Chapter 17. Yuri’s Dog
【131】
Chris and Yuri landed lightly.
It was thanks to Chris’s telekinesis, which he no longer needed to hide. The mattress he had separately laid on the floor as a precaution could be felt beneath their feet.
“You’ve arrived!”
Peter looked at the two with a pale face.
“We made good time.”
At Yuri’s words, the locksmith laughed, “Haha,” and then pressed the corners of his eyes.
“Since I was notified unilaterally, I had to be on time.”
It seemed that because Yuri was in the heart of enemy territory while Peter was outside, two-way communication had been difficult.
“If you had said you couldn’t do it and things had gone wrong…”
Peter looked at Yuri with reproachful eyes.
Connecting a door to that damned arena and moving in stacks of printed material that had accumulated for days had been nerve-wracking. His stomach had been tight with pressure.
He probably lost at least five years of his life expectancy.
‘Thanks to that, I learned there’s a traitor among the Barrel Society executives.’
Peter’s expression momentarily twisted.
He knew that the person in question wouldn’t even consider it betrayal. They might just say it was a slightly different approach to save more migrants.
“At least it’s fortunate I visited the arena before. I saw the stadium and roughly confirmed the location.”
Peter muttered, deliberately swallowing his complicated feelings.
“I hope all this effort was worth it.”
“By now, they must be quite shaken.”
Yuri answered and glanced at Chris.
“Your shabby clothes are wet too, completely unusable now.”
Chris looked down at himself at those words.
Indeed, his appearance was a mess.
If he had completely transformed into a wolf, even the clothes he had on would have become mere rags.
“I’ll change right away.”
Chris entered the shower room and turned on the water. He stood still under the hot water pouring down with a “shhhh” sound. The conversation between Peter and Yuri from beyond the door sounded so distant.
His mind was blank. It was as if his thoughts and emotions were being washed away endlessly by the flowing water.
Suddenly, he realized he was standing in the shower stall without even taking off his clothes.
‘Oh my.’
Somehow his body felt heavy.
“Chris.”
The door opened without a knock, and Yuri entered.
He found Chris standing dazed in the shower stall. Swallowing what wasn’t quite a sigh, he walked inside.
“…You’ll get wet.”
“Will I?”
To Chris’s quiet words, Yuri responded with an indifferent face as he rolled up his sleeves.
Even while thinking what was the point of rolling up sleeves on clothes that would get wet anyway, his eyes followed Yuri.
To the tendons standing out on his wrists as he applied force, to the water droplets flowing over his skin.
“What a mess.”
Yuri said and began removing Chris’s clothes. The wet fabric clung to the skin and wouldn’t come off easily. But Yuri’s hand movements were quite skillful. What couldn’t be removed easily was roughly torn away in Yuri’s grip.
Now naked, Chris looked at Yuri as if seeking an answer.
Chris impulsively pressed his lips against Yuri’s. Yuri silently accepted the kiss.
Hot water pouring over his head. Warm steam filling the stall. The wet sensation of Yuri’s clothes as he pressed closer.
As if trying to determine what Yuri tasted like, he moved his tongue persistently and sucked on his lips. Licking, biting, clinging.
Meanwhile, Yuri showed little reaction, merely sliding his fingers through Chris’s hair. It was a silent acceptance.
Slowly breaking the kiss, Chris looked at Yuri as if seeking an answer. Unexpressed expectation lingered in his gaze.
Yuri’s hand cupped Chris’s cheek.
His palm touched his cheek with a soft tap.
“When you’re not even in heat.”
It was a really light touch, but the words that followed made him snap to attention as if he’d been slapped.
“Yu-Yuri…”
He was right. Chris had clung to Yuri following habit rather than desire.
Silently withdrawing his hand, Yuri squeezed out some shampoo and began washing Chris. Crouching awkwardly, Chris lowered his eyes at the sensation of Yuri’s fingers pressing into his scalp.
Yuri handled the man nearly as big as himself as easily as a doll. Partly thanks to Chris submitting his body in a half-absent state, and partly due to past experience of washing him frequently.
His touch was plain, really like washing a dog.
With the familiar touch, Chris felt his tension lazily melting away.
Yuri turned the lever and turned on the water again. He could see the washed-away bubbles disappearing at his feet and flowing down the drain.
While Yuri dried his body with a towel, Chris waited quietly.
It wasn’t so much being accustomed to being served, but rather the result of discipline to not create unnecessary work by moving around.
Yuri pushed him out of the bathroom with a fresh towel.
“Wait.”
After saying “dry your hair,” Yuri closed the door in front of Chris.
He stood somewhat dazed, removing moisture from his hair with the towel while scanning the room.
It seemed Peter had already left, as the surroundings were quiet.
The heightened senses that had been standing on edge subsided. The sound of water from the bathroom provided a sense of peace.
By the time Chris’s hair was completely dry, Yuri emerged from the bathroom wearing only a robe.
Was it because it was wet? There was a more dangerous atmosphere than usual. Chris stood in the middle of the room waiting for him.
Yuri pressed a switch on the wall, turning off the ceiling lights, leaving only the stand lamp to softly illuminate the room.
In the strangely sensual atmosphere, Chris lowered his eyes.
‘I thought I was rejected.’
Looking at Yuri now, he felt somewhat uncertain.
The man with the expressionless face looked straight at Chris with his purple eyes.
“Kindness alone isn’t enough, is it?”
Yuri asked as if confirming something he already knew.
“Just being treated well. If you can’t feel secure with that, tell me now.”
Chris remained silent.
“I’m not scolding you, so be honest.”
“…Yes.”
After acknowledging it, his insides churned greatly. It felt like something was lodged in his chest.
Making choices and judgments alone was unsettling. He was depending on his Guide for more than just life itself.
Even knowing it would burden Yuri, Chris wanted this.
Half of the decisions he made on his own had hurt Yuri, and the remaining half were self-destructive.
Something was clearly broken. It was a problem that he wanted to live in this broken state and still receive affection.
Yuri’s purple eyes carefully examined Chris as if searching.
A gaze that seemed to pierce through to his core.
Despite the urge to avert his eyes, Chris struggled to hold firm.
“How much will you give?”
Yuri asked. His voice had grown somewhat hoarse, as if he’d just gotten sick.
“Already…”
Chris licked his dry lips.
“I’ve already given you everything.”
“…Ha.”
Yuri laughed dryly.
It seemed more self-deprecating than directed at Chris.
“You can just say it so easily, but.”
Yuri’s face contorted briefly before returning to normal.
“You don’t know how dangerous those words can sound.”
He reached out and gripped Chris’s chin.
‘Cold.’
Surely Yuri had finished showering after him. So shouldn’t that hand be warm?
From that chill, Chris realized that Yuri was feeling anxious.
“If I truly possessed all of you.”
Yuri’s lips moved.
“I would make it so you couldn’t think anything on your own.”
From head to toe. He didn’t want to leave any capacity for independent thought.
That stupid dog caused trouble when left alone in places unknown to him. If it were trouble like chewing up a remote control or tearing apart sofa cushions, that would be one thing, but on missions he would get beaten up, create commotions, and break things. He wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice himself for Yuri.
He wanted to rip open that pretty head and knead the brain inside. To make him think at least once before doing such foolish things.
‘No. It’s because I let him think that he does such things.’
Chris wouldn’t know. How long Yuri had suppressed such impulses.
How much he had endured, and endured again.
“Get your act together and take care of your part while I’m being lenient.”
“In the Colosseum, I was going to bring down the entire underground arena.”
Chris continued speaking.
“Because Yuri might be in danger. That’s the kind of extreme thing I think of doing. I forget the original mission and don’t consider how to handle the aftermath. My purpose becomes limited to you, and my vision becomes restricted to your well-being.”
“…”
“I have power, so I can surely achieve whatever I want. But Yuri’s purpose.”
As if choked, Chris briefly closed his mouth before continuing.
“I might interfere with that.”
In the worst possible way.
Even this time was like that. Yuri had known he would stand in the arena and had made various preparations in advance. Seeing Northern Light rush in at the end, Chris felt a chill.
What if he had collapsed the Colosseum as soon as he went up to the arena? No. What if he had made such a decision even a little earlier?
The illegal arena would have collapsed, but Northern Light’s agents might have been caught in it too. The Esper Union, having responded to Yuri’s request, might have been dying underground, buried under the rubble of the arena that his dog had collapsed.
If only Chris and Yuri returned alive from that massive tomb, what would Anong think?
‘She would think those mafia bastards backstabbed them.’
Chris always saw only the small picture. He only protected what was precious to him and didn’t care about anything else. Before, it was enough just to follow orders, but now that was difficult.
This reciprocated affection, these feelings directed toward Yuri, completely destroyed the reins.
So Chris rather wished for Yuri to decide everything for him.
“Please.”
Chris knelt in his naked state. He pulled Yuri’s hand, kissed the back of it, and rested his cheek against it.
“Make me completely yours.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
