Chapter 35
“Eeek. You’re saying that with your own mouth?”
“Pardon…?”
Is it… wrong to say it directly?
Seoyul’s face turned red with embarrassment. Minjun laughed and patted Seoyul’s shoulder.
“I’m just kidding. Joking. But there’s something I want to ask you.”
Something he wants to ask? What could it be this time?
Seoyul tilted his head. After a moment of contemplation, Minjun asked with a serious expression as if he had made up his mind.
“You. Are you really a C-rank?”
“What?”
“You’re not hiding your rank or anything?”
“What?!!”
Seoyul was so startled that his shoulders trembled. Then, realizing that this reaction only confirmed the fact, his body stiffened.
“What? This is true too? I knew it! Something seemed off back then!!”
Minjun explained with confidence.
“When you were with me last time, I think you accidentally did radiating Guiding. But the energy was too large to be C-rank.”
When was “last time”? Seoyul tried to recall, but since it was unconscious, he couldn’t remember clearly.
Rather, he felt astonished at the thought that perhaps Minjun had become that comfortable with him.
‘I need to be… more careful…’
He wasn’t supposed to be found out, but it had already happened. He had boasted to Dowoon about keeping it secret. He felt so embarrassed that he wanted to hide in a mouse hole.
“Please… keep it… a secret.”
Seoyul decided to confess the truth reluctantly.
“I’m keeping it a secret for certain reasons.”
“Of course! My lips are sealed! Don’t worry!”
Minjun confidently declared. Though he spoke lightly, he was a trustworthy person. Seoyul was certain he wouldn’t tell anyone.
Still, sharing everything would be risky, so he didn’t reveal the whole truth.
“I am a C-rank, but I’m a somewhat special C-rank.”
“A special C-rank? Like how you have a high matching rate?”
“S-Something like that!”
It wasn’t similar at all, but he insisted it was.
“So I was told not to tell anyone yet.”
“Well, it makes sense. Since it’s related to an S-rank, that’s understandable.”
Minjun nodded nonchalantly. Seoyul had expected him to feel hurt about not being told everything, but surprisingly, he didn’t.
“Aren’t you… disappointed?”
“Huh? Not at all. The higher the rank, the more secrets there are. Even telling me this much means you trust me.”
Seoyul’s face brightened at those words. He was so happy that his feelings and intentions had been understood so well.
“Yes! Someday, I’ll definitely tell you everything!”
He couldn’t keep it a secret forever. Once he became a more reliable Guide, he would be able to tell him.
Seoyul inwardly promised to definitely tell him when that time came, smiling brightly. Minjun responded with a refreshing smile.
“Great! I’ll be waiting!”
“Yes!”
Seoyul also smiled brightly again with a lighter heart.
* * *
“It was really fortunate. I never expected him to say such things.”
After eating a fulfilling dinner, Seoyul was chattering away while being held in Dowoon’s arms, who had pulled him in without warning.
Perhaps because he was in an especially good mood today, gentle and warm energy was flooding into Dowoon uncontrollably. But he furrowed his brow, not knowing how to define his current emotional state.
“Having my feelings properly conveyed like this, I can’t even express how good it feels.”
With his cheeks tinged red and a bright smile, Seoyul was incredibly lovable. Dowoon wanted to put those soft cheeks in his mouth and bite them thoroughly, and his moving lips were so cute that he wanted to swallow them right away.
Dowoon slowly suppressed the desire that was beginning to rise and said.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Um. So, about that. When I work hard and become able to tell everything, can I tell Minjun hyung first?”
His previously good mood plummeted into the gutter.
Yes. The problem seemed to be that form of address.
‘Damn it!! Who the hell is Minjun hyung?!’
When he had heard about it before, he was told Seoyul didn’t have any friends, but that didn’t seem to be the case. It seemed he had secretly become close with this “Minjun hyung” character.
Moreover, he was increasingly irritated at the thought that this “Minjun hyung” might be the protagonist of that damn dream.
Yes. There was no doubt that the cause of this unpleasant feeling was that guy.
But there was no way he could express these emotions to Seoyul. Dowoon put on the mask of a kind Esper and said.
“Sure. He seems important to you, so do as you wish.”
“Really? Thank you, Esper-nim! When I was alone, Minjun hyung ate lunch with me and gave me advice.”
“…Did he?”
“Yes! He’s a really good person! You’ll understand when you meet him, Esper-nim!”
Yes. He needed to meet him first to assess what kind of guy he was. What kind of man could have seduced such a gentle and cautious boy to this extent!
‘Wait a minute. Now that I think about it.’
Seoyul had said that someone seemed to have discovered that his rank wasn’t C. If so, how was it discovered?
Could it be…
“…Is he an Esper?”
“Huh?”
At the sudden question, Seoyul turned his head with wide eyes. And suddenly, Dowoon’s view was filled with that round face.
The eyes were too close, and their noses nearly touched. It was a distance where just a slight movement would make their lips meet.
‘Damn it!!’
Dowoon froze, taking a sharp breath. All the information that had been chaotically arranged in his mind was thrown into the trash.
His vision was completely filled with the Guide who was taking his breath away, and he couldn’t look away.
“Th-That… Yes… Minjun hyung is an Esper.”
Having come to his senses, Seoyul quickly turned his head away, his face turning a bright red. Even so, he answered properly.
“When we first met, he told me it was amazing that I, a C-rank, had a high matching rate with him. And he asked if I could Guide him since he had never been Guided by a Guide with a high matching rate…”
In his extreme embarrassment, Seoyul rambled on. For some reason, his heart was beating so loudly that he couldn’t focus.
‘Ugh…’
Feeling like he had blurted out too much, Seoyul collapsed in self-reproach. Silence descended upon the room.
‘I should say something again…’
Seoyul raised his head, trying to cool his reddened face. However, Dowoon spoke first in a low voice.
“So…”
That voice was somehow deeply sunken. This made Seoyul even more nervous. As he swallowed dryly to ease the tension, Dowoon whispered in his ear.
“Did you…?”
“Eek!”
A shiver ran through his entire body as if he had been electrocuted. Seoyul hurriedly covered his hot ears and retreated. But Dowoon followed him and continued.
“Seoyul. I’m asking if you did it.”
“W-Well…”
His voice seemed to be suppressing something intensely. The danger alarm rang loudly, making Seoyul’s mind race frantically.
‘Wh-why is he acting like this?’
Deciding to answer quickly, he closed his eyes tightly and opened his mouth.
“I-I didn’t. I should only Guide Esper-nim… so… even before I could say no, the situation resolved itself. But still, I…”
Ah… what on earth was he saying?
Another wave of deep regret washed over him. He was anxious about whether Dowoon would be more angry with such a messy explanation.
But a refreshing voice, completely different from before, came back.
“Really? Then that’s fine.”
“…What…?”
Seoyul looked up with round eyes. Dowoon was looking at him from a slightly retreated position.
He was even smiling brightly, clearly pleased about something. It felt somewhat bewildering.
‘Just like that…’
The strange atmosphere from just moments ago seemed like a lie.
But soon after, as if something displeased him again, Dowoon furrowed his brow and lightly bumped his forehead against Seoyul’s.
“Ah!”
It didn’t hurt, but it was surprising. Well, yes.
‘We’re close again.’
As the distance closed, his heart began to race wildly once more. At times like this, he didn’t know where to look or how to speak and act, so his eyes just darted around desperately.
After some time like this, Dowoon finally spoke.
“Call me hyung.”
“What?”
What is he saying now?
Seoyul faced him again with wide eyes, too surprised to even think about averting his gaze.
‘He wants me to call him hyung?’
Seoyul fell into thought for a moment.
Come to think of it, it did seem a bit strange to keep calling him Esper-nim. He didn’t have a position like Sunjeong, and it felt a bit odd to attach “-nim” like with Sunghun.
Since they were living together and were arguably close enough, it didn’t seem weird at all to call him hyung.
But somehow, the words wouldn’t come out.
“Um, th-th-that…”
Perhaps Dowoon’s mood had soured because of the form of address? Seoyul had known Dowoon longer, yet Minjun was “hyung” while Dowoon was still “Esper-nim.”
Even to Seoyul himself, that didn’t seem right.
‘Y-Yes.’
Seoyul thought that the embarrassment and awkwardness due to the form of address would only be temporary. So he steeled himself and tried to speak.
“Hy- mmph!”
But before he could get the word out, his mouth was covered. Dowoon, for some reason greatly flustered, said to Seoyul.
“No, it’s okay! You can take your time, so it’s fine for now.”
After saying that, he turned Seoyul’s body around again and buried his face in his shoulder.
‘Huh?’
What was going on? With a bewildered feeling, Seoyul had no choice but to respond softly.
“Okay…”
Somehow… his shoulder felt a bit hotter.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
