Chapter 23
Sunghun was startled and double-checked the man before him.
‘The shell looks like Cha Dowoon, but…’
Sunghun concluded that the Cha Dowoon he knew would never be smiling like this.
Even though his expressions had become more varied lately, this was too extreme!
“Who are you! Where did my baby go and why is there some weird guy here! Give me back my baby!!”
“…”
As usual, after spouting a bunch of nonsense, the familiar face reappeared. Sunghun finally sighed in relief and cheerfully opened his mouth.
“Phew. Finally my baby is back. Baby, are you okay? I know a good psychiatrist, should I introduce you? How can you be so mentally unstable? Hm?”
“…Shut up and please just get lost.”
“Gasp! What a relief. I thought you had really gone crazy.”
“…”
Sunghun, with a genuinely shocked face, squeezed out fake tears and turned Dowoon’s stomach once again.
‘Why does this guy always appear when I’m in a good mood?’
Dowoon frowned deeply, seriously contemplating whether to hit him. Then, this sharp-witted fellow pretended to be terrified and added another comment.
“Eek! No violence! I’m against violence! If you hit Sunghun, I’ll tell Guide-nim!”
“…Damn it.”
Dowoon cursed but didn’t respond further, too concerned about his Guide who wasn’t even present.
He had always been somewhat lenient with Sunghun, but now it was clear he was actively suppressing his temper.
“Ohh!”
Sunghun exclaimed in admiration and approached Dowoon as he was walking away.
“Baby. How was the gift I gave you? Did you like it?”
He didn’t expect a proper answer, but he could gauge Dowoon’s reaction to get a general idea.
Sunghun’s eyes sparkled with anticipation for Dowoon’s reaction. Then, Dowoon stopped in his tracks and spoke.
“Ah… that.”
Huh?
Dowoon’s reaction was unexpectedly calm. Having expected an intense response, Sunghun tilted his head in confusion at this indifferent attitude.
At that moment, the smile he’d seen earlier reappeared on Dowoon’s face.
“Eek!”
Sunghun shrieked and quickly backed away. Then Dowoon, with a beaming smile, said something Sunghun had never heard before.
“It was quite a nice gift, actually.”
A nice… gift…?
To think he would compliment something Sunghun had given him!
He couldn’t understand what had happened between the two of them to make Dowoon smile like he had a screw loose.
But regardless of Sunghun’s confusion, Dowoon was quite pleased with the special event the game console had provided.
‘Right. Why didn’t I think of that before? It was quite a nice item.’
He smiled contentedly again, recalling Seoyul playing the game.
* * *
It was the day Seoyul was deep into playing after opening the second game cartridge. Dowoon, who had been quietly watching, seemed to have made up his mind as he spoke.
“Seoyul.”
“Yes?”
At the sudden call, Seoyul turned his head with wide eyes. Before him was a face that looked like it had something serious to say.
“I’ve been thinking.”
“Thinking…?”
Feeling slightly guilty that perhaps he had been enjoying the game too much by himself, Seoyul’s conscience pricked him.
‘Of course, he must have been bored.’
Only then did he feel remorseful. He also realized he had been too absorbed in his newly discovered hobby.
But what came out of Dowoon’s mouth was completely different.
“Don’t misunderstand. This isn’t because I have any personal agenda or anything.”
“…Yes…?”
Per…sonal agenda?
Seoyul tilted his head, but Dowoon continued seriously.
“You know that the wider the area of contact during Guiding, the better it works, right?”
“Ah… yes.”
That was common knowledge. Guiding was more efficient when there was wider contact or deeper connection.
“And you don’t know when your Guiding will suddenly emerge, right?”
“Ah, that’s… true?”
“So I was thinking, what if we stay close to each other as much as possible at home.”
“What??”
Stay close to each other?
Seoyul was surprised at the unexpected statement and opened his eyes wide. Seeing this reaction, Dowoon hurriedly continued.
“Radiant Guiding is good, but you still don’t know how to Guide by feeling the actual Guiding energy. At such times, if I stay close to you, Guiding will happen faster, so recovery will be quicker too.”
“Ah…”
Hearing that, Seoyul understood why he said such a thing.
‘I guess a lot of Guiding leaked out while I was playing games.’
He felt embarrassed for no reason. Since happiness was the activation condition, it felt like his thoughts and feelings were exposed even without saying a word.
“What do you think? You can keep playing your game and I’ll receive Guiding beside you. You’ll enjoy your game and I’ll enjoy receiving Guiding. Doesn’t that sound like a good idea?”
“Ah…”
Seoyul blushed and scratched his cheek, still feeling embarrassed. He thought it would be fine since they always held hands during Guiding anyway. But since home was a private space, he couldn’t help feeling awkward.
So while he was hesitating to answer, a decisive statement came out.
“Then I won’t be so bored either…”
So you were bored after all!!
Seoyul was surprised and hurriedly exclaimed.
“I, I’m okay with it! I didn’t think about Esper-nim being bored because this game is single-player. I’ll look into whether there are two-player games!”
Seoyul rushing out words in panic was too cute. With an apologetic face, he gently took Dowoon’s finger and opened his mouth.
“Then, let’s play together.”
“…!!!”
How could such an adorable creature exist!!!
Dowoon thought he was right to bring it up and eagerly shouted, full of personal interest.
“No. Let’s do it now!”
“What?”
Dowoon quickly went down to sit on the sofa, then grabbed Seoyul and pulled him down.
“Whoa!”
His body lost balance as it was guided by the large hand and went downward. In an instant, Dowoon seated him between his legs, embraced him from behind, and put the game console in his hands.
“Here. This way we can share the same view, and even if it’s single-player, we can take turns comfortably. How about it? Isn’t it good?”
“What??”
Seoyul was flustered and didn’t know what to do. Whether sitting next to each other or being held, looking at the same screen would be the same, but in his panicked state, he didn’t realize this.
“Come on, play the game quickly. I’ll receive Guiding while watching you play. If there’s anything difficult, just tell me. I’ll help you.”
“Ah. Yes, yes.”
Seoyul stared straight ahead, creaking like a broken machine. With Dowoon behind him, his presence felt much larger than when he was beside him.
‘If you receive Guiding in this position, it would be quite ef-effective, right?’
The contact area was indeed different. His broad chest was fully pressed against Seoyul’s back. His thick arm was comfortably resting on Seoyul’s waist, significantly increasing the contact area.
‘Still…’
Seoyul tightly closed his eyes. Having never been in such close contact with another person before, he felt awkward and ticklish.
Being constantly aware of his back made his face flush, and his heart seemed to start pounding loudly.
“Why aren’t you playing? Is this a difficult part? Should I do it for you?”
Dowoon snatched the game console back and started operating it earnestly in his own way. Each time his fingers moved, the muscles in his forearm twitched, making Seoyul freeze, not knowing what to do.
But people are indeed adaptable creatures. As Dowoon kept talking and directing his gaze toward the game, Seoyul soon relaxed and began to focus on the game.
‘Haa.’
Dowoon looked at his Guide, who was slightly leaning against his embrace while emitting gentle Guiding. Maybe it was partly because Espers’ bodies were particularly large, but Seoyul fit so perfectly in his arms that it made his heart tickle.
‘This is really driving me crazy.’
He could clearly see Seoyul’s fingers fidgeting on the game console. As he kept watching, his heart suddenly felt tight, so he put strength in his arms and embraced his waist a little more.
He could feel Seoyul’s body flinch in response. Dowoon carefully examined his complexion, then buried his face in Seoyul’s shoulder as he saw him resume the game.
Again, he felt Seoyul’s body flinch and stiffen. But as time passed, he could see his fingers moving again.
‘Haa. This is really driving me crazy.’
It felt like he was absorbing not only Guiding but also Seoyul’s scent deeply. He wondered if it was okay to feel this good, and the more he held him, the more he wanted to hold him. He also wanted to bury his lips in the slender nape of his neck and inhale his scent more deeply.
‘That’s probably not okay yet.’
Dowoon suppressed his stirring desire and looked forward to the future.
But Seoyul’s mind was already in a state of chaos.
At first, he was too shocked to say anything, and the second time, he was too embarrassed to speak. As a result, even after understanding the situation, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.
‘Wh-what should I do?’
No matter how he thought about it, this position seemed too excessive.
‘We look like a c-couple.’
As soon as that thought came to mind, his face burned up. He was thankful Dowoon couldn’t see his face.
Otherwise, he might have read all these embarrassing thoughts.
‘C-calm down. This is Guiding, after all. It’s because I’m not good at it that Esper-nim has to receive Guiding this way. I should act natural in situations like this!’
Seoyul, unaware that he had fallen into Dowoon’s scheme, reassured himself, determined to fulfill his duty.
* * *
Dowoon’s strategy worked successfully. With Seoyul’s attention drawn to the game, he relaxed his body. As a result, he gradually became accustomed to being close together.
“Ahhh! How could you go alone? Wait! I said wait!”
“Haha. Hurry up. I’ll wait for you here.”
Seoyul giggled, looking at the character on screen with delight. It turned out Dowoon wasn’t very good at gaming.
Where was the person who had boasted that he would complete the game? Instead, he kept dying, unable to keep up.
Ding!
“Ah!”
Dowoon’s character died again and disappeared. Now he couldn’t even respawn, which made Seoyul burst into laughter.
“This is impossible. This cannot be happening.”
He could feel Dowoon burying his face in his shoulder in despair from behind. He seemed quite frustrated, as the sound of heavy breathing made Seoyul’s nape ticklish.
“You can do it, Esper-nim. I’ll go slowly and help you.”
Seoyul quite liked this situation. It was fun to see this amazing Esper struggling with a mere game, and he also liked being relied upon.
And as he became comfortable with this situation, he gradually began to feel the S-class energy more frequently.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
