Chapter 25.2

Chapter 25.2

It was only a kiss, just tongues tangling, yet heat bloomed so fast it left me hazy.

“You’d be a pretty little thing if you stopped acting so uppity.”

“…What did you say?”

The words snapped me out of the haze like cold water. He pressed his thumb firmly against my lips as he went on.

“…That’s what Chief Park said about you.”

That bastard.

His low voice continued.

“I disagree. No matter what you do, you’re… pretty to me.”

“…”

“I know you want something from me. I’ll give you everything. But.”

“…But?”

The look in his eyes was one I’d seen before. The same look he had when he spilled inside me, that raw, territorial hunger of a male claiming the female he wants. As if hiding it, he lowered his gaze and whispered gently.

“Stay under my control.”

“…”

“I’ll bring you anything you need. If you want to call outside, you can make as many calls as you want. Just don’t leave my sight. Ask me for everything. Get my permission for everything.”

His voice sounded almost desperate, as if I was the one holding all the power and he was trying to win me over.

However, what he said didn’t match his tone at all. What Deputy Ki wanted was for me to step under his control on my own, to keep my head down and obey whatever he told me to do.

To take whatever he gave, to eat, wash, move, and sleep only with his permission… it was like—

“So you mean, like a prisoner?”

In prison you eat, wash, work, and sleep on a fixed schedule. You only use what you’re allowed to use and only do what you’re allowed to do. What Deputy Ki wanted from me was exactly the life of a prisoner. The only difference was whether the authority was the prison or Deputy Ki.

“Right? What you’re saying is that I should act like a proper prisoner. Toward you.”

The softness that had been creeping into my heart suddenly froze solid.

He looked confused, as if he truly didn’t understand. His lips parted, then closed again. There was no way I missed that.

“Why stop talking? It’s fine. Go ahead.”

The handsome, flushed lips that had just been devouring mine opened slowly.

“To be honest, I still don’t understand why you’re angry.”

That was all he said, but I understood it immediately.

From his perspective, of course. What was so wrong about treating a prisoner like a prisoner. The way I acted, as if I had never expected such treatment, was what baffled him.

And sure, even I swore at criminals on the nine o’clock news whenever I saw them. But this was different. I hadn’t committed a crime. I wasn’t a criminal.

What enraged me even more in that moment was Deputy Ki’s attitude itself. He wanted me, he wanted to keep me close, he even bothered to buy me a stupid little handkerchief, yet he didn’t see me as his equal at all. Not one bit.

My breath hitched with the sudden rush of anger. It was strange, because whenever the other guards humiliated me, I cursed them silently and moved on. But with Deputy Ki, I couldn’t do that.

His position, his physical strength, the way our relationship was built, everything made it clear he held the power. And using that to get something out of him had been my entire goal. But even knowing that, I kept getting furious. An instinctive rejection rose inside me.

And on top of that, I was already trapped in two prisons. One was this body. The other was the prison walls around me. And now he wanted to add himself as another cage?

When I looked at that cluelessly handsome face, something I hadn’t even realized was inside me surged up all at once.

I wanted to see that face twist.

I wanted to overpower him.

 As much as he wanted to keep me under his control, I wanted to dominate him. I wanted to use him however I pleased, humiliate him, shame him, make him come apart because of me. I wanted to make him cling to my legs and sob. The urge swelled up, sharp and sudden.

And in that moment, I realized it. From the very first day I pressed my lips to his, I had been feeling this all along.

I wanted to ruin him. I wanted to hurt him. A cruel, almost instinctive desire. I didn’t know why.

Once I admitted it, my ragged breathing slowly evened out.

“…So you mean you can do anything I want, Deputy Ki?”

When I lifted my gaze and met his eyes, his pupils gleamed with anticipation. He was imagining the things he thought would be easy to give, and what he expected to gain in return. My body, maybe. Or the affection he believed in.

Ironically, he placed meaning in those things… when he didn’t even see me as his equal.

“I’ll do anything.”

A C-cup bra, more than ten minutes of phone time, charms, even hiring a shaman for a ritual.

“Except getting me out of this prison?”