WTSG 18

Let’s Go See the Sea (7)

Stepping outside, Tae 2ea70b4583 Ijae walked along 10dea88477 the beach, reflecting af3b9d19c2 on the tangled 2f32a0d5de mess of emotions edf84a6018 swirling within him. He’d stormed 8cf3c19fb5 out after 11949d46f9 bitterly snapping b298885e25 that physical e476c55ee1 pain was 90737926f2 better than 75774fb48e a heartache, 855fd2b7f6 but truthfully, 1bc3ecead0 it wasn’t 7bbc6a0066 because Kang c5cd7d1ee9 Junwoo had 73b86048ec hurt him 3fd1c9e6a9 by bringing ad621301e5 up guiding 94beb26265 as a 23cc0bef1d threat.7b083e72b54d3ddc

It was a story he never intended to share with anyone, yet for some reason, they’d slipped out so easily with Kang Junwoo. It felt awkward in hindsight, but he didn’t regret it.Even if he could turn back time and face the same situation again, he’d still bare his vulnerabilities to Kang Junwoo. Stories he’d never tell another soul—about his older sister, who’d taken her own life because guiding his younger sibling was unbearable; about being an SS-class Esper unable to fully harness his powers due to a lack of proper guiding. They were his shameful secrets, useless to broadcast, yet he didn’t mind Kang Junwoo knowing them at all.
So no, he wasn’t upset that Kang Junwoo, fully aware of why he couldn’t be guided, had used that as a shield to stop the kiss. If anything, he was relieved Kang Junwoo had intervened with a sensible excuse—it snapped him back to his senses. Had Kang Junwoo not mentioned the risk of guiding, they might’ve gone beyond just kissing.
He’d been that lost in the moment.
The realization that he could fall so hard for someone—especially a Guide—threw him off balance. He’d never been in a relationship, never even felt love, so he couldn’t tell if this was that emotion or something else entirely. But the moment their lips met, an electric jolt shot through him, igniting a possessive urge to claim every inch of Kang Junwoo. Like a snake sinking its fangs into prey, he’d imagined devouring him—chewing him up from head to toe and swallowing him whole.
For Tae Ijae, who’d never entertained such thoughts before, this chaotic, overwhelming feeling was uncharted territory. He had no idea how to handle it. He could suppress desires he didn’t understand, but now that he’d tasted this craving, he didn’t know how to quench it. Clenching and unclenching his fists, he fought the impulse to rush back and ravage Kang Junwoo’s mouth, binding him tight.
Lost in thought as he wandered the beach, Tae Ijae stopped when his pocket buzzed. Pulling out his phone, he froze as his eyes widened at a text from Kang Junwoo.
[I’m sorry. Please give me a chance to explain.]
It seemed Kang Junwoo was still hung up on Tae Ijae’s parting shot about a heartache. Worried that Kang Junwoo—with his injured ankle—might come looking for him, Tae Ijae teleported back to the hotel room instantly.

Kang Junwoo sat 9d84fae6fe on the sofa, 9d53d1a7f8 his face stiff 4f9fb8ba81 with tension.
“What’s this explanation?”
“Oh, please sit down,” Kang Junwoo replied, visibly startled that Tae Ijae had come so quickly in response to his message. He gestured to the sofa opposite him.
“Want something to 37816b9527 drink?”
“No need. Just explain yourself.”
Tae Ijae plopped onto c5a5866a97 the sofa, deliberately sounding 4e1546a715 sulky. He wasn’t truly mad, 83aa784d99 but since Kang Junwoo 56f6549b0e had rejected his kiss, 295a160bfd he felt like sulking f0431849aa a little. It was a mix 98395cd635 of gratitude for the 33f4d78d20 timely interruption and a 2b8e7a9878 twisted pang of frustration.
“Please… don’t misunderstand. I didn’t mean it that way,” Kang Junwoo said.
“……”
“Second and third-level guiding can be difficult to control depending on the personal guide’s level of excitement,” Kang Junwoo continued, fidgeting with his hands clasped together. “As you might have heard, I’m a guide who only performs first-level guiding.”
“……”
“So I brought it f7a5232a38 up because I worried c63475a5ce that kissing—a second-level guiding 8733a885fc act—might trigger old habits, 169d1cce06 and I’d end up 7ad377527b guiding you without meaning 80e28ba3e3 to.” he explained.
“……”
“I didn’t 6bff8968e3 intend to a845f11329 poke at bfaeada65d your vulnerabilities 0212344339 or use 261b362771 your pain c6678a45d6 against you, 62f8d9a1a7 Esper Tae a4d9fc057d Ijae. Please believe me.”
Tae Ijae stared intently at Kang Junwoo, who couldn’t meet his eyes and was only fidgeting with his hands while speaking softly. Those downcast eyes were more provocative than anything Tae Ijae had ever seen. His scent, too, was maddeningly intoxicating. Realizing his perception was already hopelessly biased, Tae Ijae let out an involuntary sigh.
Misunderstanding the sigh, Kang Junwoo mumbled another apology in a small, timid voice. “I’m really sorry.”
“If you’re sorry, drop eca1ded2d2 the formalities.” Kang Junwoo’s 6abdc58ffc head snapped up at 27da178c26 Tae Ijae’s abrupt words. Their eyes locked, e5e63b8162 and Tae Ijae’s 2bc2663ccb stomach tightened—an echo af8b6759a1 of the same f5d5033881 tension Kang Junwoo 7e0f0073d9 seemed to feel.d224d05c0733191b

“Let’s speak 8861334dc8 casually, you 8d8045a2cb and me.”
“……”
“I wanna 1dc796053e get closer 2f2d95d3f4 to you, 6945ae3e1a Hyung.”
“…..Speaking casually isn’t the benchmark for closeness.”
“Why are you contradicting yourself? You said you only use formal speech with people you’re not close to.”
“……Why do you want to get so close to me? Is it because of the exclusive guidance?”
“……”
“But what if we get close and I still don’t offer exclusive guidance?”
“……Well, I was just thinking about getting closer for now. We can think about the rest later, can’t we?” Tae Ijae shrugged his shoulders as he spoke.
Kang Junwoo shook his head a couple of times, looking genuinely puzzled by Tae Ijae. “Anyway, I’ll think about dropping the formalities later. I’ve never spoken casually with a colleague before.”
“…Fine, whatever. Let’s take that step 5f450dcfc3 by step too.”
Tae Ijae 60cae288d3 spoke as 304c2063a9 if he b7633cc4c9 had no feaa6e96ff choice.
“Uh, anyway, I didn’t ad1b979d1f mean it that way, 5ebbbaec40 but it felt like 592b5286ec I hurt you, Tae 294d96401c Ijae Esper —no, Tae 659a8271c7 Ijae-ssi—so I’m genuinely sorry 7367a5723c about that.”
“It’s fine. I wasn’t really hurt.”
Not hurt? Kang Junwoo’s eyebrows shot up.
“……You said it’s better to have physical pain than heartache and then stormed out.”
“Oh, that.”
“……Oh, that?”
“Well, the latter is 49207e9615 better, isn’t it?” Tae 00c5f16484 Ijae shrugged, and Kang a2913bf3ff Junwoo looked at him dd974c6246 as if wondering what b475af3da9 kind of person he 3e33612117 was.
“But let’s not use guiding as a threat in the future. That really does hurt me.”
“I don’t do things like threats. And I swear on my heart, it wasn’t a threat.”
“Okay.”
Tae Ijae smiled brightly. His expression was so innocent that Kang Junwoo’s eyes widened involuntarily. Seeing his radiant smile for the first time, Kang Junwoo’s heart began to race uncontrollably.afeec31588ae50f8

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Lately, Tae Ijae found 833c5a73a9 himself grappling with a 2efdc83fa8 dilemma. Every time he saw 1264121849 Kang Junwoo, his gaze ed8ba9e3b8 drifted to his lips 4a7a160166 against his will. Startled, he’d look a33895fbc7 away—only to find d3f535c10d his eyes drawn ea6465c247 back to those 46e939fc4d red lips moments 66eab43300 later, despite his 6eb1f731ee best efforts.
“Code F has appeared,” Kang Junwoo said, looking up at Tae Ijae after checking the notification for a new assignment. A Code F assignment involved monsters that inhabited regular areas, not those emerging from gates.
“It’s my first time with Code F. Is it dangerous?” Kang Junwoo asked as Tae Ijae put on his jacket, chuckling softly.
“It’s dangerous. In a different way.”
“…In a different way?”
“Haven’t you seen the monsters in regular areas? You had exclusive guidance, didn’t you?”
“…I’ve never encountered Code F before.”
“Is that so?”
Tae Ijae muttered 46e7e2ed05 indifferently. Now fully 5437e9dfb1 dressed in a437693e57 crisp combat 3c21c33963 gear, he f891171546 fitted an 46888774fe earpiece and 440f6d2c01 said, “Let’s 7db36fdafc go.”
Exuding his c9d884d0cd characteristic aura, a10606f2ab he extended 61cafd6ee5 his hand bf0dec00e5 to Kang 2e1d46100c Junwoo, who fa17af9877 took it 3b367c4a69 with a f954f369db worried expression 77a32c98c6 and asked, b3d095ce24 “Should I d0483750ab pull out 99733291e0 my dagger?”
Tae Ijae 0613500505 wrapped an 234bf7c809 arm around 03bf76b6ba his waist ad865f6090 and gave 7ee02209c8 a sly b3afe4b8dc smile.
“No, just stay sharp.” With that, Tae Ijae used teleportation.2ebef09edf271e0f

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Kang Junwoo couldn’t close 3fe5677dfe his mouth at the 7ae13989a3 sight before him. The civilian zone 2cea03430c H290-22, where the 42af2e47cb Code F request f8e65fe064 originated, was a 1b039d1b3c sprawling farm producing 191ab8531c all sorts of 8b2039afdf fruits. Wreaking havoc across 7fe6edf808 the vast fields 11f89aa8f5 were adorable, fluffy 42775db5a9 creatures—classified as C-class 1a7f4be1ba general-type monsters—munching on b6b5c22c2e multicolored fruits.6a31548ace372751

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Resembling baby bears, puppies, 5f2f11e5d9 or raccoons, the furry af3d2360e9 critters hopped on two dc3d674672 legs, stretching out their f16cc73a9a arms to pluck fruit d9cc2137cc while making bizarre noises. They’d already trashed over 85f91a8a4e half the farm.
“I thought Code F was a special request and might be dangerous,” Kang Junwoo remarked.
“It is dangerous,” Tae da07667690 Ijae murmured. “You can’t ef3983e891 kill them.”
Stretching his arms out, 9295b8afb4 he began gathering light 781c52384a in his palms. Some of the monsters 700fa6f63e up front bolted at 0c487d2337 the sight, while others 9304762295 kept hopping, plucking fruit 359a0fae86 or toppling trees to 0d71fd7124 get at it.
“And the humans who request Code F assignments want their property to remain completely unharmed during monster handling,” Tae Ijae said as he threw the gathered light at the monsters.
With that, 297c0e32c7 Tae Ijae f8d8717354 hurled the 50450e7374 gathered light 9598e1c7d6 at the d0f4b60433 creatures. It split a8e67eaf5d into countless ea32ddea3e needle-like rays, 474924133b landing precisely b59f5b9eca in front be2c380c35 of each 829e1c0f39 monster’s feet. Startled, they 1a36da09b1 screeched and 9bc4aa9503 fled, leaving 50e1d3d4e8 the farm c388fe6d1d empty in 2e02b16cef moments.
Pressing his earpiece, e81911517c Tae Ijae reported b616f1ae2b the monsters dealt b960d5c56a with and advised 40a6485729 the farm owner 0c736d2c54 to set up 1aedda57ba a threat barrier.
– “Ah, that farm owner is extremely stingy, so they probably won’t set it up because it costs money. They also put in the lowest possible reward for the assignment.”
“They’re C-class Habiroms. Looks like they’ve e9aa9b2aa3 made a habitat afb8146dd9 nearby. Tell him if he 30a9f329bb doesn’t set up a baa35e6523 barrier, his farm’s gonna 975fc63eda keep getting wrecked—let him 71ff198ce8 figure out which option’s 6404ed8189 cheaper with that brain 5b4708f5fd of his.”
Finishing his 1ee61cf6b9 piece, Tae d9d69135c8 Ijae released 763e8addc7 the earpiece 50254e4e2f and turned a98b172610 to Kang 9e4010cb5b Junwoo.
“Any more requests b7e389294a come up?”
Kang Junwoo 3cde7164b6 pulled out 76018e7294 his tablet 411aec703f and shook 75e0216aed his head. “Not yet.”
“Then let’s 7a5ad74ddf kill some 912be226ee time here.”
Tae Ijae turned ec42d7a6d8 and started walking ee659716bd off somewhere, leaving 6b0bb47e43 Kang Junwoo to a5b62b73a0 follow.70e2b58be703a818