While heading out on deployment, he called his attending physician and instructed him to check on Kim Yeoul’s condition. Even in the midst of conquering the Gate, his worries never left his mind. Even after hearing several times from the doctor who had examined the kid that he was fine, his anxiously stirring heart showed no signs of settling down.
He was a child he had treated preciously his whole life, coddling and handling gently. And yet he had been scolded so harshly by him—how hurt must he have been? He thought it wouldn’t be unreasonable if Yeoul said he didn’t want to see his face.
The moment he saw the child’s face sleeping obediently in the office bedroom, his heart sank. His tiny face looked particularly pale that day.
He sat by the bedside and carefully touched his forehead. Fortunately, he wasn’t running a fever or covered in cold sweat. Compared to what he’d been through during the day, the child was sleeping with a peaceful face. Hyeseong quietly let out a sigh of relief.
That’s why, Yeoul.
Why on earth, why did you awaken as a guide?
When you already have such a weak body……
Kim Yeoul sensed his presence and opened his eyes with a start. The moment their eyes met, far from resenting him, he worried about him first. Even after hearing such hurtful words while guiding, he didn’t give up and thought of his wave levels first—watching this child made his heart truly feel strange.
He knew he was a lovely child with a good heart. But had he always been this spirited and dependable?
It was a sense of responsibility. What the kid had tried to protect to the very end even while throwing himself into his arms and crying. As his dedicated guide, and as the child who had followed him like a duckling since childhood.
‘In this team, what should I do as a guide?’
‘How is that enough? I’m already A-rank, and hyung is S-rank.’
Yeoul was genuinely worried about him. Enough to push against his chest in anger when he said he’d manage his wave levels on his own.
He desperately wanted to be helpful to him somehow. He actively volunteered to be an effective partner and wanted to fulfill his duty as a soldier. In front of a child trying so hard, Hyeseong could no longer tell him it was okay to just stay still.
Only after hearing him ask for hand guiding and say that his guiding was really good did the sulking Yeoul soften a bit.
‘You’re not planning to work again after suffering for two whole nights, are you? You said you wouldn’t receive guiding from me, but if you don’t listen to this too, I’m really going to quit being your dedicated guide and everything and leave.’
Kim Yeoul, who took care of him attentively yet was full of vigor, was truly adorable and cute. The child who had been precious from the start became even more, more lovable. To the point where he couldn’t feel more affection than this.
The child he had always offered his knee to and put to sleep while stroking his head—when did he grow up like this to take care of him? When did those thighs that were only a span long get so long…? With such thoughts, Hyeseong fell into a deep sleep without even realizing it himself.
***
The next day, the Director immediately issued a cohabitation order.
‘I wonder if Yeoul is resting well right now.’
Even while receiving deployment orders and handling work, Hyeseong occasionally thought of his young guide. The way he threw off his gloves without thinking about his own body, driven by eagerness. The way he pushed against his chest asking what he should do then. Even the way he forcefully put him to sleep……
As he took down creatures while recalling the face that constantly circled in his mind, he suddenly thought that his condition today was unprecedentedly good.
A body so light he couldn’t remember when it had last felt this way. An unusually clear head. Ice power bursting forth clearly and strongly. A light feeling even after pouring out his ability.
Even though he hadn’t received guiding since yesterday’s second deployment, Hyeseong quietly traced back the cause of the difference from usual that he felt so distinctly. As a result, he recalled the lap pillow Yeoul had given him last night.
When waves are tangled to the extreme, even if completely exhausted, one can’t easily fall into deep sleep. There’s a high probability of having nightmares while dozing all night. However, he truly slept soundly yesterday.
He knew that imprinted partners could achieve relaxation and healing effects through simple touch that shares warmth, even without guiding. It was even possible to guide indirectly just by staying in the same space together.
But Yeoul and he weren’t even imprinted, so how was this possible?
‘…Is this possible because of the high matching rate?’
Was it thanks to the matching rate? Or was it thanks to his high trust in the child? Perhaps it was both.
What was certain was that during the time spent in contact with the child, the fatigue that had piled up layer upon layer melted away like a massive glacier slowly thawing. Little by little, but certainly.
No wonder the Director had no choice but to issue such an order immediately. The Security Bureau, which was checking not only his waves in real-time but also all his basic vital signs, couldn’t have failed to notice this change.
Fortunately, Yeoul readily accepted the cohabitation order. Well, for a child who had lived with him practically since childhood, cohabitation wasn’t anything new. Living together would be beneficial for him too, since he could take care of the kid from one to ten by his side.
Yeoul’s enthusiasm after immediately packing and moving into the official residence was still at its peak, as expected.
‘Still, we should guide once, right? Hyung. It’s our first night together.’
Yeoul, who was about to lead him while saying that in a vigorous voice, belatedly realized the strange nuance of his words and flushed bright red.
To Hyeseong, the child bustling about trying to help him was just cute. Did he even know what those words meant? Sometimes Kim Yeoul was so innocent and pretty that his age of twenty was truly unbelievable.
And not long after the hand guiding with gloves began, Hyeseong couldn’t help but be a little surprised.
It felt much more fluid and delicate than last time. The way Kim Yeoul corrected his broken wave system.
Even faced with the massively accumulated impure waves, the kid fearlessly confronted them and accepted them into his body. Then he carefully flowed high-purity purification waves into his body. He was so delicate it was hard to believe he was a rookie guide who had only guided once.
‘…This is… getting a bit dangerous.’
Hyeseong quietly inhaled so Yeoul wouldn’t be startled. His hand tried to tense up several times. To keep from gripping Yeoul’s small, soft hand harder, he had to make a very conscious effort.
Purification waves flowed into his body like a clear stream. The lump of residue-like power that had been blocking his mind gradually melted away. Even the headache that had been sharply piercing his temples had disappeared before he knew it.
It felt like cells that had been asleep for a long time were awakening one by one. Sensations he didn’t even know existed in his body quietly began to breathe and spread their wings. For Hyeseong, who had never become obsessed with any guide even after awakening as an Esper, it was a very alien sensation.
The damp instinct peculiar to Espers. The desire to do more than this, and therefore to more greedily absorb the guide’s waves that gently accepted and embraced the tangled waves.
An Esper’s instinct was like a violent tidal wave. Espers swept up in the intense pleasure tearing through their bodies gradually lose their reason and show great obsession toward the one purifying them.
However, Hyeseong overcame that sensation without difficulty. He was just somewhat surprised because it was his first time experiencing it. He could control it easily enough, and he would have to continue doing so in the future.
Rather, Hyeseong became a bit disgusted with himself for even briefly thinking of an Esper’s instinct while receiving guiding from Yeoul. Kim Yeoul was a young child who hadn’t even lost his baby fat before being his guide, and he was a younger sibling he’d known since childhood. With a weak body, even…
If even I’m like this, how much worse must the other bastards be?
Yeoul needed to know about these tendencies of Espers. Watching Yeoul smile at him defenseless and ask what’s wrong with a little obsession, Hyeseong truly became anxious and displeased at the fact that this child was in the Ability Security Bureau swarming with Espers.
‘Sexual feelings. The obsession Espers feel.’
So he deliberately told him more directly. He thought that since the kid was smart, if he spoke this much, he would snap to attention.
‘……’
It must have been quite a shock. Yeoul suddenly asked how many bedrooms there were, then with a strangely awkward face, said he would sleep on the sofa. At that moment, his mood became indescribably strange.
Had there ever been a time during the long years of knowing this child when he had been so uncomfortable and refused to sleep together? They used to go back and forth between each other’s beds and sleep together all the time. Yeoul being awkward with him and visibly guarded couldn’t help but feel bitter to Hyeseong.
I won’t hurt you. It’s not me you need to be careful of, but the other Esper bastards.
If anyone in this Security Bureau hurts you or causes you pain, I won’t be able to forgive that bastard, whoever it is.
He barely swallowed the words that surged up to his throat. He didn’t want to burden the child any more than this when he was already busy adapting to his role as a guide.
Hyeseong stroked Yeoul’s head and moved his reluctant feet to leave the bedroom. He suddenly found himself missing the lap pillow from Yeoul that he had slept on yesterday.
