By Zephyria 
Splash!
Seong Mu-yeon, who emerged from the water first, took a deep breath of the air he had been holding. Fresh air rushed into his lungs.
He couldn’t relax just yet. Seong Mu-yeon scanned his surroundings for a moment to see if any other threats awaited them.
However, all that met his eyes was a long flight of stairs stretching out before him. At the top of the stairs, he could see the bright blue sky and the edge of the roof of the pavilion he had seen for the first time. The light was coming from there.
He had survived.
Seong Mu-yeon collapsed right there on the wet floor. Baek Ryeo-il, who emerged shortly after, looked around with a relaxed expression and wrung out his wet clothes.
“Let’s go.”
Baek Ryeo-il urged him forward. Seong Mu-yeon truly didn’t want to lift a single finger, but he didn’t want to stay in this place for a moment longer. He lugged his body upward, feeling as heavy as a thousand pounds of water-soaked cloth.
They moved toward the light along the stairs.
At the top of the stairs stood a platform. And a massive stone statue looked down upon them with a noble, imposing aura, as if congratulating them on passing the final trial.
It was nothing short of bad taste.
A surge of murderous intent rose toward the Poison Freak, who had put them through such hardship. If the Poison Freak were before him now, he would strangle him.
As he moved his heavy legs one step at a time with that thought, Baek Ryeo-il suddenly stopped and brought Seong Mu-yeon to a halt as well.
“You persistent bastards. You actually followed me all the way here?”
Speak of the devil.
The Poison Freak was standing atop the stone statue at the end of the stairs. Upon seeing him, sparks flew in Seong Mu-yeon’s eyes.
“You son of a bitch, I’m glad I found you! Come here. Just take one hit from me.”
He had already been imagining all sorts of violent things regarding the man.
As Seong Mu-yeon shouted fiercely, the Poison Freak flinched for a moment as if frightened, but quickly regained his composure.
“Hahaha! Too bad, but you won’t be able to lay a single finger on me! Did you think you could get out? Not a chance!”
The Poison Freak shouted triumphantly and placed his foot on the head of the statue.
“Do you know how hollow it felt when I found the secret vault after barely surviving death, only to find nothing in it? But the effort was worth it! I knew a day like this would come. This is a grave prepared entirely for you! Now, farewell!”
The Poison Freak pushed the statue with a surge of strength from his foot.
The massive statue tilted and crashed forward. Then, it began to slide down the slope.
“That crazy bastard!”
“I’m off! See you later in the afterlife!”
The Poison Freak’s gleeful voice faded into the distance. The statue, which fit the diameter of the stairs perfectly, rushed toward them with terrifying momentum.
The way back was completely blocked, and returning the way they came meant going back into a sea of water. It was a choice between being crushed to death or drowning.
“Damn it!”
Baek Ryeo-il leaped forward and grabbed the center of the statue as it slid down at a frightening speed.
Thump!
“Urgh…!”
A massive impact hit him. The muscles in his entire body writhed as if they were about to explode, but he couldn’t overcome the acceleration and weight of the falling statue and began to slide backward. Fragments of broken stairs sprayed in all directions beneath his feet.
“Master!”
Seong Mu-yeon quickly rushed to Baek Ryeo-il’s side to lend his strength.
Even with the two of them combining their power, they could only manage to slow the speed. The two of them were gradually pushed back by the weight of the statue.
Even the single streak of light that had felt like hope grew dim, blocked by the statue.
It seemed the Poison Freak had prepared this properly.
In truth, while the traps in the secret vault were annoying, they weren’t a practical threat to martial artists of their caliber. This was because the traps had not been designed to take lives in the first place.
But this time was different.
The Poison Freak had waited for his enemies to break through all the obstacles and reach the end, only to create an inescapable trap here.
Seong Mu-yeon caught his breath and shifted his gaze. He saw Baek Ryeo-il’s handsome profile. Beads of sweat formed on his firm jaw before dripping away.
“…What I said earlier.”
With a face turned bright red from the exertion, Seong Mu-yeon stammered.
“I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry. Because of me, things turned out like this…”
Baek Ryeo-il also gasped for air and glanced at Seong Mu-yeon. His face was likewise distorted from pouring out all his strength, sweat streaming down.
As their eyes met, Seong Mu-yeon’s eyes suddenly welled up. He felt utterly pathetic for wasting his opportunity by only throwing tantrums. Like a fool.
“I didn’t come here to fight. I came because there was something I wanted to say, ugh… I-if we can’t get out of here… To Master…”
“Shut up! I wondered what you were going to say!”
Baek Ryeo-il barked.
“Who says we can’t get out!”
Baek Ryeo-il took a deep breath, and his muscles began to expand visibly. Then, he strained until his face turned crimson.
Crr-ack.
Surprisingly, the statue began to be pushed back inch by inch.
“Aaaaaagh!!”
Baek Ryeo-il let out a shout of exertion.
His arm muscles writhed, and with explosive power, he pushed the boulder away. Seong Mu-yeon, who had been frozen in surprise for a moment, quickly snapped out of it and pushed the statue along with him. He pushed his inner force to the absolute limit.
As the two of them exerted all their strength together, the massive statue began to move backward with a thunderous roar.
With one final shout, Baek Ryeo-il struck the statue. The statue flew back the way it had come, pulverizing the landing of the stairs. It didn’t stop there, disappearing toward the bright blue sky.
Boom…
The faint sound of the statue falling could be heard in the distance. Once the path was open, Baek Ryeo-il wrapped his arm around Seong Mu-yeon’s waist and leaped up the stairs, where the steps had been gouged away.
Finally, the two of them were able to stand beneath the clear sky.
“Huff… huff…”
Seong Mu-yeon breathed heavily. Baek Ryeo-il was the same.
They looked at each other simultaneously. As if drawn by magnets, neither could take their eyes off the other.
“…”
It didn’t matter who started first. Before they knew it, they were pulling each other close, sharing a deep kiss. The relief of returning from the brink of death and an explosive excitement enveloped their entire bodies.
Deeper.
Seong Mu-yeon kept pulling and pulling, like someone desperate to pull the other completely into his own body.
Tangled together without hiding their longing for one another, they eventually lost their balance and collapsed to one side.
After that, they rolled here and there, refusing to be apart for even a second. They struggled to swallow each other’s breath, caressing every inch of each other’s bodies, unable to break free.
Just then, a groan was heard from a short distance away.
“Ugh, uuu…”
The Poison Freak was pinned under a boulder. It seemed that while fleeing, he had the misfortune of getting one leg caught under the falling statue.
The two of them glanced at the Poison Freak and then continued what they were doing.
When the Poison Freak, groaning in pain, opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Baek Ryeo-il and Seong Mu-yeon tangled together as one mass.
“What are you doing sticking to each other so filthily! Ack, my eyes! Get apart, get apart!”
The unwelcome spectator squawked. He was miserable enough to be ignored, and seeing those two hateful bastards entwined was nauseating. However, he was in a position where he couldn’t move, his leg firmly wedged.
Even if he closed his eyes and covered his ears, the fact that those two were rolling around in front of him remained unchanged.
“Either get apart or go get a room, you dog-like bastards—aaagh! …Ack!”
The Poison Freak, who had been screaming as if vomiting blood, suddenly went silent with a single shriek. Without even turning his head, Baek Ryeo-il had blindly reached for a jagged stone and hit him square in the head, knocking him unconscious.
Seong Mu-yeon heard the sound as well, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want to be apart from Baek Ryeo-il for even a moment. He only wanted to remain attached to him forever, as if they were one body.
Regardless of the dirt and grass staining their wet clothes, they focused all their attention on desiring one another.
There was nothing standing between them.
Seong Mu-yeon’s heart overflowed with pure joy. It was the joy that comes when a precious person is by one’s side and one is connected to that person.
The sun, racing toward noon, shone down obliquely, and the taste of sweet water lingered on Baek Ryeo-il’s lips.
After tossing and turning, Seong Mu-yeon was now lying atop Baek Ryeo-il’s body, biting his lips.
Only after tasting the other’s lips to his satisfaction did the passionate excitement that had consumed his mind subside, and his reason returned slightly.
After repeating a few short, lingering kisses, the two finally parted their lips and looked at each other.
Under the bright light, Baek Ryeo-il’s pitch-black eyes revealed an iris that was usually difficult to distinguish from the pupil.
He lowered his thick eyelashes, beaded with droplets of water, and looked deep into Seong Mu-yeon as if carving him into his memory. In his gaze, the soft line of his lips, and his relaxed jaw, Seong Mu-yeon felt an immeasurable depth of affection directed toward him.
Baek Ryeo-il took a breath as if steadying himself and opened his mouth.
“I…”
But in the end, he couldn’t follow through with the words, his lips merely fluttering. Seong Mu-yeon waited patiently for him to speak again.