SOFTIE 39

The sky-blue hue was transparent, as if floating above the clouds or submerged in the ocean looking up at the surface. And I remembered seeing this sight before.

“Shouldn’t we stop that—, eek!”

Softy spread his mucus in all directions, pushing everyone out the door. By the time the people swept out by the wave regained their senses, the door was already firmly shut.

“Wh… what should we do?”

A researcher asked Lee Taeho and Kim Yoojung, but neither had the presence of mind to answer.

Yeonwoo was flustered by the sudden turn of events and tried to calm Softy down.

Did he perhaps feel my emotions just now? If he’s doing this because my anxiety was transmitted to him, I have to tell him it’s okay.

[I’ll give you guiding! I’ve gotten used to it. Concentrating energy on the parts that touch. Right? And they said the more contact there is, the better it is.]

“Guiding? In this state? Softy, I’m okey…”

Yeonwoo stopped mid-sentence.

Is this it? Rejecting the guiding. This is like a daily routine for Yeonwoo. That’s why he couldn’t even feel the strangeness of it. He inwardly mocked his own weakened mental state—feeling anxious despite having a Guide by his side and having proudly declared him his Pair Guide.

Yeonwoo glanced at the pollution level. Still orange. It couldn’t drop below 60%.

It was true that Yeonwoo restrained Softy to keep him from overexerting himself, but that was largely because he received guiding every single day. Softy provided radiation guiding at all times. Usually, while being held, he would provide guiding naturally.

Hadn’t it been a strain on Softy? It’s called wavelength energy, but it’s the same as life energy. One is bound to get exhausted after using it. Yet Softy always said he was fine. So it was always just me exercising restraint. Yeonwoo bit his lip.

If I ask for guiding, Softy won’t stop. What if, after trying and trying, the level doesn’t drop and Softy collapses?

[Is this not it? Are you scared?]

Softy thought Yeonwoo was holding his breath because he was scared. Softy pondered.

‘Guiding is best when both the Guide and the Esper are in a comfortable state.’

Ah, Yeonwoo likes dogs, so I should change into that. Softy wiggled and transformed again. He hugged Yeonwoo’s waist tightly with a tentacle transformed into a tail and rested his chin on top of Yeonwoo’s head.

[Happy is good, right?]

Happy? If I didn’t mishear, he definitely said “Happy.” Did he say it knowing the meaning? Was he intending to ask if I was happy?

Softy had transformed perfectly into a wolf. A wolf with brown fur—Softy stared fixedly at Yeonwoo with blue eyes. As if asking if this was okay, he tilted his head and bumped his snout against Yeonwoo.

It wasn’t the usual texture. Instead of the soft, squishy feel of Softy, it was itchy and fluffy like an animal with fur. Yeonwoo reached out and stroked his head. It was amazing. The soft fur brushed between his fingers.

He had thought this last time too, but was a slime capable of such meticulous mimicry? It was no wonder Lee Taeho found it fascinating. At the same time, he could tell that Softy had changed his appearance out of consideration for him.

[You aren’t scared now.]

“There’s no way I’d be scared of you. I’m not scared no matter what you look like. Softy is Softy.”

[Really? Not scared?]

“Yeah. You’re cute. And… I’m grateful.”

Because he was going this far for me. As if rejoicing, the guiding energy danced and slowly wrapped around Yeonwoo’s body. Right—if I don’t trust Softy, who is guiding me while being so considerate of me, who will?

Yeonwoo continued to pet Softy, who was acting cute and rubbing his face against him as if asking to be touched.

[Hmm, not enough contact.]

However, Softy soon furrowed his brow in dissatisfaction. Even when he pushed his head forward, all that touched was a hand. Of course, the touch of Yeonwoo stroking his head was nice. But more, he needed much more contact. He was going to stick to him like glue—not just hands, but arms, legs, neck, waist, and back—and provide guiding!

Recalling the advice Min Haeyoon had given him, Softy tried his best to transmit high-quality energy even if the contact area was small. He was confident he could do that well now. So, he now had to guide while maintaining as much contact as possible.

Then Yeonwoo would gain strength! The form from a moment ago was the most efficient, but… well, let’s try it differently and approach slowly and carefully. Softy cautiously extended a slender tentacle.

Yeonwoo was surprised when he felt the tentacle at his neck, but he stayed still. It was because Softy’s eyes were covered with concern and worry. He thought it would only touch his cheek, but when the tentacle entered his shirt, he snapped to his senses and had no choice but to grab it.

“So—Softy?!”

[You hate it?]

When he wanted to touch Yeonwoo, Softy often extended a tentacle. However, it wasn’t a long tentacle like this, but one that looked like a cute little hand. He used it often to hold hands, touch cheeks, or hang onto Yeonwoo’s neck.

But inside the clothes? He was flustered because he didn’t know Softy’s intention. Moreover, even though it had only touched him slightly, his body felt strangely tremulous.

Unaware of how tense Yeonwoo was, Softy spoke nonchalantly.

[They said lots of contact is good. Teacher said a lot of skin needs to touch. Actually, I want to give you mucosal or sexual guiding, but I haven’t learned it yet. Let’s do it when I learn.]

Softy’s tentacle drooped dejectedly. Yeonwoo understood Softy’s actions, but his embarrassment did not fade.

What on earth is he learning? No, it’s true that those are things a Guide does for an Esper, but…

Yeonwoo had been with the Association for a long time. There are countless methods of guiding, and he knew that sexual guiding—sex—had the highest efficiency. But that was something that usually happened between lovers. He had heard of cases where it was done by mutual agreement, but it was far removed from Yeonwoo.

He hadn’t even received normal guiding, and Yeonwoo’s teammates didn’t demand or prefer such things either. It was the business of distant people, not his own. Yeonwoo had no intention of demanding that much from Softy in the first place.

He wasn’t… that kind of subject to him.

“Softy, you don’t have to go that far. My body feels much more comfortable from the guiding just now. Look at this.”

[You said it had to go below 60%? It hasn’t gone down yet.]

It was still being maintained like a ghost. Yeonwoo swallowed hard. In this case, it only looked like he had encouraged him.

“Ah, you heard what that man said earlier, right? It seems I have a bit of a problem. I think I’ll stay in this state until that problem is solved. The guiding isn’t the problem. There’s no reason for Softy to push himself. And… that mucosal or sexual guiding you’re talking about is a method used between people in a special relationship. Usually, we just hold hands. Let’s hold hands, okay? Hmm?”

Yeonwoo rambled on, trying to dissuade Softy. It wasn’t that he disliked Softy. But he was embarrassed. He had seen Guides being exploited by Espers when he was young. He couldn’t demand such guiding from the innocent Softy who knew nothing.

Softy probably doesn’t even know what kind of act that is. Relationships, sex—from a magical beast’s perspective, it’s closer to mating.

[The relationship between me and Yeonwoo is special! Then, I can do it, right?]

“N-no…”

If he said it like that, there was nothing to say in response…

“Still, you can’t.”

[…I don’t want to. I’m going to guide you. It’s because of me that the numbers are high.]

“What? No. I told you it’s because of me…”

[They said the one who can lower the pollution level is the Guide! If it’s high, it’s because I’m lacking! If I’m lacking, another Guide will come, right? I hate that. Yeonwoo’s Guide is me. If another Guide comes, I’ll kill that human.]

“…”

Yeonwoo fell silent as he watched Softy glaring somewhere with murderous eyes.

Why would he say such things? The reason was that someone had directed such words and attitudes toward Softy. He knew that among the rookie Guides, there were always a few who aimed for him.

Did someone tell Softy in person that they would become my Guide? He didn’t even feel like he should scold Softy for threatening to kill a human.

In truth, was Softy just as anxious as I was?