just answer the question! How did Jang Iseok die, and how did you know about it?”

　　“I told you. I need you. If you want to know, then give yourself to me. Guiding or whatever, I don’t care. Just give me your… energy.”

　　Finished, Yeonsu stared at him, her eyes shining with a bewitching light. He couldn’t hold back any longer. It felt as if she were toying with him. Anger and lust muddled together until his vision turned red.

　　“…Fine. I’ll do as you wish. It’s better to have more direct contact, isn’t it?”

　　Seunghyun’s hand moved from her cheek to the back of her neck.

　　“However.”

　　He yanked her toward him. With a sharp intake of breath, their noses touched. As her scent and heat enveloped him, the last shred of his reason evaporated.

　　“This doesn’t end when you want it to.”

　　At a distance where their lips almost touched, Seunghyun hissed ominously.

　　“It ends when I say it does.”

* * *

　　Seunghyun told her, “Open wider.”

　　“Ah, hngh…”

　　The room was filled with the wet sounds of their mouths. Yeonsu’s eyes fluttered open. Her vision was dark, as if blocked. She blinked again, her focus returning, and met his gaze. The man was looking down at her.

　　“You said you get better when I touch you.”

　　His eyes, clouded with a mixture of anger and desire, held clear disgust, but Yeonsu didn’t care. All she desperately needed was the energy he was giving her. Right. Yes, that’s right. With a dazed look, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

　　“Nnngh…”

　　A whimpering moan escaped her lips, as if asking for more.

　　“Fuck.”

　　Seunghyun’s gaze sharpened as he parted her lips and entangled his tongue with hers. A trail of saliva, impossible to tell whose was whose, trickled from between them. Running out of breath, Yeonsu reflexively beat against his shoulder.

　　“Hngh, mmph…”

　　Seunghyun released her lips, which he had been devouring, and sat up. His eyes, hazy with lust, gazed down at the disheveled woman beneath him. He remembered something he’d once heard about Guides: that the most efficient guiding occurred through contact between mucous membranes. The deeper the contact, the faster the ability user recovered. It was unclear if he was a Guide, but it was worth a try.

　　No, that’s all bullshit. Recalling information about Guides was nothing more than a rationalization to bed this woman. Her long hair was splayed across the white sheets, her small face flushed and panting. The raw greed on her youthful face was directed at him. Seeing it, Seunghyun wanted her so badly his whole body tingled.

　　“Haa…”

　　He took off his jacket, unbuckled the holster at his waist, and slid it under the bed. The heavy contents made a dull thud as they fell. Then, he pulled his shirt off over his head. His tanned torso was revealed, covered in small, scattered scars and packed with tight, lean muscle.

　　“More… hurry,” she murmured, her small lips moving, calling for him the moment he pulled away.

　　“I’ll give you everything you ask for. Let’s see if you can take it all.”

　　He had never experienced sexual arousal so intense it made his head spin, nor such uncontrollable emotions. Along with it, Seunghyun felt sadistic urges he never knew he had boiling inside him.

　　“Haah. Nnngh.”

　　After capturing her lips and exploring her mouth for a long while, his mouth traveled down her neck. His hand, which had been stroking her waist, pulled her top up and roughly tore it off. Her full breasts, large for her small frame, rose and fell rapidly. He flicked up the plain sports bra, and the breasts trapped within spilled out. Without hesitation, Seunghyun took her soft nipple into his mouth as his other hand cupped her breast.

　　“Ah… Ahh…”

　　Yeonsu shuddered at the unfamiliar pleasure blooming from a place that had never been touched. Seunghyun licked the nipple as it hardened in his mouth, then bit it gently, repeating the motion. As their contact deepened, Yeonsu was overwhelmed by the fierce torrent of energy pouring into her body and the exhilarating new sensations.

　　The remnants of backlash that had accumulated inside her, never fully resolved since her manifestation, were stirred up by Seunghyun, only to disappear, over and over. The process was painful yet intensely pleasurable. It felt like being born again. Seunghyun’s hand, which had been roughly kneading her breast, moved downward. He unbuckled her pants, pulling them down along with her underwear with one hand.

　　“Ah…!”

　　Sensing an instinctive danger, Yeonsu’s eyes widened, and her body went rigid. After pulling her pants off completely, Seunghyun parted her thighs. She grabbed his hand, stopping it as it headed for her entrance.

　　“N-no… not there.”

　　“Not yet,” he said, meeting her gaze.

　　Her eyes had returned to nearly half their original color, and within them was a fear of the unknown. The question of whether this was her first time briefly crossed his mind, but he quickly erased it. Still feeling the heat radiating from her body, he smirked.

　　“Your body is saying it’s not enough. We can’t stop here. Besides.”

　　His hand, with hers still attached, deliberately caressed the entrance to her vagina. As his finger gently stimulated the opening, a slick fluid flowed from the once-dry place, wetting his finger.

　　“I told you when we started.”

　　At the unfamiliar sensation, Yeonsu dug her nails into his wrist. To Seunghyun, even that was arousing.

　　“Hngh, ah, ahh…”

　　“This ends when I want it to.”