Reunion
The expression "blood boiling" is usually little more than a metaphor. For Ha Yul, however, it occasionally becomes literal. On nights when she could still feel the moment a monster's life ended at her fingertips, the inside of her veins trembled with a faint, restless pulse. Her body remembered the stance of a hunt that had not yet finished. On those nights, Ha Yul always sought out a woman who could cool the heat.
That was why, when she briefly crossed paths with Yu-jin in front of the research facility's ground-level entrance, Ha Yul seemed more relaxed than usual. Yu-jin stood as straight as ever. Even exhausted, she showed no sign of disarray, and her gaze remained clear even after the battle had ended. As someone who handled Blood Qi well, her way of controlling herself was different from Ha Yul's. She never wavered. That made her all the more enviable—and all the more tempting to touch.
Ha Yul smiled halfway and spoke. "Team Leader."
Yu-jin turned. "What."
"Want to sleep with me tonight?"
The invitation was blunt, yet her voice was strangely calm—playful, but not entirely a joke. Ha Yul herself knew the difference. Yu-jin was silent for a few seconds. She did not frown or grow angry. Instead, she closed her eyes briefly, as if tired, then opened them and looked straight at Ha Yul. That gaze held a mixture of disbelief, wariness, familiarity, and—very faintly—the sense that she did not entirely dislike the idea. Still, she clearly had no intention of accepting it yet.
"Are you out of your mind?"
"A little?"
"I get that the heat rises after a hunt, same as always," Yu-jin said coldly. "But it doesn't look like you're trying to work it off on me."
Ha Yul shrugged. "Worth a shot."
Yu-jin let out a short breath. Just before turning away, she added, almost offhandedly, "Go take care of it somewhere else. Don't cause any trouble."
Ha Yul watched her retreating back and gave a small laugh. It was a clear rejection. Yet it had also left a sliver of possibility. If this had been about anything other than cooling the heat after a hunt, things might have gone differently. That thin thread was enough. At least for now.
Ha Yul slipped her hands into her pockets and stepped into the night street. People passed indifferently between convenience stores and gukbap restaurants still open at this late hour, franchise cafés, and coin laundromats. Some had just finished overtime, others were leaving drinking parties, and still others were only now beginning their night. Even knowing the world was slowly breaking, everyone kept living like this. And Ha Yul liked nights like these—especially the nights that followed a hunt.
She returned to the bar she had visited the day before. It was a quiet jazz bar. The sign was small, and the entrance had been deliberately made inconspicuous. Inside, the lighting was low and the music played just loud enough not to swallow conversation. Laughter and the clink of glasses mingled with the long, flowing notes of jazz.
The moment Ha Yul crossed the threshold, yesterday's memories surfaced: liquor, dim lights, a bed, wet hair, the sound of sleeping breaths. And the words she had heard that morning. She smiled without meaning to. The long-haired woman who had watched her calmly before laughing a beat late. And the short-haired woman who had spoken first and opened the mood. Hoping against hope, Ha Yul let her gaze drift slowly across the bar. And there they were.
They were already seated—in a spot similar to yesterday's. A corner booth, neither too close nor too far from the counter. Yoon Chaewon had let her long, wavy black hair fall over one shoulder, revealing the pale, graceful line of her neck beneath the lights. Her body was still full and soft. Beside her, Lee Sumin had tucked her short bob behind one ear while holding a glass; her bright smile and the healthy elasticity of her body were visible even through her clothes. Her breasts were slightly smaller than Chaewon's, but her straight legs and firm thighs stood out.
Ha Yul did not slow her steps. She disliked anything clingy. She rarely sought out the same woman twice or met them often; most nights ended as one-night stands. Yet when she had left the research facility and decided where to go, she realized she had harbored a small hope that she might see them again.
Su-min spotted her first. Her eyes widened, then she grinned. "Oh, you're back."
Chaewon turned her gaze toward Ha Yul at the words. The corner of her mouth lifted, ever so slightly. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon."
Ha Yul approached. "Neither did I."
Su-min tapped the seat beside her. "Sit down. Did you come looking for us this time?"
"Not exactly," Ha Yul said, taking the seat. "I just came to drink."
"Liar," Su-min declared. "People who only shared one drink yesterday don't usually come back to a bar this hard to find."
Ha Yul only smiled instead of answering. Su-min seemed amused by the reaction, while Chaewon quietly lifted her glass and took a sip, watching them both.
"You look tired," Chaewon said.
Ha Yul tilted her head. "Do I?"
"Not from lack of sleep," Chaewon continued, her gaze tracing Ha Yul's eyes, neck, and hands in turn. "More like you've been running hard."
Su-min chuckled beside her. "Chaewon is really good at noticing things like that."
Ha Yul looked at Chaewon for a moment. "Still observing today?"
Chaewon smiled softly. "A little."
"And how do I look to you?"
"Like a strange person."
"And strange people don't get overlooked?"
"……Did that line stick with you enough to make you go out of your way?"
"Oh my, how rude. How should I apologize?"
Su-min burst out laughing. "Do we really need to beat around the bush?" She set her glass down and leaned toward Ha Yul. "Can we be honest?"
"Go ahead."
"You're planning to take us home tonight, aren't you?"
Ha Yul asked calmly, "Where to?"
Su-min did not even blink. "Unni's place."
Chaewon laughed and shook her head lightly. "Su-min……"
"What does it matter?" Su-min shrugged. "Yesterday was good, wasn't it?"
The blunt words might have created an awkward silence, but they did not—perhaps because of the clear boldness of someone who simply said what she wanted. Ha Yul looked between them. Su-min was smiling, and Chaewon had not refused. In fact, the corners of her lips had softened slightly. The memory of last night's bed, tangled legs, wet breaths, handprints and bite marks left on skin, and the warmth of morning returned in an instant.
Ha Yul said, "Let's go."
Su-min emptied her glass at once, and Chaewon did not try to stop them. The three left the bar together. When the door closed, the night air clung to their skin once more. Ha Yul walked alongside them until, halfway down the street, she suddenly stopped in front of a building. Through the glass door, neatly arranged display shelves glowed under soft lighting. The sign was unassuming, yet its purpose was unmistakable. An unmanned adult goods store.
Su-min glanced between Ha Yul's face and the sign, then laughed. "No way."
Ha Yul spoke evenly. "Just a moment."
"Wow," Su-min said, immediately following. "You're actually going in."
Chaewon also stopped and looked up at the sign. She looked flustered, but she did not step back. If anything, she seemed intrigued. "I didn't think you'd be this serious about it."
"Me neither," Su-min said. "But it sounds fun."
The three entered the store. The interior was cleaner than expected. Instead of overt lewdness, calm lighting and orderly display cases caught the eye—though the items on the shelves were far from modest. Lubricants, silicone equipment, restraint bands, motorized devices, gags, and unmanned-use gear. Su-min grew excited the moment she stepped inside.
"Wow…… I've never been in a place like this before." She wandered between the displays, bright-eyed and quick on her feet. Her short bob swayed lightly with each step. She was the kind of person whose face showed everything the moment something amused her. That honesty was strangely arousing.
Chaewon walked more slowly than Su-min. At first she seemed slightly cautious, but as she examined the shelves one by one, her expression soon changed. Rather than embarrassment, curiosity took over. Her quiet eyes scanned the instructions on the backs of packages. Ha Yul glanced at them both before heading toward the back corner—the section for unmanned-use equipment.
The display style here was different from the rest. Even when the shapes looked similar, the specifications listed beside the descriptions were not. Reinforced frames, shock-absorbing structures, high-load tolerance, sensory feedback adjustment, pelvic pressure sensors. The materials were visibly different from ordinary consumer goods as well—denser, larger, heavier. Su-min picked up one of the items on the shelf and immediately frowned.
"Why is this so heavy?"
"Because it's for unmanned use," Ha Yul answered briefly.
Su-min lifted the product with both hands, testing its weight, then laughed in disbelief. "Do we…… really need something like this?"
"Regular ones break too easily," Ha Yul said, reading the spec sheet. "They can't handle an unmanned's strength."
Chaewon was quietly reading the description on the shelf beside them. "It says it has a built-in neural feedback device," she murmured. "I wonder if it was derived from rehabilitation equipment."
Su-min turned. "……Why are you studying an adult toy like it's research material?"
Chaewon answered without looking up from the card. "Because it's interesting."
"So like you," Su-min laughed, and Chaewon gave a small laugh in return.
Ha Yul watched them for a moment before returning her attention to the shelves. She did not pick anything at random. She tested the weight in her hands, checked the joints, read the fit ratings, and examined the range of sensitivity adjustment and durability indicators. Anything with overly flashy decorations was set down immediately; anything that looked impractical was ignored. She chose with the same seriousness she would use to select a weapon. Amused, Su-min whispered from behind her.
"Unni, you're surprisingly well-prepared."
Ha Yul compared two types of lubricant. "I don't like anything half-hearted."
"That's true, but……" Su-min leaned against the shelf. "Have you ever used something like this before?"
"I have."
"Wow." Su-min laughed louder. "Now I'm even more excited."
Chaewon quietly picked up a package from the next shelf, glanced at the strap-on dildo in Ha Yul's hands, and smiled faintly. "More methodical than I expected."
"Do you mind?"
Chaewon lowered her eyes for a moment, then lifted them again. Beneath her gentle gaze, quiet excitement spread. "No."
A small answer. "It's just…… funny."
"What is?"
"That you're choosing something like this with such a serious face after a hunt."
Ha Yul paused. Chaewon really did have a good eye for people. She seemed to have figured out what Ha Yul had been doing. "You've never seen anyone pick out adult toys with such a serious expression before."
Ha Yul finally looked at her. "Disappointed?"
"Mm." Chaewon slowly shook her head. "It suits you more than I thought. ……Just like Su-min said. I'm looking forward to it."
In the end, Ha Yul chose one strap-on dildo and a bottle of lubricant. She already had specialized equipment at home—something already broken in to her body, whose familiar sensations reduced the chance of mistakes. Yet tonight she had chosen something new. It felt like she wanted to commemorate the night with these two women she had met again.
Su-min stared at the bag in front of the register and could not stop smiling. "My heart's pounding so hard I think it's going to burst."
"Nervous? Or scared?"
"Excited!"
Not long after they left the store, Su-min deliberately clung to Ha Yul's arm. "But it's really amazing."
"What is?"
"That someone like you would go into a place like that." Su-min rested her chin on Ha Yul's arm as she spoke. "I thought you'd just grab the sturdiest-looking one without thinking."
"It might break otherwise."
"See? So serious."
Chaewon watched the scene with a small smile. She did not cling as openly as Su-min, but her gaze stayed steadily on Ha Yul. "It was a little unexpected."
Ha Yul lightly lifted the bag. "If I'm going to do something, I prefer to do it properly. Feels better that way."
"Heh, I suppose so."
Su-min kept giggling as if everything amused her, and Chaewon occasionally laughed quietly beside her. Ha Yul listened to their voices as they walked, and suddenly recalled everything she had seen today. It was not easy to forget. Her body still had not released the stance of the hunt; her fingertips still remembered the sensation of tearing flesh. Yet the warmth of the two women laughing beside her was slowly loosening that tension.
The three of them walked slowly down the late-night street.