“What’s attractive about that?”
I shuddered remembering how my heart had fluttered for Do Wonjin, if only for a moment.
My body, which had been soaked in sweat, quickly became fluffy and clean in the warm water. As I left the bathroom, I steadied my momentarily wavering heart by mentally criticizing Do Wonjin’s promiscuous and self-centered personality.
So I didn’t immediately realize that I was no longer feeling anxious.
When I opened the door to my room, I saw Do Wonjin sitting quietly on the bed, waiting for me. Although I hadn’t seen him many times, it felt strange to see him lost in thought like this, when he normally seemed to live so carelessly. The bluish moonlight was too weak to lift the shadows cast over his face, and for whatever reason, seeing his regret-soaked expression made my own feelings complicated. So even when I reached the bed, I couldn’t help but observe him silently without calling out to him.
“Jeongjae.”
I thought he wasn’t aware of my presence, but he naturally called my name. His eyes, which had been gazing somewhere into space, turned to look at me.
As if what I had just seen was an illusion, it disappeared, and Do Wonjin returned to his usual face, grinning as he asked me:
“Want to know the real reason I came here?”
His usual light smile, tone, nothing was different, yet I felt a sense of discomfort.
People have intuition. And that intuition was telling me that I shouldn’t hear the real reason Do Wonjin wanted to tell me.
‘Not yet.’
Later, who knows. But what was clear was that it wasn’t now.
At this moment, I didn’t have the capacity to welcome someone into my boundaries. Even agreeing to receive Guiding was for my sake, not because I had feelings for him.
“No. I don’t want to hear it.”
I answered firmly to Do Wonjin, who was waiting for my reply. Far from being disappointed by my answer, his smile deepened. I ignored his gaze on me as I climbed onto the bed and pulled the blanket over me. Lying down properly and fidgeting a little, I turned my head slightly to look at him. With his back to the window where moonlight poured in, his face was hidden in shadows and not clearly visible.
“I’m sleepy. I’m going to sleep.”
“…”
“Hold my hand.”
When I stretched out just my hand from under the blanket, I felt his slightly higher body temperature carefully wrapping around my hand. Knowing his rough Guiding, I was inwardly prepared for his energy to flow in crudely this time as well.
‘He’s gentler than I thought.’
But contrary to my expectations, his energy entering me was as warm as the heat of our touching hands, and tender. It felt like receiving Guiding from a completely different person. Like water frozen throughout winter beginning to thaw and flow with the arrival of spring, his Guiding gradually entered me, melting the frozen feelings inside. It shook the high wall I had built against Do Wonjin, causing cracks.
“And don’t misunderstand. I will… hear the reason later.”
I muttered unconsciously amid the sleepiness that was pouring over me.
The wall I had built was now just a hurdle that could be crossed if I wanted to. In my hazy consciousness, I thought I heard a soft laugh.
“Good night, Jeongjae.”
With the gentle touch on the back of my hand and warm night greeting, I fell into a deep, comfortable sleep.
And when I opened my eyes the next morning, there was no one beside me. Only a few fallen leaves by the window told me that his visit hadn’t been a dream.
After climbing through the tree that night, Do Wonjin, for whatever change of heart, completed his discharge procedures the very next day and moved into the house. He spouted nonsense about needing to stay hospitalized for two more weeks but forcing an early discharge because of me, making me think, “How much would I have to beat him to cause injuries requiring two weeks of recovery?” Unfortunately, we weren’t alone, so I couldn’t put this into action.
A week passed quickly.
Even though I hadn’t performed any missions since my first one, there was no time to be bored. I thought I hadn’t brought much luggage, but it took a day to organize—and I belatedly discovered that my room had its own bathroom—and another day was spent shopping for daily necessities. After that, I spent time getting familiar with the area around the house and attending Center training, making time fly by like an arrow.
“Everyone should come home early today. There’s something to discuss.”
On a morning like any other, everyone looked up from their meal at Jeong Seyeon’s deep voice. The fact that he, who rarely spoke, initiated a conversation was enough to draw attention, but the content was also unusual. Perhaps because of this, no one questioned his words.
“Especially Do Wonjin. Lately, you’ve been coming home after midnight, but today, be back by 7 PM.”
I was breaking the egg yolk with my spoon when I suddenly flinched.
The reason Do Wonjin had been coming home after midnight was because he was secretly climbing through my window without the other Guides knowing. After that night, he noticed that I couldn’t sleep without receiving Guiding, and knowing that I wanted to keep this a secret from the other Guides, he had been secretly climbing through my window every night and pretending to come home late.
“Yes, I’ll come home early.”
While the person in question answered with a slick smile, I felt cold sweat running down my back. The broken yolk looked just like my heart.
‘Should I just tell the truth at today’s gathering?’
I had been receiving Guiding from Do Wonjin as a temporary measure, but I couldn’t rely on him forever. Although Do Wonjin said it was fine, making him climb through the window every time was not good for him either. Moreover, it was only a matter of time before the others discovered that he was sneaking into my room every night, though we had managed to keep it hidden until now.
“Jeongjae hyung, is today your training day?”
Lost in thought, I lifted my head with a start at the sound of my name. It was Yang Garam. I relaxed my tense shoulders and tried to recall my schedule for today. Since I didn’t go to training yesterday, today was indeed a training day.
“Yeah.”
“Then can I come with you to training today?”
Jeong Seyeon’s gaze turned to me. Having just had a conversation with my conscience, I felt guilty and avoided his eyes as I answered Yang Garam.
“Would you? The research director has been hinting that I should bring a Guide anyway.”
It wasn’t a lie. Song Songi had been putting pressure on me to bring a Guide along. Living together definitely increased the possible output level, and accordingly, the training intensity had risen significantly. Although training was adjusted to never exceed a runaway risk value of 100, Song Songi was quite anxious about me returning home alone without a Guide.
“Isn’t Garam-gun busy preparing for a competition?”
Yang Garam, who had been overjoyed at my permission, clouded over at Jeong Seyeon’s words. But he quickly recovered and answered with a 100% pure smile.
“That’s true, but if I talk to my professor, I can make time.”
“As a temporary Guide, even if you speak to your professor, it won’t be recognized as official duty. With the competition approaching, it would be better not to give them any reason to fault you.”
“But…”
“I will go to the Center with him.”
Looking at the content alone, it seemed like Jeong Seyeon was being considerate of Yang Garam, but the atmosphere flowing between them was not like that. I was sweating at the tense standoff where neither would give an inch. As I watched their confrontation while chewing on the fried egg with the broken yolk instead of popcorn, Yang Garam’s gaze turned to me again.
‘Is he asking for help?’
Seeing his plaintive look as if begging me not to abandon him, I scratched my cheek. It was always incredibly awkward when Yang Garam pretended to be an abandoned puppy like this.
‘But what Seyeon hyung says would probably be better for Garam.’
I avoided Yang Garam’s gaze and concentrated on chewing the few pieces of bacon left. My face felt hot, but I pretended not to notice as I shoveled the food from the plate into my mouth. With this, the conversation between the two seemed to be concluding, but Do Wonjin, who had been watching with interest, propped his chin and interjected abruptly.
“Wouldn’t it be better if I went instead of Seyeon hyung? I have more time.”
“You should get physical therapy and rest at home.”
It was like watching a spear against a shield. Following Yang Garam, the tactless Do Wonjin also immediately closed his mouth at Jeong Seyeon’s single comment. With a bitter smile, Do Wonjin shrugged his shoulders, and I couldn’t help but ask what I had been wondering about.
“So Seyeon hyung, you’re not going to work today?”
In fact, Jeong Seyeon seemed to be the busiest among us.
He was the one who could properly cook in a house of five men, and he was also the one with a proper job.
“No, I don’t have work.”
When he answered without hesitation, it became very puzzling.
I didn’t know exactly what kind of work he did, but Jeong Seyeon’s routine, which I had observed for a week, was very regular. He was always the first to wake up every morning, preparing meals for us and getting ready for work.
Always dressed impeccably in a neat suit, he would invariably return home at exactly 4:30 PM. When he had to go shopping, he might arrive around 5 PM. Despite likely being tired, he always personally prepared meals for us, and after dinner, he would go to his room to rest.
Once, while waiting for Do Wonjin to come, I had seen him going out late at night through the window. He was dressed in full formal attire, just like when he prepared for work in the morning, which made me briefly wonder if he was going for work-related reasons.
“Well, I’m going to training right after I finish eating, so let’s go together.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
