Chapter 59 – GOY 59
#59
At that moment, Joo Seung-hyuk burrowed into my embrace.
“Going to sleep?”
“No. I’m rubbing my pheromones on you.”
“…….”
Is that something to say so confidently?
I take back saying he’s comfortable. When you’re [stolen content]with an Obsessive Madman, you [unauthorized copy][stolen content]can’t let your guard down for a single second.
“I-I see.”
“Do you hate it?”
“No. I was just wondering if the pheromones stick better if you do it like that.”
Joo Seung-hyuk was rubbing his head against my chest.
“No. The posture doesn’t matter.”
“Then why…?”
“Because I like being like this with Hyung.”
He gave a beaming smile. [unauthorized copy]The moment I saw that visit our sitepure, innocent smile, my heart sank.
Right now, Joo Seung-hyuk is just acting cute while pretending to be naive. Even knowing that, my heart somehow softened.
“And I feel like I especially need to mark my territory today.”
“Huh?”
Joo Seung-hyuk’s face drew closer. Don’t tell me, in the car…? Startled, I jerked my body back. In that instant, Joo Seung-hyuk’s gaze suddenly turned cold.
Without realizing it, I had rejected the Obsessive Madman.
Joo Seung-hyuk had been gentle lately. But that was strictly because I had been obedient.
I had never defied his words, and I had never once said no.
“S-Seung-hyuk-ah!”
I tried to offer a hurried excuse, but the car came to a stop. The bus had arrived at the rest area.
“We will take a 20-minute break at the rest area. Please board the bus by 30 minutes past. For every minute you are late, one point will be deducted.”
After the assistant gave the instructions, people began to get off the bus one by one. Joo Seung-hyuk stood up as well.
“Let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
Relieved that Joo Seung-hyuk was still using formal language, I jumped up quickly.
Perhaps because it was a weekday afternoon, the rest area was quiet. By the time I returned from the restroom, 12 minutes remained.
“The timing is awkward. Right?”
“Yes.”
He answered curtly. I couldn’t tell if it was because he was angry or if this was just his usual self. He wasn’t exactly a talkative person to begin with.
“Want to eat something?”
“Are you hungry?”
“No. I’m fine.”
“I’m fine too.”
The short answers continued.
“Then shall we have a drink? I’ll buy.”
“Hyung wants to buy for me?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“I made a mistake earlier.”
“What mistake?”
“Sorry. I didn’t avoid you on purpose. I was just embarrassed.”
Joo Seung-hyuk pressed down on my head and ruffled my hair.
“Since I messed up, you should have something expensive.”
“Yeah! Eat something expensive!”
To think he would overlook my upsetting the Obsessive Madman’s mood with just a drink—how generous.
I tried to enter the cafe next to us. However, Joo Seung-hyuk turned around and walked toward the convenience store.
“Seung-hyuk-ah, we could go to the cafe….”
“I prefer here.”
He strode toward the beverage refrigerator and picked one without hesitation.
Looking at the drink in Joo Seung-hyuk’s hand, I was momentarily speechless. It was the same grapefruit juice I had bought him four years ago. Even the advertisement claiming it was 100% cold-pressed juice was the same.
“…You’re going with that?”
“Yes.”
Joo Seung-hyuk headed for the counter. I quickly grabbed the same grapefruit juice and followed behind him. Naturally, I paid with my card.
It was a check card linked to a different account, not the one Joo Seung-hyuk knew about. The 110 million won he had deposited remained untouched in the account.
After leaving the convenience store, we sat side by side on a nearby bench.
“It’s nice here.”
I looked around. It was a spot decorated like a garden on one side of the rest area; with green leaves and small flowers blending together, a peaceful atmosphere flowed as if we were in a forest.
“It is.”
Joo Seung-hyuk drank the grapefruit juice. The [Read on Read BL Novels]combination of the refreshing reddish-orange liquid and the [unauthorized copy]Obsessive Madman was terribly dissonant.
“…Seung-hyuk-ah, do you like juice?”
“I only drink this one. I used to hate it, but after trying it, I found it delicious.”
So he did drink the juice I gave him back then…. I thought it would have gone straight into the trash.
“By the way, Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“Why was it grapefruit?”
“…….”
His voice was nonchalant, like a [visit our site]stone tossed into a calm lake. However, it created [visit our site]deep ripples in my chest.
Joo Seung-hyuk was asking about the past. He had mentioned it in passing before, but this was the first time he had brought it up so explicitly.
It was an unspoken rule between us not to talk about things before our first relationship. But Joo Seung-hyuk was trying to break it.
And if Joo Seung-hyuk wanted it, I had no choice but to accept.
“Because it seemed more sophisticated than other juices….”
And I thought he wouldn’t get angry, asking why I brought something as pathetic as this….
I swallowed the rest of my words. There was no need to go that far.
“…….”
Joo Seung-hyuk remained silent for a moment. Was it [visit our site]not the answer he wanted? But I couldn’t make something up.
I drank the grapefruit juice while looking at the flowers blooming on the trees. A faint scent of flowers wafted whenever the wind blew.
It was almost time to go.
“Shall we?”
As I tried to stand up, my nape was grabbed and our lips overlapped. Every time his tongue and mine intertwined, the bitter taste of grapefruit spread.
After getting off the bus and walking toward the gate, I saw Aaron.
I thought he had gone back because he was angry, but it seemed he had arrived first in his own car.
Aaron was with Professor Oh.
“Guides these days are weak and selfish! Guides must also participate in the gate! By simply sitting in a safe place Read on Read BL Novelsand holding [Read on Read BL Novels]hands, they earn vast sums of money that ordinary workers couldn’t even dream of! This doesn’t happen in America.”
Professor Oh was putting on a show in front of reporters again today. He’s always like that. He criticizes Ability Users with plausible words and uses that as fuel to gain fame for himself.
He isn’t actually talking about the problems within the Ability User industry. He simply spouts polished words that the public likes to hear for his own benefit.
Lies like ‘This doesn’t happen abroad,’ or impossible claims like ‘Even a D-Class can surpass an S-Class if they work hard!’
In reality, many students entered the Esper Academy believing Professor Oh’s words, only to face reality and fall into despair. And to the students who confess the despair they’ve experienced, Professor Oh’s followers say:
‘It’s probably because your effort was lacking. Professor Oh Seok-gwang said everything can be overcome with effort. Rank is just an excuse.’
It’s a vicious cycle. I heard that a few years ago, a student even attempted suicide because of this. Fortunately, they survived, but that student eventually dropped out just before graduation.
“The Esper Academy is also a problem! Instead of pointing out and educating the selfish behavior of Guides, they are merely walking on eggshells around the S-Class Guide!”
Right now, I was the only S-Class Guide at the Esper Academy. Professor Oh was attacking me.
Now he’s doing this outside of school, too.
Moreover, this was practically grouping all the professors of the Academy together with me.
Why is he doing this? Does he intend to alienate the Academy? Is he really going to the Center? But the Ability User Department, the Center, and the Esper Academy are all government-affiliated agencies, practically one body.
There should be no reason to make the Academy professors his enemies….
The intensity of his remarks was stronger than usual today, and the atmosphere felt strange.
Professor Oh, who had been delivering a grand speech in a solemn voice, suddenly changed his expression and looked at Aaron beside him with a gentle gaze.
“I cannot express how fortunate I am that a wonderful Guide like Han Min-ho has come in a situation like this.”
When he praised him, Aaron gave a shy smile. They’re quite a pair. It seems like there’s something more to it [unauthorized copy]than just helping Aaron get into the Academy….
“Oh! It’s Joo Seung-hyuk and Lee Yeon-soo!”
When a reporter shouted, everyone looked our way. Forgetting that they were in the middle of an interview with Professor Oh, they swarmed toward us.
“Reports say the two of you are dating, is that true?”
“There are rumors that you gifted a high-priced treasure to Guide Lee Yeon-soo.”
“Are you really dating?”
As the reporters rushed in, I instinctively shrank back. Being an S-Class, I was often in the spotlight, but I could never get used to this kind of attention.
Moreover, I was scared. What if Joo Seung-hyuk said something irrecoverable, like marriage, right here?
I cautiously checked Joo Seung-hyuk’s reaction, and he wrapped his arm around my Read on Read BL Novelsshoulder protectively.
“We are about to begin an actual Gate Raid. Please refrain from useless questions.”
As Joo Seung-hyuk spat out the words coldly, the reporters shut their mouths. I always feel it, but there is an irresistible power in Joo Seung-hyuk’s words.
Even Professor Oh and Aaron couldn’t treat him carelessly. In the heavy silence, Kang In-ho spoke to the assistant in a nonchalant voice.
“Assistant, please proceed with the equipment check.”
“Ah, right. We will begin the equipment check. Espers, please go to the navy blue tent on the right; Guides, please go to the Guiding tent on the left.”
The students moved according to the assistant’s words. However, Joo Seung-hyuk kept his arm around my shoulder.
“Seung-hyuk-ah, I have to go too.”
When I spoke cautiously, Joo Seung-hyuk slowly released my shoulder.
“See you in a bit.”
I was only going for an equipment check, but his voice was unnecessarily affectionate. However, I played along and gave him a longing look.
“Yeah. Seung-hyuk-ah, see you in a bit.”
“Yes.”
Joo Seung-hyuk held my hand before slowly letting go. After barely escaping him and heading to the Guiding tent, Ji-hee noona slid up beside me and whispered.
“You’re at a lovely age.”
“It’s not like that.”
“What do you mean ‘not’? I’m jealous. So jealous. It’s springtime.”
Jealous? Joo Seung-hyuk is an Obsessive Madman! He’s a man who gifts you the Siberian tundra, not springtime!
But I couldn’t say such things to Ji-hee noona.
We lined up and underwent the equipment check one by one.
The equipment check for Espers and Guides is completely different. For Espers, they meticulously check if they have the proper weapons, armor, and accessories, the rank and condition of the weapons, and if it is their primary weapon.
However, for Guides, it was limited to a rough check of whether they were carrying a weapon.
In practical training, it was rare for a Guide to enter a gate, and even if they did, they were under the protection of an Esper. Consequently, there was no need to use a weapon.
Still, since it was school training, they checked the equipment as a formality; if it were a guild, they would have just skipped it.
Currently, in my briefcase, there were two guns: the basic pistol provided by the stolen contentschool and the Pistol of Horaitron that Joo Seung-hyuk had gifted me.
Because I didn’t want to show the ring’s ability to others, I had taken it off before going to the rest area.
The principle was to report any treasures found during a Gate Raid to the government. Naturally, rumors would spread externally. However, I had never heard of this ring once.
It must have been a secret he told no one. He gave such a thing to me.
Of course, he didn’t explicitly ask me to keep it a secret, but I wanted to be careful not to let others find out.
If they didn’t know its special function, it would just look like an ordinary, expensive piece of jewelry.
“Guide Lee Yeon-soo.”
“Yes.”
The line moved quickly, and finally, my turn came.
The basic pistol and the Pistol of Horaitron—which weapon should I take out?
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