As if time had suddenly stopped, Kishiar’s entire body froze.

Just like the first time Yuder had glimpsed inside him, a powerful resistance surged back at him. The force of the Red Stone, drawn up from deep within, wrapped around Yuder’s hand and tried to open the door—but it wasn’t easy. He didn’t even feel the sweat dripping down the side of his face as he summoned more power and focused. But it wasn’t only Yuder who was soaked. From the moment he’d mounted him, Kishiar had already been drenched in heat and cold sweat, like someone who’d nearly drowned.

The light bursting from Yuder’s eyes intensified, and at the same time, a gritty sound slipped from between Kishiar’s lips. The veins bulged along the back of the hand that gripped Yuder’s thigh, the joints trembling violently.

Suppressing the instinct to reject an external touch and forcibly holding on to reason—no matter who you were, it wasn’t easy. The pain flooding through their connected bodies and through the golden link flaring between them proved it more than anything.

From the outside, it only looked like he was clenching his teeth and tensing his hand slightly—but Yuder could feel it: an immense pain too overwhelming to even imagine enduring. And every time he felt even a flicker of that agony, it wasn’t the borrowed sensation that hurt the most. It was the raw, searing pain of his own heart—burning with worry and desperation for Kishiar.

‘Come on... just a little more...!’

With every breath Kishiar exhaled—each one as ragged as a horse pushed to full gallop—the sweet scent wrapped tighter and tighter around Yuder’s entire body. Every time he inhaled it, his thoughts flickered and disappeared. Primitive sensations, intoxicating urges, weight pressing down on every limb...

It felt like shackles were tightening around his arms and legs every time he blinked, growing heavier and heavier. But Yuder refused to crumble. He braced himself, pushing back with all the strength he had.

He had to protect Kishiar.

He wanted—desperately—to ease his pain, even a little.

That overwhelming resolve made Yuder Aile go beyond his own limits.

‘Please...!’

He moved in a trance, no longer even aware of what he was doing.

And finally—

“Ugh...!”

“Hhh...!”

A burst of violent cries erupted at once—Kishiar’s interior opened before Yuder’s eyes.

Through a vision far blurrier than usual, he barely caught traces of the energy he’d finally seized.

Nothing was clear—but now was not the time to hesitate.

With instinctual precision, Yuder unleashed the force and parted his tightly clenched lips.

“Now...!”

Just that one word was all he could manage—but he believed Kishiar would understand.

As the red energy surged forth and he released control over the scent, a dizzying wave of sensation crashed into him, so intense it nearly knocked him out.

‘Ah...’

Had the invisible force not pulled Yuder’s scent inward like a vacuum, the spike in intensity might truly have made him black out.

“...”

As the scent began to move, Kishiar’s Awakener energy also stirred at last. The stone-like rigidity crumbled beneath Yuder’s touch, collapsing in a spectacle that resembled a great battle.

Sight and sensation dulled inside the storm.

The only thing he could clearly perceive now was a sense beyond his five senses—the world made visible through scent alone.

Their energies and scents whipped through the space, crashing against it. Without touching anything, the outflow of energy sparked violently—objects were knocked over or shattered, curtains and cloth flailed wildly like they were being torn apart. Small, unidentifiable items flew through the air and struck the bed or their bodies, but Yuder remained firm as a stone atop Kishiar, unshaken, accepting all of it.

How long had he been digging, tunneling toward that single point? 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

At last, Yuder felt something snag—something at the very edge of the energy he was manipulating.

He couldn’t explain it, but he knew.

If he moved this, every door Kishiar had locked would finally open.

Once it began to open, it wouldn’t stop—and no lock, no wall, would be able to contain the flow. His instincts would erupt, just as they’d hoped.

Only then did ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Yuder open his eyes again—and only then did he realize he had closed them. But he didn’t care.

Because the only thing he had wanted to see in this storm of chaos and silence...

...were those red, flame-like eyes staring back at him.

Others wouldn’t understand it—but he didn’t need words or sounds to communicate now.

He declared with raw emotion, not speech:

Give me all of you.

I will not stop—so neither must you.

That message, bright and undeniable, rode the gaze between them.

“...”

A moment later, the man who’d received Yuder’s message slowly closed his eyes and opened them again.

A single, vivid affirmation—like painting a white canvas with one pure color.

It was enough.

The red energy flowing from Yuder brushed the deepest part of Kishiar’s being.

———

As if that were the key turning in the final lock, the force that had been sucking in Yuder’s scent began to melt like wet sand.

The wild bursts of energy filling the room vanished one by one into the open doors.

And just before the reason that had filled Kishiar la Orr’s body completely slipped away through that final doorway, he looked at Yuder and exhaled—deeply, profoundly.

Haa.

That faint breath, like a butterfly’s wingbeat, faded out—and the strength in his hand clutching Yuder slipped away too.

His fingers dropped to the bed, his head falling limp.

The light vanished behind closed eyes, and complete silence reclaimed the space.

Yuder stared without blinking.

It felt like watching a cracked egg just before it hatched.

How long had he waited?

Suddenly—before he could even register it—Kishiar’s hand yanked his arm.

He lost balance and fell forward, landing atop the other’s body—and as he lifted his head, red eyes met his.

But these were nothing like the eyes from moments before.

These were the wild eyes of something no one had ever controlled—something that could never be tamed. A raw, pure being awakened from the deepest, oldest slumber.

It was the gaze of a red gemstone, untouched by any refined language—simply observing Yuder like he was a completely new existence.

Then, between golden lashes, those eyes vanished halfway, shimmering like rippling water.

By the time Yuder realized that was a smile, Kishiar had already moved—like flowing water—flipping their positions.

The man who had lain beneath Yuder, trying to suppress and endure everything in pain, was no longer there.

In his place stood a being radiating unrestrained beauty, drawing in Yuder’s gaze and every last sensation, straightening his shoulders like he was stretching for the first time in forever, tilting his head slowly.

As if testing how far he could move his own body again, his muscles rippled lightly. His hand traced the torn skin under shredded clothes, then casually ripped apart the fabric caught on his fingers.

“...”

Fragments of cloth, like sculpted pieces, dropped from the defined muscles below.

He had done it all as if he wanted Yuder, lying beneath him, to watch.

But even if he hadn’t, Yuder wouldn’t have been able to look away.

After a moment, Kishiar exhaled again—now with a clear, renewed body.

A pure gaze, doing nothing but looking.

Yuder met it, slowly spreading his arms. The strange clarity of sweat-soaked fabric clinging to his skin stood out sharply. His fingers, hot with fever, moved. Just like Kishiar had done, he grabbed his own shirt and tore it open—ripping through strings and buttons to reveal bare skin.

In the silence, the man who had been staring at Yuder’s revealed body as if bewitched... smiled sweetly.

And the scent, which had briefly paused when Kishiar opened his eyes, now pulsed with force.

Like a beast baring its fangs.

That was the beginning.