Yeri refused to back down, narrowing her eyes at him. "Fine. Why not?"
Shin's expression didn't change, but something flickered in his eyes, something dark, amused, and dangerous.
Still, he said nothing as he guided her to his bedroom.
Carpet trotted after them happily only to get the door shut in his face.
"Woof?"
The dog blinked at the closed door, confused.
Inside, Shin stripped off his blazer and, without hesitation, took off his wine-soaked pants and tossed them into the trash, not the laundry basket.
Yeri blinked. "Wait- why are you throwing it there?"
"Smell won't come off," he said flatly.
Yeri stared at him. That was a designer pair of pants perhaps worth her tuition.
But well… it was his clothes being thrown away, not hers. Even if he washed it, she doubted he'd wear it again.
Shin walked into the bathroom.
Yeri sat on the bed, stretching her shoulders when her phone buzzed.
She checked it.
[Save my number. – Zoren Lin]
Followed by three more messages from Shin's other friends.
Yeri blinked, bewildered. Zoren Lin, the eldest young master of the Lin family?
How did they even get her number?
Before she could think further, a large hand slid from behind her and snatched the phone away.
"Weren't you showering?" She turned, startled.
Shin was standing behind her, hair slightly damp, not a sound made.
But the shift in his aura made her swallow any further words.
His expression was unreadable, posessive, territorial, sharp.
Without a hint of hesitation, he blocked every number that messaged her. Even Saeki's.
Then he looked down at her, eyes hard.
"Don't be naive."
Yeri parted her mouth in disbelief. "…Naive? What does that even mean?"
She reached for her phone, irritated, but he held it higher out of reach.
"Give it back," she said, standing.
"No."
"Don't be unreasonable!"
His voice dropped low. "I'm doing this for your sake."
"For my sake?" Yeri scoffed. "You're being controlling! And we're not even married!"
He didn't flinch. "I don't need a marriage certificate to protect what's mine."
The words struck her like a spark, snapping something inside her chest. Yeri's pupils narrowed. She belonged to herself, no one else.
She grabbed for her phone again.
He didn't budge.
Frustration flared, and before she could think, the words flew out, "Just because we slept together once doesn't mean you can decide things for me! And let me tell you, that night was a coincidence! Even if you weren't there, I would've slept with someone else!"
The moment the words left her mouth she instantly regretted them.
Shin's expression didn't twist or crack, it simply went cold. Something inside him snapped.
In one swift movement, he grabbed her wrist, pulled her forward, and pressed her down onto the bed.
Yeri's thoughts scattered.
He hovered over her, shadows cutting sharp across his features, his gaze blazing with something dark and furious.
"Coincidence?" he repeated, voice like the devil lurking under that ravishing face. "So even now you still think of doing it with someone else?"
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
Shin leaned closer, his breath brushing her cheek, his hand braced beside her head.
"If that night wasn't enough for you…" His gaze dropped, burning like embers. "Then tell me, how many times will it take before you accept this isn't a game?"
She never considered their situation a game.
The air around her shrank, feeling an inexplicable sense of oppression pressing in from all directions. Her pulse hammered louder than her thoughts.
At first, she believed he was only trying to intimidate her until his actions proved otherwise. The sudden intensity, the impatience, he didn't feel like the gentle, restrained man from before. It felt like something inside him had cracked open.
Was this his real self?
Yeri struggled, fury rising but he silenced her with a forceful kiss, pinning her hands as if she were weightless.
His kisses trailed down her neck. Struggling to wriggle herself, she bit his shoulder but Shin just let out a wicked smirk, the fire in his eyes was undeniable.
"Get off me now!" She shouted, her chest heaving up and down.
"Why? Let me help you remember that night... every detail of it ..." His voice was dangerously low as he removed his bathrobe.
A sense of dread rose up inside Yeri, his body was scorching hot, especially down there.
She didn't want to apologize, didn't want to beg, and definitely didn't want to tolerate him acting so unreasonably.
Jealous? No. She refused to believe that.
To her, Shin Keir simply wanted to control her. Even the matter about Pablo, such a trivial thing, he blew it up into a mountain.
Her mind raced to the only weapon she had.
Without hesitation, she used her demon ability and pushed it toward him, just enough to cause hallucination, not harm him.
One second…
Five seconds…
Nothing.
Cold dread slid down her spine.
She pushed deeper, sinking into the edges of his mind, expecting the usual swirl of thoughts or emotions.
Instead, she fell into darkness.
A heavy, endless abyss, nothing like Lianna's, Tiffany's, or anyone else she had ever touched.
It didn't just feel empty. It felt wrong.
Part of her screamed to pull away. Another part terrified, but driven by an instinct she didn't understand she pushed further.
Why is Shin different from everyone? What is he?
A faint sound echoed. Chains dragging across stone.
And then something latched onto her.
Fine dust? Sand? Black mist?
No, something far more dangerous, like it wanted to devour her.
"Jewel…"
A deep, abyssal voice rumbled through her mind, so powerful it snapped her back into her body.
Yeri gasped, heart slamming against her ribs, sweat chilling her spine.
Shin didn't react at all. If anything, his hold on her tightened, pressing her deeper into the mattress as though he wanted to fuse their bodies together.
She couldn't process what she had touched inside him.
She couldn't process why her ability didn't work.
She couldn't process that voice.
She had no time to think, because the rest of the night was destined to be sleepless.
---
Three days later, Yeri stared at the blackboard like a ghost who had forgotten what life was.
When she woke up that morning after that night, Shin had already vanished. Not that she wanted to see his face and start a round two of arguing.
But still…
Her body felt like she had been hit by a car and thrown across the highway twice.
Yet her concern wasn't the physical pain, nor the clash between them. After all, she had the mind and memories of a succubus, not a simple eighteen-year-old girl.
What unsettled her was her ability or rather, the horrifying realization that it didn't work on him. At all.
And the abyss…
Before her thoughts could spiral further, someone nudged her arm.
Nina tapped her notebook. Neat handwriting:
[ Are you okay? ]
Yeri nodded stiffly, but it was mechanical, like her head moved on its own.
Nina didn't look convinced one bit.
Since that morning, she had noticed Yeri spacing out in class, zoning out in the hallways, even forgetting to eat during lunch. On top of that, her pale complexion and dark eyebags were screaming they needed attention.
In short, she looked like a ghost reincarnated, pale, delicate, almost translucent. Oddly enough, she appeared even more fragile than before.
If even she felt a twinge of pity at the sight, then the boys in school didn't stand a chance. Soft-hearted and weak to beauty, they would immediately feel the urge to empathize with her, to protect her.
They bombarded her desk with packs of milk, breakfast boxes, vitamin drinks, handwritten "Get well soon" notes, and even a protein bar with a little heart sticker.
Nina stared at the offerings and muttered under her breath, "Like a breakfast stall…"
She scribbled again:
[ If you feel unwell, ask for another leave. ]
Yeri frowned. Absolutely not. They were seniors and only a few months until graduation, missing class again wasn't an option.
She tilted her head, twirling her pen, ready to write a reply.
"Yeri? Yeri Zhi!"
The teacher's sharp voice sliced through the room.
Nina nudged her again, snapping her out of her trance.
Yeri blinked at the teacher.
"I told you to read paragraph three. What's wrong with you? Sick again?" the woman sneered.
She disliked covering the special class, but because the language teacher in charge was on a week-long leave, she had no choice but to temporarily take his place.
The students in that class came from prominent families with powerful backing. They didn't bother studying; half of them probably didn't even know what page the textbook started on.
The recent bullying scandal also originated from this class. And Yeri Zhi, infamously known for her chronic absences was practically a mascot for it. Forever absent, forever sick.
What kind of illness makes you absent almost every month? It's not like she's terminally ill.
Yeri stared blankly at her book.
Nina quickly flipped to the correct page and pointed.
"Nina Geun, you are not her mother. Stop coddling her!" the teacher snapped.
"Teacher, she's literally just showing her the page," one student said lazily.
That only made the teacher explode further, turning her wrath on that student while the rest of the class sighed.
Still, the teacher wasn't entirely wrong, students in this class really did come from wealthy households and unlike other classes, they weren't the least bit intimidated by teachers.
Suddenly, the shrill scrape of a chair echoed, followed by a loud crash. One of the boys in the back stood up dramatically.
"I already have certificates for five languages," a boy in the back declared. "Why should I attend your stinky class?"
Laughter erupted.
A couple more students grabbed their bags and strolled out.
"Teacher, is it true you're dating that bald science teacher?"
The teacher's face flushed tomato-red.
"Teacher," a boy drawled lazily, "what do you even see in that bald science teacher? The sun?"
More laughter.
"Shiny! Shiny!"
Nina only shook her head. In that class, Yeri was the least of their problems. There were others far more troublesome, easily on the same level as the expelled Tiffany.
Meanwhile, Yeri stayed frozen, staring at the paragraph like it contained the answer to her existential crisis.
Her engagement to Shin Keir had always been a strategic choice: protection, stability, avoiding a monster like Nafplion. And because she always had her ability as a trump card.
She believed even if marriage became a disaster, she would never be powerless.