By Zephyria 
“Do you… really have to receive guiding today? I just got discharged yesterday, and I’m exhausted from going to the Gate…”
Answering while avoiding eye contact, Gi-dam looked to anyone watching as if he were reluctant to provide guiding. Vasily felt sorry for him, but this time, he had no intention of letting it slide.
He was placing quite a bit of expectation on Gi-dam’s guiding. This was the first opportunity to receive proper guiding from Gi-dam after the suppression chip had been removed.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make it quick today.”
Noticing that Vasily had no intention of backing down, Gi-dam’s expression grew even darker. Vasily continued, as if granting a favor.
“Instead, I’ll let Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi choose the location for the guiding. Where would you prefer?”
“…Then I will get ready and go to the Esper’s room.”
“Alright. I’ll be waiting, so don’t be too late.”
“…….”
Leaving Gi-dam’s room, Vasily walked away, unable to hide the smile spreading across his lips.
Unlike the previous Gi-dam, who had rejected him and provided only the bare minimum of guiding, the current version of him shared memories of being bound by a formal contract and spending a long time together immediately after awakening as a Guide. Surely, he would be able to receive guiding that was completely different from before.
Just imagining it made him feel thirsty. He was so expectant of how different it would be from previous sessions that he could hardly bear it.
He wanted to knock Gi-dam down right now and take guiding until he was satisfied, but Vasily decided to wait a little longer. After all, there was nowhere for Gi-dam to run.
After finishing his shower, Vasily looked around with swelling anticipation. However, the room remained filled with silence.
Was he planning to avoid it like this? Just as he was about to head out, thinking he would have to drag Gi-dam out immediately, the door clicked open and Gi-dam entered the room.
“Ah.”
Facing Vasily, who looked as if he had just stepped out of the bathroom, Gi-dam quickly averted his eyes. Unlike his usual self, who would shout at him to put some clothes on, his reaction was quite docile.
Having spent six years as his Guide, one would think he’d be used to a naked body by now, but it seemed he was still shy. Seeing Gi-dam’s reaction—unable to even meet his eyes—Vasily’s agitated heart softened slightly.
“Don’t just stand there; come here.”
“…Yes.”
Now then, shall we receive some guiding?
After having Gi-dam sit on the bed, Vasily slowly stroked his cheek. The moment his fingertips touched him, Gi-dam squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the next action, which already made Vasily’s lower half stir.
To meet those expectations, he tried to kiss him, but just before their lips touched, he realized something was wrong. Gi-dam’s breathing was unstable, and the trembling transmitted through his fingertips was growing more severe.
Looking down at Gi-dam again, the first things that caught his eye were his tightly bitten lip and stiffened jaw. With a face pale as a sheet, Gi-dam was shaking violently, his fists clenched tight.
It wasn’t nervousness or excitement. The fear revealed before his eyes was an emotion Vasily was well acquainted with.
Like a person on the verge of death before Vasily, Gi-dam was simply trembling. Paralyzed by extreme terror, unable to even run away.
“…….”
Vasily’s gaze turned ice-cold as he looked at Gi-dam, who was shaking like an aspen leaf.
He felt pathetic for having looked forward to receiving guiding. Gi-dam was a Guide who had implanted a suppression chip as soon as he returned to the past. He should have known, with just a bit of thought, that they couldn’t have been on good terms.
His mood plummeted instantly. The anticipation of receiving guiding vanished rapidly.
As a cold aura leaked from his body and spread around, Gi-dam shrank his shoulders, becoming even more terrified. Looking down at the intensified trembling, Vasily spoke.
“Get out.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’ve changed my mind. I don’t need guiding, so get out.”
Vasily issued the order to leave in a chilling voice, gesturing toward the door with his chin.
At the words that he wouldn’t receive guiding, Gi-dam was instead greatly flustered. Even while still shivering, he reacted by cautiously gauging Vasily’s mood, as if he had committed a crime, which made Vasily’s mood sink even further.
“Ugh…”
Vasily roughly grabbed Gi-dam’s wrist and pulled him up. Perhaps his legs had lost their strength, as Gi-dam lost his balance and staggered, struggling to stand.
Vasily dragged Gi-dam straight out of the room. When he stood him in front of the door and let go, Gi-dam immediately stumbled and collapsed onto the floor. Seeing this, Vasily slammed the door shut.
Bang!
Vasily stopped in front of the closed door and let out a low breath. Ice slowly began to spread around the hand he had placed on the door.
If he had let go just a moment later, Gi-dam’s wrist would have frozen as well. While he stared expressionlessly at the ice spreading around him, Gi-dam’s voice drifted in from beyond the door.
“He’s really letting me go like this…”
A murmur of disbelief leaked thinly through the gap in the door.
* * *
As soon as morning came, Vasily took Gi-dam to the association.
“…….”
Inside the car, where silence reigned, no conversation took place. As if nothing had happened, neither Vasily nor Gi-dam spoke of the previous night.
He could feel Gi-dam feeling uncomfortable and glancing at him in the silence where not even the sound of breathing could be heard, but Vasily remained silent until the end.
Upon arriving at the association, Vasily headed straight for the laboratory where the Attending Physician was. When he opened the door and entered, the Attending Physician stood up, looking surprised.
“Ah, Esper Vasily. I heard you wouldn’t be coming to the association for a while; what brings you here without notice?”
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam has lost his memory.”
“What?”
“How can he get his memories back?”
As soon as he finished the question, the physician’s face turned pale. The Attending Physician looked back and forth between Vasily and Gi-dam, who had followed him in, and asked in a flustered voice.
“Do you mean he has had no memory since he woke up?”
“Yes. He has no recent memories from the time he woke up.”
“I—I was told he was discharged because there were clearly no abnormalities…”
“At the time, I didn’t think it was a serious problem.”
The Attending Physician began making phone calls in a panic. Leaving the physician behind, Vasily perched himself on a nearby chair.
He turned his gaze to look at Gi-dam. Even in this situation, Gi-dam was simply staring elsewhere, keeping a distance from Vasily.
‘…I don’t like this.’
Until recently, he had quite liked the docile attitude, but now, the blatant distancing was irritating.
After spending a while making calls and requesting cooperation, the Attending Physician finally spoke, as if the preparations for the examination were complete.
“It seems we need to scan the brain again. Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi, could you please come with me for a moment?”
The Attending Physician guided Gi-dam toward the exit of the lab, but Gi-dam remained standing in place without moving. Instead, he stole a glance at Vasily and called his name softly.
“Esper Vasily.”
“…Go on.”
At the sight of him acting as if he were seeking permission, Vasily spoke.
Only then did Gi-dam follow the Attending Physician out of the lab. Vasily frowned as he watched Gi-dam’s retreating back.
Did he have to give permission for every little thing? It was obvious how Gi-dam must have lived as his Guide.
Left alone in the lab, Vasily leaned back in his chair and pondered for a long time why he felt such a twisting sensation in his gut.
After a while, Gi-dam and the Attending Physician returned to the lab.
Vasily stepped out into the hallway with the Attending Physician so that Gi-dam wouldn’t hear the results of the examination. Since he still had no intention of revealing the truth about the suppression chip, he planned to hear the results first and only tell Gi-dam what he was allowed to know.
“Fortunately, there are no abnormalities in the brain. However, as you mentioned, he doesn’t remember exactly what happened, and he seems unaware of the suppression chip. It appears he lost some memories due to the shock of the suppression chip exploding.”
“So, how can he get his memories back?”
“It is difficult to give a definitive answer. Sometimes they return on their own over time, and in rare cases, memories are recovered after a shock to the head… but they may never return for the rest of his life.”
“For the rest of his life?”
Vasily knit his brows. It was already unpleasant not knowing when the memories would return, but to think they might never return at all. Since he hadn’t even considered such a possibility, he couldn’t stop his face from contorting.