Chapter Text
Outside, the midday sun burned through the city’s bones. Life went on as usual—traffic, laughter, noise—but in this room, time had stopped. The air was heavy with her scent. Skin and night and sin.
She was curled against me, a warm weight on my chest, marked where my hands had been, wearing the faint evidence of surrender and defiance all at once. She fit there too well. Too naturally. Like she had always been meant to.
I told myself I didn’t mind. I told myself a lot of things.
Her voice broke the silence, muffled into my ribs.
“Tell me something, Baek.”
I traced a lazy line down her shoulder with my knuckle.
“Dangerous request, sweetheart. My somethings tend to draw blood.”
But she tilted her head up anyway, eyes a little hazy with sleep.
“If I had returned your gift unopened, would you have left me alone?”
There it was. The question with teeth. She always wanted to see if the wolf had a leash. Clever, relentless girl. Always looking for the loose thread.
I smiled slow, wicked. “You really think I’d let you slip away that easily?”
Before she could roll her eyes, I reached for the leather folder on the nightstand. The one I’d left there deliberately because I wanted this moment.
I slid it into her hands. “Read.”
I watched her brows knit as she flipped through the pages, lips moving silently. I watched the shift in her face – the disbelief, the dawning realization, the spark of fury. Delicious.
Her eyes skimmed the bold title: “PRIVATE AGREEMENT OF MUTUAL BINDING”
She snorted softly. “You’re unbelievable.”
“Accurate.” I replied, enjoying her expressions.
Clause after clause slid past her gaze, and I knew the exact moment that it finally sank in her pretty head.
Section III – Exclusivity
The Undersigned agrees not to seek, accept, or entertain offers of companionship, affection, or intimacy from others without the expressed knowledge of Moon Baek.
Her mouth fell open. “You—”
I pressed a finger on her lips. “Keep reading, sweetheart.”
Section V – The Gift
The Gift, whether opened or unopened, shall constitute acceptance of this Agreement. The return of said Gift does not void or diminish the obligations herein.
Her laugh was sharp, incredulous. “So even if I had sent it back—”
“You’d still be mine,” I murmured, “Paper beats ribbon.” A smirk growing.
She flipped again, scowling, but I saw her soften when she hit the smaller clauses tucked between the iron ones. The ones no one but her were meant to notice.
Section VII – Obligations of Moon Baek
- Upon request, one drink must be provided, without protest.
- One truth must be spoken each week, when asked directly.
- Laughter must be permitted, even when inconvenient.
Her voice went quiet, almost confused. “Wait… what?!?”
I rested my chin on her head, letting my smile ghost against her hair.
“That,” I said quietly, “is me keeping you human in my world. If you drink, I drink. If you laugh, I laugh. If you ask for truth, I bleed it out for you.”
She blinked, confused, torn between mockery and something else. “What the hell is this, Baek?”
“A contract,” I said aloud. “One you signed. Binding.”
She spun on the mattress so fast the sheets hissed. Fire in her eyes— good. I’d rather burn than be bored. She scanned the bottom part of the last page to look for her signature and there it was, unmistakably hers.
“Stop,” she snapped. “When did this even happen?”
“That night in my office. When you signed the membership forms.”
Her glare narrowed. “You tricked me.”
Before she could hurl the folder at my head, I caught her wrist, thumb drawing slow circles over the pulse thrumming there. Stubborn, quick.
“Not a trick, little queen. Never a trick.” I let my voice roll out like smoke curling under a door.
“I gave you a choice. You walked in willingly… didn’t even bothered to read.”
She opened her mouth, then shut it, anger simmering under her skin.
I laughed softly. “That’s the lesson sweetheart. You didn’t read carefully. My world doesn’t forgive carelessness.”
She raised an eyebrow, “But that was the first time we even met. How could you possibly—”
I tilted my head, enjoying the disbelief flickering in her eyes. She still thought we’d been strangers until that form.
“That’s the story you tell yourself. But in my world, there’s no such thing as first meetings…”
I leaned closer, fingers grazing the hollow of her collarbone like a promise. Her skin always felt like this, warm even when she wanted to be cold. “…only the first time you notice you’re already inside.”
Her eyes flashed. “Then where?”
Finally. The other question I’d wanted her to ask.
“One summer night. The old fried chicken joint on 17th Street.” I murmured.
“Two rats tried to rob you. And then you—” My smile flickered—small, private.
Her mouth twitched despite herself. Then a spark of remembrance, “Oh. That. I told one of them my wallet was emptier than his brain before smacking him with my lunch bag.”
“Kicked one in the balls too when he tried to grab you,” I let a chuckle slip.
“Then simply walked off saying, ‘If this is the worst the city has, I’ll survive just fine.’”
Her laugh cracked the tension. “That was nothing! Even I barely remember it!”
“But I do.” My thumb brushed her choker, a slow drag over the pulse there. And I always will.
“I saw you then and decided to give you a choice to come to me.”
Her voice dropped low. “Wait—the group coupon… you planted that?!?”
“Built the door.” I corrected, “So when you walked in, you wouldn’t be lost. You’d be home.”
Her laugh came out low and sharp, no humor in it. “So, you stalk women in alleys, hand out coupons like some psycho game show host, and—what? —wait for them to wander into your club?”
I let the corner of my mouth tilt up. “You make it sound crude, sweetheart.”
“It is crude,” she shot back. “Christ, Moon Baek. Why me? Why go to all that trouble?”
Ah. The real question. Always the real question. I leaned back propping my head with an elbow, watching the city light that slipped through the curtains on the side of her face. She thought she was unremarkable. She didn’t see the way she burned against the dark.
“Don’t insult yourself sweetheart by thinking I chose you for chance. I chose you because you don’t break. Because when the world pressed its blade to your throat, you mocked it.” I said quietly.
She swallowed, eyes steady on mine. “So, all this—contract, gift, club— you built it just to get me here?”
“Not to get you here,” I said. “To make sure when you arrived, you stayed.”
My voice came out lower now, the edges worn off like a blade dulled by use.
“I didn’t want to own you like a trophy.”
She blinked at me, startled by the shift.
“I wanted you to choose,” I went on, quiet but deliberate, “to walk into the dark with your eyes open. To know you weren’t just caught in my net, but that you swam towards me here.”
She exhaled quietly as if in deep thought, “And now what?” she asked softly.
I smiled slow, dangerous, but with no cruelty left in it. “Now, I want proof that you’ll stay. Not as a prisoner. But because you’d rather burn here than feel safe anywhere else.”
Her laugh was quiet, shaking her head. “You’re a menace.”
“True.” I brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “But you keep coming back to the flame.”
She caught my wrist, her fingers wrapped around mine, tight.
“You really are insufferable.” She huffed a laugh.
“You didn’t finish reading,” I gave her a half-lazy smirk.
She stared at me for a long moment, then dropped her eyes to the final clause again. Her fingers carefully turned the page.
Final Clause – Binding
The Undersigned acknowledges that by signing, she is bound not to a contract, but of belonging to Moon Baek himself. This Agreement has no expiration, no escape, and no substitute. Destruction of the document shall not affect its validity.
Her eyes skimmed the last line. You are mine.
Silence. Heavy and alive.
“Possessive bastard,” she looked up.
I kissed her knuckles. “Mmm. Makes you mine.”
She let out a soft, almost unwilling laugh. But something shifted in her expression. She crawled forward, straddling me with slow, measured movements. The choker caught the light outside like a blade. Her palms pressed to my chest, nails scraping lightly over my skin.
“You know, normal people ask someone they like out for coffee. Not bind them with contracts.” Her fingers traced one of the tattoos on my chest absently, as if she couldn’t help herself.
“Coffee doesn’t stop people from running off at the sight of blood,” I said gently shifting beneath her.
She rolled her eyes with a huff, “God… you really suck at romance, Moon Baek.”
“Never claimed to be good.” I let my hand slide over her back, warm and steady.
“But point is, you’re in my bed now.” I murmured, the corner of my mouth twitching in something close to a smile.
“Fine… You want me bound?” she said again, softer now, the edge of her voice almost a purr. Her hands drifted down my torso with a methodical slowness, fingers splaying over my stomach and sliding lower still. I tensed a fraction when her touch found me, closing around my length without hesitation.
“You’re greedy, sweetheart,” I muttered, a hint of real surprise leaking into my voice.
She tilted her head, thumb brushing lazily against me.
“Greedy?” she echoed.
“I think contracts go both ways, Moon Baek. You’re mine as well now.”
For a heartbeat, my breath caught. Her hand was still moving, slow and sure, and the words cut deeper than I expected.
“You’re not wrong,” I crooned, my voice roughening as I watched her. “But you’d better be ready to pay the price of binding me, too.”
Her smile darkened. “Ah Moon Baek, I intend to collect.”
“Careful sweetheart, you’re playing with a wolf,” I warned.
The grip of her fingers tightened, not cruel but certain, and the sound that escaped me was low and involuntary.
“You know what happens when you corner one?” my voice rasping.
I met her eyes, my hands sliding up her thighs, thumbs stroking the soft skin there.
Her smile sharpened. “It bites. And I’m counting on it.”
“You’re dangerous when you start believing your own boldness,” I said, but the words came out like a promise instead of a warning.
“Then what does that make me, Baek?” she asked provocatively, her eyes not leaving mine.
She shifted her hips against mine, a deliberate motion that drew a hiss from my throat.
I closed my eyes briefly, feeling the weight of her on top of me, the pulse of her skin against mine.
“A queen who just took her throne.” Then I let the grin slide slow and predatory across my face.
“Oh, sweetheart,” I murmured as my eyes met hers, voice dark silk, “I’m going to enjoy every second of this. Let’s see how much of me you’re ready to claim,” I said my voice a thread pulled tight between us.
“Contract or no contract.”
“Hmmm… Shut up Baek and let’s find out.” She leaned in, whispering. A wicked grin on her face before she kissed me.
END