Chapter 6
“I’m in perfectly fine condition right now, you know?”
Dowoon leaned against the doorway with an annoyed expression as he spoke.
“Fine, my foot. When you’re told to come, why do you dawdle like this?”
Sunjeong began to scold him. While Dowoon still appeared intimidating to Seoyul, Sunjeong continued to treat him casually.
“If I say I’m fine, then I’m fine. Why does Team Leader Lee get to decide that?”
“This guy? Call me Noona!”
“Do you have any shame?”
“Or call me Team Leader Lee. Am I your friend?!”
Seeing them exchange light banter, they really seemed close. Seoyul stared blankly at the scene with one thought.
‘I’m envious…’
He wished he could overcome his trauma quickly and feel more comfortable too.
“Sit down quickly.”
“Ah, why are you being like this!”
Despite complaining, Dowoon sat down obediently. Sunjeong routinely removed his t-shirt and began attaching patches in various places.
She seemed to be preparing to record what reactions would occur during Guiding.
“Seoyul, come quickly.”
A pair of eyes followed her gesture. Though his body stiffened under that gaze, he moved his feet hesitantly at her urging.
‘Where did all that determination from earlier go, Seoyul!’
He scolded himself and tried to gather his courage. However, the intense stare made him continue to feel self-conscious.
After staring at him for a while, Dowoon frowned and opened his mouth.
“Who?”
“…”
“…”
Both Sunjeong and Seoyul remained silent.
Even if some time had passed, he didn’t recognize him? Seoyul’s eyes became watery. Seeing this, Sunjeong delivered a sharp blow to Dowoon.
SLAP!
“Ugh.”
“You bring him here saying he’s your Guide, and then what? ‘Who?’ Do you want to die?”
“Ah…”
Only then did Dowoon recall a certain memory. He was generally bad at remembering faces, but the atmosphere around Seoyul had completely changed, making him unrecognizable.
Back then, Seoyul had looked like a pitiful squirrel that had wandered through the forest for days without finding acorns to eat, but now he resembled a plump, well-fed squirrel.
Though both were squirrels, the difference was so stark that it felt freshly surprising.
“I-I’m Seoyul, Esper-nim. Thank you so much for helping me back then.”
Seoyul bowed deeply as he expressed his gratitude. While it was unavoidable that Dowoon didn’t remember him, his gratitude was a separate matter.
But Dowoon still murmured with a disinterested voice.
“Ah… so you’re called Seoyul.”
SLAP!
“Ugh…”
Another sharp blow flew at that indifferent remark. Though Dowoon grimaced, Sunjeong quickly jabbed his side, wondering what this insensitive Esper was planning to do later.
Then, he reluctantly opened his mouth.
“Yes. I’m Cha Dowoon.”
“Yes! P-pleased to work with you!”
When the extremely tense Seoyul spoke, Dowoon asked with confusion.
“Pleased to work with me? For what?”
“What else? For Guiding, of course!”
The answer came from Sunjeong.
“We need to check if you can Guide him!”
“Ah… right. You’ve learned how now, I see?”
Only then did Dowoon seem to recall the relevant information, slightly raising the corner of his mouth. Seoyul blushed again at this, feeling embarrassed.
Still, he was happy that Dowoon remembered that fact.
‘He remembered after all.’
He seemed to have completely forgotten that he had momentarily forgotten who Seoyul was just moments ago.
Sunjeong worried whether this adorable creature, whose expressions were so easily read, would get along well with Dowoon.
But there was no use worrying now. She decided they should just proceed with the examination first.
“Seoyul. Just do as you’ve learned. No need to push yourself. Dowoon’s energy is violent, so if it feels wrong, withdraw your hand immediately. Understand?”
“Yes. I’m fine! I can do it!”
“Oh my, how precious.”
Seeing him clench his small fist, she couldn’t help but feel pleased. However, Dowoon was just bewildered by what was happening.
She always shouted at him like a demon, yet she was being sickeningly sweet to the man introduced as Seoyul.
‘Has she finally gone mad?’
While this was a reasonable thought for Dowoon, she read his disrespectful thinking and delivered another sharp blow.
SLAP!
“Ah, really!”
“You don’t do anything. Got it?”
It didn’t hurt much, but being hit repeatedly was unpleasant. However, he couldn’t rebel anymore. After all, she was one of the people who cared for him as much as Cha Munjin did.
“I won’t! I won’t do anything!”
Dowoon shouted irritably and extended his right hand. Seoyul felt his heart pounding as he looked at the large hand offered to him once again.
Could he do it?
‘I can do it.’
Forcibly pushing away the anxiety that was surging in, he firmly grasped Dowoon’s hand with both of his. The body temperature, still hotter than an average person’s, seemed like it could burn even the person touching it.
‘Is this also because he can’t receive Guiding?’
Thinking this, Seoyul gradually began to pour in his energy.
Though both were called “energy,” the nature of the energy used by Espers and Guides was distinctly different.
When Espers used their energy, residue remained, and if these remnants weren’t properly removed, they would accumulate and tangle chaotically inside the Esper’s body.
Since the principle was that the Guide’s energy automatically removed this residue, Guides often couldn’t tell whether the Guiding was working well or not.
He had heard that with experience, one could get a general sense, but for Seoyul, who was doing this for the first time, it was only anxiety-inducing.
So, thinking he might check Dowoon’s complexion, he raised his head.
“Huh…?”
In front of him was Dowoon with a face completely different from what he had imagined. With pupils dilated as if greatly surprised, he was staring intently at Seoyul, shooting a confused gaze.
Seoyul couldn’t take his eyes off that animated expression for about 3 seconds. Then, feeling like he had stared too much, he hurriedly lowered his face.
His face burned unnecessarily.
‘Ugh.’
He was at a loss, wondering if it was because of the gaze still pouring down on him. Why was Dowoon looking at him with that expression, and how long would he continue to stare?
Various thoughts tangled noisily in Seoyul’s head.
‘Hoho.’
Meanwhile, Sunjeong, who was monitoring Dowoon’s real-time chart, was surprised by the unexpected harvest. Seoyul hadn’t fainted despite performing the Guiding.
‘All that hard work paid off. It really did.’
Though she would need to check more for efficiency, this was already significant. Just to be safe, Sunjeong asked Seoyul:
“Seoyul. Are you okay? Does it hurt when you’re Guiding?”
“Y-yes. It doesn’t… seem to hurt.”
Seoyul answered without being able to raise his head. Wondering why, she turned her head to see Dowoon making a rather amusing face.
“Look at him, completely dazed. Feels good, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it?”
Of course it felt good. It was his first time properly receiving Guiding. His mind must be quite complex right now.
And her prediction was exactly right.
‘Is this… Guiding?’
Taking Guiding potions had always felt good enough, but he had no idea it would be like this. Even with just a C-grade potion, he had felt it was sufficient to live on, and sometimes even experienced a small sense of liberation.
But even with the same C-grade, real Guiding was on a different level. The Guide’s energy was traveling throughout his body, soothing the tangled places. It was such a refreshing sensation that it was even bewildering.
Moreover…
‘This is the one.’
The owner of the Guiding potion that he had been drinking like finding an oasis in the desert.
As soon as he realized this fact, his entire body began to boil with the elation and overwhelming feeling of having found his Guide. His face grew hot and his body started to heat up.
He was already prone to having a high body temperature, but this heat was different.
“Damn it.”
BANG!
Finally, Dowoon, who had smashed his head on the table, gritted his teeth. The Guide flinched at the sound, but Dowoon couldn’t spare the energy to care about him.
That was because his body wasn’t responding as he wished. Especially the lower half.
‘What is this. What the hell is this!’
It was common knowledge that sexual desire could arise when receiving Guiding. But he didn’t know it would react this intensely.
Dowoon was more embarrassed than ever. And there was an even bigger problem.
‘Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.’
I don’t want to let go.
Yes. The real problem was that even in this situation, he was thinking that he didn’t want to let go of the small hand in his.
* * *
Sunjeong was happy.
Seoyul was happy.
And though Dowoon didn’t show it well, he seemed quite satisfied.
“It’s not just ‘quite satisfied,’ he was enjoying it so much he couldn’t even lift his head.”
Sunjeong giggled, gossiping about Dowoon. Having watched him for a long time, she seemed to see something different.
But to Seoyul, Dowoon’s expression had seemed far from pleased, so he couldn’t feel confident.
“…Really? Would the Esper-nim have liked it when I’m only C-grade?”
“Of course! What does it matter if you’re C-grade! It’s his first time experiencing it, so of course it feels good. Guiding is like a drug to Espers!”
“D-drug?”
Seoyul flinched at the strong comparison. His eyes trembled aimlessly. Sunjeong was amused again by that cute and innocent reaction.
“Yes. A powerful drug that once tasted, cannot be quit!”
When she playfully shouted “Wah!” at him as he stood frozen in shock, his startled body fell onto the sofa with a short scream.
“Hahaha!”
Seeing this, she burst into hearty laughter. Only then did Seoyul realize he had been teased, puffing his cheeks in dissatisfaction.
“Don’t tease me.”
“I’m not teasing! He’s probably trembling right now. Fretting about whether to come see you or not.”
Cha Dowoon fretting?
Seoyul couldn’t easily imagine such a scene. And to think it would be because of him? He thought it was absurd.
“Oh? You don’t believe me?”
She laughed cheerfully again and said:
“Want to bet? I vote that Dowoon will come looking for you today, fuming.”
“What? A bet? How could you…”
A bet? He had no intention of doing such a thing with Dowoon as the subject. Not only would it be disrespectful, but he firmly believed it was utterly absurd.
So he couldn’t readily answer and just smiled awkwardly. But as if to mock him, someone noisily opened the door and entered.
“Huh?”
Disheveled, unkempt hair.
Upturned eyes as if enraged.
Wrinkled clothes with rough breathing.
There stood Dowoon, truly fuming.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
