Chapter 18: Unexpected Guiding

‘Why is he doing this?’ The question was secondary to the strange sensation that seemed to ripple through his very heart, causing his body to involuntarily twist. It wasn’t unpleasant, yet it wasn’t exactly good either—a vague, unfamiliar feeling enveloped him. Just then, Ryu Yishin broke the brief silence. Watching him, Hanseol felt a peculiar sense of uneasiness.

“When did you start experiencing guiding side effects?”

“…Since my very first guiding session.”

“From the beginning?”

Despite the subtle softening in his voice, Hanseol couldn’t relax his guard. He managed only a terse “Yes” the second time. Ryu Yishin narrowed his brows, as if something didn’t quite make sense, then continued to toy with Hanseol’s hand as he spoke again.

“You seem perfectly fine now, though.”

“…Pardon?”

His casual tone almost made Hanseol nod in agreement without a second thought. ‘Perfectly fine now? Does that mean I’m being guided right this moment?’ Hanseol simply stared at him, wide-eyed and bewildered, unable to grasp the meaning behind Ryu Yishin’s words.

Ryu Yishin ran a hand through his hair, his expression still tinged with annoyance. One moment he seemed pleased, the next his brow would furrow, leaving Hanseol at a loss as to how to react. He could only fidget his hand, unable to bear the tickling sensation any longer.

“Just stay still; you’re distracting me. Why are you twitching so much?”

“Because you keep touching me like that, Team Leader. It’s ticklish…”

“Are you blaming me?”

“No, it’s not that…”

Ryu Yishin was a ruthless man who offered no opportunity for explanation or calm reasoning. He gave Hanseol no time to process his enigmatic words, and now, despite clearly being the cause, he was snapping back as if Hanseol were unfairly blaming him, leaving Hanseol feeling utterly miserable.

Though Hanseol knew it was undeniably Ryu Yishin’s fault, he shrank back, even lying to avoid his gaze. Upon hearing Hanseol’s timid response, Ryu Yishin suddenly chuckled, then began to knead Hanseol’s hand with more force.

‘Is he doing this on purpose just to torment me? Ah… right. Team Leader Ryu already has it out for me…’ A pang of sadness accompanied Hanseol’s thoughts as he bit hard on the inside of his cheek to dull the sensation, tensing his body. His posture straightened automatically, as if he’d been skewered from head to waist.

“If you can’t even handle this much, how have you been guiding all this time?”

As if completely indifferent to Hanseol’s tumultuous thoughts, Ryu Yishin continued to manipulate his hand, asking in an unremarkable tone. His grip seemed stronger than before, and a sharp, tingling pain now spread from the center of Hanseol’s palm, making his shoulder twitch involuntarily. Hanseol couldn’t answer Ryu Yishin’s question immediately, silently enduring the strange, unfamiliar sensation.

Soon after, Ryu Yishin pressed his thumb firmly into the center of Hanseol’s palm, as if applying acupressure. The force was so intense and painful that Hanseol’s eyes shot open, and he instinctively snapped his head toward Ryu Yishin. Ryu Yishin stared intently back, a sly smirk lingering on his lips. It was a deeply unsettling, cunning smile that made anyone who saw it unable to shake off a sense of unease.

“Jung Hanseol.”

“…Yes.”

A dizzying tension coursed along his nerves, making him swallow dryly as it spread throughout his entire body once more. Those light-colored eyes seemed to hold a peculiar power, stranger than even the darkest gaze. An inexplicable fear began to coil around Hanseol, slowly creeping through him. Ryu Yishin’s unwavering eyes were fixed solely on him, without a flicker of movement.

“Something has come up that I want to confirm.”

“Confirm… what?”

Hanseol, dumbfounded by the word that felt utterly out of place in this bizarre situation, repeated the question. Ryu Yishin’s lips curved into a slight smile—a chilling smile that, as always, gave no hint of the thoughts behind it. The burgeoning tension caused Hanseol’s body to stiffen even further.

“I need guiding, so open your mouth.”

“What?”

“I said, open your mouth.”

“…Huh?”

Stunned by the abrupt demand, Hanseol responded with a bewildered, half-open mouth. He then froze, unable to breathe, completely taken aback by Ryu Yishin’s next action. Ryu Yishin tilted his head slightly, then swiftly captured Hanseol’s lips in a kiss.

Simultaneously, the hand that cupped his nape was chillingly cold, yet the tongue and breath that plunged into his mouth were excessively hot. His mind reeled as if oscillating between icy and scalding water, unable to properly grasp what was happening to him.

‘Am I… being guided right now?’

He barely managed to form a coherent thought, but Ryu Yishin gave him no chance to pursue it. His breath hitched and caught, threatening to give out at any moment. Fearing he would suffocate, Hanseol tried to push Ryu Yishin away, but his dazed mind and flickering vision meant his strength was feeble. Ryu Yishin finally pulled his lips away for a brief moment, taking a short breath, then gazed intently into Hanseol’s eyes.

“Focus properly.”

As soon as the words left his lips, Ryu Yishin plunged back into Hanseol’s slightly parted mouth, closing the distance once more. The insistent intertwining of hot tongues was both vivid and utterly foreign, leaving Hanseol at a loss. He could only clench his clothes tightly.

‘Right, I’m working right now. Team Leader said he needed guiding, after all.’

A normal person wouldn’t typically think this way after being abruptly kissed, but Hanseol, six months into his job at the National Security Agency, accepted and resigned himself to everything under the term ‘guiding.’

Physical contact between an Esper and a Guide held no meaning beyond guiding itself, and no employee of the National Security Agency considered skinship performed under the guise of guiding to be unusual. Hanseol had simply been intentionally avoiding direct guiding through physical contact due to his side effects.

Hanseol, who had been unable to focus on Ryu Yishin’s command, his mind drifting, suddenly felt something amiss and stiffened his shoulders.

‘But… why am I still fine?’

If this act was nothing more or less than guiding—and direct guiding at that, not indirect—he should have already lost consciousness. The first time he attempted direct guiding with Jo Jinwoo, he’d fainted without a chance to react, and the side effect of falling asleep immediately after guiding was still in effect. By that logic, he should have passed out long ago here…

“Haa, h-huh…”

As if chastising a confused Hanseol, Ryu Yishin deepened the kiss, plunging in relentlessly. Hanseol, letting out a sound close to a sob, gasped for breath, unable to keep up with Ryu Yishin’s pace.

Realizing this was both Ryu Yishin’s urging and his pressure, Hanseol desperately tried to focus on the thought of guiding, squeezing his eyes shut. Simultaneously, his body felt weightless, as if floating, untouched by gravity, and a profound languor began to spread, slowly consuming his nerves. It was a different, unfamiliar sensation from the one he’d experienced the first time he attempted direct guiding—the dizzying feeling of falling off a cliff as all his senses were simultaneously cut off. This new feeling was making Hanseol’s mind hazy.

With every tangle of their tongues, it felt as though Ryu Yishin was stealing his very soul, making his body grow increasingly heavy and his consciousness blur. Even as he tried to focus solely on guiding, his survival instincts took precedence, making it impossible to keep his mind from scattering.

‘When am I supposed to breathe? Is it okay to push Team Leader away for a moment? It’s guiding, so I should be focusing more on this, right? But my vision keeps whiting out, so how can I concentrate? Why am I still able to think at all? I should have fainted long ago…’

“Haa, haa…”

Just before he completely succumbed to the overwhelming languor, Ryu Yishin slowly pulled his lips away. It was due to an unexpected knock at the door. Unlike Ryu Yishin, who let out a light breath tinged with faint regret, Hanseol was now desperately gasping for air, his breathing ragged and uncontrolled.

“Come in.”

Ryu Yishin’s hand remained wrapped around Hanseol’s nape. Their proximity meant that Ryu Yishin’s words, directed at the person outside the door, felt like a whispered secret to Hanseol. His entire body tingled, and heat rushed to his face, causing him to shiver slightly. Just then, the door opened, revealing a large man with a slightly fatigued expression: Deputy Team Leader Kang Seungmin.

“What is it, first thing in the morning?”

“Ah… well, the prosecution requested our cooperation, so I’ll need to be out of the office until the afternoon. I’ll take Gyeongjun with me.”

“Handle that yourself. I’m busy.”

“…Understood. I’ll be going then.”

Even as he exchanged a brief conversation with Kang Seungmin, Ryu Yishin’s fingers relentlessly toyed with Hanseol’s soft nape. Hanseol instinctively flinched his neck back at the intensifying tickle and peculiar sensation, but his mind was still too hazy to grasp the flow of the current situation. Naturally, he failed to notice Kang Seungmin’s barely concealed bewilderment behind his impassive face.

After bowing his head to Ryu Yishin, Kang Seungmin vanished from sight, leaving only a heavy silence to settle over the office where the two remained. It felt as if that oppressive weight was crushing his entire body. Hanseol repeatedly lifted his weak hand to rub his eyelids. The tickling, the subtle heat that had flared up—all seemed to gradually recede, becoming distant and faint.

‘No, this can’t happen. I can’t close my eyes like this. I don’t even think I guided him properly. Then Team Leader will be annoyed with me again…’

Ordinarily, Hanseol would have simply given up and closed his eyes without a care, but because of his new superior, Ryu Yishin, he desperately tried to cling to his consciousness. He wasn’t yet confident in adapting smoothly to Team 1, but he certainly didn’t want to fall out of Ryu Yishin’s favor and suffer for it.

Yet, despite his tearful efforts, everything ultimately proved futile.

“Hey.”

“…”

“Jung Hanseol.”

Unable to resist the uncontrollable wave of sleep, Hanseol leaned into Ryu Yishin’s embrace, collapsing against him as his eyes finally closed.