ICG 80

I recalled the sight of him quietly moving his hand to avoid the sunlight landing on the back of it. Having spent six years together, I had come to know well that Vasily hated sunlight.

“……Is that also because of your ability?”

“I wonder. I’ve been like this since I awakened, so probably?”

Come to think of it, this was the first time Vasily had brought up his own story. We had lived together for six years, but I had never once heard a personal story about him.

For some reason, I felt like he would answer anything I asked right now.

“When did you awaken, Esper Vasily?”

“When I was nine, I think. It was so long ago that I don’t remember the exact timing.”

Vasily’s childhood. It was hard to imagine. To think that even that Vasily had a time when he was small and cute.

“So you actually had a childhood, Esper Vasily.”

“If you can’t believe it, I’ll show you photos later.”

I had spoken with a fair amount of sincerity, but Vasily replied with a quiet chuckle.

I tried to imagine Vasily’s childhood but failed. I felt as though Vasily had always been this way, as if he had been born by breaking through ice.

Anyway, the fact that there were photos meant his family had taken them. Since I didn’t think I’d ever heard about his family, I asked.

“Is your family abroad?”

“Yes. They’re running a business in the US.”

Vasily continued with an explanation of his family’s business. He even told me the name of the company, and since it was a corporation famous enough for anyone to know, I asked him back in shock.

“Then why be an Esper…… wouldn’t it be better to just run the business?”

“I became an Esper to find a Guide.”

Indeed, Vasily had come to Korea because he couldn’t find a Guide abroad. Since he had to periodically release the cold air accumulated in his body, it seemed he chose to be an Esper.

Moreover, the profession of an Esper was a calling for Vasily. The sight of him doing something other than being an Esper would surely be awkward. Though he would probably suit being a model or an actor, I stopped imagining after thinking he’d likely be cancelled due to personality controversies.

The air was damp because of the rain, but an unusually peaceful and soft atmosphere flowed between us. We arrived at the association in a relaxed mood, so loose it was hard to believe we hadn’t even seen each other’s faces all weekend.

In the private room we returned to after a week, a pile of documents stacked high on the desk welcomed us.

“What is that?”

When I asked Vasily as he looked through the papers, he replied nonchalantly while flipping through a few pages.

“Official requests for cooperation.”

“All of them?”

I stared at the pile of documents with exhausted eyes. It seemed that work had piled up quite a bit since we had taken a week off.

I shut my mouth and looked away from the pile. In the past, I would have had to check those documents one by one to refer to the schedule, but not anymore. These were matters that had nothing to do with me—things Vasily had to check and decide on his own.

The work Vasily did was diverse.

Gate conquests, capturing monsters for research, participating in internal and external events, overseas support, and so on.

Since I had no memory of him going abroad around this time, there wasn’t much for me to worry about. I quickly withdrew my interest and flopped comfortably onto the sofa.

Just as I was trying to clear my mind, which was complicated because of the dream I had today, the sofa suddenly sank. Then, Vasily’s head landed on my lap.

I frowned as I looked at the bright silver hair scattering across my thighs.

“What are you doing right now?”

“Resting.”

“Why are you resting on my legs?”

“My head hurts, so I need guiding.”

I looked down with a scowl at him, who had closed his eyes comfortably. To ask for guiding when he hadn’t even been to a Gate.

As I looked down at him with an incredulous gaze, I noticed that his complexion wasn’t good.

“Did you fail to sleep again?”

I thought he seemed unusually drained; it was clear he had tossed and turned all weekend. I hadn’t noticed because he was more obedient than usual.

Vasily affirmed with silence. If he was going to be like this, he should have just quietly received guiding over the weekend. I couldn’t understand why he had been avoiding me.

“Then I’ll guide you, so first, sit up properly.”

“Mmm…… I don’t want to.”

“Are you going to receive guiding in this state?”

“Yes.”

Vasily seemed to have no intention of getting up while using my thigh as a pillow. I stared at the hair tickling my thigh for a moment before giving up on persuading him.

Well… my legs might get a bit numb, but if I could deduct the number of guiding sessions just by lending my legs for a bit, I had no particular reason to refuse. It was also much easier since the contact area was smaller than if we were pressing our whole bodies together.

However, there was an unexpected problem. Every time I lowered my head and saw Vasily’s face, the scenes from my dream kept coming to mind.

Furthermore, the position where Vasily rested his head… happened to be not very ideal. I desperately tried not to look at him and fixed my gaze out the window.

Knock, knock.

Just then, the sound of knocking was heard from outside the door. Startled, I turned my head toward the firmly closed door.

If someone were to enter the private room right now and see this, they would definitely misunderstand. It was just guiding, but it wouldn’t look that way to others.

I hurriedly pushed Vasily’s head away. However, Vasily resisted by tensing his neck, and instead, he tilted his head inward, making it seem like his head would touch an even more dangerous position. I shouted urgently.

“Someone’s here, so get u—”

Click. The door opened before I could even finish my sentence.

“Esper Vasily, I’ll come in for a mo—”

“…….”

While struggling to clear Vasily’s head from my lap, I locked eyes with the person who had opened the door and entered.

It was a familiar face. I felt like I had met him somewhere, and I soon remembered where.

He was the very employee who had witnessed the scene of me planting a fist into Vasily’s abdomen when I attended the West Sea Gate conquest meeting. He stood there, unable to speak, with a look of horror as he saw Vasily lying with his head on my lap.

Right. It must be confusing since it looks quite affectionate. To be caught giving Vasily a lap pillow. Embarrassment, and even a sense of shame, washed over me.

The employee quickly composed his panicked expression and spoke.

“Hello, Esper Vasily. I came to find you because you weren’t answering your messages. Have you checked today’s schedule by any chance?”

However, Vasily did not move even after hearing the reason the employee had come. From the way he kept his eyes tightly shut, I could see his intention to thoroughly ignore him.

“Um…… Esper? You must attend this morning’s meeting……”

The employee seemed to realize this as well, continuing to speak anxiously while breaking into a cold sweat.

Suddenly, an intense chill seemed to linger in the air, then it quickly froze the floor and stretched out toward the man. The ice, which was forming with a terrifying momentum as if it would freeze everything blocking its path, stopped right in front of the man’s shoes.

“Gasp!”

The employee, who narrowly escaped the fate of frostbite, recoiled in terror.

“Vasily!”

When I shouted his name in surprise, only then did Vasily slowly open his eyes. He spoke nonchalantly while looking at the horrified me.

“Why are you so surprised? I didn’t kill him.”

Vasily instead took the stance that I was reacting oversensitively.

I thought he was more obedient than usual, but I guess not. Having his guiding interrupted, Vasily’s sensitivity was piercing the sky.

Should I be glad that he didn’t kill him? Since Vasily was someone who could pierce the head of a monster from a distance in one shot, there was no way he had missed by mistake. It seemed he restrained himself because I was watching.

“Esper, did you have a meeting?”

“…….”

He must have known since he checked the documents earlier.

Vasily kept his mouth shut as if exercising his right to remain silent. Seeing that, a sigh escaped me.

“Go to your meeting. I’ll continue the guiding after that.”

I knew that if I stopped the guiding now and sent him to the meeting, Vasily’s dissatisfaction would be directed toward the people attending the meeting. But I couldn’t just not send him.

Because it might be a meeting to discuss a Gate that needed to be conquered urgently. Seeing as they had even sent a person to fetch him, it was clear that it was a place Vasily absolutely had to attend, regardless of what it was.

“It’s not a particularly important meeting, so it’s okay if I don’t attend.”

“Then I’ll go instead and deliver the contents to you.”

“…….”

We had gone into meetings together for six years; attending a meeting in his place was nothing.

I had spoken with the genuine intention of going instead, but Vasily let out a shallow sigh and pushed himself up.

“……Forget it. I’ll go, so Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi, wait here.”

Vasily changed his mind more easily than expected. He probably felt that if I went to the meeting, there would be no one to guide him.