DP Episode 3

Deep   Episode 3

‘Sensitization response.’

[TL/N: I searched it I didn’t find anything about this. It either translates to Emotional/ Sensitization/ induction, all of them don’t connect to any real life matter meaning, so I decided to leave it as it]

Yeon-woo opened his mouth, then closed it again, carefully choosing his words. He didn’t want to stumble like a fool again. After organizing the words swirling in his mouth, he responded.

“I’ve heard that it’s a phenomenon where you feel deep attachment and affinity towards your guiding partner.”

“That’s right. It’s just getting along well, really.”

The man replied dryly.

“As you probably already know, each person has their own specific frequency cycle. The better the resonance between these waves, the higher the matching rate. As a result, during sex, what’s commonly referred to as ‘sexual compatibility’ feels good. Sex that combines both conventional sex and guiding sex is incomparable in terms of orgasm intensity…”

“…”

“Inevitably, you start to feel attached to the other person and even delude yourself into thinking you’re destined lovers. That’s what we call the Sensitization response. Nothing special, right?”

It felt a bit embarrassing to hear about sexual compatibility. and orgasms face to face. Yeon-woo silently nodded, soothing his heated ears with his hand.

“Anyway, I hate that kind of thing, so I strictly prohibit any guiding beyond level 3 from the start. Let’s just stick to a certain limit.”

Yeon-woo pondered why Ji Seo-joon had set such standards. Since it wasn’t his first time having a dedicated guide, there might have been guides who had passed by him before.

Objectively speaking, Ji Seo-joon’s appearance was excessively handsome even to other men. It wouldn’t be surprising if all the guides who had passed through him were enchanted by him.

“I don’t know how long it will last, but let’s get along for now.”

‘I don’t know how long it will last, but let’s get along for now.’ Somehow, those words felt oddly harsh. Yeon-woo shook off the thoughts swirling in his head and suddenly snapped back to reality.

So, summarizing what he just heard, Ji Seo-joon’s offer meant that he could work as Ji Seo-joon’s dedicated guide as long as they limited their interactions to level 2 guiding.

Guiding without pairing. In other words, guiding consisting only of light embraces, holding hands, and kisses.

Yeon-woo, who had somehow regained his composure, naturally shifted his gaze to the other’s lips.

“… Cha Yeon-woo?”

Level 2 – Over Turn:

Exchange of bodily fluids through kissing.

In his mind, the lines from the guiding manual repeated like a panorama. His heart sank. The heavy thumps seemed to reverberate up his throat and vibrate all the way to his eardrums.

“Cha Yeon-woo.”

“…”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes?”

Yeon-woo’s gaze finally rose. The gray eyes looking at him seemed uncertain.

“Are you okay? You seem a bit…”

“No, I’m fine.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Yes?”

“…Uh, yeah?”

An incomprehensible conversation ping-ponged back and forth before abruptly cutting off. What remained in the silence that followed was a painfully awkward void. Yeon-woo felt himself drifting further away from becoming Ji Seo-joon’s dedicated guide with every passing moment.

As if on cue, a faint furrow appeared on the man’s forehead.

“…Could you focus on the conversation, Cha Yeon-woo? Did you understand what I said?”

It was obvious what he thought of him. Yeon-woo cast his eyes downward.

“Sorry. …I understood.”

Seems like he really made a terrible first impression.

“Okay, then. That’s all. Do you have any questions?”

“No, I don’t.”

A short sigh came from above.

“Well, then. Let’s end it here.”

What was he ending here? The guiding? Deciding to end it? They hadn’t even started anything yet. Such thoughts briefly clouded Yeon-woo’s confused mind before dissipating.

Fortunately, Yeon-woo grasped the meaning of the words before it was too late and rose from his seat.

“Please take care from now on.”

“I’ll be counting on you.”

Their hands met over the table. A brief shake, and then their hands parted. Yeon-woo clenched his fist, trying to hold onto the lingering sensation in his palm. It was a cool, firm, yet gentle hand.

“Goodbye.”

Leaning against the railing at the entrance, Yeon-woo nodded to the man and quickly disappeared from his view.

Thunk. Ring. The sound of the door locking echoed as the entrance closed behind him. At the same time, the footsteps that had been gradually slowing down came to a halt just a short distance from the elevator. Leaning against the wall, Yeon-woo pressed his clenched fist against his chest.

Finally, his breathing, which had been stubbornly refusing to calm down, gradually found its rhythm.

✽✽✽

Seo-joon, who had been absentmindedly watching Yeon-woo’s back on the intercom screen in the entrance, furrowed his brow.

As Yeon-woo stood there with his chest tightly pressed, taking deep breaths repeatedly, he looked surprisingly fragile compared to his sturdy physique. His profile indicated a fairly high basic physical fitness level, but it seemed doubtful whether he could properly guide with such fragility.

Yeon-woo, repeating the same actions for about a minute, soon disappeared into the elevator. Seo-joon, who had been staring at the now darkened intercom screen, returned to the table and tapped the tablet lightly.

Touching the green box that appeared on the corner of the tablet, he activated a hologram. Crackle, crackle. Amidst the momentarily shaky screen, Kang Hee-min’s face appeared.

-Uh, our Seo-joon. Did you greet the pretty dedicated guide nicely?

“He’s not a dedicated guide yet.”

-Huh?

“I’m just observing for a while.”

Kang Hee-min’s face gradually twisted in astonishment.

-…Are you crazy?

The expected response came back.

– If you can’t find a dedicated guide this time either, you’ll really die before you’re thirty. Besides, it’s a 98.8% match. It’s like the last lifeline given to you by the heavens!

Almost shouting, the voice echoed through the small speaker of the tablet. Seo-joon pressed his tired eyelids with his hand.

He understood Hee-min’s position well. How many times had he pushed those who claimed to be dedicated guides and failed to fill the vacancy even after several months? While not as good as Yeon-woo, everyone else had matching rates of over 40%, which was decent.

With no response from him, Hee-min began to vent alone.

– What the hell! Is there something wrong with Cha Yeon-woo? Instead of observing him, why don’t you just tie a leash around his neck and keep him as your dedicated guide right away? What’s the point of observing him for a while? He’s Grade A. He’s said to be well-matched with other Espers too! What if he goes to another Esper? Huh? Do you really want to die so badly that you’re going insane…

Lowering the volume to block out the piercing noise, Seo-joon recalled his recent meeting with Yeon-woo.

He had suspected it from the profile picture, but the first impression he got upon seeing him was, “He’s pretty.” The delicate beauty that hadn’t been hidden even by the faint mold in the profile picture shone brightly in reality. (literal mold)

It was a delicate and graceful face, like a white flower bud blooming in a greenhouse. Whether it was a change in appearance due to manifesting as a guide, the curly hair was as green as an elf in a fantasy movie.

The second most impressive thing was the gentle, round eyes and the ever-changing facial expressions. Every time Yeon-woo met his gaze, his face noticeably reddened. It felt a bit precarious to see his true feelings reflected on his fair skin.

‘I’m not a kid.’

He looked like a puppy caught in the rain, grassy and dead. Cute to look at, but the worst kind of guide.

Seo-joon had seen many guides of that type before. The younger and less experienced guides often mistook Sensitization reactions for other emotions, which was a type that Seo-joon, who disliked forming close relationships with anyone, particularly despised.

However, as Hee-min said, it was true that I urgently needed a guide, so instead of cutting him off as I would have done at another time, I gave him a “for the time being” grace period.

Moreover, a guide with a matching rate of 98.8% was a condition that I couldn’t easily give up on.

When Seo-joon shook hands with Yeon-woo, he could definitely feel that he was different from other guides. It would be much more efficient to hug Yeon-woo once than to kiss ten guides with a matching rate in the 5% range.

An esper entering the so-called Over Pivot state, which is just before going berserk, is not in his right mind.

Although emergency sedatives have been developed for espers in the Over Pivot state these days, it is only a temporary measure to postpone going berserk, and guiding is still necessary.

For Seo-joon, who does not have a dedicated guide and absolutely refuses to pair, it is a very awkward time. Because while his consciousness is in a coma, he cannot remember who is guiding him. 

Of course, Hee-min records the guiding process every time, but it was not a pleasant task to confirm it. In the video, while I am unconscious, more than ten guides take turns guiding me.

It was an act that was no different from rape, and it was truly unbearable. So now I don’t even watch the videos. It just makes me feel dirtier.

But if I have Yeon-woo with a matching rate of 98.8% by my side, I won’t have to endure such filthy behavior.

…But no matter how much I think about it, it’s still unpleasant. What was that suspicious back I just saw?

He even found his pretty face irritating.

“Send me the test video.”

He said, turning up the volume he had just lowered.

-Why? What are you going to do by watching it?

“Of course, I have to watch it. I don’t remember anything, and yet the matching rate was so high in the test. It’s suspicious. Did Hyung do something to attach me to a dedicated guide?”

It was also annoying that the test was conducted when I lost my mind.

-Do you really make me feel bitter? Look, there’s nothing to see. It’s too obvious.

Soon, a video file flashed in one corner of the tablet. Seo-joon, who moved to the living room sofa, displayed the video file on the TV screen.

At the bottom of the video, the wave signals of Yeon-woo and Seo-joon were slowly flowing. Seo-joon, who was leaning back on the sofa, leaned forward. He scrutinized Yeon-woo, who was visible on the screen.

He seemed a little bewildered. This was natural. To a novice with no guiding experience, his appearance must have been beastly.

But the next moment, something strange was caught. Even though I hadn’t done anything yet, Yeon-woo’s wave graph suddenly started jumping.

“…”

Seo-joon, leaning against the back of the sofa, leaned forward. He closely watched Yeon-woo, who filled the screen.

It was an expression as if he had met someone he knew. But what was in front of him was himself.

His body was nestled in Yeon-woo’s arms. In the empty space to the left of Yeon-woo, where he would have guessed Hee-min had projected a hologram, a hologram light was turned on.

The curves of the waves, which had been flowing separately, suddenly merged as if they belonged to one person.

Matching rate 98.8%.

The number that had been rising reached a very fascinating figure. However, what caught Seo-joon’s interest was the side profile of Yeon-woo, who was staring blankly at the hologram.

The emotion reflected in Yeon-woo’s eyes, where the blue light was reflected, clearly seemed close to joy.

It was an expression that seemed as if he had witnessed a miracle.