The strange tension between us completely disappeared the moment Jeong Seyeon uttered the words “baby cat.” It was fine that he mistook the monster for a baby cat, but of all people, it had to be Joo Seolhyeon who took it.
With his personality that seems to detest animals, isn’t he going to kill it?
“Why did he take it?”
“It seems he went to feed it.”
“Feed it?”
“Yes.”
I questioned with an incredulous face, but the answer remained the same.
Seeing my dumbfounded expression, Jeong Seyeon calmly explained the circumstances.
“We received a call from the Center Director to return to the hotel, and shortly after our team arrived, the Center Director appeared carrying you.”
“Did Joo Seolhyeon… see that too?”
Jeong Seyeon just blinked lightly. It was a sign of affirmation.
That was more shocking than Joo Seolhyeon going to feed a cat.
‘Being carried in the boss’s arms is embarrassing enough, but to be seen by Joo Seolhyeon…’
Despite how high my risk of going berserk might get, I had never lost consciousness before. Yet not only did I lose consciousness, but I also made a spectacle of myself in front of the two most uncomfortable people. I felt like my intraocular pressure was rising from stress.
“Since Guiding was urgent, we immediately moved you to the room, and while we were about to start Guiding, the cat jumped out from between your clothes and attacked.”
I hadn’t been concentrating on Jeong Seyeon’s words as I was writhing in embarrassment, but when he mentioned the cat attacking, I was startled and lifted my head. Come to think of it, even though it made an oath, it promised not to attack me, but there was no mention of not attacking others.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
No matter how small it had become or how much power it had lost, it was still an S-class monster from an S-class dungeon. With a serious face, I urgently examined his body. The thought that he might have been injured due to my carelessness made my mind go blank.
“I’m fine.”
Contrary to his words, I spotted bloodstains on Jeong Seyeon’s shirt collar. Even in the midst of all this, I pushed away his hand that was still Guiding me and pulled at his shirt collar. The buttons fastened all the way to the neck made it difficult to open, so I couldn’t see in detail, but even from the little that was revealed, I could immediately tell it was a scratch from something sharp.
“This wound, it’s from the cat, isn’t it?”
Intending to get a proper look at the wound, I undid Jeong Seyeon’s shirt button.
“It’s just a slight scratch that will heal in a day.”
“Let me see.”
Jeong Seyeon shook his head while holding my hand that was trying to undo his buttons. I should have stopped there, but his attitude of trying to hide it from me made me momentarily upset, and I applied force to my hand. With a popping sound, the threads tore, and the buttons flew through the air.
“Ah…”
A sigh that didn’t match the cheerful sound of buttons bouncing on the floor escaped my lips.
I only meant to undo the top button, but unintentionally, three buttons had lost their home and were now rolling on the floor.
“This, I mean, I was worried…”
Why, at this moment, was the vivid image of a tiger tattoo on Jeong Seyeon’s back coming to mind as if it were alive and breathing?
I grabbed my drifting consciousness and quickly released my hand that had been gripping his collar, then patted his wrinkled clothes to smooth them out. During this, I tried hard to divert attention to the wound on his neck.
“Even if the wound isn’t deep, leaving it like this will cause scarring. I brought some first aid supplies, so…”
“It’s fine.”
I was trying to naturally move away from Jeong Seyeon, but he caught my hand.
“Guiding comes first.”
Looking at Jeong Seyeon’s face, this wasn’t something that could be resolved by persuasion. He really seemed like he wouldn’t let me go until he finished Guiding. I stared blankly at the hand he held, then remembered the band on my other hand. When I lifted my hand to look at the band, I could see the risk of going berserk falling in real-time.
[88, 87, 86…]
The number had dropped significantly from the beginning, but at this rate, I would have to hold hands for over an hour without doing anything else. I concluded that increasing the efficiency of Guiding would be faster than waiting for the number to drop to zero.
“Hyung, can you hug me instead of just holding my hand?”
At my request for an embrace, I could feel Jeong Seyeon’s expression stiffen slightly, unlike until just now. But unlike his face, he released my hand and climbed onto the bed. The old bed creaked in protest.
Sitting on the bed, I spread my arms toward Jeong Seyeon as he approached, and he pulled my waist and cradled the back of my head.
“…?”
This wasn’t the hug I had in mind. I thought I would be embraced by him, but suddenly the back of my head was touching the bed. Although Jeong Seyeon’s hand was cradling the back of my head so the feeling of the hard mattress wasn’t transmitted, that wasn’t the issue.
Just as I was about to speak up, realizing something was off, Jeong Seyeon kissed me.
‘Perhaps he thinks a hug alone isn’t enough?’
With that sudden thought, I didn’t even think to push him away and received the Guiding he provided.
Jeong Seyeon’s body overlapped mine as I lay beneath him, and his energy penetrated every part of my body. The balance that gets completely disrupted whenever I use my abilities returned to its original state in an instant. Indeed, it was much more efficient than holding hands.
‘This seems sufficient now.’
By this point, it seemed like he should stop, but Jeong Seyeon didn’t. Instead, as if to provoke my excitement, he slipped his hand between my clothes and kneaded the tender flesh inside. The sensation, which I was feeling for the first time in my life, made me shudder while a warning alarm rang loudly in my head.
By the time I thought I should stop, my hand had already moved.
With a brutal sound, Jeong Seyeon’s face turned to the side.
“Ah…”
Even though an Esper in a Guiding state is defenseless, they still have basic strength, so it hurts when hit. I had just done something terrible to Jeong Seyeon who had been Guiding me. But on the other hand, I also thought: what he did was excessive Guiding, and this was self-defense.
“That, I mean, I asked for a hug, but hyung kept…”
As I spoke, I realized that the expression “hug me” could have a double meaning. Just as the thought crossed my mind that I had contributed to the misunderstanding, my mumbling voice gradually lost strength. I looked up to gauge his reaction, and noticed his split lip from my hit.
“Oh no. Your lip, what should I do? Hyung, I’m sorry.”
To have inflicted a wound when I had set out to treat one.
With a tearful face, not knowing what to do, I reached out my hand toward Jeong Seyeon’s face.
“You did well.”
“What?”
I thought he would be angry, but surprised by the sudden praise, I looked up from his lips to his eyes.
“Next time, hitting harder would be better.”
It was the first time.
The first time seeing Jeong Seyeon smile.
Although it was just a slight raising of the corners of his mouth with awkwardly furrowed eyebrows, it was the most human face I had seen from him yet. For the first time, there was a glimpse of vitality in his eyes that had seemed like looking at something inorganic.
It was just a small smile, but my heart fluttered as if I had become a god who had gifted him emotions. The reason why he was happy was secondary.
“Woo Jeongjae?”
Jeong Seyeon called me. Snapping out of my daze, I blinked rapidly and answered, “Yes?”
“I think someone’s coming, could you let go of my hand?”
Just as he finished speaking, there was a knock at the door. I hurriedly withdrew my hand from Jeong Seyeon’s cheek, and he returned to his usual expressionless face.
When Jeong Seyeon opened the door, Do Wonjin and Yang Garam came in. Do Wonjin looked Jeong Seyeon up and down, then nudged me with a knowing expression.
“You’re quite something, huh?”
“What?”
“They said you weren’t feeling well, but it seems you’re pretty rough when receiving Guiding?”
I should have told Do Wonjin it was a misunderstanding, but seeing the torn buttons and split lip, anyone would think that way, so I decided not to make excuses.
“Is the Guiding over?”
Yang Garam, who had approached me, crouched down beside the bed and asked. It was his habit to lower his posture and curl up his body as if wanting to be a small animal in front of me.
I nodded lightly and showed the band on my wrist. The risk of going berserk was at 0.
“That’s a shame.”
I thought he would say it was fortunate, but seeing Yang Garam drooping his eyes, I remembered what had happened the previous night.
“You were like that at night too. What’s there to be disappointed about again?”
“What did you do at night?”
As I gave Yang Garam a light hit on the forehead, Do Wonjin sat on the edge of the bed. He was glaring at Yang Garam who was below the bed, and Yang Garam answered nonchalantly.
“I slept in the same bed with Jeongjae hyung.”
“Is that true?”
Yang Garam answered, but the reaction came from Jeong Seyeon. He was looking at me with his hand on his lip where the bleeding had stopped. Cold sweat suddenly ran down my spine.
Just moments ago, those eyes had been smiling at me, but now they were excessively cold.
“We just, we only slept. I have a habit of hugging while sleeping…”
I don’t know why I’m making excuses and even creating habits that I don’t have. But seeing Jeong Seyeon’s gaze soften, I didn’t regret it.
“I understand.”
With his one response, I let out a sigh of relief, and Do Wonjin narrowed his eyes, looking back and forth between me and Jeong Seyeon. He clicked his tongue briefly and ran his hand through his hair. His mood had clearly sunk compared to when he came in.
“I took a hit.”
His small mutter conveyed impatience. Given his personality, there shouldn’t be anything to make him restless, which was strange, but the thought was soon forgotten.
The Center Director appeared with Joo Seolhyeon shortly after. The room was already full with four people including myself, so he briefly announced that we would move directly to Korea through the gate the next morning, then disappeared.
Meow!
Serubi, whom Joo Seolhyeon was carrying, jumped into my arms as soon as it saw me, as if happy to see me.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
