“Whew….”
An hour had passed by in an instant. Jiwon’s nerves, which had been concentrating on guiding for quite a long time, relaxed for a moment.
Seo Gangwoo, who had been concerned about Jiwon continuing to stand and guide without moving, didn’t miss the timing and lowered one arm. He carefully wrapped around the back of Jiwon’s knees and seated him on his thigh.
“Huh…?”
Jiwon, who had opened his eyes wide and looked at Seo Gangwoo after his body was lightly lifted, only then felt the stiffness in his legs.
“Ah….”
A groan came out naturally. He’d been concentrating so hard that he hadn’t even realized his legs hurt. For Jiwon, who had weak stamina and no muscle to speak of on his body, standing still for a long time was quite rare.
Once he started recognizing it, it tingled more. As Jiwon moved his uncomfortably stiff legs, large hands massaged from his calves to his thighs, loosening his muscles.
Seo Gangwoo was surprised by Jiwon’s slender legs that fit in one hand. He continued the massage carefully, worried they might break if he applied just a little force. He naturally became cautious with Jiwon, who was smaller than him in every way.
“Ugh….”
As his tingling legs loosened and blood circulated, another groan came from Jiwon’s mouth at the refreshing feeling. Seo Gangwoo, startled, took his hands off Jiwon’s legs.
“Does it hurt?”
“No, it doesn’t hurt! It’s, it feels good….”
Jiwon, who had liked Seo Gangwoo’s massage skills, spoke urgently, worried he might stop.
“May I continue?”
“…Yes. Please.”
It was a bit embarrassing, but Jiwon, who had learned the taste of Seo Gangwoo’s massage hands, became shameless.
Seo Gangwoo’s massage continued again. With just the right amount of pleasant weak grip strength and the large hands passing over, the tingling muscle pain disappeared.
Jiwon held back the groans that were about to come out again at that refreshing feeling. At the satisfying touch, not just his legs but his whole body became languid.
He sneakily raised his head and glanced at Seo Gangwoo’s face, which was concentrating on the massage. Unlike his cold expression and blunt way of speaking, his actions exuded gentleness.
At that sight, the corners of Jiwon’s mouth crept up. Then, worried it might be too obvious, he lowered his head and hid his smile in the broad chest.
Jiwon hadn’t met many people, but in his brief school life, he’d experienced people of various dispositions in his own way.
Though short in height, there were many people—both men and women—who tried to approach Jiwon with his good proportions, pretty face, gentle personality, and cute demeanor.
Among those who approached him that way, there were decent people, but there were also people who were only flashily packaged on the outside and engaged in words lacking sincerity and pretentiousness.
That appearance sometimes seemed witty and overflowing with confidence, drawing his interest, but more than half of what they said was full of fluff or lies. Also, Jiwon eventually distanced himself because he became uncomfortable with how they easily put others down.
Rather, someone like Esper Seo Gangwoo, who seemed cold but was unexaggerated, quietly steadfast, and gave a feeling of reliability, felt more trustworthy and sincere.
It was Seo Gangwoo who hadn’t acted carelessly toward Jiwon even in a half-unconscious state, unable to come to his senses at the threshold of rampage.
It was a pair contract that needed to be decided carefully, but even thinking about it again, his choice was the same.
Jiwon liked Seo Gangwoo.
In the first place, he didn’t have a cruel enough personality to turn away from Seo Gangwoo, who was suffering from not receiving proper guiding, but he didn’t think he would regret his choice even if he paired with Seo Gangwoo.
He also wanted to free him from Choi Hyerin’s ridiculous plan of only taking care of her own interests and neglecting the suffering Seo Gangwoo.
Though it seemed he’d already made the choice to free himself.
Jiwon vaguely guessed Esper Seo Gangwoo’s feelings.
The medication he’d been taking for so long that he had addiction symptoms was no longer effective, and in a situation where he’d already collapsed several times, there was no way he didn’t know the danger of rampage.
Yet the fact that he didn’t make efforts to request or pair again with Choi Hyerin, who was the only one who could guide him even if the matching wasn’t high, was the same as having given up his attachment to life.
Jiwon too had times when he was exhausted from the repetition of not being able to enjoy an ordinary daily life, lying at home or being hospitalized, abandoning hope and being full of depression. At that time, negative thoughts had filled his head.
He blamed himself, resented someone, and it even led to bad thoughts.
At least he endured while receiving his family’s loving care, and with his miraculously improved body, he gradually shed his depression and his expression brightened.
Jiwon, who escaped from the sorry feeling and guilt of seeming like a burden to his family, and was able to normally attend school, make friends, and eat delicious food to his heart’s content, was happy even with small things. It was because he knew how precious this ordinary and small daily life was.
Jiwon didn’t presumptuously have the grand feeling of saving someone and taking responsibility for them.
He just thought he hoped Esper Seo Gangwoo would also feel the ordinary happiness of daily life as he had.
Now his legs were comfortably loosened and it seemed they didn’t need to be massaged anymore, but Jiwon didn’t bring up telling him to stop because he liked being touched without pain by the large, rough hands.
After being like that for a while, Jiwon quietly looked at Seo Gangwoo’s hands and spoke up.
“Will you pair with me?”
The hands that had been moving carefully stopped on Jiwon’s knee.
“Is this Guide Kim Jiwon’s choice?”
It was a question asking whether it was a decision made due to Seo Gangwoo’s own situation or the Center’s recommendation, rather than Jiwon’s complete choice.
“Yes.”
“You can think slowly and decide.”
“Even if I think more, the decision won’t change.”
Seo Gangwoo thought Jiwon’s brown eyes looking straight at him were pretty.
A moment of silence flowed.
“How am I as a pair?”
“Good.”
It was sincere.
Seo Gangwoo had no expectations or hope for the future, but it was honest words conveyed thinking only of this very moment.
Jiwon, who had been staring at the deep black eyes, smiled beautifully, curving the corners of his eyes and lips at the sincerity felt in his words.
* * *
“The first two pages are the application form, and the documents after that are the contract terms regarding the pair. Please read slowly and if you have any questions, ask them, and sign in the signature section.”
“Yes.”
About 30 minutes after Jiwon contacted Team Leader Lee Juyeon that he would make a pair contract with Seo Gangwoo. General Manager Seo Hojun and Team Leader Lee Juyeon came to Room 705 with documents.
At the faster decision than expected, the Center 1 executives had to move hastily, worried the mind might change.
However, since the direction of that decision was the best option among the possibilities they’d thought of, rather than it being difficult, they excitedly printed related documents, checked items that needed to be confirmed, and contacted headquarters personnel.
“Wow, you came really quickly?”
“Haha. Since Guide Kim Jiwon made a big decision, we can’t make you wait.”
Jiwon opened the refrigerator and handed cool drinks to the two people who seemed out of breath as if they’d come in a hurry.
Jiwon read through the documents carefully. His parents had always earnestly advised him that when looking at contracts, he must look carefully without carelessly reading even a single letter.
The front of the application form already contained Jiwon and Seo Gangwoo’s basic information and backgrounds.
From personal information to family relations, the year of manifesting as ability users, existing medical history, marriage or divorce status, criminal record, etc., facts revealed externally were listed.
Since many cases became problems during pair contracts due to not properly informing and deceiving about such matters, it was revised to disclose the other party’s information in pair contracts.
“22 years old….”
Seo Gangwoo, who had been checking the documents without much thought, was surprised by Jiwon’s age, which was more than he’d thought, and recited it softly.
“I manifested a bit late.”
Jiwon, who heard that sound from the side, briefly took his eyes off the documents he was looking at and spoke.
Seo Gangwoo nodded. Seo Gangwoo also knew there were cases of late manifestation. While traveling around various countries and doing matching tests with Guides, he’d once met someone who manifested as a Guide at the age of 27.
Still, it was surprising all the same. Not only had it not been long since he manifested, but with his young-looking appearance and height smaller than average, he hadn’t known there was only a four-year age difference between them.
Seo Gangwoo’s eyes, which had been reading down the documents again, stopped at one place.
In the special notes section, it was written that Jiwon had been in poor health since childhood and had a history of long-term hospitalization, and content about passing middle school with a qualification exam and then advancing to high school and college.
He’d gotten the feeling from the small build and light weight that he was young and weak, but when he confirmed that Jiwon’s body had actually been in poor condition, his eyes looking at the documents became serious.
Of course, Jiwon had already completely recovered and several years had passed since he became healthy, and upon manifesting as a Guide he became a body that didn’t catch most viruses or diseases, but in Seo Gangwoo’s eyes, he still looked sick and fragile.
Jiwon also examined Seo Gangwoo’s personal information. The documents contained detailed personal information to the extent that he wondered if this was okay.
From current family relationship status to the history of his previous pair Guide. Also, what stood out was the abilities Seo Gangwoo possessed.
He’d heard that in the case of S-rank Espers, most were holders of multiple abilities. In his case, it was written that his main ability was ice and his auxiliary abilities were electricity and telekinesis.
