By Zephyria 
Returning to my private room, I endlessly refreshed the news page, waiting for the Gate conquest to end. In the midst of this, Vasily, who had been fiddling with his smartphone opposite me, suddenly grinned and spoke.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam, the article from this morning’s interview is up. Go check it.”
As soon as Vasily finished speaking, my smartphone vibrated briefly. The text Vasily sent contained nothing but a solitary link.
Vasily was smiling brightly, clearly plotting something. I glared at his suspicious behavior before clicking the link.
[Vasily prevents hotel collapse while on a date with his lover…]
What, over something like this?
I had anticipated that such an article would appear when I gave my answer, so it didn’t affect me. Furthermore, since the article had been posted after being reviewed by the association, there was no way any strange content had been mixed in.
Seeing my indifferent reaction, Vasily looked genuinely disappointed. Honestly, what kind of reaction was he expecting?
“That’s unexpected. I thought you wouldn’t like the dating rumors.”
“I don’t. So please release a rebuttal article as soon as possible.”
“Then why did you answer that way?”
“I didn’t want the questioning to drag on unnecessarily.”
I figured that if I gave a troubling answer, the association would handle the situation on their own. And that is exactly what happened.
Vasily nodded as if he understood. I thought his curiosity had been satisfied, but he asked another question.
“So, are you really not going to tell me how you knew the Gate was opening?”
“Didn’t we agree that you wouldn’t ask anymore?”
Do you know what I had to do to get that condition? When I frowned, Vasily let out a faint laugh and shut his mouth.
I let out a short breath and checked the time. Even though it had already become dawn, there was still no news that the Gate had been conquered.
The conquest needs to end quickly. I clicked my tongue, gauging my physical condition.
The back of my neck had been burning for a while. It seemed the suppression chip had been stimulated just by my lips briefly touching Vasily’s.
Not knowing that my outing would be so long, I hadn’t brought my medicine. To make matters worse, I had taken the last emergency pill kept in my private room a few days ago.
As my condition worsened, my body declared a strike. The back of my neck throbbed, and my eyelids felt as heavy as lead. As time passed, the fever grew more intense.
My head was foggy. Even though I knew I shouldn’t fall asleep like this, I eventually closed my eyes.
* * *
“Ugh…”
I opened my eyes, feeling a throbbing headache.
The pain that assaulted me the moment I woke up made me deeply regret falling asleep yesterday. I should have held out somehow, taken my medicine, and then slept.
I was lying in bed. As my vision gradually cleared, what unfolded before my eyes was a vast mass of muscle.
Lifting my head, I saw Vasily sleeping with his eyes gently closed. Wait, Vasily is asleep?
“Esper Vasily! How can you be sleeping!”
“…My head is ringing, so be quiet.”
I bolted upright and hurriedly shook Vasily awake. Having his sleep interrupted, Vasily opened his eyes, his brow furrowing menacingly.
“Exactly how long have you been sleeping? No, that’s not what’s important right now; we have to return to the hotel before the ice melts—”
“Don’t worry. The Gate conquest was completed a while ago.”
“Then the building…”
“While Guide Kwon Gi-dam was sleeping, the association contacted me saying they would resolve it by borrowing the abilities of other Espers.”
Ah, if that’s the case… I shut my mouth, relieved.
“If you understand, sleep a bit more.”
“But why were you holding me? It feels like you’ve been receiving guiding for over an hour.”
“Don’t you remember? When I laid you on the bed, you were the one who grabbed onto me and wouldn’t let go, Guide Kwon Gi-dam.”
“….”
Come to think of it, because of the fever from the suppression chip, I think I clung to Vasily in my sleep seeking a cool sensation. As the forgotten memory resurfaced, I was left speechless.
As the drowsiness gradually faded, a dull pain was felt late in the back of my neck. I tentatively reached back to touch it, then pulled my hand away in surprise. It was so hot it felt as if the suppression chip would explode at any moment. To the point where I wondered if my brain was being cooked.
I think I need to go home quickly before the situation becomes more serious.
The pain had been intensifying since I woke up. I urgently spoke to Vasily, who had closed his eyes as if trying to go back to sleep.
“Esper, I think I need to go home.”
“Let’s go after a little while. Guide Kwon Gi-dam might have slept enough, but I just lay down.”
“…I think my suppression chip is going to explode.”
The moment I finished speaking, Vasily’s eyes snapped open.
He turned his head to examine my complexion and knit his brows. Perhaps my condition looked unusual, as he immediately sat up.
“Can you walk?”
I silently shook my head. Without hesitation, Vasily got out of bed and scooped me up in his arms.
Feeling his firm arms supporting my body, I wrapped my arms around his neck. His cold body temperature cooled down my feverish body.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam is more high-maintenance than I thought.”
“Is that an insult?”
“I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”
Regardless, my body felt like a ball of fire. Even though I knew my condition would worsen if I touched Vasily, I couldn’t give up on cooling my fever against his cold body.
I leaned my head against his broad shoulder and pressed my body closer.
Since I had always taken medicine before the symptoms flared up, it had been a long time since I had suffered from pain to this extent. It would only take ten minutes to reach home, but even that short time was unbearable for me.
‘Come to think of it, did they say the ingredients of the medicine were an Esper’s blood?’
Why did that thought suddenly occur to me?
It was probably because Huai Yan and Vasily were both S-Class. It wasn’t that Vasily’s blood was in the medicine, but since he was an S-class Esper, wouldn’t the effect be similar? If so, drinking Vasily’s blood might soothe the symptoms.
My head was dizzy, making it hard to think deeply. Instead, I put it into action immediately.
“Esper Vasily.”
Hearing his name, Vasily looked down. I bit hard into his lips, which had come close to my eyes.
It was difficult to leave a scratch on his body even with most weapons, but if it was a tender area like the lips, I could wound him as much as I wanted. I had confirmed it myself yesterday.
Crunch. The lip burst, and blood leaked out. Vasily, who had been reaching for the doorknob to leave the private room, paused.
Vasily’s body, holding me in his arms, gradually stiffened, but I didn’t care and licked the blood flowing from his lips. The cool blood moistened my parched mouth, and my thirst subsided.
Vasily, who had remained tight-lipped throughout, muttered softly.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam, this is problematic.”
“Haa…”
Even after hearing the low warning, I couldn’t stop licking his lips. Because the blood was gradually stopping as the wound seemed to be healing already. To drink even a bit more blood, I nibbled on Vasily’s lips.
As I swallowed the blood he shed, the symptoms began to subside rapidly. Before I could even be happy that my hypothesis was correct, the situation shifted in an instant.
Thump!
My back hit the private room door hard. Vasily, who had pushed me against the hard door, swallowed my lips roughly as if to devour them.
“Ngh, mmp…”
As a cold tongue suddenly pushed into my mouth, my foggy head cleared, and I snapped back to my senses.
“Ngh, wait…”
I turned my head and barely managed to avoid his lips. I barely caught my breath, but immediately, Vasily sank his teeth into my neck.
“Ack!”
A sharp pain spread as teeth dug into my flesh. Only then did I realize. I had touched something that should not be touched.