By Zephyria 
I moved my feet with the intention of just glancing at the atmosphere. It was absolutely not because I was concerned about the new Guide. It was simply that I needed to confirm if he actually had a Guide so that I could feel relieved and remove the suppression chip.
“Aaaagh!”
As I approached Vasily’s private room, a sharp scream suddenly rang out.
What was that? That sound just now… wasn’t it a scream? Sensing that something was wrong, I came to a dead stop. Before long, the door to Vasily’s private room swung open, and someone was carried out on a stretcher.
The sight I caught as they passed by me was alarming. Their body was trembling violently, and their fingers were an unnaturally pale blue.
As I stood frozen in shock, watching the person grow distant on the stretcher, a familiar voice called out from behind me.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam?”
My heart sank. Turning around slowly, my eyes met Vasily’s.
Vasily seemed a bit surprised, as if my visit without any prior notice was unexpected. Seeing me completely stiffened, Vasily muttered softly.
“I showed you an unpleasant sight…”
“…”
“You came to see me, right? Come inside for now.”
“…Yes.”
I nodded quietly and entered the private room following Vasily’s lead.
I glanced around the interior. It was clean as usual, without a single broken object or trace of frost. Despite there being no visible problems, the image of the person carried out moments ago wouldn’t leave my mind.
Vasily sat opposite me and elegantly crossed his legs. I hesitated for a moment before cautiously speaking.
“I heard that a Guide with a high matching rate has appeared.”
“Well… there was one.”
…He used the past tense.
“Was the person who was just carried out that Guide?”
“Yes.”
It was a short answer. Vasily’s voice sank coldly, as if it were a topic he didn’t wish to discuss. I felt a silent warning not to ask further, but I spoke up anyway.
“May I ask what happened?”
Vasily did not answer. He kept his mouth shut and stared at me with chilly eyes.
I could tell just by his expression. Something had clearly gone wrong. I didn’t know the exact reason. Either he didn’t like the person, or something unexpected happened during the guiding. It had to be one of the two.
Without waiting for an answer, I stood up from my seat.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam, where are you going?”
“I’ll be heading back now.”
“Already? Didn’t you come to see me?”
“Yes. I heard you got a new Guide, so I stopped by briefly to congratulate you. Well, whatever happened isn’t my business. Anyway, congratulations, and since you now have a Guide, please refrain from seeking me out in the future.”
I poured out the words quickly and approached the door. As I placed my hand on the doorknob to leave the private room, a deep shadow that had followed me at some point cast over me. A bleak chill emanating from behind me slowly swallowed me whole.
I froze right there with my hand still on the doorknob. A pale hand overlapped the back of mine.
A palm that was large and firm, yet soft. A cold warmth gradually seeped through the back of my hand. Vasily’s palm, layered over mine, gripped me tightly.
“…Don’t go.”
A thin voice flowed from Vasily’s lips. It was a powerless tone I had never heard before, and unconsciously, I stopped moving.
“If I tell you what happened… will you stay with me?”
Turning around slowly, I saw Vasily looking at me with eyes that had sunk into darkness. His expression was devoid of any smile, but it was slightly different from his usual coldly frozen demeanor. It was a look that was gloomy and lonely, as if he were wounded.
…I thought he was someone whose emotions had frozen over a long time ago.
“…I’ll… think about it.”
My lips trembled unconsciously. Seeing this, Vasily began to speak slowly.
“As Guide Kwon Gi-dam knows, I have been receiving guiding from S-Class or A-Class Guides until now.”
“…”
“But… if they maintain contact for even a short while, those people freeze. Because their body heat is stolen by me…”
Vasily continued in a calm voice. For some reason, he looked lonely, so I found myself looking at him with eyes full of concern. Then, Vasily murmured, slightly curling the corners of his mouth.
“But Guide Kwon Gi-dam…”
Vasily quietly interlaced his fingers, enveloping my hand.
“Is fine even like this.”
Taking a step closer, Vasily wrapped his arm around my waist. A strong force pulled me in, bringing us so close that our bodies were pressed together.
“And fine even like this…”
Just as I was about to push him away in panic, Vasily’s face drew near. Thinking he might try to kiss me, I reflexively squeezed my eyes shut. However, I felt no sensation on my lips for a long time. Instead, I heard a cold breath landing on my ear and a low whisper.
“Isn’t it strange… other people tremble in the cold just by holding my hand… why is only Guide Kwon Gi-dam perfectly fine?”
And then, he lightly bit my ear.
Something cold and wet swept across my earlobe. This squishy sensation… was definitely a tongue.
“Wh-what the…”
Startled, I pushed him away. However, Vasily did not let himself be pushed easily.
While desperately trying to push him back, I ended up pressing firmly against his chest. But why is his chest so hard—ah, not that.
“Let me go!”
“I’m depressed, can’t you comfort me?”
“I’m the one who wants comfort!”
I thought I was finally liberated from Vasily, but that dream shattered. It wasn’t a matter of the matching rate to begin with. It was a matter of constitution—whether one could withstand Vasily’s wavelength.
“That’s great. Wounded people can just comfort each other.”
Vasily buried his head in my shoulder and rubbed against me like a cat acting cute. However, his size and weight were not cute at all.
Vasily put his full weight into the body leaning on me, pressing me down hard. Ack, I’m falling back—
Thump.
Fortunately, Vasily cushioned the back of my head with his palm, so I didn’t hit it. However, my back throbbed from hitting the hard floor.
Why is he so heavy? I struggled and tried to push Vasily away, but he didn’t budge an inch.
“You’re heavy. Please move.”
“I don’t want to.”
“If you don’t move, I’ll call the security team.”
“…”
Is he just openly ignoring me now?
“Sigh…”
Then again, what use would calling the security team be? They wouldn’t be able to touch a single hair on Vasily’s head…
I let out a deep sigh. Giving up on escaping Vasily, I let all the strength leave my body, and the hard floor began to feel uncomfortable. He could have at least laid me on the sofa or bed nearby; why on earth the floor…
I turned my head. The floor, without a single speck of dust, looked so clean that I was left speechless for a second time.
“…”
I looked down at Vasily with a complicated expression. Having knocked me over, he was currently forcing his massive body into my arms, clinging to me.
‘I wondered why he was obsessed with me when my matching rate is only 4 percent…’
Was that why?
To think the other person freezes just by touching him. I had occasionally suffered frostbite while guiding Vasily for a long time, but I didn’t know others couldn’t endure it even for a moment.
Was that why he kept asking about my physical condition when we first started guiding? The reason he avoided the topic of auxiliary Guides, and the reason he kept seeking me out despite the low matching rate… I feel like the puzzle pieces are finally fitting together one by one.
Anyway, I thought it would be enough if a Guide with a matching rate for Vasily appeared, but to think the condition of being able to withstand Vasily’s wavelength was added. A sinister premonition hit me that it might take longer than expected for him to find a Guide.
Seeing as he hasn’t had one until now, there probably wasn’t a Guide in other countries who could endure him either. At this rate, will he keep seeking me out even after three years pass and the contract period ends? I want to remove the suppression chip quickly… damn it.
I turned my head to check the clock on the wall. It was almost time to leave work, but Vasily, clinging to me, didn’t move a muscle.
Leaving on time is out of the question today as well. Sigh…
* * *
An hour passed in that state.
This meant I had been lying on the hard floor long after the time to leave work had passed. My back throbbed, and I felt suffocated because Vasily was so heavy. Now, even the suppression chip was starting to act up, so it seemed it was time to push Vasily away.
“Esper Vasily, please move now.”
“If you say you’ll have dinner with me.”
“…”
This bastard?