The next morning came like a slap in the face—too fast, too cold, too real.
Snow blanketed the forest like icing sugar over a cursed cake, and the air outside the mansion was sharp enough to slice through skin. But Eun-jae didn't care.
The second Caesar opened that massive mahogany door with its polished brass handles and smug aura, Eun-jae bolted past him like a feral dog set loose from a leash.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—outside air!" Eun-jae shouted dramatically, arms wide, his heavy winter coat flapping behind him like a cape. "God, I forgot what oxygen feels like without trauma in it."
He flopped backward into the snow with a dramatic sigh, arms and legs spread wide, his breath fogging in the freezing air. The cold stung, but it was freeing. He almost felt like a normal person for half a second. Almost.
Behind him, Caesar chuckled, a low rumble that carried through the stillness like thunder wrapped in silk.
Heavy boots crunched in the snow. A shadow loomed over Eun-jae. Then—
"Here," Caesar said, tossing something.
Eun-jae sat up just in time to catch the weapon, blinking as the sleek, cold metal landed in his gloved hands.
A gun.
A real, loaded-ass gun.
"Seriously?" Eun-jae said, lifting it like it was cursed. "You just... casually hand people firearms? What are you, a Texas dad?"
Caesar smirked, already stepping a few feet ahead. He was dressed in layers of black and dark green, sleek tactical gear that somehow still managed to look designer. Even in the wild, the man looked like a Vogue cover crossed with a war crime.
Eun-jae stood slowly, gripping the gun tight, heart thudding in his chest like a warning siren.
This is it, he thought.
He raised the weapon, the barrel shaking slightly.
And aimed it directly at Caesar's back.
Just one shot. One bullet. One second.
He could do it.
But then—
"Awwwnnn," Caesar's voice sang out, light and teasing, without even turning around.
"You're thinking about shooting me, aren't you?"
Eun-jae froze.
His breath hitched. The gun wavered.
Caesar turned his head slowly, just enough to meet Eun-jae's wide eyes over his shoulder, that familiar cocky smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth like he knew the entire damn script.
"Come on, sweetheart," Caesar said silkily, "Don't go quiet on me now."
"How the fuck did you know?" Eun-jae snapped, taking a shaky step back, gun still raised.
Caesar finally turned fully, standing tall in the snow like some twisted winter prince. He tilted his head, eyes gleaming with amusement—and something darker.
"Because that's what I'd do," he said, voice smooth as ice. "If I were desperate. Cornered. Pretending to play along while secretly planning to escape the second my captor blinked."
He stepped forward.
Eun-jae took a step back.
"You think I don't see the twitch in your fingers? The way your eyes flicked toward the treeline the second we walked out here?" Caesar said, voice low, laced with something dangerous. "You've been planning this. Plotting. Trying to act casual but your breathing is all wrong. Your pupils are dilated. You're either scared—"
He took another step.
"Or stupid."
"Stay the fuck back," Eun-jae warned, gun trembling.
Caesar stopped, raising his hands mockingly. "Ooooh. Bunny's got claws."
"Don't call me that."
"But you're so cute when you try to be threatening." He gave a condescending pout. "Look at you. Holding that gun like it weighs a ton."
Eun-jae's jaw clenched.
He wanted to scream. He wanted to shoot. He wanted to cry.
But most of all?
He wanted to wipe that smug-ass look off Caesar's face.
"What's wrong?" Caesar said, stepping a little closer, letting his hands drop back to his sides. "Do it. Shoot me. You want to go back home so bad? Go on. Pull the trigger."
"Stop playing with me!" Eun-jae shouted, voice cracking. "You think this is some kind of game?"
"Oh, but you're the one who started it," Caesar murmured. "Don't act innocent. You were the one who asked for this little trip. Batted your lashes. Said you wanted to bond."
"I wanted you distracted!" Eun-jae snapped.
"There it is." Caesar's grin widened. "The honesty. Finally."
Eun-jae's arms dropped slightly, the tension in his shoulders buckling under the pressure. His hands shook, his breath hitching again.
Caesar stepped closer. Close enough to brush his fingers along the barrel of the gun.
"You won't do it," he whispered. "Because despite everything… there's still a part of you that doesn't want to see me dead."
Eun-jae blinked, lips parting. "You're insane."
"And you're a terrible liar," Caesar replied gently, then slowly reached out.
Before Eun-jae could even register it, Caesar had gripped the gun and twisted it easily out of his hand. He tossed it into the snow behind him without looking.
Then leaned down, their faces just inches apart.
"You want to run, fine. Try. Let's make a game out of it."
Eun-jae stared, breath shallow.
"Five minutes," Caesar whispered, his breath warm against Eun-jae's frozen cheek. "I'll give you five minutes to run. If you make it to the helipad before I catch you…"
His lips brushed Eun-jae's ear.
"You win."
Eun-jae swallowed hard. "And if I don't?"
Caesar grinned.
"Then I get to chain you to my bed for a week. No interruptions. No escapes. No mercy."
Eun-jae didn't wait.
The second Caesar stepped back—giving him that devil's grin, the one that said, I already know how this ends—Eun-jae ran.
No hesitation. No glance back.
Just raw, primal flight.
His boots tore through the snow, every step crunching like glass shattering beneath him. The freezing air burned his lungs, sliced down his throat like razors, and yet—he ran. Harder. Faster. Like the trees themselves might split open and swallow him if he dared slow down.
"FIVE MINUTES, BUNNY!"
Caesar's voice rang out like a gunshot—sharp, teasing, edged with hunger.
It didn't matter that Eun-jae had no real training, no plan, no weapon.
He had desperation.
And sometimes, that was enough.
His legs burned. His arms pumped. His heart slammed against his ribs like it was trying to beat its way out of his chest. He barely even felt the cold anymore. His body was moving on pure instinct, fueled by adrenaline and spite.
Five minutes. Five fucking minutes.
His brain chanted it like a survival mantra.
He stumbled once—snow up to his shins, dragging him down like the ground wanted him to stay—but he caught himself. Hands scraped against bark as he shoved past trees, dodging low-hanging branches that clawed at his face and jacket.
"Shit—shitshitshit," he gasped, breath hitching in his throat. "Come on, Eun-jae. You've trained for this—okay, not really, but you've at least watched parkour compilations on TikTok. That counts. MOVE."
He pushed himself harder. The forest blurred—white, grey, white. Snowflakes pelted his face like tiny bullets, wind screaming in his ears. The cold stung his eyes, made them water, but he didn't stop.
He couldn't.
And then—
BANG.
The sound cracked through the woods like thunder, ricocheting off the trees.
Eun-jae nearly tripped again.
A warning shot.
He didn't look back.
He didn't have to.
He knew Caesar had started moving.
Another bang. Closer.
Eun-jae's pulse stuttered. His breath hitched.
"FOUR MINUTES!" Caesar called out, his voice bouncing around the trees. "I'd pick up the pace, sweetheart! You're not exactly Usain Bolt in that coat!"
"FUCK YOU!" Eun-jae screamed back, ducking under a tree branch that nearly sliced his cheek open.
"Oh, bunny…" Caesar's voice dropped, now low, almost gentle—intimate. "…If I catch you, you'll be begging for that."
Eun-jae choked on his breath.
His legs almost buckled—not from fear. From the rage. From the nerve.
He pushed harder. His feet slipped again but didn't stop. Didn't even slow.
The trees began to thin.
There. The lake.
A frozen sheet of death-glass gleaming in the distance, and beyond that—
The helipad. The only way out.
He was so close he could taste it. His mouth was dry, throat raw, but hope surged in his chest like a second heartbeat.
He could make it.
He had to.
He would.
He stumbled past the final treeline, vision spinning—and then—
THUMP.
A brutal weight slammed into his back, tackling him to the ground.
Snow exploded around them in a white cloud. The impact drove the air out of his lungs.
"NO—NO!"
Eun-jae screamed, fists flying, legs kicking. He thrashed like a man possessed, like something cornered and dying.
But it was no use.
Caesar's arms wrapped around him like iron bands. Strong. Unyielding. Cold and steady like marble.
"Three minutes," Caesar whispered into his ear, breathless and laughing, the sound cracked and feral. "You almost made it, my little snow bunny. But you should've run faster."
"GET OFF ME!"
Eun-jae's voice cracked as he struggled, body twisting, muscles screaming. "LET GO, YOU FREAK!"
"I said five minutes," Caesar murmured, dragging him up from the snow and flipping him over onto his back like a toy, pinning him down. "But you ran like you wanted to be caught."
"Bullshit!"
"Tell me I'm wrong." Caesar's face was inches from his, eyes wild—glowing, almost, with that mix of rage and desire. "Tell me you didn't love the way it felt. Running. Knowing I was behind you. That heartbeat in your throat. That thrill crawling up your spine."
"I. HATE. YOU."
"But your pupils are dilated, sweetheart." Caesar reached up, gently—sickeningly gentle—wiping snow from Eun-jae's cheek with his gloved hand. "You're either scared… or turned on."
"I'M COLD AND TERRIFIED, YOU FREAK—"
"Are you?" he whispered, leaning even closer, their noses brushing. "Or are you thrilled, knowing I always catch you?"
"Fuck. You."
And then—
SLAP.
Eun-jae's hand cracked across Caesar's cheek, echoing through the trees like its own kind of gunshot.
Caesar's head snapped to the side.
Silence fell. The forest held its breath.
And then—
He turned back.
Then… that grin.
Wider. Hungrier.
Slow. Twisted. Intimate in the way only madness could be.
"Two more slaps," Caesar purred, "and I might propose."
"Go to hell."
"Oh, I will," Caesar whispered, pressing closer, their noses brushing now. "But I'm dragging you down with me. Right into the flames."
His hand slid into Eun-jae's hair, gripping tight—not hurting, just claiming.
"You've always looked good in red, Eun-jae," he breathed. "Red cheeks. Red hands. Red rage. You were made for fire."
"You're insane," Eun-jae spat, breath shaking, eyes burning. "You're a monster."
"And you're the idiot who made me obsessed."
Caesar leaned down, lips nearly at Eun-jae's—not kissing, but invading. Like a storm leaning in, waiting to devour the calm.
"You think you're running from me," Caesar whispered, "but the truth is, you never stopped coming back."
Caesar barely gave Eun-jae a second to catch his breath before scooping him up like he weighed nothing—like he was a duffel bag, or worse, a prize the villain just won at some twisted carnival.
"PUT ME DOWN, YOU MANIAC!" Eun-jae shrieked, voice sharp with outrage, fists flailing wildly as Caesar hoisted him over his shoulder with infuriating ease. His legs kicked uselessly, boots thudding against Caesar's side, but the bastard didn't even flinch. Instead, he adjusted his grip—one arm wrapped tightly around Eun-jae's thighs, pinning him securely in place, while the other hung lazily at his side like this was no big deal. Like this wasn't an actual felony happening in real-time.
"Fucking hell—LET ME GO!" Eun-jae's words came out breathless, half muffled by the way his upper body bounced against Caesar's back. His coat rode up, and he could feel the cold air licking at the exposed skin just above his waistband, adding insult to injury. "I SWEAR TO GOD, IF YOU DON'T PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW, I'M GONNA—GONNA—"
SMACK.
The sound echoed like a gunshot in the cold, snowy forest.
Caesar's palm landed hard against Eun-jae's ass, right over the curve of his right cheek—firm and unrepentant. The contact stung through his pants, sharp enough to leave a ghost of heat even in the freezing air.
Eun-jae went rigid. "You did not just—!"
"Oh, but I did," Caesar purred, his voice low and laced with amusement. "And I'll do it again if you keep squirming like that. You're making it really hard for me to focus, bunny."
"YOU ABSOLUTE—PSYCHOPATH—SON OF A—"
SMACK. This time on the left cheek, a matching hit with the same unapologetic force.
Eun-jae's whole body jolted. "STOP IT!" His voice cracked, a raw mix of fury, humiliation, and something dangerously close to flustered disbelief. "You can't just go around spanking people like they're—like they're naughty Victorian children!"
Caesar's laugh was low, breathless, dark with delight. "Oh, sweetheart. If you think that was spanking, you're adorably naive. That was barely a love tap."
He shifted Eun-jae slightly, hiking him higher over his shoulder, his free hand trailing lightly down the back of his thigh, teasing. His gloves had been discarded earlier, so his palm was warm—too warm against Eun-jae's cold-clenched muscles.
"I swear to God, Caesar—when I get free, I'm going to bite your face off."
"Promises, promises." Caesar sighed theatrically. "You say the meanest things when I'm being affectionate."
"THIS ISN'T AFFECTION! THIS IS A CRIME!"
"And yet, I can feel your heart racing." His hand gave Eun-jae's ass another slow, deliberate pat—not a smack this time, but a possessive, territorial press. "Tell me, bunny, is it adrenaline... or something else?"
"PUT ME DOWN OR I'M GONNA PUKE ALL OVER YOUR SHOES."
"Bold of you to assume I'd let you aim that high," Caesar muttered, clearly unbothered as he began striding back toward the mansion, steps confident, even, and absolutely smug.
Every bounce jostled Eun-jae's pride deeper into hell. His face was flaming, red from both fury and mortification, and his legs refused to stop kicking—even though it was completely useless.
"YOU. ARE. INSANE."
"And you," Caesar said with a low chuckle, "are absolutely delectable when you're furious. I think this kidnapping has improved your circulation."
"I'm gonna strangle you in your sleep."
"Darling, if I let you sleep in my bed, you'd be too busy screaming for other reasons to worry about strangling."
Eun-jae screamed into the void.
As soon as they stepped inside the mansion, the heavy front door thudding shut behind them, the warmth of the place wrapped around them like velvet—but it didn't soften Eun-jae's mood one bit.
Caesar barely had time to straighten before—
WHAM.
Eun-jae's fist flew out like a bullet, cracking Caesar clean across the cheekbone. The impact echoed sharply off the marble floor, and Caesar staggered half a step, a surprised laugh bubbling in his throat even as he brought a hand up to his face.
"You asshole," Eun-jae spat, his stance tense, left leg slightly behind, arms up like he was about to launch into full-on taekwondo mode. His breath was heavy, his cheeks flushed from the cold—or maybe rage.
Caesar rubbed his cheek with a low whistle, still grinning like a madman. "Oww… Bunny, that actually kinda hurt."
"Good. That was for smacking my ass like it's your personal stress ball."
"You mean it's not?" Caesar deadpanned.
Eun-jae glared, deadly. "Keep talking and I'll break your nose next."
Caesar chuckled, unfazed. He stepped closer, his smirk sharp enough to cut glass. "You know, I could beat you up right now. But I'm choosing not to... out of kindness."
"Oh, how merciful of you," Eun-jae said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Saint Caesar, patron of assholes."
Caesar leaned in slightly, voice low and rich with that dangerous amusement of his. "Nah. Not mercy. Just worried I might enjoy it too much. And if I go too hard, you might break."
"You'd be shocked how much damage this body can take," Eun-jae snapped, then turned on his heel, clearly done with the conversation.
But Caesar wasn't.
He moved in a blur, catching Eun-jae from behind and wrapping his arms around him tightly—lifting him slightly off the ground, like a villain hugging his favorite hostage.
"Let go of me, you scumbag!" Eun-jae thrashed in his arms, kicking back, but Caesar just adjusted his grip, locking him in tighter like a python in love.
"I'm serious! Let go or I swear I'll vomit all over your million-dollar carpet!"
Caesar only chuckled against his neck, voice warm and teasing. "Didn't you say earlier you'd do anything I asked?"
Eun-jae froze for half a second.
Shit.
He did say that. Right before Caesar gave him that one chance to call out—his one crumb of freedom.
Damn that manipulative bastard. Damn him for remembering.
"I hate you," Eun-jae muttered under his breath, wriggling harder. "I hate you so much."
"I know, baby," Caesar whispered, his lips brushing against the shell of Eun-jae's ear. "And yet here you are, being such a good little promise-keeper."
Then Caesar leaned in further, his nose pressing into Eun-jae's neck, inhaling deeply like a twisted wine connoisseur.
"God, you smell like cold air and fire. It's driving me crazy," he muttered, voice gravelly and low.
Eun-jae jerked away, face scrunching in visible disgust. "Don't sniff me like I'm some goddamn Yankee candle, you freak!"
"Mmm... if there was a candle that smelled like you, I'd burn it every night," Caesar said, unbothered, clearly enjoying himself. "But why waste wax when I can have the real thing?"
"Dis-gus-ting," Eun-jae snapped, trying to elbow him in the ribs, though Caesar dodged with infuriating ease. "What do you want, you unwashed menace?"
Caesar grinned against his neck, then said it, just barely above a whisper:
"Let's go shower together."
Eun-jae went still.
For a full second, he just stood there, letting the words marinate in his brain, hoping maybe he misheard.
He didn't.
He could feel Caesar's grin widen, like he could practically taste the internal meltdown happening inside him.
"You're joking," Eun-jae said flatly.