"However, I just thought of something. It would be nice to brand you as my possession."

Jeong Tae-ui was speechless. Ilay didn’t seem to be joking. Yet his words made no sense at all. Tae-ui couldn’t even understand what he was trying to say — it was absurd.

Moreover, the more nonsensical it was, the more unpleasant and unsettling it felt.

"Ilay. Cut the jokes. People can’t be owned by others. Branding? ...That’s ridiculous. Even if you had hundreds of those, where could you possibly claim ownership? Could you even argue that in court?"

"You're wrong, Tae-ui."

Ilay grabbed Tae-ui by the collar. Reflexively, Tae-ui raised his wrist to push him away, but Ilay easily caught it with his other hand and brought his mouth to the opposite side of Tae-ui’s neck from where he had bitten earlier.

He bit…!

Tae-ui flinched and closed his eyes, but the pain he braced for never came. Instead, Ilay’s lips moved softly like caressing the nape of his neck.

"People can be owned. And that ownership isn’t claimed in court. When a person owns another person, a kind of symbol alone is enough. …Don’t you understand?"

Ilay’s voice crawled along Tae-ui’s neck. It was extremely ticklish and chilling, making his body tremble uncontrollably.

"What nonsense are you spouting… Damn it. If you want to fuck, just say so! Stop spouting nonsense I can’t understand!"

Jeong Tae-ui shouted quietly. Suddenly, Ilay’s lips stopped moving on his neck. In that abrupt silence, Tae-ui unconsciously froze.

"Jeong Tae-ui. You said you didn’t understand."

"…"

Suddenly unsure what Ilay’s whispered words meant, Tae-ui recalled their recent conversation.

—I must be crazy. I keep doing things I don’t understand. Why am I like this, huh.

—How should I know.

"How should I know? How would I know you do that…!"

Tae-ui answered again the same way. He had no idea why he felt so unstable.

This crazy bastard. He’s really gone mad now.

Tae-ui cursed inwardly.

But Ilay brushed his lips from the nape up to the ear. The slow lick of his tongue on the ear was especially chilling.

"Symbol is belief itself."

"…?"

The lips whispering by his ear uttered a small voice. Tae-ui looked at Ilay with curiosity. Although all he could see was Ilay’s hair.

"It’s simple when a person owns another person. Whoever perceives who owns whom, even deeply, unconsciously."

Tae-ui stiffened. Then, after a pause, he spoke slowly.

"Are you saying… this is some kind of suggestion?"

Just the thought made his chest turn cold.

Is there any act that forces you to act against your will like that? When the mind betrays the body, or the body betrays the mind, such an act separates the human body and mind.

He was increasingly unable to understand what this man was saying.

Ilay laughed.

"Well… something like that, maybe. I just suddenly thought it might be nice if you recognized you belong to me."

"…What nonsense are you spouting… Are you saying you’ll somehow hypnotize me, make me believe I’m yours?!"

Tae-ui finally lost his temper.

He hated that his life moved without his will, especially if intended by someone else.

But while hearing Tae-ui yell in anger, Ilay chuckled low.

"You're wrong again. That’s not it."

"Then what? What do you want to do? Kill me? You said you wouldn’t. Then torment me? Then just find a way to torment me instead of talking about ownership! No matter what you do, do you think I’ll believe I’m yours?!"

"Tae-ui. You’re wrong."

Ilay laughed like a sigh.

Suddenly biting Tae-ui’s ear hard, he lightly pushed him, then stepped back about a pace and scanned Tae-ui from head to toe.

His tongue flicked over his lips. Seeing that tongue made Tae-ui’s heart ache without him realizing it.

"You’re not the one who recognizes you’re mine."

"What…?"

"I’m the one who recognizes it."

Tae-ui looked at Ilay with a blank expression.

Ilay was unbuttoning his shirt, one button at a time. His white and casual hand movements were strangely erotic. Tae-ui’s gaze was drawn to the smooth fingers deftly unfastening buttons. He couldn’t understand what Ilay was saying.

As if reading Tae-ui’s expression, Ilay continued.

"I admit my mind’s a bit strange right now. I’m not myself. But no matter how much I think, I don’t know why... One thing’s for sure — the cause is you."

He shook his head as if truly unable to understand. His faintly furrowed eyes and breath mixed showed genuine distress.

"So, for now, the conclusion is that recognition is necessary. Anything will do. Once you recognize one thing, you can tell whether it’s right or wrong, and then branch out to find the correct answer."

Ilay muttered vaguely. Tae-ui stared at him speechless.

The only thing Tae-ui understood was this:

This man’s madness was going far beyond what he could comprehend.

Ownership? Me? Ilay’s…?

Tae-ui must have had a horrified expression. Ilay finished unbuttoning his shirt, hung it on the back of the chair, then turned his gaze to Tae-ui and smirked.

"What’s with that face? Don’t worry. The one recognizing you as mine isn’t you, it’s me."

The ceiling had been shaking incessantly for a while. The white wave ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ pattern above blurred wildly in Tae-ui’s vision — like his mind in complete chaos.

"You damn bastard. I told you to just fuck me if you want, you fucking bastard…!"

Jeong Tae-ui kept muttering curses under his breath. Otherwise, he felt like he’d lose his mind.

He thought he was muttering quietly inside, but the words escaped his mouth and reached Ilay’s ears. Ilay laughed cheerfully instead.

"Is it okay if I fuck you just like this now? I thought you hated being fucked."

"You bastard, you’re doing this just to fuck me anyway, you evil bastard!"

Hearing Ilay’s calm voice only enraged Tae-ui more, and he yelled again.

Ilay’s chest pressed against Tae-ui’s back was soaked with sweat — maybe Tae-ui’s own. The wetness made his skin slick, and every time it touched, he shuddered.

Sitting Tae-ui on his thigh, Ilay left bite marks from the earlobe down the neck and shoulder without pause. The sharp bite pain was drowned out by other sensations and barely felt.

The sticky sound had been ringing in his ears for a long time. Tae-ui was sure Ilay did it on purpose. Whenever the sound seemed to fade, Ilay shoved his finger into Tae-ui’s mouth. Even when Tae-ui panicked and tried to spit it out, Ilay held his jaw firmly.

After forcing Tae-ui to wet his fingers with saliva by stirring his mouth, Ilay pushed those fingers lower again to create the wet sounds.

It was maddening. His head felt like it was going to break.

The other hand that had been stroking between Tae-ui’s legs pulled up the moisture and traveled up his skin without falling off. Passing through the perineum to the genitals, then the lower belly and waist, finally reaching the chest.

When the finger reached the sharply protruding nipple in the center of his chest, Tae-ui flinched and jerked.

"Ah… I knew it."

Ilay whispered softly, laughing with pleasure. The moment that sound reached Tae-ui’s ear, shame and anger surged inside him. Damn it. What’s so ‘knew it’ about that!

Tae-ui tried to raise his body off Ilay’s, but before he could, Ilay wrapped his arm around Tae-ui’s waist. Bound as if by chains, he couldn’t free his arms.

After struggling several times, his hand grabbed Ilay’s crotch and froze.

"Let go! What the hell…"

"Stay still."

Cutting off Tae-ui’s words, Ilay spoke quietly. At the same time, one of his breasts was sucked into Ilay’s mouth. Tae-ui’s body jerked again.

What is this. What the hell is this.

The man slowly traced his finger over Tae-ui’s breast. The ticklish sensation spread deep inside his body. At first, only his chest was slightly ticklish, but the itch spread inside, down between his legs.

He flinched and tried to pull his legs up, but it was useless. Ilay held one of Tae-ui’s knees from behind and lifted it. Then he briefly withdrew the finger that had been persistently moving inside Tae-ui. He slowly stroked Tae-ui’s lower belly with his palm, then plunged his thumb back inside. Other fingers occasionally rubbed around the entrance, perineum, or base of the genitals.

Tae-ui couldn’t focus on any of the sensations spreading through his body. His chest, genitals, and below all felt ticklish. He sometimes couldn’t bear his body twitching and jerking.

"Stop, wait, it’s… ticklish…"

Tae-ui said anxiously and awkwardly, but Ilay ignored him. Determined to proceed at his own pace, Ilay slowly and persistently explored Tae-ui’s body.

The thumb that first entered between his legs was now deep to the root. The entrance was spread far wider than usual, swallowing the finger.

"It’s loosening up now… Good."

The man muttered. Tae-ui cursed again silently: Good, my ass, you bastard.

"Tae-ui, understand? This body is mine."

Ilay whispered into his ear. Tae-ui glared fiercely at Ilay. Ilay licked the wetness shining briefly at the corner of his eye.

"There’s no place in this body I don’t know. There’s no part of your body my hand hasn’t touched. And this place exists to hold my things."

Ilay’s hand squeezing between Tae-ui’s legs suddenly tightened. Tae-ui groaned softly. As the gap below widened, he deliberately stirred the finger moving inside him.

"Tae-ui… look forward."

His vision blurred repeatedly between white and clear. Breathing out, Tae-ui rested his head on Ilay’s shoulder and slowly opened his eyes to the low voice. With blurred focus, he looked at where Ilay nodded. In that moment, his mind cleared.

In front of the chair was a large full-length mirror.

Though he had known it already, he had never consciously noticed it.

In the mirror, Jeong Tae-ui’s naked body was fully exposed. Sitting on Ilay’s thigh with knees hooked over the chair’s armrests, legs spread, Ilay’s hand moved soaked and slick between them. When Tae-ui looked into the mirror and grimaced in shock, Ilay laughed. Then he grabbed Tae-ui’s thighs with both large hands and spread his legs outward.

"Ila…"

He called his name hurriedly, his face flushed red, but Ilay paid no mind. Even when Tae-ui tried to pull his legs together, Ilay’s strong hands wouldn’t let go.

"Don’t pull back. This body is mine. So what if I see all the hidden parts?"

"Don’t… laugh…"

Ilay’s slow and smooth voice licked Tae-ui’s earlobe. He gasped and muttered haltingly.

But the next moment, Tae-ui’s expression hardened.

From between the thighs he was sitting on, a huge erect penis rose up.

The thick shaft stood stiffly, pushing against Tae-ui’s scrotum. It was reflected boldly in the mirror as clearly as his groin.

"Tae-ui. Look closely. This is mine. Right."

"…."