Being Ordinary is the Best 23

# Chapter 23

While the relationship between Espers and Guides transcended gender, Hajin might find it difficult to accept. This was what she was most concerned about.

It would be a serious problem if he felt repulsion and rejected an Esper. Just look at the Alpha Team—they refused to leave Hajin’s side and tried everything to gain his favor.

What would happen if Hajin pushed them away due to his aversion to kissing someone of the same gender?

It wouldn’t just end with lowered morale. Espers rejected by their Guides had been known to experience reduced abilities, or in severe cases, even lose control of their powers.

So Lee Suyeon needed to ensure Hajin wouldn’t feel any aversion.

“Don’t think about it too seriously, um…”

“It’s fine.”

“Pardon?”

While Suyeon was worried about how to convince a man who had lived as a heterosexual for thirty-two years to kiss another man, Hajin responded as if it were no big deal.

“I was a bit surprised, but it’s not just a matter of efficiency—it’s essentially a medical procedure. I’ll just think of it as performing CPR, that’s all.”

“Y-yes! It’s a medical procedure!”

Suyeon breathed a sigh of relief internally several times. She couldn’t express how grateful she was that Hajin had spoken up first like that.

Meanwhile, as he listened to Suyeon’s explanation, Hajin stroked his chin, recalling something.

She had mentioned cases where Espers suffered internal injuries when they couldn’t control their powers. This immediately brought someone to mind.

‘Baek Jaan.’

He could still vividly remember the moment when Jaan went into a rampage.

‘He definitely would have suffered internal injuries from the rampage, but was it never treated?’

The guiding at that time wouldn’t have been enough to heal internal injuries. However, Jaan seemed too fine for Hajin to be certain.

He considered asking Suyeon, but since she was in charge of Guide education, she might not know the details. In that case, he would have to catch Baek Jaan and ask when he returned.

‘I can’t just ignore it if I know about it.’

“Now then, shall we learn about radiant guiding?”

For now, he would focus on the lesson.

There was no need for practical training on contact guiding since in the last class he had already put the Espers to sleep just by touching them.

“Radiant guiding isn’t just about emitting guiding energy. You need to control the concentration, and when you’re separated from an Esper, you must ensure minimal wastage of guiding energy before it reaches them.”

She then took something like sunglasses from a box and put them on.

“When wearing these, you can see the flow of guiding energy. It’s like an X-ray of sorts. I’ll observe through these, so could you try guiding first?”

Nodding, Hajin attempted radiant guiding. Having already demonstrated unparalleled ability in guiding, he had raised her expectations considerably.

However, contrary to those expectations, Hajin struggled for quite some time.

For radiant guiding, when spreading it wide, the particles should be as fine as mist from a spray bottle, and when directed at a specific target, it should be laser-like with no wasted energy. But Hajin was having difficulty getting the feel for it.

When asked to spread guiding energy widely in the room, he released such concentrated guiding that Suyeon’s vision became cloudy.

When told to send guiding energy to a specific spot as if an Esper were standing there, it flew like a cannonball.

Radiant guiding was primarily needed when physical contact with an Esper was difficult.

In other words, it was guiding used mainly in dungeons or combat situations, but in an emergency, if an Esper received this kind of radiant guiding, they would likely fall asleep during battle.

If that happened, not only the Esper’s life but also the Guide’s would be in danger. Suyeon’s expression grew serious. Yet they couldn’t simply abandon radiant guiding…

“…I thought the next lesson would be the last, but it seems you’ll need to come a few more times.”

“…Yes.”

Even Hajin, who had never encountered a block in guiding before, became somewhat dejected when things didn’t go as he wanted. But he soon shook his head.

When had anything ever been easy for him?

Going to school, entering university, getting hired at a company—nothing had ever been easy for Hajin.

After being left alone, Hajin had to start from a place far behind others, which made him work that much harder, and eventually he surged ahead.

Guiding would be no different.

As Hajin left the building after class, Baek Jaan appeared with a “Ta-da!”

“Hajin hyung, I’ve come to pick you up.”

He wanted to surprise Hajin but not too much, so he deliberately made his presence known as he approached—it could have felt endearing.

However, Hajin’s eyes lit up not because of this thoughtfulness, but because the very person he’d been meaning to talk to had appeared before him.

“Did you come alone?”

“Yes. All the other team members are out on their own missions. They won’t be back for a few days.”

As he said this, Baek Jaan smiled broadly, his cheeks turning a pretty shade of red, clearly delighted to have Hajin all to himself.

“That’s perfect.”

“…What?”

For a moment, his heart dropped—in a good way. Did Hajin mean it was good they were alone together? Baek Jaan’s heart began racing, blood rushing through his body.

“Let’s head back quickly. I have something to ask you.”

Without realizing it, Hajin extended his hand to Baek Jaan, who didn’t miss the opportunity and grasped it.

“Y-yes, yes!”

While Hajin was looking around for the car while holding his hand, Baek Jaan suddenly scooped him up.

“Baek Jaan-ssi?”

“This is faster.”

The education center wasn’t actually that far from the quarters. The reason a car had been provided was simply because the Chairman of the Association wanted to show Hajin how much they were taking care of him.

Holding Hajin in his arms, Baek Jaan activated his ability and levitated.

As they instantly rose to a height equivalent to a building’s rooftop without any safety measures, Hajin instinctively wrapped his arms around Baek Jaan’s neck.

“It’ll take less than three minutes this way.”

Hajin had never thought he had a fear of heights, but being up so high with no protection gave him a different perspective.

“On second thought, it’s not that urgent, so let’s just go slowly.”

“It’s okay. We’ll be there in no time.”

With Hajin’s arms around his neck and their closeness, Baek Jaan wore a satisfied expression as he began to fly. The rushing wind was so loud in Hajin’s ears that he simply closed his eyes.

As Baek Jaan had promised, they arrived very quickly.

*Wobble*

“Hyung! Are you okay? Was I too fast? I’m sorry. I was just eager…”

The side effect was that Hajin, unaccustomed to such rapid speed, had difficulty finding his balance even after landing.

“I’m fi—hmm, could I have a glass of water, please?”

After trying to overcome the dizziness, Hajin finally gave up and buried himself in the sofa. Baek Jaan, responding to his request, moved swiftly to fetch cold water.

Hajin furrowed his brow at the cold water that chilled his stomach, but it did help. Once the nausea subsided, he patted the spot next to him, inviting Baek Jaan to sit.

Now that he was feeling better, it was time to address the issue. Hajin took Baek Jaan’s hand to prevent him from escaping and asked:

“H-hyung?”

Baek Jaan was startled, his face flushing with embarrassment, but Hajin resolutely continued.

“Do you know what I learned today?”

“What did you learn?”

Baek Jaan’s attention was entirely focused on the hand holding his.

Had it not been Hajin’s voice, he might not even have recognized someone was speaking to him, let alone responded.

“I learned about contact guiding.”

“C-contact guiding?!”

Baek Jaan, who had been blushing like a shy boy moments ago, suddenly froze with a chilly expression.

“…Don’t tell me another bastard came in for ‘practice’ like last time?”

Ready to tear off the lips of any such Esper, Baek Jaan was fuming, though he carefully directed his killing intent away from Hajin.

“We only had theoretical lessons.”

“That’s a relief.”

“But the instructor told me something. Sometimes it’s necessary to perform mucosal contact guiding—in other words, kissing—and one of the reasons is to heal internal injuries suffered by Espers during a rampage.”

As soon as Hajin finished speaking, Baek Jaan clamped his mouth shut. He knew what Hajin was getting at. It felt like being caught in a mistake he thought he had perfectly concealed.

Hajin had known all along and that’s why he had taken his hand. There was no way Baek Jaan could pull away and escape now.

This was no time to be happy about holding hands. Baek Jaan felt sweat running down his back for the first time.

Hajin, who had been speaking while facing forward, turned his head to look at Baek Jaan and asked:

“Did you get treatment for the internal injuries from that time?”

His gaze seemed to demand honest answers. But there was no need for such insistence.

Even if Hajin had his back turned, Baek Jaan would never lie to him.

“No…”

How could he? Setting aside being an S-class Esper, how could he want guiding from another Guide when Hajin’s guiding energy was still circulating within his body?

Baek Jaan waited for Hajin’s reaction. If Hajin scolded him, that would be fine, but if he scolded him for not getting guiding from another Guide, that would be a bit unpleasant.

Fortunately for Baek Jaan, Hajin wasn’t the type to avoid his responsibilities. Moreover, there was no way he would send an Esper from his own team to another Guide.

“Then let’s get you guiding.”

“What?”

“You’re saying you still have internal injuries, right? I can’t just leave it like that.”

After saying this, Hajin approached Baek Jaan, neither too quickly nor too slowly.

Looking at Hajin gradually getting closer, Baek Jaan couldn’t tell if this was reality or not. It felt as if the world was moving in slow motion.

Slowly, Hajin’s face approached, and his lips, softer and more tender than Baek Jaan had imagined, touched his.

Forgetting even to breathe, Baek Jaan stood frozen, gazing at the eyes visible through his unfocused vision.

Through half-lowered eyelids, beautiful brown eyes were looking at him. *Thump, thump.* It felt like he might faint from the blood rushing to his head.

That absolutely couldn’t happen. This was the moment he had dreamed of for so long…