# Chapter 37
## Chapter 4. Fire, Flower
It was afternoon, after lunch. Unlike other Guides who were busy moving around, Jeongyun had plenty of free time.
In the past, time used to pass too quickly because of Espers coming without giving him a moment to rest, but not anymore. A day was much longer than Jeongyun had ever thought.
Even though he wanted to visit Wooyeon, he remembered their conversation from lunch earlier. If Wooyeon couldn’t finish work quickly, he’d have to work overtime today, so Jeongyun couldn’t disturb him just because he was bored.
‘There’s really nothing to do.’
Domin had left for overseas for a week due to a photo shoot. Because of that, he had visited Jeongyun just yesterday to say that Guiding would be impossible for a while.
Since Jeongyun had requested to adjust the intensity, Domin hadn’t gone beyond kissing during Guiding. Occasionally, a hand would slip inside his clothes to rub sensitive areas, but that was it.
‘It’s just Guiding, after all.’
All contact between a Guide and an Esper fell under the category of Guiding. So the act of Domin and Jeongyun rubbing their bodies together and overlapping their lips was also called Guiding.
But while Guiding was conducted with reason, the collision of flesh against flesh developing into deeper skinship was the realm of instinct. When you hold hands, you want to hug, when you hug, you want to kiss, and then you want to intertwine – that was human instinct.
Being human, Jeongyun couldn’t help but show sexual responses when in contact with Domin, and the same was true for Domin. If anything, Domin showed several times stronger reactions than Jeongyun.
Reason quickly blurred when rubbing lips and feeling each other’s bodies. If it had been the old Domin, when Jeongyun unconsciously moved his hips, Domin would have overlapped their bodies without hesitation, but not lately.
‘That’s enough for today. We shouldn’t overdo it.’
When things were getting good, the hand touching his sensitive areas would disappear, and the tongue pleasantly tickling the roof of his mouth would withdraw, leaving Jeongyun dazed with emptiness, like a raccoon who had its cotton candy washed in water.
But since he was the one who had requested adjusting the intensity, he had to pretend to be okay each time. In fact, it was strange to feel disappointed when Guiding was just Guiding.
‘Get a grip.’
Guiding and skinship were the same yet clearly different areas. Guiding could be done with any Esper, but skinship was contact that could only be done with someone you had feelings for.
Jeongyun repeatedly faced reality. What he did with Domin was just Guiding. Definitely not skinship. Domin and he were just partners who had signed a dedicated contract.
‘As long as Mr. Jeongyun doesn’t cross the line, I have no reason not to respect Mr. Jeongyun while our dedicated contract continues.’
Hadn’t Domin said it? Never cross the line that’s been drawn. In other words, Jeongyun was free to have feelings, but don’t force them on Domin.
Simply put, as long as he wasn’t greedy, he could continue to stay by Domin’s side. Jeongyun decided to focus just on that. Otherwise, he would feel too miserable.
Beep.
At that moment, a sound rang from the quiet Pager. Jeongyun’s eyes trembled greatly as he lifted his deeply bowed head. Could Domin have returned already?
“…The Center?”
He checked the Pager with some hope, but the sender was not Domin but the Center. Jeongyun pushed away his disappointment and read the message on the screen.
[Guide Jeongyun is requested to come to the Center as soon as you receive this call.]
What could the Center want with him? As he pondered, Jeongyun recalled the day when there was a fire in the Guide building. Come to think of it, he seemed to have made a promise to someone.
‘If you go quietly, I’ll come visit you at the Center.’
Jeongyun suddenly remembered his promise to Hwayeon and jumped to his feet. Though the chair fell over with a loud noise, he didn’t even have the presence of mind to right it.
Foolishly, he had forgotten the promise he had made several times to definitely visit. Counting the days, more than a week had already passed.
‘Could it be…’
Jeongyun read the call message from the Center again. Was it his imagination that he sensed urgency from the word ‘immediately’? What if, like before, Hwayeon was rampaging?
‘I should go now.’
Jeongyun immediately left the Guiding room and headed to the Center, where he hadn’t set foot since his grade assessment. His anxious steps gradually gained speed until he was running.
Going down to the lobby, he saw a path extending behind. Following that path, a three-story building appeared in the distance, which was the Esper-Guide Center.
“What brings you here?”
As he entered the Center, a security guard stopped Jeongyun. After catching his breath, which had risen to his chin, Jeongyun tried to explain why he was here.
“I’m here to meet—”
“Guide Jeongyun!”
Just then, a researcher passing by recognized Jeongyun and approached. The face looked familiar, and after thinking about it, Jeongyun realized it was the person who had followed Hwayeon that time.
Thankfully, thanks to the researcher, Jeongyun was able to enter the Center without further explanation. After putting on a visitor’s badge, the researcher who had been waiting asked Jeongyun:
“You came because of the call, right?”
“Yes, but…”
Unlike his expectation that there must be an urgent matter, the Center was only quiet. Just as he was thinking that there might not have been a need to come so quickly, a loud siren rang throughout the building.
“This is…”
“Looks like it’s starting again.”
The researcher let out a deep sigh.
The fiercely ringing siren soon stopped. Although people should have been rushing out at the emergency alert, no one showed any reaction.
“Would you come this way?”
The first thing Jeongyun saw as he went up to the second floor following the researcher’s guide was a wall blackened with soot. Anyone could tell this was Hwayeon’s trace.
“That area hasn’t been repaired yet, so it’s dangerous. Please come this way.”
The researcher naturally led Jeongyun to the opposite side.
Reading Jeongyun’s expression full of questions about what had happened, the researcher gave a clear answer.
“Yes, Hwayeon did this.”
“Was anyone hurt—”
“Fortunately, no. It’s a problem that Hwayeon is clumsy in handling his abilities, but he doesn’t hurt people.”
Jeongyun let out a sigh of relief.
Whether Hwayeon had made his choice or not, if an Esper injured an ordinary person, they couldn’t avoid severe punishment.
That’s why Espers with attack abilities similar to Hwayeon’s tended to be more careful with controlling their abilities. They also tended to receive Guiding regularly.
But the researcher explained further that Hwayeon was a case where the ability manifestation itself was late, making it particularly difficult for him to control his power. Because of that, he needed to stabilize his ability through regular Guiding, but the biggest problem was that Hwayeon completely rejected Guiding.
“He rejects Guiding?”
The only Esper who rejected Guiding at headquarters was Deputy Director Hyun Semin. And he was enduring the aftereffects by taking stabilizers provided by headquarters.
But the problem was that Hwayeon rejected both stabilizers and Guides. He extremely disliked being touched by anyone, so when a Guide tried to touch him, he would immediately set fire.
‘He dislikes being touched?’
In Jeongyun’s memory, Hwayeon was a sociable child who had no hesitation in approaching first, holding hands, and rubbing cheeks. But now, he even hated the slightest touch of fingertips. Jeongyun wondered if the researcher was mistaking Hwayeon for someone else.
“We also debated a lot about whether to call Guide Jeongyun or not, but there was no other way.”
“What do you mean—”
As they were talking, the researcher stopped walking, seemingly having arrived at their destination. When he opened the door that looked heavy, smoke that had been trapped inside poured out.
“Hwayeon!”
The researcher who entered called Hwayeon’s name loudly. Jeongyun, who had been fanning away the smoke with his hand, also cautiously entered.
In the room where everything was blackened by fire, the only thing intact was Hwayeon, crouched in a corner. The researcher approached carefully and told Hwayeon, who was hiding his face between his knees:
“Guide Jeongyun is here.”
At those words, Hwayeon slowly raised his head and spotted Jeongyun who had just entered.
Hwayeon straightened his knees and stood up, then walked forward with big steps. Jeongyun, who had been examining the serious state of the room, belatedly noticed Hwayeon approaching.
“I’m sorry. I’m late.”
At the belated greeting, Hwayeon burst into tears.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
