# Chapter 45
The office was quiet when I arrived late. That wasn’t unusual, but today felt different.
“Huh? Where did everyone go?”
No one was in the office. I checked the Director’s and Jeongmun’s desks, thinking they might have stepped out briefly. There was no sign they had come to work at all. Though our work hours were flexible, there was always at least one person keeping watch over the office, so having no one there felt strange. I felt the same awkwardness I used to feel during school days when I arrived too early and sat alone in an empty classroom.
“Heerim, do you know where the Director and Jeongmun went?”
“They probably went out on field work.”
“Field work? Did we get a request?”
“No. It’s because of the Rift that appeared yesterday. Everyone will be busy for a while.”
Ah. This is something I can’t be involved in.
From experience, I realized they wouldn’t give me any more information than that.
I tried not to show further interest, but my expression must have betrayed my bitterness. After seeing my face, Heerim seemed to consider something before carefully speaking.
“How much do you know about Rifts, hyung?”
“Huh? Just… what’s in textbooks.”
“The inside of a Rift is like a maze.”
Heerim picked up a pen lying around the office and drew lines randomly on a piece of paper. He set the pen down with a thud and handed me the paper.
Heerim’s drawing looked like a large circle filled with tangled, squiggly black lines.
“Actually, it’s more accurate to call it a tangled ball of thread than a maze.”
I stared silently at the paper. So Heerim had drawn a Rift.
“But no matter how tangled thread becomes, it still has a beginning and an end, right? We’re looking for the end of the Rift.”
For the first time, Heerim was telling me things he hadn’t shared before. While I felt touched, I also experienced an inexplicable tension. I tried to find the end of the black tangle Heerim had drawn. Finding the end of those chaotically drawn lines was nearly impossible. I gave up and put the paper down.
“What’s at that end?”
“I’m not certain, but…”
Heerim crumpled the paper I had set down and threw it toward the trash can. The paper flew in a nice arc and landed cleanly in the bin.
“The National Esper Control Center.”
“You mean NECC? Wait, why would that be inside a Rift?”
Heerim just smiled quietly and closed his mouth. It was a smile that meant he couldn’t say more. Though I had many questions, I didn’t press further. Even sharing this much was a big deal.
“Anyway, it’s just the two of us here.”
Heerim moved very close to me and slipped his arm around my waist.
“What are you doing?”
“We haven’t done today’s guiding yet.”
Really? Since when did guiding involve hugging?
I couldn’t help but laugh at his transparent ploy.
“I don’t think we need to do guiding today. You seem perfectly fine.”
“No, hyung. I have no energy, and even standing is too difficult.”
When I showed no reaction, Heerim became more dramatic. His act of going limp and staggering was quite a sight. I wondered how much of this I should tolerate.
It seemed I needed to draw a new line. Otherwise, Heerim would clearly behave like a horse with no reins. Even on the crowded bus earlier, he kept trying to bury his face in my shoulder and smell me, which was troublesome. I don’t know how he managed to hold himself back until now if this is what he wanted to do.
“Please guide me quickly, hyung…”
By now, Heerim had pushed me onto the sofa and was lying down with his head on my lap, acting spoiled.
“Fine, but change your clothes first.”
My gym clothes that he had stubbornly insisted on wearing bothered me. Although he claimed they were clean, the stretched-out sleeves and pilling fabric made me reluctant to let Heerim wear them.
“It’s fine if I don’t change.”
“Well, I’m not fine with it.”
I forcibly got Heerim up and pushed him toward the pantry. Reluctantly, Heerim went into the pantry and changed into spare clothes from the cabinet. He came out holding the gym clothes in his hands. He hugged them to his chest like a doll and took a deep breath in and out. Watching him made my face burn with embarrassment.
“Hyung, can I keep these clothes?”
“What would you do with clothes that don’t even fit you?”
Instead of answering, Heerim just looked at me with a sly expression.
“No, you can’t. Give them here.”
Feeling a weird prickling sensation all over my body, I forcibly took the gym clothes from Heerim. Just to be sure, I sniffed them. As expected, I could only detect a faint detergent smell and nothing else. It seemed love’s blinders affected not just the eyes but also the nose. I stuffed the gym clothes into my bag, trying to suppress my rising smile.
“Alright, give me your hand. I’ll guide you.”
“My hand? Why?”
“What do you mean, why?”
“You said give you my hand.”
“Yes, your hand.”
We looked at each other with confused expressions, our conversation somehow misaligned.
“Are you planning to guide me by holding hands?”
“How else would I do it?”
“There are many ways to guide. For instance…”
Heerim lightly brushed my lips with his finger.
“Like this.”
“Uh—”
Heerim’s finger flicked my lower lip and then slowly traced along my facial contour down toward my chest. His long finger crossed over my thin t-shirt and was about to reach my navel when…
“W-wait.”
Startled by the strange sensation I’d never felt before, I grabbed Heerim’s wrist. The mischievous look in his eyes had turned intense. My mouth went completely dry.
“I want to get closer to you, hyung.”
“W-we’re already close enough. Hic. Hiccup.”
I was so shocked that I started hiccupping. Heerim, who had been staring at me with the eyes of a hunter waiting for the moment to pounce, opened his eyes wide. The charged tension in the atmosphere was broken by my hiccups.
“Hiccup.”
“I’ll get you some water.”
Heerim hurriedly poured water into a cup and brought it to me. Fortunately, the hiccups stopped after one cup of water.
“Don’t tease me.”
Having regained my senses after drinking the cold water, I smacked Heerim on the back with my palm.
“I wasn’t teasing. I was serious…”
Heerim muttered with an aggrieved expression. I pretended not to hear his mumbling and changed the subject.
“Shouldn’t you go check on the Director too? What if they get caught in the Rift?”
“They’ll contact us if it’s dangerous.”
Heerim plopped down on the sofa and answered indifferently.
“Hyung, do you dislike being with me?”
“No, I don’t dislike it, but…”
Not knowing what to say, I smiled awkwardly and trailed off. I’d been on edge ever since I kissed Heerim first at my place. It wasn’t that Heerim made me uncomfortable. I was afraid that if I wasn’t careful, I might completely expose all the feelings I had for him.
I didn’t want to reveal these emotions. Not only was it embarrassing and awkward, but it also felt like a vulnerability. This might be because I’d never had romantic feelings for anyone before.
I took out my phone and started browsing a web portal for no particular reason. Heerim silently watched me. As I was mindlessly holding my phone, a message notification popped up on the screen.
[Ha Suan: What are you doing? Did you go to work?]
[Ha Suan: I’m worried since I haven’t heard from you since we met yesterday. Did you get home safely?]
“Ah…”
I sighed at Ha Suan’s messages. I had completely forgotten to contact him after getting home yesterday. Even though I had gotten a ride in his car, I didn’t even properly thank him. Although I was distracted by Heerim suddenly showing up at my place, it was still rude behavior.
[Me: Sorry]
[Me: I was so tired I forgot to contact you.]
[Ha Suan: That can happen]
[Ha Suan: Want to have lunch together today if you’re free?]
What should I do? Since he helped me out, it would be right for me to treat him to a meal. But with Heerim here, I felt uncomfortable going out for lunch alone.
“Who is it?”
Heerim, reading my troubled expression, slightly raised his head and tried to look at my phone screen. I quickly turned off the screen so Heerim wouldn’t see the chat. Remembering that he hadn’t liked Ha Suan before, I didn’t want to bring up his existence.
“A friend asking me to have lunch together.”
“A friend?”
Though I tried to speak casually, Heerim’s expression briefly hardened. I felt a pang of embarrassment, thinking he might have discovered how pathetically shallow my social circle was.
“What? I have friends too.”
“I never said you don’t have friends, hyung.”
“…”
I embarrassed myself by saying something unnecessary.
“You’re not planning to leave me alone in the office, are you?”
“N-no.”
I never really wanted to have lunch with Ha Suan in the first place. As I was about to decline the lunch invitation, Heerim, with a faint smile, spoke first.
“I’ll come too. I’m curious about your friend, hyung.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
