Endurance (2)
The inside of Cheon Seong’s dormitory.
On a small bed lay a beloved daughter, Han, sound asleep with the face of an angel, and beside her on the floor Cheon Seong was breathing raggedly, drenched in sweat.
Beyond his weary gaze, Beatrice continued to gaze down at him with eyes that still sparkled.
Cheon Seong had already poured out his love countless times and was exhausted, yet she showed no sign of stopping.
When she had first approached him, it had felt like a dream, but that feeling had been fleeting.
The more Beatrice’s emotions rose, the more violent her movements became, and at some point Cheon Seong had instinctively sensed something was “wrong.”
It was not simple passion. Something else was at play.
The rhythm of his pounding heart had sounded an alarm. If he continued like this, he would truly be in danger.
He had struggled with all his might to pull away, but Beatrice’s strength crushed his resistance like nothing.
“Unnie, wait a second… this might really be a big problem. If I get pregnant…
Cheon Seong gripped his mind and tried to reason through the situation.
War with the Celestials. The countless things that would come after.
He was not ready. No, he felt he had no right to give her life.
Yet Beatrice ignored his words and instead lowered her head to kiss his lips softly.
[Cheon Seong, this time I shall tell you about a characteristic of the Celestials that you do not know.]
“W-what, hm—!”
Her hand cupped his cheek, her eyes staring deeply into his like moonlight.
[The Celestials cannot conceive life with each other if their energies do not match. So… you need not hold back.]
That single sentence shook the depths of Cheon Seong’s soul.
Her words were heavy, gentle, and most of all sincere.
He could no longer endure it.
Cheon Seong let every emotion flow out within her warmth.
And that was three hours ago.
That is, for three hours Cheon Seong had shattered again and again in the midst of Beatrice’s passion, sharing his feelings.
Sweat had formed on his forehead, and his arms and legs had lost all strength.
Every time he breathed, his whole body ached, and Beatrice’s body heat still clung to his skin.
Cheon Seong lay half-collapsed on the floor, gazing at her with exhausted eyes.
The great being once called the Heavenly Demon in the martial world.
Beatrice, who had rebelled against her kind, now sat beside him, breathing in harmony.
Just the fact that she was with him caused a small, warm spark of pride to rise in Cheon Seong’s chest.
Yet—
[Hm?]
“…Ah?”
It seemed that warmth was not just emotion.
Cheon Seong sensed the reaction reviving inside him and hurriedly covered it with his hand, embarrassed.
“W-wait, Unnie! This is really… it has nothing to do with my will…!”
Beatrice slowly rose from the floor.
Her eyes, approaching without a word, held the gaze of a beast sighting its prey.
Cheon Seong shouted with the last of his strength.
“Stop! I might really die!”
But his cry was ultimately swallowed by her once more.
As her body heat pressed down on him, Cheon Seong began circulating mana in resignation.
“Even this time… I’ll survive, right?”
His crimson mana slowly swirled within him, beginning to flow.
While praying not to die of exhaustion again.
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Next morning.
Sunlight carefully pierced the gap in the curtains, illuminating the room.
Cheon Seong barely opened his eyes. His entire body ached, as if weighted down with iron joints.
“Ugh…”
Before he even opened his mouth, the sensation on his lips spoke first.
[Good morning, my dear.]
A soft, warm whisper. It was Beatrice’s greeting.
“Yeah… good morning, Unnie.”
Cheon Seong forced his hazy vision to focus and looked at Beatrice.
Her skin glowed as if carrying dawn moonlight, and her hair, slightly tousled, was even more enchanting.
He… was haggard. No words were needed.
Even in the emptiness where his whole body felt hollow, the single remaining warm feeling flowed toward Beatrice.
“Beatrice is always the same… even though I’m half-dead.”
He felt no shame in having given his sincerity to the woman he loved all night.
At that moment, the blanket shifted and a small voice spoke.
“Haaam… I hope you slept well…”
It was Han.
The adorable girl stretching and rubbing her eyes was like an angel who knew none of the world’s worries or pains.
[Good morning.]
“Yeah… did you sleep well?”
“Yes~ …Hm? Why are you so skinny, Dad?”
Cheon Seong instantly averted his eyes.
“Just… couldn’t sleep much.”
He could not say what had happened last night while looking into her pure eyes.
The words that came out after swallowing a sigh drew Han to open her arms wide and approach.
“Hehe, this way isn’t it less tiring?”
Cheon Seong, held in her small embrace, smiled.
“Yeah. Han, this way… I’m not tired at all.”
It was warm. Like the only thing in this empty world that embraced him.
But the warmth did not last long.
[My dear, it is time to stop. Han must go to kindergarten.]
“…Unnie, can’t we all just rest today?”
Cheon Seong said with eyes full of desperation.
[You know it’s impossible. Stop giving up.]
Ah, yes. She was always rigid, realistic, and somewhere decisive.
“I’ll be back soon!”
“Take care, Han…
[I’ll be off, then.]
Right before leaving, Beatrice kissed Cheon Seong’s lips briefly.
That short, soft touch made Cheon Seong instinctively feel his heart start pounding again.
“This is… a cheat.”
One kiss she had left behind still lingered with aftereffects across his whole body.
A short while later, while changing clothes, Cheon Seong stopped at his reflection in the mirror.
Clear marks were left all over his body.
Red, faint traces. Her brand.
“…She really was amazing.”
Cheon Seong recalled that night.
Once again Beatrice’s image floated in his mind.
Eyes like those of a beast. Even her breath hot.
The passion and sincerity contained in every gesture of hers, in every fingertip, still remained like waves beneath his skin.
When she had embraced everything and said she loved him—
Cheon Seong wondered if he might already have been prepared to give everything.
“…Stop thinking about it.”
He chewed his lip and shook his head.
His body might collapse first. If he kept going like this, he would end up seeking out Beatrice again.
A short while later, Cheon Seong slowly opened the door.
There stood Lee Yuna in her school uniform, smiling quietly.
“Good morning, Cheon Seong.”
“Yeah… good morning, Yuna. Did you sleep well?”
“Me? Yeah, of course I slept fine.”
Yuna smiled lightly and approached Cheon Seong as if nothing had happened.
But something piercing filled her eyes.
Just as Cheon Seong awkwardly turned his head away, Yuna casually grabbed his hand.
And slowly intertwined their fingers.
“You did it with unnie too, huh?”
“…W-what?! What are you talking about, Y-Yuna?!”
Cheon Seong’s panicked voice shot out like a scream.
His reaction was a dead giveaway to anyone watching.
“Ah, I screwed up.”
Cheon Seong clenched his teeth inwardly.
He had barely hidden the fatigue and faint traces on his body, yet Yuna had pierced through them in an instant.
However, contrary to his expectation, Yuna neither got angry nor questioned him.
Instead, the more tense Cheon Seong became, the softer she smiled and spoke.
“You don’t need to be so flustered. I don’t plan to scold you.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. I just… realized it.”
Cheon Seong finally exhaled in relief.
But doubts soon arose.
“Then… how did you figure it out? I tried not to show anything…?”
Yuna smiled slyly and poked his cheek with her finger.
“How long have I been watching Cheon Seong? Your face is practically glowing.”
That was true.
Cheon Seong had struggled to hide his emotions, but Yuna had pierced through his thin mask in one glance.
“And… you smell.”
“……Smell?”
“Yeah. Unnie’s scent. The only fragrance I can smell.”
At Yuna’s words, Cheon Seong’s spine turned cold.
“No way… even after showering this morning…?”
Cheon Seong hurriedly recalled.
The faint fragrance on his lips, the touch of her fingertips. Had Yuna sensed those?
“Maybe… even before?”
His mind suddenly flashed back.
Mir, Ryu Se-rin. The subtle contacts with other women. Those short moments.
If she could sense even their body scents… Yuna’s obsession was beyond imagination.
“…Scary.”
Yet while thinking this, Cheon Seong felt a strange sense of relief and the thrill of being possessed at the same time.
Yuna noticed his silence and smiled softly.
“Don’t worry. With unnie… I had some resolve too.”
Her words carried a subtle nuance.
Sorrow and understanding, obsession and resignation. All emotions refined and flowing through.
And Cheon Seong realized.
Yuna too, Beatrice too, had placed everything on him.
“…Sorry.”
“It’s fine. I’m yours.”
Those short words pierced Cheon Seong’s chest more intensely than anything else.
A declaration of possession and devotion at once. It was not a simple lover’s vow.
It was a declaration that she would stake her life on him.
Cheon Seong felt immense joy and gratitude.
His heart felt ready to burn from warmth.
But
“I’ll just erase the scent with magic from now on. Just in case.”
If Mir and Ryu Se-rin also realized he had met them, then—
Exactly, if Yuna realized—
He would be squeezed dry, not only by Yuna but by Beatrice too.
Cheon Seong, who might be forced into another death by exhaustion before facing the hand of the betrayer and the Celestial.