Chapter 9: Guidance

Lee Tae Hwan enjoyed receiving guiding.

Even compared to other Espers with high guiding dependency, excluding the special case like the team leader, he sought out his dedicated guide with particular frequency.

If he had called with an affectionate voice or a gentle attitude, Bodam might have felt a sense of duty as a guide and cared for him, but this b*stard was truly something else.

“Open your mouth.”

He had a talent for testing Bodam every single moment, making him think of his bank account balance.

“I don’t think we need to go as far as mucosal guiding, eughp.”

After pressing on his chest in a guise of a back hug for over 30 minutes, he tilted Bodam’s head back and bit his lips.

‘If you’re going to do it, just pick one.’

He would always insist on receiving mucosal guiding to calm his wavelength in a short amount of time, but he never skipped out on simple contact guiding like long hugs that took up a lot of time.

A guiding session that would have ended in 15 minutes with Min Ji Oh, Lee Tae Hwan would drag out for one, sometimes even two, hours.

He was just as expected of a guy hell-bent on tormenting him.

Shouldn’t an S-Class, out of conscience, consider the rank and physique difference and go easy on him?

On days when he fell asleep during guiding, Bodam couldn’t let his guard down.

He was afraid that if he let his mind wander for even a moment, he would be crushed to death under that wide, thick, rock-like body.

‘In the movies, a rich young master who looks just like Lee Tae Hwan kills a weakling with an aura just like mine, blames it on his mood, and gets rid of the body easily.’

Lee Tae Hwan looked more than capable of doing something like that.

And I was the perfect candidate for a character who dies without anyone knowing.

“F*ck… you’re not concentrating.”

“Save me…”

“What?”

Lost in his imagination of being buried alive by the fierce voice rumbling from behind him, Bodam unconsciously waved a white flag.

Lee Tae Hwan, who had snapped the transparent thread connecting their lips, furrowed his brows.

“…Does it still hurt?”

Bodam, whose eyelids grew heavy from the thick sensation of a hot tongue exploring his mouth, belatedly shook off his thoughts.

His throat, moistened with water and sweet citron tea, only felt a slight foreign sensation but wasn’t sore.

However, he nodded his head to mean that it hurt.

Hoping that he might have found his conscience by chance and would end the guiding early.

“Bullsh*t. It doesn’t hurt, does it?”

The b*stard was strangely perceptive.

“Co-cough.”

Bodam, who forced out a cough, had to endure a rough back hug as a penalty for getting caught faking his illness.

“Ugh!”

“You came back after resting for two days, so do your job properly.”

“Ah, I get it. I get it. My bones, my ribs are going to break, you b*stard!”

“Where are they broken? You’re perfectly f*cking fine.”

Tae Hwan, who was carelessly touching his thin torso, muttered a curse under his breath.

The content of the curse was basically a complaint about how he had lost more weight.

He, who liked hugs unbecoming of his large frame, never failed to get annoyed whenever Bodam lost weight.

Figuring it was probably because he wasn’t as satisfying to hold, Bodam deliberately chose not to gain more weight.

Since all he had eaten while sick was instant porridge and the healthy meal Jo Yeon had packed for him this morning, he was probably at his skinniest ever.

After wrapping his arms around to check Bodam’s thin waist, Lee Tae Hwan grumbled, having sold his conscience.

‘You’re a big part of the reason I’m wasting away, so how dare you.’

“Are you going to take more?”

Bodam let out a deep sigh and asked Tae Hwan, who was measuring someone else’s torso size with his hands.

He didn’t need this much guiding in the first place, but his wavelength, transmitted through their overlapping mucous membranes, was a bit sharp.

It seemed to be due to his low mood.

“Does this look like I’m done to you?”

‘Can you see wavelengths with your eyes?’

Bodam, who had grabbed Tae Hwan by the collar in his imagination, answered calmly.

“The problem is your psychological state. Even I can’t calm that down.”

“What do you mean you can’t calm it down, you’re a dedicated guide.”

“Is it uncomfortable? Should I teach you a meditation technique?”

“Just open your mouth.”

“Ah, it won’t work even if we continue. Just stop—”

“Then come out to the field in the afternoon and finish it.”

“Wow, seriously… what’s with his personality?”

He threw his hands up in surrender at the guy who was threatening to summon him to the field if he didn’t satisfy him now.

Bodam, who had lost the will to argue any further, cleared his rough throat and washed his face with his dry hands.

‘Fine. Let’s just get this over with as quickly as possible.’

Bodam, an A-class guide, had never been criticized for his guiding skills.

He might have been looked down on for his small frame and poor stamina, but his qualifications as a guide were always acknowledged.

He provided customized guiding for any Esper, carefully observing not just their physical condition but also their personality.

It was less about having affection for the job and more a result of a deeply ingrained worker’s diligence becoming second nature.

Even while singing the song of quitting, he never forgot to meticulously check the Espers’ conditions every day.

Even as he clicked his tongue, saying it was a problem that he had too much of a sense of responsibility, his hands would somehow find themselves flipping through a book titled ‘Esper Psychology Through Comics’.

Hearing that he was good at it made him want to do even better.

Even if it was a job he would quit after a few years, he felt satisfied only when he did his best while he was at it.

It was a profession where one could only endure by having some pride in their work, so he sought a sense of accomplishment even more.

To such a Bodam, guiding with that b*stard Lee Tae Hwan was beyond top-tier, surpassing the highest level of difficulty.

Being the only S-Class in Attack Team 3, it was bound to be difficult.

“Changing positions.”

Every time Bodam calmed the S-class Esper Tae Hwan’s wavelength, a strange sense of competitiveness stirred within him.

It wasn’t easy to show off his skills to him, who enjoyed guiding that seeped into the whole body through long embraces rather than short, intense kisses.

So, in the beginning, Bodam had sometimes asked if he could kiss him first.

He was curious if his skills worked well on an S-Class.

Now, of course, he only did it when Tae Hwan requested it.

At Bodam’s words about changing positions, Tae Hwan completely released the strength in his arms that were wrapped around his torso.

He only acted obedient at times like this.

Stumbling as he sat up, Bodam took off his spring/autumn uniform cardigan.

He carelessly tossed the cardigan at his feet and was about to unbutton the top button of his shirt.

Lying down with a scarf around his neck and his shirt buttoned all the way up was suffocating.

“…Want me to take it off for you?”

“I’m not taking it off.”

Bodam, who blocked his shirt with a hand that fumbled with the small buttonhole, said sharply.

He couldn’t put any strength into his fingers after suddenly getting up from lying on the bed.

It was because his energy had been drained by the S-class Esper.

“I’ll unbutton it for you.”

He, who had been looking up at Bodam in a slumped position on the bed, pulled Bodam with his psychokinesis.

Bodam let out a deep sigh and lay down facing Tae Hwan.

A fairly normal sound now came from his throat, which was moistened with water and citron tea.

His tone was dry.

“Just undo the top two.”

He said, avoiding Tae Hwan’s burdensome gaze right in front of him.

The sharp gaze that swept over his chin and neck turned into movement.

‘He could just use psychokinesis.’

He insisted on using his own hands to undo the buttons.

As he very slowly pulled the second button out of its hole, Tae Hwan muttered.

“Can’t you stop sighing?”

At the content of the faint words, Bodam, who had lost his composure, asked back.

He hoped it was just him talking to himself.

“…Are you talking to me?”

Tae Hwan did not deny it.

Bodam wore an expression that said he couldn’t believe he was hearing such things.

The heavy wave of sleepiness that had been washing over him completely disappeared.

“You should stop getting angry first.”

A cracked voice flowed from his throat, which had tensed up on its own.

Meeting Lee Tae Hwan’s two fiercely drawn eyes, he said something he couldn’t even promise in jest.

‘He’d probably have to be reborn to fix that fiery temper.’

As expected, he gave the answer Bodam had anticipated.

“I can’t hold it in. I was born this way.”

“Then I can’t hold it in either.”

He held his breath, suppressing another cough that was about to burst out.

Without looking away, he emphasized his words so they would be engraved in his ears.

“I can’t hold it in either.”

Looking at Tae Hwan who was staring blankly at him as he spat out each syllable without blinking, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

Would the day ever come when they would react to the squeaks of a mouse-sized guide?

A day when they would feel sorry, realizing that he was a fellow human being who also felt pain.

“Fine. I said something stupid.”

Tae Hwan, who was the first to look away, replied lightly.

At that light attitude, the tension in Bodam’s neck released, and he also muttered along with him, as if flowing with him.

His light brown eyes were filled with resignation.

“As long as you know.”

Bodam, who wanted to finish Lee Tae Hwan’s guiding even faster, reached out his arms first and hugged the large body.

He gently lifted his head and tilted it at an appropriate angle to guide.

To Bodam, it wasn’t a kiss, but guiding.

***

After finishing the guiding with Tae Hwan, Bodam left the room.

With his eco-bag slung over his shoulder, he stretched his knotted muscles as he walked down the hallway.

Completely drained of energy, Bodam forgot that his body was even sick.

He just wanted to lie down anywhere.

His feet, which were about to stop in front of the bathroom due to drinking a lot of liquids, turned back towards the front.

The scene of Min Ji Oh shattering the toilet like a mirror just two days ago was still vivid in his mind.

He didn’t even have the courage to open the firmly closed bathroom door.

‘Well, the Center building is crawling with bathrooms.’

Shrugging his shoulders coolly, he decided to use the bathroom outside the waiting room.

Thanks to Lee Tae Hwan’s guiding, which usually took two hours, ending early, he thought he could get a good hour of sleep.

‘I’ll catch some sleep in the guiding common lounge.’

“Dami hyung.”

Bodam, who had earned precious nap time and was walking briskly towards the entrance, stopped at the call.

A cheerful voice calling him from the living room sofa rang out.

When he turned his head in the direction of the sound, the first thing he saw was the reddish-brown hair that shone brightly as always.

Yi Jun, with only his face peeking out from the long sofa, waved his hand.

At his beautifully smiling expression, Bodam just half-heartedly lifted the corners of his mouth and approached.

It was better to move first before he started beckoning with his hand as if calling a dog.

As Bodam got closer to the sofa, Yi Jun’s fist-sized face tilted further upwards.

His large, clear eyes narrowed as he leisurely watched the approaching Bodam.

From head to toe, he examined him bit by bit, as if scanning him with his eyes.

“Were you very sick?”

At the bright voice that popped out at the end of the persistent gaze, Bodam just let out a hearty cough.

The fact that he had made him look like a drowned rat in front of dozens of onlookers was weighing on his mind.

Because of that, he had even caught a body ache and cold and suffered for two whole days.

“Do you hate me?”

‘Do I really have to say it for you to know?’

Bodam just took a deep breath, readjusting the eco-bag hanging securely on his shoulder.

‘Since he can read my mind anyway, I don’t need to say it out loud—’

“Still, we need to talk for it to be a conversation. I’m a person too.”

‘My god. I hadn’t realized you were a person.’

Yi Jun let out a light laugh as he read Bodam’s thoughts, who was cursing him without hiding it internally.

His lips spread into a bright smile as he tapped the seat next to him with the tips of his long fingers.

“Sit for a bit before you go.”

“…I can’t give you guiding right away.”

“I didn’t ask you to.”

He, who had his arm draped over the back of the sofa, rested his chin on his hand and asked.

“Do you want to give it to me?”

Bodam, who ignored the question, thought about where all these dogs were barking from and lifted his heavy feet.

It was obvious that even if he made an excuse and ran away, he would just be summoned.

He didn’t want to make more work for himself.

Yi Jun waited leisurely for Bodam, who was walking around the sofa with the slowest steps possible.

His gradually narrowing eyes were fixed on the scarf around Bodam’s neck.