By Zephyria 
As I placed my hand on the doorknob, the remaining ice crumbled easily, and the handle turned smoothly.
Vasily was still staring at me with a cold gaze. I exchanged a silent look with him before closing the door and stepping out.
“Haa…”
A sigh escaped my lips the moment I stepped outside. I hoped I wouldn’t have to engage in this kind of psychological warfare every time I went out. I felt exhausted in an instant.
If he actually decides to run away at this rate, it’ll be chaos.
We’ve signed a contract, so that shouldn’t happen… but I vowed that if the need to escape ever arose, I would plan it thoroughly so as not to be caught, and then I set off.
Perhaps because it was a nice neighborhood, there were well-maintained walking trails near the apartment. After looking around for a moment, I stretched lightly and began to run.
The sunlight was quite strong today.
I wiped the sweat dripping down my chin and gradually slowed my pace. Today was definitely the kind of weather Vasily would dislike. The sun was blazing, and even in the shade, the stifling heat was suffocating. The sound of cicadas crying everywhere was beyond cheerful; it was noisy.
On my way back after a lap around the area, a supermarket sign caught my eye. Come to think of it, the state of the refrigerator I saw when I took out the water was a mess. Far from having food, it was empty except for a few bottles of mineral water.
After some hesitation, I turned back and entered the supermarket. When I stepped out again, I was carrying large bags in both hands.
After doing some light grocery shopping and returning home, I found Vasily sitting on the living room sofa.
Silver hair and silver-gray eyes. His cold gaze stood out even more due to his ice-pale skin. Even just sitting still on the sofa, he exuded an aura like a scene from a pictorial.
Vasily was gazing at the city visible through the large window. From here, the massive Association building in the distance was also visible.
Vasily turned his head slightly to look at me.
“You’re back?”
“…Yes.”
Perhaps because of what happened before I left, it felt unnecessarily awkward. We weren’t particularly close to begin with, but now I felt a subtle distance that was even more pronounced.
Feeling awkward, I slightly lifted the bags I bought from the supermarket and asked.
“Would you like some?”
“What is it?”
“It’s nothing much… just a simple salad.”
“I’d like some.”
Vasily, who I was certain would refuse, nodded. I expected him to shake his head and say he wouldn’t eat it… I felt strangely unsettled by the unexpected answer, even though I was the one who suggested it.
I felt relieved that I had bought enough for two just in case, and I walked toward the kitchen.
I rinsed the plastic-wrapped salad under running water and heated the chicken breast in the microwave at the same time. As I tried to divide them onto plates, Vasily was watching every single step from behind my shoulder, which felt oppressive. Because of the chilly aura emanating from him, I couldn’t ignore him even if I tried.
While moving the chicken breast to the plate, I finally spoke up.
“Um… can’t you smell the sweat?”
“It’s not that strong, so it’s fine.”
“Please step back a little… it’s overwhelming.”
Since I had just returned from exercising, I was sure I smelled of sweat. Vasily had a sensitive sense of smell, so the excessive proximity bothered me. While I said it for his sake, he didn’t even pretend to hear me and simply remained standing behind me.
Inevitably, under his watchful eye, I drizzled the dressing over the salad as a final touch. It was a simple dish: warm chicken breast placed atop cleanly washed vegetables, finished with a light drizzle of oriental dressing.
We sat facing each other and ate the salad in silence, without a word of conversation.
Although the menu was tailored entirely to my taste, seeing Vasily eat without complaint made me think I could try other foods next time. If I could gradually get him used to Korean food while living together, perhaps we could eat Korean food at least once a day.
If I could change things like this, bit by bit, in a different direction than before the regression, perhaps the end for him and me—which had spiraled toward destruction—could also change.
After finishing the meal and clearing the empty plates, I was about to go to my room when Vasily called out to stop me.
“I’ll request guiding in the evening. Rest until then.”
“Understood.”
This meant we wouldn’t have to face each other again today until it was time for guiding. After nodding, we each entered our respective rooms.
* * *
Lately, monitoring the Gate status after arriving at work has become my daily routine.
While I sat at Vasily’s work desk staring at the status board all day, Vasily would sip coffee while sitting on the sofa, except for when he was away at a Gate.
In the past, whenever there was spare time like this, Vasily would take me to the training room under the pretext of training and run me ragged… but now, since he just sits still without doing that, it’s quite peaceful. If we had spent our time like this in the past, our relationship might not have plummeted to the worst.
“Why are you staring like that?”
“I was just thinking that it’s peaceful.”
“If you’re bored, do you want to spar like last time?”
“I don’t want to.”
I habitually blocked the nonsense Vasily spouted and looked back at the status board.
Far away, in the middle of the West Sea, a single Gate floated solitary. It was a Gate where the conquest would proceed next week after a brief meeting with China on Sunday. As it was before the regression, there was a high probability that Vasily would be the one to go. However, since I would be attending neither the meeting nor the Gate, I didn’t even glance toward the West Sea.
There are no particular anomalies this week. It seemed I could spend the weekend with peace of mind. After confirming there were no notable Gates until the end, I stood up from my seat.
Seeing me packing my things as clock-out time approached, Vasily asked.
“Shall we head home now?”
“Sounds good.”
“Then I’ll contact the Attending Physician and tell them we’re coming now.”
“What?”
“Did you already forget? Today is the day for the suppression chip injection.”
Ah, right. We agreed to get it every Friday.
I had forgotten for a moment. Telling him I remembered now, I left the private room with Vasily.
Fiddling with the back of my neck, I followed Vasily to the Attending Physician’s lab. Once the injections started, the day to remove the suppression chip wouldn’t be far off.
At first, I felt a sense of rejection at the thought that removing the suppression chip would reveal my rank, but after learning the ingredients of the red pill I was taking, my mindset shifted toward wanting to remove the suppression chip as quickly as possible. Narcotic substances in monster’s blood. Had I known the ingredients before I started taking them, I would never have let them touch my lips.
“Hello, Esper Vasily. It’s been a while, Guide-nim.”
As we entered the lab, the familiar Attending Physician greeted us. Following the physician’s guidance, I sat in a chair provided on one side.
“Guide-nim, has everything been alright in the meantime?”
“Yes. Guiding has been proceeding without issue, and I’ve taken the medication only in the prescribed amount.”
“Hmm… it’s not that…”
The Attending Physician stole a glance at Vasily.
Only then did I realize what the physician wanted to say. It seemed to be a question thrown out to check if a fragile C-Class Guide was holding up well under that lunatic Vasily.
I nodded calmly.
Although there were several moments over the past week where our relationship almost fractured, wasn’t I still holding up well? Vasily hadn’t forced guiding out of me or caused any major problems, so it had been relatively okay so far.
Just as a faint sense of camaraderie was beginning to bloom between the Attending Physician and me—both of us understanding each other’s plight—Vasily interrupted.
“Isn’t it over once the injection is done? I didn’t know the small talk would be this long.”
It seemed he sensed a strange atmosphere forming that excluded only him. The Attending Physician and I played innocent as if nothing had happened and returned to the original purpose.
“Then, I will administer the injection.”
A sting.
Following the short pain of the needle piercing the skin, I felt the unpleasant sensation of the medication entering. But that was brief; the needle soon slid out from the back of my neck, and a small bandage was applied over it.
“The injection site will throb, so please do not rub it. It’s important that the suppression chip doesn’t overheat, so do not push yourself with guiding.”
“Understood.”
After listening to the subsequent precautions, I left the lab with Vasily.
On the way home, we stopped at a restaurant we always visited for a simple dinner. As we were leaving, Vasily, noticing me unconsciously fiddling with the bandage on the back of my neck, asked.
“Is it uncomfortable?”
“Yes… well. It throbs a bit, but it’s bearable.”
I had endured the feeling of it becoming so hot it felt like it would explode every time guiding ended; this was merely annoying and nothing more.
As soon as I arrived home, I took off my shoes and headed for my room. However, Vasily caught me as I tried to enter my room quietly and spoke in a pleasant voice.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam, today’s schedule is over, so will you give me some guiding now?”
Hearing those words, I stopped for a moment and asked back with a puzzled expression.
“What are you talking about? This week’s guiding is already finished.”