By Zephyria 
I quickly covered his mouth and shouted urgently.
“Wha-wha-wha-what… what on earth are you saying! You’re going to make people misunderstand! You just fell asleep while receiving guiding and I simply walked out with you!”
“Misunderstand? I only spoke the truth.”
Vasily curled the corners of his lips playfully.
Sigh… He’s doing this on purpose. Gritting my teeth as I imagined the absurd rumors that would spread in the future, I asked.
“So, why are you here?”
“I came to ask for guiding.”
“Do you need guiding again?”
“I spent the whole weekend going through Gates.”
“Is the assistant guide still busy?”
Vasily answered with a quiet laugh. He still avoids the conversation whenever the assistant guide is mentioned.
“I’ve already applied for designated guiding, so go check.”
Looking at Vasily with suspicious eyes, I turned on the computer and checked the work system. 1 unread notification: There is a request for designated guiding…
“He actually did it…”
After confirming Vasily’s name as the applicant, I stared at the monitor and let out a shallow sigh.
Mondays usually have more people waiting for guiding than usual, so temporary guiding sessions are carried out without any breaks. If I stepped away, that burden would fall on others, and I felt sorry that my teammates would become busier because of me.
“I’ll be back in a moment. I’m sorry for leaving my post when it’s busy.”
“Not at all, Gi-dam-ssi. Designated guiding is part of our job too.”
I exchanged greetings with Jo Woo-yeon and turned around, but I froze when I spotted a coldly hardened gaze. To others, it might look like his usual expression, but having spent six years closest to him, I knew. That was the face of someone who was displeased.
Stepping out into the hallway, I glanced at him and read his mood again. He still didn’t seem to be in a great mood, but he looked a bit better now that we were out of the office.
Sigh, to think I still have to cater to Vasily’s moods even after returning to the past. Lamenting my unfortunate fate, I spoke to him.
“Please refrain from visiting the office. It’s a distraction to others.”
“Then will you give me your number? It would be more convenient to contact you by phone.”
“Don’t contact me at all. Can’t you just apply for designated guiding?”
“How cold…”
If it were Vasily, he could easily find the number of a mere guide like me using his authority. The reason I deliberately refused to give it to him was that he would undoubtedly use it as an excuse to contact me every single day.
“So, where will today’s guiding take place?”
“How about my private room? I think it’s better than the cramped guiding room.”
“Hmm… the sofa there is comfortable, so let’s go to the Esper’s private room.”
The location was decided unanimously.
Vasily and I walked in silence. His private room was located in the Esper Association, right across from the Guide Association. By taking a back path with little foot traffic, we quickly arrived at Vasily’s private room.
Fortunately, the heater is off today. Relieved that I wouldn’t have to endure it while sweating profusely like yesterday, I stepped inside the private room.
After starting the guiding as usual, I asked him after a short while.
“Esper Vasily.”
“Why are you calling me?”
“Why aren’t you sleeping today?”
“Hmm?”
“Haven’t you been sleeping continuously whenever you receive guiding lately?”
That was true. Recently, Vasily had fallen into such a deep sleep during guiding that he wouldn’t have noticed if someone carried him away, but today he showed no sign of drowsiness. For me, having followed him under the assumption that he would fall asleep quickly, this was an unwelcome situation.
“…Yes, I did.”
Vasily seemed to remember that he had fallen asleep, as he readily agreed with me.
“You must be tired from visiting the Gates, so please don’t mind me and feel free to sleep.”
I spoke in a kind voice, pretending to be considerate. In my heart, I wanted to tell him to stop staying awake for no reason and just go to sleep, but if I said that, Vasily would likely fight to stay awake even more.
It was uncomfortable when Vasily was awake. Even though no conversation was taking place, the fact that he could feel my minute movements or even the sound of my breathing was unsettling.
After a while of silence, Vasily spoke first.
“I have insomnia.”
He tossed the words out lightly as if it were no big deal, but having lived by Vasily’s side for six years, I knew that his insomnia was by no means a simple matter.
Due to his insanely sensitive personality, Vasily could not fall asleep easily. Occasionally, sensing a presence in the early morning, I would go out to the living room and encounter him sitting on the sofa, his sharp eyes glinting in the ice-cold air. As the days of sleeplessness grew longer, his attitude toward me became harsher, so I couldn’t simply ignore it.
Even such a Vasily would occasionally fall asleep.
It happened when he would pour out the coldness filling his body against monsters in high-rank Gates, and then receive guiding from me after coming out. From my perspective, it didn’t feel like I was guiding him, but rather like I was being unilaterally tortured… but after several days of such guiding, if I woke up after fainting, Vasily would be sleeping beside me.
I thought he was fine since he’s been sleeping well even during simple guiding now. But hearing Vasily’s words, it seemed he did have insomnia. However, seeing how easily he falls asleep now, the symptoms probably aren’t as severe as they were in the future.
“For someone with insomnia, you seem to sleep quite well.”
“Maybe it’s because of the guiding, but I felt sleepy for the first time in a while.”
I arched an eyebrow. There was no way the guiding could work properly due to the influence of the suppression chip, yet he falls asleep just from that? No matter how much his insomnia had weakened, it made no sense.
I continued the guiding for a bit longer in that state, but Vasily still showed no sign of falling asleep. Though it seemed unlikely, I wondered if he was resisting the drowsiness, so I mentioned casually.
“You can sleep if you’re sleepy.”
“I don’t know, as I said, I have insomnia. I feel like I might fall asleep if the guiding were a bit stronger…”
Vasily trailed off. I narrowed my eyes and glared at him. Was he implying that I wasn’t guiding him strongly enough for him to sleep?
It can’t be helped. Even though the guiding wouldn’t work properly anyway, I decided to get as close as possible.
I gently overlapped my palm over the back of Vasily’s hand, which was lying still. It had been a long time since my hand touched Vasily’s. It was only the back of his hand, but I got goosebumps as I felt his ice-cold body temperature. Since I usually guided him through clothes, Vasily seemed quite pleased by the direct skin contact.
“Why are you being so proactive with the guiding today?”
“I am not. Are you imagining things?”
“My, I’ll have to visit the Gates more diligently. That way, Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi will take extra care in guiding me.”
“This is only for this time. There won’t be a next time, so don’t get any ideas.”
“Oh dear…”
Vasily let out a shallow sigh. Then, as if pretending not to know my ulterior motive, he quietly accepted the guiding.
Ice-cold skin. A body temperature that never warms up makes him feel less than human, evoking a sense of repulsion. I continued the guiding while enduring the coldness flowing in through my hand.
Despite all my efforts, Vasily ultimately did not fall asleep until the very end.
* * *
Today, I went to work at the Guide Association as usual. While heading to the guiding room to wait for the influx of waiting guides, someone blocked my path.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam.”
Who is this? Looking at the suit, he didn’t seem like an Esper; he looked like an association employee.
“What is it?”
“The executive office has summoned you. Please follow me.”
“The executive office?”
This was disconcerting news for so early in the morning. Without even hearing the purpose of the summons, I followed the employee.
The place we arrived at was not an ordinary meeting room, but a private conference room used by the association executives. I sat alone in a chair, sweating nervously.
Three executives were sitting in front of me. My mind raced under their piercing gazes, as if they were observing me.
It must be because of Vasily. I wanted to go to Vasily right now and demand to know what on earth he had done. However, the employees blocking the exit were monitoring my movements. Since they were watching to make sure I didn’t do anything reckless, I couldn’t even run away.
Damn it, Vasily. This is all because of you. What on earth did you do that they’ve called in a mere C-Class Guide for what feels like an interrogation?
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam, please don’t be nervous and just answer our questions truthfully.”
“…Yes.”
“Is it true that Esper Vasily has recently applied for designated guiding from you?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
As I obediently admitted it, the executives began to stir. I silently shed invisible tears. I knew it was because of Vasily. It seemed the designated guiding that Vasily applied for every single day had finally been discovered.
“A matching rate of 4 percent… that’s low…”
One of the executives muttered softly while staring at the documents in front of him. Not missing those words, I immediately brightened and looked up.