Chapter 53
‘Huh…?’
Before he could properly grasp the situation, Seoyul’s heart sank and danger signals buzzed loudly. Expecting to tumble down, he tightly shut his eyes and braced for impact.
‘……’
But there was no impact.
“Goodness. Be careful. That was dangerous.”
He heard a voice sighing with relief nearby. Seoyul opened his eyes, his heart still racing from the danger signal.
‘Ah…..’
A firm chest was right in front of him. Dowoon had skillfully caught Seoyul as he was about to fall down the stairs.
A large hand was wrapped around his waist, while the other gripped his shoulder, preventing his body from falling.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The moment he became aware of their position, his heart began racing wildly. He felt a sudden rush of heat throughout his body, and he was acutely conscious of every point where he and Dowoon touched. Especially the hand on his waist and their suddenly close proximity.
The firm grip made such a deep impression that Seoyul tightly shut his eyes again.
‘Why, why am I reacting like this? Seriously.’
Already startled, his continuously pounding heart made him dizzy. The rising heat made his body feel like it wasn’t his own.
“Seoyul. Are you okay? Were you very surprised?”
Dowoon’s voice broke through his dizzy thoughts. He gently stroked the back of Seoyul’s head, perhaps trying to calm him down.
Did that moderate pressure help? He seemed to be calming down a little.
‘Right. I was surprised… just too surprised.’
Doesn’t your heart naturally pound harder when you’re startled? Since it was so sudden, it made sense. Seoyul nodded to himself.
“Th-thank you.”
Finally able to express his gratitude, Seoyul managed to create some distance between himself and Dowoon. But his legs still felt weak, causing him to lose his balance again.
“Oh?”
Dowoon firmly embraced his waist once more to support him. Seoyul’s heart dropped to the floor again and started racing out of control.
“Oh my. You must have really been shocked. Don’t worry, I’ll hold you steady.”
Dowoon kept his arm around Seoyul’s waist as they descended the stairs. In the confusion, Seoyul could only follow along.
But even when he could finally stand properly on his own, Dowoon’s hand remained on his waist, and Seoyul’s heart continued to race.
* * *
‘I think something’s wrong with me.’
Seoyul was certain. Something had gone seriously wrong with him.
The reason for this conclusion was simple.
The casual physical contact that had been fine before now made him incredibly nervous, causing his heart to beat excessively.
‘Holding hands… was still okay…’
He could hold hands anytime, though anything beyond that was difficult. But now, even the slightest brush of Dowoon’s fingertips made him jump and his heart flutter.
This wasn’t the end of the strangeness. All of this only happened with Dowoon—he felt completely normal when guiding others.
‘Why… is it only different with Esper-nim…?’
Was it because he only performed S-class Guiding with Dowoon? Even so, it didn’t explain why this happened even when they weren’t doing Guiding.
And the most troublesome issue was something else entirely.
“E-Esper-nim…”
“Hmm? What is it?”
Dowoon turned his head innocently. Seoyul carefully lowered his gaze to look at his own waist.
“Oh, this?”
“Eek!”
Seoyul’s face turned red as Dowoon suddenly tightened his grip on his waist. But Dowoon remained nonchalant as he explained again:
“Like I said before, I’m worried you might fall again. I can’t walk properly because I’m so anxious about you.”
That was true. Since the day Seoyul had staggered weakly, Dowoon had insisted on this position, claiming he was concerned.
Dowoon seemed completely unbothered, but for Seoyul—who had started feeling nervous even from hand-holding—it was enough to make his soul leave his body.
And there was one more problem.
‘There too… and there…’
After that, Seoyul began noticing other pairs at the Center who stayed close together like him and Dowoon. They were also Espers and Guides, all sticking closely together as they moved around the Center.
This didn’t seem like a big issue at first, but their words and actions made Seoyul’s face turn bright red.
“Honey, say ‘ahh’!”
“Ahhh!”
“Is it delicious?”
“Yes! It’s delicious! Especially since you’re giving it to me.”
‘……’
Yes. All those pairs weren’t ordinary Esper-Guide relationships—they were couples.
‘Y-yes… this is strange after all…!’
Dowoon had never had a Guide before, so perhaps he didn’t know.
‘I-I should tell him.’
That way, he could correct this behavior and get his malfunctioning heart under control.
But the problem was that he simply couldn’t get the words out. He knew he was timid by nature, but being repeatedly unable to speak up was truly troublesome.
‘W-what should I do…?’
In the end, this situation continued until the day Dowoon had to leave. At the Association, at home, whenever and wherever, Dowoon stuck close to Seoyul.
Seoyul was so distracted that he didn’t even notice how a week had passed.
Still, he was relieved that they would now be forcibly separated for a while.
‘Ah. This buys me some time.’
Seoyul resolved to strengthen his determination and definitely talk to Dowoon when he returned.
“Seoyul. Make sure you eat well while I’m gone, always ask Yu Minjun to take you home, and contact me right away if you see any suspicious guys. Got it?”
Dowoon emphasized what he had already repeated several times, giving stern warnings. He seemed worried since he would be away for a long time.
“Yes. Don’t worry. I’ll eat well, always go with Minjun hyung, and definitely contact you if I see any strange people!”
Seoyul answered diligently, although he always ate well, could go home by himself, and there were no strange people at the Center.
But Dowoon still didn’t seem satisfied, as he opened his mouth with a displeased expression.
“…But don’t stick too close to Yu Minjun.”
“…?”
Seoyul tilted his head in confusion. Minjun was an Esper and he was a Guide, so they rarely met except during lunch time.
‘Is he jealous because Minjun hyung and I seem too close?’
The thought suddenly made his face heat up, as it seemed to indicate how close he and Dowoon had become.
Despite the strange situation unfolding, Dowoon remained someone precious to Seoyul.
“Argh! Anyway! Give me one last Guiding before I go!”
Dowoon clutched his head and spread his arms wide. That gesture meant he wanted Guiding through an embrace.
“Uh…”
Seoyul’s face flushed as he looked around. Fortunately, the hallway was empty. It wasn’t exactly okay just because no one was there, but it was better than having people around.
Seoyul hesitantly approached and embraced Dowoon. More than his fluttering heart, he wanted to provide perfect Guiding before the mission, as anything could happen.
‘I wish I were a more capable Guide.’
Then he could have accompanied him on his mission. But Seoyul was still an intern, not even able to fulfill a full Guide’s role.
Thump.
Thump-thump.
Thump-thump-thump.
As the Guiding continued, his heartbeat gradually quickened. The sense of duty to guide him was being overtaken by his growing awareness of other feelings.
‘H-how long should I continue this?’
Since Guides couldn’t gauge an Esper’s state, he didn’t know when would be appropriate to stop. It was difficult to say he would stop here since this was their last session before the mission.
Seoyul buried his face against Dowoon’s chest, trying his best to suppress his reddening face and quickening heartbeat.
Then, Dowoon let out a short groan as if he could no longer endure it and lifted Seoyul up abruptly.
“Whoa!”
His line of sight suddenly rose, and Dowoon’s face was right beside his.
‘Oh!’
Seoyul held his breath and opened his eyes wide. Over Dowoon’s shoulder, he could see a door. It was the door to the Guiding room, with a small window in it.
Because Dowoon was so close, he diverted his attention to that window. Otherwise, it was too distracting to bear.
But that wasn’t a wise choice.
Through the small glass window, he could see two people engaged in a deep kiss.
‘……’
Seoyul’s body and mind froze. Dowoon seemed to notice the change as well, speaking in a playful voice:
“Seoyul. You stopped the Guiding?”
Dowoon stroked his head as if asking for the Guiding to continue. But Seoyul couldn’t do anything.
He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the two people still sharing an intense kiss.
“Seoyul?”
Finally realizing something was truly wrong, Dowoon set Seoyul down on the floor and examined his face.
“Are you okay?”
He bent down with a worried expression to meet Seoyul’s eyes. Dowoon’s beautiful face filled Seoyul’s vision.
‘Huh?’
But in his mind, Dowoon’s face began to overlap with the kissing couple he had just seen.
Seoyul was utterly flustered.
Whoosh!
With a helplessly reddening face, Seoyul quickly covered his mouth and lowered his head.
The sudden heat spread as his thoughts became a mess, turning his entire body red.
“Seoyul?”
Dowoon called his name again, confused. But Seoyul was too shocked to say anything.
However, Dowoon had no intention of backing off. He pushed his face closer and asked again with a worried tone:
“Are you sick? Are you okay?”
Ah. What should he do?
Seoyul made a tearful face, thinking he should say something. But he couldn’t say he was fine.
So with difficulty, he managed to utter one sentence.
“I… don’t think I’m okay.”
“Huh?”
Dowoon’s eyes widened in surprise. But Seoyul still had no capacity to worry about him.
Even now, as he was facing Dowoon, the scene of them sharing a deep kiss like the couple he had just seen kept playing in his mind.
“I… I really don’t think I’m okay.”
Seoyul painfully answered once more and lowered his head again.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
