* * *
He should’ve denied it immediately, but missed the timing.
Seeing Siwoo narrow his eyes, Raon quickly opened his mouth.
“No, I wasn’t. You’re the first one I’ve ever done mucosal guiding with, who would I be thinking of?”
He regretted recalling his past partners for no reason.
Their faces were already blurry, and he barely remembered their names.
Feeling somewhat wronged, Raon shook his head again.
But Siwoo still didn’t seem convinced.
“If it’s your first time, why are you so good at it?”
“Some people are just naturally talented.”
The excuses came out one after another, but there was no helping it.
It wasn’t something he could confess to, and Siwoo’s expression was getting a little scary.
Raon held back a sigh and looked at Siwoo’s face.
“Really?”
“I told you. Let’s just focus on the guiding, okay?”
Raon gently pulled Siwoo toward him.
But Siwoo didn’t budge.
Sensing that he might explode at any moment, Raon grew anxious.
‘They do say Espers tend to get obsessive.’
In truth, Raon wasn’t much of a reader.
He had only read the original novel because a partner he was seeing at the time had strongly recommended it.
Never did he expect to transmigrate into that very novel.
The guide-verse novel had shocked him deeply.
Espers were absolutely insane.
It was like a parade of madness disguised as love.
The main bottom, Hamin, had suffered terribly in the original story.
The main character, Dojin, initially dismissed Hamin as a mere B-rank but turned terrifyingly obsessive once he fell for him.
There was even an episode where, after Taegun clung to Hamin, a furious Dojin imprisoned Hamin. Raon had clicked his tongue at the time.
‘Still, Siwoo’s different from those guys.’
Maybe it was love-struck bias, but Siwoo just looked cute as he got jealous and suspicious over Raon being skilled at kissing.
Raon unconsciously smiled, and Siwoo’s gaze sharpened.
“You’re not lying, right?”
“I’m not. And even if I had someone before, what does it matter? You’re the only one now.”
At those words, Siwoo’s expression softened a little.
‘How easy to please. He really is still young.’
“Shall we continue, hm?”
“…Yes.”
Eventually, Siwoo nodded and kissed Raon again.
“Mm…”
Raon struggled to lift his heavy eyelids.
He thought he had only closed his eyes for a moment, but the sun was already up.
He groped around for his watch.
“Where…”
“Here.”
“Oh, thanks.”
Raon accepted the watch and murmured a brief thanks with his groggy voice, checking the time out of habit.
‘Ah, right. We slept together last night.’
As he recalled sharing the bed with Siwoo, Raon nodded to himself.
They had run into some teammates while guiding, and with the guiding room closed, Raon had brought Siwoo to his dorm yesterday.
Starting with a heated kiss at the entrance, they had continued mucosal guiding until they barely managed to stop—thanks to Raon’s growling stomach.
After eating together and washing up, sleep hit them, and Siwoo ended up spending the night because he missed the right timing to leave.
Now that he thought about it, he had heard that simply staying physically close to an Esper benefits them when you’re a high-ranking Guide.
‘Maybe we should just live together?’
As he brushed his teeth, Raon seriously considered it.
Since they needed to do mucosal guiding practically every day to raise Siwoo’s levels, it seemed more efficient than going back and forth between their places.
‘…No, that’s getting too close.’
But soon after, a more cautious thought followed.
Who knows when the system would reset again?
If he started living with Siwoo and then had to push him away later, the damage to Siwoo would be too great.
He wondered if things had already gone too far, but pushed that thought into the back of his mind.
“Hoo.”
“Hyung, let’s eat.”
“Huh? Eat?”
Freshly showered, Raon was startled at Siwoo’s words.
Since he always ate at the Center cafeteria, he’d never cooked at the dorm.
While some abilities users preferred cooking for themselves, there were usually only basic ingredients in the fridge.
The original Han Raon wasn’t the cooking type, and neither was Raon himself.
The kitchen equipment had practically never been used.
“It’s nothing special. I just made some simple sandwiches with what was here.”
“You can cook?”
“A little.”
Siwoo nonchalantly pulled back a chair for him.
Raon sat down at the table as if drawn in.
“Wow, this looks like something from a café. You didn’t buy this?”
“Where would I even buy it at this hour?”
“You just made it so well, that’s all.”
Raon marveled sincerely.
With only basic ingredients, Siwoo had somehow created sandwiches that looked like ones posted on popular café SNS accounts.
The bread was toasted to a golden crisp, with eggs and ham peeking invitingly out.
A brightly colored sauce decorated the plate stylishly, making the dish even more appealing.
“Stop making a fuss and eat.”
“Alright, alright.”
Who would’ve thought Siwoo had this kind of skill?
Maybe because he grew up in an orphanage, he seemed quite familiar with cooking.
“Mmm, it’s good.”
“Does it suit your taste?”
“Yeah.”
On top of that, it really was tasty.
Raon wasn’t particularly picky, but even before his transmigration, he’d only eaten high-quality food, so he rarely gave high marks to ordinary cooking.
But this sandwich was genuinely delicious.
Maybe because it was right after waking up and he was extra hungry, Raon devoured the sandwich in no time.
“Ha, that hit the spot.”
“I’ll clean up if you’re done.”
“No, I’ll do the dishes.”
When Siwoo quickly stood up to clear the table, Raon waved his hand to stop him.
After a short back-and-forth with the persistently helpful Siwoo, Raon barely managed to keep the dishwashing duty for himself.
“You haven’t even showered yet. Go get washed up.”
“Okay.”
A glance at the clock told him it was almost time to leave.
He’d slept in later than usual today, and if Siwoo hadn’t made the sandwich, he probably wouldn’t have had time to eat at the cafeteria.
‘He’s surprisingly domestic. Whoever marries him will be lucky.’
The thought slipped out before Raon could stop himself.
And as he imagined someone else having a cozy breakfast with Siwoo, playfully arguing over who would do the dishes, his mood suddenly soured.
‘What’s wrong with me, seriously.’
Raon shook his head as he quickly finished up the dishes.
Spending so much time around Siwoo must be making him think strange things.
“I’m done washing up.”
“Alright, let’s head out.”
Answering a bit too quickly, Raon left the dorm with Siwoo.
The room remained filled with their lingering warmth.
“Like I said yesterday, starting today we’ll begin full-scale training.”
Gathering all the team members, Raon spoke in a calm tone.
The Guides, who had received relatively little training up until now, looked nervous, while the Espers were mostly unfazed.
Glancing over his team’s mixed reactions, Raon continued.
“Before we start training, we’ll begin with a physical fitness test. Since everyone’s base fitness level is different, we’ll create customized manuals based on your results.”
“For both Guides and Espers?”
“Of course.”
Unlike Guides, Espers generally had strong physical foundations and underwent intense daily training, so their results would naturally be better.
Even so, there was a specific reason for including them.
‘Because I need to know exactly how hard Siwoo can push Lee Yeojoon and Song Minjae.’
The training would be split into two groups for now.
Raon would oversee the Guides, while Siwoo would handle the Espers.
The goal was to maximize everyone’s fitness and abilities in a short period of time.
Once they adapted, they’d train together and finally enter the gate as a fully synchronized team.
“Alright, let’s start the fitness assessments. Guides to this side, Espers to that side.”
Since the Guides’ bodies were no different from regular people, they had a separate set of standards and equipment for the tests.
“Siwoo, don’t overdo it.”
“Got it.”
Raon quietly warned Siwoo.
Being an S-rank, Siwoo could easily damage the equipment if he wasn’t careful.
Soon, the team members began their tests in turn.
“Huff, huff…”
“Urghh…”
Groans and gasps echoed throughout the testing room.
Having finished his own tests first, Raon leisurely sipped an iced Americano while checking the charts.
“Hmm, interesting.”
He’d somewhat expected Kim Taehyuk to have a solid build for a Guide, but his results exceeded expectations.
His basic fitness was practically on par with a low-ranked Esper.
“Lee Hamin is quite a fighter too.”
Though in the original story, he was mostly protected by the main characters as the main bottom, he’d originally aspired to be an Esper and still had that tenacity.
Seeing his unexpectedly high numbers, Raon clicked his tongue in mild surprise.
“Arghhhh!”
“Hmm?”
A loud scream suddenly rang out. Startled, Raon turned his head.
What happened?
* * *
