FETCH 47

Jaechan remained seated with his legs stretched out, his toes still dangling back and forth. He felt somewhere between being in a good mood and being strangely conflicted; consequently, his mind was restless.

He let out a low “Mmm” as his eyes rolled around. While telling himself that all’s well that ends well—concluding that things turned out for the best—unresolved questions lingered, causing his thoughts to drift.

The fire of this worry had been lit by Han Kang himself. After leaving those cryptic words to just “call it guiding,” there had been no contact from him since. Normally, he would have sent a message saying he arrived at the Center or was going to training.

Because of this, Jaechan’s thoughts clumped together without a chance to scatter. Holding his head, which was heavy with a hangover, and his waist, which was sore from the arduous activities of the previous night, Jaechan fell into deep thought with a heavily furrowed brow.

He had no idea what Han Kang was thinking, suddenly bringing up guiding like that. Furthermore, he wondered what kind of whim had prompted him to accept Jaechan so readily overnight.

After all, they were the same pair who had initially gotten into a massive fight just over trying to kiss. They had only barely managed insertion guiding, yet yesterday, Han Kang was the one who rushed in first.

So, this situation was not easy to accept at face value.

While Jaechan felt a pleasant swell of emotion in a corner of his heart, he also frowned at the faint sense of discomfort lingering there. It was only right to be happy that the person he liked was responding to him, but it was ironic that he found himself doubting Han Kang now that his dismissive attitude had changed so abruptly.

Unable to overcome the discomfort, Jaechan finally picked up his phone first.

「Did you get to the Center?」

After asking for his location directly instead of just checking it on his watch, Jaechan let out a long sigh.

「Kang: Yeah, I couldn’t message because I was changing clothes Going to training now! I’ll call you later」

A sense of relief settled into the sigh that followed the reply.

.✦ ݁˖

From then on, Han Kang requested guiding whenever he had the chance. As if his previous rejections belonged to a past life, they moved quickly from holding hands and light pecks to full-blown kissing. Perhaps he couldn’t bring himself to request insertion guiding easily, as that frequency was significantly lower, but even so, he never refused guiding once.

The more this happened, the more complicated Jaechan’s mind became.

He considered just grabbing him and asking, but he didn’t know how to phrase it, so his suspicions only circled inside his mouth.

Since a troubled mind naturally leads to sensitivity, Jaechan looked miserable day after day. Perhaps it showed, as Choi Seokyoung approached and gave him a light nudge.

“Looks like Han Kang isn’t listening to you? I heard he calls you ‘honey’.”

Choi Seokyoung, who hadn’t been able to give a proper greeting on the day of the company dinner, had been subtly striking up conversations with Jaechan since the following day.

Jaechan threw a suspicious look his way. It was because it was unexpected how friendly Choi Seokyoung was being now that they had started working together, considering the cold glares he used to give Jaechan whenever they ran into each other in front of the Center before he was hired.

Jaechan shook his head and said “No,” before looking at him and asking.

“By the way, you don’t dislike me, do you?”

Because he was the type who had to ask immediately when curious to feel at ease, he couldn’t even refine his words. Indeed, with a personality like this, it was incredibly frustrating that he couldn’t even ask Han Kang.

Thinking of Han Kang again out of habit, Jaechan shook his head with an “Ugh” to push him out of his mind. Then, he faced Choi Seokyoung again, who was looking at him as if to ask what he meant.

“I dislike you?”

The way he asked it back made it seem like it was truly news to him.

“You used to look at me like this every day, didn’t you?”

Jaechan mimicked the expression Choi Seokyoung used to make and looked at him. After he arched his eyebrows, squinted his eyes, and twisted his lips, Choi Seokyoung suddenly burst out with a loud “Ah-ha-ha!” and laughed heartily.

Since it was a mocking imitation of his own face, he might have felt offended, but he laughed boisterously, slapping his thigh as if it were truly hilarious. Since Jaechan tended to be drawn to people who laughed well, the moment he saw him, he made a hasty judgment that he might actually be a good-natured person.

After all, one’s taste doesn’t change easily.

“Ah, that’s just because I have astigmatism, so I see things like that. It wasn’t because I particularly disliked you.”

But the added explanation was truly unexpected. Jaechan tilted his head sharply, doubting his own ears. Astigmatism—he really hadn’t seen that coming.

He felt a bit sorry for suspecting an innocent person. As Jaechan let out a long “Ah…”, Choi Seokyoung added an explanation with a smile.

“I hear often that I have a nasty expression. It’s also possible I was just more annoyed back then because Han Kang kept throwing fits for me to guide him just so he could go outside when I didn’t feel like doing extra guiding.”

“…Is your relationship with Han Kang not good?”

“Did we actually look like we got along?”

Choi Seokyoung immediately crumpled his face as if to ask, ‘How on earth did you end up thinking that?’

His reaction was vivid enough to clear up a long-held misunderstanding and reveal a new truth all at once.

“I thought you were close.”

“I don’t associate with bastards who have foul personalities.”

“Aha…”

That’s fair. Given Han Kang’s personality—which wasn’t just normally foul—someone with that kind of creed would find it difficult to mix with Han Kang, like oil and water.

Accepting this easily, Jaechan noticed Choi Seokyoung smiling brightly at him and belatedly added.

“Well… even though his temper is a mess, he’s a good kid.”

It felt a bit late for a clarification, but anyway, when he defended Han Kang, Choi Seokyoung’s smile deepened slightly.

Somehow, it was a bit awkward. Jaechan scratched his cheek and gave a bashful smile.

“So, regarding what you asked earlier, it’s not that Han Kang isn’t listening to me.”

“Right, I heard the rumors are widespread that he actually listens to you perfectly.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, that’s what they say? That you’re the only one who can control him.”

After leaving those cool words, Choi Seokyoung suddenly left the office before the conversation was even finished. Jaechan, thinking he was a truly peculiar person regardless of being good-natured, just blinked his eyes.

To think the rumor of Han Kang only listening to him had spread throughout the Center.

Then again, the Center Director had been the one pushing the contract while mentioning Han Kang’s personality from the moment he first manifested. He must have acted like a real dog for it to be like that. Jaechan nodded, actually empathizing with the people at the Center.

He had worked so hard to push Han Kang away, yet Han Kang was all that remained in his head. Jaechan eventually pushed back his chair and stood up. He decided to just ask Han Kang directly, come what may, as was his nature.

Jaechan now accepted that Han Kang had recognized him as his guide. However, he was curious why Han Kang, whose desires were strong enough to seek guiding at all hours, had held back for so long until now.

Then again, he was also worried that the sudden, frequent requests for guiding might be because his guiding wasn’t working properly.

He had recently reduced his medication a bit before starting it again, and while at the Center, he had to take it at irregular times to avoid Han Kang’s eyes. So, he started doubting himself, wondering if the efficacy was dropping.

Nothing good could come from deepening these thoughts. Rather than asking about Han Kang’s thoughts, which were a total mystery, Jaechan concluded he would ask if the guiding was insufficient. Having settled on that, the things he needed to ask became clear, and Jaechan felt a bit lighter.

“Hey, Kang!”

Jaechan, having called out boldly for Han Kang, headed toward the Esper lounge where he was resting. Even though it wasn’t a place where Han Kang was alone, as other Espers were resting there together, Jaechan saw Han Kang first.

Han Kang, who started wagging his tail like a dog greeting its owner, replied “Yeah” and stood up. The limbs that had been sprawled out until a moment ago approached him with long strides.

“Let’s talk for a bit!”

Jaechan called Han Kang with intentional strength.

Since it was a subject that made him feel intimidated, it was a desperate struggle not to appear small. Han Kang nodded his head and followed him as if there was no reason not to. After they headed to a quiet place where no one else was around, Jaechan took Han Kang’s hand, which had just gone through the struggle of training.

This time, too, he didn’t brush Jaechan’s hand away and obediently held it back.

“You know, you’ve been getting guiding really often lately.”

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t most people get about that much?”

Of course, it wasn’t that Han Kang alone was getting significantly more than other Espers, but regardless, it was more than his usual amount. Jaechan scratched the corner of his mouth and added, “But…”

“Is the guiding not working well, by any chance?”

The question, asked very cautiously, was tinged with tension. He subtly rolled his eyes to gauge his reaction. He analyzed him sharply, not wanting to miss even a fleeting moment, fearing he might lie just to make him feel better.

But Han Kang simply blinked, as if asking what he was talking about. Unless he was a natural-born acting genius, such a pure expression couldn’t be faked.

“What are you talking about?”

“Because you’ve been trying to get guiding so often lately… Before, just contact guiding was enough, but lately we do mucosa too. And… sometimes insertion too.”

He added the last part in a crawling voice. No matter how much it was just one of the prevalent methods of guiding, it was an act with special meaning to him, so it was a bit embarrassing.

At that, Han Kang asked back, his face turning pale instead. Han Kang’s hand, which was holding Jaechan’s, tightened with a firm grip.

“Did you hate it?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then?”

No, I came here to ask, so why do I feel like I’m the one being interrogated?

“…If it’s because the matching rate is dropping.”

“Yeah.”

“Then I won’t be able to stay with you anymore…”

As he trailed off hesitantly, Han Kang suddenly smiled very brightly. While this side hadn’t had their lingering unease resolved yet, it seemed everything had been resolved for Han Kang.

Then, he gave a light flick—not a painful one—to Jaechan’s forehead. Jaechan, clutching his forehead at the sudden pain, looked up at him with a “Huh?”

Han Kang smiled quite handsomely.

“You don’t need to worry about things like that. That won’t happen.”

As if the matching rate wasn’t even worth considering, Han Kang left that dependable answer and wordlessly pressed his lips against Jaechan’s.

“Don’t go overthinking useless things.”

A faint smile broke out at the words mumbled against his lips. Jaechan finally replied with a light “Okay.” As long as the matching rate wasn’t dropping, it didn’t matter. Since his only goal was to remain by Han Kang’s side.