After that, Seo Gangwoo entered the kitchen, prepared a meal, set it down in front of Jiwon, and personally put rice and side dishes on the spoon and fed it into his mouth.
As he opened his mouth like a baby bird to receive the food that came close, occasional waves of sudden weakness washed over him, but he had no choice since he didn’t even have the strength to lift his arms.
That said, he couldn’t skip meals either—he needed to eat something to endure tomorrow’s grueling training again.
He blankly watched Seo Gangwoo move away with the finished dishes, and while he was resting, Seo Gangwoo lifted him up again, saying he had filled the bathtub with water, and Jiwon was carried leaning against those arms.
When he immersed his body completely in the bathtub filled with hot water, the drowsy feeling was so pleasant that he tilted his head back and lay still passing the time, and around when the water cooled, he heard a knock-knock sound.
“I’ll wash up and come out.”
Jiwon carefully raised his body lest he slip and finished washing himself.
“Aigoo.”
Even holding the showerhead was difficult due to the stiffness. After wiping off the moisture, Jiwon found it too bothersome to take out pajamas, so he put on the gown hanging in the bathroom.
When he came out slowly managing his heavy body, as expected, Seo Gangwoo, who had been waiting and approached suddenly, swiftly lifted Jiwon up and gently set him down on the master bedroom’s bed.
The distance wasn’t even that far, so he could have just walked.
Thanks to Seo Gangwoo who always carried him even for that brief distance, Jiwon hadn’t walked even a few steps on his own at home.
At first, he had tried to help out, feeling burdened by Seo Gangwoo’s attendance, but after realizing he was only getting in the way by creating more work—like smashing dishes—he obediently accepted it.
He thought it would get better once his stamina improved and his body adapted to the exercise, but thinking of Woojin who would squeeze him until he was completely exhausted again with his somewhat recovered body after sleeping and waking up made him sigh automatically.
While Jiwon was groaning with his uncomfortable body on the bed, Seo Gangwoo entered the room, turned off all the lights except the mood lamp, and climbed onto the bed. Then he settled at the lower end.
Now, before washing up and going to sleep, it had become routine for Seo Gangwoo to massage and loosen Jiwon’s muscles.
“Ngh. Aaah.”
Large hands wrapped around Jiwon’s calves and kneaded gently. The touch that gently loosened them over his pajamas was both painful and refreshing, so moans naturally leaked from Jiwon’s mouth.
“Th-there, just a little more, hng.”
“Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”
Seo Gangwoo looked at him with worried eyes while examining the muscles that were more knotted than usual.
“Ugh, I guess it’s because I did additional training.”
“You don’t need to be impatient.”
“I know. But still, it’s not progressing as much as I thought, ugh…”
“At this rate, you’ll hurt yourself.”
“I was thinking I wouldn’t do additional training anymore since it seems too much even for that.”
Today, during a brief break in his morning schedule, he had done additional training alone to supplement the lacking parts. The schedule Woojin set was already more than enough—overflowing even—so Jiwon regretted acting tough for no reason.
His arms and legs felt as heavy as if he were carrying boulders. His body drooped as if he’d become a puppet with cut strings.
Seo Gangwoo’s hands continuously moved between Jiwon’s pelvis, waist, and shoulders as he lay face down. The meticulous hand movements were no less than a professional’s.
Last week, when Seo Gangwoo had finished a mission and returned to find Jiwon waiting at the Center’s main gate, unable to walk properly and groaning as he approached, he was so startled that without time to stop him, he immediately lifted him up and ran to the research building where the infirmary was located.
Belatedly learning it was because of the intensified training, he calmed his heart, but for a moment his heart had dropped, worried that Jiwon might have been injured somewhere.
Out of concern, Seo Gangwoo had persuaded him that he didn’t need to get a field license, but he couldn’t stop Jiwon who wouldn’t break his will despite suffering from muscle pain, and had to watch anxiously from the side, unable to settle down.
Now he had become quite accustomed to taking care of Jiwon’s condition, but Seo Gangwoo had to make efforts to reach this point too. Not only had no one ever taken care of him, but he had never taken care of or looked after anyone either.
Cooking alone when he had only assisted Jiwon before, preparing things Jiwon would need in advance, Seo Gangwoo who had lived without knowing muscle pain looking up professional massage course lectures—it was all unfamiliar and awkward work, but he moved with the desire to help Jiwon somehow.
“Ah, ah!”
With the continuing massage, Jiwon was going back and forth between heaven and hell.
His body being touched here and there.
When the hand kneading his firmly swollen calves gently swept up behind his knee with the thumb and reached the inside of his thigh, he flinched, but didn’t avoid the touch.
Jiwon buried his flushed face in the bed and exhaled a deep sigh.
The large hands were felt vividly even through the pajamas.
Even though the touch clearly had no sexual intention whatsoever, when his whole body was gently caressed, his mood became strange.
Then, whenever it approached sensitive areas, he would be startled and flail about.
However, when it came to massage, he couldn’t stop Seo Gangwoo’s persistent touch. He didn’t even have the strength to stop it, and anyway, once it was all done, his heavy body became much lighter.
If he didn’t loosen the knotted muscles with massage, it was clear he wouldn’t be able to stand up properly the next day.
Of course, this luxury also disappeared when Seo Gangwoo was away on dungeon missions.
After nearly an hour of massage that left his body completely loosened, Jiwon’s eyelids grew heavy with drowsiness. It wasn’t easy to open his eyes as if adhesive had been applied.
He wanted to sleep like this, but there was still something left to do.
“…Stop now and lie down.”
Jiwon, with obvious signs of sleepiness, turned his body to the side and positioned himself, then patted the spot next to him as if telling him to come.
Then Seo Gangwoo slowly laid his body down next to Jiwon.
While embracing Jiwon who was waiting with both arms spread wide, he used telekinesis to pull out the blanket underneath and covered their bodies with it.
He had always done guiding whenever there was a chance, but Jiwon especially made sure to do guiding once more before falling asleep.
It was because of the memory of Seo Gangwoo enduring pain alone while groaning while he was asleep, before the rampage energy was stabilized.
Perhaps thanks to that, Seo Gangwoo’s evening seizures decreased and now disappeared completely, and his insomnia improved a lot too. Now once he slept, Seo Gangwoo would sleep soundly for at least 4 hours before waking up.
Seeing Jiwon trying to give him guiding while holding back despite obvious signs of sleepiness in his eyes, Seo Gangwoo’s chest tingled.
He held the body that quietly nestled into his arms and leaned his face against it.
The organs that had been unpleasantly twisted became comfortable as if they were finally functioning properly with Jiwon’s guiding that passed over the waves trying to escape control on their own accord and the chronic energies stubbornly crouching and holding out in the corners.
Though the guiding alone was more than enough, the satisfaction and sense of stability doubled from Jiwon who worried about him more than that.
Seo Gangwoo, who had closed his eyes and was deeply savoring this moment, raised his head at the abruptly cut-off guiding energy.
Jiwon, unable to overcome fatigue, had fallen asleep as if fainting.
After observing Jiwon sleeping soundly like a baby for a while, Seo Gangwoo touched and lifted his lips on the straight forehead. After covering him well up to the neck with the blanket that had slipped down a bit, he closed his eyes.
He would be able to sleep comfortably today too.
* * *
And so, a full two months passed.
With Jiwon’s stamina having increased considerably from continuous training, Woojin conducted basic hand-to-hand combat classes.
Though Woojin’s insides were bursting at Jiwon’s movements that were close to a wooden puppet, he was proud that there were no signs of wanting to give up even though it was difficult, so he guided him step by step.
As the name suggested, basic hand-to-hand combat wasn’t too difficult to learn. It was just that he memorized and understood everything in his head, but his body didn’t follow.
Jiwon was frustrated with his own body that was so clumsy.
Small bruises appeared and disappeared repeatedly on his body as he trained to perform proper movements.
Outside in midsummer, the air on the ground shimmered with heat wave warnings, but inside the Center maintained an appropriate temperature and was pleasant and cool.
After training, Jiwon, who had simply grabbed dinner, occupied a seat at Café Ellin and sat down.
Strawberries that were as fresh and tasty as they were good-looking were stabbed with a fork and entered his small mouth, but somehow Jiwon’s expression wasn’t good.
Normally, his expression would have melted gently and his legs would have bounced up and down at the refreshing taste and fragrance spreading throughout his mouth, but today he only continued soulless fork movements with a sullen expression.
And then he finally let out a big sigh as if the ground would cave in. His drooping shoulders were pitiful beyond measure.
The gazes occasionally directed toward Jiwon’s table looked at him with worried eyes at such a gloomy atmosphere.
Unaware of such gazes, Jiwon sighed repeatedly and stared intently at his wrist. On his thin wrist, the number 71% appeared on the white pair Guide watch.
Seo Gangwoo, who would normally finish conquering and return within a day or at most 3 days, had been out of contact for already 6 days.
The Center was still assigning him missions only to simple, small-scale dungeon gates suited to Seo Gangwoo’s condition, so he thought there would be no problem, but when the news of conquest completion he was waiting for couldn’t be heard, wondering if something had happened, Jiwon couldn’t hide his worry and anxiety.
Perhaps because of that, even with the strawberry cake he loved so much right in front of him, his mood didn’t improve.
