HG | Chapter 5

Why on earth is this happening?

A bizarre event that I can’t even comprehend.

“Ah, no… Haah!”

Gulp.

As soon as I took a step forward, fluid gushed out from behind. The already wet fabric was stained with new moisture.

Despite feeling troubled, I had a hunch that I could sleep without worries today. So, I went to bed wearing just one layer of underwear and pants like before, but I ended up overloading again.

The underwear and pajamas, which were once dry and crisp, had long been soaked in slippery fluid.

Drip. Drip.

Tears of sorrow fell onto the floor as I crawled.

‘I’m scared…’

I was scared yesterday too, but not as much as now. Today, it was beyond fear. The fluid leaking from behind and the hot breath were the same, but something was different from yesterday.

‘I feel like… I’m going crazy…’

The heat boiling inside my body seemed like it would soon consume my sanity.

Hakyung knew what happened to guides who lost their sanity.

They pounce.

They pounce on any esper they see, and if there isn’t one nearby, they wander around looking for one. They attempt forced guiding, disregarding wavelengths or anything else. They become a rapist attempting forced guiding.

Or they get caught by any esper and get raped.

All of this is because too much guiding energy accumulates in the body. So, whether male or female, the body transforms to make it easier to accept immediately. I’ve heard of cases where people develop genitals they didn’t have, becoming posthumously hermaphroditic.

It was terrifying.

If my body changes any more here… Wouldn’t my father despise me then?

It was also a problem to leave this place to hide my body and then lose my sanity and get involved with others. Just a few steps away, there would be espers swarming.

The Specialised Ability School was also a dormitory system for everyone, just like in middle and high school. The fact that it was a single room per person was a relief, both then and now.

“Ugh… Hah!”

Gush!

“Huuu….”

Precious time passed by without being able to do anything. Hakyung tried to gauge the situation with his sluggish mind.

He had two choices.

First, call the Awakener Association. Second, contact his father.

‘Enduring it like this’ wasn’t an option. Overloading had symptoms that varied greatly between individuals, with only a handful of common cases. Some managed to endure by locking themselves in a room, allowing the energy to be forcibly released, giving them a breather, but others who tried the same method ended up dying when their bodies burst.

There was no guarantee that Hakyung wouldn’t end up the same way. The most terrifying thought was the image of himself wandering around, leaking fluid from behind, without even realizing it, after opening the door.

“Quickly…”

I have to choose. While there’s still a sliver of sanity left.

To avoid looking at his phone before sleeping, he had placed all electronic devices on a table far from the bed. It was a pointless act without foresight. Thanks to that, he had to crawl arduously from the bedroom to the living room.

And finally, the phone was right in front of him.

“Haa… Huh, ah…!”

Crash!

As he reached out to grab the phone on the low table, his upper body collapsed, causing the light table to tilt sideways.

Hakyung hit his forehead on the floor. His face, scrunched up from enduring the heat and pain, was drenched in sweat. The heat didn’t come alone. The headache he became aware of yesterday was also within range.

His sanity was melting away in real-time. As much as the fluid was leaking from behind, his mind felt like it was turning to mush.

Hurry. Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry….

At this point, distinguishing between the Awakener Association and his father was meaningless. Muttering frantically in his mind, Hakyung dialed a familiar number. He didn’t even need to search the list since he only had to press 1.

-Child, what’s wrong?

As expected, the call connected without even a waiting tone.

A familiar voice came from the other side of the phone. Hakyung exhaled a hot, raspy breath.

I have to speak.

“Father…”

Thud.

It was blackout.

***

Meanwhile, in the office at Hagyeong Pharmaceuticals.

A man holding a cigarette in one hand and a phone in the other stubbed out the cigarette in an ashtray. It was a long cigarette he hadn’t taken many puffs from. The ash and smoke were unusually white, so much so that the distinct white smoke stood out.

“……”

Tap, tap.

A long index finger tapped the table rhythmically for a while.

Then suddenly stopped.

“…Hmm.”

It was then that a glint appeared in his indifferent golden eyes.

“Well, this wasn’t in the plan…”

Im Hakyung.

He never expected the son he raised with all his attention to overload and drag his father into bed.

“Hakyung, Hakyung.”

Contrary to the fleeting thought of regret, his dazzling features were filled with interest. Even the golden eyes that sparkled like an excited child’s showed it.

He chewed over the abruptly ended call, leaving an uneasy aftertaste, and stood up. His massive frame moved without a sound. Though he walked casually, the absence of footsteps was reminiscent of a large feline predator.

Click.

As he left the office, a similarly silent presence approached and stood by his side.

“Are you going in person?”

The person asking was the man who had boarded the delivery truck with a middle-aged deliveryman in the dungeon of Gyeongbok District 1. His expressionless face and polite demeanor were extremely courteous but not servile.

Im Cheonghyeon chuckled.

“Of course. I have to go in person. The kid is looking for his dad.”

A tone that suggested he knew everything.

The man, wearing a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his wrists without a suit jacket, spun the car key ring with his index finger before gripping it tightly.

“Ah.”

“Please instruct.”

“In case I end up staying for a few days, stop the production of the medicine and prepare for a business trip.”

“Do you have a place in mind?”

It was a reasonable question for the man. However, Im Cheonghyeon, as if he had heard an unpleasant question, suddenly lowered his lips into a cold smile and drew a line again while looking at his subordinate’s crown. It was slightly crooked on one side.

“Hagakryeong.”

“That place…”

For the first time, the subordinate’s eyes wavered at the answer. Im Cheonghyeon proceeded without pause this time.

“Since the kid knows, I should at least show him his biological parents’ grave.”

***

How long had it been since I was engulfed in the heat?

“Ugh…, ah!”

Hakyung was drawn to a strangely refreshing sensation and grabbed it tightly. Drip, drip. Despite the tears that kept welling up, making it hard to see, the single refreshing sensation amidst the fiery heat was something he could clearly trace.

That sensation was truly a ‘signpost.’

“Haah, huff!”

“Oh dear… Child, if you cling like that, I’ll really misunderstand.”

A low voice that made you want to scratch deep inside your chest. The laughter in that voice and the slight vibration of the body when laughing, everything about it was enchanting.

No. Don’t go.

“Please…”

Without even realizing he was speaking out loud, Hakyung pleaded desperately. All his rationality had fled. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he could fully remember this moment later.

He just didn’t want to lose the being in his grasp. The instinctual warning that he mustn’t let go was truly terrifying.

Esper.

This is mine.

‘My’ esper.

What’s the difference between just an esper and ‘my esper’? Like a naive child, Hakyung asked his instincts. Then, someone with the same voice as Hakyung declared,

That’s the destination. The place you must finally reach. The end of destiny.

A sanctuary.

‘My esper’ is, in other words, the <world> where you can rest comfortably as a guide.

Ah, I see…. That’s why it’s so cozy, and I can breathe fully even amidst this overwhelming heat.

Acceptance was swift. Sometimes instincts precede reason, and Hakyung easily accepted the difference due to the sensation he was experiencing. The pain that no longer surged. Knowing it was the result of touching ‘my esper,’ understanding was easy.

The problem was the thirst.

‘I want to touch more… more.’

Smooch, smooch, smooch.

With his eyes closed, he pressed his lips against the body he was hugging. The more skin-to-skin contact, the more electrifying it felt, confirming that this was right.

Yet, the thirst only grew stronger. Why can’t I see the end even though I’m heading in the right direction?

Hakyung felt despondent and just wanted to cry. The unanswered thirst made his throat parch. Like a whining puppy, he licked and licked the spot where his lips touched. Fortunately, there was a bulging mound like a ridge below, so he rubbed his hips without getting lost.

“Hoo…”

“Ah, ah…”

As he diligently rubbed that spot, he could hear deep breaths in his ears. It was what Hakyung aimed for. Stimulating enough to make you want to climax. When he managed to draw that out, the thirst boiling inside would momentarily subside. For just… about a second.

Sure enough. This time too, after a fleeting moment of temporary relief, the heat that had scattered reassembled. Unconsciously, Hakyung bit his lower lip. Mmm, mm…. Uncontrolled moans continued to break and connect.

“No. You’ll get hurt.”

Tsk. The person who scolded him like a puppy easily parted Hakyung’s lips. They slipped a finger into the gap, as if to say, bite this instead.

Hakyung began to nibble as if entranced. Nibble, nibble. It felt entirely different from when he bit his lips. Hard, fragrant, something he wanted to keep licking….

But somehow, this didn’t seem like the right direction.

The finger was currently held horizontally. Hakyung briefly withdrew from the finger covered in his saliva. He knew the ‘correct answer’ without anyone telling him. It was an instinctual act.

Chomp.

He shoved the vertically raised finger straight into his mouth and sucked on it.

Screech!

“You, damn…”

The languid atmosphere abruptly changed at that moment.

Hakyung forcibly opened his eyes due to the sudden prickling sensation on his skin. Tears that had pooled in his eyes rolled down.

A severely blurred vision. What he barely recognized through it was,

“Child, where did you learn this?”

A fiercely gleaming golden eye.

“…Ah!”

Damn it.

Im Cheonghyeon cursed with a fierce momentum. As soon as he arrived at his destination, he practically abandoned the car and got into the elevator.

In his arms was his child. A guide who had melted down, waiting to touch his esper.

My guide.

As soon as he faced the explosively pouring guiding energy, he instinctively knew. This is mine. From the beginning, the world, destiny had arranged my guide. In 20 years as an esper, such a bizarre realization was undoubtedly the first.

Right after that, a violently overwhelming sensation, sensation, sensation.

It felt like every cell was rising and stirring, as if it would pickle his retina, skin, blood vessels, and even his soul.

In terms of time, it must have been brief. But during that brief moment, Cheonghyeon felt as if he were being taxidermied, with his hair being pulled. The pressure was so intense that even moving a toe was difficult.

It would have been hard for anyone to believe. Being overwhelmed by an F-grade guide, whose energy itself was said to be weak. The fact that it didn’t feel this dramatic when Hakyung first awakened made it even more absurd.

That’s why the certainty that Hakyung was his guide was even more firmly embedded.

“Damn…”

He failed to swallow the rising curse again. How can such a shitty thing happen?

He had been living just fine without a guide. To be precise, he didn’t need a guide. The seven original awakeners, including Im Cheonghyeon. For some reason, they could endure alone without a guide from the start and even now.

But why now?

And why, of all people, does it have to be his son?

“…Ugh, huu…”

Hakyung had been whining with a tearful appearance for a while. He synchronized with his esper’s wavelength, clinging to it, trying to broaden the area of contact for a deeper connection.

Smooch, smooch, smooch. The licking and sucking on the exposed skin stimulated the man.

“Huff…!”

Then, at some point. The body, bound in a generous embrace, suddenly stiffened. It then whimpered with a dazed expression.

Cheonghyeon didn’t need to confirm to know. Fluid had leaked from behind.

“Ugh, huu, ahhh!”

And for an esper, all of that was ‘medicine.’

“Hmm…”

The stomach, which had always been heavily knotted, loosened up. He realized today that it could be released.

The fact that he had survived with the accumulated energy for decades was purely due to luck. The fortune trait granted solely because he was the first awakener. If he had been the second, he would have overloaded long ago and turned to dust.

“Im Hakyung.”

As soon as he called his son’s name, he chuckled. Damn, what kind of father calls his son’s name in such a voice?

That was originally meant for Hakyung. Asking what kind of son calls his dad so pitifully.

Who’s pointing fingers at whom?

Cheonghyeon’s voice was so tightly locked that anyone could see he was sexually aroused. It was a miracle that there hadn’t been an accident while bringing Hakyung back home. He even drove himself while holding the child.

He should have realized something was off when his dick got hard….

“Ah, ah…! Quick, haah!”

Whether Cheonghyeon lamented his arrogance or not, Hakyung squirmed intensely in the man’s arms. He used his limbs to bind the man tightly and licked the exposed skin indiscriminately. Simultaneously, he wiggled and rubbed his already aroused front against the man’s stomach.

The hands supporting his buttocks and the places where skin touched were getting damp. The hands, in particular, were soaked with fluid, glistening up to the wrists.

Veins bulged on Cheonghyeon’s forehead and around his jaw. He was clenching his jaw so hard it seemed like it would shatter, but that wasn’t the important point.

He wanted to lick the fluid on his hands.

He wanted to inhale every drop of fluid coming from ‘this,’ and be enveloped in its scent.

‘This is… guiding.’

The instinct overwhelming reason…, thus the desire to bury his head in his guide’s embrace and rest, was consuming the esper who had been solitary and aloof.

His reason was blurring by the second.

Cheonghyeon consciously blinked. His vision was dizzy. If he let his guard down for a moment, he would be swept away like this. No, it seemed he was already half-collapsed. Considering the lust to suck his son’s neck rather than head to the bedroom.

“Child…”

“Ah, fa… Huuu!”

The wet body convulsed again. The guiding energy spread like old smoke.

Though there was no visible image, Im Cheonghyeon felt the energy engulfing him was like cigarette smoke. A narcotic cigarette rolled with monster corpse powder. Of course, the addiction had no effect on him. However, it was worth using as a substitute for Hakyung in terms of slightly calming his nerves.

He had thought it was worth it.

He retracted that evaluation from this moment. Simply because he hadn’t experienced it, he didn’t know, but such a crude thing couldn’t even be a substitute compared to the ‘real thing.’

“……Haa!”

Blinking once, he found himself with his nose buried in Hakyung’s neck.

Moist skin. Delicate skin that seemed to crumble if gripped too hard. The unique scent wafting from there.

Eat.

Someone commanded from a place hard to pinpoint, whether it was in his head or stomach.

Bite, swallow.

Then the rest you’ve sought your whole life will be there, the voice tempted like luring a child.

‘Licking… is not allowed.’

Cheonghyeon tried to think hard. He hoped that the aspect of him that had lived as a father to the child would lend some strength. It’s been 17 years, after all, so with that much accumulated reason, shouldn’t there be some power to resist instinct?

The judgment was swift.

Hakyung, his son, who was panting desperately, wrapped his trembling hand around his father’s nape. It was bare skin, exposed because he hadn’t buttoned up out of habit.

The heat touching there was unbearably hot, and Cheonghyeon let out a low groan. When he lifted his head as if entranced, lips hotter than the hand overlapped with his.

Smooch….

A kiss he had done countless times. In the past, it was purely a gesture of familial affection and comfort. It meant he had never mixed flesh inside the parted lips.

If he didn’t open his mouth now, it would be Cheonghyeon’s victory. He instinctively sensed that this was the turning point of the battle. And,

Ding-.

The signal that rang just in time.

Was it really the elevator’s notification sound, or was it a hallucination spreading in his mind?

“Huff…!”

Simultaneously with the sound, as if triggered, his tongue shot out. He frantically seized and indulged in the flesh marked with the other’s breath.

My son’s tongue.

The taste of my son.

The moment he realized that, the irretrievable sensation gradually, inch by inch, took over Cheonghyeon. It was a reality more unfamiliar to Cheonghyeon than anything else. Losing control and being dominated by instinct.

But it wasn’t bad. If the sensation he learned today was the essence of ‘guiding,’ then for Cheonghyeon, guiding was the taste of his son.