“Drink this.”
A steaming cup of cocoa was pressed into his hands.
As he took a sip, the sweet warmth traveled down his throat and seeped into his body.
The warmth slowly began to return to his hands and feet, which had felt as cold as if the temperature had been drained from them.
He had returned home in a daze.
Suhyeon let out a long sigh, tasting the sweetness of the cocoa filling his mouth.
As he sank into the familiar space, his body, which had been stiff with tension, finally began to relax.
The guiding itself hadn’t been difficult, but the presence of Lee Jaeram, who had been with him all day, had sucked all the energy out of Suhyeon like a hungry mosquito.
He had no strength left.
“Suhyeon.”
Suhyeon started to lift his head from where it rested weakly against the sofa, then stiffened.
Hajin, who had carried him home in his arms without a word and handed him the cocoa, was now looking at him with flashing blue eyes, as if his patience had reached its limit.
“Who was it?”
As Suhyeon blinked, Hajin continued his questions without a pause.
“Was there someone who bullied you? Or someone who made things difficult for you… that bastard?”
Looking closely, Hajin’s eyes weren’t just flashing; they were dripping with a murderous aura.
He seemed already certain that something had happened. It was natural, considering Suhyeon’s disheveled state when he practically bolted out of the guiding room.
“Who did it?”
He looked ready to go and hunt them down the moment Suhyeon gave a name.
“I don’t think it’s just because you’re tired. Was it the Association President? Did he demand something more unreasonable in there?”
When Suhyeon couldn’t find the timing to speak amidst the flood of questions, Hajin nodded, as if coming to his own conclusion.
“It’s the President, then. I didn’t like him anyway. I’m going to go kill him right now.”
He reached a terrifying conclusion all on his own.
Judging by his expression, it looked like he would head back to the Association immediately, cut off the President’s head, and bring it back proudly to Suhyeon.
Though Suhyeon didn’t know it, Hajin’s face looked even more lethal because of the feelings he had already harbored against the President over the Asher incident.
“No, no. Hajin, it’s really not him.”
Suhyeon had to stop Hajin, momentarily forgetting his troubles with Lee Jaeram.
The safety of the (innocent?) Association President was at risk.
“……Really?”
Hajin looked almost disappointed for a moment, as if he had already finished killing the President in his mind.
Suhyeon nodded hurriedly.
“Then who?”
Hajin lowered his eyebrows. He clearly wanted Suhyeon to tell him.
—Hello, Suhyeon. We’ve met before, haven’t we?
Suhyeon thought back to the Lee Jaeram he had seen today.
Being by Lee Jaeram’s side all day had made his heart throb painfully.
It felt as if the chest pains he had stopped worrying about were throbbing again.
However, once he escaped that situation and calmed down at home, it was strange.
His mind no longer reacted violently.
It was very different from the time with Do Yejun, when just thinking about it triggered a trauma response.
He wasn’t entirely peaceful, as if looking at a total stranger, but he could at least maintain his composure.
He felt that if he saw Lee Jaeram again, he wouldn’t be foolishly shaken like he was today. It felt like he had grown a little.
—It seems the gate brought you an unexpected stroke of luck.
……He had always known, but the man was truly wicked.
Suhyeon pulled his knees to his chest and hugged them.
How had he responded to that?
Even while he couldn’t fully gather his wits, he could sense the malice in those words.
He thought he had snapped back sharply.
The person who had shamelessly cheated on him with Do Yejun right before his eyes.
The one who dared to openly discuss an event where someone almost died…
Thinking back on it step by step, Suhyeon let out a hollow laugh.
It was because he couldn’t understand why Lee Jaeram would even say such things to him.
If anyone were to hold malice, it should be Suhyeon; what right did that man have to throw those words at him?
There was absolutely no reason for Lee Jaeram to dislike Suhyeon.
Since Do Yejun chose to abandon Suhyeon at the gate instead of him, he should be grateful.
In a way, wasn’t Suhyeon his life-saver?
A twisted thought bloomed.
“Suhyeon.”
Hajin’s voice pierced through his thoughts. Belatedly realizing Hajin was there, Suhyeon turned his head with an “Ah.”
Hajin had a pitiful look on his face, as if asking why he wasn’t looking at him.
His blue eyes, looking up at Suhyeon with lowered brows and a slightly bowed upper body, had lost their murderous edge from earlier.
“Suhyeon, is it something you can’t tell me about?”
It was sly of him to use the informal name like he’d asked before.
Suhyeon couldn’t help but let out a faint laugh.
“……Well, you know, back when I was sucked into that gate.”
As he opened up about meeting Lee Jaeram, Hajin’s eyes reflexively moved toward Suhyeon’s chest.
He likely remembered how Suhyeon kept collapsing whenever he encountered Do Yejun or when his mental state reached its limit.
“Are you okay?”
Suhyeon nodded.
Only after hearing the whisper of “It doesn’t hurt” did Hajin pull back his gaze.
“Should I kill him for you?”
Hajin whispered the moment Suhyeon let his guard down.
Suhyeon raised his eyebrows.
Lately, Hajin spoke of death too easily.
He didn’t want his lover to become a murderer.
When Suhyeon quietly refused, Hajin asked, “Then what should I do for you?” as he wrapped his arms around Suhyeon’s waist and clung to him.
Suhyeon leaned against him and closed his eyes.
In that state, he whispered as if talking to himself.
“It’s okay. Don’t do anything.”
At the very least, Lee Jaeram hadn’t physically harmed Suhyeon.
If Lee Jaeram had done anything directly wrong to Suhyeon, it was playing at love with Do Yejun, but Suhyeon no longer had any lingering feelings for that relationship.
Hajin hugged Suhyeon with a pouting face after being repeatedly rejected.
Hajin watched Suhyeon, who had been leaning against him before falling into a peaceful sleep.
Though it was a sight he saw every day, the sight of him sleeping defenselessly in his arms always satisfied Hajin’s possessiveness—a desire that craved even the sound of Suhyeon’s breath.
Hajin tucked a lock of light brown hair behind Suhyeon’s ear and stared at him for a long time.
Lee Jaeram, was it?
Hearing Suhyeon say the President had assigned him as a mentor because he was a high-ranked guide, it seemed likely they had met.
Lee Jaeram, Lee Jaeram.
Hajin thought for a long time but frowned when nothing came to mind.
In the first place, his mind didn’t hold onto memories of useless people, so it was natural he didn’t remember.
Hajin tried a bit harder to recall the name before giving up.
—Let’s go home.
Suhyeon’s face had been pale when he emerged from the guiding room.
He should at least growl at the person who made Suhyeon look like that, but wouldn’t it be annoying if he didn’t even know the face?
Hajin looked at his fair lover’s sleeping face again.
The face, sleeping without a care in the world, was incredibly lovely.
He felt he understood why the actors in the romance movies he’d watched recently all muttered about their partner’s sleeping face looking like an angel.
Perhaps Suhyeon was exactly that—an angel sent from heaven just for Hajin.
Looking at Suhyeon’s clear face, Hajin unknowingly pressed his lips against his cheek.
The sound of kisses echoed through the living room.
“Mmm…”
Suhyeon stirred as if feeling smothered, and Hajin finally showed some restraint.
He adjusted his position so Suhyeon could lean more comfortably, then looked at his phone.
His straight fingers moved a few times, and a large community site for “Specials” appeared on the screen.
It was mostly populated by Espers rather than guides.
Usually, it was a place he wouldn’t even enter, but today was the day.
- Anyone know who the guide with Lee **-ram was?
- Who was the pretty guide in the guiding room today…
- Does anyone know who Guide Chae Suhyeon is?
- The one who was guiding without any effort…
As expected, Hajin scrolled through the titles of the posts flooding the community.
Suhyeon couldn’t help but stand out.
Those in the guiding room today were Espers from teams 5 through 7.
There were a great many Espers, and the lower their rank, the more active they tended to be in the community.
It wasn’t just the community.
- He has been exposed.
Hajin let out an irritated sigh as he saw the short message that arrived with a notification chime at just the right time.
It wouldn’t take long now for Suhyeon’s rank and personal information to be known.
Then, more and more people would target him.
His rank is what it is.
Beyond just exposure, eventually, other countries would target him as well.
There was no reason for them not to.
An S-class guide was that attractive and occupied that dangerous a position.
Especially if it was the unsuspecting Suhyeon.
This was why he had tried to hide him away and keep him close.
Ting.
Hajin, clicking his tongue, moved his finger indifferently as another message arrived.
A messenger window appeared where instructions and replies had been repeated stiffly on a one-month cycle.
It was a different person from the one who reported on Suhyeon.
Was today the reporting day?
He had completely forgotten because of Suhyeon.
- We are looking primarily overseas as instructed. We have confirmed they are in the English-speaking world.
As usual, the content indicated no significant results, and Hajin clicked his tongue.
Nothing was going his way.
—……Administer it.
—Aaaaaargh!!
—The hypothesis has been proven, so why are you still the same……
—Let’s declare it a failure.
When he closed his eyes, faded sounds from a long time ago echoed in his ears.
The image of a man like a stale specter was vivid before his eyes.
The past no longer shook Shin Hajin.
All it had left behind was a deep loathing for humanity and a fastidiousness—nothing more, nothing less.
He just wanted to kill the source of it. That was all.
After blinking a few times, the images of the past dispersed like mist, as they usually did.
- Continue the investigation.
- Yes.
After the brief instruction and reply, Hajin tossed his phone aside and stroked the cheek of the soundly sleeping Suhyeon.
Suhyeon seemed to want to go outside of his fence.
His fair and lovely lover seemed to enjoy a peaceful life and ignore annoying things, yet he was an independent person when it came to major matters.
How wonderful would it be if he could know every single thought in that small head?
It was a good thing that his beloved was capable, and he had no intention of stopping Suhyeon from doing what he wanted to do, but… a dark light flickered in Hajin’s blue eyes as he looked down at Suhyeon.
At the very least, he would have to stay much closer than he was now.
So that no insignificant pests would dare to approach.
Kick their as$ for us ☠️