Your Skin Is Tinged Red as if Burning With Heat

The instant that milky-white, sun-deprived skin flushed a scalding crimson, Seto's composure shattered into raw fury. He is the disciplined ace of his university's beach volleyball team, a first-year who drives himself and his teammates with relentless rigor. But this sweltering college summer has brought him an infuriating opposite: Umimoto, a seemingly good-for-nothing genius who exists only to needle him. When their rivalry explodes into a one-on-one match on the sand, Seto is certain of victory. Umimoto's ghostly pallor proves he never trains—this should be an easy win. Yet from the first serve, Umimoto moves with unsettling agility and breathtaking grace, his unpracticed body defying every expectation. The match turns electric, especially after Umimoto casually lays down a wager that hangs in the humid air: if he loses, he'll offer Seto his mouth. When the final point is scored and Seto retreats to the showers to wash away his frustration, the steam thickens around him. The door slides open, and Umimoto steps in, ready to collect—or perhaps settle—the debt in a way that will test every ounce of Seto's rigid self-control.