DB Vol 4 Part 8

Won-woo didn’t get angry at the ‘guiding done before’ that Gye Yoon mentioned. If it had been before falling asleep, he might have refused, considering that request shameless. But the aftermath of the dream still lingered. A person who could only stare blankly out the window with a body that couldn’t move.

When he was in agony from phantom pain, he would convulse and twist his entire body. His pain was a button pressing down on Won-woo’s guilt. That gesture was like a silent scream, and Won-woo’s hand trembled so much when giving the sedative injection. So now, Won-woo couldn’t ignore Gye Yoon saying he was in pain.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Won-woo slowly raised his gaze and answered calmly.

“Let’s do it.”

“…”

“I said let’s do it.”

“Do you dislike me being in pain?”

At the low voice, Won-woo swallowed as if coming to his senses. He quickly tried to organize his emotions. It seemed like there was a leak in the container that had been sealed with emotions since he started throwing up again. Otherwise, he couldn’t explain the feeling of becoming sensitive towards Gye Yoon.

Then, Won-woo was startled by the touch on his face and instinctively pushed the hand away violently. And he answered sharply as if to hide his awkwardness.

“It’s difficult to work together if a colleague’s condition is bad. That’s all.”

“Do you have guiding sex with all colleagues whose condition is bad?”

The expression disappeared from the handsome face. Won-woo immediately frowned.

“That’s not…”

…what I meant. The last words couldn’t come out the moment he realized he had fallen into a trap. But that seemed to be enough for Gye Yoon. He twisted his lips up as if he was satisfied. 

“It seems it’s just me then.”

“It’s not.”

“That’s a lie.”

Ha, Won-woo let out a laugh like a sigh and glared at Gye Yoon. At that gaze, Gye Yoon’s eyes instead filled with an amused light.

“Just to let you know, I didn’t use my ability.”

And a low, soft voice muttered as if soothing.

“The guiding before was incredibly good. Thinking you might have done this great thing with other Espers makes my stomach… hurt. Like it’s been cut with a knife.”

Gye Yoon had originally intended to say ‘makes my stomach churn,’ but he wanted to test Won-woo’s reaction again. Whether he still weakened at the mention of him being in pain. As expected, the strength drained from the glaring eyes. Won-woo murmured like a whisper.

“There’s nothing as foolish as suffering over the past.”

It was a hypocritical thing to say to the other person, but it was what he needed right now. And he added strongly, as if getting a grip on himself.

“So let’s quickly resolve your current pain. It’s something that can be resolved in 5 minutes by holding hands.”

“No, I told you. I want to do it like last time. The 30-minute version.”

The specific method that could extend to 30 minutes immediately came to mind. He was embarrassed again and retorted gruffly.

“It was less than 30 minutes.”

“Yes. Yours were shorter.”

What am I… Right, I was shorter. Won-woo’s pride was hurt, but more than that, the short event from that day became clearer in his mind, so he closed his mouth.

The sensation of his dick meshing with his and being rubbed in his hand, the heat that touched his back, the humid breathing that echoed in his ear. Still, he was about to firmly say it couldn’t happen this time, but Gye Yoon seemed to read his mind and added.

“The effect of the guiding was completely different from what you used to do.”

Different? This piqued Won-woo’s curiosity too. Gye Yoon nodded greatly.

“The efficiency is more than double compared to the guiding you used to do just holding hands.”

He clenched his fist and muttered as if amazed.

“So it feels like my ability has become even stronger.”

He’s already an S-rank, what happens if his ability gets even stronger? There’s no rank above that. Besides, he’d never heard of guiding enhancing abilities.

“Unlike before, you’re using your power without risk of going rampage, so maybe that’s why you feel that way.”

“I didn’t care much about going rampage when using my power before either. The only thing that changed was that guiding you gave me. That’s why I want to check again.”

“…”

“I’ll do well.”

W-what? Won-woo was inwardly shocked but outwardly spoke coldly.

“We’ve never done it before, so it’s all new, isn’t it?”

“Didn’t I do well last time?”

Won-woo tilted his head as if estimating, but internally he was full of confusion. Did I do well? There wasn’t much to compare it to. Seeing Won-woo deep in thought, a hint of impatience flashed in Gye Yoon’s eyes.

“Was it lacking?”

“…I’m not sure.”

It was an answer given because he truly didn’t know, but Gye Yoon’s expression hardened for a moment. Fearing Gye Yoon might grab his collar and demand he list 100 lacking points, Won-woo hurriedly comforted him.

“You can do better in the future.”

For a moment, Gye Yoon’s eyes widened. He soon returned to his original expression but couldn’t look at Won-woo and turned his head. Then, as if relaxing, he licked his lips before asking nonchalantly.

“Does that mean we can do it again?”

“Yes.”

Gye Yoon froze for a moment, then slowly turned his head. The moment their eyes met, Won-woo almost took back his words. There was a burdensome heat in his gaze that made Won-woo want to pull back. But the voice coming from him was low and quiet.

“Really?”

“You said you wanted to test it.”

“Yes. In other ways too.”

What other ways? As Won-woo wondered, he heard a dry explanation.

“I want to check if the effect is better the wider and deeper the contact area.”

The wide area wasn’t a problem, but the expression ‘deep’ wasn’t immediately understood. How could contact be deep… Oh.

“I’m confident I can do well.”

It was a confident and firm statement, but mixed with urgency as if worried about rejection. Won-woo, trying to hide his confusion, didn’t notice and slightly averted his gaze.

“It’s not something that can be done with just confidence.”

Won-woo deliberately argued, but soon realized this argument was useless against Gye Yoon. There was a joke he used to hear in the unit. No matter how confident you are with a small dick, you can’t match even one clumsy thrust of a naturally large one. So Gye Yoon was already gold medal material no matter how poorly he performed.

“Then what’s needed?”

“…Practice?”

Gye Yoon’s eyes shone strongly with determination.

“I’ll work hard.”

How are you going to work hard on practice? Won-woo regretted saying it and sighed softly.

“Never mind. I’ll do well, so that’s enough. Let’s just do it.”

Gye Yoon froze, unable to even blink, then quickly turned his head again. Won-woo tilted his head because he couldn’t see Gye Yoon’s expression, but he first saw Gye Yoon’s chest rise greatly and then fall. Then Gye Yoon turned back to Won-woo and asked in his usual tone.

“Shall we do it now?”

His fingertips touched Won-woo’s hand, carrying heat intense enough to burn. That heat from the small surface seemed to spread instantly inside his body. Just as Won-woo was about to open his mouth, fortunately or unfortunately, another sound intervened between the two.

Knock knock.

There was a knock at the door.

When Won-woo was called before the Gye Family Head again, he found it unexpected. He hadn’t anticipated she would make a decision this quickly. Thinking it would take at least a week to verify the list he had handed over, he wondered if she had called him for some other business. However, she expressed displeasure at her brother’s murderous gaze, saying “What’s with those eyes?” and then brought up the list matter to Won-woo first.

“Where did this list come from?”

“I can’t tell you that right now.”

He was surprised that she asked about the source rather than whether the list was accurate. Did she believe him? But Won-woo could somewhat guess the answer she would give as he looked at the Gye Family Head.

No matter how much resentment she had towards other families after losing her family, she was still the head of the Gye family. No matter how deep her personal grudge, the position of family head was one that had to consider numerous people.

When in the unit, Won-woo had high-level clearance and occasionally entered restricted archives, where he had encountered a high-ranking official a few times. This list was from the documents that official had shown. While explaining the criteria for the list, he had added,

‘Battle is about momentum. Even if outnumbered, if the fighting spirit doesn’t break, miracles can happen. So even if the people on this list are good people, if they instill the will to endure in the enemy, they should be killed as the top priority. That’s how the war can end even a day sooner.’

He rambled on quite a bit to Won-woo, who didn’t respond, while tiredly rubbing his face. Won-woo thought that perhaps what he was saying was confidential information not easily shared with others.

‘Originally, we didn’t create this list. We found one the Gye family had made long ago, then verified, revised, and supplemented it. There are people whose true nature you can only know when crisis strikes.’

‘The Gye family?’

Won-woo asked, trying to recall who that might be, and the official explained.

‘The rulers of the North.’

Ah, those people who were all massacred.

‘Why did the Gye family lose even with this list?’

‘They used it in reverse. It seems they judged these people as good Espers who could cooperate. In any case, having Espers meant they could save ordinary people from monsters. It was a decision for ordinary people, not Espers. But…’

The official shook his head and muttered as if lamenting.

‘Not only the previous Gye Family Head, but also the young head who newly took that position were too good-natured.’

“Ji Won-woo.”

Won-woo raised his eyes at the voice breaking his reminiscence. Gye Min asked him with an expressionless face.

“Do you want all of these people to die?”

“That’s the goal for now, but it doesn’t matter if not. There are other forms of victory too.”

Gye Min nodded as if agreeing. There was no need to kill everyone. There were more such victories in the world. Gye Min didn’t ask Won-woo anything more and passed the list to the Chief Secretary standing nearby.

“From now on, we’ll prioritize killing those checked on this list. Make a plan.”

Everyone in the room except Gye Yoon, who was still irritated, widened their eyes in surprise. Especially Won-woo, who had expected she would ultimately avoid a massacre, doubted his ears. He spoke as if confirming with Min.

“If they die and afterwards the Espers of the Yang and Hong families are nearly wiped out, the damage to ordinary people from monsters will be great.”

Gye Min twisted her lips at those words.

“It’s funny to hear a Guide say such things. That’s an arrogant delusion of Espers. Did you know? Espers are preventing the development of weapons to eliminate monsters. If Espers disappear, ordinary people might actually gain the power to protect themselves. The future is unknowable. So.”

She paused and raised her eyes to coldly stare at Won-woo.

“I plan to take revenge to my heart’s content.”

***

Ji Yoon-im, despite having no official position within the Yang family, was so busy that more guests visited her than her husband. The Yang family had long been engaged in a silent war due to the power struggle between the Yang Family Head and his son, Yang Cheon-hyo. Although the Yang Family Head was revered like a god within the Yang family as one of the few S-rank Espers, nothing lasts forever.

No matter how healthy and long-lived Espers were compared to ordinary people, they couldn’t escape the natural laws of aging and death in the end. In particular, rumors of the Yang Family Head’s death were circulating because he had been secluded for a long time. So from the end of last year, the nature of the fight had changed to between the eldest son who would succeed him as the next family head and his younger brother Yang Cheon-hyo.

However, the eldest son, not being S-rank, couldn’t maintain the same grip on power as his father. Continuously pushed back by Yang Cheon-hyo’s attacks, backed by the Ji family, many were now predicting he wouldn’t be able to ascend to family head. So, those who were quick to notice tried to make appointments with Yoon-im to get on Yang Cheon-hyo’s good side. Even the Hong Family, who had only been observing the situation, were sending people.

“The Hong Family Head is positive about this matter?” 

As Ji Yoon-im elegantly lifted her teacup, the person who introduced himself as Chief Cheon from the Hong family nodded.

“However, he has great concerns about implementing the next step right away. Isn’t it too soon, considering it’s only been a few days since the mutant seeds appeared in the North?”

“It is soon. But the situation has changed.”

“What situation do you mean?”

Ji Yoon-im looked at Chief Cheon, wondering if he was really asking out of ignorance, then inwardly burst into laughter. He came to hear the exact confirmation from her mouth while knowing everything. Ji Geun-oh was right when he said the Hong family pretends to be neutral but is the most devious. Joining hands with such slippery characters was dangerous, but it was an unavoidable choice to bring down the North.

“Gye Yoon has made a move. We believe he’s the one who resolved the mutant seed issue a few days ago.”

“Are you certain Gye Yoon has left the cave? I thought his family was keeping him tied down.”

A sly old fox. Yoon-im inwardly sneered at her counterpart again but maintained a picture-perfect smile on her face.

“Yes. It appears he’s left the cave. Ah, I suppose you don’t know exactly since all the spies the Hong family planted in the North have been eliminated.”

After the Guide who had been sent for Head of the Gye Family’s young daughter died, the contacts in the Gye Family were suddenly cut off all at once, as if there had been a major cleanup. Of course, there were still some informants left, but the Hong family probably didn’t put much effort into planting spies anyway, so they likely lost them all.

“Spies? Our Hong family doesn’t plant such people in the Gye family.”

“Then you should. You can’t keep coming to us for confirmation every time, can you?”

Ji Yoon-im’s light retort was a sneer that anyone would find offensive, but the man called Chief Cheon nodded without changing his expression.

“Thank you for the advice. So, Gye Yoon has come out?”

Ji Yoon-im looked at him for a moment before nodding.

“Yes.”

“I remember when they initially restrained him, the Gye family said there wouldn’t be any problems for a few years.”

Clack. Yoon-im put down her teacup and raised her now cold eyes. Even just a year ago, she would have bowed her head to someone sent by Hong Family Head, but things were different now.

“Are you saying that knowing Gye Yoon? You really think someone with his personality would endure in that cave forever? Honestly, it’s beyond expectations that that brute lasted over a year.”

“So you’re saying the Ji family bears no responsibility? Why are you laughing?”

Yoon-im, who had been covering her mouth with her hand, waved apologetically.

“How can I not laugh when I hear someone whining about why we couldn’t do more when Guide One managed to hold back an S-rank that Espers are too scared to touch for over a year?”

Although Yoon-im’s voice was full of mockery, Chief Cheon managed not to change his expression this time as well. He just nodded as if to say, “Is that so?” Yoon-im got the impression that Chief Cheon was similar to his superior, Family Head Hong. He’s hired someone just like himself as a subordinate.

“It’s certainly difficult to keep Gye Yoon restrained for long. Even though you promised a few years and received all that money from our Hong family. Oh, of course, it’s not that we regret the money. However.”

Chief Cheon smiled at the corner of his mouth.

“It’s unavoidable that trust has been eroded.”

“Then let’s consider future cooperation off the table.”

Chief Cheon’s eyes widened slightly at Yoon-im’s response. He tried to mask his expression with a smile, but it was evident in his eyes that he hadn’t expected her to cut things off so decisively. Yoon-im had nothing to fear. Her father was about to become a member of the Public Welfare Committee, and Yang Cheon-hyo would completely take over the Yang family. While the Hong family’s help was needed to strike the North, Yang Cheon-hyo had said this,

‘The Gye family without a Guide can never rise again. S-rank? That’s even better. The higher the rank, the bigger the rampage, and the faster the North will be reduced to ashes. So, my niece-in-law just needs to manage the Guides well. If by any chance a wavelength matching Gye Yoon’s is discovered, kill them without hesitation as the top priority.’

Yang Cheon-hyo acted strangely desperate to bring down the Gye family, especially Gye Yoon. And after long efforts, he had now come to be certain of the Gye family’s downfall. While outwardly Guide One appeared to be the Guide Center, in reality, it was essentially an advance base to bring down the Gye family.

Thanks to this, the Gye family was now completely cornered. So seeing Chief Cheon testing the waters right in front of her made her dubious. Did they really need the Hong family’s help? As if reading her thoughts, Chief Cheon’s reply came,

“You’ll need us. If only the Yang family sends Espers under the pretext of helping the North in crisis, won’t it be a situation anyone would misunderstand?”

Chief Cheon added with a smile,

“You haven’t even taken over the Yang family yet.”

Ji Yoon-im picked up her teacup again to hide her annoyance. Looking at her, Chief Cheon smiled as if dangling a carrot,

“Of course, the Hong family is prepared to extend a hand and help in any situation for the sake of our long-standing friendly relationship.”

What help? They just can’t stand to see the Yang family swallow the North alone. Yoon-im knew their true intentions, but it was difficult to refuse their offer of help. As they said, a justification was needed to enter the North. After all, Family Head Gye already considered Ji Geun-oh and Yang Cheon-hyo as mortal enemies.

“Since you’re prepared, I suppose I could make a request as soon as tomorrow?”

Chief Cheon’s eyes showed puzzlement at the condition of ‘tomorrow.’ Yoon-im opened her mouth again, feeling superior once more.

“This is our chance to make the Gye family’s brute go rampage, and we can’t miss it.”

“Are the mutant seeds about to break out in the North? How soon?”

Yoon-im just smiled without giving a precise answer, but Chief Cheon guessed it would be within a few days at most.

“Alright. We’ll prepare quickly too. But.”

Chief Cheon paused briefly before asking a concerned question.

“What if Gye Yoon doesn’t go rampage?”

“That would be fine too. If he doesn’t go rampage, it means Gye Yoon didn’t use his power. Without Gye Yoon, the North absolutely cannot stop this monster. The Gye family ruling the North being unable to protect it, there’s no better justification to send Espers to the North than this.”

Chief Cheon nodded but didn’t let go of his concern until the end.

“Are you certain there’s no Guide by Gye Yoon’s side?”

How many times do you need to confirm? Annoyance mixed in Yoon-im’s eyes, then hardened into displeasure at Chief Cheon’s following question.

“I understand that the wavelength of the missing Ji Won-woo matches Gye Yoon’s?”

“You know my brother’s wavelength but not his rank, I see?”

“We do know. It’s just that we can’t ignore even a 1% possibility.”

“Ignore it. It would take months for a D-rank Guide to guide an S-rank Esper. Of course, the Guide would wither and die in less than a week.”

Chief Cheon nodded and smiled at Yoon-im’s casual tone.

“In that case, we can rest easy even if your brother is in the North, I suppose.”

However, unlike the reassured Chief Cheon, Yoon-im’s eyes sharpened. Come to think of it, there was something bothering her about Ji Won-woo. She had been too busy to remember. What her brother Ji Seong-hyeon had said,

‘Everyone said Won-woo seemed like a completely different person.’

A different person. As this phrase came to mind, it irritated her again. Yoon-im knew one person who had changed to become completely different in the past. Thanks to that, the Ji family had received such great help that they could stand tall among the Espers. It might be better to let him know, just in case. To Yang Cheon-hyo, who had brought great fortune to the Ji family by becoming a completely different person 9 years ago.

***

“Let’s start that revenge right now.”

Gte Min’s feelings upon hearing Won-woo’s proposal were a mix of half amazement and half admiration. How on earth did such luck fall into their hands? Won-woo’s proposal was satisfying, but as the decision-maker, she couldn’t help but coolly and meticulously scrutinize it.

“Assassinating someone isn’t something that can be done right away without any preparation. Especially an Esper.”

“Still, now that they’ve started moving, we can’t just keep preparing and waiting.”

Moving? At the sharp gaze, Won-woo relayed what he had heard from Seona. The Hong family and Yang family are preparing to send Espers to the North. It was a brief explanation, but fortunately, everyone understood.

So they’re trying to throw the North into chaos with mutant seeds and then take over under the pretext of help. Not only Gye Min, the head of the family, but also the Chief Secretary and Chief Jung, who had been listening quietly, showed their anger. The unexpected one was Gye Yoon. He summed it up in one line as if it were nothing special.

“Looks like they’re trying to swallow us up under the excuse of helping.”

Won-woo looked at him for a moment before nodding.

“Their target is probably you, Gye Yoon-ssi. They’re hoping you’ll go rampage.”

“You won’t let me go rampage, right?”

“…That’s right.”

Then there’s no problem. Gye Yoon took the situation lightly, but Gye Min was different. She signaled the Chief Secretary with her eyes to verify the information, then turned to Won-woo.

“Do you have something in mind?”

“Yes. We need to divert their attention elsewhere. That’ll make the assassination easier too.”

“Where to?”

“A situation where monsters are rampaging and no one would notice if someone dies.”

At Won-woo’s suggestion, everyone inside thought of the mutant seeds.

“You mean to spread the mutant seeds down south? But we still don’t know how to make them. We’re just guessing they might have used Alpha seeds. Ah, if you’re planning to test with any remaining Alpha seeds…”

Won-woo shook his head at Chief Jung’s words.

“No. There are no Alpha seeds left. But it doesn’t matter, we can make them if needed. By the way, I can create Alpha seeds.”

What are you talking about? Everyone except Gye Yoon showed confusion followed by doubt. Has his mind been affected by the human experiments? Unlike the others who couldn’t trust Won-woo, Gye Yoon briefly voiced his opinion, assuming trust,

“No. You said there’s a risk of explosion when making Alpha seeds.”

“Hmm, the possibility is less than 10%.”

“Even if there’s a 0.1% chance, it’s not acceptable.”

As they watched Gye Yoon seriously objecting, the onlookers’ gazes turned to Won-woo. What, can you really make Alpha seeds? Is that even possible?

“Mr. Ji Won-woo, can you really make Alpha seeds?”

Before Won-woo could answer Chief Jung’s question, Gye Yoon’s fierce voice was heard.

“Shut up. There’s no need to make or use alpha seeds.”

“No, I was just curious…”

Chief Jung’s excuse was swallowed by the murderous gaze. While the innocent Chief Jung was being scolded, the others examined Won-woo with somewhat calmer eyes. Although it was unbelievable given Gye Yoon’s reaction, Won-woo’s words seemed to be true. The Chief Secretary quietly exclaimed in admiration.

“Mr. Ji Won-woo, that’s an amazing ability.”

“I said shut up.”

Although Gye Yoon showed some respect to the older Chief Secretary, he still treated him roughly. Gye Min looked at her brother protecting Won-woo as if he was being ridiculous.

“What a load of crap.”

“Since it’s just the beginning, I’ll make sure it spreads even more.”

As Gye Yoon replied expressionlessly, GyeMin finally realized her brother was serious and frowned. As the atmosphere between the two became tense, Won-woo cautiously intervened.

“What I was going to suggest doesn’t involve using Alpha seeds.”

Then what is it? At GyeMin’s gaze, Won-woo spoke nonchalantly.

“I can just do it myself. I can wake up all the monsters.”

Didn’t they say bad things always happen at once? Just when he thought he could finally have Won-woo after finishing the conversation, Gye Yoon missed the guiding opportunity again. To be exact, his turn was pushed back.

“She asked to guide Hwan first.”

Chief Jung requested to Won-woo as they had just finished talking with the head of the Gye family and came out.

“Tell her to wait. I’m first.”

Gye Yoon, who followed behind, emphasized his turn without hiding his displeasure. Chief Jung noticed that Gye Yoon’s state was exactly the same as in the past when he was irritable from not being guided. Although it had been a long time since he faced such a fierce energy, Chief Jung shook his head.

“She says Hwan is urgent too.”

“Is she going rampage?”

“No. She says it’s her bedtime in 30 minutes.”

All sorts of curses flashed in Gye Yoon’s eyes, but there was someone who took it more seriously than going rampage.

“I’ll go right away.”

As Won-woo stepped forward, Gye Yoon grabbed his arm. But once again, he was blocked by Chief Jung.

“Vice Head, surely you’re not throwing a tantrum to be guided before your young niece?”

“Of course not.”

The answer came from Won-woo.

“He cares a lot about his niece. Even when we had just met, he asked me to guide his niece even if I didn’t guide him.”

As he looked at Gye Yoon as if to ask if that wasn’t right, Gye Yoon replied in a suppressed low voice.

“…Please guide Hwan first.”

Although it sounded somewhat resentful, Won-woo quickly turned away, thinking of the child who was about to fall asleep. Chief Jung also hurriedly herded Won-woo to Hwan’s room, fearing that Gye Yoon might lose his patience and cause a scene.

Left behind, Gye Yoon barely soothed himself while suppressing his irritation. Right, it’ll be over in 5 minutes. Just wait a little. But to endure 5 minutes that felt like 5 hours, he needed an immediate cold shower.

When Won-woo opened the door to Hwan’s room, music was flowing from inside. The theme song of a popular children’s program.

‘Banana cha-cha― Banana cha-cha―’

However, what prevented Won-woo from entering wasn’t the catchy song. Jae-hak was dancing in front of his daughter, who was sitting quietly at the end of the bed holding a doll. He danced so well. Won-woo barely held back an exclamation of admiration. Are you a dancer?

“Oh? Won-woo-ssi, come in. Perfect timing! Dance with us.”

Won-woo immediately took a step backward, but his enthusiastic father mistook the horror on his face for excitement and tugged on his arm.

“Haha, if you exercise like this in the evening, you’ll sleep better.”

“No. I usually sleep well.”

It had been a long time since Won-woo had a bad night’s sleep, but the lie came out easily.

“Oh, no. I’ve seen you up and around in the early morning.”

“I sleepwalk.”

Jae-hak finally let Won-woo go, but he tried again with regret.

“If you really want to sleep soundly, it’s best to move your body. You’ll sleep so much sweeter after completely exhausting your energy. If you don’t want to dance with me, you can do some light exercise in your room.”

It was kind advice, so Won-woo lowered his guard and said thank you, but Jae-hak added as if he remembered something.

“Ah, it would be good to exercise with Yoon. Ask him to teach you.”

It was advice filled with pure intentions again, but Won-woo’s expression hardened. The only thing that came to mind when he thought of exercising with Gye Yoon was one thing. Jae-hak, misunderstanding that expression again, quickly added,

“Yoon was locked in a cave for a long time. So he’s an expert when it comes to exercises done in small spaces. Yoon was especially good at push-ups while lying down, right?”

Lying down. The posture reminded him of something else. Won-woo really wanted to dig in and hide. He wondered if he’d lost his mind. He couldn’t be this delusional over a simple word without his head being filled with obscenities.

“That’s why you don’t know how muscular his body is. Even on the outside, his shoulders are no joke, right? If you take off his clothes, his chest is the real deal. You have no idea how firm the muscles on his chest are…”

“Hwan, can I hold your hand?”

Won-woo asked the child sitting like a doll, trying to stop Jae-hak’s mouth. For a moment, Jae-hak stretched out his arms as if to stop him, but then he fell away. The tiny head nodded good-naturedly.

“Yes.”

Hearing the cute voice, Won-woo didn’t miss this opportunity and quickly sat next to the child, eager to get away from Jae-hak’s chatter. He reached out his hand, and the little hand came up in his grasp. The child’s energy was still steady because she hadn’t exerted much strength, but he carefully pulled out the scattered energy. To distract her, Won-woo asked her about the doll she was holding.

“Is it a friend?”

“Doggy.”

“Ah, doggy.”

Hwan nodded. Then she held the doll up to Won-woo as if to show it off. Won-woo, being careful to slow down the guiding, looked at the doll and greeted it.

“Hi, doggy.”

“It’s Toto.”

“Oh, it’s name is Toto? Hi, Toto.”

Won-woo grabbed Toto’s cotton bat with his free hand and shook it like a handshake, and then he heard the child’s voice again.

“Tutu, too.”

“Ooh, you have a Tutu too? Is it a doggy?”

“Gator.”

“Wow, an alligator. Tutu must be cool.”

The child’s face remained impassive, but she swung her legs out of bed, happy to hear the praise. By the time he had been introduced to all of her many animal friends, the tour was over.

Won-woo noticed the child’s father, who had turned into a statue. No, why is he about to cry again? Did he hear the child’s voice and get touched again? As Won-woo swallowed his bewilderment, he heard a small voice next to him.

“I’m sleepy.”

“Really? Sir, Hwan says she’s sleepy.”

Won-woo sat up and patted Jae-hak on the back, and he sucked in a sob under his breath.

“Oh, my sweet little girl, are you sleepy?”

As Won-woo watched Jae-hak lay the child down, he quietly left the room and then realized. He heard that the child was afraid of guiding?

She hated it so much that she would scream if one tried to guide her. Won-woo looked down at his hands and shook his head. But uh… it wasn’t like that at all?

It was always Espers who were in a hurry to get guiding. It was always the Espers who were impatient for guiding and acted as if they had lost their minds, so Won-woo found his current behavior ridiculous.