Sunlight broke through the window slats, softer than usual.
Or maybe the light just felt different when you woke up holding someone who actually meant something.
Seo Yura lay beside me, her bare shoulder rising and falling with each slow breath. Her leg still rested lightly over mine, her cheek nestled against my chest.
We didn't move.
We didn't speak.
We were just… there.
And in that quiet space, I felt more power coursing through my body than any technique or scroll could ever give me.
[SYSTEM STATUS: PRIMARY LINK – SEO YURA – ACTIVE]
DUAL CULTIVATION COMPLETE – PHASE III CONFIRMED
YIN-QI LEVELS: ELEVATED
WARNING: HOST BODY NOT YET STABILIZED
CONDITION: "HEARTBOUND OVERFLOW"
Overflow?
"...You're glowing again," Yura murmured against my chest.
"System says I might be overheating."
"You should hydrate."
"You're my hydration."
She groaned.
"Please don't make that your catchphrase."
She rolled away with a soft sigh, wrapping herself in the blanket, hair a messy waterfall of black and brown.
"You okay?" I asked, watching the way her fingers traced the edge of the futon.
"It's been a long time," she admitted. "Since I let someone touch me. Spiritually or otherwise."
"I'd like to keep doing both."
She didn't smile, but the softness in her voice was real.
"We'll need to. The System wasn't wrong."
She sat up, robe wrapped around her, her back to me—bare shoulders still glowing faintly in the soft light.
"The merge… it stirred part of my core I'd sealed away years ago," she said quietly."Old cultivation roots. And during it, I felt flashes—your System. Not clearly, but enough."
She glanced over her shoulder.
"Its structure, the emotional threads, the resonance tracking… I've trained with people who used tools like that. Dangerous tools."
"You understood it that fast?"
"No one fully understands a System. But I know what they do when they bond. Also If we don't stabilize my core now—"She hesitated."It won't just damage my cultivation. It could pull me apart."
My chest tightened.
"You mean… lose yourself?"
She gave a small nod.
"Piece by piece."
My chest tightened.
[SYSTEM WARNING – LINK DESTABILIZING]
NEXT CULTIVATION REQUIRED WITHIN 72 HOURS
OR SEO YURA'S CORE WILL BEGIN TO FRACTURE
RECOMMENDATION: MAINTAIN FREQUENT SPIRITUAL INTIMACY
EMOTIONALLY OR PHYSICALLY
I reached for her hand.Held it.
"Then we'll do it together. Whenever you need. However you need."
She looked back at me.
This time, she did smile.
Small. Sad. Beautiful.
"You're going to make this harder."
"Good."
We dressed in quiet, like people returning from a dream they didn't want to end.
She walked to the kitchen to start tea.
I opened the hallway door—
—and froze.
Because standing there, as if she'd just "happened" to pass by, was Eun Hae.
Turtleneck. No umbrella. Coffee mug in hand.
"Morning," she said, eyes flicking between me and the rumpled futon behind me.
"...Hi."
"Sleep well?"
[SYSTEM ALERT: YIN SPIKE DETECTED – JEALOUSY TRIGGER]
EUN HAE'S CONTROL LEVEL: STABLE
INTENT: UNREADABLE
She sipped her coffee slowly.
"Walls are thin in this building."
I said nothing.
She stepped closer, just enough to lower her voice.
"I wonder… will she still love you when she sees how easily your heart sways?"
"That's not fair."
"Neither is desire."
She turned away without another word.
Back inside, Ms. Seo set the tea down gently.
"She knows."
"I figured."
"She'll push harder now."
"Let her."
She met my eyes.
"You're not hers to steal."
[SYSTEM UPDATE]
EUN HAE INTEREST: ELEVATED – "HEART GAME" INITIATED
YOU HAVE 3 DAYS TO STABILIZE YURA'S CORE OR FACE RELAPSE CONSEQUENCES
NEW QUEST UNLOCKED: "Core Stabilization Ritual"
Progression: Intimate physical/spiritual bonding + emotional affirmationsBonus: Unlock Yura's second ability — "Qi Thread Healing"
She let me in.Now I had to keep her whole.
And all the while, the other MILFs were circling… like beautiful, deadly sharks in heat.