“I told you to stay put and rest, but you ran off to play? Princess is still just a baby.”
“…Put me down while I’m asking nicely.”
“Why? You’re having a hard time already. Your face is all red. It's better if I hold you than if you're sitting on the cold floor. More importantly, who pissed you off?”
As if he couldn't see anyone in the world except Huiyeong, Shinyul smiled brightly and coaxed the small body in his arms.
Huiyeong wanted to argue, but after the past few days he had already gotten used to how solid and comfortable Shinyul's embrace was. In the end, he couldn't say anything and simply trembled all over.
Watching Huiyeong shake like a vibrating doll while Shinyul gazed at him with eyes dripping honey, Taeseong pressed a hand to his forehead.
Of all people... why did they have to be that pair...?
Taeseong had become especially sensitive to people's gazes while receiving the Guiding he had only managed to get after practically begging Haram. Even after realizing that the owner of that gaze was the Guide everyone had been talking about, his irritation didn't disappear.
He had heard the unfortunate story that the man suffered from mental confusion, but that was a separate issue, wasn't it? Besides, if the Guide had problems, then his paired Esper should be the one taking care of him. Though... the fact that the paired Esper was Han Shinyul was a problem in itself.
The Center babied Han Shinyul, and Han Shinyul babied his Guide.
From the looks of it, if he didn't say something stern himself, no one would.
Letting out a deep sigh, Taeseong stepped in front of Haram, who was standing there awkwardly, almost shielding him behind his back.
“Esper Han Shinyul. I understand your Guide's circumstances, but you should at least teach him basic manners.”
“What?”
The moment he heard Taeseong's icy words, Huiyeong's eyes nearly rolled back.
“Manners? Maaanners? Fuck off already. Huh? You assholes were rubbing mouths together and grinding all over each other in broad fucking daylight without a shred of shame, and now what? Manners?”
Despite having been a gangster, there was one thing the almost-fifty-year-old old-timer absolutely couldn't tolerate: anyone talking about manners.
Huiyeong exploded.
Red with rage, he fumed in Shinyul's arms, flailing his skinny limbs as though he were about to beat the bastard to death.
“You don't even think about your own damn behavior, and you've got the nerve to lecture me about manners when you're just some damn kid! Huh?”
“...Just some damn kid?”
Taeseong muttered blankly.
Shinyul gently patted the body struggling in his arms. He cast Taeseong a fleeting icy glance before turning Huiyeong's face back toward himself with a warm smile.
“Yeah, yeah. Uncle's right about everything. They're the bad guys. Right? Whoa, your face is getting even redder. You're gonna pass out again.”
“Ah, let me go! I'm gonna beat that son of a bitch...!”
Unable to overcome Shinyul's grip, Huiyeong's neck turned bright red as well. Now he couldn't even breathe properly and was panting in short gasps.
Watching the scene, Haram shook Taeseong's hand off and ran straight toward Huiyeong.
“Ah, Mr. Haram...!”
“Huiyeong! Huiyeong! We should've done the Guiding in the Guiding room. You got startled, didn't you? Oh no... first, you need to breathe properly...”
“Oh my, what on earth happened? Huh? Huiyeong? Shinyul! What happened here?!”
Assistant Manager Seong and Assistant Manager Shin, who had finally secured a Guiding room and returned, were horrified and rushed over as well.
The place instantly descended into complete chaos.
The people nearby also gathered around, murmuring among themselves, while everyone made a huge fuss over Huiyeong's condition. The Guide Center lobby had become noisier than a marketplace.
Only Taeseong remained standing there, frozen, one hand still stretched wistfully toward Haram.
Ignoring everyone's attempts to calm him down, Huiyeong furiously pointed at Taeseong and yelled, causing everyone around to immediately glare at Taeseong with accusing looks.
In an instant, he became Public Enemy Number One.
Sweat poured down Taeseong's face.
No... what the hell did I even say that was so terrible...?
Objectively speaking, what Taeseong had said was perfectly reasonable, common-sense advice.
But the people who didn't know the circumstances—and only saw Huiyeong's condition—weren't about to change their opinion.
Shinyul brushed aside the crowd as though they were nothing but obstacles, pulling Huiyeong's face against his chest before speaking to the employees.
“Did you get a Guiding room?”
“Huh? Ah! Yeah! Let's go, let's go!”
While everyone noisily fussed over Huiyeong and hurried away, Huiyeong kept glaring viciously at Taeseong until the very end.
I'm leaving in humiliation today... but one day I'm gonna kill you.
Even with tears clinging to the corners of his eyes, the murderous look in them made Taeseong stare back in disbelief.
When Haram hurried after Huiyeong and Shinyul, Taeseong quickly grabbed him.
“Mr. Haram, where are you...?”
“I'm too worried about Huiyeong. Guiding's already over, so I'm going to go first.”
Shaking off Taeseong's desperate grip, Haram didn't even notice the expression on Taeseong's face twisting in disappointment.
He anxiously watched Huiyeong disappear farther and farther away before breaking into a run after him.
Even after the murmuring crowd dispersed and Haram had become nothing more than a tiny dot in the distance, Taeseong remained standing exactly where he was.
***
On the way to the Guiding room, Huiyeong finally started scolding everyone who was still making such a huge fuss.
“Hey, this old man's not gonna die. Huh? Sure, this body's weak as hell, but you think I'm gonna keel over just because I got pissed off once?”
“Oh, it's only because you couldn't see yourself, Huiyeong. You could barely breathe earlier. We seriously thought something terrible was about to happen...”
“You people sure love making a fuss...”
Huiyeong had been too busy screaming in anger to notice.
His face was burning red.
His breathing was ragged.
His eyes were even shimmering with tears.
He looked exactly like someone who was about to collapse.
Burdened with a body far too frail for his violent personality, Huiyeong had overloaded himself simply because his body couldn't keep up with his temper.
Even now, unable to settle things with his fists the way he wanted, he could only grind his teeth in frustration.
When they entered the Guiding room, Huiyeong tilted his head.
The room was larger than expected, but inside there was only a bed and a shower.
After carefully straightening the blanket, Shinyul laid Huiyeong down on the bed.
Huiyeong immediately sprang back up.
He slapped the pillow over and over in frustration.
“If this damn body wasn't so fucking weak...! Ah, fuck... I should've smashed that rude bastard's face in.... If I still had my old body... Huh? Back in my day!”
“Yeah. Uncle beat the crap out of everyone, right?”
“Damn right!”
Despite all the foul language pouring from his mouth, his face looked pitiful, almost childishly aggrieved.
His eyebrows drooped.
The corners of his eyes sagged.
The skin around his still-burning eyes remained flushed.
Shinyul sat right beside him, completely unconcerned about wrinkling his uniform. He folded back the soft inner cuff of his sleeve and gently wiped the sweat from Huiyeong's round forehead.
“That's right. Everything Uncle says is right.”
After patiently agreeing several times, Huiyeong finally seemed to calm down.
“Haa...”
He let out a long, deep breath.
“Still... was it really that... bad that I looked over there? I mean, if they're worried about people watching, then they shouldn't be doing that out in public!”
Spotting Haram, who had followed behind everyone and was lingering awkwardly behind the employees, Huiyeong frowned and asked.
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't understand.
Fine.
In this place, kissing was normal.
That was Guiding.
He got it.
He understood that all too well now.
But... you still weren't supposed to look when they were doing it openly?
Why?
They were the ones making a spectacle of themselves in public.
This world was impossible to understand.
“Um... not watching Guiding falls under the category of manners and etiquette. When an Esper's Guiding value drops because they've used their abilities, they become extremely sensitive. It's not just psychological. Espers already possess physical senses far superior to ordinary people, but when their Guiding value decreases, those senses become even sharper. Even tiny sounds can feel as loud as thunder and become incredibly painful. On top of that, the more they use their abilities, the more severe their psychological sense of deprivation becomes. Guiding is what relieves those feelings.”
“Ahh...”
After quietly listening to Haram's explanation, Huiyeong slowly turned his head toward Shinyul.
Shinyul was still staring only at him.
Even while listening to the explanation about Espers, he looked completely detached from the topic, smiling simply because Huiyeong had met his eyes.
Seeing that carefree grin, Huiyeong couldn't bring himself to scold him like usual.
“As I explained before, when an Esper's Guiding value becomes too low, they enter a Berserk state. They gradually lose their sense of self, and when the Berserk fully begins, people describe it as their abilities taking over their body. Every Esper has a deep fear of Berserk. As their Guiding value drops and their senses become more sensitive, that fear and sense of deprivation intensify dramatically, making them become obsessed with Guiding. It's instinct. That's why Espers become desperately attached to their Guides. During Guiding they're extremely defensive, and because their heightened senses make even another person's gaze feel threatening, it's considered proper etiquette not to watch.”
“...Is that so.”
“Of course, as you said, Huiyeong, none of this would happen if everyone simply used the Guiding rooms. But like I mentioned before, it's difficult to reserve one. If the Espers have a backlog of work, light Guiding is often done right there in the lobby. I know this must have startled you, but from now on it's best to consciously avoid looking at an Esper and Guide while they're Guiding.”
Huiyeong smacked his lips awkwardly.
So... I was the rude one after all.
Damn.
That young guy really got the short end of the stick.
“That's right, Princess. I get jealous, so stop looking at other Espers.”
“Ah... I barely used any strength. Why the hell am I this dizzy?”
Instead of arguing with Shinyul, Huiyeong deliberately changed the subject.
His thin body flopped back onto the bed.
“What are we going to do when you're this weak? How are we supposed to send you into a dungeon?”
Assistant Manager Seong sighed.
Haram's eyes flew wide open.
“A dungeon? Wait... you're sending Huiyeong into a dungeon already?”
“Huh? Ah... well, that's part of the work...”
“Work depends on the person! He's this weak, and mentally—well, anyway! He's sick!”
The employees all fell silent.
They had been worried about exactly the same thing.
But Shinyul's workload had piled up so badly that Huiyeong's schedule inevitably became just as packed.
Haram understood the Center's situation.
Even so...
Sending him into a dungeon this early was far too much.
Why was the Center always so merciless only toward Huiyeong?
“Besides, he's only done contact Guiding with his matched Esper so far. He hasn't even fully awakened his Guiding sense yet, so his schedule should really be pushed back even further—”
“Ah, teach.”
“...?”
“My Guiding sense already awakened.”
“?”
Why?