In a world where a single touch can create an unbreakable emotional bond, Yuji has survived by avoiding all physical contact.
No touch. No weakness.

Until the night a stranger saves him from an accident… and their bodies brush against each other.

Now, Yuji and Ren are connected: they feel every emotion, every pain, every desire the other experiences.
But this bond comes with terrifying side effects — hallucinations, a visceral need to stay close, and a gradual fusion of their emotions.

Worse still, Ren hides a secret: they are not the only ones connected.
An organization is hunting those who share this bond, considering them anomalies to be eliminated… and Ren has already paid the price.

To survive, they’ll have to learn to trust each other.
To remain themselves, they’ll have to resist the consuming pull between them.

But some bonds can never be broken.

When Yuji's eyes shut, it wasn't a storm or a faceless man waiting in the dream.


But not the Ren who sat calmly on his couch, so infuriatingly collected.


Yuji could feel his breath ghosting across his cheek. Could feel the weight of his hands pinning him down, not painfully, but firmly.


"You can't fight it forever," Ren's voice whispered against his ear, low and rough, like smoke.


Yuji's heart slammed against his ribs. His body reacted before his mind could catch up, a heat coiling in his stomach, spreading.


This isn't me, Yuji thought, panicked. This isn't—


Ren's fingers brushed against his jaw in the dream — and Yuji woke up with a gasp, drenched in sweat, chest heaving.


He sat on the edge of the couch, elbows on his knees, watching Yuji like he already knew.


Yuji's face burned. "Stay out of my head," he snapped.


Ren leaned back, gaze fixed on the ceiling. "The bond… it amplifies things. Emotions. Desires. Doesn't matter if you want it or not. Sometimes, it leaks into dreams."


Yuji's stomach twisted. "So I just… dream your thoughts now?"


Yuji glared. "And you're perfectly okay with that?"


Ren's eyes dropped to his. "Do I look okay with it?"


Yuji opened his mouth to argue, but stopped.


For the first time, Ren didn't look calm. His jaw was tight. His hands, usually so steady, curled into fists.


"This bond," Ren said slowly, "is dangerous. It doesn't just connect us. It eats at you. Blurs the line between where you end… and where I begin."


Yuji's throat tightened. "Then how do we get rid of it?"


Ren's silence was heavier than any answer.


For a moment, neither of them spoke. The air between them was suffocating, not from pain — but from everything unspoken.


Yuji turned away, hoping Ren couldn't feel the heat still crawling up his neck.


Chapter 6 - The heat between us