By Zephyria 
There was no way I could not understand what Vasily was talking about. From the moment my memories returned, his final words had continued to linger in my mind.
Since I could no longer pretend not to know, I finally opened my tightly shut lips.
“Were you… sincere about those words?”
“I have always been sincere.”
Vasily answered firmly. However, even after hearing his response, I couldn’t easily accept it.
“But it’s hard for me to believe.”
“Why can’t you believe it?”
“The idea of an Esper loving someone… I can’t even imagine it.”
Usually, when people look at the one they love, don’t they look at them with eyes full of love, like in the movies? Yet, even at this moment, Vasily was looking at me with eyes that remained coldly sunken.
I knew he hadn’t spoken lightly. But did Vasily even know the emotion called love? He might have simply been confused. Perhaps it was something like possessiveness.
“Is it possible you’re mistaking the comfort you felt while receiving guiding for love?”
“Does Guide Kwon Gi-dam think I’m such a fool that I can’t even distinguish between the two?”
Oops, he’s in a bad mood.
Because our bodies were touching, I could immediately sense the chill leaking from him. The wavelength flowing through the hand on my shoulder surged violently, as if reflecting his mood.
The grip of Vasily’s hand tightened, pressing down so hard that my shoulder began to throb. At the pain that felt as if my bone might dislocate, I reflexively grabbed his wrist.
Vasily looked down at that hand for a moment, slowly pried my hand away, and then kissed my palm.
“…!”
I felt the brush of cold lips and the distinct sensation of a tongue lingering as it swept across. I froze in place at the unfamiliar, ticklish feeling.
Vasily used his teeth to lightly bite my palm. The moment his sharp canines sank into my skin, goosebumps broke out all over my body.
“S-stop… I’ll believe you! I’ll believe you, so please let go—”
Thud. While struggling in shock, I felt myself hit something, and a dull sound echoed.
In the sudden silence that fell, I slowly raised my head. Vasily’s face was turned to the side, and my fist was planted firmly in his cheek. I had intended to shake off his hand, but it seemed I had accidentally punched him in the face.
Gasp… I stiffened, inhaling sharply.
“W-well, why did you do something you don’t normally do…”
As I hesitantly lowered my hand, Vasily slowly turned back to look at me. Fortunately, he didn’t seem angry…
“Since Guide Kwon Gi-dam said he couldn’t believe me, I tried to show you personally. What’s the problem?”
“I’ll believe you, so please stop now.”
I answered, hiding the hand that had been toyed with by Vasily behind me. I didn’t know what he might do if I denied his feelings again.
It might seem like I was conceding too easily, but there was actually a reason for it.
“Well, it’s not like anything changes anyway…”
Even if Vasily truly liked me, our relationship wouldn’t change significantly. It wasn’t as if what Vasily wanted was to hold hands and go on dates like ordinary lovers.
We would be in an Esper and Guide relationship for the rest of our lives. I would always accompany him on his schedule and provide guiding whenever necessary. Even if we held hands, kissed, or sometimes mixed our bodies, it was merely an act for the sake of guiding.
It meant that this relationship would not change just because one side had feelings.
Then couldn’t we just keep going as we are? I might be bothered by the confessions he occasionally made, and Vasily’s obsession might get a bit worse, but it didn’t seem like it would be much different from my daily life until now.
“Why does nothing change?”
Vasily, hearing my mutterings, expressed his doubt.
“Because I don’t like you, Mr. Esper?”
“Why? I don’t think I’m a losing proposition even for Guide Kwon Gi-dam.”
Vasily was genuinely puzzled.
If you thought about it, he was an attractive person as a romantic partner. The title of S-class Esper alone sufficiently explained his strength, and objectively, he had wonderful looks. However, Vasily had a critical flaw.
“What does that matter if your personality is weird?”
“Are you still afraid of me?”
Vasily asked abruptly.
I was always tense in front of him. Vasily must have noticed that this was due to fear toward him.
However, if you asked if I was still afraid of Vasily, the answer was obviously no.
The actions I took to escape him had instead become an opportunity to understand him better. Moreover, the fact that I was the only Guide who could withstand his wavelength… I realized too late why he wouldn’t let me go no matter how much I demanded the termination of the contract, and that such a Vasily would never harm me.
There was no reason to be afraid of a man who clung to me as if pleading for me not to leave, and who now claimed to love me. To the point where I didn’t even want to admit that I had once been afraid of him.
“Regardless, I have no feelings for you. So let’s just stay as we’ve been.”
“No, I believe Guide Kwon Gi-dam feels the same way as I do.”
“On what basis are you saying that?”
It was absurd. Me, loving him? Even if he had made a boring joke, it wouldn’t have been this ridiculous.
As I let out a hollow laugh in disbelief, Vasily stared intently at me. My laughter gradually died down under his unwavering gaze.
A quiet silence and thick tension descended. Vasily, who had been silently observing me, slowly lowered his head. As his face drew closer, I instinctively closed my eyes.
However, no matter how much time passed, not even a cold breath touched my lips. When I softly opened my eyes, Vasily’s face, wearing a smile, was right in front of me.
“Do you still not know?”
“I just closed my eyes for a moment because I felt dizzy from the alcohol…”
“Dizzy, my foot. You were fully expecting it.”
Vasily dropped his head beside me. I stared at the ceiling with a face flushed deep red.
To think I fell for such a prank. I gnashed my teeth as I heard him chuckling quietly in my ear, then let out a deep sigh.
But no matter how much our relationship had improved, I couldn’t like him. It wasn’t easy to forget the things I had endured for six years. The time I spent hating him couldn’t simply vanish.
I muttered softly, as if reminding myself.
“I really dislike you, Mr. Esper.”
“If you wanted me to believe those words, you shouldn’t have come back, Guide Kwon Gi-dam.”
Vasily countered nonchalantly. Honestly, I knew very well that these words lacked persuasiveness.
“Please move out of the way for now.”
When I pushed him away, he stepped back obediently this time. I took the hand he offered and pulled myself up.
As I stood up, I felt a cold liquid under the soles of my feet. Remembering that I had dropped my glass, I checked the floor.
The alcohol I spilled was pooled on the floor. Following the thin trail, my eyes landed on the glass that had rolled into the corner.
Fortunately, it didn’t break. Thinking that cleaning it up would be a hassle and that I should leave the cleanup to Vasily, I said to him: “I’m going in to rest. You should go in and sleep too, Mr. Esper.”
There was still plenty of time before the sun rose. Just as I was about to return to my room to finish resting, Vasily grabbed me.
“Do you have anything more to say?”
“No.”
“Then what is this hand for?”
When I asked, gesturing toward the hand gripping my arm, Vasily answered calmly.
“You told me to go in and sleep.”
“…?”
“But I can only sleep if Guide Kwon Gi-dam is with me.”
I froze upon hearing Vasily’s words. I had dug my own grave.
I realized my slip of the tongue too late, but Vasily had already begun dragging me toward the room.
“W-wait… I didn’t mean you should literally sleep, I meant you should stop and rest!”
“Too late. Since I listened to Guide Kwon Gi-dam, I’ve felt like sleeping.”
I was dragged along like a dog on a leash until I managed to grab the doorframe and hold on. In that state, a tug-of-war ensued between Vasily and me over the ownership of my body.
My arms trembled. Because I happened to grab a smooth part, my hand slowly began to slip. Holding on with just a few fingers, I eventually lost my grip on the doorframe.
“Ugh!”
Vasily, who had approached the bed, pulled me into an embrace and pushed me over. As I fell backward, my body sank deep into the fluffy duvet.
A heavy body pressed down on me. I pounded on his shoulders, telling him to move, but Vasily ignored me and muttered.
“Ah… these clothes are uncomfortable. Will Guide Kwon Gi-dam take them off for me?”
“Take them off yourself!”
“How cold.”
Vasily lifted his body and shrugged off his jacket. Finally able to breathe, I looked toward the door, planning to escape while Vasily was distracted.
However, the frozen door handle caught my eye. Of course. I wondered why he had shown such an easy opening.
“Haa…”
Once I realized I was completely trapped, my will to escape vanished. I would only be able to leave this room after Vasily fell asleep. If I wanted to get out of here, my only option was to put him to sleep.
After tossing his clothes roughly onto the floor, Vasily lay down beside me again. I held my breath, tense and wondering what he might do, but he truly did nothing; he simply closed his eyes and tried to sleep while holding me in his arms.
“Are you just going to sleep like this?”
“Why? Do you have something you want to say?”
“No… it’s nothing.”
I shut my mouth before another unintended situation occurred like before.