A Small Boat on the Sea (1)
I was dazedly lying in Sa Hae-geon’s arms before I belatedly struggled. But it wasn’t enough to break free from him. Sa Hae-geon embraced me even more tightly as I squirmed.
Why was he suddenly acting this way, when normally he would back off at the slightest sign of my displeasure? I was just bewildered. As I wriggled, not knowing what to do, Sa Hae-geon’s voice fell from above my head. His low voice tickled my ear.
“I was so happy to see our matching rate with my own eyes. Though I was a bit disappointed it was lower than I expected. How did you feel, hyung?”
Sa Hae-geon’s words and breath mixed together, tickling my ear. But he thought 97 percent was low? I wondered what percentage Sa Hae-geon had been expecting for our matching rate. 97 percent was by no means a small number.
I was rolling my eyes, trying to understand what Sa Hae-geon meant, when I hurriedly answered at his urging.
“Hyung, why aren’t you answering?”
“…Ah, um. Yeah. I was happy too… But wouldn’t it be more comfortable and better if we let go and talked…”
“Yes, hyung. I was really happy too. I’m so glad that you’re my imprinting match.”
“Hmm. But first, could we just…”
Sa Hae-geon pretended not to hear my words as I kept trying to break free from him. Then he tilted his head and asked innocently:
“Hyung, why aren’t you giving me Guiding?”
“Well, you need to let me go first to do Guiding…”
“Do you want to stay like this with me?”
“No… You want me to do Guiding in this position? We can just use hands. Using hands is enough and much more convenient, so why insist on…”
“Ah, you must not have heard the doctor well, hyung.”
“Huh?”
“Since my wavelength is so tangled, I need a consistent and large amount of Guiding. Doesn’t that mean holding hands isn’t enough?”
“…Huh? This is the first time I’m hearing this. When did he say that? Why didn’t I hear it?”
His wavelength is very tangled so he needs more Guiding? I asked again in surprise, and Sa Hae-geon laughed softly. It must have been a lie after all.
However, as if mocking my thoughts, Sa Hae-geon soon added quietly:
“The doctor tends to speak in difficult and ambiguous ways.”
“Really…? But even so, how could we do this kind of Guiding today…”
“We need to practice step by step from now on to do well in the future. Hyung, just focus on Guiding. I’ll focus only on you too.”
Even as I sent wavelengths to Sa Hae-geon, I was just bewildered and dumbfounded. According to him, did I not properly understand the doctor’s words? Sa Hae-geon’s previously meek behavior now felt like a complete lie.
While his appearance might not resemble one, his behavior had seemed more bear-like than fox-like, but now why… When I met Sa Hae-geon’s gently curved eyes, my body flinched involuntarily. His face, wearing a deep smile, looked fox-like.
So was his previous innocent behavior because he had no justification? My mind became complicated by Sa Hae-geon’s aggressive attitude, unlike anything before.
‘What should I do now…’
Even in this already confusing situation, my chest area was itchy, and my stomach was churning. I wondered if it was because I had done too much Guiding, but I had never experienced this in the field. After wracking my brain for a long time while in Sa Hae-geon’s arms, I finally gave up and chose to just stay quietly in his embrace.
Whatever happens, happens. If it became too troublesome or difficult, I could just end our living arrangement, so there was no need to think too deeply about it.
However, my thinking was naive. No, to be precise, Sa Hae-geon was persistent.
The next day, and the day after that, I had to be embraced by Sa Hae-geon and Guide him. If I tried to cleverly avoid it somehow, I would already find myself in his arms, or I would have to give in to him looking at me with eyes like a pitiful puppy caught in the rain.
It was a bit troublesome, but his words had a point, and it wasn’t extremely distasteful or annoying, so I just let it be, and three days quickly passed. And anyway, since I was Sa Hae-geon’s imprinting match, I felt I should provide him with Guiding.
However, there was one thing that bothered me. Could we really stop at embracing for Guiding? Once we became used to Guiding while embracing, wouldn’t he want to move to the next level? Such thoughts suddenly occurred to me.
Well, worrying about it now would only give me a headache. Sa Hae-geon, sitting next to me as I was momentarily lost in thought while watching TV, asked:
“Hyung, what are you thinking about so deeply?”
“…Huh? Ah, I just had something to think about for a moment…”
“Is that so? Please give me Guiding.”
Over the past few days, Sa Hae-geon had become increasingly clingy and more frequently demanded Guiding. Requesting Guiding from me was a natural right as an Esper, but… I looked down at my right hand, which was somehow being held by his large hand, and swallowed a sigh.
Did he really need to fiddle with my hand to this extent? As I just stared blankly at my hand without giving any particular answer, he urged:
“Hyung?”
“Ah, yes. I should do it, Guiding.”
“Yes.”
Sa Hae-geon pulled my hand and sat me between his legs. Then he placed his chin on my left shoulder and held me tightly from behind. It was an embarrassing position, as if I were a large teddy bear.
Cream, who had been lying leisurely under the sofa, raised her head to look at Sa Hae-geon and me, but seemed to lose interest quickly as she lay back down on her side, swishing her tail gently.
I steadied my breath and sent wavelengths while being held by him. There was nothing else I could do. Even the TV, which I had been watching somewhat enjoyably until just a moment ago, no longer caught my attention.
How long did we continue this embrace disguised as Guiding? I had an intuition that I had provided enough Guiding by now. I tried to release the position, but seeing Sa Hae-geon sitting motionless while holding me tightly made me suddenly anxious.
‘Surely he hasn’t fallen asleep in this position…?’
Of course, falling asleep itself wasn’t a problem. Since there were quite a few Espers who fell asleep during Guiding, it wasn’t considered strange. What worried me was the current position, and the possibility that I might wake Sa Hae-geon while trying to escape from his sleeping embrace. If I raised my body incorrectly, he might suddenly fall forward.
First, I decided to call out to him to check if he was awake.
“…Hae-geon?”
No matter how long I waited, he didn’t answer. Only the sound of regular breathing filled this quiet space. As I had expected, he seemed to be asleep. So what should I do? Should I carefully raise my body and then help him lean against the sofa backrest?
Yes, that seemed like a good idea. I carefully got up from my seat, slightly turned my body, and slowly pushed his shoulder. After helping Sa Hae-geon comfortably lean against the sofa backrest, I was about to escape from between his legs.
Our eyes met—Sa Hae-geon’s were wide open. I ended up tripping over his leg. My body, struggling to stay upright, and Sa Hae-geon’s arms, reaching out to catch me as I wobbled, became entangled, and we eventually fell to the floor.
“Meow!”
Startled, Cream jumped up in place before quickly running away to my room.
“…Oh.”
When I came to my senses and belatedly checked our position, it was beyond words. Sa Hae-geon was lying on the floor with his back against it, and I was on top of him, my hands pressed against the floor as if caging him in. No, looking more closely, I wasn’t pressing against the floor but against Sa Hae-geon’s chest.
Of course, Sa Hae-geon’s chest was so firm that it felt like the floor, which had led to my misperception. He must have exercised diligently to have such an admirably muscular body. While I was distracted by the addictive texture, continuing with such indecent appreciation, I belatedly remembered that I was still pressing against Sa Hae-geon’s chest.
Startled, I tried to quickly get up from my position, but it wasn’t easy as our legs were entangled. Sa Hae-geon, who should have been helping me, was just staring at me blankly with a reddened face, acting like a fool. Then he suddenly opened his lips.
“Hyung.”
“Uh, yeah. Sorry. I’ll get up right away.”
“Hyung.”
“Oh my, I must have gone crazy for a moment. I don’t usually do this… I’m sorry. I’ll get up quickly…”
“Hyung, I like you.”
“…What?”
What did I just hear? I stiffened and looked down at him. And as if reading my mind, Sa Hae-geon whispered repeatedly:
“I like you a lot.”
“Ah, no. No, wait…”
…No, why is he making such a confession without permission, in a situation where his chest is being touched… My head started to throb at Sa Hae-geon’s sudden confession.
