She fluttered her eyes open, having the brightness of the clothed window shadow over her face.

Just then, she realized that she still had company with the male figure lying right next to her, his brushing against her limbs.

As she moved, she became careful not to wake him up. Thinking that she was in the clear, she sat up and got out of bed as she picked up her clothes from the floor and ran to the bathroom, closing the door behind.

The sound of running water pulled Cheondung away from his sleep, the noise tingling his ears. A soft groan escaped from his lips as he turned his head from the opposite side to the bathroom door.

Noticing the empty spot next to him, it only took him less than a second to realize that the girl was on the other side of that door, as as she was last night.

He jumped out of bed and walked over to the small room, his hand encircling the rusted knob. Slowly and gently, he opened the door and let himself in; the steam covered the mirror as it strangled the need to breathe in freely.

The suffocating warmth coated his porcelain skin, sparks shooting out as lust overcame his senses.

She was entranced in her cleansing ritual, letting the water from the shower head hit her sore body; her eyelids covered her blue-ocean irises as her fingers ran through her brown hair, her lungs letting out a set of shaken breaths.

Through her dark view, she could see him. Her heart squeezed at the sight of his smile, the depth of his eyes, the frame and strength of his body, the sound of his voice, his comforting touch - at times innocent, at times lustful - and most of all, his sincerity about his love for her.

She still had her eyes closed as nostalgia played inside her mind when she felt hands sliding from her back to the curves of her waist until they locked her body within the stranger's embrace. For a moment, she thought of his presence but as soon as she had opened her eyelids, reality settled back in and her heart sank. The body, the carnal scent, the embrace, the touch; all elements were different from what she used to know.

She felt yesterday's lips back on her neck, yesterday's hands caressing her stomach until he cupped her s; she quietly gasped at the sensation. The hot water was still running, its steam fogging the little white tiled room as it enveloped both bodies together.

Despite yesterday's a, at this moment she was sober enough to push herself away, feeling like she had cheated on her parted beloved already. She turned off the water and was ready to step out of the tub when he grabbed her arm and pulled her back against him, her chest hitting the cold tile wall with her back pressed firmly against his front.

"I wanna l - leave. Let me go."

"Shh~, it's okay baby, just remember last night."

"Please. I wanna go."

He turned her around and caged her body with his firm arms placed on each side of her head. She was heavily breathing while staring at him, the blackness of his eyes toying with the tingling in the pit of her stomach. He leaned his face close to her, brushing his lips gently against her lips before he caught her with a kiss. He parted wide enough, his tongue sliding across her bottom lip before grazing her tongue; he controlled the caress, making her slowly submit to the speck of sparks that burned in between her wet thighs.

The will power she was holding at heart was slipping away from her grasp the more the taste of his lips sinned her into physical lust. Her sanity was degrading gently, the illusion replacing the reality; it was no longer the stranger that was slowly creating the pool of bliss, it was him.

She slowly responded to the desire that warmed her shivering limbs; she kissed the boy with the same depth he was giving her, her arms wrapped around his neck. She could sense the corner of his lips turn up into a satisfied smirk, but all she cared about was to recreate the passion that lived inside of her just 81 days ago; the passion that made her live on the edge and carefree.

That same passion that gave her the thrill, a sense of excitement.

But it was also a passion that coated the endless love she had for her soulmate.

The one she was to spend eternity with.

This need to relive that past became an obsession. Hours passed and their bodies were yet again experiencing the lust that was driving them out of control.

He didn’t know what it was about her but he couldn’t get enough. The demonic soul that bore inside him took over his actions tasting every inch of her body with greed as he tried to satisfy this never-ending hunger that left his stomach growling.

This wasn’t normal.

No human could ever drive a demon to the edge of insanity; to this deep level of lust and desire.

And yet, there he was, drinking from the present ecstasy. His body shook from the delight as his skin burned from her scratches and bites; he loved how needy she became, how animalistic her instincts had become. She wasn’t stopping, thrashing herself left and right for the simple idea of filling the ual thirst that he created.

Her mental state was far from where it used to be.

Her body might still be responding to the physical touch of the stranger, but her heart was still trying to respond to the connection that came from this estrange intimacy.

Every time she would look straight into his eyes, she would completely lose herself. Her heart would pace faster from the possibility that she was embraced by her lost lover only to realize at the end that he no longer existed, that instead another man was touching her, that another man was making her cry out in pure bliss.

She loathed herself for her unfaithfulness.

He never experienced such a strong and addictive ual desire for a woman before.

Humanity would usually drive him away. The mortal sentiment was unbearable to him.

And yet, here he was, hovering above her bare body. Her back was facing him as she was supposedly asleep from fatigue while he was still left with the un-extinguished fire burning inside of him. He knew she was still awake - she was just ignoring him, trying to recuperate herself from the guilt that she was feeling - but it didn’t change anything for him.

He wasn’t done with her just yet.

The glint in his eyes sparkled so bright, it seemed like nothing could erase it.

Was he acting this way because of whom she belonged to? It was a thought that crossed his mind the second time he took her against that bathroom wall, but after the third time, the fourth, the fifth time, he was in it for the lechery.

His tongue might have had a taste of her limbs, the flavor carved inside his mouth, but he could sense that there was so much more than what the surface was offering him. There was something about her that left him in complete wonder, something that may not even be of human nature; this was the only way he could explain the addiction of his lust for her.

Was it the way she would stare at him? Was it the way she would hold him, or even the way her voice would drive him into ing deeper within her walls out of pure ecstasy?

He could feel the hold that was emanating from her, the invisible rope tying him closer to her and making him act up just like an animal would do at the sight of their prey.

The suffocation it caused was intoxicating.

He was ravished by the essence from the trickles of sweats of their ual encounters; his heart pounded against his chest from the rush of adrenaline the same way he pounded between her thighs, the electricity sending shock waves through his rough motions.

Despite the screaming inside her head, yelling at her for her infidelity, her body couldn’t resist what he was doing to her. But slowly, her mind was winning over, her heart breaking into smaller pieces at the sight of the man above her. In the midst of her confliction, her fingertips scratched down his back as they reached ecstasy.

She stood still as he lay on top of her, his lips finding refuge in the crook of her neck.

She gently pushed him off and grabbed onto the thin linen sheets before getting out of bed and searching for her clothes. “I don’t want to do this anymore. We need to stop.”

“And why is that? We were having so much fun today.”

She had her back facing him while she was slowly dressing up, her mind trying to figure out a decent excuse to leave.

“I-I’m already in a relationship. A committed relationship; I’m married. You can’t get more committed than that.”

“Where is he then?”

“He’s away.”

“Really? For how long?”

“I-I don’t know.”

She could hear a light chuckle from behind her. He got up and walked towards her, making her turn around and cupped her cheeks. “Either you are an impatient woman, either he doesn’t satisfy you, or, you are lying.” He tried kissing her but she pushed herself away, slow irritation appearing through her words. “I’m not an impatient woman, he satisfies me plenty, and I-I’m not lying.”

“Then it sounds to me that he might as well not be coming back.”

“He is coming back. You don’t know what you are talking about.”

One corner of his lips curled upwards; a glint in his eyes appeared, sending shivers down her spine as she stared at him. Because of his height, he was towering above her; her eyes showed fright with her body in a slowly start of tremors covering every inch.

“Then why are you here? Why did you let me take you last night?”

“I-I don’t know. I was drunk. I didn’t know what I was doing-”

“Then what about the other times today? I mean, don’t tell me that you didn’t enjoy it; I have marks to prove otherwise~” The low tone in his voice flowed with seduction, his breath triggering a burning sensation inside her, making her knees weak and her breathing stutter.

He took her by surprise by turning things around as he grabbed her arm and flipped her to the bed, her back against the mattress while he hovered above her. He held up her hands above her head as he comfortably sat on her with his legs placed on each side of her body, his warmth slowly wrapping her up. He cut off her breath with a kiss, awakening the earlier steam of their countless moments.

He was instinctively undressing her, leaving her upper body to create friction with his own chest; his one hand rested by her jawline to tilt her head backwards with his lips against the already purple skin. She was heavily breathing and her eyes were closed with the torturing and nostalgic image of her late love.

She was suppressing the inevitable pleasure that he was slowly creating, holding herself back so she wouldn’t fall deeper into the shameful state she was already drowning in. She quietly gasped when she felt his slender fingers teasing her at the bottom of her , sliding across her wet thighs.

“If he really pleasures you like you claim he does, try stopping me.”

“Stop it.”

He chuckled once again, amused by her attempt at a sober state. “It’s not going to be that easy~” Even in his mortal form, he was just as cruel; he wanted to play with her, to afflict her ache into a deeper level. He wanted to make her crack. The vulnerable state of a human was always something he adored witnessing, but on a woman, it was so much better.

She tried fighting him off by prying his hands away from her body, causing her to struggle against his strength until she finally pushed him off. She jumped out of bed, using her discarded clothes to cover her upper body. She was glaring at him with a hint of hatred and annoyance in her eyes as they were welling up with tears.

“Why are you so suddenly trying to stop such a good time?”

“It hasn’t even been one hundred days and I’m already in bed with another man!”

She cracked.

She hastily dressed up, ignoring her wet cheeks. He was looking at her go, not showing any kind of sign of guilt or even pity; he was smirking with that same damn sparkle in his eyes. “Get over it. It’s not like he is coming back. The man is dead. You are free to do whatever you want.”

She looked back at him, and huffed partly out of exhaustion but mostly out of anger. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Nothing is wrong with me, why do you ask?”

“You’re such a jerk.”

“A handsome jerk that ed you good~”

“Stop it! J-just stop talking damn it!” She was heavily breathing, her chest heaving up and down without having looked away from him. “I’m not going to let you talk him down like this.”

“You are worried about me talking him down? Sweetheart, you did something greater than my simplicity in using words.”

“J-just please… just stop it.”

She picked up her brown leather jacket from the floor, dusted off the dirt and wore it; a wave of shivers crawled over her skin, the familiarity of the scent filling up her lungs as wishful thinking of his presence embraced her tightly. Once she came down from her high, she glared back at Cheondung, ready to walk away.

“I don’t ever want to see you again.”

“Whatever you say~”

From the motel she woke up in, she ended her day by his resting place.

She was dreading the visit as each step brought her further into the reality of her loneliness. What made it worse was from where she came from; she felt dirty and was disgusted with how she easily fell into bed with a stranger.

She ignored the tears that were rolling down her cheeks as she was tightly grasping the bouquet of flowers with both her hands, her head facing straight down the path she had to walk on.

Within the next few minutes, she reached her destination.

She stood still, her eyes lying down towards the grave, silently reading the carved inscriptions.

She took a few steps forward and kneeled down, placing the bouquet at the bottom of the tombstone.

“H-hey… It’s me again… I’m sorry for coming this late. I even thought of not coming at all… Not after what I did.” She took a moment to herself to breathe in, trying to erase the lump in . “Please forgive me Seungho, I never meant for this to happen… I don’t even know why I let it happen in the first place. I’m sorry for ch-cheating on you.”

She let another quiet moment pass, gathering the strength of her voice to discard the ache she was feeling.

“Can you believe it’s been ten years already? And today makes it eighty-one days… I’ve been counting. I don’t know why though. You probably think I’m torturing myself by doing this but I’m hoping that I’m marking down my own days until I can finally be with you again.”

She wiped away the tears in the corners of her eyes, and let her fingers play with the sleeves of his jacket, her eyes looking down. “I miss you so much Seungho, as much as I hate myself for being unfaithful to you… It doesn’t mean that I don’t love you anymore. I still love you. I love you so damn much, you being gone makes the pain so much harder to endure.”

Once again, she smeared the tears away and lifted her head back up to stare at the tomb. “I’m still looking for the one who did this to you. I’m still looking for the monster that took you away from me. I’ll make them pay. I promise. Even if it’s the last thing I’ll do, I’ll make them pay.”

The anger slowly calmed itself down. She breathed out tiredly, running her fingers through her hair.

“Is it okay if I stay for the night with you? I don’t feel like going back home… It got lonelier without you… I miss lying with you. I miss your warmth. I keep saying this everyday but it’s true. I feel so lost without you, and so goddamn empty. I don’t even know what to do anymore… I need you Seungho, I need you more than ever.”

While she was sitting on the ground, readying herself for her night sleep by her lover’s side, Cheondung was standing a few feet away, secretly watching the dramatic scene as it was unraveling itself in front of him.

“Tsk. Such a desperate case… I almost feel sorry for killing you, brother. Almost.” The more he watched, he couldn’t hide the demonic side of him that was glowing through the leaves of the tree by the moonlight. The sneer stuck to his lips had no intention of backing out.

“Oh, what did you say dear brother? You want me to take care of her for you? Well sure, I can do that! That’s what brothers are for! I will take extremely great care of her. Don’t you worry Seungho~ I’ll make sure to show her the best of times.”