WTSG 9

The Beginning of the Pair (3)

Even while lying down, Kang Junwoo felt dizzy and nauseous, causing him to stop guiding without realizing it. He was amazed at how Tae Ijae managed to live his daily life in such a state, given how briefly he had experienced it. 

To calm himself, Kang Junwoo took a deep breath and resumed guiding. The energy that flowed quickly through their clasped hands and bodies began to untangle his chaotic waves.

But with each surge of energy, his vision swam, and to finish quickly, Kang Junwoo pressed his lips to Tae Ijae’s. He attempted to force his tongue between Tae Ijae’s tightly sealed lips, licking and probing.

Kissing someone who wasn’t conscious was quite a challenging task. No matter how much he licked between the lips or grazed the teeth, the lips remained stubbornly shut.

Reluctantly, he pulled Tae Ijae’s chin to forcefully pry open his mouth, yet an uncomfortable feeling akin to guilt and shame washed over him, making him feel unnecessarily apologetic towards Tae Ijae. Since he had already decided to feel sorry, he resolved to continue guiding until Tae Ijae’s eye color returned to normal. Kang Junwoo poured all his energy into Tae Ijae.

From their touching bodies, their clasped hands, and the hot tongue thrust into his mouth, Kang Junwoo’s energy flowed between Tae Ijae’s waves, quickly stabilizing the tangled mess.

***

Due to the excessive energy poured out, Kang Junwoo lost consciousness during the guiding session. When he opened his eyes, it was already night outside, with only the bright moonlight faintly illuminating the room. Two men, wearing nothing, lay on the bed, holding hands and pressed closely together. No matter how he thought about it, wasn’t this an absurd situation? A low chuckle escaped Kang Junwoo’s lips as he released Tae Ijae’s hand. His palm was damp, indicating how long they had been holding hands.

Kang Junwoo sat up, turned on the lamp, and checked Tae Ijae’s back condition. The guiding efficiency was evidently high, as there were already signs of healing. He sighed in relief and got out of bed. As he put on the robe he had taken off earlier, he let out a hollow laugh at having lost consciousness during the guiding session. This was the first time in his life as an S-class guide that he had experienced such humiliation.

He suddenly understood why Tae Ijae, despite being a mutant, didn’t want to report to the department about being attacked by an A-class monster leader. Kang Junwoo resolved to take this humiliation to his grave and quietly left the room.

***Esther’s Funds***

Tae Ijae opened his eyes the following afternoon. Even in his awakened state, he was bewildered by how unusually light his body felt, and he continued to blink slowly. He could still feel the wound on his back, so he instinctively gathered energy towards it. The sensation of warmth and the healing of the wound felt both unpleasant and pleasant, leaving him with mixed feelings.

Slowly sitting up, he realized he was naked and cautiously scanned the room. There were no signs that Kang Junwoo had slept there. Knowing that Kang Junwoo couldn’t sleep well in uncomfortable places, Tae Ijae felt a pang of guilt, thinking he might have slept on the sofa because of his injuries.

He got off the bed and looked around for something to wear. Finding nothing, he opened the door and stepped out as he was. Kang Junwoo, who was sitting on the sofa drinking coffee and typing something on his tablet, looked up at the sound of the door opening. His eyes widened when he saw Tae Ijae standing there naked.

“I couldn’t find any clothes,” Tae Ijae said nonchalantly as he headed toward the dressing room. 

He recalled Kang Junwoo’s shocked expression and wondered why he seemed so taken aback. He briefly regretted not covering himself with a blanket before coming out. However, Kang Junwoo wasn’t frozen in shock because of Tae Ijae’s nudity. It was because Tae Ijae’s eyes, which were usually a pale or deep yellow, had turned completely black.

The black pupils, matching his jet-black hair, transformed his sharp and heavy aura into an eerily sexy visage. The black eyes suited him far better than the yellow ones he had seen before, carrying an overwhelming sense of decadent allure. Kang Junwoo realized once again that he was captivated by that damn appearance.

As Tae Ijae entered the dressing room and began to put on sweatpants and a T-shirt, his hands suddenly stopped. It was because he remembered the dream he had when he lost consciousness. In the dream, he was guided by someone. He couldn’t discern their face or gender, but perhaps because it was a dream, it didn’t hurt at all. Unlike the usual painful sensation where everything inside him felt like it was about to burst out, it felt refreshing.

As he relaxed, a tingling sensation spread through him. The guiding he received from his imprinted sister felt different, but it was just as comforting, almost as if he had been imprinted again.

‘Could it be because I was close to a berserk episode that I had a dream I never had before?’

Feeling lighter, perhaps due to the dream, Tae Ijae stretched lightly, turning his head and holding his neck with his hand. Then he caught his reflection in the mirror, and his face instantly hardened. His eyes, which had always turned yellow, had returned to their original color. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his natural eye color.

‘What the…?’

Staring intently at his own eyes, Tae Ijae unconsciously opened his palm. The energy waves that usually tangled messily and tormented him were now lined up neatly, as if in formation.

‘Could it be that…. I received a guiding?’

He briefly suspected Kang Junwoo but shook his head as his body didn’t feel like it had been guided. If Kang Junwoo had guided him while he was unconscious, he would have woken up feeling as if he were dying, just like that one time before.

Tae Ijae recalled Moon Taejoo, the doctor he last saw before losing consciousness. 

‘Was it Taejoo hyung…?’

He remembered how Taejoo had once asked him to participate in a clinical trial for a new drug developed by RISG. The drug, which was administered directly into the body instead of as a pill, was said to stabilize energy waves much faster than pills.

It seemed that the drug he had refused back then had been used on him, but since there were no apparent side effects yet, he decided to keep quiet about it. In fact, his body felt so light and refreshed that it was hard to consider it a side effect.

After getting dressed and leaving the dressing room, Tae Ijae saw Kang Junwoo, who had been sitting on the sofa, now in the kitchen preparing something. He walked over to him.

“What are you doing?”

“Cooking. You’re probably hungry.”

“Not really. When did Taejoo Hyung leave?”

“Yesterday.”

“Did Taejoo hyung do something to me? I feel… strange.”

As Tae Ijae opened the refrigerator to take out a bottle of water, he noticed that Kang Junwoo’s hand paused momentarily while ladling porridge into a bowl.

“Did he inject some kind of drug in my body?”

“……”

“The drug administered by injection instead of pills hasn’t undergone proper clinical trials yet, so the center is discouraging it. But the researchers and doctors think it’s best to test it directly on subjects, so they won’t want to miss such an opportunity,” Tae Ijae said. Kang Junwoo shook his head a couple of times and resumed ladling porridge into the bowl.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“……”

“Honestly, I don’t really know. But I don’t think so.”

His expression, genuinely uncertain, suggested he wasn’t lying. He seemed to truly believe it wasn’t the case. Whether he had been injected or not, or whether he had become a test subject or not, it didn’t matter to him at the moment. Since his sister’s death, he hadn’t felt this refreshed.

 The possibility of stabilizing his energy waves without relying on Siren’s Tears, assuming the lack of side effects, filled him with unexpected joy. The prospect of being able to unleash his full power without needing guiding was certainly welcome.

Unaware of Tae Ijae’s thoughts, Kang Junwoo remained inwardly anxious. He wondered if Tae Ijae’s body felt strange enough to suspect that a drug had been administered.

He worried about Tae Ijae’s possible pain from the dream, that even though he appeared fine, he might be internally torn apart by the agony of guiding. The unusually cheerful expression seemed like an effort to appear happy, which only heightened his concern. Just like him, who tried to look better the more he hurt, he feared Tae Ijae might be doing the same.

Kang Junwoo placed the porridge in front of Tae Ijae, who was sitting at the table drinking water, silently praying to an unknown deity that Tae Ijae wasn’t in pain.

“……Is there no rice?”

“You’re still a patient. I made this for you, so just eat it.”

“……You made it?”

“Do you think I bought it?”

At this hour? Kang Junwoo muttered to himself as he sat down in the chair opposite Tae Ijae. Tae Ijae stared at him with an unreadable expression before picking up a spoon and taking a large bite of the porridge.

Kang Junwoo watched silently as Tae Ijae swallowed the porridge he had made and took another spoonful. It was evident that he was keenly observing Tae Ijae’s every expression, curious if the porridge suited his taste.

“It’s delicious.”

Perhaps sensing Kang Junwoo’s gaze, Tae Ijae continued to eat the porridge and spoke to him. 

“So stop staring and eat too, Hyung.”

“…Oh.”

Only then did Kang Junwoo realize he had been openly staring at Tae Ijae. He picked up his spoon and began eating the porridge in front of him.

“But why are you eating porridge? Did you overexert yourself and feel unwell? Did you get checked?”

“No, I’m perfectly fine.”

“You must have used every ounce of your strength fighting off the mutants.”

“I’ve recovered.”

“Then why are you eating porridge?”

“…Well, it wouldn’t be right for me to eat rice while Tae Ijae Esper is eating porridge, would it?”

At those words, Tae Ijae’s spoon paused. Kang Junwoo wondered if he had said something wrong and looked up at Tae Ijae. Those captivating black eyes were staring intently at him.