Thud—the wall shuddered.
My back hit the wall again as the kiss continued, after my waist had been pulled into Kwon Taehyuk’s arms.
“Hah....”
Through the small gap where our lips barely separated, I could feel Kwon Taehyuk’s restrained, scorching breath.
Unable to control his excitement, Kwon Taehyuk pressed me into the wall—and he couldn’t even wait through that brief moment before he swallowed my lips again, a little rougher this time.
“Mn, hng....”
A small moan slipped out of me without thinking. The hand that had reflexively grabbed Kwon Taehyuk’s arm trembled faintly.
‘No—what the hell, how does he learn this fast...?!’
As I got swept up in the relentless kiss, I was horrified inside.
I’d definitely been the one leading at first.
I’d pressed down on his awkward, stiff tongue and swept over it, pulled my lips away for a moment so Kwon Taehyuk—who couldn’t control his breathing—could breathe, and I’d even bitten his lips lightly to tell him to focus.
But at some point—
When had it started?
Kwon Taehyuk began pushing ahead, faster and rougher than me, and now I was getting dragged along helplessly.
‘Was touching his waist the problem?’
It was something I did out of habit, to help him relax.
But it felt like from that moment, Kwon Taehyuk started grabbing my body without hesitation—yanking me in, holding me, pushing me—and driving the kiss like he was storming me.
‘It feels like I dug my own grave.’
Even as I did my best to take it, I couldn’t shake how unfair it felt.
And then—
Kwon Taehyuk noticed I was thinking about something else like he was a ghost, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
Then, like I’d done to him, he bit my lip just enough to sting—and moved his hand.
“Mn—w-wait....”
My shirt lifted a little, and the moment someone’s hand touched my back, my body jerked up on its own.
‘God. Of course. Like he’s not a man or something.’
Seriously—men’s hands being this fast is a problem.
At least it was Kwon Taehyuk and it was just my back. If it had been some other guy... no. Forget it. Don’t even imagine it.
Grumbling inside, I shoved Kwon Taehyuk’s shoulder with a fair amount of strength. Kwon Taehyuk paused, then obediently pulled his lips away and stepped back. Thank God he still had that much sense.
Since we’d been biting and sucking at each other so much, both my lips and Kwon Taehyuk’s were flushed red with blood.
Taking a step back and looking at my lips, Kwon Taehyuk’s face turned even redder, and he lowered his head slightly.
‘Don’t be embarrassed. You’re making me embarrassed too.’
I gave a small, pointless cough, then spoke while stubbornly refusing to acknowledge how awkward I felt.
“Uh, Guildmaster. You don’t have to... rush like that. It’s not like I’m going to run away.”
I tossed it out lightly with a bit of a joke, partly to loosen the mood.
It was also advice, said indirectly, for Kwon Taehyuk—who was acting like a total newbie having his first real kiss.
“Was I... rushing? I’m sorry.”
At my words, Kwon Taehyuk’s face flared red again.
Not just his face—his ears all the way down under his neck were bright red. Even his fully buttoned shirt looked like it would be hot.
“No. There’s nothing to apologize for...”
I rubbed my face dry.
Watching Kwon Taehyuk be this genuinely embarrassed with all his might, I didn’t know what to do either.
Up until now, the people I’d kissed were either about as experienced as me, or more. So this fresh reaction was new to me too.
An awkward silence settled in.
‘Usually you naturally end the kiss, shift the conversation to food, or go to the bedroom.’
But it wasn’t time to eat, and there was absolutely no way I was planning to drag Kwon Taehyuk into the bedroom.
After thinking for a moment, as the more experienced one, I took responsibility and brought up an appropriate topic.
“Aren’t you tired, Guildmaster? You should rest no—”
“Hunter Cha Seohu.”
Kwon Taehyuk suddenly lifted his head sharply and spoke with a resolved expression.
“Then... does that mean I just have to do it without rushing?”
“Huh?”
“Is it because I rushed... that you were uncomfortable?”
After hesitating, Kwon Taehyuk carefully pulled me in by the waist again. His whole face was still red as he looked down at me and whispered low.
“Then this time, I’ll do it more slowly—so you won’t feel uncomfortable or burdened...”
“...Ha.”
Staring up at him blankly, I let out a laugh that sounded like a sigh.
It took me too long to notice because of Kwon Taehyuk’s stiff way of speaking.
Those black eyes looking at me with desperation, and the arm wrapped around my waist with strength like he didn’t want to let me go.
Kwon Taehyuk wasn’t an idiot. There was no way he hadn’t realized I was about to end this strange atmosphere and send him out.
Which meant there was only one possibility.
Right now, Kwon Taehyuk was doing his absolute best to tempt me—begging, in his own way, for just one more kiss.
The moment I realized it, a faint shiver shot up along my waist.
The satisfaction of a man who lacked for nothing grabbing me just to get one kiss.
And the excitement of being certain the other person wanted me in the same way.
The words of refusal that had been up in my throat vanished in an instant.
‘Now I don’t even know anymore.’
One kiss or two kisses—what was the difference? It wasn’t like my [N O V E L I G H T] lips would wear down and disappear.
Instead of pushing Kwon Taehyuk away, I lifted the corner of my mouth and smiled. Seeing my smile, the thirst in Kwon Taehyuk’s eyes deepened.
We didn’t need any more conversation.
Our eyes met, our bodies pressed close, and language lost its meaning.
When our lips met again, it was slow and deep—just like Kwon Taehyuk had promised.
The rough, forceful momentum from before was gone. Instead, every sensation became sharper, and in the quiet, the wet sound echoing in my ears was vivid.
And so, for the first time in a long time, I kept kissing him for a long time—not for a physical relationship, but because our hearts matched.
The rooftop of Yesung Guild’s towering building.
Cha Sahyeon stood without wavering on top of the thin railing and tilted his head slightly.
In the cold night wind, his black hair scattered softly.
Cha Sahyeon slowly opened the eyes he’d had closed and drew his brows together.
‘I can’t feel anything.’
Even after waiting a long time while keeping his senses linked to the shadow he’d sent to J, he still couldn’t detect J’s presence.
Staring into the distant night sky where darkness had settled, Cha Sahyeon blinked slowly.
‘I have a bad feeling.’
Sahyeon recalled what had happened in Spiderweb’s core.
The ring that a man named Eun Woojeong had pulled out. The presence of his own energy that had flowed out from it.
That human having a ring containing his energy was surprising, but not impossible.
Cha Sahyeon’s energy—meaning the Catastrophe’s energy—had already been scattered all over the world in the first place, not just in that ring.
It was just that its uses differed depending on how concentrated it was.
Even the green flower with black stems that Cha Seohu found and dealt with every time was one form of the Catastrophe’s energy—its concentration was extremely faint, but still.
The choker item that made Cha Sahyeon’s body look younger and concealed his presence to about B-rank.
The gemstone attached to that item was similar to the ring too.
After he awakened at the church, in order to stay by Cha Seohu’s side, Cha Sahyeon had personally gone to the desert, killed a monster infused with the Catastrophe’s energy, and made that item.
‘But bro doesn’t know.’
As he digested the energy that had flowed in from the ring, Cha Sahyeon recalled more memories.
He still didn’t know whether that would turn out to be a good thing.
Even before going to Spiderweb’s core, Sahyeon had been carrying one important doubt he hadn’t been able to bring himself to ask Cha Seohu.
And now that he’d recovered more of his memories, he couldn’t bring himself to voice that doubt with his own mouth.
Because he already expected the answer.
Kreeeeek!
From far off in the sky, the cry of the shadow bird rang out.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Cha Sahyeon lifted an arm toward the bird. It landed familiarly on his forearm.
‘Even though my presence got stronger, I still couldn’t track down J.’
He’d thought he could, since he’d gained more strength.
Just thinking about having to deliver the result—failure—to Cha Seohu made his mouth taste bitter.
Kreeek, keek.
As if comforting him, the bird let out a small cry and tilted its head. Then the shadow bird’s green eyes met Cha Sahyeon’s green eyes.
Receiving the bird’s memories, Cha Sahyeon gave a short nod and lowered his arm. The bird turned into shadow and seeped into the floor.
He hadn’t found J, but he had found the whereabouts of the other person Cha Seohu had asked about.
“Hyun Dowoon.”
He was surprisingly close.
Circle Guild.
He had to go there.

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