The large hand pulled away from my upper body.
“I’m sorry.”
He lowered his head in a guilty posture.
Whoooosh—A strong sea wind sliced between the two of us.
My eyes, already dry from the winter air, began to burn with heat. I bit my lip and reached out, then cupped Shim Tae-seong’s face in my hands.
This incident was bound to leave a lasting trauma on him. The mindset of an Esper who had just lost his Guide right before his eyes… No one could truly understand it unless they experienced it themselves. And Tae-seong, being naturally responsible, was more than prone to becoming hypersensitive about my safety.
So his separation anxiety… it made sense.
I’d already seen how anxious he got even during brief outings, so honestly, this wasn’t all that surprising.
“Please don’t do that. There’s nothing for you to apologize for.”
“……”
At my touch, Shim Tae-seong slightly raised his head. Even so, his face remained lowered—but due to the height difference, we could still look into each other’s eyes.
He spoke with a pained expression.
“This is all my fault.”
“……!”
Shim Tae-seong flinched.
My eyes welled with tears.
“If it hadn’t been for me, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt back then. And you wouldn’t be this stressed now, either.”
“This is my job.”
His reply came sharply, as if the notion itself was absurd.
“Failing to protect you, Young Master, was purely my own mistake.”
“No.”
I shook my head. Tears spilled down naturally.
“……Young Master.”
Shim Tae-seong placed his hand over mine.
Withdrawing from that warm grip, I whispered in a voice that trembled faintly,
“I’m sorry. I’m going to head inside first.”
“……!”
Just as I turned away—seemingly too weighed down by guilt to even meet my eyes—
Shim Tae-seong suddenly pulled me back and pressed his lips to mine with a hint of desperation.
His tongue slid aggressively between our joined lips, invading deep inside without pause, like it was trying to devour me whole.
I gasped and widened my eyes in shock, then twisted my body in protest.
“Mmnh…!”
But the hands clamped tightly around my waist and the back of my head gave me no room to escape.
No matter how hard I tried to push him away, Shim Tae-seong’s broad shoulders didn’t budge an inch.
He had never forced himself on me like this when we weren’t in the middle of something.
…Of course, I knew—this wasn’t about trying to dominate me.
Shim Tae-seong was clinging to me right now.
Those eyes, burning with what might seem like fearsome intensity at a glance, were actually brimming with desperation. The hands that gripped me so tightly were silently pleading—Don’t push me away.
Don’t feel guilty. Don’t let that guilt become distance between us.
I’d been resisting on instinct, but then… that overwhelming desperation hit me. And just like that, I stopped struggling.
His lips, cold and exposed to the open air, regained warmth through that rough kiss.
At some point, I had closed my eyes, letting his thick tongue slip into my mouth like it belonged there. Shim Tae-seong kissed me like he wanted to consume my whole face, angling his head to deepen the kiss further. His arm around my waist pulled me in with such force that my entire body was crushed into his.
“……”
“……”
The kiss, which had shown no signs of ending, finally came to a halt.
I didn’t open my eyes right away. Instead, I exhaled softly through the parted seam of my damp lips. Shim Tae-seong pressed his lips to the corner of my mouth once more before pulling away.
Then, in a voice low and subdued, he called out to me.
“Young Master.”
“……”
“You saved me.”
I flinched. I lifted my eyelids and met his gaze. All traces of that usual stoic, powerful aura were gone. What remained was a raw, vulnerable man, confessing with a gaze that clung solely to me.
“You are the reason I live. The one I must protect, no matter what.”
He lowered his face and buried it in my shoulder. His voice rumbled through the closeness between us.
“If I can’t be with you, I have no reason to breathe.”
“…Tae-seong.”
“So please… let all the guilt fall on me alone.”
That complete and unconditional surrender—as if he were declaring himself beneath me in every way—left me momentarily stunned.
“Please don’t be sorry. No… for any reason, please don’t push me away.”
His arms wrapped around me like chains, gripping with a desperate strength that made it hard to breathe. My waist was nearly bending under the weight of his hold.
“……”
I hesitated. Then slowly raised one hand, and gently stroked the back of his head, like I was soothing a frightened child.
But that wasn’t enough. Shim Tae-seong lifted his head and stared at me, clearly waiting—longing—for a definitive answer.
I hesitated, the turmoil written plainly across my face. There was the guilt of having made him feel so insecure. The weight of being that important to someone. And the overwhelming shyness of hearing such a fierce confession straight from the person himself.
In the end, with my face flushed red, I gave a small nod.
“…Yeah.”
A barely audible reply.
But of course, the Esper who had all his senses focused solely on me heard it without a problem.
Shim Tae-seong let out a faint, shaky breath. The anguished look on his handsome face gradually melted into relief.
We stood close enough that our lips could meet again at any moment. So close that not even the wind could come between us—our mingled breaths clouded the narrow space between.
Maybe it was because I’d accepted the weight of his emotions, promised to carry them with him—but something in Shim Tae-seong’s gaze began to darken, sharpen, deepen.
Honestly, I was surprised he’d held back this long. His resonance level was just as unstable as the day we first met—maybe worse.
Seeing such a mentally disciplined Esper fall apart like this over me felt strangely satisfying. And besides, I’d already resolved to initiate Guiding myself—
“…Mm.”
As Shim Tae-seong leaned in for another slow, hungry kiss, I opened my arms willingly and welcomed him in.
***
After briefly stepping away from the island, Shim Tae-seong returned and immediately headed for Cha Eun-soo’s room. No matter how remote the location, there was no such thing as true safety. Who knew what could’ve happened during the short time he was gone?
So unlike the past few days—when he’d been rescuing Cha Eun-soo—the moment he stepped into the now-empty bedroom, his heart plummeted. His hands began to tremble, and he couldn’t think straight.
He tore through the house in a panic, searching like a madman, but Cha Eun-soo was nowhere to be found. Even the bathroom, still damp from recent use, gave him no reassurance. Nothing in his mind could produce a reasonable explanation.
Only after he ran out in desperation— and spotted the young man cloaked in darkness by the shore—did he finally breathe.
And then he snapped, daring to yell at him.
Even to himself, the outburst seemed pitiful. Pathetic.
And when Cha Eun-soo turned to him and, calmly, tried to say goodbye—his sanity nearly shattered. A flood of irrational thoughts surged through his mind.
But he forced them down. With everything he had, he reached out sincerely. Stripped away the aggression and showed only the raw, pleading man underneath.
And Cha Eun-soo, ever gentle, had taken him back.
It was a miracle. If he hadn’t retracted those words—if he’d let him go…
“Nh… Mm—ah…!”
Those hands now wrapped around his cock wouldn’t have been there. Wouldn’t have been free to touch him like this—Cha Eun-soo, face flushed red, accepting him deep inside.
“Haaah…”
Shim Tae-seong let out a searing breath and dragged his tongue along Eun-soo’s neck. The soft, supple skin curling against his tongue stoked not just his lust, but an almost animalistic hunger.
Even as he was pushed from the entrance upon entering the house, Cha Eun-soo welcomed him without any sign of displeasure. Even though he only took off his coat and left his pants down, inserting his cock without properly undressing, Cha Eun-soo accepted him.
It seemed as if he knew how urgent the need was, moaning in discomfort yet trying his best to relax and receive him, making it feel like he was being forced.
And it felt incredible.
Shim Tae-seong wondered if he had always possessed such a twisted nature, but the doubt lasted only briefly. He indulged in the exquisite sensation, thrusting into the tight, constricting hole without any guilt.
“Hnng!’’
Cha Eun-soo, bracing against the wall and pushing his buttocks out to endure Shim Tae-seong’s thrusts, staggered. It seemed difficult for him to withstand the intensifying movements.
Shim Tae-seong pressed his lips against Cha Eun-soo’s cheek, pinning him completely against the wall. Trapped between the hard wall and Shim Tae-seong, Cha Eun-soo could barely move. Panting, he could only submit, but as the thick cock repeatedly hit the sensitive spot inside him, he began to get aroused.
Cha Eun-soo’s moans, initially soft, grew louder, his eyes glistening with tears.
“Ah! Hnngh!”
Shim Tae-seong felt even more aroused by Cha Eun-soo’s changing moans. Cha Eun-soo, particularly sensitive to pleasure, felt more ecstasy than pain.
The lewd sound of their bodies slapping together accelerated to its peak. The rough penetration made his insides throb, and his cock swelled, ready to climax.
Shim Tae-seong bit Cha Eun-soo’s lip and then released it, gritting his teeth and furrowing his brow.
“Ugh, ah!’’
“Hng, ah! Oh, ugh!”
Under the fierce thrusts, Cha Eun-soo’s moans became broken, as if he were under attack. He rubbed his flushed cheek against the wall, unconsciously moving his reddened buttocks.
