My Dearest Delusion

In the background, Stephanie's cold voice came through, tinged with stubborn displeasure. "No need to take a detour, just drop me off at the next junction."

"Shut up." Jack's voice was even colder. "Just find her a doctor, Hyde. I don't have time to go."

Glancing at the downpour outside the window, Hyde drummed his fingers lazily against the windowsill. "Bro, humor my curiosity. You're ignoring your feverish little girlfriend, all in favor of taking a detour to send Stephanie home. Is she really that fragile? Or are you planning on cheating on her?"

It was blunt, crude, and hard to hear.

"We're just friends," Jack corrected stiffly. "Stephanie got soaked in the rain, and she looks terrible. I can't just let her be."

"What about Lily, then?"

"What could happen to her, staying in that villa all day? Succubi heal fast, so it's fine even if she starves and has a little fever for a few days. She'll act up again if I don't teach her a lesson."

Hyde couldn't help but laugh, not able to hold back his commentary, "Wow, mistresses really do get all the love, huh?"

Those words seemed to hit a sore spot for Stephanie, and her voice cut in sharply. "You can leave me, Jack. I can handle things myself."

"Sit still," Jack ordered, before turning toward the microphone with a cold, steely tone. "I already told you that we're just friends. If you spout that nonsense again, I'll make sure your racecar team disbands tomorrow!

"Just find her a doctor and leave the villa. I'll go see her in a few days."

After that, he hung up.

Hyde curved his lips in a lazy, mocking smile.

Friends, huh?

What an ambiguous, yet proper word.

He turned around and saw me, burning with fever, half-conscious in bed. My tender skin glowed pink, and my eyes were hazy with tears, unfocused and bewildered as they landed on him.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and his lips lifted faintly.

He wanted to be friends with this succubus too…

The kind of friends who could kiss and sleep together.

-

The rain outside only grew heavier, with no sign of stopping.

After a while, the man checked my forehead again and replaced the towel with a fresh one.

Suddenly, his phone rang. After answering it, he was just about to step out of the bedroom, only for me to grab his wrist.

"Don't go…"

I knew this scene too well. These late-night calls either came from the company or Stephanie.

Maybe it was the sickness making me extra fragile, but tears welled up in my eyes. I butted his wristbone softly with my head, clinging to him. "Jack… Won't you stay with me…?"

Someone was still speaking on the other end of the phone, and I saw his Adam's apple bob very lightly.

Outside, thunder roared, and the rain wrapped the world in sound.

Silently, my hunger crept up on me again. I sniffled and widened my eyes to make myself look more pitiful. "Don't go… I'll starve to death…"

The man just stared at me, not saying a word.

In the heavy silence, the hope in my gaze slowly dimmed.

Suddenly, I remembered what he said to me once, when he pushed me away coldly. "Do you think of anything other than kissing and hugging all day?"

I bit my lip, muttering, "B-But I'm really hungry…"

"Can't you just endure it? Isn't once a week enough for you? If you don't know how to control your urges, what difference do you have from wild animals by the side of the road?" He was clearly irritated, and every single word was laced with poison and aimed where it hurt.

I couldn't help the tears that fell from my eyes, yet bit my lip and stifled any noises that would come out, in fear of annoying him even further.

He wanted me to have dignity. Self-respect.

But a succubus's instincts never bowed to reason.

Prolonged hunger would eat away at all our rational thought, leaving only the most primitive, pathetic instinct to survive.

So after the first time I couldn't help sneaking out to eat, he was so furious he almost laughed, before coaxing me into forming a contract with him.

He called it discipline and protection.

"The men outside are filthy."

He didn't like it when I came into contact with others, yet always refused to let me eat my fill, just like today.