Chapter 124: A Contract and a Confession

Since it was late today, we decided to sign the exclusive guide contract tomorrow and returned to Taewoon’s house. Originally, the contract could only be written after my rank was determined, but because the matching test results were so good, we decided to write the contract in advance before scouting offers from other organizations came in.

They said that since my matching rate with him was high and I was scheduled to become his exclusive guide, I would have to live with him in his house from now on. I couldn’t believe the reality of suddenly having to live with a stranger, on top of experiencing a gate and awakening.

“It must be very confusing, right? Everyone who awakens suddenly has a hard time at first. You’ll just have to guide me, so it won’t be difficult, Shinui.”

“Um… how do I do this ‘guiding’ thing?”

“You just need to make skin contact. Then your wavelength will purify mine. For today, let’s just hug.”

He suggested a hug with a nonchalant expression.

I felt that with him, it would somehow be okay, but I wondered if he wasn’t uncomfortable hugging another man. Just as I was starting to worry, he took the initiative and hugged my shoulders. I also awkwardly wrapped my arms around his torso. A stronger electric current than when we held hands radiated from my body, and I could feel his energy.

“You’re doing well. I’ll teach you how to guide properly next time.”

I was relieved by his words that I was doing well, but at the same time, my future life as a guide was filled with a mix of anticipation and worry.

My life changed overnight. The next day, I went to the Association and signed an exclusive guide contract. They must have checked my identity, as the Association was already aware of all my personal information.

The Association mentioned my debt of nearly 300 million won and offered to pay it all off if I became his exclusive guide.

I was well aware that since I had awakened as a guide, I could no longer return to my life as a non-awakened. I also knew that if I didn’t fulfill my duties as a guide, I would be sent to the Awakened prison.

If I didn’t become his exclusive guide, I would have to spend my days guiding other Espers. In that case, becoming the exclusive guide of the kind him seemed like a good option, so I signed.

After greeting the Association’s president, he and I went down to the underground parking lot. He was in a good mood, humming a tune as he spoke.

“You’ll have to live with me at my house every day now. You heard about it when we were processing the exclusive contract, right?”

We had found out we were the same age yesterday, so we decided to speak informally like friends.

“I remember. But… before we go home, can I get my things from the factory dormitory? I also want to say goodbye to the people there.”

“Yeah, you should say your last goodbyes. You won’t be able to see them anymore.”

I had lost my phone during the gate incident yesterday, so I had been absent from work without leave. They must have been very worried.

As we were driving to the factory, I suddenly remembered that I was ignorant about guiding.

I had heard that there were guiding training sessions and lectures at the Center, but he wanted me to stay at home. So the Association decided to send a private instructor from the Center twice a week.

Even if I took lectures twice a week, I was worried that my guiding skills wouldn’t improve. He was treating me with kindness now, but it was clear that he would be disappointed if I couldn’t guide properly.

I didn’t want him, who had a good impression of me from the start, to be disappointed in me.

“Do you think I’ll be of any help to you, Taewoon?”

“Is that why you were frowning?”

I nodded weakly. Since I had awakened late and knew nothing, I honestly didn’t think I would be of much help, even if our matching rate was high.

“What should I say to make you not worry, Shinui… Do you remember when we first met yesterday?”

“Yeah.”

Yesterday’s events had become a turning point in my life that I would never forget.

“High-level Espers don’t come out onto the streets. They have to focus solely on the boss monster. But you caught my eye, Shinui. When I came to my senses, I was helping you.”

I had actually been wondering why he had helped me. Since the role of helping ordinary citizens on the ground was for B-Class Espers. His words now cleared up my question.

“I felt something special from the moment I grabbed you and was guided. I’ve always had to force my wavelength to match with guides, but this time, it connected right away, as if I had found my partner.”

“I also thought it was amazing that I felt the same way when I touched you.”

“This is the first time I’ve been this interested in someone. Maybe I fell in love with you at first sight.”

I couldn’t help but be surprised by his sudden confession. A man confessing to a man. It might be common in the world of the Awakened, but for me, who had been a non-awakened, it was unfamiliar and surprising. But his confession wasn’t unpleasant or disliked.

“I’ll teach you about guiding from now on, so don’t worry. What’s certain is that I need you, Shinui.”

He said the cheesy words without any change in expression as he drove. Unlike him, I was receiving a confession for the first time, and my face flushed with heat. I was also worried about what kind of answer I should give to his confession.

“You don’t have to answer the confession. I think I already know without hearing it.”

He must have sensed my predicament, as he glanced at me and said.

“It’s okay if you don’t like me.”

He said with a faint smile. In that moment, a gentle energy, which I presumed to be his, enveloped me. As if to reassure me, the energy made me say that I didn’t dislike him. And it was true, I didn’t dislike him.

Except for the weekends, he said he would expend his body’s energy at the Center through ability training and gate simulations. If energy accumulated in his body, it could cause an energy rampage. He said that he had been receiving the help of a machine for the guiding levels that dropped while using his energy.

When I asked him why he didn’t guide with a guide, he gave me a scary answer that if the matching rate was not high, the guide could die from reverse guiding.

“Then could I die too?”

At my words, he let out a short laugh. He said that with a matching rate of over 80%, there was absolutely no chance of dying.

Perhaps because the concept of reverse guiding hadn’t sunk in yet, I was reassured by his words.

While he was at the Center, I waited for him blankly at home. Although the house was spacious and had many spaces for leisure, it wasn’t my house, so it was uncomfortable.

I sat on the living room sofa and looked at the lecture materials I had received in advance. But it was full of unfamiliar terms, so I couldn’t understand the content. In the end, I closed the materials and looked at the guiding book for beginners that he had given me.

When I opened the stiff cover, simple guiding methods were introduced. I started reading from the contact guiding section at the very beginning. Contact guiding included light touches, hugs, and kisses.

Light touches and hugs were possible, but I didn’t know if I could kiss him. He probably wouldn’t want to go as far as kissing, so I casually assumed that I could just guide him with hugs in the future.

I lay on the sofa with the open book on my chest and looked up at the ceiling. I wished time would pass quickly so that he would come. Although there was a housekeeper, the house was too big, and I felt lonely.

A week after the matching test, my guide rank test was finally conducted through Dr. Yoon, who had returned. But the result was C-Class. It was the complete opposite of the expectation that my rank would be high because of the high matching rate.

Dr. Yoon and the researchers comforted me, saying that even a C-Class could have the same effect as an S-Class if the matching rate was high, and told me not to be discouraged.

I looked at him, relieved, but he was looking at me with a cold expression, his usual gentle face gone. My heart sank at his cold expression. He didn’t seem to have any intention of hiding his disappointment in my rank.

After my rank came out, he started to distance himself from me. He wouldn’t speak to me first, and he never smiled in front of me. Only a cold gaze, as if he was sizing me up, returned.

It was just like the gaze of the debt collectors who came to find me after my mother died. How should I handle this? How can I use it to get even a little money back? That’s all they were thinking about.

His cold attitude was bewildering and left a deep wound in my heart. For the first few days, I couldn’t even leave my room and was cooped up in a corner of my bed. A sense of depression washed over me, so much so that I couldn’t think of anything but a gloomy future. But what was even harder to bear was the fact that if I just stayed still, I wouldn’t even be able to see him.

I had already signed an exclusive contract with him, and I didn’t want to be in a cold war with him like this. So, I gathered my courage and decided to approach him first.

I paced in front of the entrance, waiting for him to come home, but when he arrived, he didn’t even glance at me and went into his bedroom. I couldn’t miss this opportunity, so I hurriedly grabbed him.

“Taewoon…!”

“What.”

He stopped with an annoyed expression. I quickly spoke before he could walk away.

“I may be C-Class, but I can guide well. You told me my guiding felt good even before my rank came out.”

He stared at me with a cynical gaze and silence. Seeing that, I pleaded with him even more desperately.

“Our matching rate is also high, so there’s no risk of reverse guiding… I’ll do well. I won’t do anything to get on your nerves. Okay?”

I pleaded earnestly and clung to him, but in the end, he ignored me and went into his bedroom. As the door closed and his back completely disappeared, I couldn’t help but feel depressed again.

If I couldn’t guide properly, the exclusive contract might be terminated. I had just escaped from a grueling life of being chased by debt, and the thought of going back to that situation made me feel like I was suffocating. I had to persuade him somehow and continue the relationship.

Even if he was rejecting me now, I believed that if I made an effort, we could manage the exclusive contract well together. Thinking that, I summoned all my strength and tried to persuade him every day.