TTOA Chapter 46

#46

Seo Eui-woo chuckled and used his ability to float in the air. He leisurely ascended to the ceiling where Kwon Jae-jin was clinging, matching his eye level and staring intently.

Kwon Jae-jin was drenched in sweat, having struggled to climb onto the window frame. His dark black hair was damp, his breathing was ragged, and his face was flushed. He looked as though something terrible would happen if Seo Eui-woo didn’t reach out and touch him immediately.

“I explained everything without leaving anything out, didn’t I? Jae-jin is a Late-Blooming Esper, and my Guide. He has to provide Guiding to me here.”

“Are you telling me to just accept that now, saying, ‘Oh, yes’? While getting fucked? Seriously, what the hell… I’m leaving. I can’t do that damn Guiding anymore.”

“That damn…? What exactly didn’t Jae-jin like so much…? I, I liked it a lot, though. I really like it. Even now…”

Seo Eui-woo reached out and touched Kwon Jae-jin’s forehead. He wiped away the beads of sweat with his fingertips and then grasped his flushed face. Kwon Jae-jin recoiled as if disgusted by Seo Eui-woo’s touch, but now that he was clinging to the ceiling, he couldn’t shake him off. If he lost his grip, he would fall straight down.

“Jae-jin is a Guide, isn’t he? Guiding is a Guide’s duty. Even Jae-jin should know that much.”

“Ugh, shit…”

Kwon Jae-jin moved his arm, trying to climb down the window frame and back to the ground. The taut, swollen muscles creaked precariously. He moved slowly towards the wall, looking as if he might fall at any moment. In contrast, Seo Eui-woo floated through the air with such ease, following Jae-jin.

“Or, doesn’t Jae-jin value his one and only life? Is there a reason why he has to return to the 6th Residential District even if it means death?”

Seo Eui-woo stroked Kwon Jae-jin’s cheek. Jae-jin bit his lip, concentrating so hard that he couldn’t even shake off the bothersome touch and had to endure it. Seeing that Jae-jin didn’t seem to be able to avoid him, Seo Eui-woo became even bolder. He hugged him from behind, wrapping his arms around his waist and slipping his wrist inside his shirt.

As he groped at his rapidly rising and falling abs, Seo Eui-woo lowered his eyes, filled with a mounting sense of satisfaction. His gray eyes flickered erratically.

“If you’re so determined to return, even at the cost of your life… Then I have no choice but to tie Kwon Jae-jin up. Handcuffs, would handcuffs be okay?”

“You, you crazy bastard.”

“While I’m away on a mission, I’ll gag Jae-jin and tie him to the bed. When I get back, I can feed him, let him go to the bathroom, right? I’ll just put in a catheter for now. Don’t worry about a thing.”

At those words, Kwon Jae-jin’s concentration, which he had barely been maintaining, broke. His hand slipped from the window frame, and his body, which had been clinging to the ceiling, dropped downwards.

“Oh, dear.”

Seo Eui-woo grabbed Kwon Jae-jin’s waist and floated up with him.

Jae-jin, who could have fallen to the floor and been seriously injured, widened his eyes and calmed his startled heart. Seo Eui-woo gently caressed him as he panted. He slid his palm deep inside his shirt and stroked Kwon Jae-jin’s side.

“It’s okay. I caught you. But it’s dangerous, so don’t go up there next time. Jae-jin can’t open that window anyway.”

“Huh, ha…”

“So, what’s your answer? How about handcuffs? Not a fan?”

Kwon Jae-jin looked at Seo Eui-woo with a pale face, as if he had seen a ghost. The emotions contained in his dark, jet-black eyes were hatred, dismay, injustice, and the fear one feels when looking at a crazy person who can’t be reasoned with.

Having barely calmed down, Jae-jin grabbed Seo Eui-woo’s collar and stammered.

“I, I… I don’t trust Seo Eui-woo. You’re not in your right mind. How can I trust you when you’re saying things like handcuffs? How do I know that being a Late-Blooming Guide isn’t just a lie that Seo Eui-woo made up?”

“Excuse me…?”

“I’m going to leave this house and ask someone else, or go to the Center and ask for help. I can’t trust anything Seo Eui-woo says.”

“No, Jae-jin… I’m serious. They’ll kill you if you’re discovered…?”

“Even if! Even if that’s true. Even if I am a Late-Blooming Guide. I won’t do Guiding with Seo Eui-woo. That kind of, that kind of thing, damn it… Ugh, between men. It’s disgusting.”

“…”

“I know that Espers need Guiding. I also know that it’s a Guide’s duty. But, why me, why… There are so many other formal Guides! Please, please ask them! I, shit, I can’t anymore… It’s horrible…”

“Jae-jin…”

“Please, I beg you. Seo Eui-woo. Please send me back. To where I was, to the 6th Residential District. I want to go back. Please, huh? Can’t you…?”

“What can I do if it really isn’t possible, even if you say that…”

“Why can’t I go to the place where I was born and raised! The 6th Residential District is my hometown. I have to go to work since I’ve been absent without permission, and I have to go home, I have to go home…”

Jae-jin’s fist, clutching the black combat uniform, trembled slightly. He conveyed a sense of anger that he tried to suppress but couldn’t.

Jae-jin bit his jaw hard and deeply contorted his eyes, then painfully continued, as if dredging up the bottom he least wanted to reveal.

“And, family…”

“…”

“I have to go back… to my family.”

Espers are selected and isolated from birth, living together in Special Residential Districts. They never belong to a family throughout their lives, living as single, independent entities and dying alone. But ordinary people…

For Kwon Jae-jin, who came from an ordinary background, unlike Seo Eui-woo…

*

The flames in the quietly burning fireplace wavered and subsided.

The way they were dying down was unusual.

An ominous vibration was transmitted through the air, showing an unsettling omen. At that moment, darkness descended.

It was a power outage.

Whether the breaker had tripped or not, the newly moved mountain villa was engulfed in darkness. The lights on the ceiling of the living room, spaced at regular intervals, went out one by one, and a jet-black veil covered their eyes. All things showed only blurry outlines, their substance hidden from view.

In the midst of it all, Seo Eui-woo raised his head.

On his face, hardened by his dedication to his ability, a wild glint flashed. Those gray eyes resembled the eyes of a beast rather than a human’s.

“…Ha.”

With a short breath, Seo Eui-woo withdrew his hand.

The fingertips that had been lightly touching the center of Kwon Jae-jin’s forehead slowly fell away, and all the power that had been digging into him was also withdrawn.

Seo Eui-woo’s long, thin eyelashes looked at the ground for a moment, and then trembled with an unreadable frown. A self-deprecating laugh escaped him.

Meanwhile, the power was restored, and the lights that had died returned one by one.

In the center of the living room, which had become bright as if nothing had happened, Kwon Jae-jin, who had come to his senses, slowly opened his eyes and stared at him.

“Seo Eui-woo, is it over now? Have you already read all my memories?”

Kwon Jae-jin, or rather, Kwon Jae-jin from the second timeline, asked in bewilderment.

Seo Eui-woo was silent without replying, then let out a light chuckle.

“No.”

The answer that came back was short, and the explanation was woefully inadequate.

The smiling eyes that curved gently as he looked at Kwon Jae-jin still seemed affectionate and ardent, but they were not the same as before.

“……?”

Seo Eui-woo finally couldn’t help but burst into laughter at Jae-jin’s expression, who was looking at him intently as if demanding an explanation.

“Haha. Hahaha.”

“What is it. Why are you doing this?”

“Ah… I wonder why.”

“Huh? What are you talking about? Did you see my memories? No, what’s going on?”

“Umm, well…”

Seo Eui-woo quietly reached out and stroked Jae-jin’s hair. With his large palm, he calmly swept back the thick, black hair. Not satisfied with that, he smiled as he gently ran his thumb over the round earlobe.

“I didn’t read much of Jae-jin’s memories, but, um. There’s a little, something that would surprise Jae-jin if he heard it. I didn’t think I could concentrate, so I withdrew my ability.”

“Huh? Explain properly.”

“I wonder if I can say it. I don’t know.”

“Seo Eui-woo.”

“Yes, Jae-jin.”

“Seo Eui-woo.”

“Yes…”

Kwon Jae-jin looked at Seo Eui-woo as if confronting him head-on.

The solid black eyes and the precarious, cool gray eyes collided in the air. The anxiety that settled with the silence sounded an alarm.

Kwon Jae-jin sighed heavily, and whispered in a complaining voice.

“Look, I don’t know what you saw in my memories, I don’t know what’s going to surprise me, and I have no idea right now, but you can just say anything. In the first place, if I had anything찝찝한 about Seo Eui-woo, I wouldn’t have let you in my head.”

“…Yes.”

“Honestly, Seo Eui-woo, it’s kind of funny that you’re doing this. Why are you being shy now? We’ve already shown each other everything…”

“…”

“Hey, Seo Eui-woo. Didn’t I tell you before? To trust me. Not just to indulge me, but to trust me. Don’t you remember?”

“…I remember.”

“Then why are you…”

“……”