Chapter 137:
It was true. Her body felt surprisingly light, considering she had overloaded, but she wasn’t fully recovered. The scorching heat within her was still lurking, waiting for an opportunity to consume her.
Seo Jae-yi was puzzled.
“You said you Guided me. Then why am I still like this?”
He had said he had Guided her, infused her with his energy, so she had assumed he had given her the deepest, most intimate Guiding.
But there was still so much heat left within her. Something was strange.
“Because I didn’t finish. I kissed you here and there to calm you down, but I didn’t go any further.”
Ah. Seo Jae-yi finally noticed the marks covering her neck, arms, and… other places.
“Why…?”
Why hadn’t he finished, even after going this far?
“This much was enough to bring you back. I was waiting for your permission to continue.”
Baek Joo-won’s fingers caressed her eyelids.
Seo Jae-yi wouldn’t know, but Baek Joo-won had been relieved the moment her eyes regained focus.
Because he saw the light he had longed for in her eyes, a light filled with affection for him.
He wanted to make love to her properly, cherishing this affection.
“I didn’t want to do it because I needed to, but because you wanted it.”
Taking her would be easy.
But what Baek Joo-won truly desired was to be with her.
That was why he had held back, even as he desperately tried to soothe her body.
The wait wasn’t painful. The reward would be far sweeter.
“So, Seo Jae-yi, give me your permission.”
Baek Joo-won leaned closer, his long hair tickling her cheeks and shoulders. His breath, warm against her skin, was hot.
Seo Jae-yi finally realized how aroused he was.
He had endured it for hours, perhaps even longer.
“Want me.”
His green eyes, filled with a clear, burning desire, pleaded with her. It was a desperate plea, but he would pull away, albeit with a hint of annoyance, if she refused.
Seo Jae-yi knew that.
“Please.”
So instead of refusing, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her touch gentle against his skin.
And she saw it. The desire in his eyes, replaced by joy and elation.
“Jae-yi, you like me, don’t you?”
So when Baek Joo-won asked, Seo Jae-yi answered honestly.
“Yes, I like you.”
She liked him. Truly. Not because he was her Guide, not because he was her savior.
She liked Hae-wi, just as he was.
“I love you, unbearably.”
“Hah…”
“So just as I’m yours, you’re mine too.”
And the moment she uttered the words he had longed to hear, Baek Joo-won couldn’t hold back any longer.
Their lips met, hot and urgent. It felt like sparks were flying.
It was a different kind of pleasure than simply touching each other.
Seo Jae-yi realized, for the first time, that the moment their emotions connected was the most exquisite pleasure.
“Hae-wi, Hae-wi…”
“Yes, Jae-yi.”
Their lips parted, and Baek Joo-won kissed her cheek as she whispered his name.
The heat that had been consuming him since she collapsed filled his body. Now, his heat was transferring to Seo Jae-yi.
He was so hot that his every touch felt more intense than ever. Seo Jae-yi wrapped her legs around him, a shiver running through her as pleasure spread through her body.
“I can’t do anything if you keep squeezing me like that.”
Seo Jae-yi’s shoulders twitched at his words, whispered with a chuckle.
Her senses, heightened beyond what she was used to, reacted to every little sound he made, every breath. Every point of contact felt like it was burning.
“Jae-yi, Seo Jae-yi.”
She felt like she was going crazy every time his voice, laced with longing, reached her ears. The pleasure and the Guiding mingled, making her even more dizzy.
But her clouded consciousness suddenly cleared, jolted awake by an intense sensation.
“Ah, ah…”
It felt like every cell in her body was tingling. It was far more intense than their first kiss.
There was no pain, perhaps thanks to the Guiding emanating from deep within her stomach.
No, wait. It felt painful because it was so intensely pleasurable. Ah, she couldn’t think straight.
“Sob…”
Tears welled up in Seo Jae-yi’s eyes as another wave of intense pleasure washed over her.
She was truly surprised.
When was the last time she had cried? She had pretended to cry many times, but she rarely shed real tears.
She hadn’t cried when she was dying after her overload, when she was burning with fever, when she was subjected to horrific experiments, not even when her father died.
But now, tears streamed down her face, unable to be contained, in this moment of intimacy with her beloved.
“Jae-yi, are you crying because you like it that much?”
She was momentarily flustered by the tears, which she hadn’t shed in years.
But then she burst out laughing at Baek Joo-won’s shameless question.
“Aren’t you being a bit too confident?”
“Of course. I’m always good.”
She laughed, dumbfounded, but the tears didn’t stop.
They just kept flowing. Perhaps, as Baek Joo-won had said, she was crying because she was so happy.
“Yes, I like you, Hae-wi.”
Seo Jae-yi wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled his face. His skin, against her tear-stained cheek, was incredibly soft, his body warm with his own heat.
“I really, really like you.”
Baek Joo-won’s shoulders stiffened. He caught his breath and turned his head, kissing her tear-stained cheek.
Seo Jae-yi smiled happily at his affectionate gesture, and then…
“…But Hae-wi,”
“Yes?”
“This is already overwhelming, but why, why won’t it… stop…?”
Baek Joo-won, instead of answering Seo Jae-yi’s bewildered question, smiled brightly. It was a pure, happy smile that seemed out of place in this situation.
“…Hae-wi?”
“I didn’t like you at first because you were a stronger S-rank than me. But now I’m so glad. Because you’ll be able to endure me, a monster.”
Her tears stopped abruptly at his ominous words.
A chill ran down her spine, a premonition of something terrible piercing her heart like a dagger.
“Hae-wi, Hae-wi!”
Seo Jae-yi cried out, her face pale, a wave of unease washing over her.
But it was short-lived.
She couldn’t even curse, her words swallowed by Baek Joo-won’s kiss, his face radiant with pleasure and satisfaction.
It should have been painful, but she felt no pain, perhaps because of the overwhelming Guiding he was pouring into her.
Seo Jae-yi was lost in a wave of intense pleasure, her mind reeling.
“Damn it, damn it! Damn it all!”
Taesan Guild Headquarters.
Park Hyung-woo frantically packed his belongings, his face pale. He also made sure to destroy the computer he had been using.
The Rank 2 dungeon breakout in the small mountain village of Gapyeong.
The moment a boss monster too powerful for him to handle appeared, Park Hyung-woo, not wanting to die, had abandoned Seo Jae-yi and fled.
He felt no guilt. His Guild members had evacuated all the villagers, hadn’t they? Their actions were his actions, as their Guild Leader. He had done his duty.
And he had gone there to kill Seo Jae-yi in the first place.
He was disappointed that he couldn’t kill her himself, but it wouldn’t be so bad if she died along with that monster.
If Seo Jae-yi died, the fact that he had abandoned her would also be buried, so he prayed for her death.
‘That’s why I didn’t report our participation in the dungeon subjugation!’
But damn it, someone had revealed that there had been other Espers present besides Seo Jae-yi.
He was relieved that they didn’t know it was Taesan, but the problem was that Seo Jae-yi had survived.
He had cheered when he heard she had overloaded, but not only had she survived, but she was now receiving Guiding from Baek Joo-won in a safe, undisclosed location!
So he had to escape. Before Seo Jae-yi woke up and revealed everything!
“G-Guild Leader.”
His deputy guild leader entered his office, which was in chaos. He too looked unwell, having fled with Park Hyung-woo.
“Min Sung-jin is gone.”
Park Hyung-woo, who had been smashing his computer, froze.
“…What nonsense are you spouting? I specifically ordered no one to leave without my permission.”
“I don’t know where he went either. Or when he left…”
“You idiot!”
Crash!
Park Hyung-woo threw the computer case. The deputy guild leader’s face paled as the computer exploded against the wall.
“That useless bastard, annoying me to the very end. Forget it. We’re abandoning him. Leave him be.”
“B-but what about your Guiding…?”
“I’ll receive it from another Guide in the Guild for now. There’s one with a 50% Matching Rate, even though he’s a B-rank.”
He was a Guide with a paired Esper. But Park Hyung-woo didn’t care. He was only borrowing him temporarily, not stealing him permanently.
Weren’t Guides just chargers for Espers anyway?
“Is everything packed?”
“Yes. We’re ready to leave.”
“Tell them to wait in the parking lot.”
The deputy guild leader bowed and left.
Park Hyung-woo was planning to leave for Russia immediately.
The Russian government had contacted him secretly a while ago. They had offered him and his entire Guild citizenship if he moved to Russia.
The reason was simple: to restore the northern lands that had been frozen by an S-rank Cryokinetic Esper who had overloaded in the early days of the Cataclysm.
He had initially refused, as it would be difficult even for him, an Earth Manipulation Esper, to restore the terrain altered by an S-rank Esper’s overload.
But that didn’t matter anymore. He didn’t know what kind of retaliation he might face if he stayed here.
The Russian government would protect him if he restored their land, so he had to go.
‘And Seo Jae-yi killed that boss monster…?’
His face, which had been flushed with anger, turned pale again as he remembered the moment he faced the electricity-wielding boss monster.
Its aura had been overwhelming, its power far exceeding his. It had been so strong that even he, with his immense pride, had had to resort to fleeing.
And Seo Jae-yi had killed it. She had overloaded, but she had still managed to kill it, and that was what bothered him the most.
The power he had sensed from her during their first encounter hadn’t been an illusion.
Park Hyung-woo had awakened at twenty-four, so he had been able to avoid the Guiding Center’s secret experiments.
He had later colluded with the Center and solidified his position as the number one Guild Leader in Korea. He had met Seo Jae-yi around that time, when she had been confined to the Center.
‘An ugly old man. You’re the number one Guild Leader?’
Park Hyung-woo, who had gone to the lab to see the pathetic S-rank Esper locked up, had been utterly shocked.