Chapter 48
Hearing those words, Seoyul blankly stared at Dowoon and thought.
Why… would they only hold hands during guiding?
“Well… because this is a guiding room…”
It was an obvious statement. In the guiding room, the principle was usually to only hold hands during guiding. Unless it was an emergency situation, excessive physical contact wasn’t necessary.
“We’re pairs. We don’t need to follow basic rules like that.”
“Ah…!”
Seoyul finally realized something. He and Dowoon were pairs, and at home, they always watched movies while Seoyul was pulled into Dowoon’s arms during guiding.
It was less embarrassing because they had somewhere else to look, and guiding would end faster that way.
But why use an inefficient method for guiding at the center?
“That’s… right?”
“Right? I’m glad. I was worried you were drawing a line with me.”
“What? N-no, that’s not it at all!”
Seoyul quickly denied it in surprise. Drawing a line? He was flustered because he had no such intention at all.
“Right?”
Dowoon said with a grin. Since he seemed to believe him, Seoyul smiled back with relief.
Then Dowoon grabbed Seoyul’s hand and suggested.
“Then come here.”
“What? Uh?!”
While Seoyul was bewildered, Dowoon familiarly pushed the table away and pulled Seoyul. This caused Seoyul to lose his balance and fall.
“Whoa!”
He tightly closed his eyes thinking he would fall, but the expected impact didn’t come.
“Really, what would happen if a person came along so easily?”
“What? Uh… w-well…”
Seoyul was so flustered that he rolled his eyes around, searching for words to say. This was because he ended up sitting on Dowoon’s lap after losing his balance.
He could feel Dowoon’s firm thighs under his buttocks, and a large hand firmly gripping his waist.
Thanks to that, he avoided the unsightly fall, but the parts touching Dowoon bothered him too much.
“What’s wrong? Is there a problem? Quickly guide me.”
Dowoon, as if there was nothing strange about this position, calmly rested his head on Seoyul’s shoulder and begged for guiding.
But no matter how he thought about it, this position was strange. No, he was worried that Dowoon might find it uncomfortable.
‘T-there are too many points of contact…!’
Seoyul, with his face flushed red, gathered his courage and said.
“E-Esper-nim. The p-position…”
“Position? What’s wrong with the position?”
“W-well…”
But the words wouldn’t come out. Was he perhaps the only one reacting excessively? Was he the only one feeling this way while Dowoon was completely fine?
As these thoughts rushed in, Dowoon smiled and spoke.
“We can’t do it like we do at home here. The chair is small. So we need to change the position.”
Hearing that, it did seem that way. The sofa at home was wide enough that it was fine to be in Dowoon’s arms. If it felt a bit uncomfortable, they could move to the floor and it wouldn’t matter.
But this was a guiding room, the chair was small, and it wasn’t structured to sit on the floor.
“Ah… y-yes… that’s right…”
Seoyul, having finally agreed, closed his eyes tightly, not knowing where to look as he wandered.
Even if this was the only position possible, it was still embarrassing. Then Dowoon held Seoyul’s head and embraced him.
“Now, like this. This way, guiding will work faster and better, right?”
Seoyul was completely embraced in that state.
As large hands wrapped around his back and pulled him in, his heart began to pound loudly.
“Uh… E-Esper-nim!”
It was troubling. At this rate, everything would be exposed. He struggled in confusion without even having time to properly think about what exactly would be exposed.
But Dowoon gently stroked Seoyul’s back and head, gradually calming him down.
“It’s okay. You’re getting used to it little by little.”
It would have been about Dowoon himself. But to Seoyul, it somehow sounded like it was meant for him.
That it was okay. That he could do it, like an encouragement.
“Yes…”
Only then could Seoyul calm his mind and fall into thought. With a position like this, he could certainly transmit more guiding. Above all, shouldn’t he get used to these things to become a proper guide!
With that thought, his sense of duty as a guide surged.
“Hmm. Right. Try wrapping your arms around my neck.”
“What? A-arms…?”
Isn’t this position enough, do we need to press our bodies even closer?
To the bewildered Seoyul, Dowoon provided a sufficient explanation.
“Your arms are just idly hanging there. Properly attaching your arms would be more efficient.”
“Ah… y-yes… that’s right.”
Come to think of it, his arms were hanging awkwardly in the air, having lost their way.
Only then did Seoyul carefully wrap his arms around Dowoon’s neck and lightly embrace him.
This made their bodies completely pressed against each other. Dowoon’s embrace was warm and cozy. He tended to have a high body temperature, which made Seoyul feel warm at heart as well.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
His rapidly beating heart maintained its fast pace but returned to a regular rhythm. Unlike the initial confusion, he felt like he could breathe a little easier.
“Seoyul.”
Dowoon’s voice was heard by his ear. The low, quiet voice pierced Seoyul’s heart and shook his emotions.
Seoyul flinched and quietly focused on that voice. Then, Dowoon whispered in his ear with a voice tinged with laughter.
“You should guide me.”
“Ah…”
With those words, Seoyul’s entire body flushed red. He had chosen this position for guiding but wasn’t actually guiding.
Seoyul felt as if his feelings had been exposed even though he hadn’t even started guiding yet.
“Ugh…”
Unable to lift his head, he just tightly gripped Dowoon’s collar. Dowoon urged him with a voice full of amusement.
“Come on. Guide me. Okay?”
Seoyul wanted to run away right then, but there was no way out. With no choice, he began guiding without even being able to cool down his flushed body.
“Whew…”
Dowoon regulated his breath and quickly absorbed the energy.
‘Haah. Really…’
The feeling of receiving guiding while fully embracing the small and cute Seoyul was the best. Perhaps because he had made him flustered, guiding poured out as if Seoyul was throwing his entire body into it.
It was truly all of Seoyul. All of his complex, confused, and embarrassed emotions flowed in with the guiding and began to consume Dowoon.
‘Ah… control yourself, Cha Dowoon. If you lose your mind here, it’s all over.’
He couldn’t ruin everything after coaxing and soothing to get this far.
Dowoon tried his best to control his body and mind while trying to feel Seoyul. Not just Seoyul’s energy, but his body temperature, scent, touch, and even the sound of his breathing near his ear.
He became completely intoxicated with Seoyul, focusing on things he could only feel at this moment. As a result, his desire for exclusivity and possession toward Seoyul began to creep up again.
‘It would be nice if I could have him all to myself.’
As the dark desire squirmed, Dowoon clenched his fists tightly, endured, and continued to absorb the guiding.
* * *
The training room was bustling with people these days.
Three times a day. This was because the center’s pride and troublemaker, the S-class Esper, was visiting the training room.
Moreover, whenever he visited, he would challenge anyone he saw to a duel, creating a spectacle where those on the receiving end trembled in fear while the observers watched with excitement.
“Wow. He’s really soaring since he got a guide. Really soaring.”
An Esper monitoring the training scene murmured in admiration. Then, someone who was watching the scene together with him shouted with a darkly dead face.
“Hey, aren’t you being too blunt because it’s not happening to you? It’s my turn next!”
He was someone who had never even seen the shadow of Seoyul, who was said to be Dowoon’s guide. He had just put in a training request during an empty time slot and was watching because he heard that a great S-class Esper was training.
Then he was unfortunately designated as the next opponent.
But for those who were watching, it was nothing more than an amusing event, so they all giggled and offered words of consolation.
“Hang in there. We wish you peace in the afterlife.”
“Aaagh! It was better when he had those so-called warning notices! Why is he suddenly fighting like a madman?!”
Back then, one could at least click their tongue and mutter, ‘As expected of an S-class, his possessiveness is also impressive.’ This was because as long as one suppressed their curiosity, they wouldn’t catch Dowoon’s eye.
But what about now! He seemed like a person addicted to fighting.
“I heard he’s doing this to raise his ranking.”
“Ranking?”
When the Esper expressed doubt, the other explained further.
“Seeing as they say he’s choosing missions with high contribution these days, it seems like he’s trying to eat up contribution points?”
“Ah, ranking is reflected in contribution, right?”
High contribution had several advantages. The best was definitely the right to priority designation of a guide.
This was because there was a system within the center where if the same guide was designated, the person with higher contribution would be assigned first.
But the Esper who heard this immediately found something strange.
“Huh? Aren’t they a pair? Why would he need to raise his contribution?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Look at his personality. Isn’t he doing this in case his guide runs away, so he can catch him again?”
“Ah… I guess so.”
The Esper, having now fully understood, nodded in agreement. While this wasn’t actually the reason Dowoon was rampaging and wasting energy like that, it was certainly how it would appear to others.
After all, his notorious reputation was well-known even within the center.
“I heard he’s putting on airs these days, but how long can that last?”
“Eek. Cha Dowoon putting on airs?”
“You’ve never seen it?”
“What is it? What…”
And so the two began gossiping extensively about Cha Dowoon. After all, isn’t others’ misfortune and gossip the most entertaining thing!
But perhaps because they were too absorbed…
The two didn’t see Dowoon entering the training room, opening the door while radiating an ominous aura.
“Hey. Both of you, come inside.”
“…”
“…”
Cold sweat trickled down both of their backs.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
