# Chapter 51
Haeil seemed a little surprised by the sudden action but didn’t refuse. As Haeil just blinked his eyes, Jaeha took off the sweatshirt he was wearing and threw it aside. Truly surprised by this, Haeil watched as Jaeha almost threw himself at him and embraced him tightly.
Beep—.
The machine sound indicated that the alert level had immediately decreased.
“Jaeha, why…”
Haeil’s pleasant low voice trembled somewhat painfully. Jaeha felt energy rapidly flowing out from his body where it touched Haeil’s. It was so fast that it felt uncomfortable, like electricity running through him, but he still wrapped both arms around Haeil’s back.
“You need to finish first before we can go to Jaeyoon.”
Jaeha thought of Jaeyoon while listening to Haeil. No matter how exceptional Jaeyoon was, he would have used his strength in the dungeon they entered together, and though he wouldn’t show it, he must be struggling.
Understanding the current situation from Jaeha’s brotherly concern for Jaeyoon, Haeil responded by pulling Jaeha’s waist closer, pressing their bodies together even more.
The sensation of his body, heavy from overusing his power, becoming lighter from the point of contact with Jaeha gave him a dizzyingly good feeling. He wanted to hold him longer and more closely.
When his cheek brushed against Jaeha’s, Jaeha flinched and turned his head away. Haeil lowered his head in response. Seeing that Jaeha seemed uncomfortable with their faces touching, he tried to make contact elsewhere and noticed unfamiliar marks.
Jaeha’s shoulders and neck, which he was holding as deeply as possible, were covered with red marks and bite marks. Though his body was becoming lighter through guiding and he felt a heat rising from the overly pleasant sensation, his head suddenly cooled. Still holding Jaeha, Haeil spoke as calmly as possible.
“I heard you stopped Kyun Jiho Esper’s rampage yesterday. You did an excellent job with a difficult task.”
“Oh, it wasn’t much. I just slept, and when I woke up, it was all over.”
“Was that level of guiding okay for you?”
“That level? Hmm… I think this is more embarrassing.”
When guiding Jiho in the isolation room, Jaeha had been properly dressed. He hadn’t taken off his top and embraced him to share body heat like now. Of course, he could be confident because he didn’t know that while he was asleep, Jiho had taken the opportunity to touch him as much as he wanted.
“Then I’ll do the same.”
“For that, you should actually be wearing clothes… urgh?!”
This time, Haeil pressed his lips to Jaeha’s neck, which had been thoroughly bitten and sucked by Jiho the night before. The sensation was somehow both familiar and strange, making Jaeha instinctively want to avoid it. He tried to move back but couldn’t budge. Instead, sensing Jaeha’s attempt to retreat, Haeil laid him down on the bed.
It wasn’t very soft and felt firm—just like a hospital bed—but this wasn’t the time to think about that.
“G-Gilma hyung?”
“Please call me Haeil.”
“No, that’s not the issue right now.”
“You can call me Haeil hyung.”
Unlike other times when he didn’t press the issue, today Haeil repeatedly mentioned how he should be addressed while burying his breath in Jaeha’s shoulder. Sensing danger, Jaeha didn’t resist and called him as he wanted.
“Haeil hyung!”
“Yes, Jaeha.”
“So… you don’t have to do that to my neck for guiding to work.”
In Jaeha’s mind, Haeil was rational and calm. Believing that logical persuasion would naturally be accepted, he spoke, only for Haeil’s breath to move from his shoulder to his neck.
“But there are so many red marks on Jaeha’s neck.”
“Eek! Don’t talk there!”
At Jaeha’s cry, Haeil lifted his head and met his eyes. Face-to-face was more embarrassing, but since his neck was tingling unbearably, he did his best not to avoid eye contact.
“I know Kyun Jiho Esper was in a special situation. But if Jaeha says it wasn’t a big deal, please give me the same opportunity.”
“Gilma… I mean, Haeil hyung. You’re not the type of person who acts clingy like this.”
“Did Kyun Jiho Esper act clingy? That can be reported. We can also have observers present during future guiding sessions.”
At the suggestion of doing this in front of others when it was already embarrassing enough with just the two of them, Jaeha sighed deeply. It seemed that Espers could confidently do things in public that most people would only do as couples. But since he hadn’t awakened like them and didn’t have their physical or mental strength, he refused.
“No, that doesn’t seem right. This is fine as it is.”
“Jaeha, you look uncomfortable.”
“It’s not comfortable.”
At Jaeha’s answer, Haeil moved his upper body away.
Jaeha was confused by this reaction, which differed from both Dojoon, who naturally stuck to him in daily life, and Jiho, who desperately clung to him while acting cute.
“Haeil hyung?”
“If Jaeha is uncomfortable, I’ll stop the guiding.”
“But the researcher said it was dangerous earlier.”
“It’s fine. What you’ve done so far has helped considerably. I’ll recover slowly from here.”
Jaeha glanced at the monitor. He could tell that while Haeil had improved significantly, it still wasn’t enough.
“It’s not… exactly uncomfortable.”
“It’s okay. Guiding should only occur with the guide’s consent. You need to practice refusing too.”
Haeil advised Jaeha to prioritize himself as the guide. He showed a reliable smile that seemed genuine, telling him to reject him.
He separated their bodies and even let go of his hands, respecting Jaeha. Unlike Jiho or Dojoon who would cling even when pushed away, Haeil’s clean withdrawal confused Jaeha.
“But you need it. Don’t you want to do it?”
“Of course I want to. But I don’t want to do anything Jaeha dislikes.”
Not being an Esper himself, Jaeha didn’t know how desperate they felt.
However, he recalled how his own reason had flown away the moment he learned that Jaeyoon was in danger at the gate earlier. The only person who could help Jaeyoon alone inside the gate was Haeil, who knew the internal situation. He had been willing to even kiss Haeil to speed up the guiding to help his brother.
Thinking this far, Jaeha could somewhat understand the Espers’ feelings by comparing it to the desperation he had felt then.
“I think some discomfort is natural.”
“If you’re uncomfortable, I—”
“No, I see it differently than you think. It’s not like men hugging and rubbing against each other is naturally pleasant. Of course it’s uncomfortable.”
Jaeha reached out toward Haeil, who was sitting apart from him. Fortunately, Haeil didn’t avoid him.
“But if that’s what you or my friends need, I can endure it. I also recognize that it’s something that needs to be done.”
“There’s nothing that ‘needs’ to be done. If you refuse, I’ll make sure no one can force you.”
Haeil was honest and moral. Yet even such a person couldn’t refuse when Jaeha put his arm around his shoulder and pulled him close again.
Jaeha was convinced in real-time that Espers couldn’t refuse guiding. That’s how desperate and necessary it was for them. But he also noticed that Haeil was pushing him away for his sake.
“Since I don’t dislike it, let’s just get it over with quickly.”
This time, Haeil didn’t refuse either.
As soon as they embraced, Jaeha once again had to turn his head and offer his neck to the breath touching his shoulder.
* * *
In less than two hours, Haeil’s condition stabilized.
As if their intense closeness had been a lie, Haeil politely stepped back and handed Jaeha his clothes.
“Thank you for your hard work, Jaeha.”
“Ah, yes. You too, Haeil hyung.”
When they were close together, Jaeha had been half out of his mind with guiding and didn’t notice the awkwardness, but now that they were apart and he was picking up his clothes to put them on, he felt embarrassed. While Jaeha turned his back and fumbled around, Haeil removed his patch and quickly fixed his disheveled uniform.
“The researcher seems to be waiting. Shall we go out together?”
The more familiar tone made Jaeha even more embarrassed, and he shook his head.
Even after Haeil left first, Jaeha spent a long time fixing his messy hair and killing time before coming out. When Jaeha emerged after finishing the guiding, the researcher’s eyes lit up as they asked:
“Seo Jaeha Guide, did you perhaps do secondary guiding?”
“What’s secondary guiding?”
“I explained it to you before. Primary is hand-holding or light hugging. Secondary is kissing…”
“We didn’t do that! And you can ask Haeil hyung about that too.”
“That’s not right. The guide’s intention is what matters here, and confidentiality is also the guide’s right.”
“Is that so?”
Seeing Jaeha’s lack of interest, the researcher quickly tapped on their tablet and held it out.
“Seo Jaeha Guide, look at this.”
“What?”
The tablet the researcher offered was full of chapter headings.
Guide Overview, Guide Qualifications, Guide Conditions, Guide Confidentiality, Guide to Guiding—the endless list of chapters confused Jaeha, and the researcher spoke firmly.
“Until yesterday, I called you Mr. Seo Jaeha, but now you’ve become Seo Jaeha Guide. This isn’t a guiding test—you’re doing actual guiding like you did for Esper Kyun Jiho and Esper Kwon Haeil.”
“If it’s the same guiding, what difference does my title make?”
“You get paid.”
At the researcher’s firm answer, Jaeha barely restrained himself from shouting “Just tell me what to do!”
“We still lack a lot of information about guides. So for test participation, we’ve been setting a certain amount…”
“May I ask how much it is?”
Having heard rumors that clinical trials paid quite large sums, Jaeha’s eyes sparkled.
The researcher held up one finger.
“Ten thousand won…?”
“…Seo Jaeha Guide really doesn’t know his own value. We educated you throughout the tests, but you weren’t listening.”
“I wasn’t ignoring it… I’ll listen carefully from now on.”
Whether it was 100,000 won or 1,000,000 won, he was grateful to know that money had been accumulating every day just for holding hands and spending time together.
Jaeha’s confused expression changed. Seeing his eyes sparkling, the researcher confidently held out the tablet.
“Since this is actual practice, you need to properly understand the precautions.”
“I’ll read it properly.”
“Soon, second-generation Espers will be coming in, so please conduct guiding tests for them.”
“Yes. I’ll work hard.”
“And please cooperate with secondary guiding too.”
“No, that’s a bit…”
When the researcher’s finger count increased to two, Jaeha’s eyes wavered significantly.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
