Guiding the Twins chapter 15

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“It’s just a humanitarian act.”

“Haegum, you’re so kind…”

Seo Munhyuk closed his eyes tightly.

His face, still faintly smiling, also showed signs of pain and exhaustion.

“There are plenty of A-grade guides at the center. Why don’t you receive guidance from them?”

Haegum looked at Seo Munhyuk, who was passively receiving the guiding energy he was sending, and asked in a low voice.

She recalled the day he had guided Seo Munhyun, desperately trying to take whatever residual energy he could.

Why was he so insistent on his guidance, especially with such high rampage levels?

Was it his pride as an S-rank Esper, insisting on being guided by an S-rank Guide?

Or was it to flaunt the power held by the combat unit?

Several possibilities flashed through his mind, and then Seo Munhyuk’s weak response came.

“…Just because.”

Life with insufficient guiding was no different from enduring daily torture.

Receiving guidance from a low-compatibility guide was like surviving on a single drop of dew in the middle of the desert.

It might provide temporary relief, but it never quelled the fundamental thirst.

If only he had been born as a normal human without abilities.

Then… he wouldn’t feel like he was wandering lost in a desert.

“Being guided is painful…”

Seo Munhyuk’s voice cracked as he responded, closing his eyes as though he were drifting into a deep sleep.

---

Seo Munhyuk lay so still that one might doubt if he was even breathing.

Haegum silently held his hand.

His furrowed brows and the warning signs from his band were the only indicators of his discomfort.

Though he was channeling a steady amount of guiding energy, it seemed insufficient, and the grip on his hand tightened.

“That hurts when you hold on like that.”

“…Sorry.”

Though Seo Munhyuk apologized, trying to consciously loosen his grip, the fact that this was the first time—or perhaps the first in his life—that he’d received such well-matched guidance made it difficult for him to control his strength.

“Squeezing harder won’t make you absorb the guiding energy better. In fact, if I feel uncomfortable, it might disrupt the process.”

Haegum shook his wrist as if explaining something so basic even a three-year-old would know.

His tone wasn’t scolding, but rather a calm and instructive one, like that of a guide giving directions.

“…Yeah, I know.”

There was a hint of laughter in Seo Munhyuk’s weak voice.

He exhaled deeply and closed his eyes again.

Despite having spent almost two months around him, Haegum had never seen him this compliant.

With a hum, Seo Munhyuk’s band vibrated.

The alarm indicated that although his rampage level was still dangerous, it had dropped significantly from the “highly dangerous” level.

“Your rampage level has decreased.”

“Yeah. Weird.”

Seo Munhyuk replied slowly, barely opening his eyelids before closing them again, speaking as if it were someone else’s problem.

His face and arms bore scars, like trophies of his battles, yet his hands and long fingers were free of noticeable marks.

If it weren’t for “that incident,” his twin Seo Munhyun would probably have the same straight, beautiful hands…

A bitter taste of guilt filled Haegum’s mouth.

As he was lost in the fragments of his memories, Seo Munhyuk’s fingers brushed his palm, snapping his back to the present. Haegum froze.

“I’ll guide you a bit more, and then we’ll stop.”

“…”

Seo Munhyuk frowned slightly at his words but didn’t respond otherwise.

“You’ve got a fight coming up. Do you always fight alone like that?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know… you always fight alone.”

Haegum asked, recalling Seo Munhyuk in battle.

Though he had never been on the frontlines herself, as a child with early manifestations of his abilities, he grew up analyzing battle footage of Espers defeating monsters instead of watching cartoons.

She had thought seeing an actual battle would leave his unfazed, but it hadn’t.

The image of Seo Munhyuk facing hundreds of monsters alone lingered in his mind, like a vivid imprint from the people monitoring it as if it were a game or sports match.

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“Doesn’t the footage look amazing, author? Edit it well and upload it to the channel.”

“Once the fight’s over, make sure to capture him walking through the mist. The last time I saw the photos of the Haedong combat unit, it looked so cool.”

---

When Seo Munhyuk finished off the last monster, the crowd around him erupted in cheers and applause.

Among the noisy crowd, Haegum felt an overwhelming sense of emptiness.

“There were a lot of them, but they were low-level and small, so it was manageable.”

“…You’re okay?”

“It’s my everyday life.”

Though Seo Munhyuk had taken down monsters like a god of war, he suffered from the strain of using his powers.

The general public would never know the hardship that lay behind the flashy, short combat footage.

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[Warning: Rampage Level Rising]

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The band on Seo Munhyuk’s left wrist vibrated again, alerting that his rampage level had risen from dangerous to cautious.

The animated character inside the band scattered flowers everywhere obnoxiously.

The vibrating sound was equally irritating.

This was an alert Haegum had never seen on Seo Munhyun, whose levels were always stable.

“It’s like it’s mocking me… right?”

The character was the mascot of the National Esper Research Center, which the former director had pushed forward.

Haegum had also participated in the voting for the mascot, but it seemed as though the director was oddly obsessed with promoting the least impressive sheep character.

The former director hadn’t been enchanted by the mascot but by money.

After skimming a hefty amount from the budget, the director had been sentenced to three years in prison.

All the directors Haegum knew ended up serving jail time once their terms were over.

As a child, he had thought going to prison was just a natural step for the directors.

“It seems like you’re feeling better, so let’s stop here….”

“Just a little more.”

Seo Munhyuk’s grip tightened, chasing the dwindling guiding energy. A small groan escaped Haegum’s lips.

“Ahh…”

“Sorry. But just a little more… really, just a bit.”

Despite his apology, Seo Munhyuk’s grip only tightened.

Though he had been taught to apologize, his thoughts were running wild with desires like “his moans are sweet,” “I want to kiss him,” “I want him,” and “I want to have sex with him.”

As his mind began to slip further out of control, Haegum’s voice cut through the noise.

“Esper Seo Munhyuk.”

“…Haegum.”

Seo Munhyuk slowly opened his eyes and called his name.

Flames of yellow streaked through his shrunken pupils, swirling in his irises.

“Your rampage level has decreased. We’ll stop the guiding now.”

After checking Seo Munhyuk’s biomonitor, Haegum quickly pulled his hand away.

For a moment, Seo Munhyuk’s eyes flashed brightly.

“Just a little more…”

His pleading voice made his hesitate for a second, but Haegum firmly shook his head.

Even without physical contact, he could feel the guiding being sucked away, leaving his feeling drained, like energy had been pulled from his core.

“People are waiting outside. We have to file a report.”

“They’re not waiting.”

“Why not?”

Haegum slowly rotated his wrist, asking.

“No one’s expecting any moaning from the guide or any jolting from the car, so why would they wait?”

“Sigh… who expects something like that?”

Seo Munhyuk talked as if those waiting outside were spectators eager to spy on newlyweds on their first night.

His tone, finally, was more like the Seo Munhyuk he was used to.

“What else are Espers and Guides going to spend their energy on?”

“No one’s shaking the car during guiding. It’s still work….”

“Well, yeah, if they’re just doing it in the car, that’s actually pretty tame.”

Seo Munhyuk chuckled. Haegum, who had grown up in the controlled environment of the Esper Center, didn’t know it, but Espers and Guides having outdoor sex under the guise of guiding wasn’t exactly unheard of.

“You seem fine now. Let’s go.”

“Why? Because my mouth’s running fine?”

“…”

His phrasing was a bit crude, but in essence, he was right. Haegum slowly nodded.

“Check if the inside of my mouth is okay, too, babe.”

Seo Munhyuk winked with one eye and stuck out his tongue, licking his lips lightly.

He looked exactly like the stereotypical playboy.

With his face stiffening, Haegum spoke in a blunt tone.

“What does your mouth have to do with guiding? That’s gross.”

“Ah, this really isn’t easy. Yeon Haegum.”

Seo Munhyuk let out a short sigh and sat up.

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