Ryu Seo-ha recalled that time when his legs had trembled as if he had died and come back to life. He hadn’t thought deeply about it, being preoccupied with his older sister, but had his breathing actually stopped?

“You… tried to give me mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?”

Choi Gang-hu quietly nodded at the cautious question, slightly furrowing his brow as if recalling a very urgent moment that Ryu Seo-ha himself hadn’t known about.

“From what I heard from the healer I called then, it seems the problem was a combination of mana exhaustion and lack of oxygen.”

Choi Gang-hu’s eyes sank deeply. Just imagining the state Ryu Seo-ha had been in that day, when he lost consciousness after saving his family’s life with the elixir, seemed to dampen his mood.

Suddenly, it struck him that Choi Gang-hu, who would normally have been fervently asking about his condition as soon as he opened his eyes, hadn’t been by his bedside. Perhaps he needed time alone to sort out his thoughts after learning about the connection between saliva exchange and lifespan transfer.

He had only thought Choi Gang-hu had left his side to seek revenge by finding traces of the cult, after seeing news that Myeongdong Cathedral had been completely burned down. But there had been no major change in Choi Gang-hu’s attitude even after that day.

“How…”

For Ryu Seo-ha, this was far more shocking than the fact that he had nearly died without knowing. He couldn’t understand Choi Gang-hu’s choice to continue kissing him while knowing everything.

-I will save you.

He recalled Choi Gang-hu’s words before giving him an angry kiss, when he had finally confessed about his remaining lifespan after being caught following his silent escape attempt.

-Even if I have to destroy the system.

Now he felt he could guess the true meaning of those words.

“How… how could you do that?”

Ryu Seo-ha’s voice trembled terribly as he slumped down on the sand. How should he treat someone who willingly shared his own lifespan even after knowing all the facts? A sense of bewilderment terrifyingly enveloped his whole body.

“What?”

Choi Gang-hu’s nonchalant question pierced his heart like an awl.

“How can you give up your life so easily…!”

“It wasn’t an easy decision.”

Choi Gang-hu lowered his body slowly and lightly tapped the barrier of [Sanctification] with his fingertips.

“Above all, that’s not something Ryu Seo-ha should say, when you were willing to sacrifice your body to save others.”

His following words, muttered while slightly frowning one eyebrow, hurt his heart.

“That’s… different.”

There was always a thorough calculation behind Ryu Seo-ha’s kindness and good deeds. He only displayed a spirit of sacrifice when he deemed the benefits outweighed the costs. If he had to put the value of his life on the opposite side of the scale, he wouldn’t have even thought of helping others.

“Of course it’s different. My feelings aren’t mere sympathy or love for humanity.”

Choi Gang-hu smiled languidly and tapped the barrier again. It sounded like a knock asking to open a closed door.

“More importantly, who told you that I could transfer my lifespan to you?”

Ryu Seo-ha hesitated at the following question. It seemed similar to what they had been discussing, but there was something strange about the nuance. As if there was a subjective intention in the direction of lifespan transfer…

“Those madmen called apostles?”

“Choi Gang-hu, perhaps…?”

“Did they also talk about the Dimension Core?”

He couldn’t help but hesitate again at the sight of Choi Gang-hu so calmly mentioning a secret that he himself had only recently learned. To think he was clearly aware of the cause of the phenomenon, since when?

Had he been skimming through the memories of the apostles every time he killed them, gradually gathering clues? Regardless of the source of information and when he became aware, it was still shocking that he had quietly tried to transfer his lifespan even before knowing about Ryu Seo-ha’s remaining lifespan.

“Since Ryu Seo-ha doesn’t have a predatory trait… was there some artificial intervention of transcendent power?”

As if harboring the same doubt as when he first learned about the cause of the phenomenon, Choi Gang-hu narrowed his eyes and muttered lowly. After all, an ordinary human couldn’t handle the power of the Dimension Core embedded in the place connecting soul and body.

In fact, it was strange from the start that a soul from the White Wing forces was reborn with a body belonging to the Black Wing forces, and in the Black Wing territory at that. It’s not like he was some kind of spy. But right now, there was an even bigger question.

“…You deliberately transferred your lifespan, didn’t you?”

When he asked again hesitantly, Choi Gang-hu, who had been staring at him, let out a faint sigh and nodded slightly. As expected, it seemed he had recognized lifespan as an intangible resource and decided its direction according to his own will.

“Why did you do that?”

“I couldn’t take Ryu Seo-ha’s, could I?”

He could understand immediately without a long explanation. The fact that lifespan transfer was inevitable, regardless of direction. Choi Gang-hu chose to share his own lifespan instead of forcibly taking his lover’s at the crossroads of this binary choice.

“Why are you whimpering like that? I’m fine.”

The voice that came gently, as if soothing him, encouraged the deep sorrow buried deep in his heart.

“I’m not happy at all.”

“Hm?”

“Life given in such a way, I’m not grateful at all.”

Perhaps that’s why. Ryu Seo-ha unknowingly blurted out sharp words. Like an ordinary child throwing a tantrum at their parents, without thinking of the consequences.

“I want to have all of Ryu Seo-ha, both body and soul.”

Choi Gang-hu whispered softly, wearing a pleasant smile inappropriate for the situation.

“What do you mean…”

“I’ll keep you bound by my side for life.”

“That’s…”

“How long do you think my lifespan is?”

Choi Gang-hu quietly asked back towards him, who was trying to point out the misaligned focus. The content of the original work that ended with a half-open ending came to mind. Considering that epilogue, it should be at least several hundred years.

But just because someone is rich, are they all charitable angels? Having a lot doesn’t mean one can easily give it away. Especially if the subject is lifespan, it’s natural that one wouldn’t easily share it even with family and friends.

“I can’t live all those long years just embracing the stuffed corpse of a lover.”

Ryu Seo-ha, who was about to argue that it was nonsense, could only slightly part his lips. It was because he hadn’t thought that far. For him, it was already overwhelming just to deal with the survival issue a month from now.

In fact, if you think about it, it wasn’t wrong. Even if it wasn’t a terminal illness, what are the chances of dying on the same day as a loved one? Even if the aging process slows dramatically due to enormous mana levels…

“Then did you deliberately… the mana too?”

When he asked in surprise, wondering if the sudden increase in mana stat he had experienced since they first met was also because Choi Gang-hu had intentionally shared his, the man who was like a giving tree slowly shook his head.

“That seems to be a secondary effect. My mana stat doesn’t decrease.”

He then said he had explained the anomaly to Dr. Han Gang-seok and sought advice, relaying that the increase in mana stat seemed to apply a similar principle to how the sun emits enormous energy in the nuclear fusion process.

Apparently, it’s a side effect that appears when sufficient conditions aren’t met in the preparation process for lifespan transfer. Choi Gang-hu seemed to be just reciting the explanation he had heard from Han Gang-seok, not knowing the detailed theory.

Then why did his lifespan decrease when in contact with other people in this world? Did it cause a clash every time he touched those with mana from the Black Wing forces because he harbored mana originating from the White Wings?

There were many questions that remained unclear even after obtaining various clues starting with the Dimension Core and confirming the cause of the problem. But what was important to Ryu Seo-ha now wasn’t the operating principle.

“…Please do it in reverse.”

There was no guarantee that Choi Gang-hu hundreds of years later, no, even just a few months later, would still love Ryu Seo-ha.

“In reverse?”

“Please take back the lifespan you gave me.”

So everything had to be put back in its place. Ryu Seo-ha’s gaze sank deeply. He intended never to receive lifespan again in the future, but he also wanted to return what he had already received to its owner.

“Isn’t it the law of nature that energy flows from high to low?”

But Choi Gang-hu, with a faint smile, implied that it was impossible. Pretending not to know that he had already hinted with his own words that the choice to take Ryu Seo-ha’s lifespan was also possible.

“It would move in a disordered direction. It’s not necessarily a theory that applies to us who can interact with the outside.”

Ryu Seo-ha rebutted pointedly as if scolding his lover. Only then did Choi Gang-hu frown on one eyebrow, looking troubled as if regretting revealing the reason too honestly.

“Even if it were possible, I would never do such a thing.”

“…What if the day comes when you regret it later?”

“What regret?”

“When your feelings that like me so unconditionally now cool off, surely…”

The moment he voiced the possibility he had always harbored in a corner of his mind, the expression disappeared from Choi Gang-hu’s face.

“So. If your feelings for me cool off, are you planning to leave alone again and die without anyone knowing?”

He asked back in a chilling voice, misunderstanding the subject of the feelings in reverse. Choi Gang-hu, who had risen to his feet, reached out his hand layered with mana and touched the translucent membrane. Surprisingly, his large hand entered through the range of [Sanctification] that formed the barrier.

“If you die without my permission…”

Before he could be surprised,

“I’ll retrieve your soul even if I have to destroy the afterlife.”

Choi Gang-hu, who had pulled him into an embrace by the waist, deeply buried his lips in his snow-white nape.