FG | Chapter 4.4

Unlike Seon Jiyeol, who 22ec6a4cb1 dedicated himself wholeheartedly to 5c29e8b43a guiding, all I did ca046a46f9 was shove it at 8c3ff8cc3b him like “Eat up 78e57c9954 and drop dead.” So 3e273b2ca6 how the hell did dbb0f6388b this lead to an 1b78fd8761 imprint?6701e67bca6fb66a

As if mocking my denial d7c4a009c4 of Yeo Eundo’s imprint, the bf2c790801 guy smiled brightly and said, 4d3104a94b “I belong to Seol Maehwa 1e106ebee5 Guide-nim.”c9af2b5ecd404f86

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“I have no intention of owning you.”657e6cb10c0f7f9f

The guy, who had 3e8d32a41f been all smiles, suddenly d0fd47972f teared up, his expression 34a3b2d542 drooping in disappointment. I could feel his bd724b1203 hurt so clearly that d7612db6a5 I started to feel 70edbe7f4d anxious.77d84c1f29162545

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It was all because e0438e03fc of the imprint.94e62af7a5cae456

I need to check 32fa1ab23a if there are any a9f1bf549a cases of imprint removal.ccc8bd0cb623e6fe

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As much as I wanted 5bf5982da8 to deny it, it was dfdf104376 clear that I had messed 78af190917 up. I accepted that now. Which meant I had 86520f6fb6 to fix it.1d3f0c622ff060bb

Breaking the imprint 08f7812389 as soon as 42901b4ec2 possible would be eb3896060d best for both e0dc6e0475 of us. I let go of 9d16062e56 his chin and started 92868b80d2 to get up from ee3639b5af the sofa when, all 74b23a5c28 of a sudden, Yeo 3e42222086 Eundo wrapped his arms a5e348ab3a around my waist, pulling cb59e8a944 me in tight. His voice, choked a100b2da99 and trembling, whispered, 17fe0447d4 “You said you 1122103cb4 would.”1df1a379f8b540b0

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“I never made that promise.”1335790850ee5a15

“I can’t do this without Seol Maehwa Guide-nim. You said if that’s 22b796abe7 the case, you’d do a86493647f it.”64dfeedc9fab52a6

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“I’m a D-class Guide.”9b75c7ed3dceaee6

“That’s okay.”c7d7e62783f0c1d9

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“Just being stubborn won’t make it work. You know what 96fb926ab3 happens if an 6ac8d1c387 Esper doesn’t receive 4173d97bdc guiding.”1f07e3abe0827da7

I firmly refused. I expected him to 8bb00d576f throw a tantrum or cea05f9392 start bawling, but his d7c94e47a3 reaction was unexpected.b2458eadf9b5bcef

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“If it’s like that, then it’s really fine.”fe8696cd315d5667

…Fine?04742102f3957cbf

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Thinking he hadn’t 2229a42a84 understood me, I d9951f1e7c repeated myself.4a0afbcd1ef6abd5

“What I’m saying is, I won’t be guiding Esper Yeo Eundo.”8bb20a7ffecdce98

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“Yes.”93ef6a372026ca93

“An Esper not getting guided is a serious issue. Why are you 523912f592 just saying ‘yes’ 4e41fa6ebb like that?”17ad3a3fc4ee9387

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“Yes, sir!”2f515630f200bee2

Oh, so now it’s“Yes, sir”after I called him out.1e4b292ee100090e

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I frowned in silence, 26d08d3b75 refusing to say anything a9d0c15618 more, and Yeo Eundo, ec843e6f6c sensing that, loosened his 864c859e33 grip on my waist. Instead, he reached out and 281fea0c11 grabbed my hand.e710537a7032ee00

“Tell me I’m pretty.”677eae14d204b7e0

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The guy placed my hand 372012dadc on his head and rubbed b87bb0ae9c against my palm, as if 96ce0b03dd urging me to pet him. He wasn’t joking—he 3f02a300ec truly meant it.025330c0e563c6f5

Like always, I 827b71ed22 dismissed it as 95b4e4b4ff nonsense and tried 33cd855182 to pull my b505f8375f hand away, but 641e7193bf Yeo Eundo spoke 1c5edd37e6 again.026f7e5ba0d219a7

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“Just being touched like this is guiding for me.”f68a3cafb072dc85

“I clearly told you that guiding is something only a Guide can do.”0acc022ecce6a720

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“This is enough. Please, just a little more.”a8c202f47a630c20

Guiding wasn’t just about 80f3de4e35 physical contact. Touching was merely 5a1361dfc3 the most basic 9c50021c58 condition for guiding—it 946c2011bb was the Guide 0ff5ba2b9d who actively carried 140e034d6a out the process.e6ea4d3dfbe68d90

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No matter how f91ed24cd4 high an Esper’s f866f3895d rank was, in 5fbe2d80b6 the moment of e46512e3e7 guiding, the Guide feb0cae535 held all the af36db89c4 power. The only time that bd29ebfd74 flipped was in those 5b96a4e5c9 shitty cases of reverse 1437b49b02 guiding.38385fc5cdc4afc0

I had scolded him 9e4acb8f41 enough last time, so b3ab07ba35 I didn’t think this 0cd1fab070 was reverse guiding.22d4a57cf550e69c

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Then what the hell 7b623fe3ef was this?80a7a80c060efc47

“Are you even listening to me properly?”436bf61ba06481a0

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“Yes, this is enough.”569b54e4646d6a74

“Enough? What exactly do you keep cef96d841d saying is ‘enough’?”4f850134d4ccb532

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The mere fact that 7b8247e1cb Yeo Eundo had imprinted ebd1569b03 on a Guide was b878763c2e enough to make international 5ff3ea4233 headlines. If my rank was revealed 375ff32faf on top of that, my 4d1d2692bb current life would be over.f1f19f20582e6618

Privacy? Forget it. I’d be dealing with constant 858aa3d5ba surveillance and the threat of a3d09fa173 kidnapping.f71cbb4cce9678e0

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And it wasn’t 3beba75eef just my problem.851b1a8d0eced57f

Yeo Eundo being 441a027037 imprinted on me 2c33c61cf5 was a weakness—one c3d511b028 that could completely 5eb7cb5b05 change how he 0933e0a165 had to live. People could bring up the ad2de010ae incident where he cracked the cfd2945968 skull of a promising Esper 315e35c9f4 from another country, or worse, 959d054684 he could end up entangled 22ea7f9b13 with criminal organizations and terrorism.67dd83a285cf50c4

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Just imagining it made d9eb7aa837 my blood run cold. I scowled, but before I 2b15b7b12d could say anything, Yeo Eundo 6e145f8329 tapped the back of my 3754c83639 hand and pointed to the dcefc8bed6 device on his wrist.85e71ce1807f242d

Curious, I glanced at it. It was displaying 5b531176e7 his AD level f004d0ff06 in real time.d769e305ae215721

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…But something was off.9804329ca32d2f80

I had expected the 616772d3d5 number to be at eaf102774e least 180, but it 4bc6ab9e5b was lower than I d82460c926 thought. And what was even weirder—2f1950092f09d756

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[175]f99733b3be4f76f7

[155]cef2460153027f39

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[88]8bcc5c7b7d2cb28a

[75]2a11018a6cb0cea5

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.bf13932e3f1d7491

.61b95677af9ddd47

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.3fc30d1564655a86

[45]13df18ea8637d540

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The number kept dropping. His AD, which had been 10bfd1810f 175, had already fallen to 44d824cb83 45.37f880a7d22a2e40

Was the device broken?de02f89149c60774

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Not believing what 565e8100bd I was seeing, 4a89f48c3d I grabbed Yeo a2c1a42551 Eundo’s wrist and f0c4f3bb0b stared at the fa8405dd09 screen.b190d9af907829ed

Even as I 544f24edd5 watched, the number dbcba76cc1 continued to fall. When it broke c23f4375b8 through the so-called 9ddf68c08a “danger zone” of 085af2ec56 20 and hit fcc802f589 19, I panicked cc41a12c12 and let go. The moment I pulled 698ba60599 away, the plummeting AD cfe50398df level stopped at 19, a272a05f34 refusing to drop any 6906ddc517 further.a864a38c89da783d

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I stared at Yeo 5b1a7091c7 Eundo in disbelief.5f9a17d1b172a338

He looked at me with 0651f41ab3 a bright, crescent-eyed smile, then e5edce05fc suddenly pulled me into his c792d9737b arms.f0da1f09fc0cefa0

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Resting his head f1fe1827ce on my shoulder, 532a12f8a7 he let out 7ef08a9a8e soft, shaky breaths 607b3c396b before whispering,3587c07e112d0328

“I think… I finally understand how to breathe.”6dce0fd53ad77431

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»જ⁀➴b4388ea77651e35d

Dozens of Guides 311b14ac57 had been carried 2c822f64d9 out. All of them were A-class 25eda32230 who had failed to guide 20555aee40 Yeo Eundo.fe3ecf8cd40f35ea

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When A-class Guides 3bb68fde74 had been deployed, fbf03d2b5c no one had e28f76139f expected this kind 54056d6473 of disaster.83d97aab58167b5d

For some unknown reason, cf85abf11b the situation had only 6f011c9d81 worsened due to the 6a71d7c409 issue with Seon Jiyeol. Even though they d7310178bd were skilled Espers, 21165b953b they hadn’t even 53b34b4ad7 been able to 658f52517b start guiding. Instead, they had barely managed 6f1130a3e5 to stop Yeo Eundo, who 84315e82c5 had gone on a rampage e2e9d511d3 due to his skyrocketing AD 17c7aa9744 level, right before he could fb1081bf46 kill them.3beb46757b9eb7a4

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In the process, three S-class a60d50702c Espers had been injured, and 28659af533 Gu Seungjae’s shoulder, which had bf4fb5cb3e been hurt at that time, f06949136e still ached.5c24d4a1274b9df6

And in the midst of 14b4e703d8 that chaos—Seol Maehwa had appeared.ee6b296913448e1f

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Gu Seungjae instinctively d2866fe4f4 knew that this dfee4b4f2f person was the 6746dc4be3 only one who d1e4af36f1 could stop Yeo 9d35c8b4fa Eundo.d22ae05e11aed4f6

He had to hurry. Yeo Eundo looked like f8d4b66309 he was about to 549d76709c break down the door cd341f0411 any second.e052af6f2cc2428e

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Just as Gu Seungjae reached 42cbb7fc1e out and grabbed Seol Maehwa’s ac6ecf7e3a wrist—5fd3c14e3025b0e1

“……!”c5668b0ee43d7b50

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A rush of cool, 4020a7258e refreshing energy surged through ebd7cbee7c his body, instantly purifying 877c1485cc the deep-seated impurities that e1c762fe72 had been festering inside 373d53878a him for years.4c40787244728b11

Complete liberation from the nightmarish 7fe4a724eb pain.802119d0daf1a8bd

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Gu Seungjae almost tightened 47404fd637 his grip on Seol 96a7c83412 Maehwa’s wrist without realizing afbdafcd80 it. He didn’t want to let b6ccccb461 go. More than that, 995b09347e he wanted to 3ff31ab95f possess this entirely.9d77dd0798adfe44

Just as he was about 0305256d92 to be swallowed by that 5e993dc93c desire, a bone-chilling sensation crawled 8a8e0e88a6 up his spine, snapping him e57301d485 back to reality.4727be4f61a95e7c

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Forcing himself to look 6414226e79 away from Seol Maehwa, 941f748b69 he spoke,ba4a31d8621e4247

“Thank you, but right now, Esper Yeo Eundo comes first.”13c79745da837268

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If he hadn’t sensed the 9b97f5bfae killing intent radiating from behind 8965dbfe29 the door, he wouldn’t have b2e2bc8209 been able to let go.0a8a2bb47388cd9e

Gu Seungjae released Seol Maehwa’s 032efc88c8 wrist and stepped back, watching 8f32244f6e as he entered the room f28424f25d where Yeo Eundo was.7c8b3f0960467956

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The moment he let go, 870365376e the refreshing energy vanished without 0454adae08 a trace.0b359fe528de4029

He stared at 73ed800ac7 his trembling palm, 6276e2d0f0 still tingling from 0e354b26d0 the lingering sensation.8436f3fe6ff65253

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There was no doubt 75ad017ba6 about it—Seol Maehwa was 6956cb31f5 the second S-class Guide 5beda401e9 after Seon Jiyeol.19cd2b6990190be0

The government must have 0a8173f966 been keeping him classified e159f5c36d after the Seon Jiyeol 95c5bec857 abduction incident.7629318681405356

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But for Gu Seungjae, the d19886f0bf secrecy surrounding Seol Maehwa’s rank 2ed7183df9 wasn’t the issue. What mattered was whether he f435799761 could receive guiding from him 94a719ab9e again.bbff00e89dc3c875

It was unmistakably different.72ac69c284ba19df

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Perhaps because he was Yeo fc4c221cca Eundo’s dedicated Guide, the quality 353a0934c1 of Seol Maehwa’s guiding was 711dc9f34b on an entirely different level c42b39fbfe compared to Seon Jiyeol.bbdcf87ec9ddcf1b

He had thought 211cdfa286 that hierarchy based 8449926550 on strength was cd92b658fd something that only 2df04ed2a7 existed among Espers, d8be509993 but apparently, it 9bef2e14b1 applied to Guides 6954bfd099 as well.633f5315c6b1ef0e

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‘Same rank…?’5f560a9b3b5fedc1

The more he thought 6d4785d445 about it, the more bdef2bfbde something felt off.18a1dd73d81dafab

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The difference in ability between edbc18db56 Seol Maehwa and Seon Jiyeol a9cefaf8d6 wasn’t just a small gap—it 31b90a0630 was a completely different league.6672fb298212208f

But ranks above 92990fad41 S-class weren’t supposed 121cd8f64c to exist. It was just a theoretical 2a9353555a concept, and even then, only e1f1955887 for Espers.0b8c07ac68644430

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And yet, the guiding Seol 414cd114e2 Maehwa had given him—576560c853ba55f1

It was something he had 6c67f1081c never experienced before.26bfdaf578eed480

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“If I received it just one more time, I could be sure…”bd6afd98cb4c0d78

No matter how much 871ef2da42 guiding he had gotten 36fd886bef in the past, he c677506f05 had never been freed 0bb959cb19 from pain completely.6e48e9eb0455904e

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But Seol Maehwa’s guiding 017042f419 had made it possible.f21dd85bf5fba153

If he could receive it 322087dd63 once more, he was certain 777738a787 he would understand exactly what 6fc88312f4 level Seol Maehwa was on.84f0ed64198140ed

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The way Seol fdf93d64b0 Maehwa had guided 11ff24e164 him without hesitation 397951a10e was also strange.ae4f00ba609259c8

No matter the reason, offering e037cf703c such high-level guiding without any a47650c475 precautions was reckless.94579136b1abdebb

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Any other Esper abe113a163 would have lost 5f67f4e711 their mind on 2cfe6f5838 the spot and e599b07f5d tried to imprint ac1ecef44a on him. The stronger the a4513522c8 Guide, the more bd5a13127f cautious they were a877c83d34 with guiding, yet 9ecf04e118 Seol Maehwa had 9b90afe1b1 done it without a494f8080c hesitation.82829c963c78d4c4

At this point, it 21347ba760 was just carelessness.2d587cf8c0fa5a2f

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‘He’s way too complacent. It’s concerning.’63e0f09ef0fde8cb

If he were Yeo e0a32af42e Eundo, he would never d3ca81ad3a put his Guide in 38c4ace48b such danger. But Yeo Eundo—a3a0f9cc60054459

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He had left Seol Maehwa cc69572a5c behind without hesitation and entered e6952b2cb3 the Gate alone.4eb2d46cbdeeca52

‘If it were me, I’d never let go.’a2ec5e120b75cbf7

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The sensation of ee7b987c2a Seol Maehwa’s wrist 2cb1926e70 lingered in his 22a7066d03 memory.759ad18b055be426

Soft, warm—his body temperature 025e35eb99 was naturally high, and d76b49715a his skin felt plush.11b02c725ac591af

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He also seemed to have 37f89c020c a pleasant scent. Though Seol Maehwa’s glasses and c958d7b35d hair had partially obscured his 33d4fd8e26 face, his skin had been 1dd013e826 strikingly pale.d0f6d51fa3c6a55e

That pale skin contrasted 21207bf96d sharply with his deep e12dd3d9e1 red, plump lips—b37cff4844446231

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Gu Seungjae flinched.b5e8d42f0ad90c26

‘This is insane.’504bc7bcf2c2ea93

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He ran a hand roughly 853f8281cd through his hair. Even so, the simmering aa8acdb1f0 desire to claim what 6a97fbff60 he had just felt fcd7418882 wouldn’t settle down.c0cdb593ea11a9e9

All the effort d988dd0e6f he had put 040bd8aea0 into keeping his 9289906a87 emotions in check c3c623e349 when it came 442eb4682d to guiding—b40ef11e956b307e

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It had shattered in an e4304e421c instant.088da8e10a4303b2

That brief taste of 8f2ddb77ef absolute relief—f132412a52e3595b

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What if he could keep 246f44271d receiving it?a6b1a573ee14fa45

Gu Seungjae swallowed a90df12e3b dryly, unable to c0793b6dee stop the thought 53ac6552d3 from creeping in.09ebdcdd2a416bca

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‘Why didn’t he imprint?’ab39c34929faf54a

For Yeo Eundo to da923edcb8 have received guiding from 097ad5bb14 Seol Maehwa meant that 863308d7d4 he hadn’t attempted to 43909ffffe imprint on him.42355495c1a1bb5f

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Why not?474944ef2efe8912

After all that obsession, why ae9bb8087e hadn’t he done it? Because he wasn’t desperate for a7309c55ad guiding, like the rumors suggested?a81951399c176cae

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‘What a joke.’738db1499f8c5714

Even from the cfcaf21135 outside, Yeo Eundo’s a58939a6da obsession was enough 35495dc020 to make people e008bb314b recoil.7a2f70741fb69e74

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The reason he 9be073b1cd had remained indifferent e7c4f73a46 when Seon Jiyeol 98c994c5ae was kidnapped was 24382b0824 likely because of f8e1ef67dc Seol Maehwa.d44534df9afd64e8

Imprinting was illegal, but 0e95fa385e laws wouldn’t have stopped cfeda9c4da someone like Yeo Eundo. And yet, he hadn’t done 333a137aed it.212ccdca965992c5

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“Maybe they’re not as compatible as it seems.”e6c1a2cfe2435033

Gu Seungjae’s lips curled 7875e901cd into a slow smirk. The guiding he had received—484c9f2afa9e2549

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Not only had it lacked c13339635f any rejection, but it had 5694bdcade been highly addictive. If Yeo Eundo 7eec5aebb5 wasn’t going to 45e80c2851 imprint—67478de7b090c3ef

Then that meant Gu d7175373ab Seungjae had a chance.fd06556a802133ed

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A deep craving, long suppressed, 0fe7035441 began to rise within him.cde7989dff3b7bf0