Jaehwi, who didn’t avoid eye contact with him, raised one hand and grabbed the wrist of Aiden who was nearby and yanked him. Aiden, suddenly caught by him, staggered with an “Uh!” sound and bumped into Jaehwi’s body.
“What are you doing not guiding?”
Even while speaking to Aiden, Jaehwi didn’t shift his gaze. Though it felt like he’d be crushed by his energy, Raon stood crookedly and crossed his arms. Why is he angry? Come to think of it, he recalled Jaehwi’s appearance this morning pointing out that he’d gone to a dungeon alone after seeing Bbobbo. Moreover, from his sharp gaze looking at him telling him to do contact guiding, he could feel a stubbornness as if saying he’d do it.
Raon eventually shifted his gaze from Jaehwi’s black eyes to his body. Following the blood still beading on his fingertips upward, Raon could see the upper garment torn around the forearm area. If guiding was working, color should return to his deathly pale complexion or the flowing blood should stop, but no significant changes were visible.
It wasn’t like this back then.
Raon had directly seen it improve just from his fingertips moving along the red flesh and bleeding wound. Even if Aiden’s hand wasn’t directly touching the wounded area, currently Jaehwi was gripping Aiden’s wrist.
“Jay, take care of the tired Guides, and stabilizers?”
If there was no noticeable improvement, it would be better to use stabilizers together. As Jay and the Guides moved, Raon put his hand on the stabilizer case on the table.
“Team Leader Kang.”
Raon, who had confirmed there were two stabilizer pills and was pouring water, only gave his attention to Jaehwi after hearing his call.
“I should have said this morning too. That you don’t even listen to my words with one ear. What are you doing coming here?”
“Taking care of the safety of Espers and Guides within the Center is also my job.”
“Someone like that goes to a dungeon alone? Knowing what might come out?”
He couldn’t know whether Aiden’s face, flushed bright red in bewilderment, was because of Jaehwi or because of overwhelming guiding. But the one thing he could know for certain was that Aiden’s guiding alone wasn’t rapidly improving Jaehwi’s condition.
“How does Esper Min know whether I went alone, went with two, or went as a team?”
Raon, who had opened the water bottle cap, broke the appropriate distance that Jaehwi had tacitly permitted and approached in front of him. Then he held out the water bottle and stabilizer in front of him.
“I’m receiving guiding though.”
“Take it. There’s no problem even if you use it in parallel with stabilizers. If I’d known there’d be an NCSC call, I wouldn’t have put you on the dungeon team yesterday. I’ll be more careful going forward.”
Though he reached out a bit more, at the resolute expression containing the intention not to take it, Raon shifted his gaze to his fingertips again. The amount of flowing blood had decreased, and the speed of it falling to the floor had also noticeably slowed, but Raon sighed and put down the stabilizer and water on the table.
“Min Jaehwi.”
“……”
“Jaehwiya.”
“……”
“Hwiya.”
At the call of “Hwiya,” Jaehwi’s eyebrows moved slightly. It was a minute movement he would have missed if he hadn’t been staring intently at his face, but having confirmed it, Raon raised his hand and rubbed his own face.
“You’re in pain right now. You’re suffering. If you’re suffering, say you’re suffering, if it hurts, say it hurts. Say do this for me, do that for me, you can demand anything. This isn’t NCSC that operates on rules and laws that make people’s insides burst. Here. You said to keep an appropriate distance and treat you accordingly. So I’m trying to do that, but you right now…”
He tried to speak slowly while suppressing his emotions as much as possible, but the more he rambled on, the more Raon, swayed by emotion, reached out to Jaehwi as he was. Then he grabbed his upper garment and put strength into his hand.
If it had been protective gear, he couldn’t have made even the slightest mark, but the thin black innerwear worn underneath as the innermost layer could be easily torn even with Raon’s hand strength.
“Fuck.”
Raon couldn’t even properly recognize whether this low curse came from his own mouth or Jaehwi’s mouth. Though not as much as during the rampage, the cracks that had appeared on Jaehwi’s skin that had been hidden came into view.
Jaehwi’s hands and arms that shot up covered his upper body, but there was no way they could cover everything. Raon hugging him was faster than Jaehwi leaving his seat. Though he’d practiced radiative guiding with his hands countless times, before thinking about how to do it with his whole body, instinct moved first.
Raon’s head touched Jaehwi’s shoulder and his hand rested on Jaehwi’s left chest. With his other arm, he awkwardly embraced him.
“What are you doing right now.”
Jaehwi’s voice, ground out as if speaking through clenched teeth, was heard through the top of his head and through his body.
“Get angry, get annoyed, hit me—do it after you get better.”
Raon traced along the crack on the left chest with his fingertips, then spread his palm flat and covered what appeared to be the largest crack. It wasn’t the guiding from before where he’d pour out a ton and cut it off sharply. It was worth steadily practicing guiding uniformly and consistently for as long as possible.
“Kang Raon!”
If you don’t like it, slam me down, beat me up, or push me away. You think I’ll be scared because you’re growling and calling my name? When he slightly lifted the hand that had been covering the crack, Jaehwi’s skin had returned smoothly. At the fact that guiding really worked and he could heal his wounds, the corners of Raon’s mouth rose.
“Why is a person so selfish.”
Jaehwi’s voice, having relaxed his body and accepting the guiding he was doing, was calmly settled as if he’d never growled.
“I said I wanted to be your Guide. Reality is you have a higher grade than me, compatibility matches, and you want a young Guide. I also know you hate me bringing up the past and acting like I know you. So I want to listen to you as much as possible too. But that doesn’t go well. You don’t not remember that I came to sleep with you, right?”
“Is what you want a body?”
“What?”
At Jaehwi’s point-blank words along with recognizing the change in his body, Raon was the first to separate from his body that he’d been hugging just moments ago.
“Until just now, you were holding another Guide’s wrist doing contact guiding. You remember that? I can even understand suggesting stabilizers to see effects while guiding, but suddenly ripping off my clothes, hugging me as you please, and groping like this—I’m saying this because I’m wondering how I should take this. On top of that, we’re not the only ones here but you’re rambling on about personal matters.”
He missed it again. When he was with Jaehwi, he forgot his surroundings every time.
“Yes. The Guides and Team Leader Kang can’t hear our conversation or see us. But how long do I have to cover for you? You say you’re older than me, you bring that up, but do you know that Team Leader Kang causes trouble every time and I’m the one cleaning it up?”
Raon, who had been biting his left index finger, saw that all the cracks that had covered his upper body visible through the torn clothes that couldn’t completely cover Jaehwi’s body had disappeared, and bit his hand harder. It was right that he’d caused trouble and he understood that Jaehwi had cleaned it up, but more than that, it was because he was in a good mood that Jaehwi’s body had improved. If this gets caught, he’ll be scolded more.
“Want to have a drink?”
“…You really don’t listen to my words even with one ear?”
“I won’t ask to sleep together, and I won’t say I’ll be your Guide. I won’t say I’m older, and I won’t touch your body without permission.”
Though it was his own words, there couldn’t be more bullshit than this. Selfish just like he said. Not only had the cracks on his body disappeared, but the blood that had been flowing down his arm had also stopped. It was a moment proving that direct contact guiding with one person was definitely better than receiving radiative guiding surrounded by dozens of people.
“Really, let’s just drink.”
Raon, who looked up at Jaehwi urging an answer, read his heart through his expression.
“If you say you’ll go to dungeons with me.”
Raon, who had been trying to maintain peace while suppressing his twitching lips that wanted to rise, gaped at his proposal.
“If you don’t want to, never mind.”
As soon as Jaehwi’s words ended, “What on earth is this…” Hyukjin’s voice, which hadn’t been heard until just now, was heard.
The world that had seemed to contain only himself and Jaehwi until just now was instantly covered with various colors and people.
“Why are Esper Min’s clothes… More than that, was that just now Esper Min’s ability?”
Jaehwi, who walked languidly to grab the protective gear thrown in the corner, didn’t say anything. Then he just went outside.
“What did you two talk about. Guiding? Esper Min’s stabilization level went up.”
“Ah! That’s that Guide’s ability and stabilizers. And we had something personal to talk about between the two of us.”
Raon, who quickly scanned his surroundings, confirmed that the water bottle he’d opened was on the table but the pills had disappeared, and vaguely glossed over it. Since the urgent matter had also disappeared, Raon didn’t return by helicopter with the people who came from MK Center.
Returning in the prepared car, Raon looked at the empty seat next to him. Same situation, different conclusion. If things change little by little like this, Jaehwi’s rampage can be avoided. That’s enough. That’s…
Lightly biting his lower lip to hold back the laughter that kept coming out, he took out his cell phone. Then he composed a message.
[One drinking session for one dungeon accompaniment.]
Raon already knew Jaehwi’s drinking capacity. You can’t even drink as much as me, let me get you properly drunk and dig into your innermost thoughts.
