It was a night with a moon as pale as a ghost.

     Cheon Beom-joon felt an ominous premonition as he waited for the person who had sent the invitation to appear. A luxurious cruise ship with an unrevealed inviter. Judging from the fact that they enjoyed such a childish event that even kindergarteners might do, it was highly likely to be a nouveau riche wallowing in delusions.

     The ship sailed serenely across the black sea. Those sitting in the main hall came up to the deck after hearing the announcement. After a while, a staff member in black clothes appeared and began to tinker with the holographic equipment installed on the deck.

     Cheon Beom-joon kept his bodyguards at a suitable distance and found a spot that wouldn’t draw people’s attention, but wasn’t too isolated either.

     The invited guests were all people with mouths as heavy as the ledgers they owned. They were infamous in their respective fields for various reasons. Among them, Cheon Beom-joon narrowed his eyes as he spotted a brown-haired young man who would become the successor of Blackwood Systems.

     After a while, when people’s attention had gathered appropriately, a holographic image was projected onto the dark night sky. An announcement appeared, asking them to equip the communication devices they had been given upon boarding.

     They go to great lengths. Cheon Beom-joon frowned and plugged the device into his ear. Then, he could hear the sound coming from the video.

     — This is an era that requires people who can make bold and progressive decisions.

     Along with the voice, images of protestors holding placards with the gist that ordinary people’s lives were in danger because powerful individuals were monopolizing espers were broadcast. There were also protests demanding that all espers belonging to private companies should be liberated and made to belong to Arc.

     — To provide you with the dignified life you rightfully deserve, we have created a paradise operated by principles.

     Afterwards, the image of a futuristic city built on a vast island appeared, accompanied by the sophisticated sound of orchestral instruments.

     The video described a ridiculous utopia as something grand. A lucky island that only the chosen could enter.

     When the word Elysion appeared, Cheon Beom-joon crossed his legs and leaned back.

     Since the advent of the era of rifts, this kind of agitation had occurred frequently. Dozens of people claiming to have heard the call of God poured out every day. Of course, those who claimed to have received revelations were rather humble.

     Because delusional individuals who called themselves gods and claimed they would open a new paradise or bring forth hell crawled out like cockroaches. There was even a joke going around that if all of God’s servants were on Earth right now, heaven would be empty.

     ‘Orca is just a bunch of those mediocre fools after all.’

     An organization made up of fanatics like Orca wouldn’t last long. Only money. It was a world where only organizations that placed numbers as their top priority survived tenaciously. Thanks to this video, Cheon Beom-joon decided to cut ties with Orca immediately. He would start working as soon as he got off the cruise.

     Looking at the reactions around him, the others were no different from him. Skeptical murmurs. Cold sneers. A commotion that the inviter wouldn’t be pleased with spread across the deck. Just then, someone walked out to the center of the deck where the video projection had ended.

     The man said that they could meet the person who had sent the invitation at the same place and time two days later. He asked them to please rest comfortably in the oasis on the sea where everything would be prepared by then.

     People clicked their tongues and dispersed. Cheon Beom-joon also got up, thinking that it didn’t matter who became the leader of Orca.

     \*

     Yoon Tae-ha, who had gotten up from the sofa, found a blanket covering her body. With her mind still hazy from sleep, she buried her face in it.

     A small sigh escaped her lips as she recalled what had happened last night. She truly hated her pathetic self.

     The room was quiet. She neatly folded the blanket and peeked into the bedroom, but Cheon Geon-young wasn’t there. She didn’t hear the sound of water either. Feeling suddenly uneasy, she bit her lip and searched the room, freezing when she found a note attached to the refrigerator.

     〈Strawberry juice sold on the first floor of the hotel.

     Going to work out on the 20th floor.

     Don’t eat breakfast alone.〉

     It was Cheon Geon-young’s handwriting. When she opened the refrigerator door, a cold air enveloped her. A fresh fruit juice that looked like it hadn’t been bought long ago sat alone behind a shelf.

     Writing the source of the drink, noting where he was, and even deciding what she should do after waking up were all very much like him.

     The righteousness of a person who had embodied systems and principles. Something she didn’t have. That might be why she admired him more. Because he was a man who looked like he had no wrinkles even without wearing a uniform. A faint smile spread across Yoon Tae-ha’s lips.

     Did he think she would doubt the ingredients of the drink if he didn’t write where he bought it? One would think that time had already passed. She chewed on the half-crushed ice, trying to crush the guilt she felt towards Cheon Geon-young as well. But she failed.

     Because the juice was cold and sweet. It strongly reminded her of someone.

     Unlike before, when she would wake up, wash, and immediately grab the steering wheel, staying only within the hotel left her with nothing to do. Baek Sang-ho had told her to recharge her energy in the accommodation for ten days.

     However, for someone like her, spare time couldn’t lead to comfortable rest. Especially in this situation, a one-on-one meeting with the person she usually disliked the most awaited her.

     Yoon Tae-ha turned the single-person sofa to face the window and then collapsed onto it. A pale woman’s face was reflected in the window.

     I want to look like a good person.

     She didn’t know since when. She wanted to look like a decent person to him. Not an esper whose eyes were bloodshot. Someone not much different from him. But looking at the path she had walked, who would believe that?

     An esper whose human rights were violated by an international organization. That’s who Cheon Geon-young knew her to be. But she knew better than anyone that that wasn’t all of her. As long as he was someone who came from the outside, and she was someone who grew up inside, the gap wouldn’t narrow.

     Should I have tried to live kindly?

     She pressed her dry eyelids with her fingers. Just then, a small sound occurred, and the door opened. Yoon Tae-ha turned her head, unable to hide her expectant expression.

     Cheon Geon-young stood there. As their eyes met, he smiled softly, like a late spring afternoon.

     Her eyes felt like they were drooping downwards, but only the corners of her mouth comically followed him upwards. My face. It must look strange right now. Even as Yoon Tae-ha thought that, she couldn’t stop her awkward expression. He dropped the bag on the floor with a thud and approached her with quick steps.

     A man who never rushed, why? Did something happen?

     Reaching the sofa, he leaned only his upper body and grabbed Yoon Tae-ha’s nape. And then he urgently pressed his lips against hers.

     Lips pressed deeply, as if to confirm the other’s existence. The fragrant scent of someone who had just showered. Yoon Tae-ha braced herself, tightening her core to avoid falling backwards. His high nose brushed against her cheek strangely. She felt impatient as their lips parted.

     “Did you wait for me?”

     Cheon Geon-young, having parted his lips, asked urgently. The hand that had been around her nape moved forward to cup her cheeks and chin.

     Cheon Geon-young sent a rough and hasty gaze. Expecting the words that would come from her lips. His waiting expression thrilled Yoon Tae-ha.

     Such brilliant eyes, even in the underground where not a single ray of light entered. It couldn’t be a dream. Because she didn’t have the ability to create such a good dream.

     Yoon Tae-ha sprang up from the sofa. When she placed her feet on the armrest, Cheon Geon-young rushed towards her. As if worried she would fall from a place less than a meter high. She resolutely fell into his arms.

     Landing on his solid chest, Yoon Tae-ha dangled her legs. Thick arms pressed against her waist and back.

     “I waited.”

     Cheon Geon-young narrowed his eyes. He had an expression that doubted whether he had heard her correctly.

     “I missed you, so I waited.”

     The subdued fierce momentum returned. Cheon Geon-young buried his face in her chest and sat down on the long sofa.

     Yoon Tae-ha was the first to find the other’s lips. She wanted to see him desperately wanting her again. Cheon Geon-young also moved his hands as if he wanted to hear a different sound than calm explanations.

     They mingled in the heat that rose like heat haze. Twisting her elicited a groan, and exerting force caused a painful breath to burst forth. Yoon Tae-ha swayed, feeling the man’s rough palms wrapped around her waist like a noose. The speed was overwhelming.

     Time passed, and the lips of the two who had reached their peak simultaneously parted. They gazed at each other’s eyes with admiration, exhaling heightened breaths. Looking at the traces of clothes that hadn’t been completely removed, Cheon Geon-young said in a low, husky voice.

     “Why do it here instead of the bed?”

     “Was it bad?”

     At the provocative question, strength entered the jawline that Yoon Tae-ha liked.

     I made him like this.

     A bizarre level of satisfaction twisted her. She wanted him to take away all the feelings that had leaked from her suppressed places. Her messed-up past. Her future that wasn’t clearly drawn. She wanted to forget everything in his embrace. Even the aching sensation all over her body was good because he was the one giving it. Yoon Tae-ha couldn’t hold back her overflowing feelings and whispered after kissing his cheek.

     “You’re pretty. Even more so from above……”

     Yoon Tae-ha couldn’t finish her sentence. Cheon Geon-young, pouring even guiding on top of the already full pleasure, laid her down on the narrow sofa and thrust fiercely. His gaze, a mixture of awe and tenderness, fully revealed its form. Something pure, with no room for calculation. He, who never rushed, lost his composure and descended to the bottom.

     With the increasingly intense stimulation, she couldn’t even make a sound and hugged his neck tightly. A thick groan scattered near her ear. Yoon Tae-ha. Her name mixed in between. His voice seeped into the deep places within her body.

     Like an indelible brand.

     \*

     Since the sky couldn’t be seen, the concept of time tended to blur in Cocytus. Yoon Tae-ha, tormented by Cheon Geon-young, fell asleep in his embrace as if fainting. When she opened her eyes again, she was on the bed.

     She picked up the clothes right next to her without even checking whose they were and put them on. They were a bit big when she looked down, and she realized they were Cheon Geon-young’s.

     It was hard even to raise her arms to change, so she just wore them and came out of the bedroom. Cheon Geon-young was neatly arranging the food he had received from room service on the table.

     She approached with soft footsteps and hugged the man’s broad back. Cheon Geon-young turned his head and looked at her attire, a languid satisfaction appearing on his face.

     “I’m hungry.”

     “You look like you’ve lost weight. You.”

     “I haven’t. The numbers are the same. I guess it’s because I’ve been working out a lot.”

     Yoon Tae-ha inhaled the man’s scent to her heart’s content and buried her face in his dense, muscular back. I want to keep doing this. If only we could just be like this, without thinking about anything. She was surprised by her own selfishness, but she couldn’t stop thinking that way.

     Cheon Geon-young politely pulled out a chair for her and gestured for her to sit down. He was anxious to put even one more bite of food into Yoon Tae-ha’s mouth.

     Soft meat that was easily cut even with a fork was constantly delivered to her lips. Yoon Tae-ha felt embarrassed but readily accepted it.

     Watching her obediently accept the food, Cheon Geon-young briefly had a silly thought about taking cooking classes after returning from the mission. He hoped she would find his cooking more delicious than what others made.