As soon as Yoon Jeong-ho stepped out of the office, Seo Won sat down in his chair at the desk, his gaze drifting toward the sofa like always.
“Well, I guess with a face like that, even if his guiding sucks, it’s worth keeping him around.”
It was strange. Coming from someone as picky as Yoon Jeong-ho, those words unexpectedly lifted his mood. Cha Han-gyeom’s striking features and elegant lines played over and over in his mind like a slideshow.
Honestly, he’d wanted to say something in rebuttal. That his guiding was incredible, too.
‘Yoon Jeong-ho will never understand, not even in a lifetime.’
The idea of Yoon Jeong-ho ever forming a bond with a Guide was laughable. Jeong-ho would probably say the same thing himself. But, truthfully, it wasn’t as bad as he’d expected.
“He’s gonna be wrecked, you know. Must be pretty damn good.”
Yeah. He is.
The red energy that flowed from that body was sweeter than any fruit. Even a slight spark of arousal made it exponentially more intoxicating—like fruit that had ripened to the point of bursting. If it lingered, it took on a decadent richness that could utterly rob a person of their soul.
Even the most violent Black Veins would tear into him with such ravenous hunger that they’d destroy themselves in the process. Even with limbs severed, entrails ripped out, and their heads crushed, they’d still scramble to consume every last trace of Cha Han-gyeom’s energy, unwilling to let even a single fragment slip through their fingers. Like starving wanderers discovering a shimmering oasis in the middle of a barren desert.
That sense of superiority, something he hadn’t fully realized when he was alone, had been affirmed by Yoon Jeong-ho’s comment.
But only for a moment.
As he recalled the sight of Han-gyeom sound asleep on the sofa, Seo Won’s eyes slowly dimmed. The high he’d been riding sank—returning to its usual, low tide.
He hadn’t really intended to just let him sleep. There had been a reason why he called Han-gyeom in and simply made him sit on the sofa.
Whenever Han-gyeom came into this room, his face remained blank, showing no emotion or reaction. It was as if he were bracing himself for something. Seo Won hated that tension.
“There are cases where people cough up blood due to psychological factors…”
It had crossed his mind that the ‘psychological cause’ Director Shin had mentioned might have something to do with the hemoptysis, and so, he’d decided to hold back, just a little.
And once he allowed time to settle into the silence, Han-gyeom’s tension visibly eased. His eyelids would grow heavy, and when they finally shut—He wore the most serene, peaceful expression in the world.
Strangely enough, it was a beautiful sight.
All that tension melted away, leaving him smooth and pliant, unguarded—As if to say he would accept anything that came his way.
Seo Won would get so absorbed in that look that he’d forget even the contents of the documents in his hands. And then, at some point, he would be standing right there in front of him.
His complexion didn’t look good. There were faint shadows forming under his eyes.
He looked exhausted. Had he not been sleeping properly? His appetite had also noticeably declined—should he start forcing him to eat?
All these thoughts rushed in from the simple act of looking at Han-gyeom’s sleeping face. The problem was, every single one of them revolved around caring for Cha Han-gyeom.
And whenever those thoughts came, confusion followed.
Are these really my thoughts? Or do they belong to this heart, thundering in resonance?
He instantly denied they were his own. That man was nothing but a whore—someone who had peddled not just his guiding, but his body, indiscriminately to unregistered Espers.
Even if he was now Seo Won’s bonded Guide, it enraged him that Han-gyeom’s body had been used, defiled, by those nameless, faceless Espers.
Years of providing guidance as the sole Guide at the Fourth Ability Analysis Research Institute hadn’t been enough—he’d kept selling himself even after escaping.
He couldn’t even protect his own Imprinter, had let him spiral into a full-blown rampage—and even after pledging his entire life to someone, he kept using that body of his to earn money.
Every time Seo Won was reminded of that, his rage surged to the point that he wanted to kill Cha Han-gyeom. And yet, he was worried about him?
“What a load of bullshit.”
Cha Han-gyeom was a man Seo Won would never—could never—understand. Nor did he want to.
Which meant that, instead of trying to ‘understand,’ he had to use him. That’s what the contract was for, after all.
Reaffirming that, Seo Won struck his left chest hard with a fist.
“I’m your Imprinter now.”
He hit himself again, even harder, as if to make sure Han-gyeom could hear it loud and clear.
“Once I suppress that Black Vein you’ve spread, my head’ll start working properly again.”
Black Vein didn’t just affect an Esper’s physical condition. It messed with emotions, with mood—every damn thing. The evidence was right here. His normally calm mind had become a wreck, and the fleeting good mood from earlier had plunged straight into the abyss.
Even the area infected by the Black Vein was throbbing now, a deep, pulsing ache.
And the one his furious eyes locked onto—Was the Guide imprinted on his heart, Cha Han-gyeom.
He couldn’t let him sleep any longer. The suffering he felt stemmed from Han-gyeom—so it was only right that Han-gyeom be the one to ease it.
So, eyes half-wild, he would receive guiding again… and take it, over and over.
Sometimes, in that frenzy, there would be brief moments when his sanity clawed its way back to the surface. And every single time, Han-gyeom would be a complete mess.
Head bowed, trembling with that anguished look on his face, his eyes always lowered—expression unreadable.
At times, Seo Won felt a twinge of sympathy. But just as quickly, his mood would sour again.
They were bonded—he knew Han-gyeom was aroused, could feel it. But emotionally, it was the exact opposite.
It was obvious. When Han-gyeom entered the office earlier, his emotions had been subdued—low but steady. But now, after guiding… it was as if he’d been driven even deeper, dragged down to the bleakest depths.
Feeling that emotion together left Seo Won just as wrecked. It drained any will he had to continue receiving guiding.
Was it because of his dead Imprinter?
Even in the midst of their guiding, even while pressed skin to skin, was Han-gyeom still drowning in thoughts of that man?
Seo Won was the one who had forced him to make amends with his dead Imprinter…And yet he was still furious.
Still, he kept telling himself—It’ll get better with time.
Now that he was Cha Han-gyeom’s Imprinter, Seo Won believed that if they just kept resonating in sync and continued the guiding, Han-gyeom would eventually forget that dead man completely.
Until then, he was sure Han-gyeom wouldn’t—couldn’t—guide anyone else.
At least, that’s what he thought.
But then Han-gyeom dared to guide someone else—leaving him behind.
Whether it was his will or not didn’t matter.
Seo Won knew full well that the guiding suppression device he’d attached could forcibly drain Han-gyeom’s GP whether he wanted it or not. Even so, he had hoped—no, expected—that Han-gyeom wouldn’t guide anyone but him.
“No… maybe that’s not it.”
Maybe, deep down, he had wanted a day like today to come. A day when Han-gyeom would be forced to guide someone else.
To prove that Han-gyeom could guide other Espers besides him. That even though Han-gyeom was all Seo Won had, he was never the only one Han-gyeom could reach for.
He needed to be reminded of that.
“Yeah. We may be bonded, but I’m the only one actually shackled here.”
Seo Won had waved that expensive contract in his face and strapped the guiding suppression device to his wrist like a cuff, but even that wasn’t enough.
“I need something more—something he can’t live without. Something that makes it so he can’t do without me.”
The most crucial piece needed to completely bind Cha Han-gyeom to him—It was still missing.
“If I had that… maybe those eyes of yours, the ones always drifting toward someone else, would finally change.”
Seo Won looked down at Cha Han-gyeom, who was gasping for air as he leaned against his chest.
Because the necktie was tied over his eyes like a blindfold, Han-gyeom probably didn’t even know he was being watched.
“Ah… ngh…”
Han-gyeom’s spread legs trembled violently. He squirmed, twisting his waist in discomfort, but his arms were bound tightly behind his back with a shirt, rendering any movement useless.
Seo Won slipped one arm around his waist and yanked him in closer. Han-gyeom’s ass, which had momentarily pulled away, pressed right up against Seo Won’s crotch, where his legs were parted.
“Your guiding stopped, Cha Han-gyeom.”
“Ngh… I-I am… ah…”
“Focus.”
Seo Won whispered coolly against his ear.
His cold hand gripped Han-gyeom’s cock and moved in slow, deliberate strokes. Han-gyeom’s whole body shuddered, and soft, fragile moans spilled from his lips.
He was completely naked, trapped in Seo Won’s embrace. His bare back pressed against Seo Won’s chest, his head resting on the man’s shoulder, legs spread wide with his cock fully exposed.
Meanwhile, Seo Won hadn’t even loosened a single button. Perfectly put together, as if punishing him—Only Han-gyeom was stripped bare, every vulnerable part shamefully exposed.
Han-gyeom was almost thankful for the blindfold made from the necktie. Being naked and fondled like this was already humiliating enough—If he had to watch it happen with his own eyes, the shame would be unbearable.
The real problem, however, was that being blindfolded only made his already oversensitized body that much more reactive.
“Why… why the hell am I like this…”
Just as Han-gyeom began to slip into thought, Seo Won’s hand moved—like a ghost, precise and unrelenting.
“Ah—!”
Han-gyeom flinched as a sharp pain shot through his nipple. Seo Won’s arm, which had been wrapped around his waist, had now pinched and twisted his nipple hard.
“If it’s too hard to focus down there, I’ll help you up here too.”
“N-No, ngh…! Hah, ah… I’ll do it. I will, so…”
Han-gyeom forced his scattered thoughts to pull themselves together. He focused on the hand—his bare hand—that was stroking his own cock.
Guiding, at its core, required bare skin-to-skin contact. If anything else got between the two pure energies, the guiding couldn’t connect.
Of all the exposed skin between their bodies, the only point of direct contact was this: Seo Won’s hand wrapped around Han-gyeom’s cock.
That meant Han-gyeom had to channel the guiding—through his cock, through Seo Won’s hand that was gripping it. There was no other conduit.
That was the “price” Seo Won had demanded.
