# Chapter 21
When we returned to where we’d first gotten out of the car, Jeongmun was waiting for us. In the meantime, he must have parked the car somewhere else, as it was no longer visible. That was a relief. Just seeing that red compact car would be enough to make me nauseous now.
“Oh, Jaeo. Didn’t you say you were going to buy coffee?”
Jeongmun asked with a puzzled expression as he noticed my empty hands. I smiled awkwardly and shot a glare at Heerim. Heerim just mischievously shrugged his shoulders.
“I’m sorry. We ran into Kang Seokgi at the café and couldn’t get it.”
“Kang Seokgi? But it’s not time for him to get off work yet?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
I shook my head as Kang Seokgi’s gruff voice seemed to replay in my ears. Heerim, who was standing next to me, gently massaged my shoulder and spoke.
“So it looks like we can’t follow him today.”
“Why not? You just ran into him.”
“We got into an unexpected confrontation, and he saw our faces.”
“Really? Well, that can’t be helped. Let’s head back to the office.”
Jeongmun took out his car keys. Heerim and I froze in place, turning pale.
“You two. Aren’t you coming?”
“Um… I’ll take the bus. Suddenly feeling like using public transportation. Haha.”
“Me too! I’ll go with Jaeo hyung!”
“What? Why? Both of you, come ride in my car comfortably.”
“No! No! We’re fine! Come on! Let’s go, Heerim!”
I spotted a bus approaching a nearby stop. Heerim and I ran toward the bus stop without even checking the bus number.
***
“What happened to you two? Don’t tell me you got caught in the rain?”
The Director frowned as she saw Heerim and me enter the office. I laughed weakly and shook off the water dripping from my hair. Checking the time, I realized it had taken about 1 hour and 20 minutes to get back to the office.
“I mean, you should have ridden in my car.”
Jeongmun said as he handed us towels. I accepted the towel with a bitter expression.
It had been good so far, escaping from Jeongmun’s red compact car and boarding the bus. I leaned back against the seat, staring blankly out the window with my fatigued mind. Then suddenly, feeling that the scenery outside looked unfamiliar, I checked my phone and realized the bus was heading in the exact opposite direction of the Earth Peace Research Institute.
“Heerim! We need to get off!”
I urgently pressed the stop button and called out to Heerim. Sitting next to me, he must have dozed off slightly as he looked at me with half-open eyes.
“We got on the wrong bus. We need to get off now.”
“Where are we?”
“I don’t know. We took the wrong bus, so we’ll need to take another one. Just a moment. Oh, this bus is heading for the highway.”
Had we realized we were on the wrong bus even a little later, we might have ended up in another city via the highway. Fortunately, we noticed just before entering the interchange.
After moving to the bus stop on the opposite side of the road, I searched for the bus we needed to take.
“Hmm. The bus we need to take… what? It comes in 45 minutes.”
“Are there no other buses? How about the subway?”
“The fastest bus is in 45 minutes. The subway station is about a 30-minute walk from here.”
“Ah… Then it’s better to wait here.”
A place that would have taken 20 minutes by car was now going to take nearly an hour to reach. I was extremely tired, but I thought it would still be better than riding in Jeongmun’s car. Five minutes later, though, I started to think that maybe it would have been better to ride with Jeongmun after all.
Flash—!
Suddenly, the sky flickered.
“Gasp.”
“Jaeo hyung. Did you see that? Lightning!”
Rumble, CRASH!
Before I could even exhale the breath I’d taken in surprise, I heard a thunderous sound as if the sky was collapsing. Looking up at the sky, I saw dark clouds hanging low, even darker than they had been in the morning.
“It’ll be troublesome if it starts raining.”
I muttered to myself, absentmindedly looking up at the sky. Having come out with nothing, I had no umbrella. Moreover, the bus stop where we were standing was just a simple stop with only a sign. If it rained, there would be no place to take shelter.
Plop. Pitter-patter.
It hadn’t even been a few minutes since I muttered to myself. What I had worried about happened. A few thick raindrops fell on my face, and then suddenly, rain like spears poured down. It was a downpour as if a hole had opened in the sky.
People nearby moved in confusion at the sudden heavy rain. With no place to shelter from the rain, we were soaked to the skin in an instant.
“Ugh…”
I grimaced at the unpleasant sensation of wet clothes sticking to my skin, and Heerim, who was standing next to me, slightly lowered his head and whispered to me.
“Hyung. Should I try to make the rain stop?”
“What? Is that possible?”
“Hmm. I think I can do it for the area where we’re standing.”
“Wait, you can really do that?”
When I was startled, Heerim nodded with an expression that seemed to ask what was wrong. It was both amazing and bewildering to hear that he could handle natural phenomena with his Esper abilities. They say Espers are the only beings who can fight against monsters from the Rift, but not having seen it directly, I didn’t realize their abilities were this impressive. With such remarkable powers, why was Heerim just catching perverts? It was a mystery.
“Shall I try?”
“…No. Don’t do that.”
As regrettable as it was, we couldn’t do that. If he could stop the rain entirely, that would be one thing, but if only the area where we were standing was dry, it would look extremely strange.
“Then what should we do? Let’s find somewhere to go inside.”
“Huh? Whoa! Heerim!”
Suddenly, Heerim grabbed my wrist and started running through the rain. I followed him without understanding why. After running about 50 meters, we spotted a convenience store. Heerim dragged me inside.
“Welcome to our store… oh.”
The part-timer at the counter hesitated when he saw the two of us looking like drowned rats.
“The rain suddenly came down so hard. Can we stay for a bit?”
Heerim, who had taken off his mask, asked the part-timer while stylishly pushing back his wet hair. Even though the part-timer was male, he blushed at Heerim’s appearance and nodded. I swallowed dryly at Heerim’s looks, which seemed to work on everyone regardless of gender.
“Hyung. I did well, right?”
Heerim beamed proudly as if he was pleased with getting the part-timer’s permission. His appearance, seeking praise, looked incredibly innocent. I burst into laughter when I noticed the large puddle of water we had left on the floor.
“What did you do well? We’re already completely soaked.”
“Still. It’s better than continuing to get rained on.”
“That’s true.”
Heerim kept demanding praise, as if wagging an invisible tail. Despite being drenched, I oddly didn’t feel bad. This chaotic situation was actually somewhat enjoyable.
“Should we buy something to eat?”
As I was about to look around the shelves, not wanting to be rude by just hanging around the convenience store until the rain stopped, I realized that Heerim’s hand was still holding mine.
“Heerim. Your hand…”
Just as I was about to tell him to let go, our eyes met. I was momentarily at a loss for words because his wet eyes were fixated solely on me.
Heerim’s gaze seemed to contain a mix of emotions. Though I couldn’t dare to fully comprehend them, I somehow sensed affection, sadness, and even an indecipherable desire. The emotions contained in this gaze felt deep and heavy.
At that moment, I could tell for certain. He was showing me his true self.
“Jeongmun already told me. The tailing mission was a bust.”
The Director’s words were mixed with a sigh.
“I’m sorry. I interfered and messed things up.”
I apologized, pausing in the middle of drying myself with a towel, feeling somewhat guilty. The plan had gone awry because I couldn’t ignore Kang Seokgi’s outrageous behavior. The Director waved her hand dismissively at my apology.
“No, it’s fine. Since it’s come to this, we’ll go with Plan B.”
“Plan B?”
“First change your clothes, and then I’ll explain. The office is turning into a water park.”
“Oh, but my clothes…”
“I have extra clothes! Wear those!”
Heerim, who was shaking the water from his hair, pulled me into the storage room. It was now a familiar space, as we came here every time we did Guiding. Heerim took out several plain t-shirts and pants from a cabinet tucked away in the corner of the storage room.
“You have a lot of clothes here?”
“When working, clothes often get torn or dirty.”
“Does that happen often?”
Having to keep clothes at the office to change into because of difficult assignments? That didn’t seem right.
Come to think of it, when I first came to work, Heerim was wearing tattered clothes. Not only that, but his face was very cold and sharp, unlike now. Could there be different types of assignments than the one we’re doing now?
At my questioning look, Heerim just smiled faintly and took off the t-shirt he was wearing.
“…!”
Having turned my head toward Heerim inadvertently, I found myself stepping back without realizing it. This was because his bare body, wet with water, was exposed so starkly. When he was clothed, I hadn’t noticed, but his chest muscles and abs were quite firm and defined. It was a strong physique, quite different from his pretty face. I couldn’t help but keep glancing at his body, surprised by his unexpected build. To make matters worse, the storage room was cramped, making the distance between Heerim and me very close. One wrong move and our bodies might press against each other.
As I tried not to be conscious of him and was about to change clothes, Heerim stepped closer to me. Heerim’s scent, mixed with a faint smell of water, filled the small storage room. My shoulders tensed at the strangely nerve-wracking scent.
“Heerim. Could you move aside so I can change?”
“……”
“Heerim? What are you doing? I said move aside.”
“Go ahead and change.”
Heerim crossed his arms with an indifferent expression and stepped back one pace. I wanted to ask him to move further away, but that seemed too conscious of him, so I deliberately kept my mouth shut.
“……”
Why are you staring? It’s embarrassing.
I could feel Heerim’s gaze fixed intently on me. Though there was nothing much to see since we were both men, Heerim watched me without even putting on his own clothes. I knew without looking. It would be the same gaze as when he looked at me earlier in the convenience store.
A gaze that seemed as if it would devour me completely, containing only me.
I turned my back slightly away from Heerim and quickly changed my clothes. Thankfully, my underwear wasn’t wet. I almost ended up wearing Heerim’s clothes without underwear.
“I’ll go out first.”
After changing into Heerim’s clothes, I rolled up the slightly oversized sleeves and quickly left the storage room.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
