By Zephyria 
HF 61
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Cheon Mu-gyeong… had been in the demon-taming cave? But wasn’t he the son of the cult leader? Ho-yeon couldn’t make head or tail of his words. Sitting up, Ho-yeon couldn’t even bring himself to stop Mu-gyeong from caressing his ankle.
“…Why?”
“Because when I opened my eyes, I was in the demon-taming cave.”
“You were?”
It was a question implying that who else but Cheon Mu-gyeong would be thrown into the demon-taming cave. Mu-gyeong now grabbed the opposite leg and caressed the similarly reddened skin.
“This seat likely wasn’t the heavenly demon from the moment of birth.”
Indeed, it was unlikely that Cheon Mu-gyeong had shouted the first form of the heavenly demon divine art instead of crying when he was born.
“Were you locked up there as a child?”
“Can you only focus on one thing at a time?”
As Cheon Mu-gyeong pulled the ankle he held in his hand, Ho-yeon’s body flopped back onto the bed. Fortunately, the silk-covered pillow supported his head, so there was no impact. With one leg held by him, Ho-yeon looked up at Mu-gyeong with slightly anxious eyes.
“What… does that mean.”
He wouldn’t break his ankle, but the shadow cast over him was imposing. Even while holding the ankle, the large hand had room to spare, causing the leg to dangle and move following his touch.
“I’m asking if you’re so distracted that you wouldn’t even notice if your body were given away.”
As Mu-gyeong brought his face close to the red ankle, Ho-yeon tried to push him away with his free foot. This was because he thought the man was about to kiss his ankle.
However, without budging an inch, Mu-gyeong bared his teeth and bit the area where the red energy lingered.
“Ah!”
Shock flooded Ho-yeon’s eyes. It was true that he had been distracted by the mention of the demon-taming cave, but to bite his ankle… With tooth marks engraved in the red flesh, it looked strangely erotic, as if he had been sucked and bitten. Since it was impossible to escape his grip by his own strength, Ho-yeon could only curl his toes tightly.
A peach-like color spread across each of his white toe joints. On a body that was entirely white, only the rounded joints showed color. If one were to look for the darkest spots on Ho-yeon’s body, it would be the mole beneath his chin, followed by his pomegranate-like nipples.
Ho-yeon shrank back, fearing his other ankle would be bitten as well. Like a beast hiding its claws, Mu-gyeong wrapped his hand around Ho-yeon’s curled foot. Mu-gyeong’s warmth seeped into the foot that was always chilled.
Despite this, Ho-yeon did not relax, but as Mu-gyeong let go of his foot and seemed to pounce over him, he could only remain frozen.
Mu-gyeong’s thick hair cast a curtain over him. Ho-yeon gasped at the heavy scent of sandalwood emanating from him. Although they shared a bed to exchange their energies, Mu-gyeong generally entered while Ho-yeon was asleep and disappeared before he woke. It had been a long time since he felt such a suffocating sensation.
For a while, his member hadn’t even been sore, so he hadn’t had the leisure to think about such things. Of course, Ho-yeon did not know that his member, which had been touched and massaged several times during the night, had become more resilient than before.
If Mu-gyeong also didn’t know about Ho-yeon, he might have been convinced that he was a scion of the palace master, raised delicately in the ice palace. Since he was ignorant of sex, it was believable that he had been raised as a precious treasure, untouched by the filth of the secular world.
Yet, seeing how he was utterly shocked by the mere fact of having an erection, it was as if Ho-yeon had lived a life where his sexual desire had been castrated. Though lately, he had been getting erections quite readily.
Ho-yeon was trapped within Mu-gyeong’s arms, their lower bodies pressed against each other. Unaware that his own member was erect, he showed signs of discomfort at the member pressing down on him. Just as he was wriggling, trying to pull his hips away, he realized that his own had also stood stiffly.
Their members pressed against each other through the sleepwear. Since he could not escape Cheon Mu-gyeong, who was intentionally pinning him down, Ho-yeon instead spoke hurriedly.
“D-don’t do anything strange. We agreed to just do this.”
Ho-yeon reached out and hugged Mu-gyeong’s thick upper body. He had responded by hugging him because he was so flustered, but in doing so, he ended up pressing his upper body against the other, following the lower body.
Startled, he tried to pull his arms away, but Mu-gyeong instead crossed his arms around Ho-yeon’s back and pulled him into a hug. His hand even slipped inside the sleepwear, stimulating the bare skin.
The moment he felt the full weight of the body pressing down, Ho-yeon gasped like a crucian carp, fearing he might be crushed to death. Fortunately, Mu-gyeong rose to his knees and lifted Ho-yeon up while holding him. Still, the grip of the arms choked his breath. Cheon Mu-gyeong buried his face in the crook of Ho-yeon’s neck and inhaled as he always did.
“I… I can’t breathe.”
“Unfortunately.”
The low voice scattering against his neck sent a tingle through his lower abdomen.
“I find it quite breathable.”
Since he suffered from fire energy, it likely meant that having the frost-laden Ho-yeon by his side made breathing easier, but it still felt strange.
“We promised… to just sleep while hugging.”
“It seems the disciple has a talent for inventing promises.”
It had been Ho-yeon’s unilateral suggestion, not a mutual pact. Cheon Mu-gyeong supported the back with one hand and brought the other hand forward. As the hand slid up the flat skin of the belly, it caught on a nipple. The small but firm bud scratched against Mu-gyeong’s hand teasingly.
“I told you… this is something you only do with a lover.”
“It is instinct for fire to seek water.”
“Fire and water are opposites…!”
Even while panting in the tight embrace, Ho-yeon said his piece. However, because fire possesses a destructive nature that burns everything, it paradoxically yearns for the water that can soothe it. Furthermore, though he spoke of fire and water, they were in truth Yang and Yin that must coexist.
“Are we opposites?”
Right now, they were rather mutually beneficial. Knowing this, Ho-yeon shut his lips.
“But this isn’t the right way. Abok also… said there’s nothing like this in the demon sect.”
Flinch—the muscles of Cheon Mu-gyeong, pressed against him, moved more menacingly.
“What is not there?”
He withdrew the hand that had been supporting Ho-yeon’s back and pressed him down. Consequently, Ho-yeon fell back onto the bed, his white hair swallowing the gold bedding.
“That men… do such things to each other in the demon sect.”
Ho-yeon looked into the crimson eyes, his face reflecting the worry that he had made a slip of the tongue.
“I asked the servant if men press their cocks together.”
Not ‘small pepper’ or ‘member,’ but ‘cock’…
Ho-yeon was appalled by the vulgarity he had rarely heard. He had never imagined it would come from Cheon Mu-gyeong’s mouth. Although he knew well that the man’s manner of speaking was not refined and was far removed from that of a virtuous young master, the bewilderment was indescribable.
Mu-gyeong’s hand now completely gripped the nape of Ho-yeon’s neck.
“I didn’t say it like that… I just asked if close men ever rub their bodies together.”
At that time, Abok’s expression had been one of ‘Huh? What did I just hear?’ Even with his eyes covered by cloth, the reaction was clear.
“Does the ice palace have such a culture? But Young Master Wi… no matter how close you are, if you did such a thing to another man in the divine cult, it would be a disaster. It is a matter that could lead to a sword fight. And you would have nothing to say even if you were killed by that sword.”
Abok had actually misunderstood him and gone so far as to persuade him against it. Ho-yeon felt quite wronged, but he could never bring himself to mention that he had rubbed cocks with Cheon Mu-gyeong.
“And then?”
While gripping the nape, Mu-gyeong extended his index finger and rubbed the two moles beneath the chin together.
“He said… there would be a sword fight.”
A short, dry laugh escaped Mu-gyeong’s lips. Ho-yeon hadn’t misseen it; his chest vibrated along with the laugh.
“Then you must have asked me to teach you martial arts with the intention of starting a sword fight against me.”
Ho-yeon’s mouth fell open in sheer frustration.
“How can you possibly understand my words that way? And I asked Abok after you said you’d teach me the lightfoot technique.”
Ho-yeon appealed his innocence, still tense.
“I wondered if you asked for the lightfoot technique first specifically so you could escape easily.”
This time, Ho-yeon almost let out a hiccup.
“I have no intention of escaping. Really. I just said it then because I was so frustrated.”
Ho-yeon spoke of the escape plan he had mentioned when the man was still Young Master Wi of the demonic shadow martial house. Asking him to believe him, Ho-yeon grabbed the arm wrapped around his neck with both hands.
“You’re… doing this just to take my energy more easily and in greater amounts, right? Even the cultists say this is nonsense. Then, teaching me martial arts faster would be—”
Haah, a short breath escaped Ho-yeon’s lips. It was because Cheon Mu-gyeong had gripped the back of his neck tightly and pulled him in.
“Cultists?”
A sneer played on Mu-gyeong’s lips.
“Young Master Wi, I am the law of this cult.”
He bit the nape of Ho-yeon’s neck, which felt like nothing more than a handful.