Panting heavily, Hye-seong responded with a trembling voice.
“Why, why are you doing this all of a sudden…? I already submitted the application…”
“That kind of thing can be undone like it never happened.”
Yoo Ji-ho kissed Hye-seong again.
Unlike earlier, it was a short kiss this time—just a brief touch before he pulled away. Hye-seong blinked in surprise. Yoo Ji-ho’s gaze traveled from his lips, up the lines of his face, until it finally met his eyes.
“Do you not want this?”
He asked in a hushed whisper.
Hye-seong tried to open his mouth, but no sound came out. Just a moment ago, he’d been speaking calmly and clearly. Now, it was as if something had jammed in his throat.
When Hye-seong didn’t answer, Yoo Ji-ho asked again, this time more urgently.
“Do you not want to be my Guide anymore?”
“……”
“Do you not want to be with me?”
Hye-seong shook his head with a teary whimper, his lips pressed tightly together without even realizing it. Tears welled up in his large eyes in an instant.
“I don’t hate it at all.”
“……”
“I want to be next to you, Yoo Ji-ho…”
Trapped beneath his body, Hye-seong quietly sobbed as he poured out the truth in his heart.
He didn’t have the strength to push Yoo Ji-ho away. How could he possibly not want to stay by his side?
What he really wanted was to be a good Guide, to remain close to him.
Perhaps unwilling to show his crying face, Hye-seong turned his head and shut his eyes. The loose collar of his stretched-out T-shirt slipped, revealing his pale neck starkly against the darkness.
“W-wait, I was sweating earlier, so—urk…!”
Yoo Ji-ho pressed his lips to that spot without hesitation.
Startled, Hye-seong shoved at his shoulders almost in a panic.
“Hngh, ah…!”
Like he was tasting something sacred, Yoo Ji-ho’s mouth trailed along Hye-seong’s neck, licking and nibbling, then traveled upward to plant a kiss on his jaw before returning to claim his lower lip.
As the kissing continued, Hye-seong’s breath grew increasingly ragged through his soft, weeping gasps. Sharp teeth gently nipped his lips, then retreated. Yet even with the kiss broken, their faces remained close enough to feel each other’s breath.
“…Ha.”
Yoo Ji-ho’s eyes flashed sharply, and he let out a dry laugh.
Watching the way Hye-seong cried so pitifully beneath him, he felt—regretfully—a strange satisfaction.
Fuck. What the hell is this…
He’d acted on impulse, half-hoping he’d be disgusted with himself.
Or at least, that it wouldn’t go beyond being slightly disgusting.
But the nausea never came.
Instead, this reaction… even he hadn’t expected it.
A bitter laugh escaped his lips.
“Hye-seong.”
“Y-yeah…?”
“Promise me you’ll be my Guide again.”
He was so close that their breaths mingled.
Hye-seong blinked through his wavering vision, then slowly nodded as if entranced.
“Don’t ever disappear without my permission again. Never again.”
“…Okay.”
Seeing Hye-seong reply so obediently, Yoo Ji-ho’s lips curled upward.
This, it seemed, was the answer he had most wanted to hear.
Getting that long-awaited response sent a rush of ecstasy exploding through his brain.
His hand, which had been planted on the bed, slid underneath Hye-seong’s head, fingers tangling in his hair.
As Hye-seong gasped for breath, his lips instinctively parted—and Yoo Ji-ho’s soft tongue slipped inside.
The moment their lips met again, Yoo Ji-ho knew it for certain: Baek Hye-seong’s Guiding was different.
Their kisses grew more shameless, more aggressive than before—now that all uncertainty was gone.
Hye-seong clumsily followed the muscle writhing inside his mouth, his lips wide open, sucking on Yoo Ji-ho’s tongue before it slipped free, leaving him panting.
He held his breath, trying to endure.
“Hngh, wait… mmph!”
Just as he tried to turn his head to catch a breath, Yoo Ji-ho angled his head and pushed back in.
His hands gripped Hye-seong’s slender waist even tighter.
His mind went completely blank.
Desperate, Hye-seong clawed at the arms caging him in.
In the struggle, his knee brushed against a particular spot on Yoo Ji-ho’s thigh—
“Ah…!”
And in that moment, he felt everything about himself being pulled into Yoo Ji-ho.
His vision flashed white, his strength drained in an instant.
Yoo Ji-ho abruptly pulled away, lips breaking contact, and moved back from Hye-seong’s body.
As Hye-seong tried to cover his mouth, his damp lips smeared against his palm.
Yoo Ji-ho stared down at him, pupils blown wide.
“Wha… What’s goi—mmph.”
Before he could finish his sentence, Hye-seong’s eyes snapped shut.
He’d passed out like he’d been knocked unconscious.
“…Ah.”
Yoo Ji-ho closed his eyes and sighed.
***
“Who said that crap?”
“It’s just…”
Even though he’d asked with an intentionally gentle voice, Hye-seong had looked utterly terrified, lips sealed shut. He kept shaking his head.
Recalling that expression now, Yoo Ji-ho let out a soft scoff.
Inside one of the Guide Dorm rooms, Yoo Ji-ho sat on a window ledge, staring quietly down at the sleeping face before him.
Hands bruised and blotched purple were now wrapped neatly in gloves.
Each time his fingers moved inside the black leather, a faint rattling sound echoed in the silence—two dice rolling together in his palm.
He stared unblinkingly, then slowly shifted his gaze.
There, hanging on the wall, was a round clock.
The moment his eyes landed on it, the clock floated up and drifted toward him.
The time was 2:30 AM.
A point late enough to confirm that Baek Hye-seong had fallen into a sleep deep enough not to wake or slip away.
Yoo Ji-ho had reclaimed his Guide—and he would make damn sure nothing like this ever happened again.
The clock hovering in front of his face rotated and drifted away from the window.
Following his gaze, it moved over the bed—and stopped right above it.
Then it plunged down, stabbing vertically toward the sleeping face.
“AAAAH!”
The Guide rolled and flailed on the bed before sitting up with a groan—only to see Yoo Ji-ho and jump in fright.
“…Y-Yoo Ji-ho?”
Blood was gushing down from between his fingers, which clutched his nose, and streaking down his chin.
As soon as the Guide woke, Yoo Ji-ho stepped lightly down from the window and slowly approached the bed.
“I’ve been thinking a lot.”
He was now standing in a place he’d never even bother to glance at under normal circumstances.
A place so filthy it felt like just being there made the stench cling to his skin.
Once he finished this task, he could finally rest in peace.
“There just happened to be one of these here. And I’m in a good mood.”
Yoo Ji-ho opened his hand and showed him the dice.
“Why are you doing this to me?!”
“Whatever number comes up, that’s how many teeth you’ll lose.”
He’d even handed it to him personally.
But the dice slipped from the Guide’s trembling hand and rolled across the bed.
“P-please, I’m sorry… I was wrong! Please! Aaaah!”
With a gloved hand, Yoo Ji-ho yanked Kim Young-woo by the hair.
As he glanced down at the rolled number, he brought the other hand up, biting lightly on the glove’s edge.
As the leather peeled away, the bruised and battered fingers beneath were exposed.
Kim Young-woo’s terrified pupils dilated.
“I’m not going to kill you. So be grateful for the rest of your life.”
The leather glove fell to the bed beside the dice with a thud.
With the moonlight from the window casting his silhouette, Yoo Ji-ho smiled—beautifully.
***
Half-asleep, Hye-seong’s eyes flew open as he realized he wasn’t at home.
He had no memory of falling asleep.
The last thing he remembered was struggling to accept Yoo Ji-ho’s relentless kisses—then blacking out, as if he’d lost consciousness.
Even as he’d drifted off, one thought had consumed him: he had to calm Yoo Ji-ho down.
Maybe that’s why, even though his body still cried out for rest, his eyes immediately searched for Yoo Ji-ho.
The room was pitch black.
It’s still so dark… Where is he?
Was he sleeping somewhere else after giving Hye-seong the bed?
But he was the one who needed rest—not Hye-seong.
He looked around the spacious bedroom, turning his head in all directions—but Yoo Ji-ho was nowhere to be seen.
Sitting up, Hye-seong glanced down at himself and froze.
“Huh?”
His clothes were gone.
Feeling around the bed and its surroundings, he couldn’t find a single piece of clothing.
Dazed, he stared into empty space for a moment before lifting the white blanket and wrapping it around himself.
Then he stepped down onto the floor.
“Nggh…”
A strained sound escaped his lips.
It didn’t exactly hurt—but his body felt weak, like it had no strength left.
He must’ve passed out after failing to withstand Yoo Ji-ho’s sudden energy draw.
The standalone house was entirely dark, bathed in a faint blue glow.
Even though the weather had been warm during the day, the early morning air was cold.
In the stillness and dimness, a faint sound of running water reached his ears.
Hye-seong followed it.
“Ah…!”
He flinched instinctively.
Just as he approached, the bathroom door swung open—and out stepped Yoo Ji-ho, drying his hands with a towel.
He looked Hye-seong up and down, then asked:
“Where are you going?”
“Uh…”
“Where do you think you’re going, dressed like that, at this hour?”
