Warm sunlight. Soft, fluffy blankets. Just the right humidity and temperature. And….
“Princess, want me to give you a massage?”
A leech stuck right to his side….
Hee-young closed his eyes and focused on breathing. Getting angry would only aggravate the muscle soreness all over his body. He laced his fingers together over his stomach and focused on his breathing — in, in, out, out — and just as he was starting to feel a little calmer….
“Move the blanket. I’ll massage your thighs. They hurt, don’t they? From being spread open so long….”
“……”
“Want to flip over? Now that I think about it, your ass was swollen too. Oh, wait, take your underwear off too. The hole’s swollen, isn’t it? There should be some ointment….”
“Shut up.”
“Okay.”
Shin-yul answered without missing a beat and immediately pulled Hee-young into his arms like a body pillow, rubbing his face against his neck. Shin-yul’s hair tickled and Hee-young scrunched his face in irritation — but he said nothing and lay still as a mummy.
Hee-young was troubled. Starting with the immediate situation of having been taken from behind. Even if it was something he’d gotten swept up in without thinking in the heat of the moment, even if it had been unavoidable, even if he himself had gone oh, whatever and squeezed his eyes shut and let it happen — that was a decision to have sex with a man, absolutely not a decision to give up his ass! Having lived fifty years of his life as a sturdy, red-blooded man, it was damn hard to just casually accept the fact that he’d been taken by a kid barely out of diapers.
But harder still than that was the fact that halfway through, he’d lost his mind completely and clung to that lunatic, whimpering and crying. Honestly, it had felt good. And that made it even harder to accept. It felt good? Of course it felt good, goddammit. How many times did I come? Pinned down by another man and I came how many times?! Sex that had wrung his balls so dry they’d gone completely empty — that wasn’t something he’d ever experienced in his real life, not once.
“Ha….”
“Does it hurt a lot? Hm? I’ll give you a massage. I’ll be gentle so my princess doesn’t hurt.”
So what does this make me now? Am I gay? I had sex with a man, and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Does that make me gay? That lunatic actually ended up turning me gay? At this age?
“The fuck, no?”
“Mmm…. A massage would help it heal faster though….”
No way! Absolutely not. Fuck, that was… That’s right! It was Guiding! Guiding, dammit…. Sexual Guiding….
“……”
Don’t think about it. Right, he’d forgotten again that this was a crazy world. He’d done something crazy for a bit in a crazy world — what’s the big deal.
Having decided to look away from the unsolvable situation, Hee-young finally let a small smile come to his face. Whatever happened to him in this world was none of his business. This wasn’t even his body to begin with, and once he returned to his real world, it would all be as if none of it had ever happened. Ah, what a relief. For the first time, Hee-young thought it was a good thing this wasn’t his body. Sorry about that, kid. That’s a bit of an unfortunate situation for you.
Hee-young slowly cracked open his tightly shut eyes. Shin-yul — massive as he was — had curled himself up small to fit against Hee-young’s side, nestled in like he was hugging him, and he’d apparently been staring at Hee-young the whole time, because their eyes met immediately. Meeting those bright, glittering golden eyes, Hee-young let out a sigh without meaning to. Perhaps because he now knew just how dark those eyes could turn.
He lifted his hand — barely — from where it had been resting on his stomach, and brushed it across the corner of Shin-yul’s eyes. Like a cat that had taken to someone’s touch, Shin-yul smiled softly and rubbed his face against Hee-young’s hand.
“So. Are you doing alright now?”
“Yeah…. You saved me, princess.”
It was almost funny — Hee-young, laid up and aching, asking if the man who looked not just fine but positively glowing was okay. But he was serious. They’d both just gone through their first Rampage, and he knew full well it could have gone very badly. Good thing I studied up. If it had been his old self, the one who didn’t know any of this, he’d have just raged and screamed about why the hell he was supposed to do something like this with another man — and things would have gone somewhere irreversible.
Hee-young scratched Shin-yul’s head roughly, the way you’d pet a puppy. A guy who’ll die without me, huh…. One corner of his heart grew heavier. Pair Esper change…. Hee-young thought of the Guiding analysis chart he’d brought along from the hospital and clicked his tongue. He hadn’t even considered changing it — but now he thought he understood why The Center was unwilling to change it either. In the entire world, only Hee-young held the power of life and death over Shin-yul. Hearing about it secondhand was worlds apart from witnessing and feeling it firsthand.
I should still go back, though….
Shin-yul, sharp enough to catch the troubled look in Hee-young’s eyes, nestled into Hee-young’s chest like he was trying to be cute. The weight of him made Hee-young let out a pained Ugh—! Who else but a big dumb dog would do this without thinking about how much he weighs….!
“I told you, didn’t I? My life belongs to Hee-young. I’m someone who dies without Ajeossi.”
“…Then act like it and be good to me.”
“Yeah, I’ll be good. I can do even better next time.”
Hee-young’s expression crumpled. He’d said be good to me and gotten back some slippery, suggestive answer. Is this what you’d call depraved, or what would you even call this…. Hee-young couldn’t find the words and sat there looking dumbstruck — and Shin-yul, who had been resting his chin on Hee-young’s chest, tilted his head up and pressed a light kiss to his lips.
“Ajeossi, want to take your clothes off so I can be good to you? I think we should at least put some ointment on.”
“You — you — !”
***
After about a day of rest, he could at least shuffle around on his feet. Sure, he was waddling and every single step felt like it weighed a thousand pounds — but with a body this pathetically weak, just being out of bed was already something to be grateful for.
Going through Rampage warning signs wasn’t something to brush off lightly, so as soon as Hee-young’s condition improved, the two of them got ready to head to The Center. Hee-young wore a gloomy expression as he obediently let Shin-yul fuss over him and help him get dressed.
So basically we’re going in to report that we had sex. We’re going to announce we did it successfully. Does that make any sense? Don’t make me laugh, you insane people…. This insane world….
Whether Hee-young was sulking or not, Shin-yul efficiently dressed him and then scooped him up in his arms like always. Hee-young, completely defeated by the situation, went limp in Shin-yul’s hold and let himself be carried off to The Center. He’d never appreciated Shin-yul’s broad chest as much as he did today. Too embarrassed to lift his face, Hee-young buried it deep into Shin-yul’s chest the whole way there.
“Are you a cat?”
“Shut up….”
What would you know, you crazy person living in this crazy world? Hee-young ground his teeth in shame and gripped Shin-yul’s clothes tight. Shin-yul kept pressing kiss after kiss to the top of his head without pause, and Hee-young whispered quietly — stop it, unless you want to die… — but a threat from someone who couldn’t even lift their own face wasn’t going to get through to anyone.
When Hee-young and Shin-yul arrived at The Center, all the staff came swarming and buzzing around them. The sound of urgent footsteps came from somewhere, and people pressed in close to Shin-yul, asking him all sorts of questions. It seemed they wanted to properly check on Shin-yul’s condition after the Rampage.
“Hey…. Tell them all to get lost….”
“My princess says everyone get lost.”
“…Pardon?”
The Center researchers who’d been rushing to check on Shin-yul’s condition looked flustered at his words. It wasn’t like some couple at a café making the other place their order for them…. And of all things to have the order be — not extra whipped cream but get the hell out of here? One of the researchers, who’d been wearing a baffled expression, quickly composed himself and addressed Shin-yul.
“Let’s head to the lab for a moment. We’ll need to run a thorough examination.”
“Guide Yoo Hee-young, please wait here for a bit. I’ve been told there’s going to be an inquiry regarding the Rampage Guiding.”
“What…?”
Hee-young’s head snapped up. A Rampage Guiding inquiry…? We just had sex, what is there to investigate…? They want us to explain how we did it? What? You people are insane!
Before Hee-young could get a word of protest in, Shin-yul set him down on the ground. He looked displeased, but he clearly had no intention whatsoever of taking Hee-young with him to the lab.
“Princess, will you wait here? I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to come to the lab.”
“No, wait — ah—!”
The moment Hee-young was set down from Shin-yul’s arms, he went pale as a sheet staring after him — but trying to follow Shin-yul and the researchers as they quickly moved away with his shuffling, waddling steps was simply out of the question. People gathered and murmured all around him, and there he was, left all alone. Dizzy with the situation, Hee-young tried to make a quick exit out of The Center — but from somewhere in the distance, a familiar voice called out to him.
“Hee-young! Hee-young!”
He glanced over — and through the crowd of people, Deputy Seong and Deputy Shin came running, pushing through to get to him. Ugh, the over-the-top ones are here again. Hee-young’s expression soured — but deep down, he was relieved. He hadn’t known what to do or where to go, and had just been trying to escape the stares of the crowd — but at the sight of the two staff members running toward him, his waddling steps came to a stop.
Deputy Seong and Deputy Shin’s faces, running toward him at full speed, were a complete mess of tears and snot. The way they ran toward him with both arms flung wide open was practically an eyesore. Hee-young recoiled in horror and tried to step back — but the two of them, too oblivious to notice, came charging in and threw their arms around him in one go.
“Oh my goodness! Hee-young! Waaaah!! I knew you could do it! Hee-young!”
“Really, sob… we were so worried…! I mean, it’s just incredible! Hee-young…!”
“Ow! Ow! It hurts! IT HURTS!”
Completely ignoring Hee-young’s pained shriek, Deputy Shin suddenly spun around to face the crowd gathered around them and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Everyone! Guide Yoo Hee-young has stopped an S-class Rampage!”
“WAAAAAAHHH!”
Shut your mouth, you insane bastard…!
Even as Hee-young’s face went white with horror, Deputy Shin didn’t stop — and the cheering of the crowd didn’t stop either. On the verge of passing out from the situation, Hee-young smacked both palms hard against his own eyes, desperately wanting to believe this was a dream — but the crowd wouldn’t leave him alone.
“A hero! He’s a hero!”
“Hee-young is the hero of our Center!”
The crowd surged forward, grabbing Hee-young by his arms and legs, and hoisted him into the air — they were tossing him up in celebration.
“Stop! Stop, stop, STOOOOOP—!”
“Hero of our Center! Hero of our Center!”
Deputy Shin, watching Hee-young get launched into the air again and again with a deeply moved expression, reached up and dabbed at his tears with his own necktie. Even as he was being tossed around, Hee-young glared daggers at Deputy Shin and ground his teeth. This humiliation — I will never forget it!
“PUT ME DOWN! WHAT THE FUCK, ARE YOU ALL OUT OF YOUR MINDS?!”
“Hero! Hero!”
A man nearing fifty. Becomes a hero through gay sex.
