Episode 23.
Seonghun flinched and checked the man before his eyes once more.
*The shell... is definitely Cha Do-un, but...*
Seonghun was certain that the Cha Do-un he knew would never be smiling with a face like that.
Sure, his expressions had diversified these days, but wasn't this going too far!
“Who are you! Where did my honey go, and why is some weirdo here! Give me back my honey!!”
“.....”
As always, after spewing a load of nonsense, the face he knew finally appeared. Only then did Seonghun breathe a sigh of relief and speak brightly.
“Whew. You’re finally back to the honey I knew. Honey, are you okay? I know a good psychiatrist—want me to introduce you? How can your mind be so erratic? Hmm?”
“...Shut the hell up and get lost.”
“Haah! What a relief. I really thought my honey had gone completely crazy.”
“.....”
With an expression saying he was truly shocked, Seonghun squeezed out fake tears, twisting Do-un’s guts once again.
*Why does this guy always show up when I'm in a good mood?*
Do-un scrunched up his face and seriously contemplated whether to punch him or not. Upon seeing that, the quick-witted guy added another remark, pretending to be terrified.
“Eek! No violence! I oppose violence! If you hit me, I'll tell the Guide!”
“...Fuck.”
Do-un spat out a curse, but because he was mindful of the Guide who wasn’t even present, he couldn’t respond properly anymore.
He had always seemed to be indulging Seonghun, but now it was blatantly obvious that he was suppressing his temper.
“Ooh!”
Seonghun exclaimed and quickly caught up to him as he tromped away.
“Honey. How was the gift I gave you? Did you like it?”
He didn’t expect to hear a proper answer, but he figured he’d be able to gauge the general response from his reaction. Seonghun’s eyes sparkled with anticipation at what kind of reaction he’d show this time. Then, Do-un stopped dead in his tracks and opened his mouth.
“Ah... that.”
Huh?
Do-un’s reaction was too calm, unlike what he had expected. Having anticipated something intense, Seonghun tilted his head, wondering why it was so noncommittal.
At that moment, the smile he had seen moments ago flooded Do-un’s face.
“Eek!”
Seonghun shrieked and scurried away. Then Do-un, with a full-blown grin, spat out words he had never once heard before.
“It was a pretty nice gift, don’t you think?”
A nice... gift...?
He was praising the item he had gifted!
He couldn’t fathom what on earth had happened between the two of them for that Do-un to be smiling like he had a screw loose.
But regardless of Seonghun’s bewilderment, Do-un was quite pleased with the special event the game console had brought him.
*Right. Why didn't I think of that? It was a pretty good item.*
He smiled contentedly again and recalled Seoyul, who had been playing the game.
* * *
It was the day Seoyul had opened the second game cartridge and was deeply immersed in playing. Do-un, who had been watching quietly from the side, opened his mouth as if having steeled his resolve.
“Seoyul.”
“Yes?”
At the sudden call, Seoyul opened his eyes wide and turned his head. Before him was a face that clearly had something serious to say.
“I’ve been thinking.”
“Thinking...?”
Could it be that he had been having too much fun playing alone? A slight pang of conscience struck him.
*As expected, you must have been bored, right?*
Only now did guilt set in. He also realized he had become too immersed in a new hobby.
But what came from Do-un’s mouth was something entirely different.
“Listen without misunderstanding me. It’s absolutely not because I have an ulterior motive or anything.”
“...Yes...?”
An... ulterior motive?
Seoyul tilted his head, but Do-un opened his mouth seriously.
“You know that when guiding, the wider the contact area, the better it works, right?”
“Ah... yes.”
That was the most basic common sense. Guiding was more efficient when the contact area was wide or when there was deep contact.
“And you’re in a state where you don’t know when your guiding might pop out.”
“Ah. That’s... right?”
“So I was thinking, how about we stick together continuously at home as much as possible?”
“Yes??”
Stick together continuously?
Startled by the unexpected remark, Seoyul opened his eyes wide. At that reaction, Do-un hurriedly added more words.
“Radiation guiding is good too, but you still don’t know how to guide because you haven’t felt real guiding energy yet. If I’m attached to you at times like that, you’ll be guided more quickly, so your recovery will be faster too.”
“Ah...”
Having heard up to there, he understood why Do-un was saying such things.
*I guess a lot of guiding leaked out while I was playing the game.*
He felt embarrassed for no reason. Since happiness was the trigger condition, he felt like his thoughts and emotions were caught even without saying anything.
“How is it? You keep playing games, and I receive guiding from beside you. You’re happy because you’re gaming, and I’m happy because I’m receiving guiding. Doesn’t it sound like a good idea?”
“Ah...”
Still feeling embarrassed, Seoyul blushed and scratched his cheek. He thought it would probably be okay since they always held hands during guiding anyway. But because home was a private domain, he felt embarrassed for no reason.
So while he was hesitating to answer, a decisive sentence popped out.
“Then I think I’d be less bored too...”
As expected, you were bored!!
Seoyul was startled and shouted hurriedly.
“I-I'm fine! I... didn’t think that you might be bored because this game is single-player. I’ll check to see if I have any two-player games!”
Seoyul, pouring out words in a flustered heap, was too cute. With an apologetic face, he slightly grabbed Do-un’s finger and opened his mouth.
“Then. Let’s play together.”
“......!!!”
To think such a cute creature existed!!!
Thinking he had indeed done well to bring it up, Do-un quickly shouted, laden with ulterior motives.
“No. Let’s do it starting now!”
“Yes?”
Do-un quickly dropped down to sit by the sofa, then grabbed Seoyul and pulled him down.
“Uwah!”
Led by a large hand, his body lost balance and went down. In an instant, Do-un seated him between his legs, embraced him from behind, and placed the game console in his hands.
“See. If we do it like this, we can share the same field of vision, and even if it’s single-player, we can comfortably take turns. How is it? It’s fine, right?”
“Yes??”
Seoyul was flustered and didn’t know what to do. Whether they were beside each other or nestled together like this, they would be looking at the same screen anyway, but because he was flustered, he couldn’t realize that.
“Come on, hurry up and play. I’ll receive guiding while watching you. If there’s anything difficult, tell me. I’ll help you.”
“Ah. Yes. Yes.”
Seoyul stared straight ahead, creaking like a broken machine. Because Do-un was behind his back, his presence felt considerably greater than when he was beside him.
*If he receives guiding in this position, the e-effect is quite good, right?*
The contact area was certainly different. A broad chest was fully pressed against his back. Thick arms were comfortably draped over his waist, so the touching area was definitely large.
*Even so...*
Seoyul squeezed his eyes shut. He had never been in contact with someone else at such close quarters before, so he felt awkward and ticklish.
He kept being conscious of the person behind him, so his face grew red, and his heart seemed to start pounding noisily.
“Why aren’t you playing? Is this a difficult section? Should I do it?”
Do-un snatched the console again and started operating it quite diligently. Every time his fingers moved, the muscles in his forearms twitched, and Seoyul stiffened, not knowing what to do.
But as they say, humans are creatures of adaptation. As Do-un kept talking to him and turned his gaze toward the game, he soon relaxed his body and began focusing on the game.
*Haah.*
Do-un looked at the Guide leaning lightly in his embrace, emitting faint guiding. It might also be because Espers’ bodies were unusually large, but Seoyul fit so snugly in his arms that it made his heart flutter.
*I’m going crazy, really.*
The sight of Seoyul holding the game console and wiggling his fingers was etched in his eyes. As he kept watching, his heart suddenly felt like it was being squeezed tight, so he put more strength in his arms and pulled the waist in closer.
Then he felt Seoyul’s body flinch and tremble. Do-un carefully observed his complexion, then, seeing him soon resume the game, buried his face in Seoyul’s shoulder.
Then he felt the body flinch and stiffen again. But as time passed, he could see the fingers moving once more.
*Haah. I’m really going to go crazy.*
It wasn’t just guiding; it felt like Seoyul’s scent was being absorbed deep inside. He wondered if it was okay to feel this good, and the more he held him, the more he wanted to keep holding him. He even wanted to press his lips to the slender nape and inhale the scent more deeply.
*I can’t do that yet.*
Do-un suppressed his writhing desire and looked forward to the next time.
But Seoyul’s mind was already in a state of chaos.
At first, he had been too flustered to say anything, and the second time, he had been too embarrassed to say anything. Because of that, even after grasping the situation, he couldn’t bring himself to speak.
*Wh-what do I do.*
No matter how he thought about it, this position seemed too excessive.
*I-it’s like we’re dating.*
When his thoughts reached that point, his face burst into flames. He thought it was fortunate that Do-un couldn’t see his face.
Otherwise, it felt like such embarrassing thoughts would have been completely read.
*C-calm down. This is guiding. It’s because I’m not good at it that the Esper has to receive guiding like this. The more this happens, the more composed I have to act!*
Not knowing he had fallen for Do-un’s trap, Seoyul resolved to fulfill his duty and comforted his own heart.
* * *
Do-un’s plan worked successfully. Seoyul’s gaze was stolen by the game, and he relaxed his body. Then he gradually began growing used to being stuck together.
“Aack! How could you go alone. Wait! I said wait!”
“Haha. Hurry up. I’ll wait here.”
Seoyul laughed joyfully, looking at the character on the screen and giggling. It turned out Do-un was worse at the game than he had thought.
The one who had boasted he would clear everything was nowhere to be seen, unable to keep up and dying continuously.
Ding!
“Ack!”
Do-un’s character disappeared again, dead. Now it wouldn’t even revive anymore, so Seoyul burst into laughter joyfully.
“This is absurd. This is impossible.”
He felt Do-un behind him, devastated, burying his face in his shoulder. Perhaps quite angry, the sound of rough, huffing breaths tickled his nape.
“Cheer up, Esper. I’ll go slowly and help you.”
Seoyul quite liked this situation. It was amusing that this amazing Esper couldn’t keep up with just one game, and it was nice that he was relying on him.
And as this situation grew comfortable, little by little, he began feeling S-rank energy more frequently.