* * *
Didn’t he say he didn’t remember anything?
But Siwoo’s actions were much the same as yesterday’s.
Raon felt an uncanny sense of déjà vu.
“Does he really not remember?”
That thought crossed his mind because Siwoo’s kiss was almost identical to the one from the night before.
The way he shoved his tongue in and stirred Raon’s mouth roughly, all in a frenzy—it was just the same.
“Yoon Siwoo, hey…!”
Even the way he ignored him and kept pressing their lips together was the same.
Raon raised a hand and slapped Siwoo’s broad shoulder, but it was like hitting a rock—Esper bodies were solid, and all he got was pain in his own hand.
“Hngh, mmph.”
Raon furrowed his brows as he struggled to handle the hot tongue messing up the inside of his mouth.
The spit he couldn’t swallow dripped down his chin, making the whole thing even more embarrassing.
His mind started going hazy.
If the kiss continued, things would definitely get weird.
Raon kept repeating to himself the reason he was doing this with Siwoo.
This is for guiding. He had to guide him.
He had to fix the mess Siwoo’s body had become because of him. That’s all this was…
Raon deliberately lowered his gaze.
Every time he guided, a display would appear on his watch.
Since he had just designated Siwoo as the target, the contamination levels were showing up in real time on his device.
So every time he felt flustered, he looked at the watch.
It was a way to stay focused on his mission.
Click.
“…!”
At that moment, Siwoo grabbed Raon’s wrist—coincidentally, the wrist wearing the watch.
Raon’s eyes flew open.
“Why…?”
“Stop looking at crap like that. Focus.”
“What…? Mmph!”
Siwoo tightened his grip like he was going to snap his wrist.
If the watch hadn’t been made from gate by-products, it might have cracked or shattered.
‘Do you know how expensive this thing is?!’
Raon freaked out, not from the pain, but at the thought of the astronomical cost of the device.
“Haa, hah…”
Siwoo ignored Raon’s squirming and continued the kiss.
The guiding energy flowed from their touching lips and zapped through his brain.
It had been over ten years since he’d last received guiding.
The sensation was overwhelming—so good he could die happy right then.
It was like a wellspring bubbling up from the barren desert of his chest.
Strange, yet deeply satisfying.
“Hah… Raon… Han Raon…”
Their lips still pressed together, Siwoo whispered his name.
When he blocked the watch from view, Raon squeezed his eyes shut.
Wanting to see those clear, water-blue eyes, Siwoo licked along his eyelids.
“Hey! What the hell are you doing—!”
Startled, Raon’s eyes snapped open.
Seeing Siwoo’s face right in front of his nose, he was momentarily speechless.
Their lips were close enough to touch again.
Raon had meant to yell, but shut his mouth.
Siwoo’s gaze felt a bit too intense.
He’d rarely looked at Raon this directly.
For some reason, his body wouldn’t move, and Raon bit his lip anxiously.
“…Did I do that too?”
“Huh?”
Siwoo’s gaze had now shifted downward.
He was staring intently at a red mark on the nape of Raon’s neck, visible just above his uniform collar.
‘Should’ve at least put on a bandage.’
Raon clicked his tongue, annoyed at himself.
“Yeah, you did.”
“…I don’t remember that either.”
“You were drugged out of your mind.”
Raon was starting to feel uneasy.
Siwoo, who would normally be horrified by the idea of mucosal guiding, had asked for it himself.
If he didn’t remember leaving that mark and wanted to do it again just because…
‘He wouldn’t… right?’
Raon awkwardly smiled and covered the mark with his hand.
Still, Siwoo’s piercing gaze followed him.
“Siwoo, let’s stop now…”
“I told you—I don’t remember.”
“Hey…!”
Siwoo stubbornly repeated the same words he’d said before the kiss, lowering his head again.
Raon now noticed that both his uniform jacket and shirt collar were half unbuttoned.
When Siwoo opened his mouth, his neat white teeth came into view.
Raon panicked and shouted,
“Ugh!”
Crunch.
The sound of skin being bitten rang out clearly.
Raon winced at the pain.
Siwoo left another mark, sinking his teeth into the same spot.
By tomorrow, the wound would definitely swell up even more.
“Stop it! Enough…!”
At this point, Raon couldn’t even tell whether this was still part of guiding or not.
His head spinning, he barely managed to push Siwoo away.
“If you keep this up, I won’t guide you anymore!”
“…!”
Raon snapped and threatened him.
Surprisingly, it worked.
Siwoo froze on the spot.
His big black eyes quivered, glancing up at Raon as if gauging his anger.
“…Did I hurt you?”
“…Just move.”
“Yes.”
Siwoo nodded and quickly got up.
Thank god he stopped before things got out of hand.
Raon panted and slowly rose from his seat.
“Sorry, hyung.”
“Whatever.”
Raon glared at the flustered Siwoo and rotated his sore wrist.
Fortunately, the watch didn’t seem damaged.
“Next time, watch your strength. Got it?”
“…Yeah.”
Even with the warning, the scowl on Siwoo’s face as he looked at the watch didn’t go away.
‘What’s got him so hung up on it?’
Clicking his tongue, Raon left the guiding room first.
“Go get some rest.”
“Hyung!”
“What?”
Raon was suddenly exhausted.
He just wanted to get back to his quarters and rest.
But Siwoo called out to him and blocked his way.
Raon looked at him, puzzled.
Siwoo hesitated, then finally spoke again.
“…Are you really not going to guide me anymore?”
“…What?”
Raon almost laughed out loud.
Was he scared because of that earlier threat?
Looking at the nervous Siwoo, Raon suppressed the upward twitch of his lips.
“Well… depends on how you behave.”
“…!”
“I’m going.”
‘Seriously. He’s kind of adorable.’
Raon chuckled and gave Siwoo’s shoulder a light pat.
In this life, Raon had been paired with Siwoo, but his daily life hadn’t changed much.
In fact, things were relatively quiet—at least until the disaster scheduled for next year.
So Raon decided to enjoy the brief peace while he could.
“Guide Han Raon, you have a visitor.”
“A visitor?”
But that peaceful routine was about to be disrupted. Raon furrowed his brow.
He had no one who would visit.
Who could it be?
Han Raon’s social circle was painfully small.
There weren’t many outsiders who would come to the center to see him.
And the ones who did come were always people he didn’t want to deal with.
And sure enough, Raon’s expression twisted when he heard the name from the staff member.
“It’s CEO Han Myunghoon.”
“…Haah.”
Han Myunghoon, the CEO of Korea’s biggest conglomerate, Hanmyung Group.
He was Han Raon’s father.
When Raon’s face darkened and he sighed, the staff member flinched and looked at him nervously.
“…Alright, let’s go.”
“Y-yes, sir…”
He was someone Raon never wanted to meet—but he didn’t have a choice.
Refusing the visit could lead to unpredictable consequences.
Raon followed the staff with an unwilling expression.
Once inside the spacious reception room, he tensed as he looked at the man sitting in the chair.
“…Father.”
“……”
At the small call, the man turned his head.
His features resembled Raon’s overall, but with bolder lines and a more masculine face.
Raon, feeling a sense of discomfort, stood up from his seat and stared at Myunghoon as he slowly approached.
“What brings you he—”
Smack!
“……!”
Before Raon could finish his sentence, Myunghoon raised his hand and slapped him across the face.
Raon’s head snapped to the side.
For a moment, he couldn’t register what had just happened.
The pain hit him only after a beat. In a daze, Raon raised a hand and held his now-burning cheek.
“Have you lost your mind, or what?!”
Myunghoon shouted furiously.
Raon, trying to stay composed, turned his head and glared at the agitated man.
“What’s the meaning of this?”
“What’s the meaning? You pair up with some random Esper no one’s ever heard of and expect me to be okay with that?!”
“……”
But Siwoo was one of the few S-rank Espers in the country.
And this man dared treat him like some stray mutt?
Clearly, he was completely unhinged.
“Yes, Siwoo may be an orphan, but he’s an S-rank Esper—”
“Shut it! If you were going to form a pair with an Esper, it should’ve been with Seo Dojin!”
“……”
How tiresome.
Raon let the words, which he’d heard more times than he could count before his regression, pass through one ear and out the other.
“My match rate with Captain Seo is less than 40 percent.”
“So what? You’re an S-rank Guide. You can make up for that kind of gap!”
“He said he doesn’t want to.”
“What the hell have you been doing all this time, huh?!”
“……”
There was no reasoning with him.
Raon’s eyes turned cold as he watched Myunghoon rant.
No wonder the original Han Raon turned into a villain.
Sometimes, villains are made for a reason.
Growing up under someone like this, it would’ve been strange not to go a little twisted.
Suppressing a sigh, Raon thought to himself.
* * *
