At first, Jiwon had found the focused attention burdensome, but knowing it was unavoidable, he decided to just accept it. He didn’t want to shrink back when he hadn’t done anything wrong. As he confidently received the gazes and pretended to be unbothered, he really did become unbothered.
And as he frequently showed himself, the other ability users also seemed to get used to it, so at least within Center 1, the burdensome gazes had decreased considerably.
“I’ll start.”
As soon as they arrived at the private room and entered, Jiwon immediately pulled Seo Gangwoo into an embrace and began direct guiding. He leaned his face against the broad chest, closed his eyes, and found and stabilized the unstable energies.
Though still blocked by the 60% wall, the gauge dropped steadily at a speed incomparable to before when even lowering 1% had been difficult.
Confirming his interior calming down from the pleasant guiding, Seo Gangwoo lightly lifted Jiwon’s body, removed his shoes, changed into indoor slippers himself, and went inside.
Even as he approached the sofa and sat down, Jiwon was quietly clinging and only guiding.
Seo Gangwoo was pleased by the small head naturally leaning against his shoulder.
To think this person is my Guide….
Receiving such comfortable guiding immediately after returning from a mission was something that couldn’t happen for Seo Gangwoo.
Unable to bear the headache that felt like his head would burst from the irritating presences and sensations touching his skin, he’d been busy enduring with guiding substitute medication and moving at least to the house prepared on the outskirts where there were no people.
He couldn’t expect it from his previous Guide, and there was no Guide within the Center who could provide meaningful guiding to him.
But now there was Jiwon.
Someone who worried about his body more than he himself did, who approached first to check his condition and guide before he even spoke, who came out to greet him when he returned from missions….
Who could, how could they, give such emotion every single time?
As he tried to stroke Jiwon’s head with awkward gestures, he discovered his hand trembling minutely and let out a small laugh.
It was both amusing that he, who was more skilled than anyone at controlling physical sensations, hadn’t realized he was trembling, and a corner of his heart melted at the situation he hadn’t even expected.
A subtle smile hung on Seo Gangwoo’s lips.
“Were there any particular problems when you went?”
After some time had passed, thinking that enough guiding had been done, Jiwon lifted his head slightly, then became dazed when he faced the face that still hadn’t erased its smile.
As if even the surrounding air was changing.
It was a warm and cozy expression.
Seo Gangwoo didn’t know that Jiwon had fallen into a stunned state from his facial attack, and just because the face looking up at him so closely was so pretty, he raised his now-calm hand that no longer trembled and caressed the soft area around his eyes and cheeks.
“It was fine. I only used my power moderately.”
“……”
“?”
Finding it strange that Jiwon was quiet without responding with a dazed expression, Seo Gangwoo erased his smile, and only then did Jiwon barely breathe in and come to his senses.
His heart, which had stopped for a moment, reminded him of its existence by pounding loudly. As he clutched his chest with one hand in case it might pop out, he could feel heat gradually gathering in his face.
“Guide Kim Jiwon, what’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable somewhere?”
Seo Gangwoo was flustered by Jiwon who suddenly clutched his chest and seemed to have a fever, and placed his hand on his forehead.
When Jiwon couldn’t continue speaking and only waved his hand as if he was fine, not knowing what to do, Seo Gangwoo lifted him up as if to go to the medical office.
“Wait, just a moment. I’m fine.”
When he reached the door in an instant with his long legs, the urgent Jiwon struggled and stopped Seo Gangwoo.
“You don’t seem fine. You still have a fever.”
“I, I’m sometimes like this. It’s not that I’m sick, sometimes! My fever rises briefly then gets better. Really.”
“Is this something that normally happens? Still, let’s get you examined first….”
When Seo Gangwoo still persisted, Jiwon continued to hold on saying he was fine. Jiwon, who had caused a misunderstanding, could only make clumsy excuses while making a tearful expression inside.
How can I say I was captivated by his smiling face…! Sigh.
Meanwhile, the heat in his face had cooled, so Jiwon shouted, pointing this out, that his fever had gone down and he didn’t need to go to the medical office.
Though Seo Gangwoo couldn’t hide his unease, he followed Jiwon’s words as he desperately tried to stop him and walked back to the sofa.
“Are you really okay?”
“I’m really okay. Seriously!”
“…If you feel bad at all, tell me right away.”
“Of course. You don’t know, Esper Seo Gangwoo, but I’m a huge drama queen. And in the past, being careful, I used to go to the hospital even when my physical condition was just slightly off. There’s no one who goes to the hospital as well as I do, right?”
At Jiwon’s assurance, Seo Gangwoo finally relaxed his worried expression.
Phew….
Having barely reassured Seo Gangwoo, Jiwon slumped and leaned his body.
Seo Gangwoo, who kept checking on Jiwon’s condition just in case, wrapped around him and obediently received guiding when Jiwon really seemed to be okay.
After deliberately dispersing his attention to guiding, Jiwon truly came to his senses and raised his head to stare intently at the cause that had stopped his heart for a moment.
As he kept doing so without taking his eyes off, Seo Gangwoo looked at him as if asking why.
Jiwon examined him thoroughly without answering.
Now that he looked, Seo Gangwoo was a very dangerous man.
Though he’d thought it was attractive whenever he occasionally lifted one corner of his mouth in a chuckle, to think there was such a warm and cozy smile!
Jiwon felt a bit wronged at how calm Seo Gangwoo appeared, not knowing how harmful that expression was to his heart.
“What’s wrong?”
“…It’s nothing. I just wish I could have gone with you on the mission.”
Having vaguely deflected and changed the subject, Jiwon’s mind still had the afterimage of Seo Gangwoo’s smiling face from earlier lingering like a remnant.
“Even now it’s more than enough to the point of overflowing. It’s also safer to be at the Center.”
“But they said there wasn’t any dangerous work there?”
Though it was something he’d brought up to change the conversation topic, Jiwon was sincerely disappointed that he couldn’t accompany him on missions.
Even though he’d found stability, they said it took an average of six months after an explosive episode to say he’d completely recovered.
On top of that, since Seo Gangwoo was S-rank and hadn’t received proper guiding for a long time, plus had tolerance from excessive medication, his recovery period had to be considered even longer.
Since they didn’t know what could happen even in a short time and had to be far apart, Jiwon couldn’t help but worry.
“Still, the Center is safer.”
Whether he even knew Jiwon was worried, Seo Gangwoo was only firm. Jiwon’s lips jutted out.
The large hand that had been supporting his waist came to pat his back soothingly.
“I haven’t fully recovered yet….”
“Even if something goes wrong with my body, I can hold out until I come to Guide Kim Jiwon. Previously, I held out well for several months even when my gauge went up close to 90%. And now I’m not using my ability much, so it’s fine.”
It was something Seo Gangwoo said to reassure him, but Jiwon became upset instead. It was because he recalled Seo Gangwoo’s life living while enduring pain.
Jiwon, who let out a deep sigh inwardly, could only spread both arms to tightly embrace the large body and increase the amount of guiding.
Seo Gangwoo’s first mission after his return was a monster cleanup mission in a Special Zone between Center 1 and Center 3.
Special Zones were areas where the land had been contaminated and transformed by specific magical beasts among the monsters that appeared when gates first occurred. After driving out the monsters and dealing with all those beasts, the already contaminated land remained as it was.
Special Zones continuously generated large and small gates day after day, pouring out monsters.
The contaminated land provided an environment where monsters thrived, so they didn’t leave the area easily, but when the monsters reached saturation, they would leave the Special Zone and damage surrounding cities. So they were steadily doing work to clean up monsters so the population didn’t exceed a certain number.
Separately, research to continuously restore the land was also being conducted, but it hadn’t shown meaningful results.
Rather, research was published showing that due to the gate concentration phenomenon in Special Zones, the gate occurrence rate in other urban areas decreased.
Excluding the northern frontline of the Korean Peninsula where most of the region was contaminated, there were eight such Special Zones domestically, and the Special Zone where Seo Gangwoo performed his mission this time had a medium-sized scale among them.
Since it was between important urban areas and was already well-managed, it wasn’t very far distance-wise and had no set time, which had the advantage that Seo Gangwoo could proceed without much difficulty.
A Center-controlled building was established at a location slightly away from the Special Zone entrance, where Guides waited and then guided when Espers came to rest.
But Jiwon couldn’t go there.
Even though dangerous incidents rarely occurred at the entrance of Special Zones because Espers quickly cleaned up the monsters there, the Ability User Headquarters classified the area up to the controlled building as a field, so Guides without field licenses couldn’t go.
Jiwon resolved to get a field license from this incident. He’d already applied for related training.
