If he had heard the situation, he would know that Jian had been in danger, but the call ended without even a word of concern. From the beginning, Taejun had treated Jian as if he were a child born solely for the fox clan. Merely a means to pledge loyalty to Jae. His relationship with his mother was not very good either. In every moment Jian remembered, Jae had always come first for Taejun. Was that what an imprint target was like? If so, he himself was not that devoted to Han. Of course Han came first in every respect, but that was closer to a sense of duty. But Taejun seemed different. If the sexes had been different, he would have thought Taejun loved Jae with romantic feelings.

‘What am I thinking...’

Jian laughed lightly and shook off his stray thoughts. He must be very tired, he thought, and sped up the car heading home.

* * *

The promise Jian had barely managed to arrange with Baek through Taejun was on Sunday. And it was at the S team office. Does the S team work even on weekends? Jian usually went to work on Saturdays too, so Sunday was the only day he could rest, and wasting it on something related to work felt a little unfair. Besides, he was reluctant to meet Baek again. For some reason, he felt uncomfortable and tense.

The sky was overcast, and the wind was especially cold. Jian drove past the Seoul boundary line. The destination marked on the navigation was a three-story building attached to what looked like a warehouse. On the outside, it looked closer to a factory or a scrap storage warehouse. For a team of one of South Korea’s leading conglomerates to use, it was shabby.

In front of the building stood S team members wearing jumpsuits like work clothes. If someone in a uniform or suit were to loiter around such a remote, shabby building, it was obvious someone would find it strange. Their clothes seemed designed to avoid those eyes. That somehow felt rough and delinquent. Completely different from the security team. Their eyes, expressions, and posture showed no hierarchy at all.

As soon as Jian got out of the car, one team member approached him.

“Are you Executive Director Seok Jian?”

The small, low voice was unexpectedly polite.

“The team leader is waiting. Please follow me.”

When Jian nodded, he led him inside. It already seemed they were calling Baek the team leader.

The inside of the first floor was wider and more desolate than expected. Passing through an area that looked like a warehouse or workshop, he opened an ordinary door and found a clean space with a completely different atmosphere. In the small space with white walls and a metal floor, there was a small table with a security detector on it, a chair, and several cabinets against the wall. The man who had guided Jian closed the door and said,

“A full-body scan is required.”

“I heard it was a simple security procedure.”

Jian frowned very slightly.

“Yes. It is simple.”

The man answered that way, but he did not pick up the security detector, only looked at Jian. Jian tilted his head, adjusted his stance so his feet were shoulder-width apart, and stretched his arms out to the sides. Even then, the man only stared at Jian with a blank expression and took no action.

“Aren’t you going to do it?”

Getting frustrated, Jian shrugged and asked, and the man tapped the cabinet beside him and answered.

“Please remove everything and store your clothes here.”

“What?”

“...”

“I’m from the secretary’s office.”

Jian said, incredulous. It was hard to believe they were doing this to him, not even an outsider but someone among the insiders, the chairman’s key aide. He wondered if they were joking, but the man’s expression was serious.

“There are no exceptions.”

Jian let go of the posture he had taken for the security detector. He bit the inside of his mouth in annoyance and embarrassment. Was this really someone worth going this far to see? It might be better to call him to headquarters instead. But to just turn back like this would hurt his pride. He might think he was making a fuss over a man taking off his clothes.

In the short span, many thoughts passed through him, and Jian bit his lip, then took off his jacket. He walked to the cabinet, opened it, and took out the hanger inside to hang up his jacket. Starting there, he took off the clothes he was wearing one by one. He removed his watch, loosened his belt, and unbuttoned his shirt one button at a time. The cold air touched his skin directly. The man watching Jian did not move even an eyebrow. He did not avert his gaze either. It was only a mechanical look at a “subject to be inspected.”

“There are slippers inside too.”

When Jian was barefoot and in his underwear, the man said. Jian did not answer and took out slippers to put on. Then he looked at the man.

“You must also take off your underwear.”

“Ha....”

He had hoped otherwise, but it was as expected. When Jian, in a state of despair, took off even his underwear, put it in the cabinet, and closed it, the agent nodded.

“I will scan you.”

Only then did the man come over holding a security detector. Jian, now naked, stood awkwardly and followed what he did. It was the first time he had felt such humiliation. After finishing the scan, the man fastened a metal bracelet around Jian’s left wrist.

“This is a bracelet that prevents transformation. You will feel your senses becoming a little dull.”

Jian clicked his tongue inwardly. He wondered if it was really necessary to go this far. The S team members were stronger than anyone else. And the Baek he had seen was clearly someone who could easily subdue Jian even if Jian transformed. Suspicion that this might be a prank rose again, but Jian let out a long breath and calmed himself.

“Follow me.”

When he opened the emergency exit beside the cabinet, stairs appeared. Jian felt the colder air and the subtle tension raise goosebumps all over him as he followed the man up the stairs. After going up two floors and opening the emergency exit, a neat corridor appeared. Several S team members were standing there, and Jian felt embarrassed by his appearance, but no one paid him any mind. It seemed to be a common sight to them.

“Team leader, I brought Executive Director Seo Jian.”

The man knocked and said politely.

“...Come in.”

At last, the door to what seemed to be the team leader’s office opened, and the man let only Jian inside. As Jian went in, the door closed, and on the wide office sofa, the first thing he saw was the tip of a shoe lazily moving as a body lay stretched out long. The man called “Baek,” the next candidate for S team leader and Wolha’s hidden blade. Because of the backlight, his figure was dark, but Jian saw it clearly. The corner of his mouth curling up into a grin.

“Wow, what a sight.”

And he let out an exclamation.

“Team Leader Seo, you’re more rigid than I expected.”

The man, buried deep in a large leather sofa at the back of the room, murmured in a low voice. It was Baek. He slowly rose from the sofa and chuckled. His lightly drifting voice was so cheerful it was almost flippant, but Jian felt goosebumps all over his body from the cold killing intent hidden behind that voice.

The man before him had his white shirt carelessly undone, and he blatantly swept his gaze over Jian’s exposed body. That gaze, moving over Jian’s unguarded collarbone, the wrist bound with the bracelet, and the nearly hairless groin and legs, was like that of a butcher checking the state of prey before dismembering it.

“What are you doing. Sit down. You’ll be cold standing there with no clothes on, won’t you?”

Baek tapped the seat beside him with his palm. Jian clenched his teeth in humiliation. If it had been usual, he would have resisted to some extent, but now, because of the bracelet, even keeping his balance was difficult. Jian twisted his body to sit on the single sofa opposite, trying to keep as much distance as possible. But Baek’s movement was faster than Jian had expected. Without even a sound, Baek’s hand came up behind him, snatched Jian’s wrist, and roughly pulled him to his side.

“Ah...!”

The restraint bracelet reacted to the violent resistance, and with a buzzing sound it unleashed pain that seemed to burn Jian’s nerves. Jian could not even scream, and collapsed weakly as if thrown down onto the sofa right beside Baek.

“If you sit there, I can’t see your face well. I was looking forward to seeing Executive Director Seo’s face so much.”

Baek’s upper body leaned in close toward Jian. From Baek, who had come near, came a cold moonlight scent along with an unidentified, chilly fragrance. Jian’s heart began to pound madly. It was the exact opposite of the warm, comforting stability he felt when he was with his marker, Han. An overbearing vibration that seemed to destroy and trample everything. Jian stared at Baek’s eyes under the suffocating pressure. The pupils, with slightly different colors on each side, brought up a strange yet chilling sense of déjà vu.

Baek brought his lips close to Jian’s ear, who was flustered, and whispered low.

“Why are you shaking so much? Is it because this is your first time taking off your clothes in front of a man? Or... is it because my energy is too good?”

Baek’s slender fingers slowly rubbed near Jian’s collarbone, where the marking seal was engraved. Jian tried to twist his body and resist, but Baek, as if enjoying it, did not let him go. Instead, he placed his hand on Jian’s thigh and wiggled his fingers with a playful laugh.

“Is this how S team treats outsiders? If you treat someone from the secretary’s office like this, the president won’t just sit still.”

Jian barely squeezed out the words. But the moment Baek heard the name “president,” he narrowed his eyes and roughly lifted Jian’s chin.

“President Lee Han must be very happy. With such a well-trained dog guarding him day and night. But what should we do? That dog is now curling its tail in front of me.”

Jian felt the seal deep in his chest screaming, urging him to submit to Baek. It felt as if his body was betraying him. Jian was thrown into confusion by a sensation he had never experienced before.

“Don’t worry. I won’t go too far. I’m just... curious how well Executive Director Seo can endure.”