* * *
Haebom remained unconscious, and now, in his office, Wonho was the only one awake.
His body felt oddly light and refreshed, as if a tangled mess had been straightened out.
But seeing Haebom lying there with his eyes closed didn’t sit well with him.
It felt like… his fault.
No—it was his fault.
That only made it worse.
This was normal, wasn’t it?
Wonho shoved his doubts aside.
He’d figure out why Haebom had collapsed later.
Once he got him back to the lab, he’d have his answers.
For now, the priority was dealing with the current situation.
Straightening up, Wonho slipped an arm under Haebom’s neck and another beneath his knees, lifting him with ease.
Thunk.
Haebom’s limp arm fell, dangling down.
Instinctively, Wonho lowered his head, bringing his face closer to Haebom’s.
His faint breath brushed against Wonho’s skin.
He wasn’t dead—just unconscious.
Guides didn’t die from guiding.
At least, he’d never seen it happen before… probably.
“Fuck… You’re way too light. You eat so damn much—why the hell are you still this skinny?”
Every guide’s office had a private shower, and getting there wasn’t far.
Even in that short distance, Wonho muttered complaints under his breath.
Haebom did eat, so why did he feel like he weighed nothing?
Cradling the smaller body in his arms, he couldn’t shake the thought—was Haebom really the same age as him?
No matter how he looked at it, it was hard to believe Haebom was a full-grown adult.
But whether he believed it or not didn’t change the facts.
Haebom was twenty-one.
A legal adult.
Completely unaware of Wonho’s skepticism, he remained limp in his arms, his body utterly surrendered.
Even as Wonho carefully washed him, fumbling through the unfamiliar task of cleaning someone else, Haebom never stirred.
“Just how sensitive is your skin…?”
Wonho muttered under his breath.
As Wonho washed Haebom, his brows furrowed deeply in irritation.
Yet, in contrast to his harsh expression, his hands grew even more careful.
It was inevitable—Haebom’s flushed skin peeked through the numerous marks Wonho had already left behind.
Even the gentle pressure of the lathered shower ball had turned Haebom’s skin red.
It was proof that Wonho, without even realizing it himself, had strength to spare.
He had never bathed anyone before, never touched someone with such deliberate gentleness.
Not even Jin Seyoung, the person closest to him, would have experienced something like this—not even if a knife were at his throat.
And Choi Yoonseo, whom he had once believed to be his destined guide, had only ever received her touch during their initial compatibility test.
Haebom was the only one to receive this side of him.
Sighing, Wonho spread the foam over Haebom’s body, wiping away both his own release and Haebom’s.
He had to make a conscious effort not to apply too much pressure.
By the time he finished cleaning the unconscious Haebom and drying him with a towel, sweat had gathered on his forehead.
Killing monsters inside the Gate would be easier than this, he thought.
After hurriedly washing himself and drying off, Wonho wrapped Haebom snugly in a towel and carried him out of the bathroom.
“This again…”
His furrowed brow deepened as he looked at their discarded clothes.
Having to put them back on felt frustrating.
He had no issue wearing his own—he’d endured far worse, often returning from the Gate drenched in monster fluids and blood.
Rewearing something slightly unclean was trivial.
But putting Haebom back into his dirty clothes…
That was a different matter.
“There must be something…”
Suddenly, he recalled that guide offices were stocked with clothes tailored for their respective guides.
He had never been inside another guide’s office, so he wasn’t sure where to look.
But he knew, at the very least, that it was written in the training manuals.
With Haebom temporarily placed on the couch, Wonho rummaged through the office.
The room was warm, but leaving Haebom like that for too long might still make him catch a cold.
He needed to find clothes—fast.
Fortunately, he located a set in a storage unit along the wall.
The fresh, neatly packaged clothes included underwear.
Without hesitation, he tore open the packaging and approached Haebom.
Did he really need to go this far?
The thought crossed his mind briefly, but his hands moved on their own, dressing Haebom with practiced efficiency.
Only after finishing did he realize he had been walking around completely naked the entire time.
Even after washing, dressing, and holding him, Haebom still showed no sign of waking.
A sudden fear gripped Wonho—was something wrong with him?
Was this normal?
His thoughts spiraled into chaos.
Hurriedly, he dressed himself and lifted Haebom into his arms again.
His weight was still as light as ever.
Just before leaving, he placed a sign on the office door requesting cleaning service, then stepped out.
On his way to the research facility, he could feel the stares of passersby.
But he didn’t care. He never did, and now, Haebom’s condition took absolute priority.
“…Wonho-ya! Wonho-ya?”
A familiar voice called out to him from the lobby of the guide office building.
Wonho turned toward the source.
There was only one person in the world—no, in this entire center—who called him “Wonho-ya.”
“…Huh? That person…”
“I need to be somewhere. If you have something to say, save it for later.”
“Huh? Wonho-ya?”
Choi Yoonseo, who had approached with a bright expression, froze when she noticed Haebom in Wonho’s arms.
Wonho had no interest in why Yoonseo had called out to him.
What annoyed him was being delayed when time was of the essence.
Without waiting for a response, he turned and strode out of the lobby.
If Haebom had been awake—or if he at least knew why Haebom had fainted—maybe he would’ve stopped to listen.
But right now, he had neither the time nor the patience.
Left alone in the lobby, Yoonseo stood in stunned silence, watching Wonho’s retreating figure until he completely disappeared from view.
Thud, thud, thud….
A sound echoed at regular intervals.
Haebom grew curious about what it was.
So, he tried to open his eyes.
No—he intended to open them, but strangely, they wouldn’t open easily, as if they were swollen shut.
“Mm?”
It wasn’t that he couldn’t open them at all.
Forcing his heavy, puffy eyelids up, he caught sight of an unfamiliar-colored ceiling through his blurry vision.
Black? No, was it gray?
It was entirely different from the bright-colored ceiling of his own room.
Before arriving in this world, Haebom hadn’t liked the wallpaper in his room due to the landlord’s taste.
But he had really liked the light beige walls of the room Wonho had provided for him.
Which meant… this wasn’t his room.
The last place he had been before falling asleep was… the Guide Office.
“Ahh!”
The moment he remembered being at the Guide Office, everything that had happened there rushed back into his mind.
Everything he had done with Wonho before he fell asleep…!
The flood of intimate memories filled his head, and Haebom let out a startled scream.
Just a second later, the door swung open with a bang.
“…What the hell? Why are you screaming all of a sudden? Are you hurt?”
Of course, the person who entered was none other than Wonho.
Seeing the very person from his vivid memories appear so suddenly, Haebom squeezed his eyes shut.
Wonho, who had laid him down to sleep comfortably in a spacious place, was baffled by Haebom’s reaction.
First, he screamed, then clamped his eyes shut tight.
What the hell was going on?
* * *
