# Chapter 49
“Guide Lee Jaehee-nim, today… is……”
As soon as day broke, the examiner visited the examination room with his hands full of black shirts and pants.
However, Jaehee’s voice, which should have been heard, was silent. Jaehee was still asleep in Geonwoo’s arms, not yet awake.
“……ha, ha, ha.”
So it was Geonwoo, not Jaehee, who greeted the examiner.
Geonwoo pulled Jaehee closer in his arms and warily eyed the examiner with a fierce gaze. The examiner forcibly pulled up the corners of his mouth and laughed awkwardly. It felt like cold sweat would start running down his back.
The examination room, which had been in chaos a few days ago, was now neatly organized. Perhaps thanks to Jaehee consistently soothing Geonwoo and treating him affectionately, Geonwoo was becoming more and more docile. He no longer harmed himself either. He still avoided receiving treatment, but even that was progressing little by little with Jaehee’s gentle persuasion.
The problem was his wariness of other people. After the deeds of the Center’s upper management, the day they tried to erase the bond, and then forcibly putting him to sleep in succession, Geonwoo’s wariness toward others wouldn’t diminish easily no matter how much Jaehee tried to soothe him.
On top of that, yesterday, the examiner, with the intention of helping Jaehee, brought up how one-sided bonds create false emotions, which only earned him Geonwoo’s fierce glare.
So the examiner carefully approached the bed where Geonwoo was, trying not to provoke him unnecessarily. He put down the shirts he had brought nearby and picked one up.
“This is… ah…!”
The examiner started to speak while showing what he held in his hand to Geonwoo, but quickly lowered his voice. His voice automatically became softer because Geonwoo’s gaze grew more menacing each time Jaehee stirred.
But Jaehee must have already awakened at the examiner’s voice, as he blinked his eyes, fluttering his long eyelashes.
Geonwoo’s fierce gaze briefly landed on the examiner, followed by a gentle smile directed at Jaehee. The contrast was so stark that the examiner couldn’t get used to it no matter how many times he saw it.
“Guide-nim, you can sleep more.”
Geonwoo patted Jaehee, trying to put him back to sleep, but Jaehee, who had opened his eyes, forced himself to sit up. He deliberately shook off the sleepiness, collected himself, and then greeted the examiner.
Only then could the examiner be freed from the heightened tension. Phew… The examiner took a deep breath. His tense shoulders also relaxed. When Jaehee was awake, Geonwoo wore the mask of a gentle lamb, making him much more approachable.
The examiner showed the shirt he had brought to Jaehee and said:
“It should have been issued sooner, but this size is rarely used, so there were almost no extras.”
The examiner strongly emphasized that he brought it as soon as production was completed, and forcefully tore open the shirt’s packaging.
“We can only know the exact grade after manifestation, but since he’s been assessed as having top-tier potential, it was produced in the largest size accordingly.”
The examiner spread out the black shirt and lifted it by holding the shoulder parts. The shirt was exceptionally sized, to the point where the examiner had to spread his arms wide. The size was so unusual in both width and length that one might wonder if any ordinary person could wear such a size.
“It might still be too big, but since he’ll grow little by little every day until he manifests as an Esper, it’s good to start wearing it in advance.”
The examiner said that and held out the shirt. But Geonwoo showed no reaction. Only then did the examiner realize his mistake.
“Ah! I forgot to explain. This is Esper-exclusive clothing. It’s specially made to not tear easily even when using abilities, and the design isn’t that different from regular shirts, so just wear it comfortably!”
Geonwoo, who had only been looking at Jaehee without showing any interest, glanced at the shirt he would wear and then at the shirt Jaehee had taken off. The examiner immediately caught the meaning of that gaze and, hitting exactly the point Geonwoo wanted to know, continued:
“To distinguish between Guides and Espers, Espers wear black, and Guides wear white.”
As the examiner said that, he casually handed Geonwoo’s shirt to Jaehee.
After finishing the check on Geonwoo’s wave readings, the examiner was about to leave. But then, as if suddenly remembering something, he swiftly turned his body around.
“Ah! And regarding today’s treatment, Esper Cheon Taeyun-nim said he suddenly has an urgent matter to attend to, so he’ll start from the afternoon. He asked me to pass on the message.”
With those words, the examiner showed a relieved expression for having completed all his tasks, and after saying he would come back in the afternoon, he swiftly left the examination room.
Soon, the door closed, and only Geonwoo and Jaehee remained.
Jaehee, trying to overcome his fatigue, sat on the bed, wiped his eyes with his hands, and unbuttoned the shirt Geonwoo would wear. Then he recalled what he had heard from the examiner a moment ago about Cheon Taeyun being delayed.
‘He must be busy trying to figure out what to do. He wouldn’t have expected something like this.’
It was a momentary thought when Jaehee removed the guiding control device. A method to suppress Geonwoo’s anxiety and to draw out the real power behind everything while sending away only Cheon Taeyun. It was a method he could use now because his guiding energy was depleted. So he had to finish everything quickly. Before the guiding energy fully returned.
As Jaehee was thinking about that while unbuttoning, Geonwoo’s hand overlapped on top of his. Geonwoo took the shirt from Jaehee’s hand, put it aside, and carefully pulled Jaehee closer.
When Jaehee looked with a puzzled expression, Geonwoo lowered his head and said:
“Since I need to receive guiding… there’s no need to put it on now……”
Geonwoo had been frequently begging Jaehee for guiding lately. He was confused by Jaehee’s sudden affectionate treatment and even had suspicions. But there was one thing he couldn’t doubt.
The fact that Jaehee had released the guiding control device and transferred guiding energy. The fact that he didn’t release any other Guide’s guiding energy in the room at all. Thanks to that, Jaehee’s guiding energy accumulated in his body every day, and very slowly, but the bond was deepening. Since the amount of guiding energy coming from Jaehee was so small, there wasn’t a significant change, but still, as the bond deepened, Geonwoo could find stability.
Additionally, Jaehee had been listening to most of what Geonwoo said these days. And that had a major side effect. Because of that, Geonwoo had developed a bad habit recently.
“So……”
Geonwoo carefully opened his mouth while holding Jaehee’s hand. The tips of Geonwoo’s ears, as he lowered his head, were dyed red. Just because Jaehee listened to everything he said, asking him to lie back in bed and embrace him wasn’t something that could easily come out.
So Geonwoo just held Jaehee’s hand and carefully pulled. As expected, Jaehee was easily pulled along. To the point where the one doing the pulling was surprised, Jaehee fell into Geonwoo’s arms without any defense.
“……!”
Warm skin touched Geonwoo’s body. Geonwoo’s heart raced. Wasn’t Jaehee being too defenseless!
“…Let’s sleep a bit more. Together.”
Geonwoo, calming his heart, spoke in a small voice. Seeing Jaehee’s eyes still full of sleepiness, he also gently patted his back. Soon, Jaehee made a drowsy expression and closed his eyes. Unable to overcome his fatigue, Jaehee quickly fell back asleep.
Geonwoo adjusted his position to ensure Jaehee could sleep comfortably and embraced him. Then, lowering his head, he gazed down at Jaehee nestled in his arms. Geonwoo’s expression as he looked at Jaehee contained many emotions.
Geonwoo felt both good and anxious about the current situation. Scared yet happy. Jaehee, whom he had longed for so much, was in his arms. He had allowed Geonwoo by his side, saying it was okay to be with him. To deepen the bond, he was sticking close to Geonwoo every day and providing guiding like this.
But the anxiety he was trying to ignore continued to present various questions to Geonwoo.
‘Why did he suddenly change his mind?’
‘Why did he suddenly accept me?’
‘Will he abandon me again after this?’
But Geonwoo dismissed all those questions. He ignored the anxiety. To be dominated by that emotion, the current Geonwoo was too happy.
Jaehee’s guiding energy, transmitted through their touching bodies, pushed away the anxiety, and the smile Jaehee showed him made Geonwoo’s heart soft. The body that didn’t push him away but fell defenseless into his arms made it impossible to think of anything else.
A heart that had become infinitely soft and lost its sense of crisis like that only allowed for happy thoughts.
‘This time, maybe I can believe.’
An immensely happy smile hung on Geonwoo’s lips.
Then suddenly, Geonwoo recalled his first meeting with Jaehee. Back then, when he couldn’t see ahead due to being drugged, the vast amount of guiding energy that enveloped his body. Geonwoo couldn’t forget that enormous guiding energy that wrapped around his entire body and had plenty to spare.
Geonwoo carefully touched the cheek of the sleeping Jaehee. Jaehee had said that due to accumulated fatigue, his guiding energy wasn’t coming out well. And he also said that it would get better soon.
‘Then at that time, can I receive that vast guiding energy again?’
Just imagining it made him feel good. Geonwoo held Jaehee close and closed his eyes. The warmth felt in his arms made Geonwoo happy.
‘Guide-nim, I’m so happy right now.’
Geonwoo, with a smile on his lips, drifted off to sleep.
