Chapter 125: The Contract’s Fine Print

I must have dozed off while waiting for Taewoon to come home. I woke up to his voice calling my name.

“Lee Shinui.”

I rubbed my tired eyes and sat up to greet him. Perhaps because I was still drowsy, his face looked as gentle as it did when we first met.

“Taewoon, you’re back?”

“Have you eaten?”

“Not yet. The housekeeper made dinner and left.”

“Then eat dinner and get ready for guiding.”

At his words, I felt my drowsiness completely disappear. My efforts had finally reached him. I was so happy for a moment that I almost cried.

He showed me his guiding level. It was 42%. I didn’t have a concept of guiding levels, but I could tell it was a low number.

“Okay! I’ll eat now and do it right away.”

Since he was wearing a nutrient patch called a PTF and didn’t need to eat, I had dinner alone. While I was eating, he was showering.

I also quickly finished my meal and took a shower. Since I had to hug him, I washed my body much more thoroughly than usual, worried that I might smell.

When I came out of the shower, he was sitting on the sofa watching TV. Unlike my wet hair, his hair was completely dry.

“Come here, I’ll dry your hair.”

I was relieved by his gentle behavior, just like when we first met. He used his fire attribute ability to quickly evaporate the moisture from my body. That’s when I realized why his hair had been dry.

“Let’s go and guide now.”

“Aren’t we doing it in the living room?”

I asked, puzzled by his action of heading to the bedroom.

“You like it here?”

“Yeah. I thought it would be more comfortable on the sofa.”

At my words, he sat on the sofa and opened his arms to me.

It was just a hug, but my debt of 300 million won was gone, and I was also getting a monthly salary. To be honest, I felt a little guilty, but since I had been living a miserable life because of the debt, I now wanted to feel a normal life like everyone else.

I went to his side and hugged him. But he made me sit on his lap and kissed my neck.

“What are you doing? It tickles.”

Despite my words, his lips came right up to mine. I remembered the kiss from the contact guiding I had read about in the book.

I had been prepared, but I hadn’t thought we would reach this stage so quickly. Fortunately, he gave me a short kiss and then let me go. And then he said one thing.

“Take off your clothes.”

“…What?”

Even though I had heard his words, I stupidly asked if I had misheard.

“You have to take off your clothes to guide.”

“Why do we have to take off our clothes to guide?”

At my words, he looked at me with an unreadable expression. He came closer to me, then grabbed my butt and said.

“Because we have to use this.”

At his sudden touch, I was terrified and pulled away from him. Then I covered my butt, which he had just grabbed, with my hands.

“Why are you touching my butt…”

“s*x is the guiding that stabilizes and raises the level quickly.”

“Are you saying you want to have s*x with me right now?”

It was the first time I had ever said the word ‘s*x’ out loud in my life. So I stuttered a little. Besides, it was the first time I had heard that a man could have s*x with another man.

“I don’t know. I’ve never had s*x before.”

“You just have to stay still like a guiding machine.”

His hand quickly slipped under my shirt. I tried to pull his hand out, but it was difficult to overcome the strength of an S-Class Esper, whose physical abilities were also superior to an ordinary person’s. My hand suddenly wouldn’t budge, as if he had also used his ability.

“Taewoon, I don’t want to. I don’t want to do this with you.”

“This is what an exclusive guide does. You said you would do well.”

“Th-then I don’t want to be your exclusive guide.”

My head wasn’t working properly because I was so scared. I only thought that if this was guiding, I had to avoid it. Just a moment ago, I had been full of the desire to get along well with him, but now he felt scary.

When I said I wouldn’t be his exclusive guide, his eyes instantly turned cold.

“So you’re saying you want to terminate the contract?”

“Yeah…”

I nodded, swallowing hard. My breathing came out irregularly, as if my body was expressing its shock.

“You know that you have to pay 40% of the contract fee as compensation if you don’t fulfill the contract, right?”

“40%…?”

It was the first I had heard of it. 40% of 300 million… I would have to pay over 100 million in compensation, but there was no way I had that kind of money. All the salary I had received from the factory so far had been used to pay off my debt.

“You should have read the contract carefully. Why do you think the Association paid off all your debt?”

He looked at me with a pitiful expression. His eyes were filled with blame and reproach for me.

“It seems you still need some preparation, so I’ll give you a day. But you have to guide me tomorrow.”

I couldn’t say anything to his words. Instead, I ran to my room and checked the contract. Even though my head was throbbing, I checked the contract fee section, and it clearly stated that I had to pay 40% as compensation, just as he had said. The hand holding the contract trembled.

If I had read it carefully, word for word, this misfortune wouldn’t have happened. I was so excited about meeting him, and I had signed without reading it properly, thinking that since I had awakened as a guide, I couldn’t live as an ordinary person anyway. That was my mistake.

But if I had known that guiding was s*x, I wouldn’t have made this contract, no matter how much they offered to pay off my debt. It didn’t say what guiding was, but to think that I had to compensate for all this if I couldn’t do it…

I had to go to the Association and talk to them again. If I explained the situation, they might terminate the exclusive contract. I sincerely hoped the Association would understand my situation.

The next day, my face was gaunt. I was the type to get worked up over small problems, so my eyes, from lack of sleep, were bloodshot and stinging, and my sensitive head was throbbing with a headache, so my expression was not good. But unlike me, he looked the same as usual.

“I’m going to the Center.”

At his words that he was going to the Center, I hurried to stop him. If he left now, I would have to spend the whole day at home, so I had to tell him in advance that I wanted to go to the Association.

“I want to go to the Association for a bit today…”

“Really? Then I’ll let your manager know.”

He had a relaxed attitude. I felt that something was off, but since he had always had a friendly impression, I dismissed it, thinking I was overthinking it.

“Don’t forget to guide me today.”

“Let’s talk after I go to the Association first.”

At his words, I was reminded of yesterday’s events, and a sense of anxiety welled up.

“Do as you please. I’ll be home early today.”

He, who had been ignoring me until yesterday, greeted me with a refreshed expression, like someone who had just gotten rid of a nagging toothache, and went to work.

As soon as he left, I collapsed onto the sofa, my energy drained. I don’t know if what I’m doing now is right.

Being alone, pessimistic thoughts started to get jumbled up in my head, and I felt like I was heading in the wrong direction.

His manager visited the house after I had finished a late breakfast. The manager was a middle-aged man with rimless square glasses, and his warm impression was reassuring.

We sat on the living room sofa and talked before going to the Association.

“Guide-nim, what is your business at the Association?”

“I want to terminate the exclusive contract with Taewoon. It’s too… different from what I had thought.”

“Could you tell me in detail how it’s different?”

The eyes behind the glasses were filled with concern for me. Seeing that, I carefully expressed my inner thoughts.

“He said we have to have sexual contact.”

I couldn’t say ‘s*x’, so I said ‘sexual contact’ instead. Fortunately, the manager seemed to understand what I was trying to say right away.

“You mean mucous membrane guiding. Exclusive or paired individuals usually do mucous membrane guiding.”

“Ah… so everyone is doing mucous membrane guiding?”

“That’s right. You’ll have to get used to it now, Guide Shinui. It’s easier if you think of it as a job. They pay you, you know. Or you could just enjoy it.”

Enjoy it? There was no way that could ever happen. Having s*x with someone who wasn’t my lover… I might be old-fashioned, but it was my principle to only have a physical relationship with the one person I loved.

“Is it not possible to get by without sexual contact?”

“It might be possible if your rank is high, but since you’re a C-rank, contact or mucous membrane guiding will be essential. The only way to avoid guiding… is to get a job in the guiding administration department.”

“Then I’ll have to get a job in the administration department…”

“But since you’ve already made an exclusive contract with Esper Hyun Taewoon, it will be difficult.”

“Is it possible to terminate the exclusive contract and move to the administration department?”

“That… will also be difficult, I think. You need Esper Hyun Taewoon’s consent.”

The manager took out a large file from his bag and showed me the exclusive contract termination form among the numerous A4 papers. At the bottom, it was written that the energy wavelength signature of the former exclusive Esper’s consent was required.

“Taewoon will agree, right…?”

“I wouldn’t know. You should try asking him.”

“Yes…”

I looked at the documents the manager had given me and believed that he would sign. After all, he had called the manager for me today.