Make Me Forget
…What?
Kang Jinha almost could not believe what he had just heard, his blue eyes widening to mirror the shock and incredulity he was feeling within. "Are you cra—" zy?!
He whipped his head back, intending to cuss the man out within an inch of his life for even daring to propose such an outrageous thing, but then his gaze landed on the man's visage under the dim lights and all the words abruptly died down in his throat.
Because for the love of anything unholy, this man was simply… breathtaking.
Just like Kang Jinha had imagined, he had a tall and broad stature that towered over average men. His countenance was sharp and striking, and he did not appear to be fully Korean, for he possessed a pair of deep-set eyes and high cheekbones that made his features look exotic.
When those deep and piercing eyes pinned him down, Kang Jinha had the illusion as if he was sinking and drowning…
"I am… what?" he arched one of his finely shaped brows, his lips curving into the barest of smirk. Kang Jinha had no idea how someone could look so mature yet lackadaisical, so sloppy yet wicked at the same time. Nevertheless, the man seemed to embrace all those traits perfectly.
Kang Jinha could feel his heart pounding a thousand miles per second. The full impact of seeing such a gorgeous face up close was proven a little too much for his already tattered rationality to take. And it truly infuriated him to no end. It's not like he had not interacted with handsome men before, for God's sake! His cousin, for one, had been crowned for a few consecutive years as 'the number one bachelor Korean women wanted to marry the most' in the most influential magazines in the country. Not to mention, the person he had once loved deeply, Chu Myungki, was the protagonist of the world!
Wasn't the protagonist supposed to be the chosen one born with a golden halo, and a male god amongst men?
So why… why did it seem like this stranger before him was more suitable to be the protagonist than Chu Myungki?!
Feeling dizzy, Kang Jinha blurted out his question without thinking, "Who are you…?" he nearly bit his tongue when his voice came out more breathless than he'd expected.
And the man knew. He must have known the full extent of his charm and how his every word, action, and mannerism affected Kang Jinha – in the most devastating way. "Shh…" he placed a gloved finger on his smiling lips in a shushing gesture. There was just something so dangerous and intense in the gleam of his eyes that struck a chord deep inside Kang Jinha's heart, causing his pulse to flutter wildly. "We don't ask for names at a place like this, sweetheart. That's an unspoken rule."
Okay, that's… fair enough, Kang Jinha thought absent-mindedly. He wouldn't want to offer his name so easily to this man either. That's all they ever were – strangers. Come tomorrow, they will never meet again for the second time.
"But if you insist on knowing…" the man narrowed his eyes slightly, his smooth and velvety voice caressing the shell of Kang Jinha's ears akin to melted dark chocolate, "you can call me
Sa…? Kang Jinha stared at him blankly.
Had Kang Jinha been a little more sober, he would have realized that his uncontrollably racing heartbeat and inexplicable urge to flee did not stem only from the mortification, the side effects of the drug, or even this… unusual attraction between them, but also— fear. This man exuded mystery and danger from head to toe, and Kang Jinha wouldn't have even thought of coming close if this had been under normal circumstances.
Alas, as things stood, his logical capability and sound judgment had gone completely haywire, causing him to misunderstand the obvious warning his body had been giving him.
Amidst his daze, a pair of strong hands slid around his slender waist, and Kang Jinha couldn't help the way his body shuddered and flinched at the searing touch. He gasped, his fingers curling against Sa's chest, trying to push him away yet lacking the strength to do so.
"Y–You…!" he glared up at the man, his cheeks flushed crimson. "I haven't agreed yet! You can't just do this… all of a sudden…"
As the music switched to a more mellow one, Sa brought him spinning across the dance floor, merging with the sea of people around them. Kang Jinha's knees had gone utterly weak at this point, and he had no choice but to cling to the man's shoulders if he wished to maintain his footing. Alas, this position also brought them closer to each other. They truly looked no different than any other couple who were immersed in their own pink bubbles, and the revelation sent Kang Jinha's heart throbbing even faster, if that was even possible.
Oh no, if… if they stood too close to each other, then Sa would be able to feel his erection clearly!
As though reading his mind, Sa tightened his hold around Kang Jinha's waist, preventing him from squirming around. "Don't move," he said in a hushed tone, his eyes flicking briefly to another direction. "Those people are still watching us, you know?"
R–Really? Kang Jinha subconsciously tensed, his breath snagging in his throat. He wanted to peek over his shoulder, but he feared that his movements would be too obvious, hence he did not even dare to move.
"Have they been watching us from the start?" he hissed in a low voice, feeling utterly disgusted and angry.
"Why, yes," Sa released a mirthless laugh, and Kang Jinha felt half of his body turn numb when the deep rumble of the man's chest traveled over to him. "That's why… don't move around, darling. Wouldn't want our cover to be exposed, would we?" He looked down at Kang Jinha with a smile that did not quite reach his eyes, and once again Kang Jinha was struck by how impossibly gorgeous this man was.
Just now, he had been too distracted by the uniqueness of Sa's features to notice anything else, and it wasn't until this moment, when they held each other's gaze in such proximity, that his attention was drawn to the man's oddly colored eyes – striking silver in color, yet with a scarlet ring on their outer pupils that seemed to exude an icy and malevolent aura.
The sight sent Kang Jinha's jaws dropping to the floor. So he had not seen wrong earlier! "Your eyes…"
"Are you… an Esper?" the question slipped out of his lips without him being able to control it. However, not even a second passed before he shook his head to deny his own conjecture, "No, you're not. You couldn't be… it's impossible for an Esper to be in a place like this…"
Kang Jinha could be said to have become quite familiar with Espers due to his past experience in entering dungeons. One of the consequences of Espers overusing their abilities without the aid of guiding was sensory overload, and the easiest way to judge its severity could be seen from the scarlet ring in their eyes. The redder and more intense the color was, the closer the Esper was to their breaking point.
And the scarlet in Sa's eyes were brighter than any Espers he had met before, which meant he was in an extremely precarious and dangerous state!
Which was why Kang Jinha immediately denied the possibility of the man being an Esper.
To Espers who suffered from sensory overload, loud and boisterous places were nothing short of torture. It was like placing a speaker in full volume right next to your ear while having a serrated knife cut open your skull, mauling and stirring your fragile and sensitive brain nerves. This led to the government building a separate sound-proof apartment for them to live in, far away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Even then, they still suffered from headaches and insomnia every single day.
Unless they were a masochist— no, even the most masochist Espers wouldn't want to spend the night in a rowdy bar where a hundred kinds of perfumes, body odors, alcohol, and smokes were mixed into one, unless they truly had a death wish.
Too lost in his own thoughts, Kang Jinha failed to notice how Sa's body went rigid for a split second before relaxing again, his brow arching in a mixture of surprise and amusement. "You're right, I am not," he smirked, pinching Kang Jinha's chin to meet his eyes. "So, have you thought it through, darling? We will just be taking what we need from each other— I will help you flush the drug out of your system and fend off those thugs along the way, whereas you…" his words abruptly halted midway as he pondered over what to say. In the end, he simply gave a half-hearted excuse, "Well, you smell good to me."
Sa switched the topic so smoothly and seamlessly that Kang Jinha's thoughts were led off-track, causing him to forget his previous inquiries altogether.
In response to the man's careless remark, Kang Jinha leveled him with an unimpressed stare.
"Hey, what's with that look?" he raised a brow with a hint of mirthful tease in his dual colored eyes— which could only be contacts, Kang Jinha told himself. "I think that's a good reason, no?"
Pervert, Kang Jinha cursed inwardly. So he would hook up with anyone who smelled good to him?
Kang Jinha couldn't even guess where this was coming from since he had never sprayed any perfume on himself. What Sa considered a pleasant smell must be the body wash he had just lathered all over himself which had been prepared by his aunt and cousin – most likely an expensive kind.
Moreover, he could intuitively tell that something in the way Sa looked at him seemed to have shifted ever since he discovered this 'scent'. From the initial detached mirth like he was watching the struggle of an ant, now the man's eyes gleamed with unconcealed interest.
It made Kang Jinha squirm in discomfort, feeling as if he was laying bare on top of an operating table and the man was about to chop him to pieces just to find where this scent had come from, leaving not even an inch unexplored.
"Besides…" Sa added as he bent down to whisper right next to Kang Jinha's ear, still not giving up on advertising himself, "I'm a pretty decent fuck, if I can say so myself. I will thoroughly make you forget your troubles, pleasure you, and drown you in carnal bliss…" he breathed, the tip of his index finger climbing a sensual path from the lower part of Kang Jinha's back, following the curve of his spine, up to the back of his neck where he held onto a fistful of Kang Jinha's hair, forcing him to tilt his neck to meet the man's intensely smoldering eyes. "...until you keep begging for more. How's that sound, dar-ling?"
He rolled the last word in between his tongue as though it was a world-class delicacy worth savoring, and Kang Jinha had to bite down on his lip to stop himself from producing a choked whimper that could potentially send him to his early grave.
W–What did this man just say? That he would be begging for more? Him?? Did he look like someone who would do something so degrading and wanton?! In desperation, Kang Jinha tried to gather a semblance of clarity, though it was to no avail. This man's charm was simply too powerful and domineering, and if he wasn't careful he would be swept off his feet in a heartbeat!
It was truly maddening how his words could paint such vivid imagery in Kang Jinha's mind and turn his blood boiling hot. Despite the sliver of doubt in his heart that Sa would really be able to reduce him into a hot mess, he had never felt his heart thrum with such thrill and passion before – not even once. And here he thought he was a man of few worldly desires!
As much as he would like to chalk all of this up to the side effects of the drug, he could no longer deny this odd yet fiery attraction he had felt since he first laid his gaze upon this man.
This is not love, he told himself. He had written himself off love many years ago, and he had no plans to change that— ever.
What they had between them… it was nothing but lust.
A raw, unadulterated, and pure lust.
What Sa said was correct; they were just taking what they needed from each other, so what's the harm anyway?
When Kang Jinha thought of how they would never cross paths again after this, a twinge of regret emerged from the corner of his heart. That's right, he knew he would definitely come to regret it if he had passed up on such a tempting offer. Because come on, as much as he was reluctant to admit it, Sa was a great catch. Where else would he find such a gorgeous hookup, with an intoxicating scent and captivating voice to boot?
Not to mention, he had once swore to himself that he would leave no regrets behind this time around…
"Hmm?" Sa prompted. He must have seen something in the shift in Kang Jinha's eyes or expression, for his smirk gained a dark and wicked edge. His husky voice was as sweet as a devil's whisper, seducing and ensnaring, "Don't make me wait for too long, darling." Then as if recalling something, he threw out a sudden question, "Come to think of it, how old are you?"
Dazed, Kang Jinha answered with all honesty, "Twenty-nine…"
"Twenty-nine?" Sa blinked in slight surprise. Kang Jinha could see that he was genuinely taken aback by the answer, but then he decided to give Kang Jinha the benefit of the doubt when he sensed no lie from the latter. "Oh wow…" he let out a wolf whistle. "Has anyone ever told you that you look much younger than your actual age?"
Kang Jinha's brows instantly wrinkled, "Is that a problem."
"No, no, of course not," Sa let out a low chuckle. Kang Jinha felt the slightest tug from his scalp, and following that, Sa once again leaned into the crook of his neck, the tip of his nose lazily grazing Kang Jinha's sensitive skin in a ticklish stroke, seemingly taking another whiff of a scent he found extremely pleasing.
"There's no problem at all," he hummed.
Kang Jinha's pulse quickened, his breath turning slightly erratic at the searing warmth emanating from the man before him. This time, instead of pushing him away, he gingerly hooked his arms around Sa's neck, his fingers finding its way through the man's hair which was tied in a messy low bun. It felt surprisingly cool, silky, and pleasant to the touch.
"Okay," he whispered, his voice muffled against the man's broad shoulder. And as soon as that word escaped his mouth, he felt something loosen from his chest as though some kind of restraining chains or locks had been smashed apart.
How so exhilarating and… liberating.
"Okay," he repeated once more, firmer and louder this time.
"Make me forget…" his eyelids fluttered shut, and for the first time, he called the name of the devil who would pull him to dance within the abyss of desires, "...Sa."