As soon as those words left his mouth, everyone except Ethan froze in absolute shock.
Cen Jin’s eyes widened into perfect circles, his mouth dropping open in a silent gape.
The surrounding gazes landed on the three of them, heavy with sheer shock and a myriad of far more complicated emotions, leaving Cen Jin entirely speechless.
It was completely absurd.
Talon’s eyebrows twitched violently as his mind involuntarily conjured up some thoroughly bizarre imagery. The petite, slender boy forced to squeeze right in the middle, his toes dangling helplessly off the floor, his unclosable legs trembling continuously as he let out a stream of breathless, helpless whimpers…
Talon bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, forcefully banishing the sinful thought from his head.
He suddenly found Ethan’s gaze resting on Cen Jin intensely irritating.
“Get lost.”
Talon’s voice made Cen Jin’s chest vibrate with a dull ache.
Cen Jin noticed Ethan’s expression darken as well. Just as Ethan looked like he was about to retort, Talon reached up and covered Cen Jin’s ears.
Ethan looked genuinely furious, his already sharp and rugged facial features turning even more aggressive under the strain of his rage.
Cen Jin’s initial instinct to pry Talon’s hand away morphed into clutching two of Talon’s fingers instead.
Ethan raised the helmet in his hand and smashed it violently against the ground, shattering the visor. The helmet rolled right to the tips of Cen Jin’s shoes.
Cen Jin shuddered, lowering his gaze to spot his own name spray-painted across the side of the helmet.
Cen Jin: “……”
This makes me look like such a massive scumbag.
“Well, congratulations though, you’ve completed half of today’s malice point collection quota. Keep up the good work.”
But this is terrifying.
Couldn’t they collect points in a normal way?
“I honestly didn’t expect you to harvest malice points from someone outside the hunters.”
Is that supposed to be a compliment?
“Yes.”
Cen Jin found zero joy in that.
The fleeting moment of shock that had rippled across Cen Jin’s face did not escape Ethan, who was already boiling over with hotheaded impulse.
Instantly, regret washed over him. The boiling rage inside Ethan evaporated, replaced entirely by a heavy wave of guilt.
He lifted his hand, taking a step toward Cen Jin, but upon seeing the boy’s drooping head and tightly bitten lips, he ground to a halt.
Once the two of them backed down, the cluster of onlookers gradually dispersed.
Ethan stood rooted to the spot for a moment, silently scooping up the shattered helmet before climbing onto his bike and riding away.
“Scared you out of your wits, didn’t they?”
Seated inside Talon’s car, Cen Jin pressed his forearm against the schoolbag cradled in his lap, his hands tightly clasped together until his knuckles turned ghostly white.
“No.” Cen Jin was indeed slightly startled, though he wasn’t nearly as cowardly as Talon assumed.
Talon kept glancing back through the rearview mirror. The boy huddled in the back seat had his lips pressed into a thin, pale line, looking practically on the verge of tears.
With a chuckle, he remarked, “Really? You looked like you were about to cry.”
“No,” Cen Jin drawled out, reiterating the denial with deliberate emphasis.
Once finished, he raised a hand to rub his own face, attempting to school his expression.
Talon was utterly charmed. “Alright, alright, if you say so.”
Cen Jin cast a strange look at the driver. Why on earth was Talon using such a cloyingly sweet tone to speak with him?
He genuinely hadn’t been crying!
Noticing Cen Jin’s furrowed brows, Talon smoothly pivoted the conversation. “Aren’t you going to ask where I’m taking you?”
Following Talon’s lead, Cen Jin asked, “Where are you taking me?”
Talon chuckled once more, his eyes darting back to the rearview mirror. “Where do you want to go?”
Cen Jin fretted, “Watch the road, stop staring at me.”
Though Talon was a college student with a valid driver’s license, his occasional bursts of childishness made it remarkably difficult for Cen Jin to view him as a proper adult.
“Don’t worry, my driving is steady enough even if I close my eyes.”
“……”
“Hey, don’t give me the silent treatment.”
Cen Jin was utterly lost for words.
“Since you don’t have anywhere special in mind, how about my place?” Talon dropped the question, his voice carrying a subtle hint of nervousness.
Cen Jin hesitated. “Your place?”
Wasn’t this progression a bit bizarre? They had known each other for less than a day.
For a succubus to waltz straight into a hunter’s home what was that called? Walking right into a trap?
The next second, Talon reassured him: “There’s nobody home, just the housekeeper who cooks and cleans for me. My family bought me an apartment near campus so I could focus on school, so I don’t live with them.”
“Oh.”
Talon’s heart skipped a beat, prompting him to pivot his head back around entirely to press: “Going?”
“Just drive properly.” Cen Jin pushed Talon’s head back straight.
“You’re worried about me, hehe.” Talon flashed a silly grin, reaching out to graze the back of his hand lightly across Cen Jin’s palm.
Cen Jin whipped his hand back instantly, wiping his palm against his trouser leg.
Such a weirdo.
He was walking right into a vampire’s feeding ground without even knowing it, yet here he was, grinning from ear to ear as he lured a succubus back to his apartment.
The interior design of Talon’s apartment was remarkably stark, dominated by shades of gray with minimalist yet high-end furnishings.
Stepping onto the entryway rug, Cen Jin scanned the quiet apartment, failing to spot any sign of Talon’s housekeeper.
“Is anyone here?” Cen Jin stretched his neck to peek further inside.
After kicking off his shoes, Talon abruptly squatted down right in front of Cen Jin, tilting his head back to address him directly. “Nope, I just sent the housekeeper home.”
As Talon squatted, his face aligned precisely with Cen Jin’s lower abdomen.
When Talon lowered his head a second time, Cen Jin reached out to steady Talon’s chin, asking softly, “So nobody’s cooking lunch today?”
Talon hadn’t anticipated Cen Jin initiating such physical contact.
He stared up in stunned silence, his Adam’s apple bobbing, completely unaware when Cen Jin eventually pulled his hand away.
With the door right behind him and a boy squatting directly before him, Cen Jin stepped back until his back brushed against the door. Bending his arms to brace his lower back against the wood, he tilted his head. “Are you going to move, or how am I supposed to change my shoes?”
Only then did Talon register how profoundly bizarre his positioning was. “I—I’ll help you.”
Cen Jin offered neither agreement nor refusal. Waiting a couple of seconds, Talon met Cen Jin’s innocent, unblinking gaze, swallowed hard, and nervously reached down to grip Cen Jin’s ankle.
Through a layer of sheer, delicate socks, the slightest brush of a fingertip was enough to make the silk slide smoothly across the contours of the ankle. The elastic band at the top of the socks wasn’t quite the right fit, forcing the fabric to be held in place by a garter belt, the sheer material bunching into tiny folds under the pressure of the leather strap.
Talon hadn’t even realized how close his face had drifted. He was practically pressed against Cen Jin’s leg, his gaze tracing upward from the flesh-toned translucent sock to the flushed pink of his kneecap, and finally tracking higher still toward the forbidden territory hidden just beneath the hem of his shorts…
Noticing Talon’s sluggish pace, Cen Jin felt the skin around his ankle burning beneath the man’s grip, prompting him to offer a gentle reminder: “You don’t really need to take my socks off, you know.”
Without offering a counter-argument, and catching a glimpse of a delicate white strap fluttering in his field of vision, Talon panicked. Flustered and frantic, he yanked off Cen Jin’s shoes with clumsy haste.
He didn’t dare dwell on what he had almost laid eyes on, nor did he dare let his imagination wander in that direction any further.
Feeling thoroughly perverse, Talon kept his head glued downward, focusing entirely on the small leather loafers cradled in his hands.
Instead of touching the floor, Cen Jin’s foot was lifted and carefully deposited onto Talon’s single kneeling knee.
Such a bizarre posture.
It felt less like changing shoes and more like a personal manservant serving a master.
“You’re enjoying this a bit too much.”
Hearing that voice, Cen Jin’s toes curled inward.
Looking down, he watched Talon’s brownish hair; it possessed a natural wave, thick and voluminous.
He stopped looking like a manservant now he looked more like a golden retriever.
Talon took his sweet time slipping the slipper on, a delay Cen Jin attributed to the young master simply being unaccustomed to doing manual labor.
At that moment, a stray thought popped unbidden into Cen Jin’s head: Keep doing chores and you’ll get the hang of it eventually.
As Talon slid the first slipper onto his foot, his gaze remained transfixed on the toes cocooned in sheer silk, especially when they curled sending a prickling, electric sensation straight through his chest.
Acting entirely on impulse without consulting his brain, Talon blurted out:
“Your feet are so tiny.”
“Mn…” Cen Jin kept one hand pressed against his chest, nervously twisting a button on his shirt. “Hurry up, standing like this is making my legs tired.”
He could have easily changed his own shoes without all this fuss.
“T-This is just a hospitality custom in our household…”
“Huh?” Cen Jin caught the distinct flush blooming across the tips of Talon’s ears.
“So, so……” Talon spoke at a breakneck speed, sounding terrified that Cen Jin might catch every word, yet desperately hoping he would: “So should I carry you over to the sofa?”
Cen Jin blinked in confusion for a beat before realizing Talon was responding to his comment about his legs feeling tired.
“No need, though your family’s hospitality customs sure are unique.” Cen Jin chuckled. His tone carried total sincerity, clearly taking Talon’s spontaneous fabrication entirely at face value.
Talon felt completely incapable of lifting his head.
Finding the scene amusing, Cen Jin reached out, rested his hand atop Talon’s curly head, and gave it a couple of playful rubs. “You don’t have to be so formal, you know. Standard hospitality doesn’t need to be this complicated.”
After all, Cen Jin was planning to feed on Talon’s blood in a moment, which made him feel a tiny pang of guilt for putting the guy through all this.
“Mn…” Talon’s face burned hotter than before.
On a whim, Talon announced he was going to cook a meal for Cen Jin.
Given his identity as a vampire, Cen Jin held zero appetite for human food. He intended to decline, but couldn’t withstand Talon’s insistent determination to show off his culinary skills.
Finding himself bored sitting alone in the living room, Cen Jin wandered over to the kitchen, pressing his face against the glass sliding door to watch Talon chop vegetables.
Just as Talon turned around to open the refrigerator, he spotted Cen Jin plastered against the glass. Because he had pressed too close, the tip of Cen Jin’s nose was flattened against the pane, leaving a tiny red smudge.
“Come inside.”
Talon pulled the door open, reaching out to guide Cen Jin inside before he could wander off.
“Why are your hands so freezing?”
Talon suddenly frowned, trapping Cen Jin’s hand in his own grip and rubbing it back and forth repeatedly to generate warmth.
Cen Jin’s primary concern was whether Talon had washed his hands after handling raw ingredients, so he promptly yanked his hand free.
Pressing his hands against Cen Jin’s shoulders, Talon leaned down, locking eyes with that innocent, pure gaze as his voice dropped into an involuntary whisper:
“Are you cold?”
Cen Jin shook his head.
“Must be because you’re dressed too lightly.”
Talon scanned Cen Jin’s outfit, his gaze eventually freezing dead in its tracks over Cen Jin’s right shoulder.
Having felt slightly stuffy earlier, Cen Jin had unbuttoned the top few buttons of his collar, leaving his neckline askew thanks to Talon’s earlier fumbling.
Right near the collarbone where Talon’s fingers had pressed earlier, an obscured, faint puncture wound lay hidden in plain sight.
Talon’s expression shifted drastically. Abandoning his gentle demeanor, he grabbed Cen Jin firmly by the arm, hauled him straight out of the kitchen, and pressed him down onto the sofa.
Underneath Cen Jin’s bewildered stare, Talon sat down right beside him.
Realizing he was displaying excessive signs of panic, Talon forced himself to take a deep, steadying breath, modulating his tone to sound as calm as possible so his negative emotions wouldn’t alarm Cen Jin:
“Can you let me check your body?”
Cen Jin turned pale, shuffling his weight hastily toward the opposite end of the sofa.
“Ah no, that’s not what I meant!”