Chapter 28: A Step Closer

“I’ll… give you Guiding.”

Swallowing dryly, the Guide pulled back half the blanket.

Why did he assume I would naturally lie down?

Even while questioning it, my body was already heading toward the spot beside him.

As I rolled the wheelchair around the bed, the Guide waited for me, arranging the pillows.

Screech.

As I set the brake and moved onto the bed, the Guide’s gaze, which never left me for a second, supported me.

Conscious of his stare, I centered myself more steadily and quickly lay down on the bed.

“Just sleep.”

“Don’t do any Guiding.”

I looked up at the ceiling, avoiding him who was trying to Guide even in his sick state.

I had already received more than enough Guiding.

My wavelength level, which had dropped due to the secret kiss last night, pricked my conscience.

“Then… why did you come?”

At the Guide’s puzzled voice, I moved only my eyes to look sideways.

I could hear the loud beating of the Guide’s heart, his hand clutching the edge of the pillow.

I couldn’t tell if it was due to an Esper’s sensitive hearing or if his heartbeat was genuinely that loud.

It had been the same when I first lay in the same bed with him.

“Because you were alone while you were sick.”

The only thought that came to mind was that I had to come.

The thought that I shouldn’t leave him alone made me naturally follow Seung-jun.

I pulled the blanket up to the Guide’s chin so I couldn’t see the line of his neck.

If I had my way, I would have covered his lips too.

“You were by my side when I was sick.”

I patted the blanket covering his shoulder a few times, signaling for him to go to sleep now.

I wanted to treat him as well as I could.

I wanted to answer his questions faithfully, and the desire to help him get better grew.

I hoped the Guide wouldn’t be sick anymore.

“You’re so kind…”

The Guide, who muttered faintly, covered his mouth as a small cough escaped, then buried his face in the pillow altogether.

The Guide’s ever-loudening heartbeat threatened to raise my own heart rate.

“You’re Guiding, aren’t you.”

A warm energy flowed from the Guide who had hidden his face in the pillow.

Even though I knew I should firmly tell him to stop, my lips wouldn’t move.

“I’m sick, so… I can’t control it.”

‘…If that’s the case, then it can’t be helped.’

“Is it because I’m next to you?”

“This much is okay.”

Coughing, the Guide suddenly reached out his hand.

As if he thought I would leave, he hurriedly grabbed my pillow and revealed his hidden face.

“Just stay.”

“Okay?”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

I thought of the Guide’s face as he cried in his sleep, telling me not to go, and answered while taking his hand.

“If you think it’s too much, you have to tell me.”

“I won’t go anywhere; I’ll just sit in the wheelchair.”

If my presence was the reason he couldn’t control his Guiding, I intended to just keep my distance.

But despite my words, my body, comfortably settled in the bed, grew heavier and heavier.

Even the faint Guiding seeping over was enough to release the tension in my body.

“What are you thinking?”

I asked the silent Guide, conscious of holding his hand gently.

Controlling my strength was still not easy.

Especially in front of the Guide.

“Wicked thoughts.”

The Guide, who mumbled in a near whisper, opened his hand and intertwined our fingers.

Though his heartbeat was frantic, the Guide’s expression was as peaceful as if he were about to fall asleep at any moment.

Even the corners of his lips, which were always downturned, were smiling faintly.

‘What kind of wicked thoughts?’

“If I’m sick… will you keep being this nice to me?”

The Guide squeezed and released our intertwined fingers, continuing his words slowly.

A hot fever spread from his hand touching mine.

“Then… I want to stay sick.”

I listened intently to his small whisper and squeezed his hand back.

When I gently pressed between his slender fingers, the Guide’s smile deepened.

Along with that smile, the Guiding flowing from his palm also deepened.

I tried to focus on the Guide, not the Guiding, and met his eyes steadily.

My true feelings, which were hidden inside, were naturally drawn out by his absorbing black eyes.

“I’ll be nice to you even when you’re not sick.”

The Guide’s eyes widened and then narrowed slightly, trying to grasp my true intentions.

I already knew, but he seemed to be the type whose emotions showed plainly on his face.

His insides were as transparent as his skin.

“It’s true.”

“So don’t be sick.”

“…What did Tae Seung-jun say?”

The Guide, who suddenly brought up Seung-jun, had an anxious look on his face.

Feeling regretful that his peaceful expression was so quickly broken, I gave his hand a firm squeeze.

“He told me to be good to you, Guide-nim.”

“That you’re a precious person to me.”

There was no need to hide those words.

I considered telling him I already knew about the imprinting, but I saved it.

To add strength to Seung-jun’s blackmail, which was meant to ensure the Guide took care of his health.

“You don’t have to force yourself.”

He placed his other hand on top of mine, his voice calm and low.

It was a voice that made the bright daylight feel like the dim dawn.

He enveloped the back of my hand with his smaller one and smiled.

“You’re not Chul-soo-hyung, you’re Kim Chul-soo.”

“So do whatever you want.”

‘Let’s get to know each other slowly.’

The sound of the cats playing in the living room mixed with the Guide’s gentle voice.

The Guide’s pounding heartbeat had subsided at some point.

I closed the distance between myself and the Guide by a handspan and listened to him.

I opened my mouth, wanting to get closer quickly, not slowly.

“Then can I call you Hyung?”

Cough.

The Guide blinked and answered with a cough.

I raised my eyebrows, waiting for a clear permission, and heard the Guide’s heartbeat quicken again.

It didn’t seem like he disliked it, so I tried calling him ‘Yeong-u-hyung.’

“Hyung.”

When there was no answer, I called him once more, and the Guide, whose ears had turned red, pulled the blanket up to hide his chest.

Even though I wasn’t looking.

“If it’s uncomfortable, I’ll just call you Guide-nim.”

“No!”

“No.”

“I, I like it.”

The Guide hastily squeezed my hand and repeated that he liked it five times.

Seeing his eyes, from which all sleepiness had fled, the corners of my mouth loosened.

Then from today, he’s not Guide Seo Yeong-u, but Hyung.

Yeong-u-hyung.

His name was cute, too.

“Get up.”

“Let’s eat.”

Since he was awake anyway, I thought it would be better to feed him and have him take his medicine, so I sat up.

His hoarse voice kept bothering me, so I was about to get some water first, but Yeong-u-hyung pulled my wrist and said he wasn’t hungry.

‘No wonder Seung-jun has to resort to blackmail to get him to eat.’

“Let’s just sleep.”

“I’m sleepy.”

“But I’m hungry.”

“Then… I’ll make something and bring it!”

“You just sit there.”

Hyung hurriedly got up to follow me, then staggered and clutched his head.

Even though he was blinking from dizziness, he never let go of my wrist.

“Is there something out there I’m not supposed to see?”

“I already saw the picture frames.”

Seeing him desperately trying to stop me from going into the living room, I had no choice but to tell him what I’d already seen.

Yeong-u-hyung, at a loss for words, just stood there with his mouth agape.

Even after Yeong-u-hyung’s body got better, I didn’t return to the hospital.

When Yeong-u-hyung told me that this was actually my house and he was just living with me, I told him I would stay here instead of the hospital room.

No matter how good the facilities were, a house was better than a hospital.

And they were both equally unfamiliar to me anyway.

“Look at me.”

In just a few days, the distance between Hyung and me had narrowed surprisingly.

After I let down my guard, Hyung started following me around as if he had been waiting.

Like Shiru trailing after Baekseol, he watched my every move and asked if I needed anything.

His fever wouldn’t go down, so he slept with a cooling patch on, yet Hyung only worried about me.

He was a person who didn’t know how to take care of his own body.

“Tell me if it hurts.”

Every morning when he woke up, the first thing Hyung would do was check the wound on my forehead.

Even though it would be fine to skip a day, he would meticulously disinfect it every time and put on a new band-aid.

“Ah.”

“Does it hurt?”

Hyung, who continued to touch the scar even after changing the band-aid, quickly pulled his hand away at my small sound.

I clutched my stomach, not my forehead, and frowned.

“Does your stomach hurt?”

“Where, here?”

“I’m hungry.”

Hyung, who had placed his hand on my stomach, lightly raised his fist.

It was funny that he fell for the same joke today that he had yesterday, so I chuckled, and he glared at me.

I wanted to see that expression again, so I started playing pranks.

Yeong-u-hyung was now comfortable with me.

Although a cautious attitude remained, he no longer walked on eggshells around me.

Like now, he would touch the scarred forehead without hesitation.

“Why is only this one not healing…”

“It’ll get better soon.”

“I don’t even feel it.”

I lowered my bangs to cover my forehead so Hyung wouldn’t worry.

It was just healing slower than the other wounds; it wasn’t open or infected.

From my perspective, with my mind still stuck as a civilian, it seemed to be healing at a reasonable pace.

“Then that’s a relief.”

Yeong-u-hyung, with a light smile, pushed the wheelchair I was sitting in and left the bedroom.

Baekseol and Shiru, who were rolling around in front of the living room cabinet with a mouse toy between them, looked at us.

Baekseol’s white tail swayed, dusting off the living room cabinet.

On top of the cabinet, the picture frame that Hyung had failed to hide was still there.

What was Yeong-u-hyung’s explanation for that frame again?

Brothers?

‘We were like, uh, brothers. That’s why you let me live with you…’

I smiled as gently as possible at Hyung, who was stuttering so pitifully, showing him that I had already figured out the situation.

‘Brothers who sleep in the same bed?’

‘…The bed is, uh, expensive. It’s big, you know. Three people could probably sleep in it.’

Hyung, who seemed to have no talent for lying, rambled on with clumsy words before finally confessing the truth.

Very slowly.

In a voice that was dying away.