At his calm tone, Yoon Tae-ha’s earlobes turned bright red.

“Do you need to see an example?”

He briefly kissed her lips like a kind teacher. It was a touch that seemed to carry affection rather than sexual intent. And as if seeking confirmation, he met her eyes.

“That’s number one.”

Next, his tongue entered her mouth. He gently guided her, his fingertips tracing her waist. Perhaps due to the lingering effects of the guiding, Yoon Tae-ha’s senses began to sharpen more intensely than usual.

“That was number two.”

Before Yoon Tae-ha could even catch her breath, he embraced her tightly with both arms and kissed her deeply. There was no longer any need to part their lips to count the examples.

Yoon Tae-ha’s body heaved against his thick, stallion-like thighs. His large hand gripped her thigh greedily, tormenting her. Just then, a sharp mechanical sound cut through their rough breaths.

Their bodies froze simultaneously. Unpleasant emotion was clearly visible on Cheon Geon-young’s face.

Yoon Tae-ha hurriedly pulled away and wiped her wet lips. She tried to get up, but Cheon Geon-young wouldn’t let her. In the end, she had no choice but to answer the phone on his lap. Barely managing to pull the tablet closer, Yoon Tae-ha sighed painfully as soon as she saw the name.

“It’s Doctor Moon, I need to get off.”

Of all times for this to happen. It was difficult to go outside to take the call. But she had to. She couldn’t let him find out that Doctor Moon treated her poorly.

“Let go of me.”

In that brief moment, Cheon Geon-young read the change in Yoon Tae-ha’s expression. The moment Yoon Tae-ha mentioned the bothersome name, she acted as if she had done something wrong. He hated seeing her act like a criminal.

“Answer it here.”

“What?”

“It’s just audio, not video.”

The ringing tone sharply pierced them. Yoon Tae-ha couldn’t bring herself to touch the screen, nor could she get off his lap.

It was Cheon Geon-young who pressed the connect button along with the speaker button. Before Yoon Tae-ha could even speak, Doctor Moon’s sharp voice rang out.

— Why are you answering so late? Hello?

A firm arm wrapped around Yoon Tae-ha’s waist. As Cheon Geon-young gently stroked her pitifully stiff body, Yoon Tae-ha’s chest heaved. Her reddened lips barely parted.

“…Yes.”

— Finally got through. I’ve called so many times. The communication must be terrible there.

As soon as she heard Doctor Moon’s voice, she ran her hand down her right arm. Her breathing was irregular, and her gaze wandered, unable to settle. Cheon Geon-young quietly stroked her knee as he listened to the call.

— You couldn’t answer because of the communication equipment, right?

“Of course. I heard a small gate opened up here a few days ago. Leader Baek Sang-ho told me, hasn’t the office been notified yet?”

— Another gate opened? Good heavens. It’s always like that there. You’re doing well, aren’t you?

“If I’m not doing well here, who would be?”

Behind the deliberately bright voice was a face that looked like it was about to cry.

How many times had she made that expression? Were there situations like this when she infiltrated the school? Had anyone else treated you like this besides Doctor Moon? Since when? Had someone used your body, which healed easily, to satisfy their own greed?

Cheon Geon-young rested his forehead on her shoulder to suppress his emotions.

Doctor Moon just kept talking about herself. How difficult the ongoing research was. How fatal a mistake a subordinate had made yesterday. Behind the perfunctory concerns were only one-sided complaints about her own troubles.

She acted as if the person on the other end of the line wasn’t living in a lawless zone alongside monsters. The facade of cheerfulness and sociability hid something base. Yoon Tae-ha struggled, barely managing to answer.

— So, Tae-ha. There’s a favor I need to ask.

“Yes.”

— There’s a material I need for the research. But it’s not a plant that grows just anywhere.

“Is it a plant that can be found in the Green Sea?”

Cheon Geon-young removed the woman’s shirt, which was crumpled from their kissing. She was wearing a black halter-neck tank top underneath, revealing her bare shoulders. Yoon Tae-ha was using all her energy to continue the conversation and couldn’t stop him.

The man’s lips touched her white shoulder. Yoon Tae-ha, who had been listening to Doctor Moon’s request, flinched and looked down at him.

— I’m sorry for asking you for favors like this every time. But it’s really necessary. You know how I feel, right? I only have you, Tae-ha.

She put a little force into her hand and pushed his chest. But Cheon Geon-young didn’t stop. After kissing her shoulder, he tilted his head. And he kissed her as she mouthed ‘don’t’ with her lips. Yoon Tae-ha’s body stiffened from the strong shock.

— You don’t even call once. Or send an email. Teacher was a little disappointed.

Doctor Moon continued to talk on her own, diligently.

Meanwhile, Cheon Geon-young silently explored every corner of the woman’s mouth as she sat on his lap. Yoon Tae-ha twisted her back, suppressing her muffled moans.

His calloused palm gripped her tightly. The feeling of being held was so good that her body heated up.

Feeling like something rational within her had broken, she couldn’t push him away anymore. This is crazy. I shouldn’t be doing this. The words of refusal melted away as easily as ice in summer. He even licked away the traces of the melted ice.

As his rough hand slipped inside her clothes, even the function of distinguishing right from wrong stopped working. Now she couldn’t even hear what Doctor Moon was saying. The surrounding sounds were muffled as if she had fallen into a swimming pool.

She had never deceived Doctor Moon in such a base way before. The demands that had been tightening around her like a trap fell away powerlessly. The guilt she hadn’t been able to cut off began to transform into a sense of transgression.

It was a time when she barely had enough focus to concentrate on the sensation of his bare hand touching her back. After a moment, Cheon Geon-young parted his lips. Secret breaths passed between their lips, connected by saliva.

Doctor Moon was still talking forlornly. Normally, each of her words would have struck her heart. But now, she couldn’t even remember them.

Yoon Tae-ha cupped Cheon Geon-young’s face with both hands. Then, the man with a seductively disheveled face formed two syllables with his lips.

Hang up.

His unspoken voice reached her ears. Yoon Tae-ha reached out with a trembling hand and silenced Doctor Moon’s voice. It was the first time since that day that she had hung up on her first.

Slowly, the sounds inside the car returned. And a kiss, like a compliment, touched Yoon Tae-ha’s cheek. It was a sweet reward from an accomplice.

“Can’t you feel the pain?”

Cheon Geon-young had listened to everything Doctor Moon had said to her without missing a single word. Among her instructions was that she must report to him as soon as her sense of pain fully returned. Yoon Tae-ha, catching her breath, moved her lips.

“Did she say that too? I didn’t hear it…”

“She did. Don’t avoid the question, answer me.”

The hand on Yoon Tae-ha’s waist tightened. To trap someone in his arms and interrogate them – it was a new kind of torture. She gave up and confessed.

“My sense of pain is a little dull. Even if I’m hit with the same intensity as others, I feel less pain. That’s all. It’s not because I had a very serious illness or anything, it’s just that our bodies originally lose function starting from where it hurts.”

“And your sense of taste is also a mess.”

“I’ve drunk coffee bitter from the start. It’s a preference, a preference.”

“Can guiding change that?”

Hearing his question, Yoon Tae-ha recalled the guiding she had first experienced on the messed-up subway tracks.

The sensation of a small candle being lit, and then her vision returning. Back then, she had been afraid that he would use guiding as an excuse to exploit her weakness. Just like the others before him had done. So she had hidden it. But now…

“There was a time. A time when my senses returned through guiding.”

“Another guide?”

The face that was wary of an imaginary other person looked fierce. Seeing that, the strength drained from Yoon Tae-ha’s shoulders.

She had the irresponsible thought that even if this became a weakness, there was nothing she could do about it. Rather than Cheon Geon-young tormenting himself thinking about a non-existent other guide, wouldn’t it be better for her to let her guard down?

“If there had been such a guide, I would have stayed by that person’s side.”

He still didn’t soften his expression. Yoon Tae-ha spoke a little more definitively.

“The first time guiding succeeded wasn’t at the school swimming pool. It was on the subway. Before you became my partner. At that time, my vision went dark for a few seconds, and I couldn’t see for a moment. But when you held my hand, my vision returned. You probably didn’t even know you were guiding me…”

At that moment, his hand that had been tickling her thigh stopped. His beautifully curved eyes remained still, as if time had stopped.

When there was no reaction, Yoon Tae-ha became uneasy. He might have taken her wariness of guides as an offense. No matter that their relationship had started as a contract.

Let’s get up for now. Let’s get up and hear him get angry. She felt like she couldn’t keep sitting on someone else’s lap.

It was difficult to jump up because of the table behind her. She temporarily positioned herself facing him and straightened her back. But just as she was about to put her feet on the floor, a strong hand pulled her back down.

Her legs parted, and an unfamiliar bulk pressed against her below. Cheon Geon-young gripped her thighs and spread them further, making her sit down deeper. As soon as she placed her hands on Cheon Geon-young’s shoulders to steady herself, he urgently pressed his lips against hers.

Even as they kissed, the man’s presence grew more intense. Due to the thin texture of the functional clothing, the curves of their bodies were directly transmitted to each other.

Yoon Tae-ha tangled her fingers in his hair, closing the distance between their bodies. Then, Cheon Geon-young, who had wrapped both arms around her slender waist, briefly thrust his hips upward. She was not in a state of mind to recognize that this was a more suggestive act than simply stripping naked and rolling around.

At the blatant movement of his hips, heat began to pool in her lower abdomen. Every time she tried to pull away, Cheon Geon-young tightened his arms and pressed her down. The stimulation was overwhelming. As she braced herself, tightening her thighs, his large hand slipped inside her clothes and cupped her breast. Yoon Tae-ha gasped for breath between her barely parted lips.

Even if he had set her body on fire, she didn’t think it would feel like this.