Chapter 27: Awkward Morning

“Behave.”

“He’s still sleeping.”

“Shh.”

I brought a finger to my lips, cautioning the wide-eyed cats.

I’ve never raised an animal, so I didn’t know if they would understand.

Meow.

“Shhh.”

Meeeoow!

Of course they wouldn’t understand me.

My warning only made the Russian Blue cry out louder.

The quiet-looking fellow had quite a loud voice.

As if in concert, they both lifted a front paw and brandished their tails like weapons.

“…Calm down.”

The way they were slowly shifting their rears suggested they were about to pounce at any moment.

The two of them striking a pose together was quite threatening.

For now, I hid the Guide under the covers first.

“Good kitty.”

“No jumping on the bed.”

“Get down… go…”

My words trailed off as I lowered my head.

Because the Guide’s hand, which had emerged from under the blanket, was touching my forehead.

“This.”

The Guide, his voice thick with sleep, mumbled and pointed to the band-aid on my right forehead.

“This needs to be changed…”

Only after he said it did I become conscious of the wound.

Since I hadn’t looked in a mirror, I had completely forgotten about it.

The Guide sighed, touching the band-aid that hadn’t been changed in two days.

“I hate you… so much…”

The words that followed his long sigh felt like a blow to the head.

Even as he looked at me with eyes that held not a speck of hatred, the Guide repeated that he hated me.

I just stood there with my mouth open, listening quietly.

“It’s annoying.”

As if that bothered him more, the Guide’s voice trembled.

I was afraid he would cry again, so I tried to say something, but nothing suitable came to mind.

‘What should I say to someone who hates me?’

‘What should I say to someone who says they hate me but shows nothing but affection?’

The hand that was touching my forehead slowly slid down my face and dropped onto my shoulder.

While I was lost in thought, the Guide had fallen asleep again.

Seeing him on the verge of tears, saying he hated me until the very moment he closed his eyes, it seemed he really, truly did hate me.

‘Then again, the person he likes is the thirty-three-year-old me, so he might hate the current me.’

I was the one who first showed my discomfort.

I made him roll off the bed twice.

And recently, I had callously kicked out the Guide who got hurt trying to protect me.

It would be stranger if he liked me.

“Oof!”

The two cats suddenly lunged at my face, slapped my cheeks once or twice, and ran away.

I hid Seo Yeong-u under the blanket and went to catch the gangster cats.

His limp arm no longer held me back.

The room I followed the cats into seemed to be their dedicated space.

There was a huge cat tower that reached the ceiling and was full of cat supplies.

Among them, what caught my eye was a piece of exercise equipment that was out of place.

It was for people, not cats.

“Is it mine?”

I couldn’t imagine the Guide exercising with those heavy iron things.

Seeing that they were all anaerobic machines, it seemed more likely that I used them rather than the Guide.

The Guide’s body was far from the type that would use such equipment.

Meow.

The Russian Blue, which had climbed to the top of the cat tower, cried out with particular loudness.

I didn’t know where the Persian had gone, and the Guide’s look-alike cat was sitting on the cat tower, nonchalantly looking out the window.

Only the spot where it sat was draped with a blanket.

“You’re not crying?”

I tried talking to the cat that was sitting still and silent by itself.

Perhaps because it was the first cat I saw in this house, I felt more of a connection to it than the others.

The fact that it resembled Seo Yeong-u also played a part.

While I was paying attention to the cat that didn’t even glance at me when I spoke, the Russian Blue and Persian dashed out of the room.

As if wanting to play tag, they waited at the door until I followed them out.

Chasing after the energetic cats, I came out into the living room and looked around the house.

It was a rather large house, big enough for two men to live in, even big enough to raise a large dog.

There was another room near the entrance, so I thought it might be a bedroom and went to see, but it was a dressing room.

There were three rooms excluding the bathroom, but only one was being used as a bedroom.

I fiddled with my earlobe, recalling the bed that seemed larger than a king-size.

‘Do we… sleep together?’

“No, wait a minute.”

Come to think of it, I hadn’t even confirmed that we lived together, so why was I so certain about all this?

I felt like a fool for assuming the exercise equipment was mine just by looking at it.

‘We could just be a couple that visits each other’s houses often.’

‘And just because you’re imprinted doesn’t mean you’re dating.’

The moment I thought that, irrefutable evidence caught my eye.

The picture frames decorating the living room cabinet like it was a newlywed’s home made a wedding BGM play in my ears.

I was in the small picture frames that decorated the empty space below the wall-mounted TV.

They were pictures taken not alone, but with Guide Seo Yeong-u.

They weren’t wedding photos, just pictures of us looking at each other and smiling, but anyone could see we were a couple.

There was a photo of us holding hands affectionately, and another of me giving Seo Yeong-u a back hug, tucking him inside my coat.

Every single one looked happy.

“Looks like you’re dying of happiness.”

“Dying of happiness.”

Seeing myself hugging Guide Seo Yeong-u and smiling brightly, a chuckle escaped me.

There was no shadow on my bright face, my smile stretching from ear to ear.

I was amazed that I could make such an expression.

I also felt envious of my future self, who, despite having lost so much, was smiling as if he had the whole world.

It was a happiness I couldn’t yet empathize with.

Nyaow!

The Russian Blue, letting out a sharp cry, prowled around the wheelchair.

It seemed a little angry that I wasn’t paying attention to it.

The Persian was sitting on the dining table, flicking its tail, thwack, thwack.

“Wow, this wheelchair…”

While looking at the cats, I finally noticed the wheelchair’s wheels.

I had been moving around the house without even wiping the wheels, which were covered in as much dust as the soles of shoes.

The thought hadn’t occurred to me at all.

“Go away.”

“This is dirty.”

I shooed my hand at the Russian Blue that kept hanging around the wheelchair and went to the kitchen to find a rag to wipe the floor.

Because everything was well-organized, I easily found the drawer where the cleaning supplies were kept.

I wet the shabbiest-looking rag and wiped the wheels first.

As I wiped until no more black grime came off, I wondered how I would clean the wide floor.

“Tsk, no.”

“Go play with him.”

The Russian Blue, its green eyes shining, tried to roll the wheelchair wheels, following me.

I stopped it, worried its paw might get caught in the wheel, but this time it slapped the back of my hand.

“Alright, go on.”

“Go.”

The Russian Blue, which had been pouncing every time I lightly pushed it away, seemed to lose interest and ran into the hallway.

Having sent the troublemaker away, I turned the wheelchair wheels again to check if they were clean.

Meow.

At that moment, the faint cry started again, and I stopped what I was doing and turned around.

Without even realizing the Guide was standing right there.

“Oh….”

“You’re awake?”

Seeing the Guide’s startled expression as he leaned against the wall, I asked as nonchalantly as possible.

I pretended to be calm because the Guide looked much more flustered than I was.

“Why, why… are you here-.”

The Guide, who opened his mouth with a severely hoarse voice, burst into a cough.

It seemed this was the first he knew I was here.

Even though I’d been here since last night.

“Seung-jun brought me.”

“He said you were sick, Guide-nim.”

“Hy, Hyung?”

The Guide’s voice, as he scrunched up his face, sounded like an old man on his deathbed.

“Stay there.”

“Don’t come over.”

I quickly sat up in the wheelchair and went to the Guide.

I was worried that he, leaning against the wall, would collapse at any moment.

“Are you okay?”

“Can you walk?”

If he said he couldn’t walk, I was planning to have him sit on my lap and carry him to the bedroom.

The Guide wasn’t on the short side, but I thought I could manage to carry him.

The Guide, looking down at me, nodded.

He seemed a bit dazed.

I said that since he probably still had a fever, we should go back to the bedroom first.

The Guide just kept staring at my face and slowly nodding his head.

Just like a cat.

“Oh, Shiru.”

“No.”

“Cough, get down.”

The Russian Blue, which had been between the Guide’s ankles, suddenly jumped onto my lap.

‘So his name is Shiru.’

“It’s okay.”

I stroked the meowing Shiru’s head once.

I thought he was shy, but now he was rubbing his face against me affectionately.

“Still….”

“Your legs hurt…”

The Guide made a worried face and then coughed.

It seemed his cough was getting worse from continuing to speak with his sore throat.

“It won’t hurt even if you sit on them, Guide-nim.”

“Let’s go inside quickly.”

My legs were numb and dull anyway.

Even if an Esper, not just the Guide, sat on them, I wouldn’t feel a thing.

I patted my shoulder, indicating for the Guide to hold on.

I thought if I grabbed his wrist, I might pull too hard, so I let him lean on me first.

We walked side by side down the hallway and returned to the bedroom.

I was so focused on matching the Guide’s walking speed that I couldn’t say a single word.

The Guide also didn’t open his mouth, so only silence hung between us.

While the staggering Guide sat on the bed, I just offered my arm for him to use as a cane.

There was nothing else I could do.

‘The Guide must have felt this way too.’

I felt bitter, as if I now understood how he must have felt watching me get out of the wheelchair.

Why did I just keep pushing away his desire to do something, anything, to help?

“Uh, when did you get here?”

The Guide, who had fumbled with the blanket and covered his legs, was the first to break the silence.

My heart grew heavy seeing him carefully trying to gauge my reaction as he started to speak.

“I just got here a little while ago.”

I avoided his gaze, pretending to check the water glass on the nightstand next to the medicine boxes.

To be honest, I had acted shamelessly toward the Guide last night.

Having showered a sleeping person with kisses without permission…

“Did you see… the house…?”

The Guide’s voice trembled with anxiety.

He seemed worried that I might have seen the pictures of us together, so I pretended I hadn’t.

“I was just looking around the kitchen while wiping the wheelchair wheels.”

“I think I’ll have to throw out one of the rags.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No.”

“Cough, you did well.”

“I’ll get you some fresh water.”

When I tried to pick up the empty water glass, the Guide shook his head.

“I’m not thirsty.”

Even with his parched voice, the Guide wouldn’t allow me to leave the bedroom.

It was as if he was trying to hide the traces of me scattered throughout the house.

Unfortunately for him, I had already seen everything.

“Then lie down.”

“I’ll stay by your side.”

The Guide didn’t lie down and just stared intently at my face.

His lips, which had been moist last night, moved as he chose his words.

I waited patiently for the Guide to continue, trying my best to look only at his eyes.

I focused my attention on his night-black pupils, not on his lips that reminded me of Guiding or his pale, exposed neck.

“Do you want to… lie down…?”

After hesitating for a long time, the Guide timidly lifted the edge of the blanket on the empty side of the bed.

Oblivious to my dark inner thoughts.

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