Chapter 89

Taehyeok Sa shook his head firmly. Then he stared silently at Cho-i Hyeon. Receiving Taehyeok Sa’s persistent gaze, Cho-i Hyeon blinked and then looked around. So, he’s really looking at me right now, isn’t he?

“Why are you looking at me?”

“Because I’m worried about you.”

“Why are you worried about me?”

“Well, you don’t seem to feel any particular sense of duty, so I guess it’ll be fine….”

Taehyeok Sa mumbled to himself and eventually fell silent. He believed that Cho-i Hyeon absolutely needed him as a controller, but Cho-i Hyeon didn’t know that yet. If she did, she would have cursed him out.

“Then I’ll be going!”

Cho-i Hyeon raised one arm and waved it around. Yeonhan Kim and Dongju Kim looked back at Taehyeok Sa with ambiguous expressions.

‘Is it really okay to send her alone like that?’

That was the look on their faces, but there was nothing they could do in the current situation where only Cho-i Hyeon was invited. Anyway, she’s not the type to just take whatever comes her way, so they sent her.

“For now, we’ll wait nearby.”

“That’s probably best, right?”

Taehyeok Sa, Yeonhan Kim, and Dongju Kim immediately prepared and stood up after Cho-i Hyeon left. It seemed best to be ready to handle things right away if something happened while they were in the vicinity.

***

And so, Cho-i Hyeon took a taxi to Sinmyeong Hotel. Paehyeok offered to provide a car, but she declined, thinking there was no need to bother with that. Why bother? It’s not like she’s going to see someone important. Cho-i Hyeon got out of the taxi and looked up at the hotel. Then she noticed something a little strange. The lights on the floors that seemed to be guest rooms were all off. Cho-i scanned the hotel and headed inside. In contrast to the dark guest rooms, the lobby was dazzlingly lit. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and on either side below them stood men in black suits. Cho-i found the sight amusing and started walking down the middle path with a smirk. When she reached the end of the path, one of the men in black suits who had been next to Zhixuan, the one Cho-i Hyeon had punched and knocked down, was standing there. He spoke with a polite expression.

“Please come this way.”

“Why are these bastards speaking Chinese when they’re in Korea? What the hell?”

Cho-i Hyeon said that and smacked the back of the suit-clad man’s head. With a loud thwack, the man stumbled forward and fell. He didn’t get up again.

“What? Why is he so weak?”

As Cho-i spoke in a bewildered tone, the men in suits standing in a line began to murmur slightly. There was nothing to be done about the unconscious man, so Cho-i asked the men around her.

“So, what floor is it?”

“It’s 101F.”

“What the hell are you saying?”

The only words the man in the suit could understand were the expletives. Since she didn’t seem to understand, the man rummaged through the unconscious man’s pocket and pulled out a key card. He then went straight to the elevator and pressed the button for her. Cho-i followed him and stood in front of the elevator, watching him press the top floor button.

“Ah, it’s good when you do things so quickly from the start.”

Of course, it was Cho-i Hyeon who hadn’t given them a chance to do things quickly, but her own actions had long since vanished from her mind. She got into the elevator alone and went up to the top floor. It didn’t take long. She soon arrived at a penthouse that occupied the entire floor. As the elevator doors opened, a room door immediately appeared, and Cho-i rang the bell. No sound was heard, but the door soon opened and Zhixuan appeared. Zhixuan greeted her wearing only a bathrobe.

“What kind of getup is this now?”

“Haha, it’s meant to create intimacy by dressing casually.”

“You just look like a pervert, you know?”

She grumbled and stepped inside. Zhixuan then turned his shoulder sideways to make way for her. Upon entering, a spacious room unfolded before her. It was a dazzling interior, but it didn’t really catch Cho-i’s eye. She went straight to the sofa, sat down as she pleased, crossed her legs, and looked at Zhixuan, who was still standing there.

“So, you’ve decided? To take it today?”

“Honestly, I don’t know why you’re being so confident.”

“Of course. Everyone is.”

Cho-i said indifferently, leaning back against the sofa. Zhixuan approached Cho-i instead of sitting opposite her. He then grabbed the backrest where Cho-i was sitting and brought his face close to hers.

“What makes you so confident?”

“Why, are you curious?”

“Of course I’m curious. How could I not be? There’s someone here willing to give up their life so easily.”

“You’ll find out soon.”

“Usually, people like this are one of two types.”

“Which ones?”

“Those who believe they won’t die.”

“And?”

“Just crazy people.”

At that, Cho-i laughed pleasantly.

“Ahahaha, you’re right. You’re absolutely right.”

She lightly covered her mouth with her hand and said,

“I’m both.”

“Is that so?”

Zhixuan’s face moved closer to Cho-i Hyeon’s neck. Her neck felt his lukewarm breath.

“Shall we find out then?”

Before she could ask ‘How?’, Zhixuan bit her neck. A sudden sharp pain made her yelp. As she tried to push him away, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed her further into the sofa. Cho-i struggled, trying to push his shoulders, but his body wouldn’t budge.

‘This bastard isn’t S-Rank after all!’

Slurp, slurp. And at the same time, a strange sound began to be heard. Cho-i’s eyes widened, a shiver running down her spine at the sensation of blood draining from her wound. Zhixuan was sucking her blood. Cho-i paused for a moment. She watched how long he would keep this up. When she stopped moving, Zhixuan began to suck her blood even more aggressively. He sucked so much that she repeatedly shivered at the sensation of it being drawn out of her body. Zhixuan bit deeper as her body trembled slightly in his arms. Cho-i Hyeon’s body jolted violently. He was intoxicated by the ecstasy of tasting S-Rank blood, sucking more and more, like a madman. It was the best taste. It was a completely different level from when he had licked the blood that splattered during his fight with Zhu Rui. He embraced Cho-i Hyeon’s body as if to break it, completely absorbed in the vampirism. But he didn’t know how much Cho-i Hyeon was enduring.

“Hey, you bastard. That’s enough!”

She endured for a little longer, a little longer, and then, after some time had passed, she smacked him on the head.

“Stop gorging yourself!”

Wham! When she smacked him on the head, Zhixuan crashed down onto the floor from the sofa. He tilted his head, blood smeared around his mouth. Let’s ignore his delicate fallen pose for now.

“You’re still alive after I’ve sucked this much blood?”

“Why, got a problem?”

“That’s strange. Normally, everyone should die after this much is sucked.”

“Really? Then one life has been accounted for, right?”

Cho-i Hyeon got up from her seat with a disgusted look and brushed off her neck. Zhixuan looked at her with a blank expression.

Cho-i Hyeon shrugged her shoulders. Zhixuan, sounding somewhat excited, abruptly stood up and grabbed Cho-i Hyeon’s arms.

“You don’t die even if I suck your blood?”

“What? What’s wrong with you?”

As she talked back to Zhixuan, the Entity’s voice echoed in her head once more.

‘Prey.’ ‘No. You shut up.’ ‘Just one bite.’ ‘Is he cotton candy? To just have one bite? No, wait.’

Cho-i slowly blinked. There was only one question that arose here. Would this thing in her head truly be satisfied with just ‘one bite’? Would it fulfill some condition it sought by just tearing off a piece once, rather than ending its life? While she was pondering, Zhixuan still couldn’t hide his excited expression and leaned his face towards her.

“C-can I drink your blood just one more time?”

“One life, one time. Did you forget?”

“Ah…”

“Still, it’s not like there’s no other way.”

Cho-i grinned and said to him,

“I’ll eat you too, then it’s a fair trade, right?”

“You’ll eat me?”

“Oh, just one bite. I’m not going to eat it all like you, without any manners, you know?”

Zhixuan looked conflicted. But he couldn’t overcome his desire, and soon nodded.

“Can you promise not to threaten my life?”

“No, I can’t.”

“…You’re quite confident.”

“You’re being too much, considering you sucked me dry with the intent to kill me too.”

Cho-i Hyeon mocked him. Zhixuan was looking at her with eyes full of desire. Not all S-Rank blood was the same. The blood of Zhu Rui he had tasted before didn’t have this much flavor. There was something special about her. Zhixuan bowed to her once more, but Cho-i Hyeon recoiled in disgust.

“Please, don’t come too close.”

“Huh?”

Cho-i Hyeon moved far away from the couch and extended her leg.

“It doesn’t have to be the nape of my neck.”

“Oh, come on…”

Zhixuan let out a sarcastic laugh as if he found it absurd, but without hesitation, he crawled between her legs. Cho-i Hyeon wondered what her blood tasted like for the grinning madman to obediently crawl towards her. Even a quick lick of the blood on her shoulder just tasted like ordinary blood. Zhixuan bit the inside of her thigh, which was exposed by her shorts. A chunk of flesh came off, and Cho-i Hyeon winced.

“Ow! Damn it, that hurts more!”