# Chapter 33
To put it nicely, “it could put them in a near-death state.” Literally, it meant that a Guide could forcibly anesthetize an Esper based on their subjective judgment. Since no Esper was unhinged enough to agree to this madness, it was one of those empty policies that no one complied with.
“It’s for emergencies.”
Sangjun stared blankly at the unhinged Esper standing proudly before him.
As far as he could remember, no Guide currently possessed an Esper control device. About five years ago, some Espers, caught up in romanticism, had given control devices to their precious partner Guides, but that was just a fad. Espers instinctively regarded Guides as a lower rank. A predator couldn’t possibly feel reassured by handing over a leash to its prey. That’s how dangerous this tool was—capable of subduing an Esper in an instant. Even S-class Espers were reluctant to give it to others, yet this mere A-class was recklessly flaunting it. Sangjun clicked his tongue softly.
After summoning every ounce of his conscience to take Dohyuk into the hallway, Sangjun wanted to whisper, “That bastard once fired a .38 caliber pistol at a B-class Esper and even wrote a gun usage report. He didn’t just shoot randomly but calculated precisely within the permissible range of Guide self-defense, so he wasn’t even disciplined. I wonder why you’d entrust such a thing to such a devilish person.”
Perhaps Junseo had already sensed Sangjun’s feelings. He shot a cold glance while Dohyuk wasn’t looking.
“Sangjun. Didn’t you say you were busy?”
Even amidst all this, he was creating a tone as gentle as possible, either pretending to be well-behaved in front of Dohyuk or for some other reason. But Sangjun, who had observed Junseo for a long time, realized this was his last chance.
“I’m going, I’m going. Esper Choi Dohyuk. Please reconsider. That guy might suddenly go crazy and activate the control device when you’re in a dungeon. Then you’ll just die.”
Sangjun, who had quickly whispered near Dohyuk, stepped outside the director’s office without even giving him time to respond. Junseo, who had been watching his retreating figure with coldly frozen eyes, soon turned his gaze to Dohyuk with a shy eye-smile. Junseo was the first to speak.
“He’s a strange person, isn’t he?”
“Isn’t he your friend?”
“He’s not my friend. He bullies me every day. He bothers me.”
“Esper Ji Sangjun bullies you?”
When Dohyuk tilted his head, thinking that surely during missions Sangjun had seemed sociable and not dictatorial like other S-class Espers—he was a person with excellent abilities and a fairly good personality—Junseo narrowed his brow in a not-unpleasant way, as if reading Dohyuk’s mind.
“You don’t believe me now? Today he even took away the book I was reading without permission.”
Since Junseo spoke seriously while gesturing toward the poetry book on his desk, Dohyuk had no choice but to nod.
“Hmm. He has no reason to bully you.”
“He dislikes me because my guiding disgusts him.”
“What?”
Dohyuk, who had been listening as if humoring a child’s complaint, raised his voice slightly. Junseo just blinked pitifully, then soon grabbed Dohyuk’s arm. If Sangjun, who had already left the director’s office, had seen this, he would have beaten his chest in indignation.
“I’m used to it, whatever. Anyway, did you hear about it today? The result of the partner application?”
“I know. It’s pending, right? Actually, I came because of that…”
From that brief silence Dohyuk created, Junseo easily inferred what he was about to say. Only then did he understand why the headquarters had changed the application form from “rejected” to “pending.” And why they had added that ridiculous requirement to reattach the consent form of the prospective partner because it had been lost.
“Um. I’m sorry to go back on my word, but I don’t think I can be your partner.”
It would have been more ideal for his partner to reject Junseo rather than the headquarters itself rejecting him and awkwardly creating friction with him. Junseo just blinked, his face devoid of expression.
“After thinking about it again, you dislike me?”
As Junseo had expected, today Dohyuk had received an order to reject Junseo’s partner application. Although it was unheard of for the headquarters to interfere in the partnership between an Esper and a Guide, Dohyuk had no choice but to follow orders from above.
“Junseo. It’s not like that. I’m telling you, I don’t dislike you.”
At some point, Junseo’s hand had reached out to hold Dohyuk’s. By now, it had become such a habit that he almost found himself missing the warmth that couldn’t reach him because of the leather.
“Then you suddenly don’t want to be my partner?”
“No…”
“Then why did you bring the control device? To appease me?”
“…”
What remained was a brief silence. Feeling that the atmosphere had become somewhat strange, Dohyuk scratched the back of his head.
“You say it’s dangerous, so why would you carelessly give something like this to me? Especially if you’re not going to be my partner.”
As expected, Dohyuk’s vision went dark as Junseo’s eyes stared straight at him, urging an answer. Dohyuk just mumbled with his lips before slowly extending his palm to Junseo. Like a well-trained puppy, a soft hand promptly rose to meet it. When he stroked Junseo’s hair as if praising him, Junseo gave a thin eye-smile. The plump area beneath his eyes rose adorably along the texture of his smile.
“…Orders came down from headquarters. To reject you. It’s probably because while there have been cases where high-ranked Espers partnered with lower-ranked Guides, the opposite has never happened. Guides are much rarer than Espers.”
Despite deliberately using a light tone, the situation didn’t easily lighten. Dohyuk looked at Junseo and continued slowly.
“It’s probably also because it’s uncertain how long I can stay at headquarters. But what does it matter if we’re not official partners? I’ll still consider you my partner Guide. I think this is better. We agreed to think of this as a short-term arrangement anyway.”
Junseo, who had no intention whatsoever of thinking of it as short-term, changed the subject.
“Do you usually treat Guides this well? Giving them control devices out of fear they might be disappointed?”
“…Well. First, let me tell you how to use it.”
Dohyuk helped Junseo put the band on his left arm that he had extended and impassively whispered the instructions for using the control device. Despite his smoothly flowing voice, Junseo wasn’t concentrating at all. Dohyuk’s hair, deeply dyed by the sunlight pouring in from the window, caught Junseo’s eye with its distinctly reddish hue. It was fascinating how it appeared as just a deep brown in the evening. When Junseo stroked the ends of Dohyuk’s hair with his fingers, Dohyuk’s eyelids, which had been looking down at the band, lifted.
“You’re not concentrating.”
“Are you afraid? Is that why you’re giving me this?”
“Wrong. You should be afraid of me. I’m an Esper. And even though it’s called a control device, pressing it twice in a row won’t kill you.”
Though clearly said to lighten the mood, after Dohyuk’s words, the atmosphere sank even deeper. Dohyuk began to wonder if he had misspoken again. Eventually, Junseo moved even closer to Dohyuk and pulled his hand to his own mouth.
“Is that how you usually express it?”
“…What do you mean.”
“I still want to be partners with hyung. Then, whenever this happens, I can tell you not to treat my partner like a mass-produced commodity.”
His lips formed a bright red curve against the leather glove. Even though they weren’t properly touching due to the not-so-thin leather between them, Dohyuk unconsciously parted his lips and exhaled deeply. He felt helplessly swayed.
Just as Dohyuk hurriedly tried to distance himself from Junseo, Junseo pulled him even closer. There was an illusion of something crying out with a long sound—ziiiing—from below his abdomen.
“And hyung likes me too, don’t you?”
“…When did I ever.”
“You said you don’t dislike me. Isn’t that the same as liking? That’s how I see it.”
He wanted to ask how the world could operate in such a simple way. Dohyuk’s reddish gaze darted around Junseo. An unsettling desire rose within him—he wanted to touch his skin directly, properly. As if reading his mind, long fingers touched Dohyuk’s cheek. He felt firmly bound by the warmth of another’s body temperature spreading from the fingertips. He was a bit confused whether the flushed sensation was Junseo’s temperature or his own. The face that had come right up to his nose stared only at Dohyuk.
The guiding, which had begun who knows when, was still ongoing. Dohyuk, unable to hide his excitement, was swept away by the energy rushing into him. Soon, as the hand that had been caressing his cheek briefly departed, Dohyuk hurriedly pressed against Junseo.
“Just a bit more…”
“You beg so well during guiding, but how do you manage to hold back normally?”
Junseo, smiling with his eyes, moved his hand.
“No, wait, stop…!”
“Ah, should I not touch your neck? Just hands and face. Right?”
Their eyes met, but perhaps what truly met was himself. Dohyuk stared at his own reflection filling Junseo’s eyes and bit his lip. Watching his lips, which took on an even redder hue as they were pressed by his teeth, Junseo lamented softly. His low voice tapped against Dohyuk’s earlobe.
“There’s no way I would be afraid of you, hyung. In fact, you’re the one who’s afraid of me.”
