# Chapter 46
“Will you guide me?”
His head tilted slightly after offering the words Junseo had always longed to hear. Somehow, his prominent nose was now touching the tip of Junseo’s own. Having someone else’s breath mingling with yours is quite an erotic experience. His inhale becomes your exhale, and your inhale becomes his exhale, making you pant as if no matter how much you breathe, it’s never enough.
Junseo’s lips parted halfway.
“…What should I do.”
Junseo whispered in a languid voice, just as their lips were about to meet. It was as dry as if he had just awakened from a dream.
“I have fantasies about my first kiss.”
Junseo, who had somehow assembled a Glock, pressed it under Dohyuk’s chin and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Jaesik unwittingly hunched his shoulders at the thunderous sound that was hard to imagine coming from such a small, cute toy gun. Clearly, no bullet had been fired. All Jaesik remembered was that when Junseo pulled the trigger, the air around them rippled as if vibrating, like a powerful earthquake had occurred. In this bewildering situation, everyone froze as if time itself had been bound.
Junseo was the first to move.
The movement wasn’t large. Junseo just looked down at his gun with a tired expression. His face, which had instantly drained of all color, was frozen whiter than usual.
His fine brows furrowed slightly. The expression that would have appeared harsh on others looked closer to a sulking, grumpy child, perhaps due to Junseo’s gentle features.
“Still doesn’t feel good to use.”
After contemplating something like someone writing an experimental log, Junseo shook the gun near his ear a couple of times, then finally folded it up with a click and pushed it into his hip holster.
Junseo’s well-proportioned body stepped back from Dohyuk, who had been pressed close to him. It was an elegant movement, like a cat that climbs onto someone’s lap on a whim, then loses interest and returns to its place.
Simultaneously, Dohyuk’s body, which had stopped like a paused video, slowly began to topple forward as if finding its time again.
Dohyuk moved his jaw as if trying to say something, but no sound came out from between his parted lips. Junseo watched as he tumbled headfirst from the knees down. His expression didn’t register. He merely glanced at the scene without emotion, tapping his in-ear communication device to relay the current situation to the base.
“Additional confirmation needed. Currently verifying. Under the protection of the support-type Esper, Guide to standby at Base B. Over.”
Jaesik frowned, unable to grasp the situation.
“What on earth is happening…? Why is Guide Yu Junseo attacking… Esper Choi Dohyuk?”
He wasn’t sure whether to call that an attack, or how a Guide could attack an Esper. Dohyuk’s condition was a bit strange, but not enough to warrant pulling out something like a gun on him. Yu Junseo seemed to have a truly twisted personality for a Guide.
What was that toy gun, and why was Dohyuk playing along with it? Where had Esper Ji Sangjun gone, with still no radio communication?
Various questions swirled in his head.
Junseo, who paid no attention to whether Jaesik was flustered or not, approached Dohyuk, who was kneeling. He casually positioned his foot right in front of Dohyuk’s knees and stood firmly. His observant gaze remained the same, and there was absolutely no warmth in that direct stare.
He bent halfway at the waist. His soft hand forcefully lifted the chin of Dohyuk, who was kneeling before him. Dohyuk’s dazed, blinking gaze reached Junseo, but even that seemed too much for him as his head tilted limply. The long eyelashes beneath his dark eyebrows lowered. His quivering lips barely managed to utter one word. His voice was incredibly dull, as if even that action was difficult.
“…Jun, seo?”
Why are you hurting me? You shouldn’t do that.
As if thinking such thoughts, he blinked slowly, like a child who had just woken up. It seemed like he might utter a few sleepy protests before drifting back to sleep at any moment.
The expressionless face was so cold it could freeze just by looking at it, but the dreamy eyes, as if deeply immersed in a dream, accentuated the strange atmosphere. It felt like accidentally witnessing someone who always stood so firmly now completely fallen apart. While examining and appreciating everything from his sharply defined jawline to his moderately plump lips, Junseo twisted the corner of his mouth.
It was clearly a sneer.
“Strange thing. It’s like a feast laid out for me to eat, but I don’t feel like it.”
Junseo clicked his tongue as he let go of the chin he’d been holding, as if brushing it off. At the same time, starting from the top of Dohyuk’s head, his outer skin began to melt and flow like liquid.
Slowly, like a wax figure touching fire.
Junseo crossed his arms, taking in the sight, not caring that Jaesik was so shocked he forgot even to swallow.
“Maybe it’s because I’ve never used imitations in my life.”
The melted Dohyuk transformed into a blue flame. The small flame flickered and grew, gradually morphing into the form of a fairly large person. Where the head should be, only flames rose, with facial features too vague to discern. Even though there was hardly any wind, the flames raged violently as if they would burn a person.
Blue flames.
A monster that lures its prey by impersonating someone familiar.
“A-class monster, Changgwi named Yukhon! Take cover!”
Jaesik shouted urgently.
“Why should I?”
Junseo asked leisurely.
“What?”
“How could a mere Guide, with physical abilities similar to an ordinary person, escape from an A-class monster alone? Esper Seo Jaesik should save a fragile Guide like me. If it were Esper Choi Dohyuk, he would have already embraced me and fled long ago.”
Jaesik wondered why this deranged human was articulating such nonsense so precisely in this critical moment.
“So now you’re a fragile Guide?”
“But don’t try to embrace me. The very thought is repulsive.”
“No, fuck! I have no such intention, so please just stay quiet. Have you forgotten that things weren’t good between us just a moment ago?”
“Still, you have to save me. To look good at headquarters.”
Even in a situation where they encountered an A-class monster, Junseo was merely indifferent. People watching a movie would probably look more tense than him.
Though Jaesik unconsciously cursed at his superior, he faithfully drew water to surround Junseo protectively. A liquid with a deep green tint, rather than ordinary water, spread around Junseo like a curtain.
Junseo continued:
“And if you want to transfer to a better position with better conditions.”
“……”
Junseo smiled brightly. The liquid, as if melted from the jungle’s greenery and scattered, rippled softly following Junseo’s small movements. When light shone on it, the sparkling water scales looked like expensive ornaments.
Looking at that beautiful face, Jaesik thought:
That’s a demon.
A devil seasoned in manipulating others according to his own gestures.
Jaesik barely twisted his gaze away, pretending not to have heard.
“…Stay right here. If you come out and get hurt, I won’t be responsible. I’ll report it as an accidental death due to your own mistake.”
“Compared to Esper Choi Dohyuk, Esper Seo Jaesik really has no sense of responsibility or consideration.”
Though he’d said that as a final courtesy to his superior, Junseo was still hateful.
“I don’t want to hear that from you! And stop comparing me to Choi Dohyuk!”
Just as Jaesik shouted, Yukhon closed the distance at a speed impossible for an ordinary person to avoid. Jaesik moved his body away from Junseo to lure Yukhon. The monster chased after Jaesik, leapt, and rotated its upper body halfway. It was a movement to throw a powerful punch.
Woong!
As Yukhon swung its flame-formed fist, the blue fire surged fiercely toward Jaesik. The heavy sound of the air being torn was threatening enough.
Still, it was fortunate that the monster they encountered was Yukhon, not Gulkak or Iol. Yukhon was the only fire-attribute monster among the three types of Changgwi. Fire attribute—the type Jaesik could hunt with the most confidence.
As soon as Jaesik imagined a powerful wave, a dark blue spray of water spread like a panorama before his eyes. Though Yukhon puffed up its body while spewing fire, it shrank each time it touched the wave Jaesik created.
Hissss. Steam rose profusely as Yukhon’s struggles intensified. A whitish fog settled densely. It was difficult to discern even what was right in front of you. Without relaxing his tension, Jaesik shot a massive water arrow at Yukhon, which had shrunk to the size of a forearm.
Once more, steam surged. Jaesik, who had protected himself by surrounding his body with tightly compressed water, scoured through the hazy steam looking for Yukhon’s remains. Soon, annoyed by the obstructed view, Jaesik gathered the rippling steam into a circle to clear the surroundings.
Instantly, his view cleared. Over in the corner, a flame that had shrunk to the size of a candle after being swept by the waves flickered blue. Judging by its appearance, it seemed to be planning to escape beyond the jungle. Like a wild beast that had found its prey, Jaesik grabbed that flame in one breath, wrapped it in water, and crushed it.
Pop!
There was a sound like a bug the size of a thumbnail bursting.
