# Chapter 24
“Wow….”
Who knew getting into warm water could feel this good? Since becoming an Esper, Dohyun hadn’t been particularly sensitive to cold, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t feel sensations at all. Dohyun smiled faintly as he rested his head against the bathtub.
He had long grown accustomed to washing with cold water during winter. He remembered the public bathhouse where he used to save a bit of his living expenses, and he had adjusted the water temperature to match it. Nevertheless, the bathwater was cooling down fairly quickly.
“…Since he’s rich, I guess the water won’t get cold just because I heated it up a bit.”
Living in such a large house, Haegang wouldn’t be petty enough to complain about a slightly higher hot water bill. Thinking this, Dohyun turned on the faucet and completely immersed his body in the warm water.
When I develop my ability and start making a lot of money, I’ll live in a house like this. Dohyun closed his eyes, setting his goal of living in a house with a spacious bathtub.
Oddly enough, as he soaked in the water, what came to mind was Haegang’s Guiding Vigor. The sensation of being submerged in water. The water pressure enveloping his body. It wasn’t warm like this, but the sensation of being firmly held was definitely like water. Even though he’d been told his Guiding was insufficient, he had never been in pain, but after being touched by Haegang’s Vigor—by the water—he felt somewhat refreshed.
Dohyun’s eyes flew open at the feeling of Vigor wrapping around his limbs, reviving his senses that had been dulled by fatigue.
“I need to be careful.”
Espers needed to think twice about the emotions they felt toward Guides. This was because they might mistake the sensation of Guiding for romantic feelings. Needing Guiding was an Esper’s instinct to avoid pain. Naturally, the better the matching rate, the more favorable feelings would develop and emotions could progress.
Dohyun absolutely hated that idea. Him having such feelings for that huge man? Absolutely not.
He closed his eyes again. It was inevitable that his thoughts would lead to Haegang’s Guiding while submerged in water. Because the comfort was so similar. Haegang was uncomfortable, but his Guiding was comfortable. He wanted to recall that sensation. Not the feeling of plunging into water, but the sensation of slowly getting wet from the feet up, and eventually being submerged—he already missed it.
And strangely, what his mind recalled amid that tranquility was the Somyeong Guild’s Esper who had treated him when he was injured by Handam’s ability. The scene of his wounds healing instantly before his eyes suddenly came to mind.
“Ah… too, long…”
Had he been in there too long? Dohyun blinked slowly as he reached out to turn off the water dripping from the faucet. But the water entering his field of vision was tinged red. Was he hallucinating?
“Is it because I’m sleepy…?”
He needed to get up and leave quickly, but his eyes kept closing. Maybe just a little rest.
Dohyun struggled to stay awake but ended up closing his eyes. His limbs gradually stiffened, and even though he tried to call for help, no voice came out. Gradually, the water overflowed from the bathtub and his body grew cold.
“…sper…!”
Someone’s urgent call woke Dohyun. He struggled to lift his eyelids, which felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. But he couldn’t see clearly. In his muddled consciousness, he felt an awkward but somewhat familiar body temperature embracing him.
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“No matter how I look at it, this is strange.”
“Of course, an Esper wouldn’t die even after losing quite a bit of blood… But still, being half-dead would be about right, wouldn’t it?”
“That’s true. For the bathtub to end up like that…”
“No, really-. For the water to be that red, it means he bled for quite a while…”
“It wasn’t blood.”
“Even if his wounds healed quickly because he’s an Esper, he couldn’t be completely fine after losing that much blood. There should at least be some bruising.”
“There were no bruises. But there’s something even stranger. Even if we assume the wounds healed while he was in the water, the color should have been diluted since the water overflowed for quite some time, but the water was still red when I entered.”
“That’s right… And there was nothing inside that could have caused a wound.”
Dohyun opened his eyes at the voices he heard. The voices echoed in his head like a buzzing sound, and his head hurt as if someone had struck the back of it. He couldn’t put any strength into his body due to the terrible pain coursing through it.
“Ughh…”
“Baek Dohyun Esper!”
“Bbakdo!”
Handam and Chan approached as they heard Dohyun’s groan. And those loud voices echoed in Dohyun’s ears again. It was an unbearable noise.
“Please, please, the voices…”
“Huh?”
“Voices, please…”
Lower them, please. Please shut up. At Dohyun’s pained voice, Chan and Handam exchanged glances and their expressions turned puzzled.
“Hyung, what kind of reaction is this?”
“It’s the typical reaction when an Esper needs Guiding. I know because I’ve been in pain before… What do you think, Guide Choi Haegang?”
“…I think so too.”
Haegang approached and took Dohyun’s hand. Dohyun grasped Haegang’s hand back with unprecedented desperation. How could the temperature of this man, who had been so intimidating, feel this warm?
Vigor flowed in like waves through their joined hands. As his physical condition began to improve bit by bit, Dohyun exhaled deeply.
“Indeed, that wasn’t blood.”
Watching Dohyun, who could only blink his eyes with difficulty, Haegang lifted him with the blanket and seated him sideways on his lap. Dohyun, who would normally have stiffened his face and gotten down, quietly accepted the Vigor even though he was almost cradled in Haegang’s arms. Color gradually returned to his pale face.
“It seems to be related to Baek Dohyun Esper’s ability.”
“We should investigate. Let me take a sample of the bathwater.”
“Bbakdo. Are you okay?”
“Yeah…”
Once he had regained some consciousness and strength to move, Dohyun began to worry about how to escape from this man’s arms. The feeling of Vigor flowing abundantly while their bodies were in contact was quite nice. The refreshing sensation that swept away even the little remaining pain made him reluctant to part. But he couldn’t stay like this forever. He needed to get out of Haegang’s arms… The position was the problem.
Originally, the Guiding contract with Haegang stated that hugging was the maximum allowed. However, they had never hugged before, and now they were even closer than that. It seemed like a second-best solution for Dohyun, who needed intense contact Guiding but wasn’t feeling well enough to embrace Haegang face-to-face. But the current position, like a parent putting a child to sleep on their lap, made it difficult for Dohyun to even react.
It felt awkward because he had never been held like this in all his memories. The only hug-like experiences Dohyun had ever had were when his friends headbutted his torso or when he was caught in wrestling techniques. Nevertheless, it felt strangely warm.
‘Baek Dohyun Esper!’
The voice he had heard just before his eyes completely closed was Haegang’s. Recalling that panicked cry made his ears tingle for some reason. Dohyun wanted to quickly shake that low voice from his memory.
“Are you feeling more lucid?”
“Yes…”
Haegang asked as Dohyun’s complexion, who had been quietly nestled in his arms, returned to something close to normal. His eyes reflected faint relief as he examined Dohyun’s face. Even that made Dohyun feel awkward. It was strange that this uncomfortable person was showing a relieved expression because of him.
As Dohyun continued to show signs of discomfort, Haegang removed him from his arms, laid him on the sofa, tucked the blanket around him a bit more, and then stood up. Only then did Dohyun secretly sigh. His body and mind felt more comfortable than ever, but his heart did not. Dohyun moved his body, trying to shake off the strange warmth that still seemed to linger.
“Can you move?”
“What happened?”
“Guide Choi Haegang was shocked and called the guild. He said you collapsed in the bathtub.”
“Ah…”
“We haven’t been here long so we couldn’t properly examine your body, but you should take a look yourself.”
Dohyun slowly got up with the blanket wrapped around his entire body. This was because he was naked. It was embarrassing that he had shown his nude body to Haegang, but pretending not to know, he quickly ran into his room and got dressed. Then, squeezing past the guild researchers who were collecting samples, he entered the bathroom to check the water in the bathtub where he had soaked.
“What is this…?”
“Now you understand why we were so shocked? Wow, I’ve never seen Guide Choi Haegang with such a surprised face before.”
Chan laughed dryly and made a fuss, but Dohyun didn’t hear him.
All his attention was captured by the bathtub filled with bright red water—so red that an uninformed observer might mistake it for a crime scene.
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“Are you really okay?”
“I really, really, REALLY am fine.”
Dohyun was sweating profusely from the morning.
He didn’t know what the structure was like since he had never gone up to the second floor, but Haegang, who had made his nest on the second floor that was presumably as spacious as the first floor, lived almost exclusively there.
But perhaps because of yesterday’s incident, Haegang unusually came down in the morning and stuck close to Dohyun. As a result, Dohyun had to endure Haegang’s suspicious gaze while getting up, eating, bathing, and returning to his room.
As if that wasn’t enough, when Dohyun was about to go to the guild after they contacted him saying the analysis of the liquid components was a bit unusual, Haegang volunteered to take him there.
“So I can go alone…”
“Get in.”
“No, really, alone-“
“Baek Dohyun Esper, when you’re out of my sight, you tend to get into accidents, so I can’t allow it. I think it’s better to take care of you directly. I can’t stand by when someone staying in my house has problems.”
This time I really didn’t cause any accident. Dohyun felt wronged.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
