Dirty Sweet Baby Chapter 114

“That’s alright. Imprinting can be done anytime, it won’t be too late, but the α-Creature can’t be left as it is.”

“If that’s the case, then that’s a relief. Well, the model for synchronizing your two wave patterns is already prepared. I can show it to you now.”

Researcher Park Juhye left to get the sync model.

Heeheon opened the door to the safety booth and went over to Cha Moogyul. As soon as Heeheon approached, he reached out his arms and ensnared him into his embrace. He held his waist firmly, pulled him in close, and let out a murky exhale.

“Hyung.”

His eyes were narrowed in displeasure, and the deep furrows on his brow wouldn’t smooth out. Heeheon slowly murmured, asking.

“…This was all your plan, wasn’t it?”

Without answering, Cha Moogyul tilted his head up and looked directly at Heeheon. Even without a verbal exchange, Heeheon could read the meaning in his gaze.

This time too, Cha Moogyul had intended to completely capture and bind Baek Heeheon. To control Heeheon’s life in the way he desired, and to even seize his death. Surely, after imprinting, he wouldn’t even be able to dream of impulsive suicide attempts like before. It was a way of capturing him in both life and death.

“This feels like an even greater confinement than the basement.”

A method of building a siege on all sides and pulling a noose tight around the neck. That meticulousness which would inevitably lead to being dominated by Cha Moogyul’s will. Heeheon would accept and even love Cha Moogyul’s perfectionistic and controlling side, to the point of being obsessive… but he just didn’t want to be deceived without knowing.

“Did you want to imprint?”

Cha Moogyul hugged Heeheon as if to crush him and uttered the words right in front of his nose.

“Yes.”

“And you wanted to get me away from the field?”

“Yes.”

“The α-Creature, is it true that only you can capture it?”

“That is an unerring and precise fact.”

It felt like a torrential downpour from a clear sky. It felt as if thunder was roaring and lightning was striking down. Cha Moogyul was self-centered, obsessive, coercive, and wanted all of Baek Heeheon. Just because they started dating didn’t mean his deep-rooted characteristics would easily disappear. He was a man who could and had to achieve his goals by any means necessary.

“Then you should have just persuaded me with words.”

Heeheon had been willing to follow his will. Because in his heart, he understood and sympathized with him enough.

“Why are you taking away my chance to think? Did you distrust me that much?”

He felt that Cha Moogyul’s arguments had a point. He thought that living as he suggested wouldn’t be so bad. He wanted to stay away from the field, go to the 2nd Division, and help Cha Moogyul from the side as he seized power, and he wanted to contribute to the system he would create. It meant he was willing to learn, study, and take on new challenges.

And it was the same with imprinting. Of course, the fact that Cha Moogyul’s life would be tied to his own was both a worry and a burden, but in the end, Heeheon would never have refused. The fact that he could close the grade gap with him and that he could continue to guide him in the future was a very encouraging thing.

“Are you telling me to ask you to give me your life, hyung?”

Cha Moogyul’s complicated eyes curved into a smile as he spoke.

“Or are you asking me to take yours?”

He was panting raggedly, craving Heeheon.

“We’re just playing at dating now. Anyone can see we’re not at that stage.”

“Hey…”

“Haha, if I said I wanted all of Baek Heeheon, were you really going to give it all to me?”

“…”

“I know better than you that I’m a crazy bastard. And that I’m never satisfied within the normal range. How could there be a peaceful way to possess and monopolize a lover.”

Heeheon shook his head and made a great effort to calm his wavering heart. He wasn’t angry. He didn’t feel betrayed either. Heeheon was just crestfallen.

“You still should have told me. You’re the one who said it to me.”

<Just live with me.>

<Even if it’s miserable, pour it out on me, and even if you’re angry, take it out on me. I’ll take it.>

<Instead of scheming to run away, face me. It means you should turn your arrows this way. It’s about time, isn’t it.>

“You told me not to run away. You told me to pour everything out and clash with you. That you’d accept it all.”

Of course, he had doubted it, but in the end, Heeheon had followed his words.

He had revealed his hidden self and courageously clashed with Cha Moogyul. He chose to show himself to Cha Moogyul, even if it meant being broken, ruined, and tormented in the process. But now, he didn’t know where Cha Moogyul himself was running away to, the very one who had urged Baek Heeheon to do so.

“Sorry, but I know for sure you’re a crazy bastard too. And of course, I know you’re not in the normal range. I didn’t expect things to be ordinary just because we’re dating.”

It was bound to be that way, given how tumultuous and eventful their beginning was. There was the issue with his mother, and he figured other problems could arise as they went on. Since they were two people who had stood at opposite poles, he thought they would have to live while endlessly resolving conflicts, but he believed it would be okay because they still wanted each other.

He was already prepared for it, but it seemed Cha Moogyul had judged and decided on his own again this time. Was it because he didn’t trust Baek Heeheon that much, or did he have no expectation at all that Heeheon would accept it, or was he anxious… no way, was he anxious?

Heeheon squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them. He grabbed Cha Moogyul by the collar and declared as if yelling at him.

“I still chose you.”

“…”

“I decided to try living with you… But you still don’t even think about sharing with me? Do you not trust me that much?”

“…”

Cha Moogyul looked down at Heeheon with glaring eyes. His pupils were dilated and his gaze wavered. His lowered eyelashes were long and beautiful, and his hardened face was like a well-sculpted statue. The silence was long. Cha Moogyul didn’t easily open his mouth and watched Heeheon tenaciously.

After a long pause, he cautiously and calmly revealed a corner of his emotions, refined through hundreds and thousands of ruminations. An emotion that had been suppressed and trampled for a long time, reduced as much as possible.

“Then imprint.”

His impatient voice seemed to grab and clench Heeheon.

“Hand that life over to me.”

Even though the words must have been spoken with restraint and suppression, Cha Moogyul was fierce and fervent. It was as if he was lunging at Heeheon to pounce on him. As if taking Heeheon’s bones and flesh, having his blood and breath, dominating his mind, and even holding his emotions in his hand were not enough. Cha Moogyul was far more crazy for Baek Heeheon than Heeheon had thought.

“It’s not just me giving it up. I get your life too, Cha Moogyul.”

“Ha, try and take it.”

“You think I can’t do it?”

“You couldn’t, hyung.”

“Why do you think so.”

“You don’t love me.”

“You…”

Click.

Just as the conversation was heating up, the closed door opened and Head Researcher Park Juhye returned. Heeheon swallowed a breath and shut his mouth. His heart was pounding uncontrollably.

“You two, would you take a look at this?”

Heeheon, who had separated from Cha Moogyul, stepped out of the booth. His emotions were in turmoil and his mind was in a daze, but he managed to put on a composed face.

“…Yes, Ms. Researcher.”

“If you look, it’s been refined into a solution like this, and you just open the cap and inject it over your cores simultaneously while you are in a state of resonance.”

Two capsule-shaped syringes were placed on a metal tray.

Because the contents were transparent, it looked as if there was nothing inside at first glance, and they were slightly larger than a healing factor. The needle also looked thick.

“This has to be injected by yourselves. An Awakened’s core is a sensitive organ, so there’s a risk of shock from a rejection reaction if it’s forced by another’s will.”

Standing behind Heeheon, Cha Moogyul reached out his long arm and picked up the imprinting solution. The syringe in his hand reflected the fluorescent light and shone brightly.

Cha Moogyul examined it very carefully. As if it were an elixir of eternal youth.

The branches of the trees that had lost their leaves were bare.

The temperature had dropped noticeably over the past few days, and it felt like autumn was passing by fleetingly. Winter would come soon. After that, the year would change, and another new year would begin.

Time flowed on endlessly, but Cha Moogyul remained the same.

Even after visiting the Research and Development Center, he was composed. There was no change in his outward behavior or attitude. Even though his plan had gone awry, as the imprinting had ultimately failed to happen.

‘What the hell is it, really.’

Why isn’t he saying anything?

Does he have no intention of talking?

‘What are you thinking?’

It was at the point where Heeheon wanted to confront him and demand answers. So he tried to catch him and start a conversation a few times, but the timing kept being off because of the circumstances.

The dispatch date was just around the corner, and since Cha Moogyul was a key combatant who could not be left out, it was only natural for him to be busy. Moreover, this mission was a capture mission with difficult conditions that required great care. So it wasn’t his fault that Cha Moogyul was busy participating in strategy meetings and focusing on large-scale joint training exercises with other units.

And Baek Heeheon, who was Cha Moogyul’s dedicated guide but had been notified of his removal from the force after the failed imprinting, had to accept that he had to step back.

‘So an S-grade guide is coming, they said.’

Yes. That’s what it came down to.

They said a guide had been called to take Heeheon’s place on this mission.