By Zephyria 
Gi-dam was sitting across from Vasily at the dining table, eating a late breakfast that was practically lunch.
Despite having drunk alcohol at dawn, Vasily had tried to head to a restaurant as usual, but Gi-dam insisted that was absolutely out of the question and opened a delivery app. It would have been nice if there were ramen at home, but it was hard to expect such things in a house where not even a single piece of tableware was in sight.
What he chose was Jjamppong. As the red, spicy broth went down, his stomach, which had been churning due to the whiskey, felt refreshed.
After diligently working his wooden chopsticks, he looked up. Vasily, sitting opposite him, was elegantly picking up noodles.
They were clearly eating the same Jjamppong, so why did he exude an aura as if he were eating pasta alone? Gi-dam stared at him with a sour expression, chewing his food slowly.
Sensing his gaze, Vasily spoke.
“I received a call from the Chairman of the association earlier; he said he would like to see us today.”
It wasn’t surprising news. He wasn’t the only one anxious to broadcast the fact that a Guide with a high matching rate had finally appeared for Vasily.
An S-Class Guide had emerged in Korea. Moreover, one with a high matching rate with Vasily. Unless another Guide was found, Vasily could not escape Gi-dam, meaning he was practically becoming affiliated with Korea now.
The association, having heard of his rank and matching rate, was likely in a festive mood by now. They had gained an S-Class Guide and Vasily as a bonus. They probably wanted to announce it to the world as soon as possible to take all the credit.
“Then, do you intend to stay in Korea from now on?”
“I should. Provided Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi has no intention of leaving this place.”
“I plan to live in Korea until the day I die.”
“Then I suppose I must stay in Korea for the rest of my life as well,” Vasily answered readily.
For an Esper with such powerful abilities, deciding to be affiliated with a small country like Korea couldn’t be a simple decision, yet the answer flowed out easily, as if he had already thought about it long ago.
Gi-dam finished the last of the broth and stood up.
“Then let’s go to the association right away.”
“I thought you’d say you didn’t want to meet them. This is unexpected.”
“It’s better to resolve these things quickly. I detest things becoming tedious because I delayed my answer.”
“I know all too well how persistent the association is.”
If he dragged it out, it was obvious the association would try to come to his house. He also hated the idea of being hounded by messages urging him to meet day and night.
After clearing the table, he went into his room, took out a suit hanging in the closet, put it on, and returned to the living room. Vasily scanned his attire and asked.
“Where is your tie?”
“I intentionally didn’t wear one.”
“Come over here for a moment.”
Vasily naturally led him into his own room.
Passing the bed and entering the dressing room, rows of neatly hung suits came into view. Even in a house without a single dish, Vasily’s dressing room was filled with dark-toned suits.
Perhaps because it was filled with clothes he would normally wear, Gi-dam felt the illusion that Vasily was standing everywhere. Ah, of course, that meant it was extremely uncomfortable.
He wanted to leave quickly…
While Gi-dam stood to one side, Vasily was carefully choosing a tie. Seeing his profoundly serious gaze, Gi-dam finally spoke.
“A tie isn’t necessary. Aren’t we only meeting the Chairman today anyway?”
“Your neck looks empty.”
“Then just pick any of them, why be so cautious…”
He reached out to grab a tie he saw, bypassing Vasily, but Vasily blocked his hand.
“I cannot let my Guide wear just any tie.”
While Gi-dam froze for a moment at the tender tone he had never heard before, Vasily pulled out one next to the tie Gi-dam had tried to grab.
“This one will be good. It matches the suit you’re wearing now.”
Gi-dam quietly lowered his gaze to check the tie in his hand.
The tie he chose was deep blue. Not gray today. Thinking it would probably look better on him than on himself, Gi-dam glanced at him.
“Do you like it?”
After tying the tie for him personally, Vasily stood him in front of the mirror. In the mirror, the reflections of Vasily and Gi-dam stood side by side under the dim lighting.
“It’s just okay.”
With the tie added, it felt very much like they were wearing matching outfits. This was exactly why he didn’t want to wear a tie.
With a highly satisfied expression, Vasily leisurely scanned Gi-dam’s body through the mirror. Gi-dam awkwardly fidgeted with the tie and avoided his gaze.
He felt as if the nape of his neck was burning. He thought for a moment that it must be because of the tie and wanted to loosen it, but fearing that loosening it in front of him would unnecessarily ruin the mood, he left the house as he was.
Not long after they departed for the association, Vasily spoke.
“I haven’t mentioned the suppression chip yet.”
“Then how did you explain the reason the matching rate changed?”
“I told them there must have been a problem with the machine when the first test was conducted.”
It seemed he was being considerate of Gi-dam, as it would be troublesome if it were discovered that he had used an illegal suppression chip. However, Gi-dam had no intention of hiding it for long.
Rather, he planned to reveal soon that he had intentionally manipulated the matching rate through an illegal suppression chip. He felt that revealing the hidden side effects of illegal suppression chips for Espers would help other Guides in similar situations.
While pondering when would be the appropriate time to reveal it, he suddenly remembered the conversation they hadn’t finished yesterday.
“By the way, when are you going to take down the dating rumors? It would be better to correct them before the matching rate is announced.”
“I’m going to leave them as they are.”
“Excuse me…?”
“Is there a need to correct them? They’ll become a fact soon anyway.”
…Why is he so confident? Gi-dam was speechless at his self-assured attitude.
“I have no intention of doing that.”
“Are you still denying it?”
“It’s not that I can’t accept it; it’s just the truth.”
“Well, let’s assume that’s the case.”
A vague response came back, leaving Gi-dam wondering if he had even understood. Furthermore, there was no answer regarding taking down the articles until the end. Realizing that no matter how much he persuaded him, Vasily’s mind wouldn’t change, a sigh escaped him.
“Why are you so obsessed with our relationship? Can’t we just keep going as we have been?”
“The situation has changed now.”
“Do you actually want to date me?”
Vasily, dating like other people? Even as he said it out loud, the absurdity of it made him let out a small chuckle.
“Is there any reason why I wouldn’t want that?”
And at those words, he froze exactly as he was laughing.
Did I… hear that correctly? He turned his head stiffly to look at him, but Vasily sat holding the steering wheel calmly, as if he had never said a word.
“Get out. We’ve arrived.”
Coming back to his senses at Vasily’s words, he realized they had already arrived at the association.
Still unable to recover from the shock, he took the elevator to the highest floor. Upon arriving at the Chairman’s office, the Chairman—whom he was seeing for the second time since his regression—welcomed him and Vasily with a much brighter expression than the first time.
“Haha, you’ve arrived? Please, have a seat.”
He sat side by side with Vasily on the sofa. A cup of warm tea was placed in front of each of them. Drawn by the scent of Earl Grey, he unconsciously lifted the cup to moisten his lips.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi, as you may have heard, there was a change in your rank during the detailed examination conducted yesterday.”
On the document the Chairman presented, an ‘S’ was written largely in the rank column next to his name. And below that, the matching rate test result with Vasily was 91 percent.
Since nothing had changed from the past he knew, he placed the document back on the desk.
“It seems the wavelength was measured incorrectly during the first test. I apologize for the confusion caused by our mistake.”
“It’s fine.”
“Based on these results, we plan to officially announce that Esper Vasily has found a Guide. Do you have anything else to ask?”
“Ah, there is one thing I’m curious about.”
As he spoke, the Chairman became visibly tense.
“Since the rank and matching rate have changed, do we need to rewrite the exclusive contract documents?”
“No, you don’t need to rewrite them. We will handle that on our end.”
The Chairman was noticeably relieved by the simple question. Had he been afraid that Gi-dam would declare he didn’t want to be Vasily’s Guide?
Gi-dam chuckled and leaned back into the sofa. He had already made up his mind before coming, so there was no reason to express dissatisfaction now.
Glancing at Vasily, the Chairman asked cautiously.
“Vasily-nim, then, will you be staying in Korea even after the contract ends…?”
“Yes, it would be best to renew the contract. I look forward to your continued support.”
“Haha! Of course!”
The Chairman was overjoyed. If Vasily and Gi-dam hadn’t been in front of him, he probably would have been jumping up and down.
The Chairman and Vasily began discussing the schedule for the matching rate disclosure. Gi-dam listened to the conversation beside them, moistening his dry throat.
“Then, as you requested, we will disclose the matching rate this evening.”
As the conversation was winding down, he suddenly realized something strange. Until now, they had only discussed the disclosure of the matching rate; there was no mention anywhere of disclosing the rank.
“Are you not disclosing the rank?”
“Yes, that’s correct. The Esper requested that part remain private.”
Vasily wanted his rank to remain undisclosed? Flustered, he looked at the man sitting beside him.