By Zephyria 
To be honest, I was a little curious. It was the first time I had heard a personal story from Vasily.
Before the regression, we might have thought we knew each other well. But that was a delusion. Since we never mentioned anything about our private lives, it would be more accurate to say our relationship was no different from that of strangers.
“Well… I’ll think about it.”
“Try to think about it in a positive direction. As Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi said, I think it would be nice for the two of us to go and rest alone.”
Vasily answered in a pleasant voice, pressing his weight firmly into the embrace he had around me. I staggered violently, barely managing to keep my balance by putting strength into my legs.
“You’re heavy, so stop pressing… It’s hard to stand!”
“Then shall we do the guiding while sitting?”
“That’s not what I meant—ugh!”
Suddenly, my feet left the ground. Vasily scooped me up in his arms and sat down on the chair just like that.
As our bodies pressed together, I felt a familiar presence beneath my hips. I tried to push away from his hard chest and stand up to escape the weapon I was sitting on. However, the arms wrapped around my back didn’t budge an inch.
“Don’t struggle too much. The device will fall off.”
“It’s because of you, Esper-nim!”
While I was angrily pushing his shoulder, a researcher entered. Even while reattaching the fallen device, they couldn’t bring themselves to look up, seemingly embarrassed.
Nevertheless, the researcher glanced at me every now and then to check my condition. Their eyes looked as if they were wondering how I was still perfectly fine.
Once the researcher left, the examination resumed.
If I struggled like before, the device would probably fall off again. Since I didn’t want the examination to drag on, I had no choice but to sit quietly on Vasily’s lap.
His cold, hard body couldn’t be called comfortable, even as a white lie. If warm air hadn’t been blowing from the heater on the ceiling, I would have been shaking too much to proceed with the exam.
Gradually, the tension eased. As I leaned my body still, the wavelength flowed in like a tide. Perhaps because the suppression chip was completely gone, the sensation was identical to when I guided him before the regression.
I could clearly feel the cold energy flowing through my body. At first, the intensity of the powerful surge felt overwhelming, but as the guiding continued, I became calm along with the stabilizing wavelength. Prolonged contact no longer caused headaches or made the nape of my neck burn.
While I was adapting to the sensation that had become unfamiliar, Vasily suddenly spoke.
“It seems like there’s a problem outside.”
A problem?
When I looked up, I saw Vasily staring through the glass.
Since I was sitting facing him, my back was to the glass that offered a clear view of the outside of the examination room. Puzzled, I looked back and saw people gathered in front of the monitor displaying the values, whispering just as Vasily had said.
I couldn’t hear the conversations happening outside from within the room, so I didn’t know what they were talking about. As I waited in silence, the Attending Physician spoke into the microphone.
[I’m sorry, but it seems there is a problem with the machine. We will pause the examination for a moment.]
Ah, I finally realized the situation. They must have seen the abnormally high guiding values recorded during the exam and assumed it was an error.
Their misunderstanding was a perfectly normal reaction. They could never have imagined that I, who had been judged as C-class after awakening, was actually an S-class guide. Only Vasily, who knew the truth, watched the scene with composure.
My eyes met Vasily’s.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Do you have something to say?”
“It’s nothing.”
Vasily must have heard everything they were saying outside. And yet, he didn’t give me any hint. The look I gave him couldn’t have been kind.
I stood up, removing the devices attached to my body.
“I’ll be right back. Esper-nim, please stay here.”
Leaving Vasily alone by the measuring machine, I stepped outside. As I approached the researchers gathered near the monitor, the Attending Physician, who had been examining the values with them, noticed me and apologized.
“Ah, Guide-nim. I’m sorry. Everything was working fine until yesterday, but it seems the machine has malfunctioned due to Esper Vasily’s wavelength.”
As expected, they hadn’t realized at all that the machine wasn’t the problem. I took a breath and spoke calmly.
“It’s probably not a machine problem.”
“Pardon? How do you know that?”
“I am an S-class guide. I apologize for the delay in telling you.”
“S-class…”
The Attending Physician muttered softly.
I thought they would be surprised or shocked, but instead, I received a skeptical reaction. Was my word lacking credibility because I had lost my memory until recently? On top of that, it seemed I had given the impression that my memory was still not functioning normally.
Just then, I felt a familiar gaze from behind. Vasily, who had followed me out at some point, was leaning against the doorway, watching me. When I looked at him with a displeased expression, Vasily finally spoke.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam is indeed an S-class.”
“If even the Esper-nim says so…”
Once Vasily added his word, the Attending Physician finally began to accept it.
I wondered if I should go back into the examination room now. It was while I was subtly gauging the atmosphere.
“How did you find out, Guide-nim? You were clearly rated as C-class in the examination immediately after awakening.”
“I… found out somehow.”
“Somehow…”
As I unnaturally avoided the Attending Physician’s gaze, my eyes locked with Vasily’s. He had an expression that said he found this absolutely hilarious.
“Is this the first or second time my guide has done something unexpected? Right, Guide Kwon Gi-dam?”
I glared at Vasily for his suggestive words. If I had truly lost the memory of telling him my real rank, I would have been flustered and wouldn’t have known what to do in this situation.
Although I had made an excuse for now, the Attending Physician would soon realize it was because of the suppression chip. Since they knew I had used the chip to fake my matching rate, they would be able to deduce the cause quickly with a bit of deep thought.
“If Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi is truly an S-class, then the machine must not be malfunctioning. We will resume the examination for now.”
I nodded and entered the examination room again.
While the researchers were attaching the devices, I asked Vasily.
“Why aren’t you surprised, Esper-nim?”
“Because I expected it.”
Expected my foot. He couldn’t even hide the corner of his mouth curling up when I revealed I was an S-class.
I had asked the question out of curiosity to see what answer he would give, but I was appalled by his high-level lying skills.
Even if Vasily had deceived me about things until now, I surely would have missed it and let it slide. I began to doubt every conversation I had ever had with him.
After confirming the machine was working, I faced Vasily.
As I tried to embrace him while standing, Vasily looked at the chair next to us and asked.
“Isn’t it more comfortable to guide while sitting?”
“No, it’s more uncomfortable.”
Because of the object touching my buttocks, far from being comfortable, it was like sitting on a bed of nails. It wasn’t a size that could be ignored, either…
I turned my head and glanced at the examination room through the glass. The Attending Physician and the researchers were huddled in front of the monitor, checking the guiding values with looks of wonder. Seeing that the association staff hadn’t been visible for a while, it seemed they had gone to report to their superiors.
“Sigh…”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.”
Now, there was truly no turning back.
My mind was a bit complicated, but I didn’t feel bad. From the moment I decided to remove the suppression chip, I had resolved to become his guide.
Right, since it’s come to this, it would be best to make things clear.