Siwoo was dissatisfied with that fact.
Raon’s feelings wouldn’t change just because Dojin’s attitude suddenly shifted.
Yet, Dojin, who had only ever treated Raon coldly, changing his attitude now felt somehow deeply unsettling.
For Siwoo, Raon was a desperate necessity.
Without him, he wouldn’t be able to escape his terrible pain.
He considered him the last remaining salvation in this life.
Dojin had neglected such a Raon and never once looked back at him.
While Siwoo struggled, finding it hard even to hold his hand, Dojin, who received all of Raon’s attention, was utterly indifferent.
Still, Siwoo didn’t resent Dojin.
In fact, he was glad Dojin hadn’t accepted Raon.
If he had given even a little opening then, their current relationship would be vastly different.
However, surprisingly, Dojin seemed to deeply regret that decision now.
With Hamin, the Guide with the highest synchronization rate, now difficult to pair with, Raon must also be the last remaining hope for Dojin.
‘I’ll never let him take him.’
Regardless, Siwoo didn’t like Dojin, who had only treated Raon coldly, brazenly changing his colors now.
‘I wouldn’t have looked away like that.’
If Raon had approached him, the Esper with the highest synchronization rate, instead of Seo Dojin from the beginning, without rejecting him, he would have cherished him more than anyone.
No, even if he wasn’t the Guide with the highest synchronization rate, he wouldn’t have made the foolish mistake of rejecting him, an S-class Guide.
Furthermore, now, Raon wasn’t just precious because he was a Guide.
‘Hyung is mine. He’s my Guide.’
Siwoo, who muttered inwardly, clenched his hand tightly.
A suppressed sound that he couldn’t hold back flowed from between his teeth.
Raon’s gaze turned back to Siwoo at the sound.
“I’m sorry because of me. Did you wait long?”
“No.”
“Let’s go back now.”
“Yes.”
Although a fire was boiling up inside, Siwoo barely held it in and smiled.
He could endure better than anyone.
Siwoo carefully put his arm around Raon’s shoulder and walked forward.
After returning from the Center, Raon’s daily life surprisingly hadn’t changed much.
Since I had requested the return of the command authority as a reward for capturing Apophis’s leadership, all I had to do was wait for the decision from above.
Whether they accepted it willingly or attached difficult conditions.
That was a problem to think about after an answer came.
Because of that, Raon was as relaxed as usual.
In fact, his body and mind felt comfortable, perhaps because he was only staying at home without having to do any training or troublesome work.
The only problem was the impending Irregular Gate.
‘The Gate where I died in the regression before.’
The Dark Blue Gate, a deep indigo color, was where Raon died before regressing.
It was also where the real Han Raon met his death in the original novel.
If the System hadn’t returned by then, Raon wouldn’t die there, unlike last time.
Since many things had already changed from the original, it would surely be so.
But for some reason, I felt uneasy.
Was it because of the trauma of experiencing death?
Just recalling the Dark Blue Gate made my head throb and ache.
Thinking about it more deeply even made me feel nauseous.
“Hyung, are you okay? Do you want some water?”
“Ah, thank you.”
Siwoo, who was fidgeting by Raon’s side, brought him a cup of cold water.
Raon nodded, expressing his gratitude.
The cool water flowed down his throat.
That made the suffocating feeling in his chest subside a little.
“Phew.”
Raon sighed and rubbed the furrow in his brow with his fingers, which he had been continually frowning.
Siwoo looked at Raon with a worried expression.
I had never stayed only inside the house like this since starting to live with Siwoo.
As an S-class Esper, Siwoo seemed to notice immediately if Raon’s condition was even slightly off due to his heightened senses.
He seemed to notice even better now that they were sticking so closely together.
Moreover, the incident of being kidnapped by Apophis made Siwoo even more unwilling to leave my side than before.
That was no different even inside the house.
Although the headache persisted, Raon couldn’t show it and forced a smile.
“I’m okay now, so don’t worry.”
“You don’t look okay at all.”
“I told you I am.”
Raon stubbornly countered and forcibly pushed the memory of the Dark Blue Gate out of his mind.
The headache also seemed to subside a little.
‘It’s okay, I just shouldn’t recall that moment.’
The trauma was entirely because I died inside the Gate.
As long as I didn’t recall the details of that moment, I would be fine.
I had roughly compiled a training schedule based on what I remembered and sent it to the Guide Team, but to formulate a detailed strategy, I would have to remember it again, even if it was painful.
This was because the place where Raon died was the very end of the Gate, closest to the core.
‘Phew, still, I have some time left.’
I originally thought that the novel would end with Hamin reawakening as an S-class Guide in the Dark Blue Gate and then suppressing the Black Gate that opened immediately after.
But if K’s claim that the end of the novel was a bad ending was true, I might have to devise a more detailed plan for suppressing the Black Gate as well.
Beep, beep-beep.
“…!”
While Raon was lost in thought, an alert sounded from his watch.
It was a call from Seokhyun.
Raon quickly answered the phone.
“Yes, this is Han Raon.”
-Can you come to the Center now?
“Now?”
-Yes, the military made a rather difficult request.
“Hmm, I understand.”
Raon nodded and immediately hung up the phone.
If it was important, the principle was to discuss it inside the Center for security.
I could trust the security of the Center Chief’s office, if nowhere else.
“Do you have to go to the Center?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go together.”
“Okay.”
Siwoo naturally said this and stood up.
Seeing him follow me like glue every time, I immediately thought he was cute again.
“Should we do guiding as soon as we get back?”
“…”
“Huh?”
Raon couldn’t resist and flirted with Siwoo again.
I hugged Siwoo’s arm as he stood up from the sofa and clung to him, but he didn’t budge for some reason.
Normally, Siwoo should be frowning and telling me to stop.
While pretending to hate it, his earlobes would be flushed red.
But a quick glance showed that Siwoo’s ears were perfectly fine.
‘Did I actually make him mad?’
Maybe he was starting to get angry because I teased him too much like this.
Raon tried to lessen the grip on Siwoo’s arm, watching his reaction.
Then Siwoo stretched out his other arm and put it around Raon’s shoulder.
“Yes, let’s. Guiding.”
“What?”
“I said let’s do guiding when we get back.”
“Uh…”
Raon blinked his eyes dumbfoundedly, looking at Siwoo’s serious face.
Originally, when I actively suggested guiding, Siwoo was supposed to grimace and scold me, only to finally nod while desperately hiding his embarrassment.
Raon couldn’t react for a moment to the different pattern from before.
Then Siwoo chuckled and lowered his head.
Smooch.
“…!”
“Let’s go now.”
Siwoo, who had kissed Raon’s cheek, said in a voice tinged with laughter.
Raon opened his eyes wide in surprise.
“You, what did you just…”
“What?”
“What did you just do?”
“I kissed you.”
Siwoo, who answered casually, walked forward first.
Raon followed him in confusion.
“No, you…”
“Why, do you want another kiss?”
“…!”
Siwoo stopped abruptly and looked back at Raon.
And he lowered his head as if he was about to kiss me again.
Raon instantly held his breath, seeing the pink lips right in front of him.
Thump, thump.
My heart pounded heavily.
Raon couldn’t do anything about Siwoo’s bold action.
“Let’s go quickly. It’s an urgent matter.”
“Uh, th-that’s right.”
When Siwoo said normally and moved away, Raon finally managed to regain his senses and nodded.
Raon raised his hand and rubbed his hot cheek.
It seemed my face had turned red from the sudden surprise.
It was okay for me to hold his hand and kiss him first, but I seemed to have no immunity to the opposite situation.
Raon realized that fact for the first time now.
It was because I had never liked anyone as much as Siwoo.
‘Phew, this is driving me crazy.’
There was nothing more pathetic than showing unrequited love.
It was cute for Siwoo to be embarrassed and flustered because he was young, but it wouldn’t be the same for me.
Hoping that I wouldn’t show an unsightly appearance, Raon hurried his steps.
“What? They’ll only return the command authority if I take on K’s interrogation?”
Raon looked at Seokhyun and chuckled in disbelief.
Seokhyun let out a long sigh, looking apologetic at Raon’s utterly dumbfounded expression.
“Phew, it seems K is persistently demanding it.”
“Ha, honestly.”
Raon had already refused to interrogate K.
I couldn’t understand his intentions, and I felt uneasy being alone with a psychic Esper, no less, in a confined space without a guard.
But to think they would try to negotiate using the command authority.
It was completely unexpected.
A long sigh escaped Raon’s lips.
