FETCH 65

“Get up now. We have to head to the main auditorium today.”

“I know…”

Han Kang let out a slurred voice as he half-opened his eyes. Jaechan, who had lived in the dormitory as a resident Guide for the past week, completed his duty by checking Han Kang’s complexion one last time.

Contrary to his constant anxiety that there might be a problem with the guiding, Han Kang’s condition was quite good. Nevertheless, feeling uneasy deep down, Jaechan had lived every day holding him close. While sleeping, while eating, and even while resting in the living room.

Whether it was thanks to that, Han Kang’s rampages seemed to have quieted down for now. It was a relief. Feeling as though the anxiety that had been heavily weighing on his chest was subsiding even a little, Jaechan smiled brightly and stroked Han Kang’s face.

“I’m glad you look okay.”

His tone was much lighter. Han Kang also gave a soft “yeah” and smiled.

For some reason, Jaechan’s heart felt ticklish. It wasn’t the first time they had stared at each other’s faces while lying across from one another, yet even his breathing became cautiously shallow for no reason.

He swallowed hard. Jaechan bit his lips, which had suddenly gone dry. Han Kang’s gaze looking at him was so vivid. And usually, when eyes met for this long, lips naturally tended to overlap.

Just like a newlywed couple catching fire the moment their eyes met, their heads were slowly drawing closer without anyone prompting them.

“Hey! Stop acting all lovey-dovey and come out! We’re late!”

Thump, thump, thump!

The mood was completely shattered by the sound of someone roughly pounding on the door. Over Jaechan’s cheeks, which were flushing red from embarrassment, a light kiss followed with a mwah.

“Why do you look so disappointed? We’re going to be together every day once the training camp starts anyway.”

He couldn’t even manage a proper response to the words heavily laced with playfulness.

.✦ ݁˖

Every Guide and Esper gathered in the auditorium, which was large enough to accommodate the entire personnel of the Center. There was no other reason. It was to assign the dormitories for the upcoming intensive Olympic preparations and to notify them of the training schedules.

The auditorium was incredibly noisy, filled with members of the first-string national team—male Esper team Zero and female Esper team Luna—as well as the second and third-string personnel.

There were seven Espers for each team, and another seven Guides. In some cases, like Ji Sangtaek, there were additional team-wide Guides who managed the whole team without a dedicated partner. Excluding them, there were also researchers and staff members assisting with training and daily life, bringing the total to at least thirty people per team.

With three teams each for men and women, the crowd numbered in the hundreds, and the collective drone of their voices was heavy and grand.

Amidst them, Jaechan was looking around with a deeply flushed expression. Among all these people—specifically among the Guides selected for the first string—he was the only one participating in the Olympics for the first time.

Perhaps because of that, his heart was thumping at an unusual pace. It was no use placing a hand over his chest and taking deep breaths. The dopamine already released was simply dilating his veins and pumping away busily.

The Olympics.

He recalled the moment he had once clenched his fists and vowed to endure until the Olympics. Unknowingly, he gently bit his lower lip.

It would be a lie to say the past four years had been entirely smooth. That was why he was proud of himself for enduring it. Once he returned from a successful Olympic run, how much more pride would he feel then?

Suddenly, he remembered his first Olympic appearance. The image of Han Kang leaving for the airport, saying he would proudly place a gold medal around Jaechan’s neck, was drawn clearly as if it were yesterday.

‘Then, how about I confess while placing the gold medal on him?’

That moment of being proud before the whole world. It felt like it would be the right timing.

His heart swelled.

At that time, perhaps even the Center would have no choice but to recognize him as a proper Guide.

Unlike the disdain they had shown until now, they might treat him like any other Guide. When that happens, I’ll have to act a bit more confident too.

A smile bloomed on Jaechan’s lips as he chewed over his seemingly perfect plan.

Han Kang leaned his head lightly on Jaechan’s shoulder. Jaechan half-heartedly tapped the forehead of Han Kang, who was leaning on him. Specifically, he was shrugging his shoulder as if to tell him to lift his head, but Han Kang simply held his ground, seemingly having no intention of listening.

“Ah, stand up straight.”

“Honey, did you go see where the new dormitory is? Is it nice?”

“No, I haven’t been there yet. But I heard it’s really great?”

“Is it?”

Han Kang let out a hum from his throat and rolled his forehead back and forth on Jaechan’s shoulder. As the team training camp progressed, the Espers had to move from their existing dormitories to newly prepared housing units.

Since a large number of people had to live there, they had previously stayed in several luxury villas on long-term leases, but this time, it was said they were moving into a housing complex newly built by the Center. It seemed the money earned from aggressive advertising and sending them out to competitions was quite substantial.

Jaechan looked forward with an expression that was a mix of anticipation and nerves. People gathered in the noisy crowd were glancing over at them. Seeing Team Zero gathered as a group seemed to make them feel intimidated; they would peek, but if their eyes met, they would quickly turn their heads away.

Even in such a massive crowd, Team Zero was undeniably prominent. Everyone was larger in stature than those around them, and perhaps because they often received “camera massages,” they were all quite handsome.

Among them, the one who captured the most attention was undoubtedly Han Kang. Standing next to Han Kang, who was considered the face of the Center, Jaechan was also quite eye-catching, causing wandering gazes to get repeatedly caught on the two of them.

Though he had been awkward at first, Jaechan was now quite used to the attention. Even if he felt shy every time, he couldn’t help but feel good about the gazes of admiration. He spent a few minutes grinning and joking with Han Kang.

“Alright! Team Zero, gather over here!”

Finally, the team leaders, having finished their consultations, scattered to gather their team members. As Ji Sangtaek held his hand high and tapped away at his tablet, the Espers of Team Zero and the Guides of Support Team 1 who assisted them followed Ji Sangtaek and formed a circle around him.

Ji Sangtaek spoke while flipping through his tablet, seemingly checking the dormitory locations they had just agreed upon.

“Here, we’ll be using a total of seven buildings. Two pairs will stay in each building. Buildings 1 through 4 are where the Guides and Espers will stay. The remaining three buildings will be shared by the staff and researchers. Fortunately, our team was assigned the building closest to the training room. I already see a few guys who would have complained if it were far.”

While speaking, Ji Sangtaek glanced over Han Kang and Choi Seokyoung. After giving a playful scolding, he added a joke with a smirk.

“Luckily, we’re the closest. The cafeteria is right there too, so you Espers better eat plenty.”

As soon as food was mentioned, the eyes of the Espers, which had been hollow like rotten pollack until now, simultaneously regained their luster. In any case, they were all serious about eating. He burst out laughing at the sight for a moment.

“Do we decide the buildings ourselves?”

At someone’s question, Jaechan felt a sudden wave of fatigue. The other Guides probably felt the same.

After all, weren’t the people gathered here as teammates all quite stubborn and strong-willed? His ears already hurt from the loud voices going back and forth. Just as Jaechan was pressing his lips into a straight line to keep from scowling, Ji Sangtaek luckily added that they shouldn’t even dream of it.

“No. It’s already been decided. I’ll let you know later. Has each Guide informed their dedicated Esper of the training schedule?”

“Our honey hasn’t told me yet.”

“Uh-huh, Kang. Your honey will tell you soon.”

While speaking, Ji Sangtaek gave him a quick look. It was a signal for him to make sure Han Kang understood properly so that no other complaints would arise. Jaechan nodded, signifying he understood.

In fact, he had intended to sit him down and tell him everything as soon as the meeting was dismissed today. The training schedule that Support Team 1 had racked their brains over for the past few weeks had to consider the training room usage times of other teams and coordinate the individual training times of each Esper.

Furthermore, since Guides had to accompany them for all training now that they were preparing for the Olympics, he had been incredibly busy trying to squeeze in their own work hours. And Jaechan had successfully completed a schedule that Han Kang likely wouldn’t hate.

“I’ll show you the schedule while we move our luggage later.”

“Okay.”

Jaechan looked at Ji Sangtaek while stroking Han Kang’s hair as if telling him to wait. He could clearly feel Han Kang rubbing his face against his palm. He deliberately pretended not to notice when Han Kang sneakily pressed a kiss there.

Afterward, Ji Sangtaek explained in great detail several regulations that the team members must follow during the camp. Everyone gave blunt responses since they already knew the contents, but Ji Sangtaek explained everything from number 1 to 10 regardless.

Then he added a joke, saying, “I don’t do this every time because I want to be annoying, so don’t let it show on your faces, okay?” He also added a comment about whether he wouldn’t be pissed off since he was suddenly going to be part of a “weekend couple.” Since his situation was different from the other pairs in the team who were married, everyone seemed to just accept it.

“Ah, and there’s one thing that has changed starting from this camp.”

Ji Sangtaek, who had been waving his hand to dismiss the crowd, saying they should disband now, said, “Ah, and,” and drew their attention again.

“You all know the Olympic regulations have changed. It stated that an Esper who causes damage to civilians, whether intentional or not, cannot participate. Naturally, everyone needs to be careful about rampaging, right?”

“Ye-es.”

The long, drawn-out responses weren’t very cute. It was a dragging reply devoid of any energy, basically saying they already knew everything so please let them go, but Han Kang didn’t answer.

He thought Han Kang might be quite worried since his rampages had been frequent lately.

“Honey, should we go eat cold noodles later?”

“…Were you thinking about eating right now?”

“Yeah. I’m hungry. Ah, the Team Leader talks for too long.”

He had underestimated Han Kang’s simplicity.

Seemingly truly hungry, Han Kang whispered a diverse list of menu items into his ear. Saying he wanted to eat this and that, Han Kang was making a fuss about being hungry already despite having had a hearty breakfast.

“Anyway, that’s why Espers and Guides will use ‘the same room.’ Got it. You can’t use separate rooms like in the previous camps; you must stay in the same room together.”

“Eh?”

The strange exclamation was a sound that burst from Jaechan.

Naturally, from the Center’s perspective, it was a perfectly understandable measure, but since he wasn’t in the same position as the Center, he was flustered.

It wasn’t that he disliked staying close to Han Kang. Since no one would refuse to be with the person they liked.

However, what he was a little concerned about was that his personal time and space would disappear. Which meant.

“Honey, you won’t be able to keep secrets from me anymore.”

The voice, smiling as usual, seeped into his ears with a particularly chilling edge.

Right, he couldn’t keep secrets. That was the same as saying there would be no place to keep his medicine, no time to take it, and no gap to write his reports.

I’m fucked. As those two words flashed through his mind, a sense of ruin was poured over his tidy features. Regardless, Han Kang was now moving his lips down from where they were nuzzling his cheek to fiddle with his neck.

“Kang, look at your honey’s expression. Just do it after you go inside!”

Ji Sangtaek’s disgusted voice was an added bonus.