It felt like his heart was shrinking. Like a child caught doing something bad.

“Mr. Choi Gang-hu. This is…”

He was about to apologize immediately. Although it wasn’t intentional, he had ended up touching someone else’s property without permission. But he couldn’t help but close his mouth at Choi Gang-hu’s intimidating approach.

His body, instinctively sensing danger, automatically took a step back. He felt the wooden desk hit his lower back. There was nowhere else to retreat. The distance between him and Choi Gang-hu quickly narrowed.

Dark, deep eyes looked down at Ryu Seo-ha. Eyes that held an icy cold light. Enough to make him consider using [Sanctuary]. But he couldn’t recklessly do so for fear of worsening the situation.

Choi Gang-hu slowly reached out his arm and placed it on the black wooden desk. One arm, then the other. A cool scent reminiscent of winter wind brushed his nose. Choi Gang-hu, who had completely trapped him in his broad frame, curled up the corners of his mouth.

“How much did you see?”

It was a voice like swimming in the depths of the ocean. A chilling sensation made his hair stand on end.

“Did you go down there?”

Even the breath faintly touching his cheek felt like frosty frost. Ryu Seo-ha, who had been frozen in place, slowly shook his head. He became careful even about breathing, feeling like he might be bitten at any moment if he moved hastily.

“I just opened the door. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

His voice trailed off, worried that anything he said would sound like an excuse. Choi Gang-hu tilted his head sideways, with a gaze that seemed to be gauging the truth.

“Can you smell it?”

He wanted to pretend he didn’t know, saying “What smell? I can’t smell anything.” But this was a scent of blood so strong that even a non-awakened person would feel a sense of déjà vu.

He couldn’t further provoke the other party with an obvious lie. Ryu Seo-ha swallowed dryly and carefully nodded. Choi Gang-hu, narrowing his eyes, lifted one hand from the wooden desk and cupped Seo-ha’s cheek.

“What kind of smell?”

The soft voice, almost a whisper, pierced his ears like a sharp awl. The thigh muscles touching each other twitched. It was his instinct suggesting flight.

“…The smell of blood.”

When he answered obediently, the large hand caressing his cheek tapped near his chin as if in praise.

“Shall we go down together?”

A voice as sweet as a devil’s temptation invited him on a dangerous journey. It was a question that anyone could see was a trap. When he shook his head, a low chuckle escaped from the other.

“Why not? Aren’t you curious?”

Denying it here would be lying, but affirming it would be courting danger. Ominous words like destroying evidence and murder swirled in his mind.

“…I like cats.”

Unlike his jumbled thoughts, the voice that left his lips was as calm as usual. Whether the content was as usual was another matter. Choi Gang-hu tilted his head sideways with a puzzled look.

“And I don’t want any cat in the world to die.”

He bit his lip hard after blurting out whatever came to mind. What kind of Zen riddle was this?

“So you won’t be curious?”

An amused voice settled near his ear. Should he thank him for understanding his gibberish so well? Without avoiding the hand slowly caressing his cheek, he just nodded slightly.

“Will you be afraid of me for the rest of your life without checking?”

He couldn’t find an answer to the follow-up question as Choi leaned his upper body even closer. Whatever gruesome act was taking place down those stairs, it wouldn’t greatly change Ryu Seo-ha’s perception of him.

He had known about his cold and cruel side even before meeting him, and he had no intention of condemning it now. After all, he was someone who would hide his wrongdoings rather than justify them as unavoidable.

“Wouldn’t it be better to see it with your own eyes? Imagination tends to exaggerate things in a negative direction.”

But he didn’t want to deliberately go and witness a bloody scene either. It had once been an all too familiar daily occurrence that he had to face whether he wanted to or not.

“What if there’s no need for that?”

“Hm?”

After hesitating for a moment, he gathered courage to ask back, and Choi Gang-hu’s eyebrows raised slightly as if to say, “What do you mean?”

“I’m not afraid of you, Mr. Choi Gang-hu.”

At his calm yet firm voice, Choi’s eyes narrowed.

“After avoiding me all this time?”

It’s true that at first, he wanted to keep his distance. He already had enough headaches with the lifespan issue, and staying by Choi’s side would obviously involve him in unnecessary trouble. In the end, he realized the necessity and took his hand.

The unexpectedly intense skinship was bewildering, making him hesitant. He was confused by the desire to depend on Choi more and more, despite being flustered by the unfamiliarity.

“That was just survival instinct reacting to the unfamiliar.”

The more this happened, the more his fear of Choi Gang-hu diluted. Now, only traces of fear remained; he wasn’t truly trembling anymore. Even if he couldn’t stop his body from reacting unconsciously.

“Even when you stepped back just now?”

“Yes. It’s like a habit I picked up from the quarantine zone.”

“Can you prove it?”

What nonsense is this now? How on earth is he supposed to prove that? Choi Gang-hu, who had uttered such an absurd statement, somehow looked pleased. His eyes were like those of a fisherman who had found a good fishing hook.

“You mean you can avoid it if you’re conscious of it, right?”

“I… guess so?”

“Let’s see if you really fear me or not.”

As Seo-ha looked up with an expression full of question marks, Choi Gang-hu slowly lowered his head. The sensation of lips touching and leaving his left cheek with a soft sound was vivid. His eyelids fluttered reflexively.

“You know what?”

After lightly pressing his lips to Seo-ha’s right cheek, who was frozen in place unable to avoid it, he smiled charmingly.

“Every time you look at me with those eyes, I want to swallow you whole.”

He didn’t have the energy to retort, “What kind of eyes am I looking at you with?” He was too busy suppressing the urge to run away immediately while clenching his fists tightly. A large hand gently wrapped around his trembling fist.

“Do you want to run away?”

“…”

“You can do as you wish. As much as you want.”

Ryu Seo-ha could easily guess the words omitted after that. ‘Then I’ll do as I wish too.’ It was clear that if he carelessly attempted to escape, he would be crushed like a weak herbivore.

“Shall I tell you a secret?”

“Mr. Choi Gang-hu, I…”

“Being smart, you’ve probably already guessed.”

He didn’t want to hear it. It would be better for his well-being to pretend not to know and let it slide. But there was no way to stop his words.

“I brought them. The missing people the police are searching for.”

“…”

“Aren’t you going to ask why?”

“…Are they alive, those people?”

He asked Choi Gang-hu, who spoke in such a nonchalant tone, about the fate of those people. He wasn’t particularly curious about the reason. Something must have irritated him. It seemed he had kidnapped only those who were exceptionally rude.

“What do you think?”

Choi just smiled without giving any clear answer. If he asked again, it seemed likely he would say it would be better to check for himself.

“…I hope they’re alive. By the way.”

Ignoring the guilt weighing heavily on his heart, he quietly changed the subject. Sadly, his own survival was more important to Ryu Seo-ha than their fate.

“You should repair the door first. It opened just from a slight touch.”

When he pointed with his eyes to the floor door that was still wide open, Choi Gang-hu’s gaze moved there briefly before quickly returning.

“It’s not an ordinary malfunction. There’s a device on the door that recognizes my magical power.”

This was another statement that complicated his thoughts. Magical power is an energy that carries the individuality of a being even more than fingerprints. It was the basis for the recent popularity of magic-based security systems.

“How…”

While it’s not completely impossible to classify, it’s academically accepted that no two people in the world have exactly the same magical power. Could it be that they were somehow compatible because his magic stat had increased through contact with Choi?

“This is quite interesting.”

“Do you have any idea why?”

“About as much as you’re guessing, Ryu Seo-ha.”

Physical contact, increased magical power, decreased remaining lifespan. All the events that had been swirling around him became tangled in his mind. It seemed necessary to research magical power in more detail.

“Mr. Choi Gang-hu. May I ask you for a favor, even though it’s shameless?”

“If it’s my hand, I can hold it all day.”

“…That’s not it.”

The teasing remark made him feel like his ears were burning. What was he thinking when he made such a proposal?

“I’d like your help in researching my magical power.”

“Then what will you do for me in return?”

At Choi Gang-hu’s counterquestion, Ryu Seo-ha’s gaze lowered. He had intended to repay somehow, but he hadn’t expected to be asked so directly. After all, that wasn’t his personality to begin with.

“I thought you liked deals.”

Only when he heard the murmur, tilting his head, did he overlap with the incident at the chairman’s house. Had his attitude that day left a strong impression?

“Back then, I was just accommodating the chairman’s taste. But this time too, I’m prepared to do anything for you.”

“Anything?”

Choi Gang-hu twisted one corner of his mouth upward.

“You’ll regret it later if you say such things easily.”

Only then did he realize his mistake. He had been too hasty in his desperation.

“I’m sorry. Let me correct that. I’ll do anything within my capacity.”

As he quickly retracted his words while watching Choi’s reaction, Choi laughed out loud and lightly pressed his lips to the bridge of Ryu Seo-ha’s nose.

It seemed like the skinship had increased even more after this incident. He felt like he had been scammed somehow.

“Then let’s think about the payment later.”

Pleased that Seo-ha was accepting his lips without avoiding them, Choi stepped back while maintaining his smile.

“Since we’re on the topic, shall we start the research?”

Right now? After lightly tapping his foot to close the basement door, the look in his eyes as he turned back seemed to contain a hint of mischief. Something felt uneasy.

“Do you like horror movies, by any chance?”

“…No.”

Instead of asking what he meant by such an out-of-the-blue question, Ryu Seo-ha simply shook his head. He absolutely hated such things.

“That’s good.”

Choi Gang-hu interlocked their fingers with an expression that couldn’t hide his amusement.

“Let’s go watch a movie.”

Wait, all of a sudden?