BP 19

The thoughtless remark Giju spat out became a catalyst. The bridge of Jae-il’s nose wrinkled slightly.

“At that level, even Gons would go crazy.”

It was the truth. Seeing as a minor bleed had stimulated the sense of smell of an Esper with a matching rate that wasn’t even that high, Gons would be no exception. Jae-il, who had closed the distance under the pretext of checking the wound, felt it more than anyone. A sweet, erotic scent tickled the tip of his nose. The blood-stained interior of the mouth and the twitching tongue lingered before his eyes. Jae-il cupped his jaw, his eyes darting back and forth. A wave of complex emotions surged across his expression.

* * *

The difference between Ji Seung-hyun’s day and night was stark.

“What… are you doing.”

As Jae-il murmured in a highly irritated tone, Seung-hyun, who had been resting his cheek on Jae-il’s stomach, spun his head around. He even rubbed his clear cheek against the stomach as if it were a pillow. Beaming a smile, Seung-hyun seemed not to care whether Jae-il was angry or not. He was in a dream, unaware of Jae-il, and thus in a relaxed and comfortable state.

“You’re awake?”

“…….”

The playful tone alone said it all. Jae-il let his stiff body slump onto the bed and rubbed his eyelids. He felt as if all the blood was draining from his body.

“Haa….”

He let out a deep sigh, but his startled heart did not calm down in the slightest.

Haon was no longer a safe zone. Recently, following Grade 4, Grade 5 and Grade 6 Oni had been appearing, making the Espers’ work much busier. Pulses emitted by Oni of Grade 3 or higher were detected frequently, requiring them to deploy at least once a day. So far, high-level Gons had not appeared, making the disposal of Oni relatively easy, but the frequent appearance of Oni meant the day a Gon would appear was not far off.

The Espers were in a constant state of tension. Today, a large number of Grade 4 Oni had appeared and caused a riot, and coincidentally, because an A-Class Psychic Esper had gone to support another city, they had struggled immensely.

Thanks to the twin Guides and Seung-hyun’s care, Jae-il’s Amplification Hazard Level, which had been fluctuating between 20-30% for a while, had exceeded 80% today. Because of that, the twins had to go through the trouble of providing guiding at the combat site. Since discussions about termination occur when the Amplification Hazard Level exceeds 95%, they had to stop it while it was even slightly lower.

However, because the twins were not in good condition, it took a long time to lower it to 40% this time. After Joy collapsed first, Rowan, who could hold out a bit longer, had no choice but to let go. Seeing Jae-il’s poor condition even after receiving guiding, Daniel hurriedly called Ji Seung-hyun. He even requested that he sleep closely attached this time.

It was another night spent together like that. Ji Seung-hyun racked his brain over exactly how he should be attached on the bed to make it even slightly better. At first, when asked for his hand, he gave it quietly, and their palms overlapped, then they interlaced fingers, and then he held the wrist. But eventually, as if none of it was satisfactory, he asked for permission to close the distance a bit more.

“Esper Ha Jae-il.”

“Yes.”

Ji Seung-hyun’s expression, reflected in the dim light, was more serious than ever. Daniel’s request seemed to have poured oil on his already passionate motivation.

“I think the hand has too small an area. Shouldn’t the shoulders and forearms be touching?”

Meeting Ji Seung-hyun’s wide-awake eyes, Jae-il nodded without much resistance. He was concerned about his own Rut and Ji Seung-hyun’s sleep disorder, but he couldn’t refuse the earnest request. Moreover, symptoms hadn’t appeared during the previous nights they spent together, and above all, Jae-il was too exhausted.

“Let’s do that.”

Having received Jae-il’s consent, Seung-hyun wiggled closer. While constantly feeling awkward about having to sleep in the same bed, and skin-to-skin at that, with a man he was still awkward talking to, he steadfastly fulfilled his duty. Even though he hadn’t visit our siteour site">visit our sitebeen visit our sitea Guide for long, his boldness in diving in without knowing better and his sense of responsibility had to be acknowledged.

On days when the Amplification Level didn’t settle, his body hurt severely. The headaches were also intense. Exhausted from fierce combat, Jae-il’s vision was blurry. After confirming that Seung-hyun lay down beside him with the words, “Excuse me,” he immediately fell into a deep sleep.

He didn’t know how much time had passed. Jae-il snapped his eyes open at a strange pressure felt on his abdomen. Not knowing what was attached to his body, he first became defensive. Jae-il, who was emitting hostility as if ready to attack at any moment, widened his eyes upon discovering Seung-hyun. He had almost kicked him away. Seung-hyun had placed both hands politely on Jae-il’s stomach and had buried his cheek deep into it.

Even when he growled, asking what on earth he was doing, it didn’t work on Ji Seung-hyun. At the absurd behavior of greeting him with a beaming smile, asking if he was awake, Jae-il’s strength completely drained away.

“…….”

He thought that as long as they kept their distance, the symptoms wouldn’t appear, but it seemed that wasn’t the case either. Using the ceiling as a refuge, Jae-il fixed his gaze there, biting his lower lip and twitching his toes. His energy was being sucked out through Seung-hyun’s palms. Once he realized it, he couldn’t push him away further. Right now, Ji Seung-hyun was in a state of sleep and was diligently guiding.

“Did it hurt a lot today?”

“…….”

When Jae-il stubbornly refused to answer, Seung-hyun cast his gaze downward. Blinking his large eyes, he looked quietly at his own fingertips and nodded to himself.

“I’ll get rid of it quickly.”

Having spoken resolutely, he abruptly pulled up Jae-il’s T-shirt. Jae-il, who had been avoiding Seung-hyun, dropped his head at the cool sensation felt below. And he was horrified. To Ji Seung-hyun, for whom guiding was the top priority, there were no boundaries. The moment he kissed the firm, solid abdominal muscles, Jae-il ground his teeth.

There’s a limit to how far you can push things.

Jae-il reached out and grabbed him by the collar. visit Read on Read BL Novelsour siteHis angry grip failed to control [Read on Read BL Novels]its strength. Seung-hyun, who was dragged up, gripped the twisted collar together with Jae-il’s hand.

“…Wake up.”

Jae-il gripped the collar violently, intending to wake Seung-hyun. He should have woken up if treated this roughly, but Seung-hyun only stared blankly at Jae-il with startled eyes. A brief silence passed. Realizing there was no sign that Jae-il would accept him, he looked down and muttered gloomily.

“I just wanted to make it not hurt…….”

Seung-hyun’s face distorted as if he were about to cry, and the rims of his eyes turned red.

“Because it was blocked there… I tried to open it….”

“…….”

Tears that filled up quickly clung to the corners of his eyes before falling heavily. Realizing he was crying, Seung-hyun raised his hand and pressed hard on his eyelids. His fingernails dug in, scratching the skin. It was a sadistic method for an attempt to stop tears from leaking, so Jae-il grabbed both hands and pulled them down at once.

Because Seung-hyun suddenly burst into tears, the plan to wake him up and expose his recent atrocity fell apart. Feeling a tightness in his chest, Jae-il took a deep breath and spoke while suppressing his anger.

“…Then just do the guiding. Don’t do anything reckless.”

“But that… is faster….”

Who doesn’t know that? Just as Jae-il wrinkled the bridge of his nose and was about to put strength into the hand gripping the collar to wake him again, Seung-hyun sniffled and pressed his eyelids again.

“Knowing nothing…. You idiot….”

* * *

For a few days, a peaceful period followed without any monster attacks. Joy, who had only been doing theory lessons, said it was now time. On the way to the assigned room to show a guiding demonstration, Joy showed her tablet to Seung-hyun and spoke.

“The Esper we’re guiding today is a Physical-type B-Class Full House. A matching rate of 70% is considered high. Now you know how high you and Jae-il are, right?”

“Yes, I see.”

“If they don’t use their abilities excessively, the hazard amplification doesn’t rise sharply, but periodic management is a must.”

Opening the door to the Guiding Room and entering, she greeted the Esper.

“Hi.”

“Hi, Joy.”

A white man with light brown hair gave a bright, eye-smiling grin. His build was similar to Jae-il’s, but his impression was softer. The two seemed to be close, exchanging familiar greetings. She approached and gave the man a short kiss on the cheek. Having received the affectionate greeting, the man cast his gaze toward Seung-hyun. Seung-hyun immediately bowed his waist in greeting.

“Who is this? A Guide?”

“My trainee. An A-Class Backsplash who joined this time. I’m going to show a demonstration.”

The man raised an eyebrow and smiled. The corners of his mouth curved attractively.

“Ah, by any chance. Ha Jae-il.”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

Joy nodded. The man’s gaze was still fixed on Seung-hyun. Scanning Seung-hyun’s entire body in a circle, he had a slightly mischievous face.

Joy checked the value of the gear the man was wearing. Flicking her finger, she called Seung-hyun, who was standing behind.

“Rookie, come here.”

“Yes.”

Seung-hyun checked the gear beside Joy. It was 15%. Seung-hyun was inwardly surprised by the value, which was much lower than he expected. He thought it would be high since they were doing guiding, but it wasn’t. Esper Ha Jae-il had never dropped below 20%…. Seung-hyun assumed a serious expression.

“How many percent does it drop to when you guide?”