Chapter 36
Lee Seungwoo’s eyes were scrutinizing him observantly, looking over every inch. Somehow it gave him chills. The fact that he couldn’t secure a safe distance from Lee Seungwoo, that in fact even if he secured a safe distance, since this wasn’t the Center there would be no one to help him… the clear fact that he could never escape from the hands of this Esper who saw him as a bite-sized morsel rang alarm bells in his head.
He moved his Adam’s apple, swallowed his saliva, and desperately racked his brain. To avoid being devoured on the spot, he had to somehow break this strange atmosphere.
“Don’t tell me… you’re doing this because you’re upset?”
“……”
At those words, Lee Seungwoo rolled his eyes to the right as if thinking about something. He wouldn’t know how anxious he was during that short time of contemplation.
Like a lie, a hurt look rose on Lee Seungwoo’s face.
“Yes.”
Yes, what. He’s sitting there acting. That’s what he thought, but he didn’t show it.
“Will you give me… one more chance?”
Ko Eungyo inadvertently blocked Lee Seungwoo with his hand, who wasn’t just asking but sticking even closer. This time too, Lee Seungwoo was docilely blocked.
“No…”
But as soon as he said “no,” the expression turned cold.
Inevitably, he felt a sense of crisis. He’d already been beaten before when he ignored the warning not to go to Woo Sihyun and went to the Guiding room anyway. He couldn’t get beaten again. This time he quickly waved his hand and said.
“I mean, so then, um… Student Lee Seungwoo, no, Esper Lee Seungwoo? In my ‘my’?”
“Yes.”
A docile and gentle voice answered.
‘This shameless bastard…’
Pulling tricks and even threatening, then asking to be let into the ‘my’ list. Thinking about it again, this was quite infuriating. If he had that purpose, shouldn’t he have done well from the start?
He inevitably looked at Lee Seungwoo with indignant eyes, containing some resentment. Then Lee Seungwoo smiled and slightly lowered his head to look up at Ko Eungyo.
“I’m sorry.”
“……”
That wasn’t saying he’d take back what he said. Since things had come to this anyway, it meant he’d continue to force choices on Ko Eungyo.
However, since he came out with such a low posture, he couldn’t help but calculate the benefits of putting Lee Seungwoo in ‘my’.
Obviously, as much as he didn’t like Lee Seungwoo, the benefits gained from putting Lee Seungwoo in ‘my’ were also considerable.
He’d already solved the temporary license problem by receiving help clearing Gates from Ko Eunso. If there was one concern, it was after he started working in the field in earnest. Working as a field ability user for the Center meant a high possibility of frequently encountering high-grade Espers.
Woo Sihyun and Lee Seungwoo were high-grade Espers, and clearing Gates by meeting adversaries as a team would certainly be very arduous. That wasn’t all. In the field, Espers were often suddenly needed, so useful connections were important.
Lee Seungwoo was a wind Esper, a very useful high-grade Esper in terms of mobility and destructive power. Also, if the relationship was formed well, since he was Woo Sihyun’s friend, he would help keep Woo Sihyun and Ko Eungyo from encountering each other. So putting Lee Seungwoo in ‘my’ seemed to have more gains than losses.
Producing results as a field Guide meant the moment would come to work with personal feelings set aside. Since he wouldn’t work for just a day or two and quit, he had to be careful about forming and severing relationships with people. It meant that the moment he turned around having made an enemy because he felt bad or because the other person did wrong, he also had to bear the corresponding loss.
But…
“I thought you hated me.”
When he muttered reluctantly, Lee Seungwoo looked down at him with his head slightly tilted.
Did they really have to continue this conversation in this position?
Feeling extremely awkward, he tried to back away slightly with a butt-shuffle, but Lee Seungwoo firmly held his waist as he tried to retreat. It meant to finish what he was saying. He cleverly grabbed near the spot below where it was bruised black.
Somehow he’d been carefully examining the wounds earlier.
After hesitating, he opened his mouth.
“To be honest, student Lee Seungwoo, no, it’s hard to think Esper Lee Seungwoo truly wants me. Since there are plenty of Guides who can give Guiding, how about matching with another Guide?”
“You have reason to doubt me.”
“This isn’t doubt but…”
“I’ve experienced many other Guides, Professor. It has to be you, Professor. I definitely feel it. To the point where I wonder why I couldn’t feel it until now… Don’t you feel it, Professor?”
“……”
He immediately understood what Lee Seungwoo was saying.
“Am I the only one feeling it?”
Of course he’d felt it. That moment when he first saw Lee Seungwoo.
What Lee Seungwoo was talking about was exactly ‘that’ sensation. The ‘fateful’ sensation felt simultaneously when an Esper and Guide with the best matching wavelength, the highest matching rate, encountered each other.
When he didn’t answer right away, Lee Seungwoo’s expression changed. As if he’d seen something the other was hiding, an eerily sharp gaze touched his cheek.
But Ko Eungyo didn’t notice Lee Seungwoo’s gaze, absorbed in his own thoughts while staring beyond Lee Seungwoo’s shoulder.
“But it was a body that had never received Guiding even once.”
When he muttered blankly, Lee Seungwoo smiled. When Ko Eungyo looked back, the smile that rose lightly at the corners of his mouth like a lie made him look even smoother and softer.
“You know such things too?”
“…The Guiding wouldn’t have been sufficient, yet you didn’t summon Guiding again.”
Then Lee Seungwoo laughed. It was a slightly bigger smile than before. He recognized that what he’d said could sound similar to sulking. He quickly tried to explain.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Yes, Professor.”
“I really don’t mean it like that.”
“Yes.”
Why did he seem to lose persuasiveness the more he talked? His face heated up slightly from embarrassment.
“It’s not yes… this is really stating facts. That’s why I, student Lee Seungwoo, no, Esper Lee Seungwoo…”
Suddenly Lee Seungwoo touched his cheek. He was startled. He thought he was going to be hit…
When he flinched feeling threatened, Lee Seungwoo stopped touching. He was looking down at his hand as if surprised.
“Ah… I mean, this is,”
“I’m sorry.”
Lee Seungwoo, who apologized immediately, smacked his lips and withdrew from above his body. Of course, even though he withdrew, a faint smile still remained on Lee Seungwoo’s face.
“If you keep doing that, I feel like I’ll touch you more without realizing it.”
“……”
“As for the Guiding request, mm. As Professor said, I received advice that it’s hard to Guide an Esper who hasn’t received Guiding for a long time. So Guiding me is something that should proceed slowly within limits that don’t strain the Guide’s body. So I worried Professor would have a hard time… I didn’t summon you, but now I regret it. I didn’t think that would be the last time.”
It was as Lee Seungwoo said. Though they’d Guided for 30 minutes, he’d felt that Guiding Lee Seungwoo was very arduous.
So according to Lee Seungwoo’s words, in his own way he hadn’t requested Guiding out of consideration for his body…
He frowned slightly.
“…I’m the one who makes the Guiding plan. I know my body condition best. Esper Lee Seungwoo can’t make decisions unilaterally.”
That’s very dangerous. More than an Esper who doesn’t think at all about the Guide’s body condition and just begs for Guiding. No, are there even Espers who adjust Guiding thinking of the Guide in the first place? That’s a unicorn.
He looked at Lee Seungwoo with fresh eyes.
Lee Seungwoo smiled broadly without answering. That didn’t seem to mean he understood. Lee Seungwoo wasn’t a docile guy. That was a known fact. He continued speaking with his eyebrows still slightly furrowed.
“More than that, to lower Esper Lee Seungwoo’s internal risk level, multiple Guides must conduct Guiding simultaneously. Even if you receive a little Guiding, you need to receive it frequently. If you’re taking Guiding medicine by any chance, stop for a moment. If you receive Guiding from multiple Guides, it could conflict with the medicine’s effects.”
“Is there a need for that? People other than Professor don’t know how to Guide.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just as I said. I received it because they said somehow my condition would improve if I forced Guiding, but it was worse than Guiding medicine.”
“……”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
