Moreover, the faint scent of coffee that belatedly caught at the tip of his nose…
Only then did Choi Tae-hoon bolt upright.
“……”
“Good morning.”
At the sight of the man who’d been appearing all over every platform lately the moment he turned on his phone—labeled everywhere as his Esper—sitting there holding a coffee mug, Tae-hoon wondered if he still hadn’t fully woken up yet.
But Ji Gwan-young, wearing an extremely relaxed expression, gently reminded him that the current situation was reality.
“Would you like a cup of coffee too, Tae-hoon-ssi? I just brewed it.”
“Uh, uh, when…… did you…… arrive?”
“At dawn.”
Gwan-young answered kindly. His hair shimmered beneath the light pouring through the window, like black ink dusted with gold. Tae-hoon squinted slightly as he finished his question.
“……For what…… reason……”
“I came because I’m reaching my limit.”
He normally wasn’t the type to curse much, but at this moment, Tae-hoon unconsciously swallowed down a string of profanities.
Honestly, his life as a full-fledged Guide had been pretty good. He liked it enough that he’d even started dreaming about a future working at The Center someday. And after he moved out, his younger siblings had more room to live comfortably in the remaining space, which had also felt like a good thing.
But even so, there had always been a strange burden sitting heavy in his stomach.
The reason was obvious.
Because of the most important duty he carried as a Guide.
At the sudden appearance of the very person involved in the thing he’d briefly tried to avoid, Choi Tae-hoon couldn’t hide the tremble in his voice as he rambled incoherently.
“Ah. At The Center today, um, there’s mental care, and training too, so…….”
“You don’t have to go to training at The Center today.”
“…Pardon?”
The Esper, who had calmly listened to even his disorganized words while wearing a dazzling smile that would’ve made countless women’s hearts flutter, gently delivered consideration that only deepened his Guide’s worries instead of easing them.
“The Center already knows I’m here.”
…Why didn’t you just go all the way and film a public announcement saying the two of us were going to do it today?
Thinking he wanted to throw a pillow directly at Gwan-young’s good-natured smiling face, Tae-hoon instead clenched the blanket tightly for no reason.
Heat rushed all the way up from his neck. He almost wanted to crawl back under the covers, but unlike him, the man sitting there smiling leisurely made that impossible.
The meaning behind the man before him visiting his Pair’s residence—a place he had never once come to before—was painfully obvious.
Watching his Guide, the Esper smiled as though he didn’t notice anything.
He was simply amused by the fact that Choi Tae-hoon’s body temperature had risen.
***
The Guide quarters had two bathrooms.
Choi Tae-hoon found that kindness unbearably depressing.
Right now, he’d been washing himself for over an hour.
At this point, anyone who wasn’t an idiot would obviously realize he was avoiding him. Rationally, he knew this behavior was rude.
But unlike his reason, emotionally he simply couldn’t bring himself to open the bathroom door and go back out.
All he did was repeatedly scrub himself squeaky clean with soap before sinking back into the hot water again for the third time.
He’d stayed in the water so long that the tips of his fingers had wrinkled.
Today, Ji Gwan-young—that Esper—had been absurdly considerate toward him all day long.
After finishing his mental care counseling in the morning, Tae-hoon had deliberately wandered around for a long time before finally returning late. When he came back and saw lunch fully prepared, waiting for him, he’d even felt embarrassed about his own behavior.
Choi Tae-hoon tried recalling everything he knew about his Esper.
Ji Gwan-young. Thirty-four years old. Physical-type Esper. Movies he’d appeared in were ○○○, □□□□, dramas were……..
But that was it.
That was literally all.
In all twenty-eight years of his life, Choi Tae-hoon had never once slept with someone he knew so little about.
And even more so in a position where he would probably be the one held down with his legs spread.
No—not probably.
He had never even imagined something like that in his entire life.
Tae-hoon let out a deep sigh.
Just then, a careful knock sounded from the door.
Startled, Tae-hoon jerked upright so suddenly he nearly slipped inside the bathtub.
“Y-yes?!”
“I knocked because I was wondering if something happened. It’s alright. Take your time washing up.”
“…….Yeees…….”
Had he thought Tae-hoon fainted because he was taking too long?
Embarrassment heated his face intensely.
And besides, “Take your time washing up”? They had both gone into the bathroom at the same time. Even subtracting the time Gwan-young himself had spent showering, he’d still been waiting over thirty minutes minimum.
…Seriously, what kind of pathetic behavior is this, Choi Tae-hoon?
Tae-hoon hurriedly splashed cold water on his face.
Then he thought, Alright, let’s just go out confidently!—
Only to grab the doorknob again and shrink back down, thinking, I’ll just stay until the wrinkles in my fingers smooth out completely.
Truthfully, he still wasn’t even convinced.
That Esper had said he came because he was reaching his limit, but he didn’t look anywhere close to being at his limit. If anything, he looked tens of thousands of times more relaxed than Tae-hoon himself.
Tae-hoon even started doubting whether it was really necessary for them to physically sleep together for stability.
But that was Choi Tae-hoon’s misunderstanding—and the result of Ji Gwan-young exercising the utmost restraint possible.
Reaching his limit hadn’t been a lie.
Right now, Gwan-young had actually been considering breaking down the bathroom door. He’d even unconsciously made one of the chairs in Tae-hoon’s apartment float into the air before barely managing to set it back down.
He’d let Tae-hoon go because, if not training at The Center, then at least he should attend the mental care counseling. But as he waited for his Guide—who had long passed any reasonable return time—an explosive irritation had steadily surged inside him.
Several hours of silently enduring by himself.
Even now, thinking about how it felt when his Guide opened the front door and immediately started cautiously reading his mood made him feel absurd.
The moment Choi Tae-hoon entered his field of vision, the anger that had piled up layer by layer quieted so thoroughly it became laughable. Before he realized it, all he could think was that he needed to soothe him gently.
Only then did Ji Gwan-young truly realize once more the influence wielded by a being called a Guide—something he’d ignored his entire life until now.
Actually, there was a simple way to check what the Guide protesting inside the bathroom was doing in that tiny space.
He merely had to open the perception he was deliberately suppressing.
But Gwan-young strangely didn’t want to do that.
So unlike himself, he simply waited blindly for Choi Tae-hoon to come out.
Still, he had genuinely reached his limit now.
The desire to rip open the door immediately and pull that man into his arms and roll around with him was gradually beginning to crush down his reason.
Fortunately, Choi Tae-hoon finally slipped out of the bathroom while Ji Gwan-young’s rationality was still barely managing to stand above his lust.
Wearing a large bathrobe, he walked toward the bed with hesitant steps overflowing with nervousness.
The moment his eyes met Gwan-young’s, he even lowered his head deeply.
“Sorry…… for taking so long.”
At the trembling expression on his face, Gwan-young clicked his tongue softly.
His wet hair and the moisture still clinging to the back of his neck because he hadn’t dried himself properly caught Gwan-young’s eye. His skin, slightly flushed red from staying too long in the hot water, looked painfully vivid.
In a way, it was an appearance more than worth waiting for.
Gwan-young separated the remaining “water” from his Guide’s body.
As a result, Tae-hoon stared wide-eyed while touching his now completely dry hair before belatedly noticing the floating droplets suspended in midair.
“Wow. You can even do something like this?”
For an instant, the tension left Choi Tae-hoon’s face, and a small smile appeared.
Ji Gwan-young, who had only ever seen his Guide tense, frowning, or sighing, found himself momentarily speechless at the innocent expression revealed by something he’d done thoughtlessly.
“……Well. It’s nothing.”
Instead of his usual composed and skillful responses, an awkward reply slipped out.
Carefully playing with the floating water, Tae-hoon gathered it together like forming a ball before lightly setting it atop the small flowerpot on the nightstand.
“Honestly, when I heard you were a Physical-type Esper, I imagined only violent things. This is unexpected.”
“……Water was the first thing I ever learned to control. So it’s not difficult.”
At the small gesture that hadn’t even been intended to provoke a strong reaction, the tension that had stiffened Tae-hoon considerably eased.
No—in fact, for the first time, he met Gwan-young’s gaze first and spoke to him with a smile.
For some reason, watching him made Gwan-young’s mouth feel dry, and he wet his lips with his tongue.
It was quite an adorable conversation to be having in a bedroom where they stood side by side wearing matching robes.
Meanwhile, unlike the increasingly restless Esper, Choi Tae-hoon had become somewhat more comfortable around the man before him.
But the moment he tried getting closer to the bedside, separate from his feelings toward Ji Gwan-young as a person, the aversion and fear toward the act itself slowly began lifting their heads again.
Tae-hoon let out a small exhale.
Then, putting on a brave front, he walked over and perched himself beside Gwan-young, who sat on the bed.
The large king-sized bed had more than enough room for two grown men to sit slightly apart.
The way he rubbed his palms together and took deep breaths made his nervousness painfully obvious.
Ji Gwan-young quietly took in the sight of Choi Tae-hoon.
The scent of body wash drifting from him was the same as his own. His skin, still tinged red because the heat hadn’t faded yet, looked sweet enough that Gwan-young couldn’t even imagine how good it would feel to touch.
Meanwhile, it took quite some time before Tae-hoon finally turned his body to look at him.
Even then, his lips merely moved soundlessly instead of producing words.
His tightly clenched fists trembled faintly as well.
Only then did Ji Gwan-young finally begin to understand Espers who lived obsessed with Guides.
A Guide trembling so badly yet still preparing himself to be embraced—was certainly quite……. lovable.
Even if that Guide happened to be a large man.
“Hoo… hoo. Um, so.”
“…….Yes.”
Ji Gwan-young answered in a low voice that sounded slightly rough.
Tae-hoon rubbed his face once with both hands before exhaling another deep sigh.
“I’ve never…… been with another man before.”
Looked at another way, that meant he had been with women before.
But Ji Gwan-young willingly decided to understand that much.
If those women had been Espers, it would’ve been another matter entirely—but Choi Tae-hoon had never shared his body with any Esper.
……..He had never shared that warmth with any Esper besides him.
Ji Gwan-young smacked his lips lightly at the heavy tightening sensation in his lower abdomen.
Tae-hoon looked at the ceiling, then back at the floor, then took another huge breath.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Tae-hoon’s heart pounded rapidly.
Ji Gwan-young savored the sound to his heart’s content.
“Not only is it my first time. But, um… receiving…… I’ve never done that either.”
“Yes.”
Ji Gwan-young’s eyes curved slightly as he smiled.
At that gentle smile, Tae-hoon repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists several times.
Of course, that didn’t stop his hands from trembling.
“So, um. I’m…… a little scared. Honestly.”
“……”
“……So, um……. I, if possible.”
The honesty with which he openly admitted his fear was cute—and lovable.
The Esper listened carefully to every single word as the Guide lowered his head deeply and continued in an increasingly tiny voice.
“……Please. A little… slowly. And…… not painfully. Please……”
Instead of answering, a small laugh escaped him.
At that, Tae-hoon slowly lifted his head.
The beautifully handsome man wore a smile anyone would recognize as seductive.
Tae-hoon swallowed dryly.
Gwan-young’s lips slowly parted.
“Choi Tae-hoon, because you’re weak.”
It was the first time.
The man who always addressed him as Tae-hoon-ssi spoke instead in an arrogant, overbearing tone.
But strangely, it didn’t feel unpleasant.
It only felt oddly gentle and sweet.
As the man’s face drew close enough that their breaths nearly touched, Tae-hoon unconsciously squeezed his eyes shut.
A faint trace of laughter still lingered in the Esper’s voice.
“…..Of course I’ll indulge you as much as you want.”
***
Not once in his life had Choi Tae-hoon ever been described as “weak.”
At 180 centimeters tall and possessing a physique above average physical standards, it was obvious that the word weak did not suit him at all.
