The moment Hee-young heard Ha-ram’s words, Shin-yul lifted him up in one swift motion and set him down on his thigh — and Hee-young fought back with his entire body, refusing with everything he had.
He grabbed onto the solid body that didn’t so much as budge no matter how hard he kicked at its side and cried out desperately.
“Wait! What the f*ck, hey! Just wait! Please, just stop for a second!”
“Are you embarrassed?”
“Aaaah! Hey — hey hey hey!”
With the golden eyes drawing right up to his face, Hee-young frantically nodded. He pressed both hands hard over his own mouth and stared back wide-eyed.
How cute, Shin-yul scoffed inwardly, lightly nibbling on the plump cheek before turning to Ha-ram and asking, mind if you step out for a moment? Hee-young shook his head vigorously at Ha-ram, signaling him not to leave.
“Hmm……”
Those deer-like eyes were staring up at him with such desperation that Ha-ram’s resolve began to waver. What do I do with this…..
He had received a brief rundown of Hee-young’s condition from the dedicated team assigned to Hee-young and Shin-yul. However, they had said that aside from the delusional symptoms, his relationship with his matched Esper was good — and when he’d first appeared in the Guiding room, he had arrived snugly tucked in Shin-yul’s arms — so the plan had been to skip light-contact Guiding and proceed directly to mucosal Guiding.
In truth, conducting mucosal Guiding as training was itself an unprecedented thing. Guiding, as long as the Matching Rate was favorable, proceeded the moment contact was made, and since most cases moved through to kissing without much trouble, the usual approach was to teach Radiant Guiding — which allowed Guiding from a distance — or methods for regulating Guiding output, rather than starting from something as basic as try kissing each other, as if teaching a child to walk. It was a first for Ha-ram too.
But the reaction was far more intense than anticipated, and Ha-ram looked at the two of them with a troubled expression. That delicate face was on the verge of tears, trembling — while those sharp, beast-like golden eyes smiled lazily, as though prey had been placed right in front of them.
No, they said the relationship was good. That team — the staff really are out of their minds too.
He blamed himself for having believed them when they’d laughed heartily and declared, They do seem that way, but they actually get along pretty well! — thumb raised high, chest puffed with confidence.
“Let’s pause for a moment, shall we?”
“Stop — stop it. He says stop! You’re not listening to the instructor, what the f*ck!”
“He said to kiss first.”
“But he’s saying stop now!”
Hee-young’s face flushed red as he huffed and fumed. His body, caged within those large arms, twisted and thrashed without mercy — and at that, Shin-yul released his hold with a reluctant expression.
Hee-young scrambled away in a panic, hair disheveled, eyes sharp and blazing.
“And you — instructor! I came here because you said you’d teach me Guiding! And now, what — suddenly kissing?! You call yourself an educator! Reflect on yourself!”
“Pardon?”
Suddenly being scolded in that rough, blunt tone, Ha-ram blinked. What exactly am I supposed to be reflecting on….
Even while throwing a fit, Hee-young was scared of what he might be made to do next and slowly, carefully inched his way toward the door of the Guiding room. If it comes to it, I’m getting the hell out of here.
Despite his intentions being painfully obvious, Shin-yul only smiled pleasantly, while Ha-ram wore a conflicted expression. Running away in front of a Telekinetic, and an S-rank Esper at that, would be impossible…. And to begin with, the relationship with a matched Esper isn’t something that running away can fix. If they don’t come to an agreement through proper conversation, it’s always the Guide who ends up in danger. He had no idea where to even begin or how to go about this — all he could do was sigh.
“First of all — Han Shin-yul. What’s your Guiding level at?”
“Don’t know. Princess, what are you standing over there for. Come here.”
“Ha…. Yoo Hee-young? Can you tell me the Guiding level?”
“I don’t know! What even is that! Look at his eyes going all weird. Can’t you do something about him?!”
“Ha……”
After heaving nothing but deep sigh after deep sigh, Ha-ram put on his best smile for Hee-young, pleaded with him that there would be no more Guiding for now and to please come closer, to please trust him — and checked the watch on Hee-young’s wrist. 90%. A perfectly stable number. Ha-ram looked at Shin-yul and spoke.
“Han Shin-yul, today I’ll be conducting the session with just Yoo Hee-young. Could you please step out for a moment?”
“No.”
“Phew……”
“Get out! Out!”
With Hee-young shrieking behind him, Ha-ram contacted someone, and the dedicated staff for Hee-young and Shin-yul came pouring in, beginning to cajole and coax Shin-yul. Since Shin-yul actually had a mountain of backed-up work, Ha-ram’s message was almost welcome to the staff — they rattled off the list of tasks that needed handling, and as Hee-young bounced beside them hollering, you’re busy! you have to go! — Shin-yul scrunched up his face but sluggishly pushed himself to his feet.
In truth, given how exceptional the circumstances between Shin-yul and Hee-young were, they had been granted an extended leave from work — but that too was slowly reaching its limit. The Guide matching registration had been properly completed, and Shin-yul’s condition was at an all-time high — The Center was quietly burning with impatience. Though nothing was said aloud, the pressure the staff had been under must have been considerable.
Shin-yul walked over to Hee-young at a leisurely pace. He gripped his chin firmly, pressed a quick kiss to his lips, and smiled.
“Well then, I’ll be off. Study hard, my princess. Let’s save the kissing for home.”
“Wha — what….”
Hee-young stared blankly at the spot where Shin-yul and the staff had vanished in an instant. It happened so fast he couldn’t even work up a proper anger — he just stood there, dazed.
Hm, so they do get along?
Ha-ram tilted his head.
“Hee-young? Shall we sit down now?”
At Ha-ram’s voice, Hee-young finally registered what had happened — his neck flushed red all the way up and he caught his breath in sharp gasps. What, that crazy bastard. He kissed me — in front of everyone, he kissed me? You — when I get home, you’re dead.
Hee-young seethed, trembling, and barely managed to lower himself into a chair — at which point Ha-ram began the session.
“So… it seems like you feel uncomfortable with physical contact with an Esper…. Is that right?”
“Would you enjoy rubbing lips with another man? You’ve got a pretty face yourself, so you can’t be entirely normal either, can you?”
“Pardon? Ah, um… well….”
Ha-ram sputtered, at a loss for words. Fine, whatever. Just get on with the lesson. Hee-young snapped.
“The reason I suggested a light kiss was because I was told you haven’t yet awakened to the sensation of Guiding. Guiding is much stronger and more noticeable through mucosal contact, so Guides can feel it much more clearly that way.”
“Is that so. But why do I need to know that.”
Even as Hee-young responded in that sulky, goading manner, Ha-ram continued speaking with the same gentle smile on his face.
“If you don’t know whether Guiding is taking place, you won’t be able to quickly recognize when it’s happening in a critical situation. Let’s say, hypothetically, that Han Shin-yul falls into an extremely dangerous state and loses consciousness. With Guiding, an Esper can have all wounds and damage restored immediately. But if you can’t tell whether Guiding is occurring even with an unconscious person in front of you, Han Shin-yul remains exposed to danger, and without ever properly applying the remedy, in the worst case — he dies. That’s why Guides must constantly check whether their Esper is receiving Guiding properly, and whether the Guiding level is running low.”
Ha-ram’s calm, measured explanation brought Hee-young’s mouth snapping shut. Well. I hadn’t thought about that. Hee-young clicked his tongue in mild embarrassment and asked, frowning.
“Okay, but does it have to be done through kissing? Like, can’t you just… sort of figure it out through touching or something?”
“Well… going through mucosal contact lets you know right away, so wouldn’t that be the easier approach? And once the Guiding sensation is awakened, even light physical contact afterward will—”
“Listen, instructor. Just because I’ve lived rough doesn’t mean I’m going to go rubbing mouths with some guy I met a few days ago, and a man at that. You know what, I’ve lived my whole life never once thinking about doing anything like that with another man. But since neither of us has a choice, I came to these sessions willing to put up with the physical contact. So then you — the instructor — should be giving me another option. I am absolutely not pressing lips with him.”
Hee-young flicked and dangled the drawstring on his hoodie, wiggling his fingers. Looking every bit like a college student who wanted nothing more than to skip class — slouched and surly — the contrast between that attitude and calling Ha-ram ajeossi while speaking frankly made the corners of Ha-ram’s mouth twitch uncontrollably.
These people… they said he was experiencing minor delusional symptoms….
Ha-ram quietly let out a sigh at the sight of Hee-young, who was clearly exhibiting anything but minor symptoms. Of course, having a Guide for Han Shin-yul had been desperately needed — but he clicked his tongue inwardly at The Center’s ruthlessness in dragging an ill person here without explaining anything.
What he didn’t know was that coming to The Center had been entirely Hee-young’s own decision — and that Hee-young had turned a completely deaf ear to every last word the staff had said about Guiding, at length, until their mouths ran dry. Not knowing any of this, Ha-ram lamented when exactly The Center had become so inhumane.
There must be so many unexpected moments of physical contact with an Esper ahead of him…. Poor thing…….
Having unexpectedly earned sympathy, Hee-young caught the sudden look of pity in Ha-ram’s eyes and made a sour face. No, wait. Did I just say something really dumb?
The two stared at each other blankly in the midst of deepening misunderstanding, then sighed at the exact same time. God. Life is such a grind. Hee-young shook out his soft hair.
Ha-ram watched Hee-young shake out his hair like a puppy drying off, and made a quiet resolution — I’ll be the one to guide him well, at least — and drew in a breath.
“Hee-young, then for now, shall we continue Guiding while holding hands? Let’s first focus on getting you comfortable with your paired Esper, Han Shin-yul. Developing a sense for Guiding is essential, so let’s take it slowly, step by step. In the meantime, please continue light physical contact such as hand-holding and make sure Shin-yul’s Guiding level is maintained at all times. The lower an Esper’s Guiding level, the greater the danger they’re in. Please keep that in mind. Now that you are a Guide, your duty is one thing and one thing only — to ensure Han Shin-yul’s health and safety.”
Of course, once Han Shin-yul returned to his full workload, Guiding by hand-holding alone would be woefully insufficient — but Ha-ram resolved to buy Hee-young time to adjust, even if it meant staging a one-man protest. Having said it with such conviction, his expression had taken on considerable force — and Hee-young, who had been slouched sideways, straightened up unconsciously and gave a small nod.
“Yes. Understood.”
A bright, satisfied smile bloomed across Ha-ram’s pretty face.
