# Chapter 62
On the day of the second awakening test when Jaeha almost got kidnapped by Youngwoo, Jaeyoon made a serious proposal to the two Espers.
He asked them to participate in Jaeha’s guiding control training. Additionally, he suggested not leaving Jaeha alone for the time being. Dojoon and Jiho, who thought he was asking something major because of how serious he was, happily agreed saying they would help with anything related to Jaeha.
On the day of the proposal, the situation in the lobby wasn’t settled yet, so all Espers were being called here and there, but they made sure at least one person was always with Jaeha.
“Hyung, Kyun Jiho will come today. I’m worried that just Jiho might not be enough… I’ll get you some self-defense items.”
“No, if something happens here, would that kind of thing help?”
“True. The controllers are working properly, so it should be fine. But still… I wish we had something more to prepare.”
Although they said the Esper dormitory was safe, Jaeyoon’s actions suggested otherwise. Especially in Jiho’s case, since he couldn’t use his power inside the dormitory, Jaeyoon’s worry increased. Even though most people except Dojoon and himself couldn’t use their powers, when it came to Jaeha’s safety, he couldn’t feel at ease.
“Hyung, wait a moment.”
Jaeyoon, who was busy preparing to go out, grabbed Jaeha’s hand as he was about to do the dishes and checked his wrist. A bracelet hidden by his sleeve was revealed. It was an item with defensive functions that he had put on him before. However, it was useless against light contact like simply being dragged away.
“Don’t take off the bracelet. I’ll get you other items soon.”
“Like leather gloves?”
Jaeyoon answered with a smile as Jaeha glared at the leather gloves he had been wearing throughout the meal, only taking them off when washing up.
“Kyun Jiho will be here soon. Don’t open the door until then.”
“Okay.”
When Jaeha waved his hand casually, the bracelet slid down revealing his empty wrist. This made Jaeyoon anxious again, so he squeezed the bracelet loop, crushing it.
“I’ll be going now, hyung.”
“Okay.”
Despite Jaeha’s sour reaction to the bracelet that he couldn’t remove by himself, Jaeyoon felt reassured and headed outside.
As Jaeha closed the door and stepped inside, he soon sighed at the sound of knocking.
“Senior, I’m here.”
“Don’t you have anything else to do?”
Jaeha showed his displeasure at Jiho’s quick visit, as if he had been listening with his ear against the wall, but Jiho remained energetic.
“I am busy. I need to practice guiding with you from now on.”
“Couldn’t we just pretend we did it today and rest separately?”
“Come on, your brother left for work so you’re alone. Now you have to be with me. Come on, senior.”
“Sigh… alright, alright. Wait.”
Jaeha reluctantly went inside to get his phone. Jiho didn’t come in through the open door, but kept talking through the gap.
“Senior, we’re like next-door cousins.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“This has been my dream, and now you’re making it come true.”
“Go fulfill your dream somewhere else.”
Despite Jaeha’s grumpy response, Jiho persisted. He pretended to sniff through the open door and carefully placed his foot on the threshold.
“Senior, is that kimchi stew I smell? Can’t you give me some rice?”
“Go to the cafeteria.”
“Come on, senior. Your brother said to practice whenever possible. That’s why he told me to move here.”
That’s right. All this happened under Jaeyoon’s direction.
In Dojoon’s case, his S-class title was so powerful that he had to make appearances everywhere and was dragged around like a safety device for various tests. Jaeyoon reduced his exposure and drew the line by saying he wouldn’t do guiding with Jaeha, and Kwon Haeil seemed willing to come but got busy when Jaeyoon pulled out.
In contrast, Jiho had the Association’s understanding that he needed rest after experiencing the risk of going out of control previously. His ability was suitable for staying in the dormitory unless there was an emergency, if not being used as a taxi.
“Won’t you let me in? I want to see your room.”
“That sounds like your repertoire for picking up girlfriends, but your room and mine are exactly the same.”
“It’s cute how you show your jealousy like this. And I really like your cooking skills too.”
“Sigh… I’ll give you the whole pot, just take it and go.”
He couldn’t say it was better to have his younger brother clinging to him, but having a grown man following him even in daily life was definitely not good.
Fortunately, Jaeyoon disliked bringing outsiders into the dormitory where the two of them lived. Thanks to that, he had some breathing room while staying in the dormitory, but only briefly. From the first day Jiho moved in, he came looking for Jaeha and led him to his own place, saying they should do guiding training.
Since Jaeyoon had originally said to always be with a trustworthy Esper like Jiho or Dojoon, he had no choice for the time being.
“Senior, welcome to my room.”
“Can’t we just do this normally?”
Jiho’s room, which Jaeha entered following his obviously excited demeanor, was quite different from where he stayed.
It had no kitchen facilities and was similar to Dojoon’s dormitory. However, the floor where Dojoon stayed had more rooms and was more luxurious.
Perhaps his own place was the only one with kitchen facilities here. It was highly likely that Jaeyoon had used his influence for him. It was hard to believe that his younger brother, who had been worried about finding a job just a month ago, was now in a position to change a corporate-run dormitory to his liking.
While Jaeha was lost in thought, Jiho hugged him from behind.
“Shall we sit down and start?”
“Yes, I’ll sit.”
As Jiho answered and plopped down on the sofa, Jaeha ended up sitting on his lap. Thinking this position was terrible, Jaeha pushed away the body touching him with his hands behind him.
“Just holding hands is enough, why do you keep overdoing it?”
“But you don’t refuse when we just hold hands.”
He had tried to refuse guiding while holding Jiho’s hand all day instead of busy Jaeyoon and Dojoon.
In his mind, he repeated dozens of times that he didn’t want to hold a man’s hand and wanted to stop, but the naturally flowing guiding didn’t stop.
“So I thought about it. If you really feel disgusted, maybe you could stop the guiding.”
“I really hate it. I hate it like hell. I hate it terribly, seriously.”
“Come on, you don’t hate it that much. The guiding is working so well.”
“Wow, I’m really going to try refusing guiding today somehow.”
He absolutely didn’t want to feel the sensation of the firm thigh he was sitting on. He’d rather sit on a rock.
One hand was interlocked with his, the hand around his waist naturally touched his bare skin, and whatever was touching his nape was damp and he didn’t want to know what it was. Despite everything feeling unpleasant, stopping the guiding wasn’t going as he wanted.
“You know, I was quite tense yesterday because of your brother.”
“Let’s focus.”
Every time Jiho spoke, the damp thing on his nape moved with it, making him shiver, but whether it was his hand, waist, or neck, he tried to concentrate, hoping the guiding would stop somewhere.
“I heard your brother is B-class, but I think he needs to be re-examined. His mana waves were so intense, I was really tense.”
“Can you shut up?”
Wearing only a thin shirt since he was just staying in the room, the guiding tried to creep through from the body touching him.
Somehow, the more they touched, the easier guiding became. Jiho also felt the easily flowing guiding and pushed Jaeha more leisurely.
“You saw it too, right? Your brother’s aura was no joke.”
With Jiho’s continuous chatter, Jaeha closed his eyes and tried to feel the flow of guiding. He kept thinking, ‘Get out, stop.’
“To control guiding, you need to be able to genuinely refuse, right? Even if you dislike it somewhat, what if I push forcefully… I suggested that and thought I was going to die from just your glare.”
“Before that, I’ll kill you.”
Jaeha, who had been irritably twisting his body, belatedly noticed he was now lying on the sofa and frowned.
“Geez, you always have quick hands.”
“If guiding continues like this, I’ll have to go to work because I’ll become too normal.”
“My brother is working hard, I can’t stand seeing you playing around.”
“Yes. So try to refuse, senior.”
Jiho wanted to stay stuck to Jaeha like this. But Jaeyoon had warned him. At this rate, every Esper that brushed by would desire Jaeha.
If Jaeha couldn’t continue to control guiding, they couldn’t trust anyone except a few reliable people with his security.
In the case of Lee Youngwoo who came this time, it was an awkwardly clumsy kidnapping attempt. That was because he underestimated Jaeha too much. His arrogance in thinking he could take him away by sweet-talking produced a poor result. Next time would be different.
“Let me try being more serious.”
“What? What do you mean serious?”
Having ended up lying face-to-face on the sofa, Jaeha saw Jiho’s face was clearly excited. With his dimples showing in a wide smile, he came close to Jaeha’s disgusted face.
“Senior, you really hate kissing, right?”
“Are you crazy? If you don’t move your mouth away, I’ll really never do guiding again.”
He absolutely didn’t want excessive skinship during practice, not in an emergency situation. At Jaeha’s genuine irritation, Jiho changed his position. He pinned Jaeha’s hands, who was already lying on the sofa, with one hand and placed his other hand on Jaeha’s lips.
“Hey, Kyun…”
Being held by both arms was a problem, but Jaeha became anxious with Jiho’s lightly placed finger and smiling eyes. The reason Jaeha had stayed still despite Jiho clinging to him, just showing some irritation, was his confidence that Jiho wouldn’t cross the line. He was anxious about the person who had kept his boundaries even when about to lose control now suddenly getting too close.
Seeing Jaeha’s tense expression, Jiho showed a smile.
“I won’t really do it.”
Jiho’s finger pressed against Jaeha’s lips. There was a finger’s thickness of distance, but the sensation of noses touching and eyelashes brushing made his shoulders shrink with surprise. Trying to remember if anyone had ever come this close, he recalled only head-butting during physical contact in soccer or basketball. Even then, no one approached this directly from the front.
Above all, the atmosphere was different. His shoulders became stiff with the gradually rising tension and wouldn’t relax. Feeling like something terrible would happen if he closed his eyes, he kept them wide open, and heard Jiho laugh. The small vibration resonating through the finger between them made cold sweat break out.
When he felt the finger placed on his lips slightly opening, he became truly scared.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
