Ghost Apple

Jeong-ho pinned Han-gyeom’s arms down against the mattress with enough force to hurt. Then he brought his face so close, they were nearly breathing the same air.

“You guide me yourself. I want to see just how good that feels.”

At those words, Han-gyeom shot him a fierce glare.

“I’m Seo Won’s exclusive guide.”

“Yeah, I know. But Seo Won and I always shared our toys anyway.”

Jeong-ho had already been to this mansion countless times, easily over a hundred, and had been guided by Seo Won’s guide more than enough. So acting this entitled to an exclusive guide was nothing new for him.

But Han-gyeom wasn’t the type to just accept this situation in silence.

Seo Won was the only one he’d even consider surrendering GP to. He had no desire to be robbed of it by some unknown man, and even less to offer guidance willingly.

More importantly, he and Seo Won had a contract.

Having agreed to a clause that stated he was to provide guidance only to Seo Won, the one in the superior position, it was a clear violation to guide anyone else.

“Get off me! I’m not guiding you.”

“Oh, really?”

Jeong-ho feigned a pout for show. With their similar builds, it reminded Han-gyeom vaguely of Song Jae-woo when he sulked. That slight resemblance made him hesitate—and Jeong-ho didn’t miss that opening. He seized the moment to cross both of Han-gyeom’s arms above his head and pressed them down hard with one hand.

“Then I’ll just take it myself.”

Jeong-ho flashed a quick grin, making it obvious that his earlier reaction had been an act. His free hand started sliding over Han-gyeom’s chest.

“Ugh!”

Of all places, he touched the spot where Han-gyeom had been bitten earlier, and the dried blood had soaked through. The sting made him flinch with a sharp gasp, and Jeong-ho chuckled lowly, deliberately rubbing and teasing the wounded area.

Even while doing this, he continued absorbing Han-gyeom’s GP. Wherever their bare skin met, that blissful, refined concentration of energy flowed into him like ecstasy. A shiver rippled through Jeong-ho’s whole body as he smacked his lips.

Growing more eager, Jeong-ho’s hand trailed down from Han-gyeom’s chest. All he wanted now was to get him aroused and suck out a deeper, denser dose of GP.

Sensing where the hand was headed, Han-gyeom began struggling even more violently.

“Don’t! Stop it!”

His voice rose—uncharacteristically loud for him.

“But why the informal tone? Seo Won likes polite, quiet types, and you’re kind of prickly.”

“I said shut up and get off…”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I’m in a hurry, so just let me get my guidance.”

Despite Han-gyeom’s fierce resistance, Jeong-ho’s hand continued groping downward with perverse determination. That unfamiliar touch made his body tense up, but it didn’t stop there—Jeong-ho undid the buckle of his pants and yanked the zipper down with a harsh zrrrppp.

Han-gyeom could no longer hold back. His eyes flared red as he glared.

At that exact moment, a crimson spark burst from Jeong-ho’s hand, the one pinning down Han-gyeom’s wrists.

“Ugh!”

A shock like an intense electric jolt shot through Jeong-ho, knocking him sideways. His body crumpled as he fell to the side, his posture collapsing completely. Just moments ago, he’d been savoring the taste of that sweet, rich GP—but now, a surge of red energy had crawled up his arm and detonated inside his core. His ESP, which had been smoothly coursing through his body, abruptly seized up as if gripped by fear. It froze completely, unresponsive.

“What… the hell…?”

Jeong-ho, wide-eyed in shock at the sensation he’d never felt before, turned toward the sudden sound of the door opening.

Two figures entered the room. One was the intimidating bodyguard stationed outside Han-gyeom’s door. He followed behind Seo Won, quietly observing his mood.

Seo Won stepped inside and casually flicked on the light. The room was instantly bathed in brightness.

With the light on, it was easy to grasp the situation.

Han-gyeom was hastily clutching his wide-open shirt closed. His wrists and hands were flushed red, as though they’d been forcefully restrained for some time, and his eyes still burned faintly with a trace of crimson. The sight of his pants unbuckled and hanging open was particularly troubling.

Seo Won’s gaze moved to Jeong-ho, who was crumpled on the floor beside the bed. He was twitching slightly, trying to push himself up with a pained groan, his face noticeably flushed.

Jeong-ho was the first to break the silence, speaking to Seo Won who stared at him without a word.

“Seo Won, didn’t you train him? He’s really defiant.”

Seo Won responded without taking his eyes off Han-gyeom, his voice calm and cold.

“He hasn’t been here long.”

“Figures. No wonder he’s got no manners.”

Despite Jeong-ho’s griping, Seo Won showed little emotion.

“But just now, there was some kind of weird electric shock. Did you set that up?”

“…Electric shock?”

Seo Won’s brow furrowed for a brief moment before smoothing back out.

“Maybe the security system was activated in the control unit.”

“You think so?”

Jeong-ho staggered to his feet, still aching from the strange surge that had stiffened his entire body.

“Damn, what kind of security system hits that hard? My whole body feels sore.”

Still grumbling, he cast a greedy glance toward Han-gyeom, who was curled up in a corner of the bed.

“Now I get why you brought him in. His GP tastes nothing like other guides’. I barely even started, and it was already that good… If I got a full guidance session—”

“Yoon Jeong-ho.”

“Hm?”

“Leave.”

Seo Won’s blue eyes locked onto Jeong-ho with an icy stare.

“Get out.”

Jeong-ho froze, lips snapping shut.

Something felt off. On the surface, Seo Won looked the same as always—but there was something… different.

Jeong-ho cast one last glance at Han-gyeom on the bed, then casually patted Seo Won on the shoulder.

“Alright. See you at the demonstration.”

“Yeah.”

With that brief exchange, Jeong-ho vanished in an instant, as if he’d never been there at all. The only one startled was Han-gyeom, who hadn’t been aware of the man’s ability.

Seo Won didn’t even spare a glance at the bodyguard as he spoke.

“Wait outside. Don’t let anyone in.”

The guard quickly bowed his head. “Yes, sir.” He knew the dinner hour was approaching and that the staff would soon be coming by with trays of food—but the atmosphere was far too tense to risk mentioning it.

Once the guard stepped out and closed the door, the room was swallowed in a frigid silence.

Seo Won was the first to speak.

“I can’t make sense of this.”

He strode toward the bed with heavy, deliberate steps. Han-gyeom still hadn’t managed to button his shirt, his shoulders trembling as the memory of the forced encounter clung to his body.

Seo Won’s shadow stretched long across the floor, reaching the place where Han-gyeom sat curled up.

“Why would you reveal that ability? And to Yoon Jeong-ho of all people?”

A unique power—neutralizing the abilities of ESP users.

It was a rare gift, one only Han-gyeom possessed among all guides.

Judging by Jeong-ho’s reaction, it didn’t just neutralize; it seemed to act as a counterattack, sending a retaliatory shock directly into the opponent’s body.

Seo Won looked down coldly at Han-gyeom, whose crimson-tinted eyes had returned to black. The defiant glint lingering in his gaze only irritated him further.

“Yoon Jeong-ho has a number of exclusive guides. The total number of guides he’s received guidance from is probably too high to count.”

Seo Won’s eyes clearly held blame.

“You really think someone like him wouldn’t notice a ‘power no ordinary guide has’?”

Han-gyeom’s lips quivered before he lashed back in a sharp voice.

“So what, I was supposed to just lie there and take it? Spread my legs for him?”

“Might’ve been better if you had.”

The immediate reply made Han-gyeom flinch, his eyes widening.

“…What did you just say?”

“All Jeong-ho wanted was guidance. Like when you used to sell it—what’s the harm in offering your body a little?”

Han-gyeom exhaled a hollow breath, eyes trembling as he glared at Seo Won.

“Are you seriously telling me… to sell myself to that bastard?”

“It’s not selling.”

Seo Won reached out and grabbed Han-gyeom’s arm, yanking him forward. Han-gyeom’s body dragged across the bed until he was pulled to the edge where Seo Won stood.

“It’s sharing.”

“I’m…!”

Han-gyeom’s throat choked on his fury as he clenched his teeth, eyes burning into Seo Won.

“I’m not a whore.”

To Han-gyeom, this moment was unbearable. Humiliating. Infuriating.

He never expected to be cherished, nor did he plan to use their imprint as leverage to demand something like a romantic relationship where Seo Won would look only at him.

But if he was Seo Won’s guide, and Seo Won was his Esper, wasn’t it basic decency to at least protect him?

Instead, Seo Won talked about sharing him with others.

What kind of Imprinter says something like “sharing”?

It wasn’t just his pride that shattered—it felt like his very sense of self, his dignity as a person, was breaking into pieces.

He couldn’t stand being in the same room as Seo Won any longer.

“…Leave. I haven’t even had a proper moment to rest.”

If he could leave himself, he would have. But stepping out of this room on his own wasn’t permitted. So he asked Seo Won to go instead—but the man didn’t budge, acting as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

“How long did you guide Yoon Jeong-ho?”

It hadn’t been guiding. It had been stolen from him.

Han-gyeom stayed silent, avoiding Seo Won’s gaze. Seeing that, Seo Won’s mouth twisted.

“If he came straight here from the office, that would be about ten minutes.”

In truth, Jeong-ho had spent most of that time just ogling Han-gyeom’s body, and the actual guidance had barely begun. But with Han-gyeom having passed out earlier, it wasn’t something he could clearly explain now.

Then suddenly, Seo Won yanked open Han-gyeom’s shirt, stripping it off him completely.

“Whatever the process, the fact is you guided him. Because of that, the ‘satisfactory guidance’ I was supposed to receive has been shortened by ten minutes. So now, you’ll have to compensate for that.”

Han-gyeom gave him a look that said, What the hell are you talking about?

Just a moment ago, he’d been spouting nonsense about sharing, and now he was twisting the contract to force some kind of penalty.

“It wasn’t guidance because I wanted to. He forced it on me. And besides, today’s session already ended, didn’t it?”

“Ended? What the hell are you talking about?”

Seo Won’s voice was cold, and his expression made it clear he was in a very foul mood.

“I never said guidance would only happen at a fixed time.”

Then, without warning, Seo Won reached down toward the open front of Han-gyeom’s pants.