Ghost Apple

“Mm… Ah!”

A sharp sting in his throat jolted him awake. At that very moment, he felt the heated energy coursing through his body get sucked out in an instant.

“Haah… Again… this…”

Seo Won, whose face had been buried in Han-gyeom’s neck, lifted his head. Gone was the calm, cold gaze he had when reviewing documents—replaced by an intense blue stare burning with an invisible flame, fixed on him with a frightening intensity.

“Is attacking people in their sleep some kind of fetish of yours? How do you always manage to… Haa…!”

Without warning, Seo Won pushed open Han-gyeom’s shirt, which had come undone at some point, and urgently began licking his chest.

“It’s not like I need your permission for every little thing.”

“Ugh, but still…”

“Shut up and focus.”

“Ahk!”

As if to punish him, Seo Won bit down hard on Han-gyeom’s chest. The marks he’d left over the past few days still hadn’t faded.

It hurt when he was bitten, but the more those spots were teased and licked, the more they seemed to turn into a new erogenous zone.

When Seo Won traced the stinging bite marks with his tongue, a soft moan inevitably escaped Han-gyeom’s lips. And when he pressed his fingers down on them and started rubbing, his nipples stiffened, trembling from the stimulation.

Seo Won didn’t spare his nipples either. When he bit down firmly, all the sensitivity seemed to flood to that spot—and he wouldn’t miss that chance. He teased and sucked repeatedly, until it became so intense that even Han-gyeom’s lower half began to react. Startled by the overwhelming stimulation, Han-gyeom tried to stop him.

“Quit… that… Haah…!”

The stimulation had flushed his face with heat, turning the skin around his eyes visibly red. His eyes were already welling up with tears as he desperately tried to push Seo Won’s shoulders away while the man remained intent on licking his chest.

Once again, Seo Won’s fevered eyes locked onto him with a scorching glare.

“Put your hands down before I tie you up.”

“No! Wait—!”

“Judging by how much you’re protesting, I guess the clients really liked it.”

At the unexpected comment, Han-gyeom blinked rapidly. Seo Won assumed his silence meant he’d hit the mark.

And to be fair, he kind of had. Cha Han-gyeom had worked as a guiding escort for five years.

It was common knowledge that most guiding escorts ended up fully opening up to deep guiding within their first year, often just for the money. So the fact that Cha Han-gyeom had done the job for five years made it hard to believe his reactions were genuine. Even if he was currently resonating with his bond partner, it still came off as an act.

A mocking smile curled on Seo Won’s lips.

“It’d be better for you to just admit it.”

After all, if he’d willingly accepted it from those cheap bastards, yet now pushed away his own imprinter like this…

That would really fucking piss him off.

Han-gyeom once again lowered his gaze and bit down hard on his lip.

Seo Won stared at him with a glacial expression.

Seo Won hated it when he lowered his gaze like that.

Swallowing words he could’ve spoken, avoiding things he could’ve looked at, and hiding emotions he could’ve shown.

He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t help the lingering unpleasantness it left behind.

He wanted to know what exactly was going on inside that small head of his. There was far too little information about Cha Han-gyeom beyond what was visible on the surface. The unanswered questions kept piling up.

Seo Won buried his face once more against Han-gyeom’s chest, which offered no response. The heat that had paused began to smolder again, and a deep guiding session followed, intertwined with the resonance of their bond.

The guiding always ended around the time Seo Won managed to pull himself together.

Cold and composed to the point of being unrecognizable from the man who had been ravishing Han-gyeom moments ago, Seo Won straightened up.

As soon as he stepped off Han-gyeom’s body, he grabbed the tie he’d thrown on the glass table. Taking a long breath to calm his flushed face, he buttoned up his shirt and neatly fastened the tie.

Han-gyeom, thoroughly worn out, lay sprawled on the sofa, barely managing to catch his breath.

“I guess you finally quit smoking.”

Han-gyeom turned his head to look at Seo Won, eyes half-lidded. The man, now fully dressed and put together, glanced back at him over his shoulder.

“…You said if I didn’t, you’d strip me naked and string me up.”

“Good. At least you’ve got enough brains for a threat to work.”

Seo Won scoffed briefly, his voice laced with derision, before his expression returned to its usual icy calm.

“Why are you still here? I’ve got a guest coming soon. Clean up and get out.”

So cold-blooded.

Han-gyeom groaned as he forced himself upright under Seo Won’s dismissive glare, clearly eager to be rid of him.

He already felt like crap, and being drained of GP so violently had left him utterly depleted.

Sitting on the sofa, he reached to button up his shirt—when a knock came at the door.

“Executive Director Yoon is here.”

A female bodyguard announced the visitor from outside. At the sound of her voice, Seo Won’s eyes turned even sharper, now glaring daggers at Han-gyeom.

Struggling under the oppressive air, Han-gyeom hastily held the open front of his shirt together with his hand and headed to the door.

When he opened it, the female bodyguard and a man standing behind her looked visibly startled at the sight of him.

The woman, in particular, flushed deep red and couldn’t figure out where to rest her gaze.

Han-gyeom’s flushed, exhausted face… the fresh bite marks on his neck… and the red blotches of heat scattered across his half-dressed torso.

The woman, Jung Ah-young, who stood watch outside the office at this exact hour every day, couldn’t help but recall the moans she had just heard from inside.

For someone in her early twenties, it was an especially stimulating—and deeply embarrassing—situation.

“Want me to button that for you?”

Han-gyeom glanced at Ah-young’s blushing face, then turned toward the deep voice, laced with amusement, that followed.

With the exception of a few people in the mansion, this man—who appeared to be around the same age as Seo Won—was clearly someone Han-gyeom was meeting for the first time.

He wore an all-white suit and vest so pristine that even a speck of dust would’ve stood out, contrasted sharply by a black dress shirt with no tie. His striking appearance made him stand out instantly.

From a single glance, Han-gyeom could tell he wasn’t part of the household but a guest from outside.

“I’m fine.”

He brushed past without the slightest hint of embarrassment in his tone.

Ah-young, who had once desperately chased after Han-gyeom when they first met, now couldn’t even look at his back. She kept her head down, her cheeks burning.

Standing in for her, the man referred to as Director Yoon kept his eyes fixed on Han-gyeom’s back as he passed.

“Yoon Jeong-ho, what are you doing just standing there?”

At Seo Won’s prompting, Yoon Jeong-ho replied absentmindedly, still staring after Han-gyeom.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.”

He stepped into the office at a leisurely pace and, once the door shut behind him, immediately spoke.

“Weren’t all the guides in the mansion cleared out ages ago?”

The moment he saw Han-gyeom, Jeong-ho had recognized him as a guide. After all, Seo Won was known never to touch anyone unless it was for guiding purposes.

“I brought in a new one.”

Seo Won’s voice was devoid of emotion, like he was talking about an object.

A sly smile crept across Jeong-ho’s face.

“People were saying you’d been on some weird kick this past year, only going for guiding escorts. Looks like you finally came to your senses.”

At Jeong-ho’s teasing tone, Seo Won narrowed one eye and glared sharply. The look was threatening, but Jeong-ho remained unfazed, flopping down onto the sofa as he continued.

“That kid’s body won’t survive at this rate. He must be really good.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Well, he’s got a pretty face. Even if the guiding sucks, he’s worth keeping around for the view.”

With a loud thwack, Seo Won slammed the folder shut and stood up.

“I doubt you came here just to give a shallow critique on my guide.”

Sitting across from Jeong-ho, Seo Won crossed one leg over the other and stared him down.

“Did the Chairman send you?”

Jeong-ho didn’t deny it. He simply smiled, and that alone was enough for Seo Won to guess what this was about. He made a face like it was all too tedious.

“Tell him to quit worrying—I’m still alive. If he has time to send someone to check on me, he should be using it to get ready for the succession.”

“He’s only worrying more because you’re the heir who came back from the brink of death. Try to understand, will you?”

Jeong-ho shrugged, recalling the old man who had grown noticeably frailer with time. These days, he was stuck in a wheelchair and constantly hooked up to an oxygen tank.

The old man, who always greeted Jeong-ho with a kind smile, would ask in an absentminded voice:

“Won is still alive, right?”

Even someone with dementia wouldn’t ask the same question every single time like that.

While Jeong-ho let out a sigh and pursed his lips, a soft knock came at the door. Jung Ah-young opened it, and a servant entered, pushing a tray bearing a freshly prepared tea set.

The servant placed a steaming cup of black tea in front of each of them and quietly exited, accompanied by Ah-young, who gave a polite bow on her way out.

Jeong-ho, who smiled and waved lightly at her, turned back with a joking remark.

“Now that you’ve made it out alive, let’s see you stay alive for a long while.”

“Even if you don’t say it, I plan to.”

An unreadable determination glimmered in Seo Won’s eyes.

“…I won’t die so easily.”

Jeong-ho’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at him.

“Good. You’d better not.”