Taming the Obsessive Attachment

1.Second Life – Kwon Jae-jin

A violent grip tightened around his neck.

The street lights illuminating the alleyway burst one after another, flickering chaotically before plunging the area into darkness. Kwon Jae-jin was shoved into the dimly lit alley, his throat still constricted. It was a dead end.

“Kuhugh!”

His spine slammed hard against the brick wall. Before he could even process the pain, the man who had attacked him pressed a hand against his chest. Fingers spread, as if confirming something, he pushed down twice on Jae-jin’s heart. Kkuuk, kkuk.

Even though the action itself wasn’t particularly forceful, Jae-jin felt as if he were being crushed under the paw of a beast. It felt like his ribs were about to break.

“It’s you. You really are the one.”

“Ugh, kuugh… What…?”

“My Guide.”

Guide?

Groaning, Kwon Jae-jin stared at the dark figure before him. The faintly flickering streetlight outlined the silhouette of his assailant.

The man was clad in black combat gear—something that didn’t belong in a place like this. A thick leather harness crossed over his broad chest, strapped with grenades and ammunition magazines. A holster secured around his muscular waist and thighs carried a handgun.

He wasn’t an ordinary person.

He was an Esper.

‘Why the hell is an Awakened here in the Sixth Residential District?’

The man had just called Jae-jin his Guide, but that couldn’t possibly be true. Jae-jin was an ordinary resident of a general district—specifically, the Sixth Residential District, far removed from the affluent First District. He was just a labor-class worker.

And, of course, only non-Awakened individuals—those who had never Awakened as Espers or Guides—were allowed to live in general residential areas. He had never encountered an Awakened in his life, let alone spoken to one.

“E-Esper-nim… I think… you… have the wrong person. Please… let me go.”

Jae-jin forced the words out, enduring the pain. His throat was being crushed so tightly it felt like his neck might snap. Even breathing was a struggle. What kind of nightmare was this, on his way home after a late shift?

“You’re wrong. No mistake.”

A chilling voice sank into his ears.

At the same time, a pair of heat-filled eyes inched closer. As the man neared, Jae-jin finally got a clear look at his face.

He was unexpectedly young-looking.

If anything, he appeared even younger than Jae-jin. His wavy hair looked soft to the touch, and his thick eyebrows framed his long, slightly downturned eyes—eyes that, at a glance, bore a resemblance to a dog’s.

A retriever…? A large breed, maybe?

Regardless, his looks didn’t match the way he was effortlessly choking Jae-jin with just one hand.

And Jae-jin recognized this face.

“Shall we check? Whether or not you really are my matched Guide?”

The first-ever S-Class Esper. 20 years old. Seo Eui-woo.

“Open up.”

Before Jae-jin could process the short command, Seo Eui-woo closed in completely, pressing their lips together.

As Eui-woo tried to slip his tongue inside, Jae-jin clenched his teeth shut, blocking him.

He knew that among Awakened individuals, physical contact was a natural means of guiding, that their perception of intimacy was completely different from that of ordinary people.

But knowing didn’t mean accepting.

Jae-jin was an ordinary man, and being suddenly kissed by another man—especially in a situation like this—was anything but pleasant. Rejecting it was only natural. More so when he was backed into a wall with a hand crushing his throat.

“…I said, open.”

Failing to make contact, Seo Eui-woo frowned, his gaze turning sharp. The air around him instantly became hostile.

An S-Class Esper could exert overwhelming pressure even without meaning to. That was likely why all the streetlights had shattered earlier.

“Ugh… ngh.”

The sharp energy around him pricked at Jae-jin’s skin like needles. He clenched his teeth even harder.

“Hah…”

Seo Eui-woo rolled his clear gray eyes upward, exhaling. After staring at the sky for a moment, his gaze dropped back down abruptly.

He must have decided talking was pointless.

In an instant, Jae-jin’s jaw was wrenched open. He didn’t even comprehend what had happened until it was too late. Eui-woo had applied pressure to his jaw joint, forcing his mouth apart.

Then, with his gloved fingers, Seo Eui-woo shoved his hand deep into Jae-jin’s throat.

“Ugh—kuhh…!”

Jae-jin gagged violently, his body convulsing.

Seo Eui-woo seized the moment to press his lips against him once more.

This time, their tongues clearly met.

Jae-jin thrashed, kicking Eui-woo with all his strength, but the man didn’t so much as budge. He was solid as a boulder.

Seo Eui-woo licked and rubbed his soft tongue against Jae-jin’s as if punishing him, sucking up his saliva without hesitation. Even as Jae-jin drooled helplessly, Eui-woo showed no intention of pulling away. He sucked on his lips, then rubbed their tongues together again, making more saliva spill out—only to drink it down like he couldn’t get enough.

This bastard.

He was insane.

Jae-jin should have realized it the moment this lunatic started spouting nonsense about Guides and whatever the hell else.

And this was the same person the media had endlessly praised as the first-ever S-Class Esper? The so-called savior of humanity, a noble sunbeam carved from light itself? Every single one of those ridiculous titles was bullshit. As expected, fame was never to be trusted.

“Ugh—get off me, haah… ngh…!”

His jaw started trembling. He could barely breathe, and his kicks were slowing down.

The truth was, Jae-jin exercised regularly. He ran every morning without fail, and on his days off, he did rock climbing for fun. His build was solid, broader shoulders and well-defined muscles setting him apart from the average man. To put it bluntly, he had never once lived as anyone’s lesser.

Yet here he was—just another powerless civilian against Seo Eui-woo, a man who made a living through combat.

A deep, chilling fear seeped into his bones. The familiar world around him was being invaded. His reality, his understanding of how things worked, meant nothing to the monster in front of him. And that was more terrifying than anything.

“Hmm…”

After what felt like an eternity of sucking and biting at Jae-jin’s tongue, Seo Eui-woo finally pulled back, his departure slow and deliberate. A thick string of saliva stretched between them before snapping. Without hesitation, Eui-woo licked it up and swallowed it.

“See? It worked. Guiding…”

His long, sharp eyes curved as he murmured, an eerie smile spreading across his lips.

He looked… pleased. Excited, even.

And with the way his monolid eyes softened as he grinned, he seemed even younger than before. But to Kwon Jae-jin, it was nothing more than an act.

A shiver crawled up his neck. His stomach churned, nausea roiling inside him.

It felt like being trapped in a sealed box, thrown around without control. A bead of sticky sweat trickled down his back.

“You’re my matched Guide. It had to be you. No wonder I couldn’t find you before—you were buried away in this corner of the world all this time.”

Of course, Kwon Jae-jin wasn’t a Guide.

He had undergone the mandatory Awakening test at birth, and the results had been clear—he was not an Awakened.

Yet, Seo Eui-woo was looking him dead in the eye and claiming otherwise.

His stomach… His stomach felt worse.

The nausea twisted and turned inside him, rising to unbearable levels.

It wasn’t because of Seo Eui-woo.

Something was seriously wrong.

“…Guh, ugh.”

Slowly, Jae-jin shook his head.

His entire body felt like it was flipping inside out.

A ripple spread outward from his heart, as if concentric circles were unfurling through every nerve in his body. His senses sharpened to a painful degree. The world in front of him spun counterclockwise before vanishing into complete darkness.

A deafening ringing exploded in his skull, like a massive gong being struck inside his brain. His ears buzzed with an unbearably high-pitched whine.

“What the…? What’s wrong with you? Are you hurt? Did something break?”

His condition was rapidly deteriorating.

Something immense and unfathomable was tearing through Kwon Jae-jin—some kind of intangible force, enormous yet impossible to grasp.

His breath came in ragged bursts before cutting off entirely.

“…Kuhh!”

For a brief moment, his heart stopped.

No. It felt more like he had died and come back to life.

At the same time, a tidal wave of thoughts flooded his mind, surging in with overwhelming force. Memories crashed over him, one after another.

It was like a film reel playing in reverse.

People say your life flashes before your eyes when you die. But this—this felt like a vision only possible because he had defied death.

So, what did that mean?

What was this telling him?

It meant… Kwon Jae-jin had already died once.

And now, he was here again. Alive.

Regression.

This was Kwon Jae-jin’s second life.

Meeting Seo Eui-woo—this was the second time. Becoming his Guide—this was the second time.

The forced guiding Eui-woo had just inflicted on him had triggered something. It had set off the return of his past life’s memories—his first life.

And in that flood of recollections, he saw everything.

How he had lived.

And how he had died.

“…Seo Eui-woo.”

Jae-jin’s eyes widened as he slowly looked up at him, his gaze filled with disbelief.

“Were you always… this young?”

His vision blurred.

His body tilted, the world twisting beneath him before everything went black.

As Jae-jin collapsed, unconscious, Seo Eui-woo caught him effortlessly.