The hand covering his mouth had lost its strength.
Haimar gently grasped his wrist as it fell, kissing and nipping at the tip of each of his five fingers.
In an action that looked almost sacred, Ben forgot that warmth had begun to return to his chillingly pale hand.
“Do you want that?”
‘Would you be fine even if I were genuinely the Esper of someone else, not you?’
‘Would it be better to live while maintaining an appropriate distance, as that woman said?’
“I don’t want to.”
He said it.
He said that he was fine because it was Ben.
And so, he didn’t want to maintain an appropriate distance.
From somewhere between his body, still slightly tipsy with alcohol, and his foggy, confused mind, a single, unwavering emotion stood Ben upright, like a tumbler doll.
The hope that had been so dry far away now soaked up water, grew, and sprouted.
“Even if I wasn’t a Guide… would you mean it?”
“Do you get stupid when you drink?”
“What did you say?”
“That assumption is meaningless in the first place. My only Guide, bound by the Irregular status, is you. What meaning does any other assumption have?”
It was an obvious tLus, and the arrogance that resembled him shone brighter than the sun.
That’s right, Haimar had excluded all premises.
Therefore, the hypothesis that it wouldn’t matter who the Guide was, was inherently futile.
From the very beginning, Haimar Eilec’s Guide was only Ben Plaskun, so there was no need to hypothesize anything else.
No matter who the Guide was, all of this present moment was realized because the existence standing by Haimar’s side was Ben Plaskun.
When Ben first spoke with Hoaphilen, he considered himself to be less than any other Guide.
Like the equation: ‘Ben Plaskun < Guide’.
However, the existing equation shattered with a single word from Haimar, and a new equation was instantly established.
‘Ben Plaskun ≥ Guide’.
Therefore, Hoaphilen Legius was clearly wrong.
Once again, Ben broke free from his narrow-minded thinking with Haimar’s words.
As Haimar continually saved him, he was able to recover the fragments of his sinking true feelings.
‘Perhaps, may I get closer?’
The question he had swallowed internally suddenly came to mind.
The answer he had been seeking was given to him, even though he hadn’t asked.
Now that he had gained certainty, Hoaphilen’s words could no longer affect Ben.
Upon realizing it, all of her words were nothing more than hasty conclusions.
This fact, compounded by his own emotions that had crossed the line, gave rise to his anxiety.
It would have been better if he had been slightly more selfish, like Haimar.
He should have simply scoffed and retorted, ‘What do you know?’ or ‘What are you going to do about it? I’m his one and only Guide.’
Instead, he was swayed by a few words, hastily judging Haimar and unconditionally hiding his emotions.
After abandoning his frantic attempts to avoid Haimar and focusing solely on his relationship with him, he could see the whole picture.
He felt the sound of his own heart, now with a different character than before, pounding in sync with Haimar’s heart against their tightly pressed chests.
Haimar Eilec’s heart was beating exactly like his own.
“May I kiss you?”
Ben slowly stroked Haimar’s face with both hands.
He pressed on his soft cheek and deliberately tickled his closed eyelashes, unable to contain his overflowing heart as he asked.
Haimar smiled.
“Please do.”
It was the moment when his genuine feelings were felt as a tangible sensation.
Ben’s warm and soft aura gathered on his lips, flowed in, and permeated deep into Haimar’s entire body.
Feeling the tongue softly intertwining with his, Haimar sneered at Hoaphilen.
There was a limit to meddling with others.
What was there to worry about that she had put such useless worries about “distance” into this small head?
This head was better off filled only with thoughts of him.
“Hoo…”
As sweet breaths were exchanged and their lips briefly separated, Haimar licked the thread connecting them.
The unpleasant mood he had carried since arriving here slowly melted away and disappeared.
Seeing Ben, completely drunk and relaxed, wearing clothes full of other people’s scents, and being touched by other people’s hands, was undeniably the worst.
He could confidently say that the fact that the party venue hadn’t been stained with bloodshed was the greatest moment of mercy in his life.
The shiny shoulders visible beneath the sagging clothes, the neck clearly defined by the loosely tied ribbon, and his straight legs, all exposed up to the thigh—the fact that this unfamiliar appearance of Ben was not his own doing was deeply irritating.
In this new feeling, where Ben’s usual neatness was diluted and gone, things that he would have normally ignored fiercely pierced his mind, constantly bothering his nerves.
What little eased his mood were the marks he had left all over Ben’s body, but his feelings plummeted again with every one of Ben’s thorny words.
He was only fortunate that Ben had choked on the drink he abruptly threw back and was now docilely held in his arms; otherwise, he would have caused trouble in some way after a long time.
Every time he faced Ben, he encountered new, unfamiliar emotions.
Haimar recalled the names of low-grade emotions he had never experienced before, such as possessiveness, territoriality, and jealousy.
The reason for these abnormal emotions being merely “because he is a Guide” was already too outdated to even count as a reason.
There was definitely a time when “Guide” came before “Ben” for him, too.
That was before his world changed completely after meeting Ben.
The fact that he could tolerate Ellyn’s absurd antics just to shut her up showed that he had changed, and drastically so.
The original him would have replaced the Guide’s existence itself if he didn’t like them, even if they were an Irregular Guide.
It was because of Ben that he changed, and it was because of Ben that he accepted new emotions.
Of course, the fact that he met Ben Plaskun through the “Guide” connection was an acceptable point, but it was purely his luck, and not something to be especially thankful for to the heavens.
Others might say it was very typical of him to interpret things as he pleased, but that’s how it was.
“Speaking of which, I didn’t get an answer.”
“What… answer? Ah.”
Ben, who had been lightly rubbing noses with Haimar, briefly pulled back his face as if remembering Haimar’s words.
Haimar had answered “I don’t want to” to the controversy raised by Hoaphilen, but Ben had yet to state his own opinion, apart from relaying Hoaphilen’s words.
Although it felt like he had already received the answer, Haimar wanted to hear Ben say it himself with those small lips.
“I don’t want that, either. To keep a distance.”
Ben, who had lowered his gaze and murmured, eventually met Haimar’s eyes and answered clearly.
“…I want to get closer.”
“That’s an acceptable answer.”
“…The closest.”
“That’s a perfect-score answer.”
Pleased with the answer, Haimar buried his nose into areas rich with Ben’s unique scent, like the underside of his ear and his neck, seeking out the milky scent that resembled a baby’s and breathing it in deeply, like a dog.
Good heavens, he was acting like an animal.
Savoring the body scent that added stability to a place full of unfamiliar scents, Haimar smiled quietly.
‘Closer. The closest.’
It was the shyest confession.
For Ben, who was stingy with expressions, to answer this much was commendable.
The fierce heartbeat pulsing strongly toward him was pleasing.
Even without a kiss or other skinship, the energy was dense and overflowing, piling up all around them.
This was something more than simple guiding. His instinct spoke, and his intuition pointed.
“Why is it always such a mess here? Is it because of me?”
“Don’t ask. This is not something I can control…”
When Haimar tapped his chest, Ben, with a bright red face, bumped their foreheads together.
His eyes were narrowed into triangles as he glared, but he was personally proving that the reason for this rapid heartbeat was Haimar.
An indescribable sense of fulfillment erupted from everywhere.
The high body temperature that had transferred to him and the feeling of a full heart could not possibly be obtained from a relationship merely defined as Guide and Esper.
‘Ben. My Guide.’
The words “my Guide” as Haimar said them were imbued with too much meaning.
A Guide beyond the dictionary definition of “Guide.”
A Guide with trust. A Guide who is not a business partner.
A Guide he adored to death.
‘You are unique to me.’
“How did I ever get so bewitched by you…”
He realized it for sure now.
It was so clear.
He knew the origin of all the changes that had transformed him.
And the reason for Ben’s changed attitude, too.
It wasn’t just that he had become more shy.
His noisy heart and flushed face whenever he saw Haimar, and his subtly honest state of mind right now, spoke everything.
He was not the type of person to cherish someone he didn’t genuinely care for.
The fact that he felt a similar feeling when he saw Ben was probably for the same reason as Ben.
“I also only want to act like a tame hunting dog, rubbing my head against you, or be ordered to kiss your feet, only to you. Is that because I’m bewitched by you?”
The beast in the guise of a hunting dog, who clearly knew the answer, laughed.
True to his nature, he couldn’t abandon his mischievousness even at a time like this.
But you’ll answer even though you know, won’t you?
Come on, give me your answer.
Ben’s face cycled between bright red and white visibly.
If he were a thermometer, the extreme fluctuations in temperature would be noticeable at a glance.
Just as Haimar had found his answer, Ben must have found his, too.
Ben, who had tightly gripped the front of his clothes with both hands, slowly approached with a determined expression.
“Y-you’re right.”
Haimar Eilec liked Ben Plaskun.
This was the single tLus that pierced them both and the principle that accurately fit all facts.
He liked his neat and gentle eyes, he liked his pupils that held the color of a mountain bathed in summer sunlight, he liked his hair that was tousled yet gently swayed in the breeze, and he liked his kind heart, even though his straightforward personality meant he couldn’t pay empty compliments—
The reasons were endless, but he simply liked everything.
Everything. All of it.
Everything that made up Ben Plaskun.
‘My Guide.’ This might have been synonymous with love for him.
“Then, let’s be lovers?”
Thus, Haimar declared the relationship they were about to newly define with Ben.
“……Hiccup.”
It was a bit regrettable that the first answer was a hiccup, though.
