# Chapter 23
“It was 38? It didn’t look like that…?”
Jo Wooyeon responded as if bewildered. Jiwon, who had rubbed his eyes several times to check the wavelength again, looked up with an incredulous laugh. Now he understood why Wooyeon hadn’t been concerned about Suhyun at all.
“Haha….”
Jiwon firmly pressed the call button. His fingertips were tense as he pressed it.
“I need to see him.”
“…You shouldn’t be guiding right now.”
Though an Esper with such a low wavelength should receive guiding, Wooyeon’s face clouded with a troubled expression at the thought of pushing Jiwon too hard.
“I won’t guide him.”
Jiwon kindly alleviated his concern.
“Guide him? How could I possibly guide anyone when I’m nearly dead?”
“……”
Wooyeon’s gaze became peculiar at the sudden change in attitude. Meanwhile, the door slid open and Suhyun appeared. Jiwon had expected it would take some time, but it seemed Suhyun had been nearby.
“Alright then. Um… get some rest.”
“Yes. You can go, Team Leader.”
Jiwon smiled as he saw off the somewhat flustered Wooyeon. He didn’t bother to get up. Even though he said he was fine, his whole body still ached.
If Jiwon said he wouldn’t do it, then he wouldn’t. And Suhyun’s condition didn’t seem that bad, so it should be fine.
Wooyeon looked back and forth between Jiwon and Suhyun before stepping outside the hospital room.
“……”
And so, only the two of them remained in the room.
Jiwon stared at Suhyun. Somehow his lips felt tingly, so he touched them with his fingers, but there was no wound.
Right, his lips wouldn’t have been injured due to the guiding…
“Seo Suhyun Esper-nim.”
“Yes.”
Suhyun’s response was quick. He was so compliant it seemed like a different person, almost like he was overtly admitting he had something to feel guilty about.
Jiwon kindly showed him his watch.
“Would you mind explaining what happened here?”
The watch displayed Suhyun’s wavelength stability.
81.
No matter how many times he looked, the number didn’t change. It was enough to make him wonder what on earth had happened—the wavelength had become remarkably stable.
The last time he’d checked it was 38, but now it had surpassed the wall of 79 that he had been trying so hard to overcome. It was a number that made him extremely curious about what had happened while he was unconscious.
“……”
Suhyun didn’t readily answer. Jiwon patiently waited for his lips to part.
“…I’m sorry.”
After a long pause, what came out was an apology. Jiwon tilted his head with narrowed eyes.
“What did you do that you’re apologizing for?”
He had a general idea. But Jiwon wanted to hear it from Suhyun’s own mouth. He wanted him to volunteer the information willingly.
The number couldn’t have soared so dramatically in such a short time. Exchanging saliva is certainly far more effective than merely holding hands. But he’d never heard of such a dramatic effect.
Yet the number had improved this much? Although Jiwon was clearly in pain, it wasn’t to the extent that would cause problems for him as a Guide. So how could the wavelength have stabilized this much?
The only conclusion Jiwon could draw was that Suhyun had done something beyond a kiss in that space.
“Tell me.”
Straightforwardly.
Jiwon swallowed the rest of his words. Considering there had been no victims and Suhyun hadn’t been in his right mind, Jiwon wasn’t even that angry at the thought that Suhyun might have taken liberties with him while he was unconscious.
But he did want to know for certain. And he intended to warn him not to do it again in the future. This incident… he felt he could let it go with great generosity. It wasn’t for pleasure or conquest, but for survival.
“What did you do?”
Jiwon asked again toward the silent Suhyun.
Seeing Suhyun without his usual confidence, Jiwon couldn’t muster the energy to be angry. What could he say to someone who knew they’d done something wrong?
“I won’t get angry. Well, your wavelength dropped drastically, so it must have been difficult for you to think rationally. Anyone could have done the same in that situation…”
Somehow the situation had turned into Jiwon consoling and comforting Suhyun, but the person in question seemed not to realize it.
“Anyone could have done the same?”
In the midst of this, Suhyun suddenly asked with sharp eyes. When Jiwon paused and blinked, Suhyun quickly turned his head away. He looked troubled.
“Well… you’d end up craving guiding. Having experienced it directly, you’d know better.”
Suhyun had rushed at him like someone who had lost his mind. If he remembered that, he would understand what Jiwon meant.
“That…”
Suhyun’s lips moved as if to say something. Jiwon waited for him to continue, but unfortunately, Suhyun closed his mouth. Jiwon’s patience was starting to wear thin.
“…You’re not going to tell me? Is it the unconscious person’s fault? Should I just stay in the dark about what happened?”
Jiwon asked as he sat up in frustration. When Jiwon moved, Suhyun, who had looked flustered, furrowed his brows. He sighed deeply, avoiding Jiwon’s gaze.
“I just… kissed you.”
He said in a small voice.
“I know that much.”
Jiwon replied calmly.
“You did more than that, didn’t you?”
Jiwon had initiated the kiss first. Suhyun must know that wasn’t what he was curious about, so why wasn’t he speaking properly?
Was he trying to slide past this? Heat crept up Jiwon’s face, who had been intending to be generous. That didn’t seem right.
“…I didn’t.”
But at Suhyun’s firm answer, Jiwon was left speechless. Suhyun looked as if he didn’t understand what was being asked.
“You only kissed me?”
“…Yes.”
“That’s a lie.”
“Why would I lie about that?”
Suhyun countered as if he couldn’t comprehend it. Well, the reason to lie… there probably wasn’t one.
Morally it was a mistake, and he should feel guilty, but it had been an unavoidable choice for Suhyun whose stability had dropped to the bottom.
But now that the situation was resolved, why would he lie when Jiwon said he would forgive him? It didn’t suit him. Despite knowing this, the displayed numbers indicated Suhyun was lying.
“The stability couldn’t have risen from 38 to 81 just from a kiss. This is reasonable suspicion.”
“……”
Suhyun pressed his lips tightly at Jiwon’s words. However, no matter how Jiwon looked at it, it wasn’t the face of someone who had been caught red-handed.
“It wasn’t?”
It couldn’t be. Even with moderate rest and guiding twice a day, they couldn’t break the wall of 80, yet from such a low number, it suddenly jumped above 80? Just from one kiss?
“I didn’t do… anything more than kiss you.”
Suhyun sighed and repeated the same answer.
“That’s all there was.”
Logic dictated that Suhyun’s words were false. It was an impossibility by common sense.
But the strange thing was, Jiwon believed him because it was Suhyun saying it. If it had been another Esper, he would have scolded them for talking nonsense, but with Suhyun, he just couldn’t.
Moreover…
“…Give me your hand.”
Jiwon extended his own hand. Suhyun narrowed his eyes as if trying to understand the meaning, but Jiwon didn’t withdraw his hand.
After hesitating, Suhyun placed his hand over Jiwon’s. Jiwon pressed down on his lips that were trying to curl up.
“Let me check, in case the watch is malfunctioning.”
“……”
There was no chance the watch was broken. Besides, a Guide can visually confirm an Esper’s wavelength. Right now, Suhyun’s wavelength was extremely stable.
The reason he suddenly asked for Suhyun’s hand was…
Just… because he saw Suhyun’s cheeks turning slightly red.
It was fascinating and a little… just a tiny bit cute.
“Is there… anything else you want to ask?”
Suhyun asked, emanating an air of wanting to escape immediately, though he didn’t seem to notice it himself.
Something he wanted to ask.
He did have something, though completely different from the reason he had called Suhyun.
“By any chance….”
Jiwon impulsively opened his mouth.
“Was that your first kiss?”
Is that why he was feeling embarrassed? Not because he had done something more and felt guilty, but because it was his first?
The great Seo Suhyun?
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”
Jiwon couldn’t hear Suhyun’s answer. He had immediately withdrawn his hand and left.
“Ha….”
Regrettably, that in itself was a definite answer. Jiwon rubbed his face with a smile.
“Ah, really… it doesn’t suit you.”
His muttered words carried a hint of laughter.
By now, Jiwon had dismissed his suspicion that Suhyun had done something more to him. It didn’t make sense, but he didn’t think Suhyun’s words were false.
