Chapter 61: Mine (Yandere)

The living area of the split treehouse had never felt so small.

Everyone held their breath, looking in the direction of Ebonara and Hyun-woo.

Ebonara sat rigidly on the cushion, her eight gem-like eyes fixed unblinkingly on Hyun-woo. They had settled into a deep, uncertain blue. Her black-clawed hand was wrapped around his throat, squeezing with enough force to kill any normal person.

Hyun-woo knelt before her, his forehead resting lightly against her thigh, his hands loose at his sides. He wasn’t fighting. He wasn’t even gasping.

Minutes had passed. The kind of minutes where a normal man would have gone limp, his vision tunneling into nothing.

But thanks to his [Sex Beast] class, his body didn’t care about oxygen the way it used to. His heart kept beating steadily. His lungs simply… waited.

The power that had rewritten his physiology hummed beneath his skin, adapting, enduring, and keeping him conscious while her trembling fingers dug deeper.

He had always known this day would come.

Not the choking, exactly. But the moment when her obsession would turn inward and bite. He had seen the warning signs: the way her tail curled around him, the way her eyes cycled colors whenever another woman touched him for too long.

So this is what a yandere is actually like, he thought. A truly obsessed creature when she's hurt.

Now he understood. This was what it looked like when someone truly, dangerously loved you. When they feared losing you, they became—for lack of a better word—dangerous. Especially one who was as mad and obsessed as Ebonara.

Ebonara’s hand shook.

Not from weakness, but from pain. Her full lips were pressed into a thin line, and her eyes flickered erratically, leaking a single crystalline tear that traced down her perfect white cheek before vanishing into the curve of her jaw.

“You promised,” she whispered. The words barely carried, yet they sliced through the heavy silence like a sting. “You said you would ask me before you found someone else. You promised.”

From the side of the room, Stheno shifted on the couch, her golden snake-hair hissing softly in discomfort.

Medusa’s emerald gaze was unreadable, her own tail coiled tight around her waist as if restraining herself. Euryale simply watched, arms crossed, saying nothing. None of them moved to intervene. This was Ebonara’s claim, and they all knew better than to step between a scorpion and her chosen mate.

Hyun-woo lifted his soft brown eyes to hers. His voice came out hoarse—not from a lack of air, but from the heavy weight in his chest. “I know. I broke it.” He didn’t flinch as her grip tightened reflexively. “I know I was selfish. And I know I hurt you.”

Her eyes swirled—blue bleeding into fractured violet. The pressure on his throat eased a fraction, then returned stronger, as if she were fighting two halves of herself.

Her scorpion legs clicked restlessly against the floor, a nervous, rhythmic tapping, the sharp tips carving tiny grooves into the polished heartwood.

“I could kill you right now,” she breathed. Her voice cracked. “I should. You’re mine. You said you were mine. And the second I turn my back…”

She stopped. Her hand trembled violently. The claws pricked his skin, drawing tiny beads of blood that welled warm against her cold fingers.

Hyun-woo didn’t pull away. Instead, he leaned into her touch, pressing his cheek harder against her thigh.

His pretty face—still boyish despite his twenty-four years—showed no fear. Only quiet sorrow and that stubborn, heartbreaking affection.

“I’m not going anywhere, Ebo,” he murmured. “Even if you squeeze until I die. I’m still here. Still yours.” A small, self-deprecating smile tugged at his lips. “Turns out infinite stamina works for choking, too. Who knew?”

A broken sound—half-sob, half-laugh—escaped her. “You bastard.” She gripped him much harder, as if a dark voice in her head was screaming not to forgive him.

Stheno half-rose from her seat, her golden snake-hair flaring aggressively. Medusa’s tail lashed once, her emerald eyes narrowing dangerously. Even Euryale shifted, ready to intervene.

Hyun-woo caught their eyes and gave a small, calm gesture with one hand: I’m okay. Stay back. They hesitated, but held their positions. Barely.

He lifted his soft brown gaze to Ebonara’s again. His voice came out steady, though roughened at the edges. “Are you that angry?”

Her eyes flickered. Confusion rippled across all eight gems. Not rage at Medusa. Not jealousy over the sex. Something deeper. Sharper.

“I’m not…” she started, her voice low and strained. The words caught.

“I’m not going to ask for forgiveness,” he said quietly, reaching up to cup the side of her face with one warm palm. His thumb brushed tenderly over one of her cheek-eyes, soothingly. “Because I know that’s not what you’re asking for.”

Ebonara’s breath hitched. Her grip tightened instinctively.

Hyun-woo smiled that soft, pretty smile of his, even as dark spots began blooming at the edges of his vision. “You know… I’m starting to get dizzy now.”

The words landed like a physical blow.

Ebonara’s eyes widened—all eight of them flaring from uncertain blue to panicked gold in a single heartbeat. The murderous whisper in her mind screamed louder: Kill him. Kill them. Kill anyone who takes him…

But the panic won.

She released his throat with a gasp, her claws retracting so fast they left faint red trails across his skin. Hyun-woo swayed, his consciousness slipping despite his awakened class. His body had limits after all—mental ones.

The world tilted, and he crumpled.

“Hyun-woo!” Stheno moved like lightning. She snatched him from Ebonara’s lap and pulled him into a crushing hug against her toned body, her golden scales warm and protective.

Her snake-hair coiled gently around his shoulders, hissing softly in distress as she cradled his head against her chest. “You idiot… you absolute soft-hearted idiot…”

Medusa was already behind Ebonara.

Her arms locked the scorpion’s hands securely behind her back in an iron grip, her serpent tail wrapping around Ebonara’s waist to hold her completely still. “Breathe, Ebonara,” Medusa said coolly, though her own voice carried an edge. “He’s still breathing. Thanks to that ridiculous Talent of his. But still…you'd have murdered him, if not for that.”

Ebonara didn’t struggle. She simply stared at Hyun-woo’s unconscious form in Stheno’s arms—his soft cheeks pale, his dark lashes resting against them, the faint marks on his throat already beginning to fade. The dark voice inside her roared: Kill him. Kill them all. Rip them apart before they can take what’s yours—

But her hands, now restrained, trembled violently. Tears—real, shimmering ones—slipped from several of her eyes, tracing paths down her flawless white skin.

“I didn’t want to hurt him,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “I just… he promised. And I… I don’t know how to do this without breaking everything I touch.”

The room fell into heavy silence once more. Stheno rocked Hyun-woo gently, shooting Ebonara a complicated look—anger mixed with profound understanding. She knew her friend better than anyone. She knew just how crazy Ebonara could get, but seeing her break down like this proved that Ebonara's love for him was actually stronger than her monstrous nature.

Medusa’s grip loosened slightly but didn’t release.

Hyun-woo stirred after a few long moments, groaning softly as his awareness returned. His brown eyes blinked open, hazy but warm. He looked straight at Ebonara despite being held securely by Stheno.

“…Still here,” he rasped, offering her that same gentle smile. “Still yours, Ebo. Promise.”

Ebonara’s eyes cycled rapidly—gold to pink to a tentative, glowing rose. The murderous whispers silenced forcefully. She sagged in Medusa’s hold, her scorpion tail curling weakly toward him instead of striking.

Damn, this is a mess, all four of them thought simultaneously as they watched Ebonara cry for the very first time.

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