* * *
Hajin was able to leave the medical ward the very next morning.
It wasn’t particularly surprising, considering the cause of his collapse wasn’t an actual illness, but a very clear lack of guiding.
As soon as his guiding levels were replenished, Hajin’s complexion improved so much it made his previous collapse seem like a lie.
He looked even more energetic than usual as he kicked Yihan, who had been muttering curses by his side—likely out of worry.
However, instead of returning to work, the recovered Hajin was given a few days of leave.
This was why he and Suhyeon were currently sitting in the living room on the first floor of the mansion, where lazy sunlight poured in.
Peaceful, calm classical music flowed through expensive speakers.
Suhyeon sat on the sofa, nestled in Hajin’s arms, looking out at the garden through the floor-to-ceiling windows before eventually turning around.
Blue eyes, sparkling in the sunlight, looked down at him.
“Shall we try?”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
Hajin started to ask a question he had already repeated more times than he could count.
Only after Suhyeon narrowed his eyes in a slight pout did Hajin finally nod obediently.
—I want you to continue the guiding.
This vacation, granted directly by the Association President, was intended for Hajin to receive sufficient guiding and for Suhyeon to practice guiding him personally so they could get used to being a pair.
So, Suhyeon decided to practice guiding with Hajin, even though the man in question kept giving him pitiful looks as if pleading with him not to overdo it.
Guiding was something that had to be done regularly anyway, and since Hajin had even collapsed this time, Suhyeon couldn’t understand why he was being so cautious—especially since he could see a faint, irrepressible desire flickering deep in Hajin’s eyes.
They were lovers in private, but they were also an Esper and a Guide bound by a contract.
Although Suhyeon wasn’t exactly in a position to talk—having been completely clueless until recently—they still needed to find their rhythm.
Suhyeon slipped out of Hajin’s arms and turned to face him.
His white hands slid between Hajin’s firm fingers, interlocking them tightly.
He felt Hajin flinch.
Suhyeon pulled up the guiding wave from within his chest, which now felt like a natural part of him.
A sweet scent, now somewhat familiar, bloomed like a flower bud bursting open.
The guiding energy seeped into Hajin through their joined hands.
The lights on Hajin’s watch and the terminal Suhyeon had placed on his lap turned on simultaneously.
“……Haah.”
A breath escaped Hajin’s lips, almost like a reflex.
His usual cool and beautiful expression melted away, but Suhyeon, on the contrary, frowned slightly.
The level displayed on the watch and terminal was 70%.
He clearly remembered filling it up to 80% during the emergency guiding yesterday, but it had already dropped by 10%.
He had been told that Espers rarely lose their levels unless they use their powers, but it seemed Hajin was an exception to that rule as well.
“If it gets hard, you have to stop at any time. Okay?”
Hajin whispered back with eyes softened by satisfaction and desire, but his words weren’t very convincing when spoken with such a face.
Besides, Suhyeon didn’t find it difficult at all.
71%, 72%…….
Suhyeon tilted his head at the numbers, which were rising strangely slowly as he continued to let the waves flow through their held hands.
It definitely wasn’t like this yesterday.
Hajin didn’t seem to notice; he just stared at Suhyeon’s hand as if it were a sweet treat.
However, the speed at which the level rose was certainly slower than yesterday.
Yesterday, it had jumped from 44% to 80% in an instant.
Of course, the situation was different then, but still.
“……Ah,”
Suhyeon tilted his head, looking back through his memories, and soon realized what was different.
When he briefly withdrew his energy, the sweet scent that had been drifting in the air vanished.
He tried to pull his hand away from Hajin, but Hajin held on and wouldn’t let go.
“Suhyeon……?”
Suhyeon started to look up at the immediate call but paused. His expression was…….
Hajin’s face clearly showed the kind of look a cat might have if someone suddenly took away the toy it had been playing with.
His blue eyes, sparkling with a touch of sorrow, looked quite…… cute. Mesmerized by the sight, Suhyeon stared blankly at him until Hajin called out “Suhyeon……?” once more in a pitiful voice.
Suhyeon reached out with his free arm and wrapped it around Hajin’s neck.
The large cat who had lost his treat sat there dazed, obediently lowering his head as Suhyeon led him.
Their lips met just like that. Even though Hajin had kissed Suhyeon dozens of times, his blue eyes widened in surprise.
Suhyeon had to pause again.
Because Hajin usually showed almost no emotion, these large reactions felt like little stabs to Suhyeon’s heart.
Suhyeon let out a small sigh and released his guiding wave again.
In the space where a fresh scent had briefly entered, the sweet scent of spring flowers began to linger again.
Hajin’s tongue, which had instinctively moved to explore Suhyeon’s mouth, flinched and stopped.
A hazy look appeared in his blue eyes.
The strength in the hand that had been gripping Suhyeon’s hand tightly vanished.
Suhyeon wrapped his arms completely around Hajin’s neck and climbed on top of him.
“Su, mmph…….”
As Suhyeon gently brushed against Hajin’s gums and moved his tongue, Hajin let out a suppressed groan.
The candy-like scent spread sweetly.
Saliva mingled and mixed, creating a rising heat.
Without even trying particularly hard, the energy from his body transferred to Hajin much faster than before.
It wasn’t an illusion.
“Haah…….”
Suhyeon pulled his lips away, panting for breath.
Hajin blinked slowly and looked at Suhyeon like a languid predator.
A slow sense of satisfaction was spread across his blue eyes.
Feeling that gaze, Suhyeon pressed his lips back against Hajin’s and released the guiding energy once more while brushing against his gums.
“Wait, Suhyeon,”
As if he hadn’t expected Suhyeon to do it again, Hajin tried to call his name but was silenced as his lips were captured.
Their tongues tangled again, and hot air escaped.
He could feel the energy surging and flowing out with all its might.
The sweet fragrance filled the entire living room.
After a long time, when Suhyeon pulled his lips away, the sparkling sunlight reflected off the saliva on his red lips.
With a flushed face, Suhyeon looked at Hajin’s watch.
85%.
Unlike the slow 1% increments from before, the level had shot up in an instant.
‘Contact guiding becomes more efficient the closer you are to the subject and the more intimate the contact.’
He could feel the truth of the sentence he had heard in passing during his training.
Along with satisfaction, a light fatigue washed over his body.
The fatigue was much less than yesterday, of course, but he felt a sense of exhaustion similar to the feeling right after exercising.
He would have to get used to this now.
When Suhyeon blinked and looked up to check on Hajin’s condition—
“Are you determined to drive me crazy?”
“Hajin, mmph—.”
A low voice spoke.
By the time he discovered the desire surging much more violently in those blue eyes than before, it was already too late.
His light brown eyes widened at the sudden situation.
Hajin’s arm, which had been supporting Suhyeon’s back, tightened as if to trap and imprison him.
At the same time, he descended upon Suhyeon’s lips like an unleashed beast.
The situation felt like it had been perfectly reversed from a moment ago.
His tongue pushed between the lips, wrapping around Suhyeon’s tongue and grazing the thin membranes with thick, deep strokes.
Their red tongues tangled together with clear saliva as they sought each other out.
Suhyeon’s cheeks, already red, grew even more flushed from the rising heat.
Suhyeon’s arms, which had been wrapped around Hajin’s neck, lost their strength and fell.
Hajin’s hand moved smoothly up Suhyeon’s back to cradle his head.
“Hnnh…….”
As if all the kisses they had shared until now were mere child’s play, Hajin fiercely explored the inside of Suhyeon’s mouth.
The fact that he was guiding gradually slipped from Suhyeon’s mind.
Even though they were only kissing, his mind went white and dizzy at intervals.
His white hands gripped Hajin’s clothes.
He didn’t know what had triggered it, but his thoughts flew away as the act continued.
“Wa-wait, mmph—,”
Hajin did not show him mercy. Instead, his tongue movements grew even rougher, as if demanding responsibility, nearly snuffing out Suhyeon’s reason.
Even though the switch controlling the guiding energy had been turned off and the waves were no longer flowing, Hajin continued the kiss.
Heat spread subtly through his stomach.
“Haah, haah…….”
It felt as though time was moving several times slower.
Only after a long while did Hajin release Suhyeon’s lips.
It had likely only been a few minutes, but Suhyeon panted heavily as if it had felt like an eternity.
The living room was filled with hot air, despite the sunlight pouring in.
Their positions had become completely slumped over.
Suhyeon was lying on the sofa, and Hajin was looking down at him with both hands braced.
Suhyeon looked up at Hajin with tears hanging from the corners of his eyes.
Hajin’s blue eyes were looking down at him as if a beast had awakened.
“Why are you so…….”
Suhyeon’s wide eyes trembled at Hajin’s voice, which sounded as if he were holding something back, whispering with a growl much deeper than usual.
His lightly pigmented eyes blinked.
A single tear that had gathered at the corner of his eye rolled down his cheek.
“……Beautiful?”
He felt the heat rush uncontrollably to his cheeks.
* * *
