By Zephyria 
While I was staring in shock at the blood pooling on the floor, the Esper who had been watching us—seemingly finally grasping the situation—began to look slowly disgusted.
“Wait… is the vibe right now that I have to participate in the Gate conquest instead of Esper Vasily?”
Vasily’s condition, bleeding profusely, was precarious, but since I had already started this, I had to see it through to the end. I spoke up with the most aggrieved expression I could muster.
“The wound reopened because of you, Esper. Do you really intend to leave like this?”
“Wow, this Guide is just as much of a lunatic.”
The Esper let out a hollow laugh and ran a hand roughly through his hair. He seemed to have realized that I had done something, but since he hadn’t seen it firsthand, he didn’t seem able to confront me openly.
Amidst the tense atmosphere, I continued the battle of wills, refusing to avert my gaze from the Esper, when suddenly the air grew hot. Feeling the heat rush into my nostrils, I turned my head and spotted the S-class Esper from the Chinese side standing at the entrance of the conference room.
He wore a lavish red changpao embroidered with a golden dragon. His presence was so overwhelmingly intense that he drew the eye first, even from a distance.
He was clutching his stomach and laughing hysterically. It seemed he had been watching the situation for a while. Judging by his reaction, he had likely seen everything I did to take Vasily down.
I quietly scanned the surroundings.
Far off, the Chinese S-class Esper was laughing boisterously, and Vasily was collapsed pathetically on the floor, bleeding. The Esper, who had come to taunt us only to find himself about to be dragged into a Gate, stood beside us with a displeased expression.
It was, quite literally… a complete disaster.
But what hurt the most was the look in the eyes of the association employee, who was staring at me as if I were a madman. Witnessing the scene of me slamming a fist into Vasily’s abdomen from a front-row seat had apparently been quite shocking.
It was unfair. I’m not a lunatic like Vasily… it was an unavoidable situation. But since I couldn’t exactly make excuses, I just felt frustrated.
I needed to get out of here before I was misunderstood even further.
“I believe I should take Esper Vasily to the hospital, so I’ll be leaving now. Well then, I’ll leave the Gate in your capable hands.”
I didn’t forget to firmly nail down the responsibility to the Esper before leaving. After confirming that the Esper’s face crumpled in reluctance, I looked back at Vasily.
“Esper Vasily, can you stand up?”
“If Guide Kwon Gi-dam-ssi supports me.”
“…Understood.”
I leaned down and helped Vasily up.
A thick, solid arm draped over my shoulder. I staggered for a moment due to the weight before barely regaining my balance. The body heat transmitted through the thick suit was startlingly cold.
As I hurried to leave the conference room, I ran into the Chinese S-class Esper blocking the door. Although the exit was right there, the Esper and his party were blocking the path, making it impossible to pass.
Surely he’s not going to pick a fight here?
I looked up at the Esper nervously, but surprisingly, he gave a thin smile and politely stepped aside. For a moment, my eyes met his red pupils, which were curved in a sly smirk.
Before I looked away, he said something with his lips, but I couldn’t understand what it meant. Assuming he was just saying goodbye, I gave a short nod and passed by him.
Phew…
Only after getting some distance from the conference room did I breathe a sigh of relief. At any rate, I had successfully dumped the dispatch on someone else, which was a weight off my mind.
“Esper Vasily, you can walk on your own now.”
“Hmm… I think I got hit too hard in the stomach; my legs have no strength.”
“…”
Vasily seemed to have no intention of leaving my side. It was obvious to anyone that he was playing the victim and faking the pain, but when I brought up what happened earlier, he ran out of things to say. Left with no choice, I continued to support him as I spoke.
“Then we’ll head to the association’s emergency room first.”
“The emergency room? I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“If there’s no record of you being hospitalized, the association might try to send you back into the Gate. Let’s make it official, just in case.”
“Hmm…”
“Since we’re going anyway, it would be best to get the wound treated.”
Taking Vasily—who didn’t seem particularly fond of my plan—with me, I headed toward the hospital located inside the association.
Usually, it was always crowded with Espers returning with injuries from Gates, but today it was relatively quiet. It was likely because Vasily had cleared out all the surrounding Gates. Thinking it was a relief that we could get treatment quickly, I approached the reception desk.
“Please write down the patient’s na—”
The employee sitting at the desk held out a piece of paper, then froze the moment they saw Vasily being supported by me. They looked as if they had crashed, mouth slightly agape like a buffering computer.
The people waiting behind them also began to stir upon discovering Vasily. Fortunately, the employee snapped out of it before the situation escalated and hurriedly guided us to a private room.
“It’s been confirmed that Esper Vasily’s Attending Physician is at the association today, so I will bring them here immediately. Please wait here for a moment.”
“Thank you.”
The employee left, and the room fell silent.
It’s a relief there’s an Attending Physician. Even Vasily, who hates it when anyone touches his body, will be docile during treatment if it’s a physician he’s used to. Seeing an Esper who was perfectly fine until Friday suddenly end up in this state, the Attending Physician will probably be quite surprised.
I sat in the chair next to the bed and glanced at Vasily.
His clothes were gradually becoming soaked in blood. Red stains were spreading across the bedsheets. After gauging his mood, I pointed to the wound that had been bothering me and asked.
“This… did I do this?”
“I poked around the wound with ice for dramatic effect.”
“Sigh…”
“Of course, Guide Kwon Gi-dam played a small part too.”
“Ugh…”
When I couldn’t hide the fact that I felt stung, Vasily’s lips curled into a smile. It must be an illusion that his complexion looked particularly pale today as he smiled while bleeding profusely… I cleared my throat and shifted the blame back to him.
“If you had helped me from the side before I had to step in, this wouldn’t have happened.”
If Vasily had just frozen the inside of the conference room as usual instead of me putting on a ridiculous show, the matter would have been resolved much faster.
I still can’t forget the look the employee gave me, as if I were a lunatic. It was the same look I often gave Vasily.
“So, when are you going to give me guiding?”
“…Guiding?”
“My Guide surely doesn’t intend to just let it slide after leaving his own S-class Esper in this state, right?”
I tried to brush it off, but I found myself unable to utter a word and shut my mouth.
“…Understood.”
After nodding, I climbed onto the lap of Vasily, who was leaning his back against the headboard. As I leaned in to begin guiding, Vasily pushed me back gently and spoke.
“You have to take off my clothes first.”
“Do I have to do that too?”
“I’m a patient, so I can’t move.”
Damn it… anyway, since I made him like this, I have to take responsibility. I removed his jacket and vest, and finally, my hand reached the buttons of his shirt.
Why are there so many buttons? I could feel Vasily staring intently at me as I unbuttoned them, causing my fingers to slip repeatedly.
After finally removing the shirt, I lowered my gaze to his waist.
He said he poked the wound with ice… the ice that had been stemming the blood until yesterday had shattered sharply and was embedded in his skin. Because of that, the wound had burst wide open, and blood was leaking out profusely.
“Aren’t you going to stop the bleeding?”
“They’ll suture it soon anyway, and it’s a bit of a hassle.”
“I’ll go get a towel.”
His skin, which was already pale, seemed even more bloodless due to the hemorrhage. I looked around and, seeing no suitable cloth to stop the bleeding, tried to stand up, but Vasily grabbed my arm and stopped me.
“There’s no need. Just give me guiding.”
“…I won’t be responsible if you die from excessive blood loss.”
“If I died from just this, I wouldn’t be an S-class.”
Since he put it that way, maybe it’ll be okay. After letting out a deep sigh, I quietly took off my own clothes.
As I overlapped my body over Vasily and hugged him, I felt my body slowly becoming stained with the blood he had shed. It was cold, sticky, and slippery.
“Guide Kwon Gi-dam really doesn’t mind at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re perfectly fine even when you touch my blood.”
Come to think of it, other people couldn’t even touch his blood.
For a moment, I became anxious about whether my body was truly okay, so I tried to pull away slightly to check, but Vasily immediately pulled me into a tight embrace. As I let out a faint groan from the lack of breath, the arm wrapped around my waist loosened slightly.
“…”
A long silence followed.
Vasily held me as if to ensure I wouldn’t move even an inch away. I remained quietly in his arms, holding my breath.
Even when touching his ice-cold skin, even when his chilly wavelength entered me, it felt like nothing. It was simply cold.