A Certain Moment (17)
My body reacted first at the sight of Hae-geon, who didn’t appear to be injured but was clearly in poor condition. I hurriedly followed Jong-hyeok, asking:
“Hyung, what exactly happened?”
Instead of answering, he moved Hae-geon to a bed inside the tent and blocked the team members who were trying to rush in. Then, closing the tent door, he began to explain.
“There was a bit of a problem.”
“A problem? What kind of problem…?”
“The situation unfolded quite differently from what we expected.”
“What does that mean?”
Having stayed at the base camp the entire time, I couldn’t understand what he was saying. I had no idea what had happened at the scene or what situation the Espers had anticipated.
However, I couldn’t just listen to Jong-hyeok’s explanation in this situation.
“No. Hyung, Hae-geon’s Guiding comes first. Please tell me after the Guiding is done.”
“Alright. Let’s do that. We did complete the conquest, so take your time and come out when you’re done.”
Jong-hyeok glanced at Hae-geon with worried eyes, indicating his concern, then left the tent. I slowly approached Hae-geon, who was lying on the bed with a completely bloodless face.
Hae-geon was lying as still as death, his face deathly pale. Seeing him like this made my heart sink.
“…Hae-geon.”
I called his name carefully, hoping he might open his eyes, but Hae-geon didn’t move at all. I kept expecting him to casually speak up, saying it was all a joke. The whole situation felt surreal.
“I told you not to overexert yourself…”
Muttering words Hae-geon couldn’t hear, I reached out my hand. With trembling fingers, I barely managed to hold his hand. I flinched momentarily at his ice-cold temperature, but I couldn’t let go. I wanted to warm his body somehow, and I wanted him to open his eyes again.
I began gently soothing his wavelengths, which were turbulent beyond comparison to anything I’d experienced before. But rather than calming down, Hae-geon’s wavelengths rebelled even more fiercely. It felt like pouring water into a bottomless pot. This way, proper Guiding would be impossible.
I had to make a decision.
‘But this is my first time, and I don’t want to experience it through Guiding.’
Hae-geon’s resolute voice still echoed in my ears, but I had no choice. Saving his life was the priority. His lips, as pale as his complexion, came into my view.
Of course, I never imagined I would kiss him like this. But my heart was beating too fast to dismiss this as just Guiding, the way I would with other Espers. If this were simply Guiding, merely part of my job, and if the person were someone else, it wouldn’t be like this.
Though I still couldn’t precisely define what this emotion was, it was clear that Hae-geon was somewhat special to me. I carefully approached him. Just looking down at his sleeping-like face gave me the feeling of simultaneously visiting heaven and hell.
Still, I didn’t want to start membrane Guiding without saying anything to Hae-geon, even if he couldn’t see, hear, or feel anything.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise, Hae-geon.”
There was no response from him, who would have certainly latched onto my words had he been awake.
“…I’m starting the Guiding.”
I carefully placed my lips on his bloodless ones. I had only learned about membrane Guiding in theory, so this was essentially my first time in practice. Honestly, I wasn’t confident. S-class Espers didn’t usually have their wavelengths damaged to this extent, and other ranked Espers could be sufficiently calmed with wavelength Guiding alone.
Fortunately, there had never been a need to attempt membrane Guiding. I had thought that if membrane Guiding ever became necessary, it would be in an S-class dungeon, not in an A-class dungeon, and especially not with Hae-geon.
I felt a chill from our touching lips. Perhaps because he controlled water, it felt like dipping my lips in very cold ice water. Feeling Hae-geon’s lips gradually warming, I carefully parted my lips.
Membrane Guiding doesn’t necessarily require membrane-to-membrane contact. Though the Guiding effect is somewhat reduced, it can work with part of my body touching the other’s membrane, or my membrane touching part of the other’s body.
Given that he was unconscious, the latter method was necessary. Of course, even then, it was more immediate and effective than radiation or contact Guiding. I pushed my tongue into Hae-geon’s mouth. Unlike other parts of his body that always maintained a cool temperature, his mouth was warm.
I carefully pressed my tongue against the membrane inside Hae-geon’s unconscious mouth. Honestly, I was half out of my mind from the moment our lips met. With my heart threatening to leap out of my chest with each powerful beat, I had to constantly remind myself that what Hae-geon and I were doing was just membrane Guiding.
It was fortunate that Hae-geon was unconscious; if he had been conscious, no amount of reminding myself would have helped. I could feel my power flowing fully into him through our connected membranes without any leakage.
Even the most skilled Guide loses a certain amount of power to the air during radiation or contact Guiding. The only way to prevent this is through membrane Guiding. Although membrane Guiding is efficient in many ways, it inevitably involves intimate contact, so many people, whether Guides or Espers, don’t prefer it.
I was one of them.
Even as I kissed him and breathed, my power flowed continuously into Hae-geon. I could clearly feel through the membrane that his wavelengths, which had been raging like an unbridled colt, were gradually subsiding. His ice-cold body temperature also seemed to be warming up a bit.
At this rate, he would certainly regain consciousness soon.
‘This should be enough for membrane Guiding.’
Just as I thought this and was about to remove my lips, his firmly closed eyelids slowly opened, revealing dark blue eyes that had been hidden.
“…”
“…”
Hae-geon stared blankly at me as if trying to understand the situation, then his eyes widened. I tried to pull away in that moment, but Hae-geon was faster. His large hand completely covered the back of my head. He carefully pressed the back of my head with his hand, which had regained some warmth.
Our lips were pressed so closely together that they were almost crushed, and Hae-geon’s tongue, which had been motionless while I was Guiding, began to move. The warm flesh gently licked the surface of my lips. It was a gentle and respectful movement, as if asking permission to enter me.
‘This isn’t Guiding anymore…’
Contact Guiding would have been sufficient from this point onward. Hae-geon probably already knew that I had stopped Guiding. So what he wanted from me now was…
When I met his eyes again, there was heat in them. Hae-geon looked at me with a somewhat desperate gaze, not even blinking, as if yearning for something. Meeting his eyes stirred an inexplicable thirst in me.
Even knowing that this was beyond the scope of Guiding, and not being sure if this was okay, I just wanted to be swept away by Hae-geon. I slowly parted my lips. Hae-geon’s tongue, coming through the small gap, brushed every part of my oral membrane.
As if he were the Guide, he gently brushed my oral membrane and teeth with his tongue, then lightly touched the hard palate. Each time his tongue licked my hard palate, chills ran down my spine.
The way he grazed my palate was unbearably ticklish. Especially when he touched the palate near my upper teeth, I broke out in a cold sweat from the indescribable sensation. Perhaps noticing this, Hae-geon persistently brushed that area.
“Mmh…”
Eventually, I couldn’t help but let out a soft sound without realizing it. And a strange light appeared in Hae-geon’s eyes when he heard that sound. His tongue, which seemed to hesitate for a moment, began to move again. Like a snake in form.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
