By Zephyria 
“Since you’re someone who doesn’t sleep much anyway…”
“I can sleep if Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi guides me, so it’s fine.”
“…….”
It suddenly hit me. Wait… is the flow of this conversation leading toward me having to provide guiding? And to Vasily, who is lying next to me completely naked?
I stood up immediately. But before I could escape, my wrist was snatched.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam, where are you going?”
“I’m just going to drink some water. So if you could please let go of my wrist…”
“You can drink after the guiding is finished.”
“I feel like I’m dying of thirst.”
“It’s okay. People don’t die that easily.”
My wrist was pulled. I tried to resist, but I was bound to lose in a contest of strength. I plopped down onto the bed. My wrist was still held by Vasily.
I didn’t want to look back… because Vasily, boldly exposing his entire body on the duvet, was surely staring at me with a look of pure amusement.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam, when are you going to hug me?”
“…Please do not speak in that manner. Doesn’t it sound like you mean something strange?”
“Really? I’m not sure about that…”
Sigh… his way of speaking naturally drew a sigh from me. It was absurd how he only pretended to be unskilled in Korean at times like this.
“Esper-nim, please proceed with the guiding yourself. I am tired, so I will lie down and rest for a while.”
“Your attitude toward guiding is quite a mess…”
“There was nothing in the contract stating that such a thing would be a problem.”
I heard Vasily’s small laugh as he received his own words back.
I truly turned my back to Vasily and flopped onto the bed. I didn’t have the courage to witness with my own eyes the sight of Vasily lying next to me in the nude. My eyes are precious.
I have to proceed with the guiding anyway, and since I’m tired, I plan to lie down and rest for a bit. Once the guiding ends in an hour, I’ll have to go to the living room to sleep.
“Then, with pleasure.”
Vasily hugged me from behind. A cold, firm arm wrapped around my waist, pulling my body close to his.
I pushed my hips forward as much as possible to avoid touching his lower body. Whether he recognized such a pathetic effort or not, Vasily ignored it and hugged me tighter, burying his face in the nape of my neck.
Cold breath tickled the back of my neck. Since it happened to be where the suppression chip was located, my body flinched every time.
Desperately trying to distract myself, I spoke.
“Come to think of it, Esper Vasily, you were the one who brought my resignation letter.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Then what happens to my affiliation from now on?”
This was an important part. I needed to clarify it.
“Starting Monday, you’ll be removed from the association’s affiliation and registered as my Guide. That’s fine, right? You were planning to move anyway.”
“That’s true, but… could you push it back by just one week?”
“I don’t mind, but why?”
“I need to organize my desk and finish the work I was doing…”
Vasily fell silent as if dissatisfied. I thought he would wait for about a week, but is even that much too much?
“You remember the contents of the contract, right? The part about the prohibition of guiding other Espers.”
“If you could just push that back by one week as well…”
“If I hear that Guide Kwon Gi-dam has guided another Esper, I will immediately consider it a breach of contract.”
“…….”
It was practically impossible to keep that condition while in the temporary guiding department. I guess I’ll just have to clear my desk and move straight to Vasily’s private room…
As the guiding continued, Vasily became strangely quiet at some point.
Did he finally fall asleep? I glanced back and saw Vasily still with his eyes open, so I looked away again. I wondered why he was just staring, and then Vasily suddenly raised his hand and slowly rubbed the area where the suppression chip was.
“Va-Vasily Esper-nim?”
“I think I just need to break this…”
Vasily muttered softly. Startled, I quickly dodged his touch.
“Do you not remember what the Attending Physician said? If you touch it wrong, I’ll either die or become a vegetable!”
“Isn’t it fine as long as you don’t die?”
Does that mean he doesn’t care if I become a vegetable?
“Do not touch my neck from now on! If I see any more strange signs, I will only provide guiding through handshakes!”
“Mmm… alright.”
After getting seriously angry, I continued the guiding. A tension lingered, fearing that Vasily might try to remove the suppression chip without prior notice.
Fortunately, the threat seemed to work, and Vasily stopped touching the suppression chip. Instead, the strength with which he hugged my waist grew subtly stronger.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam, you’ve lost weight since we first met.”
“Have I? Well… I suppose the work was difficult.”
“As expected of a C-Class Guide…”
Vasily didn’t seem to realize that the suppression chip implanted in the back of my neck had lowered my rank. Then again, high-ranking Guides are far fewer in number than Espers.
If there are ten S-class Espers, there’s only one S-class guide. It was a miracle that a Guide who could withstand his wavelength appeared at all, so he probably didn’t expect the rank to be high.
‘If that’s the case…’
It means the excuse that guiding is difficult because of the suppression chip will still be effective.
I can pretend to be a C-Class Guide and avoid guiding moderately for the time being, but I won’t be able to handle the aftermath when my actual rank is revealed during a wavelength test after the suppression chip is removed. Would Vasily even leave me alone, let alone forgive me for posing as a C-Class Guide?
While fighting off sleep to continue the guiding, Vasily had fallen asleep before I knew it.
“He sleeps well…”
He was in such a deep sleep that he wouldn’t notice if someone carried him away.
I felt like if I ran away this time, I might not get caught, but considering the consequences if I were caught, I couldn’t possibly attempt it.
Next time, I might actually be imprisoned. If Vasily truly set his mind to it, dealing with someone like me would be a piece of cake. Then I might really have to risk my life to escape. Even if I revealed that I am an S-class guide, it’s honestly uncertain whether even the state could protect me.
His steady breathing tickled my ear. Even as I told myself not to let my guard down, my eyelids grew heavier.
Sleep washed over me.
* * *
Sensing a presence, I opened my eyes to see Vasily looking down at me with a dissatisfied expression beside the sofa.
The surroundings had become brightly lit. Is it morning already?
“Did you really sleep here?”
“Yes. Didn’t I tell you yesterday that I would sleep on the sofa?”
Last night, after fighting off sleep and finally finishing the guiding, I got out of bed exactly one hour later. Then I came out to the living room, took my medicine, and fell asleep right there on the sofa. The sofa was large and comfortable, like a bed. Thanks to that, sleeping wasn’t uncomfortable.
Vasily seemed very displeased by that. Well, who told him to be stubborn and not give me my own room?
I wanted to argue with Vasily from the morning to determine who was at fault, but I was still tired. I rolled over to sleep more, but Vasily spoke to me again.
“Wake up and get ready to go. I got a call that a Gate has opened.”
“…Do I have to go too?”
“I feel like if I go alone, Guide Kwon Gi-dam might have disappeared by the time I return home.”
“…….”
We even signed a contract; I wonder how long he intends to keep using that line.
Inevitably, I stumbled up from the sofa. I wondered why Vasily was fully dressed in a suit as if going out, and it turned out to be a Gate call.
“Can’t I rest on Sunday?”
“It would be best for you to get used to it now.”
It would be nice if he went alone, but judging by his tone, he had no intention of doing so.
Resigning myself, I began to prepare. Thanks to eating ramen before sleeping yesterday, I wasn’t hungry yet. It didn’t seem like an urgent call, but with the mindset of returning quickly to rest, I washed up and changed clothes fast.
Sitting in the passenger seat, I let out a long yawn as we moved.
The first Gate I’m entering as Vasily’s Guide.
I was a bit anxious that he might force me into the Gate like he did before the regression, but I wasn’t too worried because it was clearly specified in the first item of the contract.
However, the place we actually arrived at was the association.
“Why have we come to the association?”
“A Gate opened at the top of a mountain, so we’ll be moving by helicopter.”
“Ah… if that’s the case, it can’t be helped…”
Moving by helicopter there and back might actually be better. Thinking that, I headed to the rooftop with Vasily. The helicopter was already waiting, ready for takeoff.
As I boarded the helicopter alongside Vasily and headed toward the Gate, it finally felt real that I had become his Guide.
Starting tomorrow, I’ll stop by the Guide Association to explain the situation to the people in my department, and once I’m seen going around with Vasily, the rumors will spread quickly. Even without an announcement, the fact that I’ve become his Guide will soon become an established fact.
My mind felt a bit complicated.