# Chapter 121
“Hm hmm. Hmm hmm. Mmm…!”
Kalik hummed continuously. He was swaying his body, clearly tipsy and looking quite pleased.
“Are you celebrating?”
Lyle approached Kalik with a somewhat tired expression. Having spent all his energy eliminating the ore, he found the sight of his fellow countryman just drinking rather unpleasant.
“Yes! I’m celebrating! Just for today! Haha!”
But Kalik showed no concern for Lyle’s feelings. It wasn’t so much because he was drunk, but rather his natural disposition.
“My stability has dropped! Damn it! I can’t grab the Guides who are busy eliminating the ore, right? I’m planning to get guiding from a Guide who won’t be going into Riska’s lair tomorrow! Damn it! Just entering briefly makes the stability drop so quickly!”
Though every word was a complaint, Lyle knew that he was currently very happy. Even despite his low stability.
In truth, Kalik wasn’t used to low stability. His drinking was probably to endure the continuous pain.
“You look happy.”
Having roughly understood his situation, Lyle commented casually as he plopped down beside him.
“Hahaha! Yes! That’s right! I’m so incredibly happy right now!”
Kalik agreed with Lyle’s words, laughing loudly. Then he raised his glass high into the air.
“Cheers, Chase!”
The name of his departed comrade rang out loudly.
“We can finally end it, friend. It’s time to say goodbye to that damn Riska!”
“……”
“It would have been good if you were here too! Don’t you think?”
Lyle recalled Chase’s face. He would have been very happy too. Just like Kalik now, or perhaps even more.
“……”
Kalik, who had been gulping down his drink, closed his mouth. Lyle closed his eyes, feeling the gently blowing breeze.
It felt as though Chase was rejoicing nearby.
“…About Suhyun.”
How much time had passed like that?
Suddenly, Kalik brought up the name of Korea’s S-class Esper.
“He did his best. I mean, passing through that door alone was his best option. Would he have imagined that a Guide could open the door?”
“Right, who would have known?”
“Exactly! Since we couldn’t break the entrance no matter what, he ultimately tried to sacrifice himself. I thought there was no better option than that. I couldn’t have done it, damn.”
Lyle quietly listened to Kalik’s slightly drunken, agitated voice.
“How many pieces would he be able to bring? Is this the end of our opportunity? I wondered. Damn it, without Suhyun, who else could become a medium and find such a wall?”
“……”
“That’s when the Guide opened the door. While I was feeling frustrated, having such cruel thoughts.”
Kalik let out a long sigh, then laughed. Finding something amusing, he chuckled for a while, then ruffled his hair wildly.
“They found Riska, then overcame it, and ultimately brought us this far. It was something only they could do.”
“……”
“I didn’t even come close to their level. I’ve completely lost.”
Lyle stared at Kalik, who was again gulping down his drink, and nodded slightly. Then, in a calm voice, he said:
“What are you talking about? You already lost to Suhyun. Even when you and Chase attacked together. Why are you pretending to have lost just now?”
It had been only a few months since they came to Korea, were thoroughly defeated by Suhyun, and were carried back to America.
“Ah, right. Yes, I already lost? Right! I already lost!”
“Haah, Kalik. Drink in moderation. You need to be sober to work again tomorrow.”
Lyle exhaled deeply and got up from his seat. Whether Kalik had been unable to acknowledge his defeat due to pride or whatever else, Lyle didn’t want to converse with a drunk person for too long.
In the meantime, Kalik, nodding to himself, shouted at Lyle’s back as he was walking away.
“I’ve made up my mind!”
His voice was so loud that it was difficult to ignore.
“About what?”
“To erect a statue honoring them!”
“……”
But he should have ignored it after all.
Taking the nonsense of a drunkard seriously.
It was clear that he himself had gone a bit mad with the exhilaration of confronting Riska.
***
A warm sunbeam waking him up in the morning.
Jiwon comfortably opened his eyes in warm arms.
Jiwon smiled at the familiar heavy arm firmly embracing him, and burrowed deeper into Suhyun’s arms.
“Are you awake?”
As if he’d been waiting for that moment, Suhyun’s voice was heard.
“Yeah. Did I wake you?”
“No.”
Hearing his clear voice, Jiwon raised his head. The eyes he immediately met showed no signs of sleepiness.
“Then when did you wake up?”
“Just a little while ago.”
It didn’t seem like “just a little while ago.”
While Jiwon was lost in idle thoughts, Suhyun’s hand stroked the back of his head.
Jiwon smiled idly, enjoying that touch.
It was exactly like the morning pattern they had experienced just a few days ago. But there was a comfort he hadn’t been able to fully feel then.
The vibration felt every time he heard the low voice, the gentle touch of skin, the warm hand passing through his hair—all of these made Jiwon happy as if experiencing them for the first time.
“Do you not want to sleep more?”
As if having similar thoughts, Suhyun asked with a smile. That dazzling smile, brighter than anything, was fully directed at Jiwon.
“Well. We’re not going to work today either, right?”
“No, we’re not.”
Suhyun shook his head firmly. Except for the first day, Jiwon hadn’t even set foot in Riska’s lair.
“Then we’ll be home all day, so I could sleep more.”
At first, he had felt awkward about just resting like this, but with Suhyun also staying home with him, he actually liked it.
Without being too self-congratulatory, having accomplished such a significant feat, they deserved this much rest.
“But I don’t want to sleep because it feels like a waste.”
Jiwon smiled, eyes creasing, as he lay down with his head on Suhyun’s arm. Suhyun turned to face Jiwon.
With the distance shortened, Jiwon gave him a brief kiss first.
“Haha, ah, it tickles.”
Immediately, as if he had been waiting for this, Suhyun kissed various spots on Jiwon’s face with little pecks. Jiwon laughed out loud, trying to stop Suhyun.
Suhyun gave one last kiss on Jiwon’s lips and pulled away. His eyes were gently creased.
“What should we do? At this rate, we’ll never leave the bed.”
After a brief moment of feeling trapped in those eyes, Jiwon laughed, deliberately using a playful tone. Suhyun raised his eyebrow as if there wasn’t any problem.
“We don’t have to leave. I’ll bring whatever we need.”
At that determined answer, Jiwon’s eyes immediately narrowed. It was a slightly off-context response.
“You know that’s not what I meant.”
Having pretended not to know all this time but now unable to overlook it, Jiwon asked directly with an “enough is enough” mindset.
“Hmm? How long are we just going to kiss?”
At those words, Suhyun hesitated, seemingly surprised. He looked as if he hadn’t known that Jiwon was aware.
“Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”
Jiwon asked, as if it was absurd.
It was surprising in its own way that he hadn’t known, despite showing signs of worry as if Jiwon might fly away at the slightest breeze.
“We always just kiss a bit and then you suddenly pull away, how could I not know?”
His body had been damaged from guiding. And skinship accompanies guiding. Though it could be moderately controlled, in truth, as the degree of skinship intensified, Jiwon lost his reason and couldn’t help it.
So Suhyun was keeping his distance. It was ultimately an action born from worry.
Jiwon could understand his feelings fully. But this was enough. Peaceful days were continuing. He thought it was about time to just feel happiness.
“There’s nothing wrong with my boyfriend, right?”
Since the topic had come up, Jiwon decided to address it, asking shrewdly like a snake.
When Suhyun slightly furrowed his brow, Jiwon diligently pressed it smooth.
“…Suhyun.”
Jiwon softly called Suhyun’s name.
His name, lingering in his mouth, tickled his heart.
“……”
Perhaps not just for him, as Suhyun’s face turned somewhat red.
Further narrowing the already close distance, Jiwon whispered.
“If there’s a problem, tell me quickly. Let’s go to the hospital.”
“Guide-nim…”
His reluctant expression was unbearably cute.
Jiwon wished his gentle, overly worrying lover would finally relax.
Then he too would finally feel that they were somewhat safe.
“We’re going to live together for the rest of our lives, there can’t be problems so soon. We should get checked out early…”
The rambling words were abruptly cut off by Suhyun’s lips. Willingly accepting the softly touching lips, Jiwon embraced Suhyun’s neck.
And the moment their lips separated with a smack.
“I love you, Seo Suhyun.”
Jiwon showed his heart without reserve.
“Let’s live long, healthy, and happy together.”
Faced with his heart laid bare, Suhyun was momentarily silent.
Unable to wait even for that brief silence, Jiwon stole a few more kisses from Suhyun’s lips, urging him.
“You have to answer this. It’s a proposal.”
Though it was suddenly thrown out, simple, and not particularly stylish, he wanted a definite answer right away.
If he regretted this casual approach, they could do it again later. As long as Suhyun nodded first.
“……”
To be honest, Jiwon didn’t think Suhyun would refuse.
But Suhyun’s lips, which Jiwon thought would smile prettily and agree, showed no signs of opening.
Surprised by his frowning face, Jiwon’s eyes widened.
“Won’t we keep living together?”
His tone became somewhat formal, as if to attest to the sudden sense of distance he felt.
Just as he was about to feel betrayed, Suhyun, sensing something was wrong, hurriedly shook his head.
“No. That’s not it. No, I want that. I want to live like that. But…”
“But?”
Under Jiwon’s suspicious gaze, Suhyun awkwardly rolled his eyes.
“…I wanted to say those words first.”
Then, after a moment of hesitation, he muttered with an embarrassed face:
“You confessed first, and now you’re proposing first… It’s like I haven’t done anything.”
His matter-of-fact tone somehow sounded like a complaint. But his ears weren’t deceiving him. The gaze that couldn’t meet his revealed that Suhyun was embarrassed.
“Ah, then I cancel it.”
As soon as he realized this, Jiwon quickly retracted his words.
“Let’s pretend I didn’t say it.”
“…Ha.”
How could they pretend words already spoken weren’t said? But Jiwon was sincere. Knowing his heart and hearing it directly were completely different.
“But once you propose, there’s no backing out. You can’t leave me all alone in bed like that anymore.”
Having conveyed the point that needed to be made clear before officially hearing his confession, Jiwon looked at Suhyun with strange determination.
Perhaps finding Jiwon bewildering, Suhyun narrowed his eyes.
“Why do you switch between informal and formal speech?”
And then, instead of giving the expected confession, he said something irrelevant.
“I’ll drop the formality if you propose.”
Jiwon answered decisively. It was like laying out the red carpet for him.
“……”
Whatever words he was trying to say, his moving lips firmly closed.
This time, Jiwon waited without prodding, for him to open his mouth.
Finally, a rather solemn face confronted Jiwon.
“Moon Jiwon.”
Jiwon’s eyes suddenly rounded. It felt awkward hearing his full name from Suhyun’s lips.
“…Guide-nim.”
But unable to resist, he followed with that title, and Jiwon couldn’t help but laugh with a “puhh.”
“I love you.”
Though he looked a bit embarrassed, Suhyun steadfastly completed his confession.
It was Jiwon’s turn to give an answer to his lovely partner who provided such warm comfort.
“Yes.”
Jiwon nodded slightly.
“I love you too.”
The corners of Suhyun’s lips curved upward.
“I’ll protect you no matter what.”
To the vow to protect him no matter what, Suhyun immediately replied:
“That’s my line.”
One cannot expect the world to always be peaceful. Nor can one guarantee that Riska will completely collapse like this.
However, even if they face adversity again, they will survive by protecting each other as they vowed now. So they can live happily for a long, long time.
If Suhyun tries to sacrifice himself for him, he too will sacrifice himself for Suhyun. And ultimately, they’ll greet another peaceful morning like this.
“By the way, Suhyun.”
Swallowing his resolute determination, Jiwon called out to Suhyun with a broad smile.
“I don’t need to be protected right now.”
At those subtly encouraging words, Suhyun’s serious face completely crumbled.
“Ha…”
A short laugh escaped from between Suhyun’s lips. His lips gently touched Jiwon’s lips.
One of the many days the two would walk forward together was peacefully beginning.
<The End.>
