By Zephyria 
Ho-eun diligently chased after him. However, Tae-muk’s stride was so large that it was difficult to keep up. For every one step he took, I had to take two or three, making it no different from running. My weak body quickly became breathless.
“Haa, haa…”
Every time my foot hit the ground, my whole body throbbed. I had overexerted myself too much since dawn today. The Bondmate Ceremony, the hospital, the hotel… I felt like I had poured out a week’s worth of activity into a single day, without exaggeration.
Tae-muk strode into the narrow hallway next to the restaurant restroom. Then, stairs leading to the guest rooms appeared. Golden lights were on, and a deep red carpet was laid out, but it was deserted, perhaps because it was a secluded area.
Ho-eun slightly opened his mouth. I didn’t even know there was a place like this in the hotel. How did Tae-muk know?
“Speak.”
Tae-muk, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, urged Ho-eun. His biceps were so thick that the stretched fabric looked precarious. However, Tae-muk nonchalantly brought a cigarette to his mouth.
“Haa…”
Ho-eun pressed the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve. He also wanted to lean against the wall like Tae-muk, but he refrained because it was impolite to show such behavior in front of a superior. Standing with his hands neatly folded, he spoke in a composed voice.
“Deok-woo is fine. He will limp for a while, but it’s temporary. He will be completely healed in a few months, they say.”
“…”
Tae-muk, exhaling cigarette smoke, raised one eyebrow. He looked like he didn’t understand what I was saying at all. Ho-eun sighed softly and added.
“I’m talking about the child, my servant, that you threw at the Bondmate Ceremony, General.”
“Ah. The guy who dared to charge at me with a chair.”
“…He was trying to save me.”
At the quiet retort, Tae-muk scoffed.
“Right. He had to save you from me.”
It was a meaningless remark, but Ho-eun didn’t ask again. That wasn’t important right now. He straightened his posture once more and took a half-step closer to Tae-muk.
“I hesitated because it’s late, but I thought it was only right to express my gratitude.”
“Gratitude?”
“Yes. You postponed your departure, didn’t you? Thanks to you staying here for one night, I think I can say goodbye to my family and pack my things. Thank you very much.”
“Gratitude…”
Tae-muk, taking the cigarette out of his mouth, deeply licked the inside of his cheek with his tongue. Then, he straightened his body and approached Ho-eun. Ho-eun remained still.
However, when Tae-muk moved about three steps, I had to step back. It was because he didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping. His massive size made it feel like a wall was rushing towards me.
Step, step.
Stumble, stumble.
Ho-eun continued to step back, and Tae-muk continued to approach. Eventually, Ho-eun’s back touched the wall. There was no escape. Ho-eun looked up at Tae-muk, who had come right in front of him, with fearful eyes.
Tae-muk, lowering his head to meet Ho-eun’s gaze, spoke in his unique low voice.
“Tell your father.”
“Yes?”
“Even if you throw a chest full of bombs here, there won’t be a single bastard who dies, so don’t bother doing useless things.”
“…Why would my father do such a thing?”
“Who knows? To kill me?”
At those words, Ho-eun blinked rapidly. His long, lush eyelashes moved busily.
Tae-muk frowned at that. It felt as if his eyelashes were tickling his chin. So, he slightly moved his head back. Instead, Ho-eun pushed his face forward. His eyes were more intense than ever. He seemed angry.
“My father is trying to repay your dedication to the country. Kill you? That’s absurd.”
“Bullshit.”
“Please refrain from such language!”
Tae-muk chuckled at Ho-eun’s outburst. He rubbed one eyelid with the hand holding the cigarette and criticized Ho-eun without preamble.
“You’re more foolish than you look.”
“What are you saying again…”
Ho-eun contorted his fair face without reservation at the rising anger. Tae-muk suddenly came closer. Surprised, Ho-eun stumbled backward and hit the back of his head against the wall. But he was too surprised to even feel the pain. Tae-muk, lowering his head a little deeper, spoke in a more subdued voice than before.
“If I, the God of War, die, you, my Bondmate, can be discharged.”
“Discharged…?”
“Yes. You become useless as a Bondmate, so you’re discharged. That’s the law.”
“…”
Ho-eun repeated Tae-muk’s words without blinking. So, my father would kill Tae-muk to keep me from going to the battlefield. Because that would legally discharge me?
Killing a general who leads an entire unit, no less. That great general who has killed the most Devouring Ghouls in history. The person who is more necessary than anyone else in this chaotic world. Even the person who is my only use, to be so brutally murdered. By my father.
The corners of Ho-eun’s lips twitched slightly.
“I think you’ve forgotten that I was at the Bondmate Ceremony.”
“…”
“If my father had such intentions, he wouldn’t have sent me to the Bondmate Ceremony in the first place. Wouldn’t that be easier than throwing a bomb here?”
“…”
“Don’t misinterpret my father’s intentions with such shallow thinking.”
Ho-eun was angry. He didn’t care how I was treated, but my father was not to be treated like that. It seemed like it would be better to end the meeting here. Talking any further would only build up bad feelings.
Ho-eun turned to escape from between Tae-muk and the wall. Thud. Tae-muk propped his arm against the wall.
“Ah, you understand. I’m just like that. I’m short-sighted and poorly educated.”
Ho-eun’s face twisted strangely. What was he talking about now?
“I never said that.”
“Then it’s fine.”
“Why do you keep saying such-”
“So, are you going with me tomorrow?”
“Haa… Yes. I will.”
“Do you know where we’re going?”
“I don’t. You haven’t told me. But since you’re going, General, I must go as well. I am your Bondmate, and you are my God of War.”
“…”
In that instant, Tae-muk’s eyes calmed down. He tapped his index finger, which was propping against the wall, repeatedly. The sound was somehow stinging, so Ho-eun shrank his neck and then straightened it.
“It’s going to be a rough place for a refined young master to set foot in.”
“I’m prepared.”
“How much?”
“Yes?”
“How prepared are you?”
Ho-eun felt that Tae-muk was looking down on him. Like, what can you do even if you’re prepared? What can a scholar do? It would be a relief if you didn’t get in the way. Whether Tae-muk actually thought that or not, Ho-eun certainly felt that way.
“I’ll do anything.”
Ho-eun said firmly. Did you think I went to the Bondmate Ceremony without that much resolve? Ho-eun thought about the ‘end’. I thought about the ‘end’ of being eaten by a Devouring Ghoul on the battlefield.
“Anything?”
“Yes. Anything.”
At those words, Tae-muk held out the cigarette he was holding towards Ho-eun. As if trying to support his face. Surprised by the approaching ember, Ho-eun tightly closed his eyes.
Sizzle…
Fortunately, the cigarette butt was rubbed out right next to Ho-eun’s ear. Ho-eun, who had been blank for a moment, raised his eyebrows. He thought Tae-muk was teasing him again. But at that moment.
Thump.
Tae-muk grabbed Ho-eun’s chin roughly. Then, his lips met Ho-eun’s directly.
“…”
Ho-eun’s eyes widened as if they would fall out. He couldn’t immediately grasp this action and remained frozen. Then, the moment Tae-muk sucked on his entire lips with a “chwup,” he suddenly came to his senses.
“What are you…”
Ho-eun pushed Tae-muk’s chest away without regard for etiquette or anything else. However, Tae-muk didn’t budge. Rather, he grabbed Ho-eun’s chin and cheeks at once with his large hand and deeply forced his tongue into his parted teeth.
His tongue was hot. And it tasted like cigarettes, and it also tasted like alcohol. All of which were unfamiliar to Ho-eun. Of course, the most unfamiliar thing was Tae-muk’s, well, Tae-muk’s… taste. I don’t know if you can attach the word taste to a person, but he certainly had his taste.
“Uup, hup, euut…”
Tae-muk wantonly violated Ho-eun. He sucked on his lips, bit them, intertwined his tongue, and licked his teeth and palate as if stabbing them. Every time his tongue moved, Ho-eun’s white cheeks bulged and then flattened. Sometimes he shoved his tongue deep into his throat, and then Ho-eun would gag briefly.
It felt as if his entire mouth was being seared with a hot iron by the hot tongue. When he unknowingly moved his Adam’s apple due to lack of breath, Tae-muk’s saliva went down with it. That was unbearably humiliating.
“Hwup, heuuk, uu, eup!”
Ho-eun shouted something diligently even with his mouth blocked. At the same time, he struggled to remove Tae-muk’s hand that was grabbing his chin, but for some reason, the more Ho-eun put strength into his grip, the deeper the kiss became.
In the end, Tae-muk’s teeth collided with his, making a snapping sound, and sometimes his tongue, unable to control its strength, would bounce off after stabbing around in his mouth and lick his philtrum or chin.
Ho-eun hit, pushed, and struggled against Tae-muk, resisting fiercely. But that resistance didn’t last long.
“Heu…”
His limbs drooped powerlessly. Struggle and resistance require strength. He had used a kind of desperate strength that he had never used in his life, and his vision was spinning. Whether it was because the fever had returned or because he had caught the fever from Tae-muk, his whole body was hot.
With the resistance subsiding, Tae-muk wrapped his arms around Ho-eun’s slender waist and mixed his lips even more fiercely. The fine silk clothes were crushed against his hands and arms, wrinkled haphazardly.