“What the hell are you—ugh!”
The moment I opened my mouth, his teeth sank into my throat.
He bit down so hard it felt like my flesh was about to be torn off.
I tried to shove him away, but he didn’t budge.
Instead, he grabbed my struggling wrists and pinned them to the bed, holding me down as his teeth dug in deeper.
Warm blood slowly trickled from the wound by the time he finally pulled away.
“It hurts….”
The second I admitted it, his grip loosened.
Even after his lips left my skin, the spot where he had bitten throbbed with pain.
I lifted a trembling hand to touch it, only to find my fingers smeared with red.
“Seo-yul hyung.”
He brushed my hand aside and lowered his lips to my neck again.
Even though his touch was softer this time—just a gentle press against the wound—I couldn’t stop my body from trembling in fear.
“Say it.”
“Say you won’t abandon me. Say you’ll stay by my side forever. Say it. Say it!”
He shouted, gripping my shoulders so tightly I thought my bones would snap.
A surge of panic clawed at my chest, telling me he might actually break me if I didn’t escape.
I thrashed, twisting my body to get free, but he easily overpowered me.
He forced his lips onto mine, but I jerked my head to the side, dodging him.
Clicking his tongue in irritation, he grabbed my jaw, fingers pressing into my skin as he forced my mouth open.
“Nngh—”
A slick, hot muscle pushed past my lips.
His tongue curled and twisted inside, invading every inch of my mouth.
The more I tried to bite down, the more his thumb pressed against my lower teeth, forcing my jaw even wider.
The overwhelming flood of pheromones made my mind go hazy.
I could feel it—the dampness spreading between my legs.
I was reaching my limit.
If this kept up, I would lose what little sanity I had left.
“S-stop…!”
The moment he finally pulled away, I gasped out the words, barely managing to force them past my trembling lips.
But he didn’t stop.
Instead, he crushed my mouth with his again, swallowing any protest I had left.
By the time the endless kiss finally ended, my body had gone limp.
He pressed his lips against every inch of exposed skin, leaving deep, lingering marks behind.
Then, with a careless tug, he stripped my pants away.
Fingertips trailing along my bare ankle, he murmured in a low, chilling voice.
“When the District’s Day is over, I’m going to build a cage just for you, Seo-yul hyung.”
“I’ll collar you, chain your ankles, and tie you to my bed so all you can do is wait for me.”
“Or maybe I should just break your legs.”
“If you can’t even crawl to the bathroom without my help, I wonder how much more desperate you’d become.”
“What do you think?”
With a chilling smile, he brushed his lips over my ankle.
His words might have sounded like a joke, but I knew better.
He meant every word.
The way his eyes gleamed with unrestrained madness told me that if it soothed his anxieties, he would break my legs without hesitation.
“Don’t… do this.”
“Why not? It’s not like you’ll ever be leaving anyway.”
The moment he finished speaking, his grip on my ankle tightened.
With my body already weakened from the pheromones, I could barely move as it was. Now, with him holding me down like this, I was losing my mind.
I struggled in pain, but all he did was watch me, eyes fixed on my futile resistance.
Then, after a long moment, he finally let go.
Faint bruises were already forming where his fingers had dug into my skin, but at least my ankle wasn’t broken.
“You should’ve been like this from the beginning,” he murmured.
“I almost did something I would’ve regretted again because I tried acting out of character.”
“Hngh—”
“I told you, I won’t let you go ever again.”
His body pressed in close, leaving no space between us.
The mattress groaned beneath our weight, and my vision blurred from the sudden motion.
He wedged himself deeper between my trembling legs, then pressed a kiss to my closed eyelids—almost as if he was silently telling me to look at him.
When I finally forced my eyes open, he was watching me.
And then he smiled.
Even now, even in this moment, his smile was breathtaking.
“As long as you stay by my side, I don’t care if you’re in pain. I don’t care if you get hurt.”
“Hhngh—”
“I won’t think about what Seo-yul hyung wants anymore.”
What was the point of keeping me by his side like this?
What did he gain from it?
No matter how much I tried to understand, none of it made sense.
But to him, this was the only way.
He had never owned anything before—so he had never learned how to keep anything, either.
Even love was something he didn’t know how to handle.
***
I lost all sense of time.
Every time I blacked out, he was still there when I woke up.
Every time I came to, my body was still moving.
When is this going to end?
Hadn’t he said he was busy with the District’s Day?
That had obviously been a lie.
He wouldn’t let me go.
The lingering strain in my lower stomach had turned into a dull, numbing ache.
I silently begged for someone to knock on the door, to call him away, anything—but the ever-loyal servant stood guard outside, ensuring that no one disturbed him.
By the time I woke up again, the bedroom was empty.
I was alone.
The slightest shift of my body sent a wave of soreness through me.
And then, the filth.
If it had been any other time, no matter how much of a rush he was in, he would have at least cleaned me up before leaving.
But not anymore.
He didn’t care about such things now.
Not when he had already decided that my pain, my discomfort—none of it mattered.
I’m exhausted.
If Choi Yeo-min failed to take me away from here, then maybe…
Maybe I really would end up just as he had said.
Locked deep within the mansion, crippled, forever at his mercy.
I won’t think about Seo-yul hyung anymore.
As long as I was by his side, nothing else mattered to him.
The moment I heard those words, an odd, sharp pain stabbed at my chest.
How did we end up like this?
No—don’t think about it.
I’m leaving soon anyway.
Shaking off my deepening thoughts, I forced my body upright.
Just as I was about to climb out of bed, disgusted by the mess between my legs, a distant chime rang through the air.
The fifth toll.
The fifth day of the District’s Day had begun.
***
Exhausted from everything that had happened, Seo-yul had passed out.
Understandable, considering how worn out he must have already been from our outing.
He had held out well enough.
Vin pushed Seo-yul’s limp body aside and ran a hand through his sweat-dampened hair.
Normally, he would have cleaned him up first.
But right now, he didn’t want to touch him.
Instead, he headed straight for the bathroom, turned on the cold water, and shoved his head beneath the stream.
He needed to cool down before he destroyed everything in sight.
The frustration was unbearable.
Every time Seo-yul pushed him away, this hollow, sinking feeling consumed him.
He had long since stopped believing that time would fix anything.
What the hell have I been doing?
All the effort he had poured into this—gone.
It felt as though everything had been for nothing.
The bitter void within him deepened until he couldn’t take it anymore—he slammed his fist into the wall.
—”I will give Vincent-nim what he desires.”
That was what the Apostle of Night had promised him.
But they had never explained how they intended to turn Seo-yul’s heart.
And really, how could someone change another person’s heart?
Maybe he had been so desperate that he had let himself be deceived by empty words.
But still, all he had wanted—all he had wanted—was for Seo-yul to call him Vin again.
To go back to when they had only needed each other.
That was it.
Nothing more.
Forget it. I should have done this from the start.
He had never been the type to coax and plead.
He was far more familiar with torture and bloodshed.
If he broke Seo-yul’s legs and locked him away, there would be no choice but to look at only him.
The twisted thought took shape, spiraling deeper into something monstrous.
And yet, even this—this insanity—was love.
A selfish, desperate love that no longer cared if Seo-yul suffered.
When he finished his shower, he didn’t spare Seo-yul a second glance before leaving the room.
The ever-loyal servant had done his job well, ensuring no one disturbed them while he was inside.
“Vincent Young Master!”
His aide had been anxiously waiting outside, looking as though he were this close to collapsing from stress.
But at least Vincent had emerged before the chimes announcing the new day had rung.
Though the aura he exuded was terrifying, the aide forced himself to press on.
After all, what scared him more than Vincent—was him.
“The district leader has summoned you—”
“Why?”
Vincent halted mid-step, expression hardening.
In truth, the aide had no answer.
He had only been given orders to summon Vincent—nothing more.
But there was something suspicious.
The 5th District leader had been called to a private chamber, rather than the office.
And now, immediately after that meeting, the district leader was urgently calling for Vincent.
It wasn’t hard to guess what this was about.
That omega inside the room.
But rather than voice his suspicions, the aide simply answered, “I don’t know.”
“Where is my father?”
“Well…”
It was a simple question.
Yet for some reason, the aide hesitated.
Vincent frowned, about to press further—
Then, a familiar scent drifted into the air.
His head turned.
And there he was.
Walking toward the bedroom.
Trailing behind him were a number of unwanted guests.
“I greet the ruler of District 1.”
The district leader of District 1 rarely left his own domain.
He never personally greeted guests—not even for the District’s Day.
Hell, he had even left Vincent to handle that.
Of course, he had made an exception for the 5th District leader.
But for him to come here himself?
That wasn’t a good sign.
Vincent already knew.
There was only one reason his father had come all the way here.
He was here to take Seo-yul.
The 5th District leader must have made his move.
“I summoned you some time ago,” his father said smoothly.
“But you didn’t come, so I thought I’d come myself.”
