By Zephyria 
What happened during the summer of the first year I matched with Vasily?
Pushed aside by the grueling memories of fighting for my life inside Gates, the various incidents, large and small, didn’t come to mind easily.
After recalling a long string of hardships, one finally surfaced. Come to think of it, around this time, there was an A-rank Gate that appeared in the high seas of the West Sea, which was cleared during a joint exercise with China.
Since the two countries had to conquer the Gate together, they had to coordinate personnel, schedules, and plans. To that end, a meeting with the Chinese side was scheduled to be held soon.
I wondered if I would be attending the meeting again, following Vasily.
At the time, I had been obsessed with the compulsion that I had to enter the Gate and fight monsters, so I didn’t remember the content or atmosphere of that day’s meeting very well. I only vaguely recalled desperately scanning through the Gate materials created based on information brought back by the first dispatched team.
The Gate was… well.
Back then, my skills were still immature. About half a day after entering, I almost lost an arm and passed out for a while. I woke up toward the end of the conquest, carried like a piece of luggage on Vasily’s shoulder.
If I were to conquer that Gate now, it might be a bit different, but that didn’t mean I had any desire to enter a Gate and prove my skills myself.
As the sun rose, the sky gradually brightened.
Now, the organization was more or less complete. I had recalled a few incidents and Gates that had occurred in the first year I awakened as a Guide. The problem was that the timing wasn’t exact, but since Vasily was right next to me, I could just use his authority to monitor the Gates that had opened nationwide.
Just then, the area near the Gate began to get busy. It seemed the conquest was finally over.
Ah, that was long. I thought I was going to die of boredom enduring several hours without a smartphone.
“Did you wait long?”
“Not that long.”
After a short while, Vasily returned. As the driver’s side door opened and Vasily climbed into the car, the first thing I did was check his condition with my eyes.
Vasily was so clean it was hard to believe he had just come back from a Gate. There wasn’t even dirt on his shoes, and his crisp suit remained without a single wrinkle. His complexion, which had improved since he started receiving guiding from me, was still glowing.
He was the complete opposite of me, who looked haggard from a lack of proper sleep. I stared at my gaunt face reflected occasionally in the glass before asking Vasily.
“Esper Vasily, is there a scheduled Gate conquest with foreign Espers?”
“Yes, there is a joint Gate exercise with China next week.”
Vasily answered with a slight nod while holding the steering wheel.
“I was planning to tell you, but how did you know?”
“I asked because I felt like there were periodic joint Gate exercises with foreign countries around this time.”
When I mentioned a schedule he had never told me about, Vasily asked back, looking puzzled. I felt a momentary surge of tension, but fortunately, since it was true that there were exercises around this time, Vasily didn’t pry further.
Feeling his suspicion ease slightly, I continued my questioning.
“When is the meeting?”
“This Sunday.”
I thought it would be soon, but it was much closer than I expected. I nodded, thinking I should check the schedule along with the incidents I had organized as soon as I got home, when Vasily quietly added a comment.
“Just so you know, I’m not taking Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi to the meeting.”
“Huh? Really?”
…What’s gotten into him?
He had practically dragged me along to this Gate just because he thought I might run away. I was puzzled as to why he suddenly decided not to take me to the meeting when he usually took me everywhere.
“Why aren’t you taking me?”
“It’s better for Guides not to go. Many Espers will be attending, so the atmosphere will be chaotic.”
True, usually, Guides aren’t brought to conquest meetings.
Before the regression, I was in a special situation where I had to enter the Gates myself, so I had attended every conquest meeting with Vasily. Now that the situation had changed, it seemed I was excluded from the meetings. If I could skip a meeting filled with tension, I was perfectly fine with it.
Before I knew it, the sun had fully risen. I gazed blankly at the bright sky and suddenly realized we were passing a familiar place. This is near the Association.
“Are we going to the Association just like this?”
“I didn’t plan on going to work since I’ve been at a Gate since dawn… do you want to go?”
“No. Let’s just go home.”
He asked me even though he knew perfectly well that there was no way I’d want to go to the Association dressed in pajamas. When I shook my head in disgust, Vasily chuckled softly.
Whether the paths simply overlapped or not, we passed the Association and arrived home shortly after. After stopping in the apartment’s underground parking lot, I hesitated as I was about to get out of the car.
‘Come to think of it, I don’t have shoes.’
Was I supposed to cross the parking lot floor barefoot to go up to the house? I hesitated, imagining my soles turning pitch black by the time I reached home.
“What’s wrong?”
When I didn’t get out of the car, Vasily approached the passenger side and asked.
“I… don’t have shoes.”
Only then did Vasily seem to remember that he had kidnapped me without even shoes, and his gaze shifted to my feet.
“Shall I help you?”
“Are you going to take off your own shoes for me, Esper-nim?”
“I can just carry you in my arms, just like when you left the house.”
Vasily opened his arms with a beaming smile, as if it were an easy solution. My face was the only thing that crumpled miserably while watching him.
“I’d rather go barefoot.”
“I’m joking.”
As I extended my foot as if to jump out of the car immediately, Vasily stopped me.
His silver-gray eyes shimmered blue. It was a signal that he was using his ability. Cold air swirled within his palm and quickly began to take shape.
“Here, wear these.”
Soon, a pair of slippers made of ice was placed before me.
“Even if they’re cold, it’s better than nothing, right?”
“…Yes.”
Literally, they were just “better than nothing.”
I carefully slid my feet in. The ice shoes fit my feet surprisingly well. It was just a shoe size, but it felt like he knew everything about me, which made me feel strangely uneasy.
“How are they?”
“Uncomfortable.”
It was a short and concise review. Since they were made of ice, they were hard and, naturally, cold.
Still, since they were ice created by Vasily, I didn’t have to worry about them melting until I reached the house. Rather, the problem was on my end. I had to get up to the house quickly before the soles of my feet froze.
“You take the blanket, Esper-nim.”
Being in a position where I had to limp along in hard indoor shoes, I couldn’t carry a blanket as well. When I took the blanket from the passenger seat and shoved it into his arms, Vasily obediently accepted it.
As soon as I took the elevator up to my home, I headed straight for the bathroom.
I turned on the shower and thawed my frozen feet with hot water. Because I had walked on ice barefoot without socks, my feet had turned bright red in a short time. As the skin slowly thawed, the soles of my feet began to tingle.
After warming my feet sufficiently, I dried them and stepped out. Vasily was waiting for me in front of the bathroom, still holding the blanket.
“What are you going to do now?”
“I’m going to finish sleeping, obviously.”
I had been yawning for a while. Because Vasily had kidnapped me while I was fast asleep, I had only managed three hours of sleep. Thanks to that, I was terribly exhausted.
Taking the blanket from Vasily, I entered my room, leaving him behind. I threw myself onto the bed with the blanket and closed my eyes, but…
I couldn’t fall asleep.
“…”
Strong sunlight pouring in from outside the window pierced through my eyelids. Vasily’s room and the living room had blackout curtains, but this room had none. Even with my eyes closed, it didn’t feel like they were closed, so it was impossible to sleep.
Sleeping is out of the question. I sighed and sat up.
“Maybe I’ll go get some exercise…”
The weather was nice, so instead of staying cooped up in the house, I thought it would be good to go for a light run. After exercising, my body, which had become stiff from sitting in the car for so long, would loosen up, and I’d wake up.
I changed into workout clothes and left the room.
Returning to the entrance, I saw the ice slippers I had worn up still sitting there. They would probably melt and disappear on their own once Vasily fell asleep. Without paying them any mind, I put on the sneakers placed next to them.
After tying the laces tight, I paused just as I was about to put my hand on the doorknob. The doorknob was frozen.
And there was a chilly coldness felt from somewhere.
Turning around, I saw Vasily, who had approached without a sound, leaning against the wall. An expression devoid of laughter. His gaze was cold. Everything was written on his face—whatever misunderstanding he was having.
“Are you trying to run away?”
As expected.
I let out a hollow laugh and asked him back.
“Does this look like the attire of someone trying to escape?”
I wasn’t carrying a bag; all I had in my hand was a bottle of water from the refrigerator. I was wearing a tracksuit; how on earth did I look like someone trying to run away?
“A Guide who said they were going to sleep is leaving without a word; isn’t it natural to be suspicious?”
“I’m just going for a light lap.”
“Who knows. You might just not come back.”
“If you really can’t trust me, you can come with me.”
“…”
Vasily fell silent.
Silence flowed through the chilly air. A gaze that felt like it could freeze me tightened around my neck, but I didn’t back down and faced him.
“I’d like to, but…”
Vasily’s gaze shifted toward the window.
At the end of his gaze, an exceptionally clear sky stretched out today. He stared at the cloudless sky for a long time before speaking quietly.
“Unfortunately, the sunlight is too strong for me to wander around outside.”
Crack.
The sound of something breaking was heard. Looking down toward the sound, I saw the ice slippers at my feet shattered into pieces. The ice covering the doorknob also cracked, and fragments were clattering down to the floor.