By Zephyria 
I took the burn ointment out of my pocket and held it out to Vasily.
“It’s burn ointment. Apply it to the injured areas.”
Vasily stared blankly down at the ointment. He just kept staring, to the point where my outstretched hand began to feel awkward.
After staring in silence for a long while, Vasily pushed my hand away.
“……? You don’t need it?”
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi, apply it for me.”
What is so great about this guy who just froze my smartphone…
I glared at him with a deep scowl. Unbothered by my reaction, Vasily approached the bed and sat on the edge. Seeing as he didn’t budge an inch, it seemed he had no intention of moving until I applied the medicine.
Furthermore, Vasily was naked. Realizing that my eyes would only suffer if I didn’t kick him out quickly, I reluctantly tore open the packaging.
As I stepped closer to him, Vasily obediently closed his eyes and entrusted his body to me.
I put some of the sticky ointment on my finger and pressed it against Vasily’s forehead. While carefully spreading the ointment along the red mark, I suddenly noticed something strange.
Come to think of it, his hair seemed a bit shorter.
“Did your hair get burned too?”
“I did, while trying to avoid the flames surging up from beneath my feet.”
To think he couldn’t even avoid a single attack and ended up burning his hair. The title of S-Class is practically weeping.
Feeling somewhat displeased, I clicked my tongue and rubbed the injured area, causing him to let out a small groan.
“Ouch.”
“Stop pretending it hurts.”
“How cold…”
Vasily exaggerated his pain. I let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity, then stole a glance at him.
Is it actually hurting…?
Despite my words, my touch became more cautious as I applied the medicine, wondering if he was truly in pain.
While quietly applying the ointment, I scanned the thick, firm body before me. The burn marks, which had been quite severe only yesterday, had already faded. As expected, wounds of this level heal quickly. Even these would likely vanish without a trace in a few days.
I always think this, but the recovery power of an S-class Esper is impressively superior. Sometimes I even doubt if he’s the same species as humans. Well, I suppose that’s why he’s an S-Class.
While admiring this, I checked his back and paused upon seeing long, deep scratch marks.
Did I do this?
My pupils shook violently. No matter how I looked at it, I was the culprit. I must have scratched him with such vigor that the red marks remained even more vivid than the burns.
Vasily didn’t seem to know what had happened to his back yet. I hurriedly averted my gaze from his body and mumbled.
“I-I’m finished applying it.”
“Already?”
When I pulled my hand away and stepped back, Vasily looked puzzled. Seeing his gaze drift toward the areas where the ointment hadn’t been applied, I threw the tube to him and told him to apply the rest himself.
Only then did I feel a sense of relief as I watched Vasily get up from the bed. Now I can finally rest. I massaged my stiff neck, which felt hot, and then noticed it was nearly noon.
“Are you going to the association today?”
“No, I think it’ll be noisy, so I plan to stay home for a while.”
I nodded upon hearing Vasily’s words. With the news that Vasily had attacked Huai Yan first, the association was likely in an uproar by now. They were probably stamping their feet in anticipation, waiting to interrogate him about what happened.
And considering the dating rumors that had been heating up the public for the past two days, it seemed better not to show his face at the association, where reporters would likely be swarming. Just as I was thinking that I’d have to stay secluded with him for a while, Vasily, who was about to leave the room, turned back to look at me.
“Does Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi not need medicine?”
“Huh? What do you mean by…”
Seeing Vasily’s gaze drop downward, I followed suit and looked down. The moment I realized my awkward standing posture, my face flushed intensely.
“I don’t need any!”
I kicked him out of the room and slammed the door shut.
“Sigh…”
Finally alone, I leaned against the door and slid down to the floor, letting out a long sigh.
In truth, I had been tense the entire time I was with Vasily. Because of what happened yesterday, I remained conscious of him and couldn’t relax for a single moment.
Fortunately, nothing happened while I was applying the medicine. Neither of us mentioned anything about violating the terms of the contract, either.
But…
I looked down at my fingers stained with ointment. It felt as if the cold sensation that had transmitted through the skin still lingered at my fingertips.
Feeling a faint confusion at the subtly shifting relationship, I clenched my fists.
* * *
I muttered while lying in bed.
“It seems I’ve caught a proper cold…”
Despite taking medicine and getting plenty of rest, my condition had actually worsened. Muscle pain combined with a body ache created a terrible pain that weighed down my entire body.
Even though it was midsummer, I was shivering, and my forehead was burning with fever. It was hard to move even an inch, but feeling my throat bone-dry, I forced myself up.
Dragging my heavy body outside, I took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and drank. The water, more than cool—it was ice-cold, flowed down my throat.
I had only taken a few sips of the cold water, but I felt a chill. As I wrapped my arms around my shivering body to return to bed, I ran into Vasily coming out of his room.
“It seems you’re still not doing well.”
Vasily said that as soon as he saw me. It seemed my complexion looked terrible even to him.
“Shouldn’t you go to the hospital?”
“I want to rest for now.”
“I understand.”
Vasily didn’t hold me back for long and let me go easily.
Returning to my room, I lay on the bed and frowned at the oncoming headache.
It had been a long time since I’d been this sick. I felt like it would have been better to be lying in a hospital after being attacked by a monster.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi, I’m coming in.”
Along with a knock, Vasily’s voice was heard from beyond the firmly closed door.
Soon the door opened, and a savory scent wafted in. Puzzled, I turned my head to see Vasily entering the room holding something.
“What is that?”
“It’s porridge. I asked the Attending Physician, and they said Koreans eat this when they’re sick.”
As Vasily spoke, he set a tray down beside me. On it sat a bowl of porridge.
I thought I heard the front door close a moment ago; it seemed he had gone to buy porridge. He hadn’t even brought it in the plastic container; he had carefully transferred it to a bowl.
I stared silently at the white porridge. It was a warm, soft-looking porridge filled with small pieces of abalone.
Forgetting that Vasily was watching, I unconsciously took a spoonful.
“How is it?”
“……It’s delicious.”
The warm porridge gently filled my empty stomach.
Memories of the past six years, where I had suffered through illnesses alone, flashed through my mind. When I was hospitalized after returning from a Gate, and when I woke up after barely surviving a near-death experience, I was always alone.
To me, being sick was a time of enduring pain in solitude. Perhaps that’s why even someone taking care of porridge for me felt awkward. Especially if that person was Vasily, who had never once visited me in the hospital.
“Thank you for the meal.”
Under Vasily’s gaze, I finished the entire bowl of porridge. Thanks to filling my stomach and taking medicine, I felt my body become significantly lighter than before.
Vasily naturally took the empty bowl and left the room.
I stared blankly at the spot where Vasily had been, then lay on the bed and covered myself with the blanket. I closed my eyes, hoping my condition would improve after a deep sleep.
As I tried to fall asleep again, a cool sensation touched my forehead. Opening my eyes slightly, I saw Vasily, who had returned at some point, resting his hand on my forehead.
“I’ll cool your fever. It’s okay if this replaces today’s guiding.”
Vasily’s cool body temperature enveloped my burning forehead.
Feeling the strangely tender touch, I was quietly surprised. Not only did he buy porridge, but now he was even cooling my fever. It was the first time I realized Vasily was a person capable of doing such things for others.
He felt unfamiliar today. However, I thought that this version of Vasily wasn’t so bad.
Then, I heard Vasily’s low, muttering voice.
“……Why isn’t the guiding working?”
When I lifted my half-closed eyelids again, I saw Vasily’s expression frozen stiff.
I realized the reason immediately. It was likely because my physical condition was poor. Guiding naturally varies depending on one’s condition.
To think guiding doesn’t work just because I have a bit of a fever. In the past, this would have been unimaginable. I guess all sorts of things happen when the matching rate drops due to the suppression chip.
Once the body ache is gone, everything will return to normal as if nothing happened. I tried to brush it off as insignificant, but Vasily’s seriously hardened face caught my eye.