Terms and Conditions of Staying Close

His mouth went dry with tension.

Up until now, guiding had always been led by Saheon.

Lately, he had at least started practicing moving his own energy freely inside Saheon’s body, but even that had been at Saheon’s request.

This was the first time he had ever wanted to do it entirely of his own accord.

Jaeyoung pressed down on the back of Saheon’s head.

Saheon bent at the waist to accommodate him.

That was all he did.

Faced with Saheon’s unblinking gaze looking straight down at him, stubbornness flared up inside Jaeyoung.

‘I can do this too.’

Jaeyoung fixed his eyes on his target, Saheon’s lips.

They were dry, rough, small cracks raised along the surface.

Just thinking about how exhausted Saheon must be made his chest feel heavy.

As if drawn in, Jaeyoung lifted onto his toes.

Then he gently pressed his lips against Saheon’s.

Saheon’s scent flooded into his nose.

The touch of their breaths made their lips tickle, and he reflexively parted them.

Their breaths brushed through the small gap between them.

Jaeyoung slowly closed his eyes.

Ragged breathing.

Solid skin.

And deep inside Saheon’s abdomen, a savage energy coiled tightly.

It expanded and contracted violently, as if it might swell up and burst him apart at any moment.

Jaeyoung opened Saheon’s lips and pushed his own energy forcefully down his throat.

“Ungh.”

Jaeyoung spread his energy wide, wrapping around it as if to embrace it.

But calming power that was already running wild was no easy task.

Jaeyoung frowned.

Struggling not to be overwhelmed by the force pushing back against him made his head throb painfully.

“Ah!”

A broken cry tore out of Jaeyoung’s mouth.

Saheon had bitten his lip.

When Jaeyoung pulled back and looked at him in confusion, Saheon spoke curtly.

“If I wait for you to do it, the whole day will be gone.”

Jaeyoung knit his brows.

He couldn’t refute that.

Time really was of the essence.

When he nodded, something soft and hot pushed deep into his mouth.

His breathing grew even more frantic, and his mind went hazy.

“Hh… ah.”

When he turned his head, desperate for air, the lips tormenting him traced along his nape instead.

After a brief pause, they sought out his lips again.

Contrary to Saheon’s expectations, the Center moved quickly.

After all, the request had come from none other than Jin Saheon.

The children were questioned in the order they were rescued.

Jaeyoung, who had spent time guiding, was third.

Dongjun was last.

Among the four of them, he was the most critical case.

‘Layoon’ was a creature that devoured humans and wore their skins.

It imitated the person using the memories it had inherited.

“I was just trying to brush some dust off… and the skin peeled.”

Dongjun spoke through half-sobs.

He was tormented by the shock of realizing that Layoon, whom he had liked, wasn’t human, and by the guilt of having dragged his friends into danger without knowing it.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

“No. Thank you for saving us.”

Jaeyoung wrapped an arm around Dongjun’s shoulders, trying to lead him out when he couldn’t bring himself to move.

Dongjun kept bowing over and over, his face full of remorse.

Jaeyoung thought it was fortunate that it had been them.

Even if it hadn’t been Dongjun, someone else could have fallen under a creature’s hypnosis and stepped into a dungeon.

But what were the odds that such a person would be connected to an Esper as extraordinary as Saheon?

Of course, that was only a thought he could have because there had been no casualties.

“Ah, right!”

Dongjun, who had been meekly letting himself be led, suddenly stopped.

“Layoon… no, that, the creature said something strange.”

“What did it say?”

At the staff member’s question, Dongjun glanced at Jaeyoung.

Caught off guard by the sudden attention, Jaeyoung blinked his round eyes.

“It said… that if it ate my shell, it would be easier to stay by Jaeyoung’s side.”

Dongjun said, his face drained pale.

He had nearly been caught by a creature, his corpse violated.

And he couldn’t even imagine what a creature wearing his body might have tried to do to Jaeyoung.

“Why Kim Jaeyoung? You were the one it contacted, Go Dongjun.”

“Well, even creatures have eyes, don’t they?”

When the staff voiced their confusion, Minta chimed in with an innocent expression.

The Center employee, who had asked in a grave tone, laughed awkwardly and glanced at Dongjun.

Dongjun looked on the verge of tears.

“Hey. You should’ve just punched him.”

Haewoon snapped at Minta.

“Huh? Why? Did something happen?”

Minta asked, eyes wide, looking around for an answer.

Everyone else only looked at Dongjun with pity.

“I’ll sign the contract with you.”

Despite the sudden declaration, Saheon didn’t ask him to repeat himself.

He immediately slipped a hand into his coat pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper folded neatly into three.

“You carried this around with you?”

“How was I supposed to know your mind wouldn’t change while I went to get it?”

Saying that, Saheon sat Jaeyoung down and placed a pen in his hand.

<<Party B shall provide lodging and meals to Party A, and Party A shall provide guiding to Party B in any manner Party B desires, whenever requested.>>

As Jaeyoung skimmed the contract, his brow furrowed.

One particular clause triggered alarm bells in his head.

“Hyung, this part about providing lodging and meals…”

“He’s my Guide. Of course he should live with me.”

After checking the clause Jaeyoung was pointing at, Saheon replied casually.

“What?”

Even though he had expected it, Saheon’s matter-of-fact tone made Jaeyoung’s heart thud heavily.

It was a contract that favored Saheon entirely.

Even now, Jaeyoung didn’t feel great about it.

But he didn’t want to see Saheon rampage.

‘Then I might as well be a proper tyrant.’

Biting his lip as he organized his thoughts, determination flickered in Jaeyoung’s eyes.

“First, I want to go over what needs to be revised.”

“Revised?”

Saheon echoed, as if he’d misheard.

A threatening aura seeped from him.

Ignoring his pounding anxiety, Jaeyoung fixed his gaze on the black letters.

“You know Guides aren’t penalized even if they don’t reveal themselves, right?”

At Jaeyoung’s words, Saheon raised an eyebrow.

Guides, whose abilities only manifested for Espers, were treated differently from Espers, whose powers affected the outside world.

If an Esper tested positive during mandatory screening, they were registered and their movements recorded from that point on.

Because of their abilities, even finding a job became difficult, leaving them little choice but to work as Espers.

“So that’s why you want a private contract with me.”

“No. I’m saying I don’t have to live as a Guide.”

At Jaeyoung’s counter, Saheon’s expression hardened.

“You said you’d sign. Are you messing with me?”

Saheon snapped, eyes flashing dangerously.

Jaeyoung met his gaze head-on, pretending not to be scared, and spoke.

“No. I’m saying I want to be treated properly as the ‘boss.’”

Saheon frowned, clearly not following.

But since he wasn’t ignoring him outright, Jaeyoung smiled faintly and turned back to the paper.

“I’m the one in charge, so I’ll decide how guiding is done.”

Before he knew he was a Guide, Jaeyoung hadn’t realized that Saheon kissing him or touching him counted as guiding.

As the late-born youngest, he had grown up being doted on by his siblings, so physical affection felt natural to him.

But realizing it hadn’t been affection, just guiding, made him uncomfortable.

When he glanced sideways, Saheon watched silently, as if telling him to go on.

Jaeyoung took a small breath and continued.

“When I watched raid footage before, it looked like most of them just held hands while guiding.”

He felt Saheon’s shoulder, pressed against his, twitch.

But Saheon didn’t object or complain.

He seemed intent on hearing everything Jaeyoung had to say.

“And treatment should obviously be done when the patient is in pain, so the timing is up to you.”

“Patient?”

Saheon let out a disbelieving snort.

If being drained of mana and left powerless wasn’t pain, then what was?

Jaeyoung waited calmly for his answer.

“That all?”

Perhaps knowing Jaeyoung was his perfect Guide made Saheon more lenient.

Jaeyoung felt a bit more at ease as he spoke.

“And about the lodging.”

“That’s non-negotiable.”

“Dungeons don’t appear on a schedule. They can show up at dawn or in the middle of the night.”

“You’ve got parents. Wouldn’t it be a nuisance if I kept coming and going whenever?”

This time, Saheon was firm.

But Jaeyoung, who harbored dreams of campus life, couldn’t back down so easily.

“There haven’t been any problems so far.”

His parents still had no idea that a strange man had been climbing in and out of their youngest son’s window.

“Then how far are you allowing guiding to go?”

Saheon shifted the topic, clearly deciding to let that one slide for now.

“Well, we’ve already kissed, so…”

Jaeyoung muttered shyly, lowering his gaze.

Perhaps because he was thinking of Jaeyoung as his Guide now, Saheon found him rather cute.

It was a feeling he’d never had, not even toward his own brother.

“That wasn’t a peck. It was a kiss.”

Saheon corrected him confidently.

He seemed to believe that once something had been done, repeating it didn’t matter.

But even if he couldn’t advance, there was no rule saying he had to retreat.

At the same time, Saheon felt a twinge of regret.

It would’ve been easier if they’d done it back when he didn’t know anything.

“But if I contract with you, do I have to join the Association too?”

“Why bother? It’ll just be a private contract.”

“Then don’t I have to enlist?”

Jaeyoung grumbled, his excitement deflating.

“As long as the contract proves activity, you won’t have to.”

Satisfied that they’d more or less reached an agreement, Jaeyoung drew lines through the printed text and wrote in their revised terms.

“The others would tease me endlessly if they found out.”

Setting the pen down, Jaeyoung let out a long sigh.

As if someone was already teasing him, a cold aura radiated from Saheon.

“Who dares tease my pair?”

Jaeyoung looked at him in surprise.

He wasn’t just a newly awakened Guide.

He had the backing of South Korea’s only S-class Esper.

“Please revise it like this.”

Saheon frowned.

He’d been carrying that contract around, fully intending to have Jaeyoung sign the moment he answered.

Giving him time to think was the last thing he wanted.

“If you say you’ve changed your mind after I went to the trouble of revising it—”

“Of course not.”

Jaeyoung nodded firmly.

Who did he think he was, backing out now?

“But are you bold, or just stupid?”

As Saheon rubbed his thumb over Jaeyoung’s flushed cheek, the question slipped out.

This soft, white boy, pliant like a glutinous rice cake, had been like this from the start.

He was wary of Saheon, yet never avoided him.

He was afraid, yet never hesitated to approach and speak.