# Chapter 29
Beyond the smoke heavily pressing down on his body, Domin arrived at the clear sky without a single cloud. He opened his eyes after exhaling his labored breath.
“Are you alive?”
“Yes…”
Jeongyun, who was clinging to Domin’s arm like a koala, answered with a nod, his face pale white. With a light flick of Domin’s finger, Jeongyun’s body, which had been sliding down, floated up in the air.
Domin quickly looked around for a place untouched by smoke. Fortunately, there was a tall building not far away. The rooftop there would be safe as the smoke wouldn’t reach it.
“Hold on tight.”
Domin pulled Jeongyun into his arms and stepped lightly into the air.
With his stable stride, as if walking on a street, even Jeongyun, who had been stiff with fear, soon followed Domin’s lead and moved his steps slowly.
‘It’s like a fairy tale…’
It wasn’t an appropriate thought in a situation where explosions were occurring and people were dying, but this moment of walking in the sky with Domin felt like a dream.
Jeongyun had to keep forcing down the corners of his mouth that wanted to rise, because taking each step while holding hands was so wonderful. Even though Domin wasn’t looking at him, even that felt good.
Having escaped the smoke, the two descended onto the rooftop of the building Domin had found. As expected, it was safe here since the smoke didn’t reach this place.
After setting Jeongyun down, Domin tried to return to the scene. For some reason, government Espers were slower than usual today. So he needed to go and rescue the remaining survivors.
“Ugh…!”
But perhaps because the tension had eased, unbearable pain began. It was due to using his ability beyond his limits to overcome the heavy smoke pressing down on his body.
“Mr. Choi Domin!”
Jeongyun quickly stretched out his arms and barely caught Domin, who was collapsing weakly. He almost hit his head on the ground.
Jeongyun first checked the condition of Domin, who had become disoriented. Even though he hadn’t stopped Guiding while in contact with Domin, his condition was getting increasingly serious.
‘It’s okay, this is different from before. We’ve Imprinted. I can help him.’
It was for moments like this that he had run into danger looking for Domin. Unlike before when he was helplessly protected, now he was the one who could help Domin.
Jeongyun placed his hand on Domin’s pale forehead and exhaled deeply with his eyes closed. In this way, while in contact with Domin, he calmed his anxiously trembling heart.
One, two, slowly counting and opening his eyes, he bent deeply at the waist and, before kissing him, remembered to start reporting this time.
“Guide Yeo Jeongyun begins Guiding for Esper Choi Domin.”
Their lips met awkwardly, and their breaths mingled. Though contact was made and Guiding was certainly taking place, its effect was minimal because Domin’s condition was so serious.
‘…This doesn’t seem right.’
With his eyes tightly closed, Jeongyun grabbed Domin’s cheeks and slipped his tongue between his lips. It was good that his tongue went in with force, but he had no idea what to do next.
‘How exactly do you do this?’
He tried hard to move his tongue while recalling the kiss he had shared with Domin, but no matter how he thought about it, this didn’t seem right. It only made breathing difficult, and the Guiding efficiency was a mess.
Jeongyun reluctantly decided to give up the awkward kissing. Contact Guiding wasn’t just about kissing, so there was no need to insist on it.
As he was about to stand up, regulating his breath, a large hand he hadn’t noticed approaching firmly pressed the back of his neck. Jeongyun’s eyes widened as his waist was forcibly bent.
“Open your mouth properly.”
“Hmph.”
As if the kissing he had been doing until now was nothing, Domin pushed Jeongyun relentlessly, not giving him room to breathe. Each time their hot tongues intertwined and rubbed, it felt like electricity running from his fingertips to his toes.
When Jeongyun regained his senses after the sky had turned upside down, it was he, not Domin, who was lying on the cold floor. Domin’s eyes, who had distanced himself momentarily to catch his breath, were hazily unfocused.
‘This is dangerous.’
A bright red emergency light went off in his head. He tried to escape, not missing the brief gap, but he couldn’t beat an Esper in strength or agility.
“Ungh.”
Because of the hand pressing painfully on his shoulder, Jeongyun couldn’t move at all and had to lie back on the floor.
Domin, who easily subdued the struggling Jeongyun, removed the cumbersome clothing when he kissed him.
The outfit that Jeongyun had carefully chosen the night before for his rare outing was torn like rags in Domin’s hands. Domin buried his nose in the fully exposed nape of Jeongyun’s neck and exhaled deeply.
“Fuck, why did you have to be C-grade…!”
Even in the midst of his fading consciousness, those words stuck painfully in Jeongyun’s heart. He felt like crying from the same despair he had felt when receiving his grade assessment results.
Jeongyun carefully extended both arms and pulled Domin closer. Domin, who came along without resistance, embraced Jeongyun even more tightly. Though he knew this contact was only because of Guiding, his heart still raced.
‘I’m a complete failure as a Guide.’
Until now, Jeongyun had only viewed Guiding as work. His goal was to never mix in personal emotions, but in front of Domin, everything crumbled.
The standards he had set, his sorrows, nothing mattered in front of Domin. Though he knew he shouldn’t, his desire kept growing.
Jeongyun wanted to be more than just a Guide to Domin.
* * *
The tragedy that occurred on a peaceful weekend was revealed, without surprise, to be the work of unregistered Espers. Media outlets rushed to report the horrific scene and survivor interviews one after another.
Unlike Domin’s expectation that ‘Illusion’ would appear, the Espers captured at the scene were one B-grade who could freely manipulate smoke and three C-grades with abilities specialized in killing.
Domin, who had been quietly listening to the news, messed up his hair frantically. Not only had he mistaken a mere B-grade for ‘Illusion,’ but he had even been scared—it seemed his instincts had dulled from being away from the field for so long.
“How are you feeling?”
Junyoung asked, handing over a mug of warm coffee. Instead of answering, Domin only let out a long sigh.
Noticing the unspoken pressure to say nothing, Junyoung only sipped the coffee in his own cup. An uncomfortable silence continued. To avoid irritating Domin’s mood, Junyoung had to be careful even with his breathing.
After more time passed, Domin, who had been staring somewhere in the empty space with fierce eyes, finally spoke.
“…What about Yeo Jeongyun?”
“Huh?”
“I told you to take care of him.”
While the Espers who arrived late at the scene were finishing up, Junyoung had been searching for the missing Domin. He hadn’t been answering his phone or responding to calls, as if something had happened to him.
Growing anxious, Junyoung requested help from fellow Espers. And soon after, Domin was found with Jeongyun in a completely unexpected place.
At that time, the two were without a single thread of clothing. Most of the scattered clothes were beyond recovery, having become rags, and Domin was holding the pale Jeongyun tightly with no gap between them.
After roughly sorting out the situation and regaining his senses, Domin, as always, left the cleanup of Jeongyun to Junyoung. Swallowing his complaints, Junyoung safely took the unconscious Jeongyun home on behalf of Domin.
“I took him home safely.”
There was so much he wanted to say, but Junyoung held back because he knew Domin’s personality better than anyone. Domin, who was staring at Junyoung as he forced a smile, weakly muttered that it was fine then.
‘I wanted to help you. I’m Mr. Choi Domin’s Guide after all…’
Both Jeongyun and Saeon liked Domin. But while Saeon tried to control Domin as he pleased, Jeongyun was, conversely, completely at Domin’s mercy.
Despite having the same emotion of liking him, strangely, Saeon’s feelings were only unpleasant, but Jeongyun’s weren’t.
They were similarly bothersome, but something was different. Of course, the problem was that he still didn’t know the reason why.
“You can leave now.”
He had to leave before Domin withdrew his capricious order to leave. After downing his hot coffee in one go, Junyoung left Domin’s house, telling him to call if anything happened.
Left alone, Domin pondered today’s events for a long time. But the more he ruminated, the more his anger boiled over, and he couldn’t hold back as he swung his hand.
Due to the unconscious use of his ability, all objects in the direction his hand pointed floated up in the air and then crashed to the floor all at once.
Crash—!
Glass bottles on the shelf and previously flawless statues were all ruined. Even after venting his anger on innocent objects, his miserable feelings didn’t improve at all.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
