Chapter : 09
Haran bit down hard on the index finger of his right hand without hesitation.
Crunch.
The metallic taste of blood spread through his mouth. With a faint sense of weariness, he quickly wrote the spell across the hanji with his bloodied finger.
Seal.
Lock.
Destroy.
The red blood seeped into the paper, giving it a faint glow. Haran held his breath and roughly shoved the hanji into the center of the rift.
“Close!”
Sizzle!
The rift convulsed violently with a sound like meat that had just been stuffed into a grill and was now cooking over the flames.
The murky energy inside the rift tried to surge back through Haran’s hand. A pain like his flesh was burning away engulfed his fingertips as he gripped the hanji.
“Urgh!”
Haran groaned but endured it. Perhaps because of the pain, cold sweat dripped from his forehead.
His body was frail for a Baektaek agent, and he had alcohol in his system as well, making it difficult to control his spiritual power. But if he let go now, the backlash could blow his entire arm off.
“Kiiiiieeeek!”
A scream resembling a dying shriek came from inside the rift, and the hole gradually began to shrink.
And finally—
Pop!
With a sound like the air itself being swallowed, the rift disappeared completely.
All that remained was the ash of the burned hanji scattered across the ground and Haran himself, breathing heavily.
“Haa… haa…”
He had succeeded.
But had he been more tense than he realized? Overcome by exhaustion, Haran’s legs gave out and he sank onto the ground.
The finger he had bitten throbbed painfully, but he was in a good mood.
At least tonight, he had prevented someone else’s misfortune.
“There are plenty of times when I’m actually useful…”
That was when it happened.
The full moon, which had been hiding behind the clouds, emerged.
Cold, white moonlight poured down over the empty lot.
Wooooong.
Along with a sound like a resonance, the back of Haran’s right hand suddenly grew hot.
The Baektaek mark appeared.
Ancient letters that only emerged under moonlight rose in a blue glow above the back of his hand.
Apparently, tonight was the full moon.
He hadn’t even realized how quickly the days had passed.
“I can’t exactly carve the skin off the back of my hand.”
Annoyed by the shackle that had forced him to be dragged into Baektaek in the first place, Haran irritably pulled down his sleeve.
Haa… I’m exhausted.
Thinking that he really ought to take a taxi home this time, he began to stand—
“Mr. Lee Haran.”
A voice as cold as the darkness itself came from somewhere within the shadows.
“……!”
Haran was so startled that it felt as though his heart had stopped.
He didn’t even have the courage to turn his head.
Unlike the sound Haran made when he walked, the approaching footsteps were deliberate and heavy, making them unnerving.
Soon, the shadow of the man standing with his back to the streetlamp completely swallowed Haran.
“You said you were going home. What are you doing here?”
“Ah, Team Leader. Well, I just…”
Haran desperately pretended to be calm as he slowly stood up with a smile.
The corners of his lips trembled with tension.
His right hand was instinctively hidden behind his back.
Kim Hyeon seemed to sweep his gaze across the ash of the burned hanji remaining on the ground and the faint traces of spiritual power still lingering in the air.
Then his eyes shifted to Haran’s pale face.
“Are you hurt? I smell blood.”
“Ah, no, sir.”
He can smell blood from here? Is he an animal?
“Liar.”
Kim Hyeon approached with a stiff expression, as though he had never believed Haran from the beginning.
“Our new employee really doesn’t listen to a word his team leader says.”
“What?”
“I clearly told you, didn’t I? I really hate it when something that belongs to me gets hurt.”
His tone made it clear that he was certain Haran had been injured.
What the hell? Why did he follow me all the way here…?!
Haran tried to turn around and run, but Kim Hyeon was faster.
He grabbed the hand Haran had hidden behind his back.
“Hm. There’s something strange on the back of your hand.”
“Let go! Ugh!”
Haran resisted rather fiercely, but Kim Hyeon didn’t budge.
Instead, he pulled Haran’s hand into the moonlight.
The Baektaek mark glowed blue, shimmering against Haran’s pale skin.
“……”
Kim Hyeon’s eyes narrowed.
Rather than surprise, there was a sense of delight—as though he had discovered a treasure he had been searching for a very long time.
“A glowing tattoo?”
Kim Hyeon rubbed the back of Haran’s hand with his thumb.
When his hot touch made contact, the mark reacted and briefly glowed red.
What is this supposed to mean now…?
Haran hurriedly improvised.
“It’s just! A fashion tattoo. They’re popular these days… Didn’t you know?”
Haran continued trying to pull his tightly held hand free, but eventually gave up and started babbling whatever came to mind.
Kim Hyeon chuckled and lowered his head until he was looking directly into Haran’s eyes.
“Does a fashion tattoo glow under moonlight?”
Can we just let this one go?
“And just now… it smelled exactly like the bathroom you blew up here.”
Kim Hyeon still held Haran’s wrist as he leaned his head even closer.
They were so close that if either of them moved even slightly, their noses and lips would brush against each other.
Does this man not understand the concept of social distance? Please respect my personal space.
But at his next question, Haran, who had been grumbling inwardly, froze without realizing it.
“What are you?”
Even as he asked the question, Kim Hyeon’s voice remained gentle, so it took Haran a moment to fully understand what he had said.
What am I supposed to answer?
There was a huge difference between Kim Hyeon suspecting that Haran was Baektaek and openly declaring that he was Baektaek.
Revealing his identity in a place where the two of them were alone like this was not a wise move.
What if he drags me away and throws me into that suspicious fourth basement level of Eaton Tower? Would Baektaek even come to rescue me?
Of course not.
It would be much more natural for them to simply abandon him as a lost piece and forget about him.
As Haran tried to choose an answer with his sluggish brain—
Kim Hyeon lifted Haran’s wrist, which he was still holding, and licked the drop of blood gathered at his fingertip with his tongue.
It was the wound Haran had bitten earlier to write the spell.
“Ah…!”
Haran’s body jolted as though he had been electrocuted from the shock.
Kim Hyeon smacked his lips as though savoring the taste of Haran’s blood, then whispered lazily.
“It’s delicious.”
“……”
“Well, it’s this delicious, so what does anything else matter? Don’t you think?”
“Team Leader, this is…”
“Let’s treat you first. Mr. Lee Haran, you get hurt every time I take my eyes off you. It’s quite upsetting.”
Without releasing Haran’s hand, Kim Hyeon dragged him toward where his car was parked.
“Get in. This time, I’m refusing your refusal.”
His tone contained a hint of playfulness, but the grip around Haran’s wrist grew even tighter.
It was as if Kim Hyeon was simply dragging him straight into the car.
Click.
The door closed, and the car immediately drove off.
The black sedan left the dazzling nightscape of Gwanghwamun behind and glided along Sowol-gil on Namsan.
Throughout the drive, only a suffocating silence filled the car.
Haran pretended to look out the window while biting his lips.
The moment he got into this car, it felt as though whatever alcohol remained in his system had completely evaporated.
The sense of impending disaster came rushing in belatedly.
I’ve been completely found out, haven’t I? Why is he letting me go? Should I contact headquarters? If I report that I’ve been discovered, they definitely won’t leave me alone.
Kim Hyeon had probably been following him the entire time.
If so, he must have witnessed everything—the process of Haran using his blood to write the talisman and sealing the rift.
And at the decisive moment, he had even seen the Baektaek mark appear beneath the moonlight.
A mark that ordinary people could never possibly know about.
This man definitely knows about Baektaek.
And he wasn’t particularly surprised to learn that I’m Baektaek.
Haran stole a glance at Kim Hyeon’s profile reflected in the window.
His fingers tapped lightly against the car seat, moving to some rhythm.
It almost felt like the satisfaction of a hunter who had trapped his prey in a net.
I need to change the plan.
Quietly investigating the rift and reporting it, then sealing it, was no longer possible.
If that was the case, shouldn’t he take advantage of Kim Hyeon’s certainty and openly go to the fourth basement level of Eaton Tower?
The problem was that Haran still couldn’t figure out why this beautiful, monster-like man was interested in him.
There was only one thing he knew for certain.
Kim Hyeon liked Haran’s scent, calling it fragrant, and had said his blood tasted delicious.
…This isn’t some kind of mission where I have to seduce a serial killer, is it?
As Haran desperately suppressed the sigh that wanted to escape, the car gradually slowed and came to a stop.
“We’ve arrived. Let’s get out, Mr. Haran.”
The car had stopped in front of a luxurious villa nestled along the slopes of Namsan.
A tall wall stood before them, covered conspicuously with CCTV cameras to maintain the security system.
Haran got out of the car calmly, pretending not to be nervous.
“You live in a nice place.”
“You think so? I’d be even happier if you liked it too, Mr. Haran.”
