Cohabitation
Somehow, without my noticing when she had slipped over, she was already up on my narrow single bed, clinging to me in her sleep.
One leg was hooked around my waist as if she were hugging a body pillow.
"Mmm······ so cool······."
You've got to be kidding me.
I stared up at the ceiling in a panic.
In the corner, a CCTV camera blinked with a red light.
Director Seo Jisu is probably watching.
She had warned me not to let anyone cross over at night, and yet on the very first day this mess had already broken out.
If we got caught like this in the morning, an incident report was guaranteed—and if luck ran out, disciplinary action.
"Prisoner, please wake up. You can't do this here."
I whispered and gave her a gentle shake.
She didn't so much as twitch. Instead she burrowed deeper into my chest and mumbled,
"Uung······ noisy. Shut up."
"No, the CCTV is······."
Without even opening her eyes, she flicked a finger.
Crack.
A tiny spark flew and struck the CCTV lens on the ceiling dead-center.
The surface of the lens blackened and scorched; the red light winked out with a soft click.
"······."
Destruction of evidence.
No—add property damage to the list.
"There. Happy now? Sleep."
Looking thoroughly satisfied, she nuzzled her face against my chest and drifted off again.
I stared blankly at the blackened CCTV.
Director Seo Jisu's ice-cold expression the next morning was already vivid in my mind.
Ah, to hell with it.
I gave up.
Honestly, her body was far too soft to push away, and I was far too exhausted myself.
Carefully, I wrapped an arm around her and patted her back.
A peaceful smile spread across her lips.
Morning arrived.
More precisely, instead of a reveille bugle, Director Seo Jisu's frigid voice tore through the intercom.
"Manager Kang Jinsoo. Rise."
I tried to sit up on pure reflex.
I failed.
Something heavy and soft was draped across my stomach.
"Mmm······ noisy. Turn it off."
It was Elise.
She had pulled the blanket all the way over her head and was wriggling on top of my belly.
She looked exactly like a cat baking bread on its butler's stomach.
"······Is Number 001 beside you right now?"
Through the intercom, Seo Jisu's voice dropped to twenty below zero.
Cold sweat ran down my back as I redlined my brain.
"Ah, no, ma'am. She just came in to wake me."
"Lie. The CCTV feed went dead at three last night. The lens melted under extreme heat. Explain."
The woman was a ghost.
I frantically shoved Elise's red hair deeper under the blanket and launched into a full-scale nonsense festival.
"Well, the prisoner sneezed in her sleep and a spark flew······."
"A sneeze melted reinforced-glass lenses? Is Number 001 Godzilla?"
"She's S-rank, after all."
"Haa. Fine. I'll bill you for the repairs, so keep that in mind. And."
A brief silence stretched.
"Don't······ let her drain you too much. Be on time for work."
Click.
The intercom cut off.
Was it just me, or did "don't let her drain you" sound strangely double-edged?
"Please get up, Prisoner. I have to go to work."
"Don't wanna. Sleeping more."
"Then at least move aside. I can't breathe."
"You're cold. Feels good. Like a body pillow."
Elise tightened her arms around my waist.
Through the thin sleepwear came a hot, soft sensation.
Thanks to this human furnace I had sweated buckets all night, but if I was being honest, it hadn't been bad.
"Haa. If you keep this up I won't be able to bring breakfast."
"Food?"
Only then did her eyes snap open.
Appetite always beats the desire to sleep, after all.
"Meat? Is there meat?"
"Breakfast is usually bread and soup."
"Tch. Boring."
She grumbled, yet still peeled herself off me.
Feeling liberated, I escaped the bed.
Breakfast took place at the cramped desk in my tiny duty room.
"What is this. Dog food?"
Elise scowled at the tray.
Two dried-out morning rolls, watery corn soup, and a single hard-boiled egg.
You could practically see where the prison budget had leaked out.
"Prisoner meals are always like this. Mine's the same."
"Annoying."
She flicked a finger.
Whoosh.
A small flame bloomed at her fingertip and instantly heated the cold soup.
The morning rolls toasted to a perfect golden brown.
A human toaster if I ever saw one.
"Oh, thank you."
"Hmph, I didn't do it for you. I'm eating it."
She took a bite of the freshly toasted bread, then tore off half and shoved it straight into my mouth.
"Eat. If a skinny guy like you can't even keep the air-conditioner running, I'll throw you out."
"Earlier you said diet—mmph, mmph."
Rough, yet oddly caring hands.
I chewed the bread and asked,
"I have to go out on patrol duty now. Will the prisoner stay in the panic room?"
"No? I'm coming with."
"Excuse me?"
I cut her off firmly.
"Absolutely not. If the prisoner goes outside it's an emergency situation, remember? Did you forget you burned down the entire lobby yesterday?"
"That was because that bastard picked a fight first."
"Anyway, no. There's also the Director's order. Just stay quietly in the room."
Elise's expression crumpled at once.
She set her spoon down with a clack and glared at me.
"I'm bored. There's nothing here. No windows, no TV."
"Which is why I prepared this."
I pulled a tablet PC from the drawer.
A little something I had quietly procured from the commissary to celebrate yesterday's bonus.
No internet, but I had loaded it with plenty of movies and dramas.
"What's this?"
"A gift of civilization. You can watch movies and play games on it."
I gave her a quick rundown of how to use it.
At first she looked unimpressed, but the moment a flashy action movie started playing on the screen, her eyes began to sparkle.
"Ooh. This is pretty fun. That guy spitting fire over there looks weaker than me."
"Yes, yes. The prisoner is the strongest in the universe."
"Obviously."
She snatched the tablet, flopped onto the bed, and started kicking her legs—every inch the homebody.
Thank goodness. This should buy me a few hours.
"Then I'll be off. I'll come back at lunch."
"Hey."
She called just as I was about to leave.
When I looked back, she was still lying on the bed, tapping her own cheek with a finger.
"Cool me down before you go. I'm hot."
"Yes, ma'am."
Looks like a cheek touch is acceptable now.
"Done. Go on."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Ah, wait—come here a second."
"Yes?"
Why keep calling me back and forth?
Press.
The moment I stepped closer, Elise firmly pressed her finger against my forehead.
"What is it?"
"Just come back quick. It gets hot when the air-conditioner turns off."
"?? Okay."
And with that I slipped out of the room.
From behind me came her voice yelling, "That protagonist guy is so frustrating I could die! Just burn everything already!"
Her taste in movies was downright vicious.
The instant I stepped into the corridor, cold air stabbed my lungs.
My body, however, still felt feverish.
It was as if Elise's heat had soaked into my skin.
"Oh, Manager Kang! Are you feeling any better?"
A passing guard spotted me and saluted.
His eyes, though, looked a little strange.
"Ah, yes. Thanks to you."
"I heard the rumors. You took that witch··· I mean, Number 001 bare-handed?"
"Pardon?"
"You calmed Number 001 down until you collapsed in the lobby! Everyone's saying you prevented a major disaster. You're a total saint!"
The rumor had twisted in the weirdest way.
I had simply fainted, and Elise had hauled me off like luggage.
Somehow I had become "the saint who sacrificed his own body to seal the witch."
Well, nothing wrong with that. Better reputation meant my market value went up.
Morning duties went smoothly.
With Supervisor Park Minseok dragged down to Basement Level 8, the atmosphere in the facility management team had become noticeably more pleasant.
The newly arrived team leader took one look at me and immediately started bowing and scraping. "Good heavens, Manager Kang! Why are you even out? You should be resting!"
Power really was sweet.
But peace never lasts long.
I was midway through my C-Block patrol.
"Hey, Ice Cube."
A gravelly voice called from beyond the bars.
I turned my head to find a rough-looking prisoner beckoning me.
Prisoner Number 304. A poison-type ability user known as "Viper."
"Do you need something?"
"The rumors floating around are pretty entertaining. You're that red witch's kept man, right?"
The surrounding prisoners snickered.
Kept man. What a cheap choice of words.
"Watch your mouth. Insulting a manager is grounds for penalty points."
"Penalty points? Puhaha! Hey, you think I'm sitting pretty in here because I'm scared of penalty points?"
Number 304 pressed right up against the bars.
Purple poison gas began seeping from his mouth.
"Looks like you're acting tough because you've got the witch backing you, but this is C-Block. The witch's up in that penthouse."
"And?"
"Hand over some tribute. You've gotta have plenty of cash you squeezed out of the witch, right? Share a little with us. Better for everyone, yeah?"
They were thugs, plain and simple.
I sighed.
In the old days I would have played along and smoothed things over, but the situation was different now.
If I back down here, I'll be smearing mud on Elise's face.
As her possession? I had to maintain some dignity.
"I don't have money. And even if I did, none of it would go to you."
"This bastard for real!"
Number 304 thrust out a hand.
Poison fluid sprayed from the fingers that shot between the bars.
The distance was too close to dodge.
Hissss!
But the poison evaporated before it even touched my collar.
No—more precisely, it burned.
"Huh?"
Number 304 looked bewildered.
Crimson heat haze was rising around my body.
Scorching heat.
Elise's mana.
This is······.
I remembered how she had pressed her finger firmly against my forehead that morning.
You're mine. Touch him and I'll kill you.
Her voice seemed to echo like a hallucination.
The murderous intent pouring from the red haze drained the color from Number 304's face.
"U-uwaagh! Hot!"
Number 304 screamed and toppled backward.
The heat wrapping my body burned away his poison and even turned the iron bars glowing red.
"Huff, huff······."
Number 304 stared at me—no, at the massive flame-shaped silhouette wavering behind me—with eyes full of terror.
The surrounding prisoners held their breath.
They understood instinctively.
Who stood behind me.
"Don't."
When I opened my mouth, my voice came out lower than usual.
Not my will—Elise's mana resonating.
"Bother me again."
I casually flicked the glowing-red bars.
The steel bent like soft taffy.
"H-hiiik! I-I'm sorry! I was wrong!"
Number 304 slammed his forehead to the floor in a full dogeza.
I brushed off my clothes as if nothing had happened and turned away.
Whispers rose behind me.
"Crazy, it was real."
"He's under the witch's protection."
"Touch him and you're fucked······."
Walking down the corridor, I let out a bitter smile.
Was I supposed to be happy about this?
I had just been officially certified as the witch's man.
Bzzzzzt—
The smartphone in my pocket vibrated like mad.
It was the messenger app linked to the tablet I had given Elise.
Messages poured in one second apart.
Cold sweat running down my back, I picked up the pace.
Ten minutes left until lunch.
If I was late, I might be the one who burned this time.
I really did end up serving one exhausting woman as my master.
Yet my steps felt lighter than expected.
At least in this hellhole, having an absolute backer watching over me was pretty reassuring.
Of course, the fact that said backer was a time bomb that could explode at any moment was still a problem.
"I'm coming, I'm coming. The menu is pork cutlet."
I fired off the reply and started running toward the duty room.