# Chapter 23
## 3. The Moment Before Collision
This was the second time he’d been dragged into the base, treated like a political prisoner. It was a return reminiscent of when he was seventeen, when the entire Delta team had to be deployed just to knock him unconscious.
This was deeply connected to why he had written a number close to a life sentence—30 years—on his contract.
After who knows how many escape attempts, the Esper base had threatened him with either amnesty or imprisonment, extending Dowoon’s contract period. The communal living system for several years was an additional clause that came with it.
“Thoughtless bastard.”
So there was a perfectly valid reason why Dowoon frequently smacked the back of Yoon Minoh’s head.
Exhausted after pair training, Yoon Minoh doubled over dramatically from his slap, exaggerating his pain. Dowoon scolded him with a clearly reproachful voice.
“Are you blockheaded? Signing that contract?”
“My head is hard, it’s true. Like down here.”
All the contracting processes had taken place while Dowoon was sound asleep, courtesy of Kwon Jeonghoo. Overall, it could be described as a very smooth and cooperative contracting situation.
Yoon Minoh had signed the document without even looking through it properly. Only after Jeonghoo chided him, asking if he was illiterate, did he skim through some of the clauses.
How could he read through all 107 clauses one by one?
“I bet yours is hard too…”
Despite Dowoon looking at him like he was a disgusting insect, Yoon Minoh continued to tease him. His sticky voice conveyed harmful undertones.
“If I get a tongue piercing, will you give me a chance? Hmm?”
“I’ll pierce it for you, just stick it out, you bastard.”
A large ice pick, sharpened like a blade at the tip, suddenly appeared in Dowoon’s hand. It looked like it could easily skewer Yoon Minoh’s tongue like a kebab.
Smacking his lips regretfully, Yoon Minoh folded his large frame and hid in Dowoon’s arms.
“Aiyee! The air conditioning is too strong…!”
“You’re really something, you crazy bastard.”
Dowoon grabbed Yoon Minoh’s ear, pressing his black piercing with his finger and scolding him.
“Ah, wait, aaaagh!”
“After 40 years, you’ll be in your twilight years. You want to chase after monsters’ tails until you die of old age?”
It was certainly a serious crime that he had ruined Dowoon’s first retirement attempt with that damn pair condition, but that wasn’t the only reason Dowoon found Yoon Minoh’s joining disagreeable.
He was just curious how someone could be shortsighted enough to sign a contract after seeing the ridiculous number of 40 years.
Exhausted, Yoon Minoh whispered with the most pitiful expression he could muster.
“I’m still young and don’t know any better.”
“Yeah, as if that’s something to be proud of.”
“If you took care of me, I think I’d grow up well…”
“Shut up.”
“Won’t you raise me starting today? I’m at an age that needs protection.”
At this, Dowoon carefully watched for the perfect timing to smack Yoon Minoh’s forehead.
But armed with aegyo, Yoon Minoh didn’t back down despite Dowoon’s cold treatment. He hugged his waist tighter and rubbed his cheek here and there. Just as Dowoon was making a face and hitting the back of his head—
Someone walked in with a straight posture, holding a coffee tray in both hands. Dowoon pushed Yoon Minoh away as if having a seizure and straightened his back. The silhouette at the entrance to the training area looked familiar.
Ah, he was beautiful enough to make his heart race again today.
He seemed to have just arrived at work, wearing a comfortable-looking cardigan. The V-neck t-shirt underneath was cut lower than expected, making Dowoon blush.
Even Yoon Minoh, who was meeting an S-class guide for the first time, wasn’t as flustered, which seemed suspicious to anyone watching.
“You must be Minoh-ssi?”
The ordinary greeting, which left no room for misinterpretation, was delivered in a gentle voice reminiscent of a kindergarten teacher.
Placing the tray on the small table, Cha Haseong extended his hand first and said,
“I’m Guide Cha Haseong.”
It was an equally standard introduction, but suspicious circumstances were overflowing.
Perhaps it was because his gaze was fixed on someone other than himself, with only his smooth lips moving. Yoon Minoh, who had been alternately looking at the long, slender fingers and the coffee tray, made a sound of disgust as he shook hands.
“Why is a guide interrupting our date time?”
When this aggressive question, showing no consideration for others’ feelings, burst out, Dowoon hurriedly grabbed the back of his neck and intervened.
“I’ll just change my clothes and be right there.”
“…Hyung?”
Yoon Minoh twitched his scratched eyebrow in disbelief at Dowoon’s attitude, which was markedly different from how he treated him. What is this?
Cha Haseong shrugged, smiled faintly, and turned around. Dowoon practically threw Yoon Minoh away and turned his back as well.
It was a first meeting that ended before Yoon Minoh could grasp the current between the two.
Like a dog that had found its long-awaited master, Dowoon followed in Cha Haseong’s footsteps, quietly warning Yoon Minoh, who was staring at him with a strange expression. Hey, you.
“Don’t throw away the coffee. I’ll drink it all.”
***
With a damp towel around his neck, Dowoon hurriedly grabbed shopping bags he’d stored in the cabinet.
Since he had tried to finish showering properly in the limited time, he couldn’t completely dry his hair. Cha Haseong, who had been waiting for thirty minutes, had already taken off his cardigan.
Dowoon entered, breathing roughly while carrying an armful of shopping bags.
“Huff, huff…”
“Dowoon-ssi?”
Logos of famous brands that anyone on earth would have heard of at least once unfolded. It was like an entire department store display had been moved.
Walking heavily and dropping the pile of shopping bags with a thud, Dowoon, exuding the scent of shampoo, said,
“I couldn’t figure out which one was the shirt I borrowed last time, no matter how hard I looked.”
He could have added that he had to bring everything he saw because of this, but for some reason, Dowoon just averted his gaze awkwardly.
It was because standing before Cha Haseong’s face, which had no particular warmth, made his heart vibrate emptily, as if lost in a maze with no exit.
“…If it made you uncomfortable, I’ll take them back.”
He had clearly crossed the line again.
By Dowoon’s calculations, it was an appropriate price range, but when normal people receive gifts like this, they naturally feel burdened.
But as if that wasn’t what he wanted to point out, Cha Haseong scrutinized him intently.
Dowoon kept silent, thinking that if he endured this ordeal, it would surely pass. But sensing his judgment was wrong, he opened his mouth.
There was something oddly unsettling. He recalled the hospital room incident last time.
“The Captain and I are absolutely, absolutely not in any relationship. Lover… hah.”
Though it was just a moment, the very idea of considering Kwon Jeonghoo as a lover evoked a sense of sin.
“No matter how flawed a person I am, I’m not corrupt enough to engage in contact guiding with a guide while having my superior as a lover. No, even if he wasn’t my superior, I wouldn’t receive contact guiding while in a relationship. So if you misunderstood…”
In his urgency, Dowoon failed to detect the change in Cha Haseong’s expression and belatedly realized his mistake. Hadn’t he heard recently that Haseong had gotten a lover?
Interpreted differently, this comment essentially accused Cha Haseong of being “a corrupt person who engages with others while having a lover.” Cha Haseong replied with a smirk.
“I liked the scent… I was going to ask what shampoo you use.”
“…”
“Could you stop explaining your private life like that?”
He calmly extended his arm and wiped the moisture gathered on Dowoon’s eyelashes, murmuring.
“I’m worried you’ll start asking me for explanations too.”
Dumbfounded, Dowoon gazed at his retreating hand and docilely repeated.
“I’ve always washed with the same shampoo when meeting you…”
“…”
“Hearing that at this timing makes it feel a bit like an excuse.”
Excuse. The word sounded quite grating.
“Do I really have to tell you?”
The Esper, born as a superhuman chosen by the gods from birth, who had built his career fearlessly throughout his life, abruptly added the rest of the sentence.
“Besides, it’s communal…”
He had no desire to create an embarrassing situation, but he wasn’t keen on finding out the brand of the bath products provided in the communal shower either.
He didn’t want Cha Haseong to use a fragrance that was just ordinary, from a brand name he’d never heard of before. Gathering courage to look him straight in the eyes, Dowoon spoke in a more confident tone than before.
“I’ve heard that you find it very unpleasant when your scent overlaps with others.”
He nodded a couple of times as if affirming this to himself.
