# Chapter 68
Junseo growled lowly.
“Consideration. You call this consideration.”
“…Cases of going berserk are rare. Even now, it’s not at a level requiring emergency guiding, it’s just because of accumulated fatigue…. Esper Choi Dohyuk showed particularly poor condition in this examination….”
A short laugh interrupted, causing the research assistant to pause briefly, but Junseo gestured as if nothing had happened. Go on. Keep babbling. It was a sharp urging that could make fingertips sting.
The research assistant moistened his dry lips and hurriedly continued.
“…yes. As I mentioned earlier, this is an examination all Espers must undergo mandatorily, and Espers recover at a different rate than ordinary people, so the effect of the medication will disappear within three hours.”
“It’s already a mess, so what good is self-recovery? Was this done with the consent of the person concerned?”
This was the only question the research assistant could answer confidently, so he quickly raised his head.
“Of course! All examinations are conducted with the consent of the person concerned!”
At that answer, Junseo’s eyes narrowed languidly.
“No, they weren’t.”
“What? No, that’s not true. All examinations are conducted with the consent of the Esper undergoing the examination!”
Esper Choi Dohyuk clearly filled out a consent form and signed it before the examination. He himself had received that signature. The research assistant spoke again. Though his jaw muscles trembled, half distorted with fear at the hostile response from the other person, he tried to make his voice sound as firm as possible.
But Junseo’s answer was simple.
“Just who do I look like to those stupid eyes of yours?”
The research assistant slowly responded to a question that anyone in the headquarters could answer.
“…You are Guide Yu Junseo.”
“I am also Esper Choi Dohyuk’s partner Guide. The research lab under headquarters couldn’t possibly be unaware of the precise fact that Esper Choi Dohyuk is an Esper matched with a partner through headquarters approval. As evidence, you are currently requesting me to guide Esper Choi Dohyuk. Isn’t that right?”
The research assistant looked at the unchanging eyes of the other person and unconsciously averted his gaze, feeling like he might be swallowed whole at any moment.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Then in the case of an Esper with a partner, the concept of ‘person concerned’ includes their partner Guide, and before a high-intensity examination requiring guiding, prior notification and consent from the Esper’s partner Guide is necessary—this is a basic fact that a headquarters researcher apparently didn’t know. By now, do you understand what went wrong?”
“I apologize.”
Junseo deliberately let out a heavy sigh in front of him. The research assistant shrank at the gaze that openly treated him as useless.
“What good is your apology to me? The problem has already occurred. Which department are you from?”
“That’s….”
The monotonous voice cut off the research assistant who was about to blurt out an excuse in surprise. It was also an indication that he wasn’t interested in his excuses at all.
“Put away your half-witted excuses and answer only what I’ve asked. Department. Position. Name.”
The face shrouded in shadow spread hazily before his eyes, completely devoid of vitality. He had heard that a Guide’s physical abilities weren’t any different from ordinary people’s, but he couldn’t understand how such intimidation could emanate from him.
Junseo ran a hand through his hair as if suppressing his irritation. His expression remained sunken to the point of seeming alien. The research assistant formed an answer with his trembling jaw.
“Nuclear Energy Research Institute under headquarters… Re-research assistant Kim Taesik.”
Only then did the tightly fixed gaze disappear. Junseo muttered while still gently stroking the person in his arms as if comforting him. Nuclear Energy Research Institute.
“Since my Esper needs urgent attention, you can go for now. We’ll meet again later.”
Junseo blinked with a still cold face as he pushed the words “Nuclear Energy Research Institute” into his mind while watching the hastily retreating figure. Eventually, he briefly infused energy while pressing his lips lightly on Dohyuk’s head, then opened the door of the guiding room that had been closed.
***
Junseo laid Dohyuk on the bed in the guiding room as if hiding something precious, then pulled over a chair beside the bed.
“I’ve already been angry, so don’t you get angry.”
Though his gaze was still on Dohyuk, Junseo’s words reached the window. Junseo sat on the chair he had pulled over and wrapped his hand around Dohyuk’s.
“Why? Are you jealous of someone getting angry on your behalf?”
Only then did Junseo’s gaze slide to the person standing by the window. It was Seah, who had met with Junseo first after setting up a lunch appointment, when her contact with Dohyuk was suddenly cut off and showed no signs of resuming. Her face, buried in a gym uniform, looked youthful. At Seah’s ambiguous question, Junseo quietly readjusted his grip on Dohyuk’s hand. He tilted his head habitually, but it was closer to gauging Dohyuk’s thoughts than choosing his own response.
Thoughts like, how should I respond here so that Dohyuk won’t dislike it when he finds out later?
Seah, who didn’t wait long for Junseo’s response, spoke again.
“Oppa, you like Mr. Dohyuk, don’t you?”
At the brazen question, Junseo smiled as if drawn. His long eyelashes tickled the corners of his eyes as they held a smile. His elegant voice was melodious and affectionate as always today.
“Seah. I like you too.”
It was a deliberately crafted softness, like a bird spreading its colorful feathers.
“You’re really perceptive.”
Continuing his words, Junseo languidly pulled Dohyuk’s hand that he had been holding and lowered his lips to his wrist. His eyes meet Seah’s. The black pupils looking into the round ones ask if this was answer enough.
During the brief moment his lips touched, a soft energy surged from Junseo to Dohyuk. Junseo heard a faint breath. If he gave a little more, it would turn into a moan.
Whenever Dohyuk was like this, Junseo’s body burned with the desire to pour all his energy into him. A fierce emotion—even if Dohyuk couldn’t resist and pushed his body away, he wanted to press back every bit of energy that emerged without giving an inch of ground.
He tried hard to suppress everything that occasionally surged like a strong current and maintain a docile face.
Junseo sincerely wanted to be completely gentle with him.
“It’s not that I’m perceptive, it’s that you’re showing it incredibly obviously.”
At those words, Junseo laughed, his throat vibrating. He was incomparably elegant, like a lazy feline predator basking in the sun.
“Well, I think hyung has noticed it too by now. Though he pretends not to know.”
At Junseo’s agreement, Seah began to chatter brightly, just as she did when she was alone with Junseo. Her voice continued, lively and careless, befitting her age.
“That’s how that mister always is. Even if you tell him directly, he’ll just dig himself in deeper. He doesn’t know about casual relationships, so he takes everything too seriously. Can’t you tell by looking at me? Saving me by chance once, the end… no, he’s like a parent. School fees under the pretext of donations, plus living expenses. Even sending anonymous birthday presents every year from Busan.”
Seah turned her gaze to Junseo, still with a bright smiling face.
The wind was blowing through the window. Unlike usual, her hair, which wasn’t neatly tied up but left naturally loose, swayed freely.
Junseo thought that Dohyuk would really like that look.
“So give up at this point.”
He would probably think that the unnamed sprout he had sheltered from wind and rain, carefully nurturing with water, had finally burst into its own flower buds. That’s right. The bright flower bud had already fully bloomed. At least enough to have learned how to stand on its own, though still immature.
As she stood before him with a firmly forged gaze, Junseo smiled whitely.
Then you should be content with that, just as I am considerate of you.
As his eyelids lowered, his long eyelashes half-covered his round pupils. Junseo’s face, still pretending to be docile, was only gentle, as if holding the warmest energy in the world. He slowly moved his lips. His languid voice hid its true nature by pretending to be a soliloquy.
“Did I score poorly? That’s terrible. I put in a lot of effort.”
Seah, as if she had predicted Junseo would answer like that, leaned the back of her head against the window glass and played with her feet. The light sound of tapping on the floor resonated pleasantly through the room a couple of times.
The wind flowing over the sliding window into the room was strong. Finding the hair swaying with the wind’s movement annoying, Seah detached herself from the window she was leaning on and turned her head. With small hands, Seah easily pushed the tight window closed and fiddled with the lock. Seah’s face was faintly reflected on the well-maintained window.
The pretty eyes that had been staring intently at that expressionless face through the window narrowed thinly.
That young thing is giving a warning now. Cleverly, showing her hidden claws at the most effective moment.
“Someone like Junseo oppa must have a lot of admirers. Find someone else, someone suitable. There are plenty of others besides Mr. Dohyuk. That mister may look that way, but he’s not at all the type for casual dating.”
It was like a day-old puppy barking ignorantly, and laughter eventually leaked through Junseo’s lips. Rubbing his greatly curved eye corners with his long fingers, he made an exaggerated sound of suffering.
“There’s a scary elder in the in-laws.”
