Chapter 182:
Seo Jae-yi and Baek Joo-won gently placed the sleeping Airok in their cave and then returned to Elizer, who was waiting for them.
“Did everything go smoothly?” he asked.
“Yep. I locked him up where he can’t escape. Let’s go back now.”
Elizer didn’t ask any more questions and headed towards the gate with them.
“You’re back?”
Grayson, who had been resting in the tent, waved at them.
“What about the clean-up?” Seo Jae-yi asked.
“It’ll take a while. If you want to go back to the hotel, you can go ahead and rest. The Association Head said he’ll visit you tomorrow afternoon.”
Seo Jae-yi gratefully accepted his offer.
She had a lot to discuss with Baek Joo-won.
“Eli, you can tell Maggie what happened.”
Elizer, slightly surprised by her request, nodded. It was probably best for Grayson to know.
“Then we’ll be going.”
They said goodbye, and Seo Jae-yi and Baek Joo-won got into the waiting car and headed back to the hotel. They leaned against each other, exhausted, holding hands, but they didn’t speak until they reached their room.
“Want to shower together?”
Baek Joo-won asked, gently embracing her from behind as soon as they entered the hotel suite. He began removing her equipment, piece by piece.
“You’re tired. I’ll wash you.”
The harness she had been wearing fell to the floor with a thud.
He knelt and removed her boots, then carefully unbuttoned and peeled off her blood- and dust-stained combat uniform, the fabric torn and scorched in several places.
But her skin beneath was unblemished, smooth and soft.
Baek Joo-won’s regenerative abilities, now a part of her, had healed all her wounds.
He was… pleased.
“I am tired.”
Seo Jae-yi sighed, leaning into his touch, accepting his ministrations as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Baek Joo-won, as if waiting for those words, stood up, quickly shed his own clothes, and led her to the bathroom.
He carefully washed her, his touch gentle and thorough, despite knowing she had no wounds, lathering her skin with a soft sponge.
Seo Jae-yi, her body scrubbed clean from head to toe, finally emerged from the bathroom, feeling refreshed.
“You can dry my hair.”
Baek Joo-won, also freshly showered, wrapped a towel around his waist and leaned against her.
His wet hair, brushing against her cheek, was cold.
“What? Shouldn’t you dry your own hair?”
Seo Jae-yi chuckled, running her fingers through his damp hair.
“You promised you would dry my hair.”
She still remembered that promise, from so long ago.
Seo Jae-yi, indulging her lover’s childish request, conjured a warm breeze, drying their hair quickly.
“Are you hungry? Should we order room service?”
“No, I’m not hungry.”
Baek Joo-won, who had been listing menu items, expecting her to be hungry, was startled by her answer.
Seo Jae-yi, who loved food, wasn’t hungry? He hadn’t known her for long, but it was the first time he had seen her refuse a meal.
“You’re not hungry? Are you feeling unwell? That’s strange. You have no wounds… and your condition is good.”
Her receiver still displayed an overload level of 0%.
Then why wasn’t she hungry? Baek Joo-won’s brow furrowed in concern.
“How can I be hungry when… this is still here?”
Seo Jae-yi, facing him, reached out. Her fingertips, cold despite the hot shower, traced the faint red line on his neck.
The wound, though hours old, was still visible.
Seo Jae-yi’s eyes, usually so bright, were clouded with a rare sadness.
“…I can still feel it… the sensation of cutting your neck…”
Baek Joo-won blinked, his eyes widening slightly.
Her fingertips, he noticed, were trembling. He hadn’t realized it before.
“The scar remains, but I’m alive. Even if you cut my neck again, I won’t die.”
He took her hand and kissed her cold fingertips.
But the coldness, like frostbite, didn’t fade. He felt a pang of sympathy, and at the same time, a thrill of… something darker, something possessive.
An S-rank Esper, capable of tearing dragons apart, losing her composure over a single scar on his neck…
A perverse sense of satisfaction, a distinctly monstrous pleasure, spread through him.
“So, Seo Jae-yi, I would gladly offer you my neck again, even if it meant reliving that moment.”
He took her cold hand and pressed it against his cheek.
A happy, almost beatific smile spread across his face.
“The more scars you leave, the more tightly you’ll be bound to me. Guilt, pity, remorse… I don’t care. I want to possess all your emotions, not just your love and affection.”
Seo Jae-yi’s eyes widened at his intense words, at the raw honesty of his confession.
His eyes, now a vibrant green, gleamed with a strange light. His pupils, elongated into slits, made him look like a predator.
A predator guarding its prize, unwilling to share it with anyone.
“So cut my neck whenever you need to. If this scar binds you, I’ll gladly bear a thousand more.”
He guided her hand back to his neck, her cold fingers tracing the faint red line.
Her hand trembled again, but she didn’t pull away.
His words, that he would gladly accept even her guilt, eased her pain.
Seo Jae-yi chuckled, a dry, humorless sound.
“…I’ll never win against you.”
Who else would willingly bear such scars, knowing they would bind their lover to them?
It was the most reassuring thing an Esper, capable of destroying everything, could hear.
“I’ve always been the one being manipulated, and now you’re the same. It’s… strangely gratifying.”
Baek Joo-won smiled, and Seo Jae-yi kissed him, her lips soft against his.
“But I don’t want to hurt you. Because I love you.”
Her lips trailed down his neck, stopping at the faint scar. He could feel the myriad of emotions pouring from her as she kissed the sensitive skin, her eyes closed.
“I don’t care if you’re scarred; it’s a mark of our love. Because I love you too.”
Baek Joo-won smiled, a soft, genuine smile, as her lips brushed against the sensitive skin.
He couldn’t contain himself any longer. He pulled her close and kissed her, his arms wrapping around her, lifting her off the ground, carrying her towards the bedroom.
“So we both love each other so much that we can’t stand it, right? Then let’s stop talking and… savor each other.”
Seo Jae-yi, lying on the bed, looked up at the man looming over her. His body began to shift and change, unable to contain his desire for her, his love so overwhelming.
Antlers sprouted from his head, iridescent scales shimmered on his skin, his hair lengthened, his fangs grew sharper, and his eyes, fixed on her, glowed with a deep, emerald green light.
Seo Jae-yi gulped, seeing his half-human, half-beast form, a form she had only seen once before.
She remembered that night, their first night of intimacy, and her mouth watered.
“Are you that excited?”
Baek Joo-won smiled, pleased by the anticipation in her eyes.
“Where did the woman who said she couldn’t handle it go?”
“I wouldn’t be like this if your technique wasn’t so good. And you were right; my body is… surprisingly resilient.”
“That’s why I love you. I love that you’re stronger than me.”
Baek Joo-won untied his robe. Seo Jae-yi licked her lips unconsciously.
She had been shocked, stunned, the first time she saw him like this, but now, like a creature of habit, she was only filled with anticipation.
“Ah, Jae-yi…”
Baek Joo-won, his eyes dark with desire, groaned and collapsed on top of her.
He kissed her shoulders, his lips trailing across her skin, and then gripped her toned thighs.
A shared sigh of pleasure escaped their lips as their bodies pressed closer together.
The feel of his long, soft hair brushing against her shoulders, chest, ribs, and stomach was intensely stimulating.
Seo Jae-yi’s breath hitched as she twirled a strand of his hair around her finger.
Her fingertips, which had been cold, were now warm, almost burning with his heat.
Baek Joo-won, sensing her rising temperature, smiled and opened his mouth, a silent invitation.
After their passionate encounter.
Seo Jae-yi and Baek Joo-won lay entangled in each other’s arms, their bodies damp with sweat, catching their breath.
They rarely felt winded, even after strenuous battles, and yet, they were panting, after just a few hours. It was almost comical.
“So, Hae-wi, what exactly happened to my body?”
Seo Jae-yi, lying on his chest, finally asked the question she hadn’t been able to ask during their passionate embrace.
“Why doesn’t my overload level increase anymore? Why can’t I kill you with my power? Explain.”
Baek Joo-won hesitated, considering whether to tell her everything or give her a half-truth.
But seeing the unwavering determination in her eyes, he decided to tell her everything.
That he had given her his Yeouiju, that the vessel containing his power had shattered during her overload in Gapyeong, its energy dispersing and integrating into her being, that she, in essence, had become the Yeouiju. Everything.
Seo Jae-yi listened quietly, her expression unreadable, as he explained the potentially shocking truth.
“My Yeouiju, possessing the power of regeneration, is also healing your overload instantly, which is why your level doesn’t increase anymore. And it probably never will.”
He finished his explanation.
Baek Joo-won looked up at her, searching her face, trying to decipher her thoughts.
“…Are you… disappointed? Or… disgusted?”