Zion's Garden - Chapter 4.3

“The one thing Zion does when he’s not making rare appearances once a year or once every few years is this.”

I stood silent, my heart pounding at the revelation that bled from his words.

“Man or woman, it doesn’t matter. The more Zion sleeps with, the more infamous he becomes. Now that you’ve seen it firsthand, how does it feel? It’s quite the glamorous life, isn’t it?”

“I’m done…”

Sion’s gaze lingered on me, a brief pause punctuating the distance between us. Droplets glistened on his smooth cheek, slipping down like silent tears. With an angelic face that belied the cruelty in his eyes, he spoke words like a sentence handed down from above.

“Living is tiresome, Doctor.”

I silenced him the only way I could think of—by claiming those lips with mine. The handful of condoms slipped from his grasp, scattering like fallen petals across the water’s surface.
The cold, wet press of our bodies met, my desperation taking form as I kissed him fiercely, the metallic tang of blood sharp on my tongue. I kissed him as if it could tether him to this world, as if it could banish the fear gnawing at my core that I’d find him dead come morning. My jaw trembled with terror, the kind that only came when death lost its menace, when patients in the last stages of depression succumbed to its dark whisper. I squeezed my eyes shut to block out the hollow stare he wore, instead drowning myself in the warmth of our clash.

“Hah…hah…”

I hovered over him, panting. His lips, now raw and red, glistened with my saliva. Zion’s wide eyes blinked slowly, and his hand slid to the back of my neck, pulling me back into another kiss. This one was not like the first—it was rough, almost punishing. He bit, sucked, and consumed, teeth clashing with mine as our breaths mingled. His fingers tangled tightly in my hair, and I responded with equal ferocity. There was no room for distance; I was a beast clinging to him on the cold, unforgiving tiles of the poolside.

“Don’t…you dare think of dying,” I hissed between my teeth, breath coming in ragged gasps. His gaze held a mocking glint, as if to say I was no different from the rest. Just another soul, lured by the allure of the beautiful Sion, another fool ensnared by his magnetic tragedy.

“You’re my twenty-billion-won patient. Unlike you, I value money above all else,” I spat out, each word weighted with desperation. “So don’t you dare think I’d let you go. I won’t. Do you understand me?! No more stunts like this. No more pills and pools and suicidal games.”

But that wasn’t it. I wasn’t like them. I didn’t want a pretty escort, a luxury toy. What I wanted was Zion to live, to punish those who had broken the wings of this fallen angel. It was the same rage that had surged in me when I thought of the grotesque men who had used my mother. Biting down hard, I tasted blood on my own lips.

“Damn it.”

His gaze was unwavering, catching mine as if daring me to look away.

“Doctor, are you begging Zion right now?”

The pressure of his hand, the feeling of my head swimming, was almost dizzying. The adrenaline coursing through my veins made my pulse thunder as I forced out the words, ragged and raw.

“…Yes. I’m begging.”

“Why? For money?”

“Yeah… you bastard.”

“Honesty isn’t a crime,” he said with a wry smile. His fingers combed through my damp hair, an act so intimate it made me shudder. I resolved then to endure his mocking smile, to bear the sting of his laughter.

“If you want, I’d even crawl on my knees.”

“Ha… I’m looking forward to that.”

The sound of his laughter trembled like the flicker of a candle, fragile and wavering. The anxiety twisted inside me, a feeling akin to standing before a mirage in a desert, never sure if the vision would hold when my eyes blinked.

“So don’t die.”

Tears I had held back finally spilled over. Clutching his collar, I let out shuddering breaths, knowing full well that he had won. I should have known from the start that it would come to this. His whisper, devilish and soft, came like a caress.
“If you let me go in peace, I’ll make sure my father pays you far more than promised. Enough to win any trial he throws at you. It’s simple, really. Give and take. You get your money, and Zion gets his freedom.”

He was asking me to end his life. Yet, here he was, his heart beating beneath my palm, proving his existence, and still, he was inviting me to silence him forever.

“No, I won’t. I can’t. Don’t say such madness to me ever again,” I whispered, tears mingling with the water that dripped from his body. My breath hitched, chest heaving as the weight of his words crushed me. His shirt, drenched and clinging to him, gave off steam in the cool air. The sudden realization that his temperature was dropping jolted me into motion. Gritting my teeth, I hoisted him into my arms, legs trembling as I made for the house. His voice, light and thin, called out as his eyes drifted shut.

“Doctor…”

I didn’t reply, just kept moving.

“…Jungwon.”

My steps faltered, heart stuttering. I’d never imagined my name could sound so soft, so vulnerable. The questions of how he knew it or why he’d said it were obliterated by the feeling that, for a moment, he was simply human—not Zion, not the broken soul, but just a man.

“Don’t fall in love with me.”

The cruel command buckled my knees. I stood there, unable to move. He was asking the impossible, not just of me, but of anyone who would come close enough to breathe him in, who would dare survive the pull of Zion.

“Zion can’t give you what you want. So never, ever fall in love with me.”

Why did my mind jump to the memory of Sion’s last doctor, the one who’d died six months ago, leaving whispers of a love that had begged at his feet? I forced the thought away. I couldn’t be that person. I couldn’t be the one pleading at my patient’s feet, for he would only crush my head beneath his and step deeper into hell.

“I told you. I only care about money. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here in this godforsaken mansion.”

“Good. That’s enough. My father, he loves money too. I’m glad Zion can at least offer that,” he murmured, a lopsided grin on his lips.

I grimaced, dragging us inside past the balcony. The figure of his father loomed in my mind, the man who had broken Zion. I resolved that starting tomorrow, I would begin intensive therapy, no matter the resistance. Wet footsteps stained the flawless white carpet as I laid him down.

“The doctor in the white coat is here to save Zion from his castle.”