Sudden Gate Vibes: Two Weeks of Records (Aftermath)
The TSS team's official gate-clearing interview was scheduled for tomorrow. That meant, at least for today, Colossus didn't have to worry about anyone else's eyes on him.
When they returned to the rabbit hole, Colossus waited until Yeon-ha went to wash up, then hurled Tran Van Bao into the living room. The man tumbled helplessly across the floor, coughing and wheezing. He looked up at Colossus with a trembling gaze. His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard.
Standing with the living room light behind him, Colossus's tall, massive frame cast a deep shadow. Only his blue eyes burned like those of a beast in the darkness. Because he rarely showed any change in expression, the pressure he radiated when clearly furious was overwhelming.
"Is there any reason I shouldn't treat you as a villain?"
After a brief silence, Colossus spoke first. He remained standing like a statue.
"I, I am hardworking porter. I carried heroes' luggage and worked like servant! I... I want better treatment!"
"According to the Oracle Institution's official assessment, that gate was only B-class. The monsters stationed inside were, at best, E-class. Yet Yeon-ha spent fourteen full days clearing it."
Colossus reached out with agonizing slowness. He gripped Tran Van Bao's shoulder in a crushing hold and spoke through gritted teeth, one syllable at a time.
"Explain. Your life depends on it."
"W-why is that my fault? I don't understand!"
"Are you done talking?"
"Wait, wait please! Tran Van Bao is innocent!! Spare me! Please spare me!!"
When Tran Van Bao shrieked, Colossus's brow twitched. Could this pathetic, insignificant man really have pulled something on Yeon-ha? With just a little more strength in the hand currently holding him, Colossus could literally crush the man to pieces. He sensed almost no meaningful magic power from this frail body. Any normal awakened being would be unable to hide their power under this level of threat. In other words, this was the man's full strength.
Colossus stared down at him with a stony expression. Just then, the bathroom door creaked open and Yeon-ha stepped out. Wearing a bathrobe, her face still etched with exhaustion, she took one look at the scene in the living room and let out a long sigh.
"Colossus."
"Mm."
"Come with me. I need to talk to you."
"Does it have to be right now?"
"At least before that guy... before that man dies. Come with me."
"Mm."
Colossus let out a breath that was almost a sigh and released Tran Van Bao. The man rolled across the floor with a pathetic yelp. Without looking back, Colossus followed Yeon-ha into the master bedroom.
In the bedroom lit by only a single small lamp, she sat demurely on the edge of the bed, carefully choosing her words. It was a far cry from her usual bold, outspoken demeanor. Colossus pulled over the vanity chair and sat across from her, reaching out to take her hand.
—She flinched!
When his large, rough hand gently enveloped hers, Yeon-ha trembled like a small animal.
"Colossus..."
"Yeon-ha. Can you explain what happened?"
"I... I..."
Where should she even begin? How much should she tell him? She hung her head, lips moving silently. She picked her words, paused, took a deep breath, then exhaled heavily. She repeated the cycle several times, but still struggled to speak.
"I've been thinking about it."
"Mm."
"Remember what I said last time? That we might be broken."
It had been right after he submitted his leave of absence to the Hero Association. The conversation they'd shared that night flashed through his mind.
Those words still lingered deep in his heart. They were still sincere. But why now, of all times? Colossus swallowed a sigh and looked straight into Yeon-ha's eyes. She tried to avoid his gaze at first, then seemed to steel herself and met his eyes.
"I slept with that man."
"I expected as much."
"A lot. Often."
"Mm."
Encouraged by his calm reaction, Yeon-ha slowly straightened her posture.
"At first it was a mistake. I got caught up in the moment. I know it was wrong. I'm sorry."
"It wasn't your fault."
The rabbit hero, Botal Rabbit, had a fatal weakness. Every time she used her powers, she went into heat. Under normal circumstances he could have taken care of it for her, but during a long-term mission like this, that wasn't possible. That heat was so terrible it might as well be called a curse, and it grew stronger in direct proportion to her powerful abilities. Just as no one could overpower her by force, she couldn't overcome her heat through willpower alone.
The more she awakened to sex, the more experience she gained, the stronger her sexual desire grew. Colossus had noticed it too. That was why they were "broken." And that was why he had promised not to let her be broken alone. That had been their conversation that night.
"There were days when I forgot about work and just had sex all day. There were days when I crawled around with a collar on, begging and pleading. Is that still okay with you?"
"As long as you're okay with it."
"That... I don't know how this will sound... it might seem strange, but... those moments felt good. I think."
"...I see."
Yeon-ha's face was flushed bright red, as if she might burst. With Colossus still firmly holding her hand, she spoke carefully.
"Do you still want to have a child?"
"Mm."
"That man. Tran Van Bao. He's incredibly good in bed. But even so, I still haven't ovulated. So I thought about it."
Simply having "satisfying" intercourse wasn't enough to trigger the cursed ability of induced ovulation. What was the missing condition? When she remembered how the villain Killer Toad had triggered her induced ovulation in just a single day, it was clearly not a matter of sexual skill.
It was the thrill that came from breaking a taboo.
If ovulation could be triggered simply by satisfying sex, there was no way she wouldn't have ovulated during her nights with Colossus. She had never once felt dissatisfied in their relationship. Therefore, only one hypothesis remained.
The excitement of doing something that should not be done.
"...That's what I think."
"Mm."
"Honestly, there's only one way to test it, right?"
"Yeon-ha. Are you really okay with this?"
His woman had slept with another man, planned to keep doing so, and was even making excuses for that man. Yet even in that moment, Colossus was worried about her. The sincerity of his love pierced her heart like a needle, and Yeon-ha's eyes grew moist.
"Do you still want to have a child?"
"...Yes. But if you're not okay with it, it doesn't matter."
That couldn't be true. She knew Colossus was a war orphan who had grown up alone in an orphanage for a long time. She knew how deeply that must have scarred him as a child. His one great deficiency was a "warm family." And yet he was willing to give up his lifelong dream simply because he was worried about her condition. To Yeon-ha, who knew his circumstances, those words carried far too much weight.
"I want to have a child too. And I don't want one if it's not yours. It has to be you, Colossus."
"Same for me."
"Then let's try it. For about a month. If it still doesn't work after that, then I guess that's all he's capable of."
Yeon-ha pulled her hand from his and took out a single sheet of paper from beside her luggage. It was a small notebook that Colossus also recognized—the tactical briefing notepad issued to hero teams entering gates. On it, Yeon-ha's handwriting was scrawled in crooked lines.
I, Botal Rabbit Park Yeon-ha, hereby declare that from this moment forward I will become Tran Van Bao's slave. I will live as his sex slave and spread my pussy whenever he desires. I will love him for the rest of my life, and whenever he commands it, I will strip, kneel, and beg no matter where or when. That is my happiness, and I swear to build a family with him, serving him for the rest of my days.
Colossus stared at the paper with an uncharacteristically dazed expression. Seeing this, Yeon-ha let out a soft chuckle.
"There's another copy with that man."
"Yeon-ha. This is..."
"Yeah. It's nothing but meaningless scribbles. Even if it gets leaked, I can just deny it. Who would believe it? An S-class making this kind of vow to an F-class porter? Hehe. It wouldn't be hard to snatch it back from him before it gets out. But... that man seemed to take it pretty seriously."
Yeon-ha laughed playfully as she moved closer and settled onto Colossus's lap.
"So I'll play along with it. One month. Let's find out if that man... if being with him can make me 'ovulate.'"
"But what about the taboo?"
An officially acknowledged act would just be a slightly more stimulating threesome with a bull, wouldn't it? Could that really count as a taboo? When Colossus asked, Yeon-ha burst into bright laughter.
"Exactly! Wow, you're good. When did our rock learn so much about this stuff?"
"Thanks to you, I've studied a lot."
"Now you're even teasing me! Yes, it's not a taboo. So... act for me, Colossus. Seriously. Match my performance."
"Act...?"
"Pretend you don't know anything. Pretend you haven't seen anything. Make me anxious. Act like you're about to lose me. Like you're handing your beloved girlfriend over to that F-class. Like a man who doesn't realize his woman is being stolen from him."
Yeon-ha wrapped her arms around Colossus's neck, pulled him close, and whispered.
Thump. Thump. He could hear a heartbeat. Colossus couldn't tell if it was Yeon-ha's or his own. He had never once considered the possibility of 'losing Yeon-ha.' Sometimes a single sentence could carry real power. Even a simple phrase could tighten around a person's heart until it felt like it might burst.
He took a deep breath and pulled her tightly against him.
"I'll be serious too... Huh? You're hard...?"
"...Mm."
"Hehe. I guess we're both a little strange, aren't we?"
"It seems so."
"Pervert."
Yeon-ha chuckled softly as she slid down from the chair, gracefully kneeling between his legs. The sounds of his belt buckle being unfastened and his zipper being pulled down filled the air. She stared for a long moment at his cock as it sprang out roughly, twitching in the air. Then, with a soft sigh, she took the head into her mouth.
Feeling the warmth of her mouth, gently stroking her small head, Colossus couldn't help but think:
Yeon-ha. Is that really the only reason?
Is this truly one hundred percent an act for the sake of ovulation?
The more he thought about it, the more his heart ached. Colossus drew in a deep breath and slowly cupped the back of her head.
Having such doubts meant he didn't trust her. That was wrong. Therefore, this too must simply be his own performance to enjoy the current situation. After all, true method acting meant immersing oneself so deeply that even the actor was fooled.
Colossus decided to believe that.