Cha Han-gyeom blinked, as if waiting for an explanation.
It would’ve been a relief if there was no need for guiding with his GP completely depleted—but the fact that it was Seo Won of all people saying that made it hard to believe. Seo Won was the kind of person who wouldn’t care about his own condition and would insist on being guided regardless.
Even when Han-gyeom had been in the worst shape, Seo Won had gone so far as to use a guiding control device just to force dual guiding. That’s why this seemingly considerate directive felt out of place.
Seo Won, who was still looking down at Han-gyeom, took another mouthful of water. This time as well, he pressed their lips together.
His lips parted, and the cool water flowed in—along with an invading tongue that didn’t retreat so easily this time.
Han-gyeom’s tongue was sluggish all the way to the root, making even swallowing difficult, but Seo Won’s long tongue gently pressed down against the base of his own, right near the entrance to his throat. Thanks to that pressure, the pool of water passed down more smoothly through the tight passage.
However, even after all the water was swallowed, Seo Won’s tongue didn’t leave. It continued to press and circle firmly, massaging the inside of Han-gyeom’s now-cooled throat.
“Mmph… ugh….”
His throat tickled. He had no idea how someone’s tongue could even reach so far down another person’s throat, but the feeling was so strange that even his barely-moving fingertips twitched involuntarily.
After pressing at the front of his throat, Seo Won’s tongue moved again, just like before, pressing down deeper inside.
Han-gyeom’s dulled tongue offered no resistance, lying flat and obedient under the slick friction that now rubbed against it as if trying to heat things up.
Though sluggish, his sense of touch was fully intact, so it was clear that his mouth was being thoroughly stimulated.
What the hell is he doing?
This was the first time he’d ever been kissed this deeply without any guiding involved. Whether it was kissing or sex, it had always been in service of guiding.
Seo Won’s tongue slowly roamed around, caressing every corner of Han-gyeom’s mouth like he was savoring the taste. Then, it lightly tapped against his even rows of teeth, each soft knock teasingly tickling the inside of his mouth.
By the time Seo Won’s unhurried kiss came to an end, both of them were breathing heavily.
Han-gyeom was still baffled by the inexplicable kiss, while Seo Won, eyes burning with intensity, stared at him before gently wiping away the saliva on Han-gyeom’s red, glistening lips with his fingertip.
The kiss, the touch—none of it felt like the Seo Won Han-gyeom knew. That sense of disconnect returned once again.
“You don’t need to guide until your GP is fully recovered. I won’t force it with the control device, either.”
That should have been good news for Han-gyeom, but it only made him more suspicious.
Why is he suddenly acting like this?
As Han-gyeom stared up at Seo Won with narrowed eyes, the man abruptly began unbuttoning his shirt. He’d just said there was no need for guiding—yet here he was, practically stripping like they were about to have sex.
Seo Won tossed off his shirt, revealing his body, and just as expected, the Black Vein sprawled widely across his skin.
Han-gyeom’s gaze tracked the end of that streak and focused solely on one thing—guiding.
“I finally pumped all my GP into him, and we’re back to square one? It’s a hell of a lot less than when we first met, but still… what a waste.”
The Black Vein that remained on Seo Won’s body didn’t look much different from before the demo incident. Han-gyeom had only managed to erase exactly the amount that had recently spread.
Seo Won sat down on the edge of the bed and reached for Han-gyeom’s shirt. Naturally, Han-gyeom was also in the process of undressing him.
But their intentions couldn’t have been more different.
“I found out something. They say that an imprinted Guide can recover their GP faster through resonance with their Imprinter. Same goes for Espers.”
Han-gyeom already knew that.
Imprinted Espers and Guides could resonate with each other and recover drained ESP or GP simply by being in close proximity.
He knew it in theory—but never expected Seo Won to personally look into it and try it out.
Seo Won easily slipped Han-gyeom’s white shirt off his shoulders. Once they were both stripped to the waist, he climbed onto the bed. Supporting Han-gyeom’s body, Seo Won positioned himself behind him, legs spread to cradle Han-gyeom in between.
Han-gyeom found himself seated, back resting against Seo Won’s bare chest, and shivered slightly at the cool fingers brushing against his skin. At the same time, a strange ticklish sensation began to spread from his chest throughout his body.
His heart started to pound. The quiet resonance between two Imprinted individuals stirred both their hearts.
By now, that crimson mark had probably surfaced on the left side of Seo Won’s chest. The matching mark on Han-gyeom’s back would have appeared as well.
Ordinarily, he would’ve ignored such a faint resonance. But now—with his GP drained and body too weak to shield or conceal anything—he had no choice but to feel it all.
“Wings, huh.”
Seo Won traced the wing-shaped crimson mark on Han-gyeom’s back with his fingertip. Whether it tickled or not, Han-gyeom’s body gave a small twitch in response.
Han-gyeom found this version of Seo Won—showing interest in his imprint—completely unfamiliar.
Even after learning they were Imprinted, Seo Won had never once asked in detail about Han-gyeom’s mark. He only knew that it existed somewhere on his back.
He never seemed curious about what it looked like, nor did he care to find out.
Han-gyeom, for his part, wasn’t the type to voluntarily explain things like that, so he’d stayed silent.
During deep guiding sessions, Seo Won’s mark would sometimes flare up. Whenever Seo Won was deeply aroused, his imprint would emerge—initiating resonance as assertively as its owner.
Every time that happened, Han-gyeom pretended not to notice. No matter how much the other pushed, he had no desire to respond so openly that even his imprint would surface.
‘You never cared before.’
Showing no interest in your Imprinter’s mark or resonance—that was basically admitting the relationship was purely transactional.
Some people got Imprinted because they cherished and loved each other. Others did it purely for efficiency.
It was easier to think of theirs as the latter. And in truth, that’s exactly what it was.
Han-gyeom’s job was simply to honor a dead Imprinter by providing the best possible guiding.
Seo Won, on the other hand, only had to worry about fulfilling the obligations listed in their contract.
That cold, rigid arrangement had suited him just fine.
“You’re beautiful.”
Seo Won suddenly shifted positions.
Wrapping his arms around Han-gyeom from the front, he gently guided his body into a slight lean forward—then pressed a kiss to the mark on his back. A subtle tremor ran through the imprint.
“I should’ve asked to see it sooner.”
His voice was softer than ever.
Han-gyeom didn’t know how to make sense of this abrupt turn of events. He wished he could at least understand the reason behind it all.
His leaning body was lightly pulled upward, and his back came to rest against Seo Won’s chest. The two crimson marks now pressed together—almost like they were kissing.
Seo Won wrapped his arms around Han-gyeom’s waist and rested his chin on his shoulder. Han-gyeom, who had been leaning his head back against Seo Won’s shoulder, now met his eyes in the empty space between them.
“They say when imprints are directly touching, the effect is stronger. You’ll recover in no time.”
Every word Seo Won spoke was steeped in an unfamiliar warmth.
Gone was the biting chill that usually laced his voice—instead, there was something tender, soft, almost gentle about him now.
Even as Han-gyeom reeled from Seo Won’s unexpected behavior, a faint warmth began to spread from the place where their imprints touched. Wherever Seo Won’s hands made contact, pleasant sensations followed.
As Han-gyeom slowly blinked, Seo Won watched him with a quiet smile and reached up to gently stroke his hair.
“Sleepy?”
—Sleepy?
In that moment, the strangely gentle version of Seo Won overlapped with Song Yeon-woo in Han-gyeom’s mind. Maybe it was because there had been a time when they too would press their bare chests and backs together and bask in the resonance.
Or maybe… because Yeon-woo’s presence still lingered faintly within Han-gyeom’s heart.
His fingertips tensed, nails lightly digging into the blanket that covered his legs.
They weren’t similar at all. Not even close.
Yet Seo Won, watching Han-gyeom continue to blink sleepily, reached out and placed a hand over his eyes. The face that had just held Yeon-woo’s afterimage disappeared completely beneath that single palm.
“I’ll wake you when it’s time. So sleep.”
—I’ll wake you when it’s time. So sleep.
Even with his eyes covered, he heard two voices. One was clearly an auditory hallucination—but he didn’t feel like making that distinction right now.
Han-gyeom closed his eyes fully, letting himself imagine that the one holding him was Song Yeon-woo.
Just like the fluttering of long lashes brushing against a firm palm, their imprints exchanged faint, tingling touches—gentle, almost teasing.
Right before he slipped into sleep, Han-gyeom quietly gathered up the scattered fragments of dissonance that Seo Won had been leaking. He didn’t mean to.
It was simply because—he couldn’t afford to die in a place like this. That was the only reason.
That was all.
But if the true nature of this dissonance was really what he suspected it to be…
The corners of Han-gyeom’s lips twitched upward, ever so slightly—something Seo Won failed to notice.
