The Loophole He Never Noticed

Jaeyoung clenched the pen tightly, his face crumpling with hurt.

“Why are you suddenly saying such harsh things again?”

As if to pressure him, Saheon, who had been standing behind him, bent down.

He brought his face close, right beside Jaeyoung’s ear.

“Did I do something wrong?”

Jaeyoung turned around, wondering what the mouth of terror was about to say now.

Saheon tilted his head to look at his face, and their eyes met.

“No. You did well. At least you didn’t refuse.”

Saheon’s eyes gleamed with an unfamiliar light.

A cold draft brushed past his arm, and Jaeyoung shrank back instinctively.

What would he have done if he had refused?

“I could’ve just locked you up, tied you down, and taken guiding whenever I wanted.”

Seeing Jaeyoung pale at the words, Saheon slowly curled one corner of his mouth upward.

It was an unmistakably vile, wicked smile.

“Hyung…”

Jaeyoung called out weakly, his voice almost gone.

It wasn’t hard to imagine the scene Saheon had described.

“You have… that kind of taste…?”

The cautious words Jaeyoung let slip finally struck Saheon’s nerve.

Even if it was a sneer, the moment the smile vanished, Saheon’s face turned icy cold.

Startled by his own words, Jaeyoung quickly averted his gaze.

Saheon stared at him with narrowed eyes, then reached out.

The nape of Jaeyoung’s neck, covered by Saheon’s palm, trembled in tiny spasms.

Pulling Jaeyoung’s face toward him, Saheon bit down on his plump lower lip.

Jaeyoung’s eyes widened, slowly but surely.

Saheon watched with pleasure as the round pupils right in front of him filled with shock.

“Hhk…!”

Before Jaeyoung could fully come to his senses and push him away, Saheon gave the chewed lower lip one slow lick with his tongue and pulled back.

“Y-You don’t even need guiding…!”

Jaeyoung pointed at Saheon’s face, horrified, despite his fear.

His already pale face had gone bloodless, making his reddened lips stand out sharply.

Saheon wiped at those lips with his thumb, now glossy with what was probably his own saliva.

“If you were walking through a desert and found an oasis, how do you think you’d feel?”

Straightening his bent upper body, Saheon suddenly tossed out the question.

Jaeyoung’s face scrunched up, like he’d been given an impossibly hard problem.

“Would you just take one sip to wet your throat and stop there?”

In other words, he meant he’d keep doing it whenever he got the chance.

Jaeyoung recalled how Saheon normally behaved, never caring about other people’s eyes.

“Add one more condition.”

When Jaeyoung spoke with a grave expression, Saheon studied him with a guarded look.

“What is it?”

“Until I’m ready, let’s keep the fact that I’m a Guide hidden.”

“Fine.”

For someone supposedly tense, Saheon agreed far too easily.

Jaeyoung looked at him in surprise.

Given how much Saheon had pushed for the contract, he’d assumed Saheon would keep him close at all times.

But if his status as a Guide stayed secret, almost nothing would change from before.

“Then I’ll revise the contract and bring it back. Stay here until then.”

Jaeyoung nodded lightly.
He wanted to stay put and rest for a while anyway, and judging by Saheon’s decisiveness, it wouldn’t take long.

After confirming that Saheon left the room in a hurry, Jaeyoung decided to lie down on the bed for a bit.

Even after that, it took him quite a while to realize there was a massive loophole in his conditions.

A tremendous roar shook the city.

The sound came from footage being broadcast on the massive screen mounted atop a building.

Jaeyoung’s eyes darted busily across the screen.

But no matter where he looked, he couldn’t spot Saheon, who was supposed to be deployed today.

One of Saheon’s teammates, Ground Dog, was down after being struck by a creature’s tail, so Saheon had to be somewhere off-screen.

Ground Dog rolled frantically across the ground to avoid being crushed by a massive foot.

Suddenly, Jaehyo appeared at his side, grabbed his arm, and vanished with him.

“Ah, hyung’s here.”

Like a hero making an entrance, Saheon filled the screen.

Jaeyoung couldn’t take his eyes off him.

When Saheon raised a hand, a house-sized monster was flung through the air and slammed into the ground.

The creature stubbornly lashed out with its long tail, trying to coil it around Saheon.

“Ah…!”

Without realizing it, Jaeyoung lurched forward.

From the moment the creature’s gaze locked onto Saheon, his heart had been clenched tight.

“Wow. That’s insane, seriously.”

“His movement’s cracked.”

Saheon dodged every attack with fluid motions, then used the creature’s tail as a foothold to leap high into the air.

“See that? That was my afterimage, rookie.”

Dongjun staggered around with an excited face, pretending to imitate Saheon’s movements.
Only then was Jaeyoung able to release the breath he’d been holding.

“Please do that kind of shit in your own bathroom, you asshole.”

Unable to endure the embarrassment, Minta whimpered and buried his face in his palms.

Dongjun was usually a composed, thoughtful friend, but once he switched into full fanboy mode, his behavior became unbearable.

Thankfully, the camera soon shifted to other team members, and the show ended.

“Other Espers are being deployed too.”

Jaeyoung, who had been quietly watching the screen, summarized the situation.

Once Saheon was no longer standing alone in front of the creature, he finally felt at ease.

“If he’s there doing all that, he’s definitely not at home, right.”

It was a day less than a month before they were set to start college.

The Ppong crew had been spending every day like people with no tomorrow.

As always, their hangout spot was Haewoon’s house.

“So when are we going? I’m hungry.”

Once Saheon disappeared from the screen entirely, Jaeyoung clung to Haewoon’s arm.

“So let’s just go somewhere nearby and eat whatever.”

Haewoon flicked a finger against Jaeyoung’s round forehead.

“No.”

Jaeyoung clutched his now-reddened forehead and shook his head solemnly.

“It only tastes right if you cook it in your house’s pot.”

Thinking of that savory, spicy flavor made Jaeyoung swallow.

“Unbelievable…”

Haewoon shot him a look full of disbelief.

But Jaeyoung didn’t back down.

“And your mom texted me and told me to make sure I eat the melon she bought.”

Jaeyoung’s eyes shone with determination, as if he’d been entrusted with some grand mission.

The ‘mom’ he was referring to was, of course, Haewoon’s mother.

“Why does my mom only text you things like that?”

Haewoon snorted, incredulous.

Jaeyoung widened his eyes, as if asking why he even had to ask.

“Well, because you’re gross, and I’m cute.”

Jaeyoung had always been affectionate, unlike Haewoon, and his mother doted on him.
Haewoon could only grind his teeth.

“Hey, what are we betting today?”

“I’m providing the place, can’t you cut me some slack?”

“Nope.”

“Ah, you stingy bastards! Then let’s just go to a PC café!”

“Hey. You’ve got ramen, right?”

Just like that, the four of them headed toward their familiar neighborhood, unchanged as ever.

Bickering the whole way to Haewoon’s place and drawing people’s attention, the group froze the moment they opened the front door.

‘You said he wasn’t here!’

The friends ran into Saheon, who was passing by the entrance with a cup of water in hand.

They glared at each other, silently screaming.

But Haewoon felt just as wronged.

“H-Hyung? What brings you here?”

After becoming an Esper and moving out, Saheon rarely returned to his parents’ house.

“Ah, hello, hyung.”

Of the frozen group, Jaeyoung was the first to recover and bow politely.

When they were alone, things felt easy enough, but was it because of his friends’ agitation?

Or because Saheon had appeared somewhere he never expected?

Either way, speaking to Saheon felt awkward.

“You’re quick with the greetings. I thought you were glaring at me to make me say it first.”

Saheon didn’t bother hiding his irritation.
At the chill in his smile, Jaeyoung’s throat burned, as if he’d swallowed cold water.

“Of course not.”

Jaeyoung forced a smile like he always did.

‘Why is he angry?’

It had already been agreed that Jaeyoung wouldn’t accompany Saheon to the field as his pair Guide.

Since then, Saheon had gone on several missions alone.

“Th-Then we’ll be going now…”

“Hey. Glutinous rice cake.”

Gasp.

The group trying to quietly disappear all sucked in a breath at once and froze.
Then came relief.

Of course Saheon, who had just returned from the field, was after Jaeyoung.

“Come here.”

Saheon crooked a finger at him.

“Haewoon, go on.”

Pretending not to notice anything, Jaeyoung pushed Haewoon forward by the back.

With the threatening aura Saheon was giving off, he was scared to follow him outright.

When they were alone, Saheon was unrestrained in a very different way from how others knew him.

‘This isn’t my room, and the others are here. I can’t let things get like that.’

Swallowing hard, Jaeyoung avoided Saheon’s gaze.

“Should I go?”

Saheon, hands still in his pockets, shifted as if he might step forward at any moment.

The gleam in his eyes made it clear things would be far worse if he moved himself.

“You guys go on.”

“Yes, hyung!”

“Thank you, hyung!”

Granted their freedom, the friends bowed quickly and hurried up the stairs.

“Follow me.”

Tossing the words out, Saheon turned and headed for the room.

Jaeyoung dragged his feet after him.

His legs felt heavy, as if weights were tied to them.

The moment they entered the room, their lips collided.

Damp air poured into his open mouth.

By now, Jaeyoung could tell just from a kiss how tangled Saheon’s energy was, how dangerous the situation truly was.

“Just how did you even get guided…?”

Through the large screen, Jaeyoung had clearly seen Saheon receive guiding.

Yet Saheon’s condition was severe.

After finishing his assessment and pulling away, Jaeyoung complained bitterly.

“My Guide is right here. What kind of guiding did you think you were getting?”

With a languid smile, Saheon poked at him with a gentle voice.

“You said it was fine.”

“But still…”

Guilt made Jaeyoung’s lips pout as they busied themselves kissing Saheon’s face all over.

“Before I met you, I was always like this. It’s not like it could get any worse.”

The casual words twisted Jaeyoung’s face with pain.
A cruel sort of pleasure filled Saheon’s eyes at the sight.

“So hurry up.”

Saheon urged him on, pulling Jaeyoung’s hand and slipping it inside his clothes.