By Zephyria 
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam, we’ve arrived.”
I had fallen asleep as if I’d fainted, but I opened my eyes at the sound of Vasily’s voice. The car, which had been speeding down the highway, had arrived at the association’s main gate before I knew it. As soon as I stepped out of the passenger seat, the association building came into view.
Looking through the windows, most of the lights inside the building were off. I guess it is Friday, after all. Not many people are working overtime. There would be staff on standby since a Gate could open anywhere at any time, but people like me would have fled the office the moment it hit 6 o’clock.
I passed through the empty lobby and took the elevator up.
As I entered Vasily’s private room, I glanced at the doorknob. Whether the door had been replaced in the meantime or not, the traces of it being frozen had vanished. However…
“Why is it so hot in here?”
The private room was sweltering. It felt as if midsummer had hit this room specifically.
I frowned the moment the hot air entered my nostrils. I took off my thin outer layer and scanned the interior of the room. Feeling a blast of hot wind hit my face, I looked up at the ceiling and saw the heater running in the empty space.
50 degrees?
The moment I saw the set temperature, I gasped in horror and turned the power off.
“Why leave the heater on when no one is here? What a waste of electricity.”
“Because I was cold.”
“Does an S-Class Esper actually feel the cold? To say you feel cold when you’re an ice-type ability user—please, make some sense.”
“I know. I wonder why I’m cold. I’m not sure myself.”
The nerve of him to lie so brazenly. It was absurd to see a man who shouldn’t be able to feel heat or cold acting like this.
Even after taking off my outer layer, I was still hot. I fanned myself frantically with my hand and looked down at my clothes. As I was contemplating whether I should take off my top as well, Vasily approached me.
“Will you give me guiding now?”
“I will.”
Regardless, I had to do the guiding. I felt sweat forming because of the heat, but I hated the idea of taking off more clothes because it would increase the area of skin-to-skin contact with Vasily.
Wait… did he turn on the heater just to make me take off my clothes because of the heat?
Knowing Vasily, he really might have thought that, so I clicked my tongue silently. How cunning. I can’t fall for a scheme like that.
Checking the time, I sat on the sofa.
“As promised, I will only provide guiding for one hour.”
“How cold-hearted…”
Cold-hearted, my foot. I’m going to finish this guiding and get off work as soon as possible. Snorting, I suddenly hugged him as he sat beside me, only to jump back in surprise.
“Ugh… why is your body so cold? I got goosebumps.”
“I told you I was cold.”
“I know you’re normally cold.”
“Oh, you caught me.”
I narrowed my eyes at Vasily, who was just spouting nonsense. He wasn’t the type to enjoy jokes before…
That said, it wasn’t as if Vasily’s personality had suddenly changed. He was either still acting like a good person in front of me, or he had simply been this soft in the past. But since there was no way Vasily would enjoy pointless jokes, the former was more likely.
I continued the guiding in that position. The heat remained, but the chill emanating from Vasily made it just the right temperature.
Perhaps because fatigue was finally hitting me, my eyes began to close. However, driven by the conviction that I couldn’t fall asleep while guiding, I forced my eyes open and endured.
But…
‘He’s already asleep.’
Vasily was already asleep. Moreover, he was leaning against me, looking very comfortable.
Ha, while I’m guiding him despite being exhausted, he just casually falls asleep.
I considered leaving him like this and going home, but since I had already received the money, I decided to proceed with the guiding for now. He might take the money back if I didn’t provide the guiding. This was purely for the sake of the money.
As I held him still, a cold wavelength flowed into my body. The suppression chip seemed to be working well. Normally, when guiding, it felt as if my body would freeze over, but now it just felt like I was hugging a giant piece of dry ice. A giant, heavy piece of dry ice wrapped in a stiff yet soft suit, emitting a moderate chill…
Once I confirmed that Vasily was asleep, the tension in my own body gradually relaxed. Using Vasily’s deep breathing as a lullaby, I slowly let go of the strength in my body.
‘I should go back now.’
I almost fell asleep due to the peaceful atmosphere, but I stood up after filling exactly one hour.
Vasily was still sleeping soundly. As I was about to leave him lying roughly on the sofa, his voice, muttering that he was cold, suddenly caught my footsteps. Even the expression, which held a hint of loneliness.
“…Dammit.”
I ruffled my hair roughly and approached Vasily again. I draped Vasily’s arm over my shoulder and pulled him up.
He’s damn heavy…
There was no way a tall man of 190cm wouldn’t be heavy, but he felt even heavier, perhaps because he was asleep. To think he didn’t wake up even though his body was swaying violently. The more I thought about it, the more things seemed strange.
Is he pretending to sleep? I glared at him with suspicious eyes, but it was even more annoying that he was actually asleep.
I barely managed to move Vasily to the bed and lay him down. After kindly taking off his shoes and covering him with a blanket, I looked down at Vasily once more.
“…What’s so pretty about a guy like this.”
Vasily was fast asleep like Sleeping Beauty, with his hands neatly folded. Looking at him like this, he really was handsome…
Ruffling my hair roughly, I walked outside. I looked back at the darkened interior after turning off the lights, then quietly closed the door and left.
* * *
Over the weekend, I ordered the medicine that had been enclosed with the suppression chip.
The one-month supply of medicine I received when I first ordered the suppression chip was already starting to run out. Now that I had the money I received from Vasily, I ordered a generous three-month supply.
I converted nearly ten million won into coins and transferred them to the illegal seller. My hand trembled slightly before pressing the transfer button, but I calmed myself by looking at my plump bank balance.
And then, I started exercising.
After being attacked by a monster during my first Gate deployment, I felt the need for exercise. In the past, I would have swung a weapon of that size without a second thought, but now, just holding a heavy spear and enduring was my limit.
Moreover, I couldn’t withstand the attack and even fell backward. If Vasily hadn’t appeared at the right time, I would have died right there.
From now on, I plan to exercise after work and on weekends. I don’t expect to enter a Gate again, but it was better to build up my physical strength in case I got caught up in an accidental incident like last time.
And the weekend passed, and Monday arrived once again.
“Hello…”
“Hi…”
The team members of the same department entered, drinking coffee with consistently haggard faces and deep dark circles like zombies, as expected for a Monday. There were more Guides on standby on Mondays. Everyone had anticipated this and was already transfusing caffeine.
After exchanging greetings with the team members, I returned to my seat, and Jo Woo-yeon appeared, greeting me energetically.
“Hello, Gi-dam-ssi!”
He has an energetic face today as well. Right, I was fooled by this face on my first day of work.
Jo Woo-yeon was perfectly suited to be a temporary Guide. No matter how much guiding he did, he didn’t find it particularly tiring, and contrary to his cute face, he had a strong mentality and basic physical strength.
If only I didn’t have the suppression chip, guiding Espers of this level would be nothing… Sigh… Lamenting my fate of becoming a C-Class Guide while trying to avoid Vasily, I fiddled with the suppression chip protruding from the back of my neck.
As I was sighing deeply, thinking of the Esper clients who would swarm in from the morning, the office suddenly became noisy. A chilling sensation ran down my spine, and anxiety washed over me.
“It’s Esper Vasily!”
As expected, it was Vasily.
Hearing the unwelcome name, I frowned deeply. The reason Vasily came here was obvious. He probably came to make some ridiculous request for me to guide him.
I don’t know why he keeps bothering me when he says it’s less effective than a guiding machine. I wonder when he’ll finally lose interest in me. I clicked my tongue while watching Vasily accept people’s greetings with a deceptively smiling face.
“He probably came to see Gi-dam-ssi, right?”
Jo Woo-yeon whispered quietly to me. I wanted to deny it, but since it really seemed like he came looking for me, I gave a vague nod.
Because Vasily kept visiting me and applying for designated guiding, a false rumor had spread to the point where people thought I was Vasily’s temporary Guide.
“At this rate, aren’t you really going to become his dedicated Guide?”
The oblivious Jo Woo-yeon poured out a curse with an innocent face. What kind of horrific thing is that? Such a thing must absolutely never happen.
“No. What could a C-Class Guide like me… He’s just visiting for amusement.”
“Eh… it didn’t seem like that to me…”
I shook my head in horror, but Jo Woo-yeon didn’t seem easily convinced.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam.”
As expected, Vasily walked straight toward where I was. I frowned, looking at his sparkling appearance on a Monday.
“To leave so cold-heartedly after spending such a passionate night… I felt a bit lonely when I woke up alone in bed.”
The moment Vasily finished his line, the people around us instantly began to buzz.