Chapter 56: A Tangled Web

There were many people at the shelter airfield, perhaps because of the great performance of the Korean Association’s Awakened at the gate.

I boarded the flight shelter safely amidst the farewells of many people.
When I first came to the US, I couldn’t even sleep properly due to the tension, but now that the gate had closed safely, my mind was at ease.

I lay in bed and briefly reflected on my life in the US before closing my eyes.
I had to spend 8 hours in the shelter, and I thought I should probably start sleeping to adjust to the time difference.

Just as I was about to drift off to sleep, I heard a knock on the door and Hyun Taewoon’s voice.
As soon as I heard the sound, my sleepiness vanished.
Even after making a promise, I didn’t know why he was being so annoying.

“Shinui-ssi, it’s Hyun Taewoon.”

“What is it?”

My voice came out sharp, as my sleep had been disturbed.

“I have something to give you.”

At his words, I told him to come in.
Soon, he opened the door cautiously and entered.
He was holding a shopping bag.

“Since it’s a long flight, I thought you might need this.”

I took the shopping bag and glanced inside.
As he had said, it contained things needed for sleep and some chocolate.

“I didn’t ask for anything like this.”

“I wanted to give it to you. Thank you for guiding me in the US this time.”

“I didn’t do it because I wanted to; I did it because it’s my job. Don’t attach any meaning to it.”

I said in a colder voice than usual.
If he thought our relationship had improved because of what happened in the US, I wanted to shatter that thought completely.

“I know. Still, I was grateful. If you don’t need those things, just throw them away.”

He said his goodbyes and left, as if not to bother me anymore.
I had no intention of using the things he had given me, so I put the shopping bag out of sight and was about to go back to sleep.

The door opened without a knock.
I thought it was him again, but it was Sung Yohan.

“Did you have a good matching test with Rainer?”

His words, coming in so abruptly and asking if I had a good matching test with Rainer, were laced with thorns.

“What kind of manners is this, coming in without knocking? And how did you know?”

“I know most things about you.”

At those words, I knew that he had been watching me.

“Did you spy on me?”

“Yes.”

He, who answered immediately, seemed to have no intention of hiding it.
I was dumbfounded at that.

“What gives you the right to spy on me?”

“You’re a key asset of the Korean Association. And you’re an important person to me too.”

“I have a private life too. We’re not a pair anymore. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t approach me anymore.”

“It’s a shame our pair was broken.”

He said, making a sad face.
Knowing that the expression was fake, I glared at him and said.

“Then will you please leave now?”

“Even if our pair is broken, you can’t leave the Association.”

He had said the same thing when I went to the government.
At his confident words, I looked at him with an annoyed gaze.

“Stop with the bullsh*t and get out.”

“It will be the same as before, even if the pair is broken.”

He said, approaching me.
Feeling a sense of danger from his actions, I hurriedly stood up and tried to leave the room, but he lightly caught me and threw me on the bed.
He also got on the bed and said.

“Even if you run away, I’ll find you to the ends of the earth and keep you by my side.”

“Why are you doing this to me!”

I had felt his obsession getting stronger lately.
At that, the words I had heard in the guiding lecture came to mind.

‘The more an Esper is guided, the stronger their obsession and possessiveness towards the guide becomes.’

Since coming to the Association, the person who had guided me the longest and most was him, so perhaps, as the lecture said, he was thinking of me as his possession.

“I told you. You’re my guide.”

After saying that, he pressed his lips against mine and stuck his tongue in.
I immediately struggled, but he constricted my body with his ability.

His wavelength stickily touched mine and entangled me, as if claiming me as his own.

Even as I gasped from the pressure that made it hard to breathe, he rummaged inside my mouth until he was satisfied and then pulled away.

“It’s going to be fun from now on.”

I was sprawled on the bed and glared at him.
He answered my look with a smile and left.

After he left, I lay in bed for a while.
I didn’t want to admit it, but as I was now, I could never win against him.

As he had said, even if our pair was broken, he would come to me recklessly like this and try to guide me, and it was certain that I would be imprinted by him someday.
Once I was imprinted, I couldn’t undo it, so I had to be careful.

This wouldn’t do.
I had to leave the Association before I was imprinted by him, or I had to gather people who would help me.
But most of the people around me were guides, so they wouldn’t be of much help in the current situation.

I even thought about whether I should have accepted the scout offer from the US, but going to the US was a last resort.

I was contemplating what to do for a while when I thought of him.
He would be able to protect me from him.
But I didn’t want to ask for his help, not from him.

Since it was my first time being dispatched overseas, I was both scared and nervous, but it was a good experience to meet Awakened from various countries.
I thought it would be a good idea to learn a foreign language on this occasion.

When I returned to Korea, the news of my and his performance at the US gate had already been broadcast, so I received a warmer welcome than in the US.
The performance bonus from the American and Korean Associations was also substantial, so I thought this alone would be enough to live on after I resigned.

Jinseok was waiting for me at the airport.
We had only been apart for a little over a week, but I was so happy to see him.

“Manager-nim!”

“Guide-nim, welcome back. I saw your performance.”

“Yes, here’s a gift.”

I handed him the gift I had taken out of my suitcase in advance.
He accepted my gift with a happy face.

“You even bought a gift for me?”

“Yes. But where is my luggage?”

“Esper Hyun Taewoon has already moved everything to your house.”

I thought he had done something unnecessary.
But on the other hand, it was also convenient since a troublesome task was gone.

“Please tell him not to touch my things from next time.”

“He moved it in an instant, so I couldn’t stop him. I’m sorry.”

I knew it was a situation where he couldn’t help it, so I said it was okay and went back home with him.

In the car on the way, I told him that I wanted to take a vacation for a while and rest at home.

Before long, we arrived home.
I said goodbye to him and went up to my house.
As he had said, my suitcases and luggage were neatly placed in front of the door.

Looking at the suitcase with his wavelength on it, I thought he had done something unnecessary.
I was surprised when I took the suitcase and went inside.
Wonjae was sitting in front of the entrance.
As soon as he saw me, he stood up and hugged me tightly.

“Hyung! I was waiting for you.”

“Yeah, I’m back.”

I also hugged his back with my hands.
I patted him, who wouldn’t let me go for a while, and released my hands.
And together, we dragged the suitcase to the living room.

“I was just waiting for you to come.”

“I wanted to come quickly too. Here, a gift.”

I opened my suitcase and took out his gift.
I handed him the paper bag containing the alcohol I had chosen with Rainer in the US and the perfume I had bought at the duty-free shop on the US flight.

“You even bought a gift for me?”

“Of course. I hope you like it.”

He took the shopping bag and checked inside.
He brightened up as he looked at the gift.

“It’s alcohol and perfume?”

“Yeah. You said you wanted to learn about alcohol from me.”

“That’s right. As expected, you remembered.”

He hugged me again.
He was bigger than me, but perhaps because he was twenty, he felt like a child to me.

“The perfume smells so good too. I’ll use it every day.”

I had chosen the perfume at the duty-free shop after smelling them one by one.
It was a soft woody scent.

He sniffed the scent and liked it.
Seeing that, I was really glad I had bought him a gift.
And I became curious about what he had been doing while I was gone.

“What have you been up to?”

“I was at home alone.”

“The Association had a guide’s New Year’s party. Didn’t you go?”

“No…. I didn’t want to go without you. And I don’t have any close friends.”

“It would have been a good opportunity to make friends.”

“I only need you, hyung.”

At first, I wasn’t too worried about his blind devotion to me, but seeing him now, I couldn’t help but be worried.
I couldn’t live with him forever, and I was thinking of resigning.

Since he had just become an adult, I tried to believe that he would get better little by little and looked at his gift-obsessed figure with a calm smile.