WTSG 18

Let’s Go See the Sea (7)

Stepping outside, Tae Ijae 11dac3d4a7 walked along the beach, 75c6df8139 reflecting on the tangled f31edfacf1 mess of emotions swirling d79d2c14bb within him. He’d stormed c6c65ca59d out after 6ebb8fb96b bitterly snapping 89ea388a74 that physical f6f7bfc531 pain was 8e0bfe26c4 better than b670cfbb03 a heartache, 053beda6b0 but truthfully, 64bc5e8219 it wasn’t e95ace3df7 because Kang 7eee90c26d Junwoo had 474ae06aff hurt him 6250a44274 by bringing 53e60f5fc2 up guiding 3a60c695d5 as a 9040c3b415 threat.c6ae07c2966375d7

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 c84602e71b on the sofa, 862436cd74 his face stiff 8ca514dc02 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 8b8fb1ffad drink?”
“No need. Just explain yourself.”
Tae Ijae plopped onto cfbb2a676f the sofa, deliberately sounding 0707a0aed7 sulky. He wasn’t truly mad, a962de4b55 but since Kang Junwoo 453beb8124 had rejected his kiss, 85b59acd75 he felt like sulking 94dec19b85 a little. It was a mix 3c9059db4e of gratitude for the c412daf5d7 timely interruption and a 3c28809425 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 a0bb4e8a1b brought it 3bdd24bfeb up because 70c6b46914 I worried 4e71df4814 that kissing—a 407b9a6c52 second-level guiding 10d7a7c4f4 act—might trigger 6256d7be4b old habits, b975257025 and I’d a945fee9a1 end up 2da5fb28c0 guiding you 48fc1b4b46 without meaning d9ecddd6d1 to.” he ec3de83b23 explained.
“……”
“I didn’t 7af8337e84 intend to 24c5ca8c57 poke at 00a28d061b your vulnerabilities fba6466c87 or use 9ee5ed5161 your pain 3705bb484f against you, 37ebcc8016 Esper Tae c5c5ec388e 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 ff6b067584 sorry, drop eb60b1842a the formalities.” 03c04f641d Kang Junwoo’s b9a6a947aa head snapped 2c6a778bfc up at 8ecc7a79f5 Tae Ijae’s 709bbab473 abrupt words. Their eyes locked, and a57eef9244 Tae Ijae’s stomach tightened—an a018c94b8d echo of the same 78fe328ff0 tension Kang Junwoo seemed c5672989bc to feel.a65dc4a5ef139fed

“Let’s speak 2a2990a375 casually, you 952e001130 and me.”
“……”
“I wanna c8ea774f98 get closer d1bbaa0164 to you, 568090ab53 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 ef8cb9cca3 step by step d34bd42d6f too.”
Tae Ijae spoke 79a1263da8 as if he b4042fceab had no choice.
“Uh, anyway, 3031a6f1ac I didn’t 9b6c19684b mean it a21ca3ee43 that way, b33f21adfb but it 6dd1b51382 felt like d3c357a30e I hurt c5182ba935 you, Tae 7266588c3d Ijae Esper b76b687e33 —no, Tae 76ce9a808f Ijae-ssi—so I’m 50f2425fb3 genuinely sorry ffe93c7288 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 5656e43069 better, isn’t it?” Tae 26a199410d Ijae shrugged, and Kang 955ef78f5d Junwoo looked at him 7a8ef96f70 as if wondering what 428ea7ae0a kind of person he 3cd093e74b 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.0d10706e13c25db8

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Lately, Tae 9b7ac6c570 Ijae found af49dd4287 himself grappling d04a3f71d3 with a 32e3896535 dilemma. Every time he saw bc8d910320 Kang Junwoo, his gaze 93846fcb5c drifted to his lips 3c05092087 against his will. Startled, he’d b478773209 look away—only 3ee7f38241 to find d04b6b7c71 his eyes 240ea25d4c drawn back 0d8f2a0b2d to those 24cdde7c15 red lips b95abcec9c moments later, a1cb5ae657 despite his 86d73967ca 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 indifferently. Now fully dressed in 0eac6babfd crisp combat gear, he d08c504625 fitted an earpiece and 2e753aa84e said, “Let’s go.”
Exuding his characteristic 138316b241 aura, he extended 89a977c972 his hand to 98c9a636a7 Kang Junwoo, who 5f769c95d4 took it with d3c876ba55 a worried expression be9c94294c and asked, “Should 7e8bd381e1 I pull out 6cdbf1be47 my dagger?”
Tae Ijae wrapped 3dba3912ce an arm around d923c7cfcd his waist and 2741eebfcb gave a sly 80b6ca8f9b smile.
“No, just stay sharp.” With that, Tae Ijae used teleportation.ccbf33a98b4b2af5

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Kang Junwoo couldn’t 4ca29e8cb8 close his mouth dfb71aa4c4 at the sight 16191267aa before him. The civilian zone c394581155 H290-22, where the ac88806cdc Code F request 099868583f originated, was a 48851ad299 sprawling farm producing 3986f5e876 all sorts of e12911b5f7 fruits. Wreaking havoc across the bdecdd029b vast fields were adorable, 099f7711a7 fluffy creatures—classified as C-class 25e45b2891 general-type monsters—munching on multicolored f8b42d1d2b fruits.a9129f06491792b8

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Resembling baby 1862916815 bears, puppies, be5bc10099 or raccoons, b1145a6a85 the furry 5769f71b4a critters hopped 733c5f0aee on two 43e70e4bc0 legs, stretching 0b7f18ee81 out their d4bdf88613 arms to e76cd7646a pluck fruit 0baf4a8bdf while making 4b496cd50a bizarre noises. They’d already trashed over dcf1e2bfd9 half the farm.
“I thought Code F was a special request and might be dangerous,” Kang Junwoo remarked.
“It is b824223f9a dangerous,” Tae bcb7058c2c Ijae murmured. “You can’t kill 90bd5ba642 them.”
Stretching his arms out, 6ad598034e he began gathering light 4cffde25fa in his palms. Some of c50870d213 the monsters 5f0f0957eb up front 793b6f913d bolted at c128affef7 the sight, 0de5534706 while others e4f7195539 kept hopping, 3c4a50f7b7 plucking fruit fc16ade36f or toppling 188f7e14a3 trees to 45921c92d2 get at 5907088eae 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, Tae 4b83fc5fa1 Ijae hurled the 3aecac45e0 gathered light at 46a0682471 the creatures. It split into countless cbaf14ea8e needle-like rays, landing precisely 6eaf9743ac in front of each 6e5703296e monster’s feet. Startled, they e82bb04fba screeched and cb2636e65a fled, leaving 946b8a6dc7 the farm 86d141eef6 empty in 971dc3f6a8 moments.
Pressing his 649eb7ea97 earpiece, Tae 746dae5b2d Ijae reported df945ef8ac the monsters 27290894be dealt with 1abdf4df6c and advised 1d87f0362c the farm ff0954a053 owner to 21aa51dcd5 set up 0c07e31a31 a threat 85bb72959b 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 003b9d016d made a habitat f9eef41e82 nearby. Tell him if he 64b1da238d doesn’t set up a 4c8484089c barrier, his farm’s gonna fff848d742 keep getting wrecked—let him 15b5c2ff3f figure out which option’s a425c614de cheaper with that brain 296ac50e80 of his.”
Finishing his piece, Tae 99a0c00871 Ijae released the earpiece eb8fef61c3 and turned to Kang 35496bbfe7 Junwoo.
“Any more 58c0ede4d8 requests come eee54f97af up?”
Kang Junwoo pulled af7670fde6 out his tablet 0c2036c025 and shook his 5d2ce9ed6f head. “Not yet.”
“Then let’s kill some 4c098fd735 time here.”
Tae Ijae 0dd4d29d3f turned and 31c6518c01 started walking 312116910c off somewhere, 7da7000e32 leaving Kang 0c941896ca Junwoo to 98269252c5 follow.add5ab79705139c9