“I have to receive it, then. I’m an esper.”
Dawoon answered immediately without hesitation. It was such a natural thing that there was no need to think about it.
“I’m talking about mucous membrane guiding. Sex, not a kiss.”
Meow?
The cat, which had been obediently lapping water, looked up at Dawoon as if uncomfortable about something.
Dawoon obediently accepted the cat coming into his arms and wiped the moisture from its whiskers. At this, Yeoul anxiously asked again.
“Hyung, answer me first. I asked first.”
“I did answer. I said I’ll receive it.”
At Dawoon’s response, Yeoul’s eyes wavered.
“If simple contact guiding doesn’t work, I have to try something. There’s no choice.”
Dawoon answered without hesitation even knowing that the guiding Yeoul was talking about was different from the light contact guiding he’d been receiving until now. He thought it wasn’t a matter where he was given a choice.
“But I won’t do it right away. A bit later… I’ll watch the progress and try it if it seems dangerous.”
Espers had to live managing their wavelength stably for life. If the wavelength reading rose and they went berserk, it wouldn’t end with just them dying alone—people around them would also be caught up in danger.
What was fortunate was that Jeong Dawoon wasn’t an offensive esper. Healers and barrier masters belonged to the category with low risk of going berserk.
Dawoon resolved to be more careful about wavelength management in the future, grateful that he was a healer. It was a problem that would be solved with time anyway. Since the reason guiding wasn’t working was clear.
He just needed to take it easy and adapt to the ability and unfamiliar environment.
Since they said the adaptation period was three months, if he just endured two more months, the problem would be solved. Two months would pass quickly.
“Can hyung have sex with a stranger?”
“Hey, that word….”
Dawoon, who almost grabbed the collar of Yeoul asking bluntly with a fastball, let out a deep sigh. He couldn’t bear to hit this dangerous kid.
“You call sex sex, what else would I call it?”
Yeoul looked down with a face both confident and full of dissatisfaction.
“There’s the expression ‘relations.’ And don’t focus on sex, call it mucous membrane guiding.”
“Either way, it’s the same putting it in and thrusting. Does it change if you say it differently?”
“…Yeah, do as you please.”
Dawoon turned his head with a tired expression. His head hurt, making it hard to continue the conversation.
Perhaps because he’d spent an unusually long-feeling day, various parts of his body ached. He seemed to have a slight fever too….
Dawoon stroked the cat’s soft belly and leaned against its cozy body. The cat quietly held in his arms listened to the ongoing conversation with eyes calm and uncharacteristic of a kitten.
“I’ll find another way.”
Yeoul, conscious of Dawoon’s fatigued complexion, immediately released the strength in his hand. He soon clung while looking at Dawoon’s hand slipping away as if holding it with his gaze.
“Don’t force yourself. You might get more sick from the stress.”
“Yeoul-ah.”
Dawoon opened his mouth while wrapping around the cat’s warm body. Thanks to the cat’s warm body temperature, he gained a little energy to speak.
“Everyone has things they don’t want to do, and everyone endures moderately and lives. You can’t live comfortably all the time.”
He explained gently while making eye contact so it would be properly conveyed to Yeoul.
“If it’s a situation where I must do it, I’ll do it. I even risk my life working, what can’t I do?”
“…Why would you risk your life?”
“Anyway. I’m saying I’ll endure and do it even if I don’t like it. I won’t get stressed to the point my body gets worse over something like that.”
Yeoul, concentrating on Dawoon’s calm voice drilling into his ears, closed his mouth for a moment. His blue eyes instead stared intently at Dawoon as if conveying his inner thoughts.
“Will you also do it with the leader’s younger sibling?”
“No, I won’t do it with Ryu Jin.”
After a brief silence, at the continued question, Dawoon shook his head and firmly denied it.
If mucous membrane guiding became necessary, he would find another guide. He had no intention of increasing contact beyond hugging with Ryu Jin.
“Why? Because he’s the leader’s younger sibling?”
“That… uh, right. And Ryu Jin is too young.”
Silence continued again. Yeoul, who closed his mouth again, looked strangely displeased.
“What’s the standard for young? If they’re younger than hyung, you don’t feel like having sex?”
Yeoul poured out words alone, robbing Dawoon of a chance to answer.
“But if it’s a situation where you must do it, you’ll do it, right? Unavoidably. Since hyung said so.”
“No, that… Ryu Jin is a bit….”
“You said you’d endure and do it even if you don’t like it. Hyung just said that.”
Dawoon, who pursed his lips, finally let out an affirmative sigh. In his desire to quickly end this dizzying conversation whose intent he couldn’t understand, he quickly gave an answer.
“If Ryu Jin is the only person who can guide… I’d have to. If Ryu Jin agrees first.”
Dawoon deliberately emphasized that Guide Ryu Jin’s opinion was most important.
It was a good timing to instill the obvious fact that if the other person refuses, he should cleanly back down, in preparation for when Yeoul falls for Ryu Jin.
However, Yeoul didn’t even half-listen. He just continued asking persistently with eyes as if fixated on something.
“Then you’re saying if the other person is willing, hyung will do it. If it’s a situation where you must, unavoidably, even if they’re a stranger.”
“Uh, I will. If the other person agrees, and if I absolutely, definitely need guiding, I’ll do it.”
It was when Dawoon, who had answered clearly without room for evasion, judged the conversation was over and turned around.
“Then do it with me too.”
At Yeoul’s serious voice heard from behind, Dawoon’s body stiffened.
“…What?”
“Let’s do it with me too.”
Snort. A small nose breath resembling a sneer flowed out briefly. It was a sound the cat made.
The sound was too faint, as small as its body, so both Yeoul and Dawoon didn’t notice it. Focused on each other, things like the cat observing them didn’t even enter their sight.
“If it’s a situation where you must do it, it doesn’t matter who you do it with. Then let’s do it with me.”
“You… can you guide?”
“No. Of course I can’t.”
Right. Naturally so. Since he’s an esper like me.
Dawoon looked at Yeoul, who was suddenly spouting nonsense, with an absurd face.
“I’m not talking about guiding, I’m talking about sex.”
At Yeoul’s added words, rather than understanding, only more questions piled up.
Why would you do that with me?
When Dawoon asked with his expression, Yeoul slowly stroked his lower jaw and cleared his throat.
“When hyung goes into heat, you need a partner.”
The content he spat out in a composed voice confused Dawoon even more. Dawoon, unable to follow the conversation topic that jumped from guiding to heat, only blinked rapidly.
“You said you can have sex with an unknown guide if it’s a necessary situation. Then you can do it with me too.”
“Why would you, with me….”
“Because I’m an alpha. And hyung is an omega.”
Somehow, the more the conversation continued, the more his comprehension seemed to decline. He couldn’t guess Yeoul’s intention in suddenly bringing up his heat and traits.
Wait, this bastard, don’t tell me….
“Suppressants are bad for the body. Hyung’s body is already weak.”
“……”
“When you go into heat, call me now. Don’t look for the leader.”
At Yeoul’s continued confession, Dawoon realized that ‘don’t tell me’ had hit the mark.
“Give me a chance too.”
***
Ryu Taeha, who had adjusted the indoor temperature with the air conditioner remote, drew the curtains.
He covered Ryu Jin, who had fallen asleep on the guiding room sofa, with a blanket and also placed a water bottle within reach.
The eyes of Ryu Jin, lying with a sofa pillow under his head, were red. Ryu Taeha, checking whether he who had fallen asleep exhausted after crying for a long time had a fever, pulled up the blanket.
Ryu Jin felt guilty, saying Dawoon’s guiding rejection seemed to be because of him. He was upset, saying it was because of his immature skills that he couldn’t notice Dawoon’s condition faster.
No matter how many times he said it wasn’t his fault, he only kept crying. After soothing Ryu Jin, who even said he would leave the guild, for a long time, he barely got him to sleep.
He must have been very shocked that guiding wasn’t working.
Ryu Taeha knew better than anyone that his younger sibling faithfully devoted himself to his role.
He recorded the wavelength readings and condition of guild members without missing a single day. Due to his strong sense of responsibility and personality that liked receiving praise, even without anyone telling him to, he received additional training every day. Saying he wanted to become a competent guide who wouldn’t be a burden to the guild, he lived diligently day by day.
Then this kind of thing happened, so it’s natural for his heart to collapse.
Ryu Taeha also knew well the talk that a guide’s psychology becomes withdrawn when there’s a guiding problem with their assigned esper.
Ryu Taeha stroked his reddish eye corners, hoping that even the weak-hearted Ryu Jin wouldn’t fall ill. One sick person—Dawoon—was enough.
Ryu Taeha, who left the guiding room, read the email materials transmitted to his phone. It was the guide list Yeoul had thrown away.
A few new guides had been added there. They were guides famous enough for even Ryu Taeha to know. It wasn’t just knowing their names.
He exchanged light eye greetings with those passing through the guiding room corridor and called the department in charge.
“This is Ryu Taeha.”
Along with saying he received the guide list well, he conveyed new requests.
“Looking again, a few guides with bad reputations are mixed in. Please filter those out first, and I’d appreciate only upright guides.”
—Ah, yes. I’m sorry. I’ll be careful and sort them out again.
“And one more thing.”
—Yes, please speak.
As if conscious of the people coming and going around him, he stopped speaking for a moment and wrapped a thin membrane around his body. After blocking the sound so the call content wouldn’t leak, he briefly added a condition.
“You understand what I mean, right?”
—Of course. Don’t worry. I’ll look for them as you said.
“Yes, please.”
Taeha, who finished the call, checked the guild members’ locations.
Dawoon was at the dormitory with Yeoul. If he went now, it was obvious he’d clash with Yeoul again. For Dawoon’s mental health too, it was better not to show that kind of scene.
Since it would take time to receive the new guide list anyway, he should talk again at night. Or even tomorrow.
Taeha wanted to solve Dawoon’s guiding problem as soon as possible. Though Dawoon was a healer, the burden accumulating in his body was great due to his rare ability. He had a body that needed to receive guiding consistently and frequently.
His body is already weak, and now there’s even a guiding problem. Taeha, expecting Dawoon to fall ill starting tonight, tried to return to the field right away to finish work quickly.
Buzz~
However, a call that came at just that moment grabbed his ankle. His phone rang especially busily today.
“Yes, what is it?”
—Guild Leader Ryu Taeha. It seems you need to come out for a moment.
It was a call from the team leader in charge of danger zones designated in civilian areas.
Did another gate occur outside? But for that, the team leader’s voice wasn’t urgent.
The reason he called was different.
—We found the beastmen.
