Actually, when Woojin first taught the class, he had briefly shown Jiwon how to shoot with one hand. But because the results were terrible, they had given up right away. However, when Seo Gangwoo explained it in an easy-to-understand way from the side and personally adjusted his posture with his hands, Jiwon was able to follow along immediately.
Most Espers were skilled at using weapons. You might wonder why Espers who could breathe fire, shoot lightning, and tear monsters apart with various abilities would use weapons, but most of them often carried separate main weapons.
The reason was that there were limits to using abilities. Field Guides weren’t always present, and even when they were, usually only one or two were assigned at most. The substitute medicine for guiding was too much of a burden to use every time.
In such situations, they couldn’t use their abilities infinitely, so they had to use them more efficiently.
Since modern weapons didn’t work on monsters, Esper-exclusive weapons made from dungeon materials and monster corpses had good compatibility with abilities, readily accepting energy and possessing excellent strength and durability.
By using weapons made this way appropriately, they could significantly reduce the energy consumed by their abilities. That’s why they trained to handle not just their main weapon but various weapons.
For Seo Gangwoo, whose ability control level had already reached its peak regardless of weapon use, it wasn’t particularly necessary, but separately from that, he could handle all weapons at a high level.
Since he couldn’t receive guiding and therefore couldn’t properly train his abilities, he had focused on weapon training during that time instead. And in that process, out of curiosity, he had also tried using Guide-exclusive weapons.
Jiwon moved as he instructed, half-believing and half-doubting. He wondered what difference it would make to shoot with one hand when his scores were a complete mess even shooting with two hands.
Bang—clang!
“Huh?!”
Jiwon’s eyes widened as he checked the score displayed on the monitor. Unable to believe it, he alternately checked the monitor and the target, but the result was the same. It was a number he had never seen even once during all his training.
7.2 points.
It was Jiwon’s personal record.
“…This actually works?”
Jiwon muttered blankly, unable to collect himself, then shot the gun once more under Seo Gangwoo’s guidance.
7.8 / 6.5 / 8.3
It wasn’t a coincidence. Excited by the clearly improved scores, Jiwon looked at Seo Gangwoo with sparkling eyes. At that gaze that seemed to seek praise, Seo Gangwoo hesitated before soon nodding his head saying he did well, and a silly grin naturally spread across Jiwon’s lips.
“This is so fascinating. How is this possible?”
“While two-handed shooting is more stable, there’s a stance that suits each person better. There’s no need to stubbornly stick to one stance; you need to try various methods.”
“Ah…! I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
Jiwon was so excited that if Seo Gangwoo hadn’t been standing beside him, he would have surely danced around.
“I’ll try more!”
Jiwon stood in front of the shooting range again. When he took his stance as best as he could remember, Seo Gangwoo corrected it in more detail.
“Extend your outstretched arm forward a bit more, and you can either leave your other arm comfortable or place it in a position that’s easy to maintain balance.”
“With the feeling of leaning your body forward…”
“If it’s a close distance, bending your arm and shooting from a lowered stance is also one good method.”
“Even when using two hands, you can hold it with one hand gripping the gun and the other hand supporting.”
Even though his speech was stiff and there wasn’t much variation in pitch, whether it was because his desire to teach well was embedded in it or because Jiwon heard it that way, it sounded calm and gentle.
Though it was for the sake of explanation, this was the first time Seo Gangwoo had talked this much, so while Jiwon concentrated on the content, he also appreciated his voice that was pleasant to hear no matter how many times he listened to it.
Seo Gangwoo taught various one-handed shooting stances, then even looked over new stances for two-handed shooting. And so Jiwon went about finding shooting stances that suited him better.
Sweat beaded on the forehead of the concentrating Jiwon, but when hope appeared in the special firearms that had seemed hopeless, he continued without even knowing he was tired.
Seo Gangwoo slowly lowered his head beside the face of Jiwon who was staring ahead, looking in the same direction, then firmly pushed Jiwon’s back with his palm to straighten him and pulled his pelvis to fix it in place.
“You must be careful not to lean your upper body too far back when shooting. If your pelvis goes too far forward, your center can become unstable.”
At the low voice that reached directly into his sensitive ear, Jiwon’s body flinched and jumped up.
“Your breathing is unsteady. Exhale shallowly.”
‘Aaah.’
The ticklish sensation that started at his ear spread throughout his entire body. Jiwon endured, putting strength into his body that was trying to tremble. Then Seo Gangwoo immediately said, “You must relax your body.”
‘Let’s just shoot quickly and finish this.’
Thinking that trying to endure would get him nowhere, Jiwon deliberately ignored Seo Gangwoo standing close behind him, relaxed his body, and steadied his breathing. Then came the ringing gunshot. Jiwon lowered his arm and tried to quickly step aside without even checking his score. But that attempt was thwarted when Seo Gangwoo wrapped his arm around Jiwon’s waist and held him.
“Let me rest for a moment… Ngh!”
Seo Gangwoo’s lips nibbled at the nape of Jiwon’s neck. Though not quite as much as his ears which were practically a weak spot, his neck was also an area where Jiwon was vulnerable.
“Ah, just a second…”
Unable to withstand that touch, when Jiwon squirmed, Seo Gangwoo removed his lips, buried his nose in Jiwon’s slender nape, and deeply inhaled Jiwon’s scent. This was driving him crazy in its own way.
“It tickles.”
Seo Gangwoo raised his head and discovered Jiwon’s reddened eye corners, then his eyes filled with deep desire. And he reached out toward that seductive color, gently rubbing with his fingertips. It seemed like it would smear at any moment, but seeing his fingertips show no change, he let out a deep sigh of regret.
“Didn’t I teach you well?”
“…Yes!”
At the out-of-the-blue remark, Jiwon looked at him puzzled, then soon answered with a bright smile. The timing was a bit odd, but he was right.
If it hadn’t been for him, Jiwon would have been frustrated by his miserable shooting skills that wouldn’t improve. But now that he’d found a method, it seemed like he could score well enough to pass the field license with practice.
“If it weren’t for Esper Seo Gangwoo, I would have struggled for a long time. Thanks to you, I think I’ve found a way. Thank you so much for helping me today.”
Seo Gangwoo, who had been quietly listening to the sincere thanks, turned Jiwon’s body to face him and lightly lifted him up.
“Oh.”
Startled by his body floating up, Jiwon urgently grabbed onto Seo Gangwoo’s upper body. His legs naturally wrapped around Seo Gangwoo’s waist.
Seo Gangwoo securely readjusted his hold on Jiwon who was clinging to him with his strong arms and burrowed into his slender nape. After rubbing his face against the soft skin a few times, he pressed his lips with smacking sounds and sucked just enough not to leave marks.
“Ah!”
A moan flowed from Jiwon’s mouth. When he leaned his body back to avoid the lips at the ticklish feeling, Seo Gangwoo pulled Jiwon even more into his embrace.
He bit down slightly with his teeth on the beautifully straight collarbone, then moved down a bit more and licked with his tongue the hollowed area.
“Stop… Hng!”
At the pushing hands, Seo Gangwoo obediently withdrew and stared at Jiwon piercingly. Between the two people facing each other, there was barely enough space for a single fist.
Unable to even hide his face reddened with embarrassment, Jiwon looked at Seo Gangwoo with a slight hint of resentment. Why is he suddenly acting like this?
“I taught you well today.”
At Seo Gangwoo’s gaze that seemed to want something while bringing up the same words as before, Jiwon’s eyes widened. Only then did something flash through his mind.
“Then… is this the tuition fee?”
When Jiwon checked the corners of Seo Gangwoo’s mouth rising slightly at his words spoken half in disbelief, he couldn’t even close his mouth and just kept blinking his eyes.
And a moment later, the corners of Jiwon’s mouth twitched.
“Ahem… Hng, pfft!”
The laughter that had been slowly leaking out gradually grew louder until he finally couldn’t hold it back and burst out. Once the floodgate of laughter opened, it couldn’t be easily stopped. Jiwon, who had been clutching his stomach laughing for a while, had tears forming at the ends of his crescent-moon-shaped eyes.
It was an unexpectedly brazen side of Seo Gangwoo. It seemed mixed with a spoonful of shamelessness too. The effect was even greater because it came from someone who had never been like that before. It even suited him surprisingly well.
Exhausted from laughing, Jiwon finally stopped and leaned against Seo Gangwoo’s upper body to rest, but then remembered again and giggled.
Watching Jiwon laugh to the point of shedding tears at his own words, one might expect Seo Gangwoo to feel embarrassed, but his expression was completely unfazed. Rather, he was secretly feeling proud.
To think that he, who had never even tried light jokes, had made Jiwon laugh. Seeing Jiwon laugh so brightly made the time he’d spent debating whether to say it or not before speaking seem pointless—he was simply happy.
“Was my lecture satisfactory?”
At Seo Gangwoo’s question, Jiwon burst into laughter again, barely caught his breath, and answered.
“It was a very excellent lecture. Instructor.”
“Then I suppose I can receive the tuition fee.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he burrowed into Jiwon’s nape again. His hot breath tickled the sensitive skin.
“No, ah! …You didn’t say anything about there being a tuition fee. Wait…!”
Seo Gangwoo easily suppressed Jiwon’s struggling and bit and sucked greedily. Unlike a moment ago when he had obediently withdrawn, this was different.
