Go Hoon’s eyes widened.
The one wrestling with the vicious dog was none other than Bae Jung-yoon. It had only been four days since they’d last seen each other, but there was no time to greet him. The dog had latched onto his left arm, and Jung-yoon was desperately trying to pry it off, gripping its snout tightly with his right hand.
But once a dog bites down, it doesn’t let go easily. Its head jerked violently from side to side as it clung on even more ferociously.
Blood spilled from his arm and splattered onto the asphalt. The people nearby could only flinch and recoil in horror, unable to step in or look away.
Bae Jung-yoon is in danger.
Go Hoon snapped to action. He lunged at the dog, claws unsheathed. Clambering onto its back, he sank his fangs deep into its flesh.
Startled, the dog yelped and finally let go of Bae Jung-yoon.
Not missing a beat, Go Hoon leapt in front of him, shielding him with his body, and let out a fierce growl.
“HaaAAAAK—!”
The dog seemed thoroughly rattled by the sudden change in the cat that had once been running away. Its earlier aggression vanished, replaced by hesitation.
Seizing the moment, a nearby shopkeeper—who had witnessed the chaos—rushed out with a baseball bat. With a sharp clang! clang!, he slammed it against the pavement. The loud, ringing noise made the dog whimper and whine before it bolted down the opposite end of the street.
Bystanders who had been watching from a distance cautiously approached Bae Jung-yoon, asking if he was okay. Go Hoon turned quickly to check on him.
His arm was a mess, and the hand pressing on the wound was soaked in blood.
But Bae Jung-yoon’s eyes were locked on him.
His gaze was disturbingly unwavering—sharp and fixed, almost to the point of being eerie. Blood trailed behind him with each step as he walked toward Go Hoon, but not once did he make a sound. As if pain meant nothing to him.
When he finally reached him, he cradled Go Hoon in his uninjured arm.
The pungent scent of blood filled Go Hoon’s nostrils, mingling with the familiar smell of Bae Jung-yoon. And with it, something deep inside stirred. An emotion he couldn’t hold back swelled in his chest. He buried his face into Jung-yoon’s embrace.
At that moment, Go Hoon felt it wasn’t a coincidence that they had met here again.
Bae Jung-yoon had been waiting for him all along.
He didn’t look like his usual, put-together self. His eyes were bloodshot, as though he hadn’t slept in days, and his clothes were disheveled.
There was no way to tell how long he’d been wandering these streets, but Go Hoon instinctively knew—he had been searching for him endlessly.
Without saying a word, Bae Jung-yoon walked on. No one tried to stop him. He moved past the stunned onlookers and headed straight to the building’s parking lot.
“Stay still.”
He set Go Hoon down in the passenger seat, then climbed into the driver’s side. He drove calmly and without panic, even though blood still seeped from his wounds.
The car filled with the thick, metallic scent of blood. It grew stronger with every passing minute.
Go Hoon didn’t know what to do. His mind had gone completely blank.
They reached the officetel in no time. It was just a fifteen-minute drive.
Only fifteen minutes…
And yet, in the past four days, he hadn’t come here.
As soon as Bae Jung-yoon stepped inside with Go Hoon in his arms, Go Hoon’s breath caught.
The place was a wreck.
The home he remembered was unrecognizable. Not a single thing had been left intact during his absence.
Shards of glass littered the floor, and each step in his slippers crunched beneath him.
“Wait here a moment.”
Bae Jung-yoon pushed him gently into the bedroom and closed the door behind him.
Go Hoon stared blankly at the door, then slowly came to his senses.
This isn’t the time to stand around.
He had to get Bae Jung-yoon to the hospital immediately. Even just a glance told him the injuries were serious.
He began pacing the room, anxious. Then he stopped.
He should be able to transform back now.
Go Hoon took a deep breath and centered himself.
I have to change back. I have to. Dammit, focus.
But his thoughts were too jumbled. It was hard to concentrate. Still, little by little, his senses began to return.
“Don’t change back.”
Just as he was about to surrender to the shift, a flat, emotionless voice came from behind him.
Go Hoon froze.
He turned his head to find Bae Jung-yoon standing there, back in the room.
His left arm had been haphazardly bandaged.
His eyes—cold and unreadable—were locked intensely on Go Hoon.
“Don’t change. Stay like this. Stay here, in my house. Don’t go anywhere.”
His voice was frigid.
Go Hoon stared at him silently, then closed his eyes.
The moment he transformed back into his human form, Bae Jung-yoon grabbed him by the jaw and slammed him against the wall.
His head tilted back as a hand slid down his throat, pressing just enough to threaten his breath. But Go Hoon didn’t resist.
He looked straight into those black, burning eyes.
“I keep thinking… maybe it’d be better if you just stayed a cat forever.”
His voice trembled slightly now, emotion rising with each word. His eyes, bloodshot and blazing, flickered with something volatile.
But even as he was pinned, Go Hoon didn’t feel fear.
What rose inside him wasn’t terror—it was something else.
Something hot stirred beneath his chest, just like it had when Jung-yoon embraced him with blood-soaked arms.
“You don’t have to return the love I give you,” Jung-yoon murmured, “I just want you to quietly stay by my side.”
He sounded like he was struggling to hold everything in. His black eyes were piercing, overwhelming.
“Why can’t you ever be the way I want, Hoon?”
His voice cracked like a child throwing a tantrum.
A child furious that the world wouldn’t bend to his will.
Go Hoon stood still and looked at him.
Then finally, he spoke.
“I’m not your pet. I’m a person.”
He met Bae Jung-yoon’s icy stare with calm resolve.
“You want me to cling to you all day, doing nothing, just waiting at home until you come back?”
“If I could, I would.”
Bae Jung-yoon leaned in, his face drawing even closer to Go Hoon’s.
“Maybe I should just do it.”
He smiled faintly as he spoke, lips curled like it was some kind of joke. But the emotion in his eyes betrayed him—unease.
He was visibly on edge, like someone terrified of losing something that was slipping through their fingers.
For someone usually so hard to read, Bae Jung-yoon’s vulnerability now was stark and unguarded. That alone made it clear just how deeply shaken he was.
What exactly was he so afraid of?
What had happened in the days they’d been apart?
A thousand questions churned through Go Hoon’s mind, but none of them mattered right now. Something else came first.
“Let’s go to the hospital,” he said softly, reaching up to gently wrap his hand around the one still clutching his neck.
“You need real treatment.”
A bandage wasn’t enough—not when blood was still seeping through.
The makeshift wrapping was already soaked; the bleeding hadn’t slowed. This wasn’t something he could ignore.
But Bae Jung-yoon didn’t hesitate.
“I’m not going.”
“You have to,” Go Hoon said firmly.
He couldn’t just let this go.
“Your arm’s in bad shape. If you leave it untreated, it could get worse—infected. You could get tetanus. Is that what you want? To lose your arm? Would that finally wake you up?”
His words were sharp on purpose. If fear was the only thing that would move Bae Jung-yoon, then fear it would be.
Compared to his own injury, Jung-yoon’s wound was far more serious—deeper, more dangerous. If they waited, it wouldn’t just scar. It could cripple him.
“Please,” Go Hoon said, his voice cracking under the weight of desperation. “Let’s go. I’m begging you, Bae Jung-yoon.”
But it was like speaking into a void.
He wasn’t listening.
This isn’t working.
Fine. He would grab Jung-yoon’s phone and call emergency services himself.
But just as he moved to act, he felt warm lips press against the side of his neck—sudden, heated.
Go Hoon instinctively pushed against him, but Bae Jung-yoon refused to budge.
The more he resisted, the stronger Jung-yoon’s grip became.
And with that force, the bandage unraveled further. Blood began to flow again, dark and fresh.
What the hell is wrong with him?
He wasn’t thinking clearly. He wasn’t stable.
If this kept up, something was going to go seriously wrong.
So Go Hoon stopped resisting.
Then came the bite—sharp teeth sinking into the side of his neck, enough to draw a gasp from his lips.
And then a tongue, forcing its way into his mouth.
Still, Go Hoon didn’t fight back.
Their tongues tangled messily, breath catching between them, until at last their lips pulled apart.
Foreheads pressed together, Bae Jung-yoon’s voice came out in a raw, pleading whisper.
“Hoon… I want to be inside you. Please… let me.”
His injured hand slid down, fingertips grazing Go Hoon’s lower stomach, tentative and aching, like he was asking for shelter.
Go Hoon froze.
In that condition… he wants to have sex?
His brow furrowed. He opened his mouth to say something—Are you insane?—but then stopped.
Because when he looked into Bae Jung-yoon’s eyes, the words died.
There was no pretense in those eyes. Only desperation. And just like that, Go Hoon’s defenses crumbled.
“Please, Hoon…”
Jung-yoon looked like a man on the edge—like this was the only thing anchoring him to himself. After a long pause, Go Hoon exhaled shakily.
“Just once,” he said.
He reached down to Jung-yoon’s belt buckle and added, low and steady:
“But after that, you’re going to the hospital. With me.”
With me.
He said it deliberately, looking him straight in the eyes.
Then, without waiting for an answer, Go Hoon moved first.
He leaned in, pressing their lips together again. This time, it was he who initiated the kiss, tongue slipping into Jung-yoon’s mouth.
Refusal wouldn’t matter.
Even if he had to use this to manipulate him, Go Hoon would drag him to that hospital. No matter what.
Tilting his head, he deepened the kiss, slowly guiding Bae Jung-yoon toward the bed.
His hand worked at the front of Jung-yoon’s pants while their breath mingled, heavy and urgent.
Every touch, every kiss was a reminder—
That he was here.
That he hadn’t left.
That he was still his.
This wasn’t about desire.
It was leverage. A means to an end.
Or at least, that’s what Go Hoon told himself.
But maybe—just maybe—deep down, it was something more.
Maybe it was the only way he could show him what four days of silence had done.
That even now, his heart was still beating wildly for Bae Jung-yoon.
