“You’re laughing now?”
A huh sound, a puff of exasperated air, escaped Hakyung’s lips.
Muheon quickly shook his head.
But even that couldn’t escape Kang Hakyung’s eagle eye, especially when it came to Lee Muheon.
To prevent Hakyung from truly sulking, Muheon quickly hugged Hakyung tightly and apologized.
“I’m sorry, I should have woken you up instead of just letting you sleep peacefully. My bad.”
Thanks to Muheon, who unconditionally admitted his fault and pampered him, Hakyung’s sharp gaze quickly softened.
He wrapped his arms around Muheon’s back, embracing him in return.
Since Muheon had just finished his task, his body was warmer than usual.
This warmth was rare, so Hakyung had to enjoy it in many ways while he had the chance.
Hakyung, whose anger melted away with a few words from his husband, was truly an easy-going “river dolphin.”
“But didn’t your fatigue completely disappear? Look, your dark circles are gone too.”
“I… I had dark circles?”
Hakyung, surprised by the comment as Muheon brushed under his eyes, looked for a mirror.
But, of course, finding a mirror in the middle of a forest was impossible.
Oh, how embarrassing…!
Anyone would be worried and dumbfounded if told they had to spend a passionate night with dark circles under their eyes.
To think he had enthusiastically gone for it without even knowing how he looked…!
Hakyung let go of Muheon’s back and quickly covered his face with his hands.
“I said you’re fine now, right?”
“But still. Of course, I’m quite curious and passionate about marital relations, but hearing that I went at it with a dark, haggard look makes me so embarrassed.”
“You didn’t have a haggard look. You just looked a little tired. And there’s nothing to be embarrassed about between a married couple.”
“Married…?”
“Yes, married.”
Hakyung, whose ears perked up at the two words, lowered the hand covering his face.
Muheon, not missing that fleeting moment, took Hakyung’s hand and intertwined their fingers.
Then he peppered kisses all over his small face.
At the light, tickling touch of his lips, Hakyung let out a soft chuckle.
They say a married couple’s quarrel is like cutting water with a knife…
It was true.
Although it was his unilateral sulking at the moment, Hakyung properly let go of such minor issues.
Playful kisses continued for a while.
They were the only two in the wide, quiet forest.
That fact encouraged Hakyung’s actions to become even bolder.
What had started as merely pressing lips together soon turned into intertwining tongues and mingling breaths.
Heated moans escaped his lips, and warmth bloomed throughout his body.
Muheon was the same as Hakyung.
His still-warm body was getting hotter and hotter.
The two, who had been kissing with their eyes closed, opened them simultaneously.
Just by exchanging glances, they understood what the other wanted.
“Shall we go back to the room…?”
“Just a moment.”
Muheon looked around and led Hakyung a little further inside.
Hakyung followed him, his face flushed.
Passing by colorful flowering trees and seaweeds, a cave filled with brilliantly colored coral reefs appeared.
Hakyung’s eyes widened even further at the sight, something he had only seen in documentaries.
To think there was such a space within the forest…!
“It’s a place that only appears for a few days a year. It seemed like the time had come, so I came to check it out. Lucky us.”
“Only a few days a year…?”
It had such a distinct presence, how could it disappear and reappear?
Was it the mystery of the sea?
It was a phenomenon difficult for Hakyung, a river dolphin who had only lived in small rivers, to comprehend.
Muheon also only knew the reason why this place came into being; he didn’t know enough to explain it to Hakyung.
In truth, he hadn’t been particularly curious about it, so he hadn’t bothered to investigate it for hundreds of years.
Still, it was a place within his territory, the West Sea, so he felt he should say something and opened his mouth.
“Imugis sometimes return to their true forms to perform tasks or rest, and it’s a good place to enter then. There usually aren’t any shapeshifters who come this far, and even if they do, they’re hard to find.”
“Uh… ‘True form’ means real Imugi, like from books, right?”
“That’s right.”
Muheon also returned to his true form occasionally.
Compared to Hwang Lin or Dokgo Jin, who often transformed, Muheon’s frequency was like finding a bean in a drought, and even that was bothersome, so he hadn’t transformed at all recently.
Therefore, the only times his body changed even slightly lately were when he performed his task or when he had sex with Hakyung.
Anyway, it had been 20 years since he woke up, so he figured he should return to his true form and look around sometime soon.
As he was quickly organizing his schedule, he felt a gaze poking his cheek.
Muheon turned his head towards Hakyung.
Just a few minutes ago, his eyes had been filled with lust, but now they had changed to a remarkably sparkling brilliance.
At the same time he thought something was strange, Hakyung exclaimed,
“Can I see your true form too?”
As expected, the mention of “true form” seemed to have pressed Hakyung’s curiosity button.
And no wonder, Hakyung loved Muheon’s black scales immensely.
They were cool, smooth, soft, and moist. They were a collection of all the good things in the world.
If even touching the scales sometimes felt so good, then his true form would be full of them!
Moreover, it meant that the true form of an Imugi, only seen in folk tales, actually existed!
Hakyung pressed his chest, where his heart was pounding with anticipation.
Generally, shapeshifters only possessed characteristics of their species; they couldn’t return to their true form.
Hakyung also had the characteristics of a river dolphin, but he couldn’t transform into a river dolphin itself just by swimming in a river.
But an Imugi was an Imugi.
Was it because they were beings similar to gods, having lived for hundreds of years?
They could transform into their true form if they wished.
If so, then someday he might be able to see his jet-black, sparkling true form.
He had found yet another reason to live a very long life.
“Do you want to see it?”
***
“Of course! How beautiful your scales are, honey! If you turn into your true form, can I touch you? I feel like I’ll want to just stroke you!”
“Hmm, I thought you were just saying that when you were distracted during sex… I guess my scales really are beautiful.”
Muheon covered his mouth shyly.
It was incredibly touching that Hakyung accepted the evidence of his non-human, alien existence without any rejection.
Beyond the lack of rejection, he was even more surprised that Hakyung seemed to like it more than he expected.
It was a rare sight to see Muheon looking so bashful.
Hakyung beamed even brighter at his reaction.
A handsome face looking so shy had a tremendous impact.
With affection for Muheon that felt like it would burst, Hakyung hopped up and down in place.
It was to plant a kiss on the back of Muheon’s hand, which was covering his mouth.
Hakyung had transformed from a river dolphin into a rabbit.
After receiving a few hopping kisses, Muheon lifted Hakyung and had him wrap his legs around his waist.
Hakyung, with a satisfied expression at the stable position, “ate” Muheon’s lips.
This time, Kang Hakyung was a wildcat, true to his hunting instincts.
The long kiss ended when their lips were not just moist but plump and swollen.
Hakyung pressed his chest, which was rising and falling roughly, against Muheon’s and rubbed his lips against Muheon’s sternocleidomastoid muscle.
Muheon’s neck, made of thick muscle and sinew, didn’t budge no matter how much Hakyung clung to it. And Hakyung liked that.
“Shall we go inside now?”
It was a question that showed he hadn’t forgotten why they came all the way here.
Muheon chuckled softly at the tickling sensation around his neck and replied.
“You have two choices.”
“Two choices?”
He had only expected one option, and Hakyung tilted his head at the increased choices.
Muheon pulled Hakyung’s body closer once more and whispered low in his ear.
His voice alone was intimate and seductive enough.
“One is to go into the cave now and have crazy sex. The other is to see my true form and then have crazy sex.”
Both options Muheon presented were appealing.
But, if he had to choose the more attractive one, it was definitely the latter.
After all, having crazy sex was a given anyway.
Hakyung chose his answer decisively after seconds of deliberation.
“See your true form and then have sex! Crazy sex!”
Muheon laughed heartily at the resounding answer, which sounded like something from a public speaking contest.
Hakyung also broke into a wide smile, mirroring his laugh.
So, Hakyung was now kneeling inside the cave, gazing intently at Muheon.
He flatly refused the offer to sit comfortably.
***
From ancient times, Imugis were sacred and magnificent beings.
There were still villages that held rituals for Imugis before going out to sea for fishing or before major events.
Of course, he loved Muheon as his husband and revered him, but… he felt it wouldn’t be right to act presumptuously.
Swallowing dryly with an unknown tension, a light so strong that he couldn’t open his eyes poured from all directions.
Hakyung closed his eyes. Yet, everything before him was stark white.
After a few seconds, the dazzling surroundings darkened again.
He cautiously lifted his tightly closed eyelids, and an unbelievable sight unfolded before him.