AAGULT Ch 73

Chapter 73

“I’m usually only able to read the thoughts of someone I make eye contact with, but when you guided me at the Christmas market… I could hear several thoughts. Broadly, I mean.”

“……”

Whether he was listening to the explanation or not, Aiden slightly furrowed his brows.

“So if I were to receive your guidance right now, I might be able to use my ability in a broader way—”

“—So.”

Aiden cut off the explanation of the situation flatly and decisively. He then pulled Jaeha’s arm toward him and leaned the upright body against his own. Jaeha still hadn’t quite realized the weight this proper request for guidance carried for Aiden.

“You’re asking me to guide you?”

“……Is that difficult?”

Only then sensing something was off in the atmosphere, Jaeha asked timidly. Was he too bold? Too shameless? As he began to reflect on his actions—

“Ugh…!”

His collar was suddenly grabbed. A strange sense of déjà vu flashed through Jaeha’s mind, and he had to brace his hand against the wardrobe wall to keep from collapsing onto Aiden. Thud—his arm muscles tensed tightly and stood out. Jaeha blinked stupidly. Aiden’s face, looking down at him slightly, was strangely flushed with excitement and ecstasy…

“Do you call that—bullshit?”

“Aiden?”

Even as he asked again, Jaeha had a faint idea of what Aiden might be thinking.

No way, no way it couldn’t be…… This wasn’t even a private space. It was an open area where anyone could come in at any moment.

When Aiden reached out and strongly pulled the back of his neck down, Jaeha tried to resist a little, but the strength in Aiden’s hand outweighed his own, so he had no choice but to bow his head. Their foreheads touched.

“Y-You could just hold… hold my hand…”

“The truth is, I recently came back from a gate.”

“Huh?”

“Maybe because I did a lot of guiding there… I’m a bit drained, so I really, absolutely have to do contact-guidance…”

Now that he thought about it, Aiden was the kind of person who, never mind public facilities, had a history of being ready to do it even in the middle of enemy territory. Jaeha’s vision blurred. Aiden’s eyes curved slyly.

His soft-spoken whisper carried a tinge of cuteness. But somehow it was a shady, dark sort of cuteness. So without even realizing it, Jaeha talked back.

“You’re lying…”

At that, Aiden’s eyes, which looked as if a bloated snake was hiding within them, sparkled with amusement.

[Busted.]

“Just a kiss.”

“…Just a kiss?”

“Just a kiss.”

Their foreheads rubbed together, and their hair tangled. As the tips of their noses brushed and breaths tickled the skin, Jaeha, though knowing it was a lie, raised a hand to gently cup Aiden’s cheek. It was soft and lovely. He was the kind of person who stirred a protective instinct.

“……”

Hesitating for a moment, Jaeha—rarely—lowered his head first and tilted it slightly. As soon as the edge of their lips brushed, a guiding sensation violently pierced through his body, forcing a repressed moan from Jaeha.

“Hnn…”

Even though he’d been receiving guidance regularly these days, it still felt like applying a cool ointment to soothe a body seared with burning pain.

At the same time, he always felt helpless in front of Aiden, which made him upset and sad. He really liked this man, but he feared Aiden might misunderstand, thinking he liked him only because of the guiding. He also feared Aiden might see him as nothing but a weak being.

Smack.

“Haa…”

The hand gripping the back of his neck kneaded into his flesh. Jaeha scrunched his brows and lowered his head more deeply, increasing the area of contact and pressure.

Thud. Aiden reached out with the other hand to shut the half-open wardrobe door, blocking all the light that had been seeping in. Pressed tightly together in the cramped closet, kissing and gasping for breath, it really did feel like they were perverts. Perv—was that… was that what this was?

“Come up here.”

“…Okay.”

It was too uncomfortable to sit side by side in such a narrow space, so hypnotized by his words, Jaeha climbed into his lap.

If he’d been in a rational state, he would’ve just gone out and found a more private place to do contact-guiding, but… perhaps spending time with Aiden had turned Jaeha into a pervert as well.

“Haa…”

Jaeha wrapped his arms around Aiden’s neck. He was aware that, as an Esper, sitting on top of a Guide was presumptuous, so he kept his arms as relaxed as possible. He also knew that if Aiden realized this, he’d probably scoff—but he simply wanted to do it.

To lessen the burden even a little, he kept his body tense and brushed his lips against Aiden’s. He eagerly parted his lips and pushed his tongue into Aiden’s mouth. The guiding poured in ecstatically as if it would rip him apart, and Jaeha’s lashes fluttered uncontrollably.

“Hehe, haha…”

Aiden seemed so pleased that he laughed now and then even as their lips touched. But with their mouths pressed together and tongues entangled, that laughter came out close to sinister, far removed from his usual refreshing and neat image.

“Hnn…”

Since his rating had dropped to F-class, his flattened wavelength, as if crushed by a compressor, now began to loosen and melt. He felt as if he were floating.

His whole body itched. If he didn’t hold on to his sanity, he’d want to scratch himself all over. When he tried to pull away to breathe, Aiden bit down on his tongue, making it impossible. Instead, only their lips parted, and Jaeha ended up panting with his tongue sticking out. Aiden sucked greedily, then scraped the tip obscenely with his tongue.

Smack, slurp. Chuup…

Gripping the back of Jaeha’s neck, Aiden pulled harder, and Jaeha couldn’t help but tighten the embrace around his neck. Gasping in the small space, oxygen ran out quickly. Every slight movement brushed against the clothes stuffed around them, making soft rustling sounds.

Aiden reached out and stroked Jaeha’s muscular thigh straddling his body. Jaeha shuddered, and Aiden chuckled against his lips.

“Focus.”

“…Yes.”

“Focus your mind. Close your eyes… imagine seeing tiny electrical sparks.”

Smack, smack, smack. Kisses like bird pecks landed between the lines, between the paragraphs. The words were choppy, but firm and gentle.

Under the spell of that guiding, that touch, and of Aiden himself, Jaeha leaned in even more as he listened to what Aiden said. He focused on his flattened wavelength, those subtle signals, the electricity…

Snap.

[It’s there.]

Slurp. The twisted, melting strands in his mind began to tremble and shift. His head ached slightly, and he furrowed his brow. He unconsciously tried to turn his head away, wanting it to stop, but Aiden pulled him back forcefully.

His tongue shoved in violently, and Jaeha could only open his mouth wide. Aiden scraped the rough surface of his tongue along the underside. The sharp sting made his nose tingle, but the dangerously thrilling pleasure overpowered the pain.

The guiding entered with great skill and ferocity, making Jaeha’s eyes tremble.

Their eyes met.

—Trust me.

Aiden’s gaze seemed to say. His thoughts echoed that message. It was in that moment—

Crackle.

The misaligned lines in Jaeha’s head clicked into place roughly. His head throbbed terribly. Just like that time at the Christmas market, with the deluge of pain came the ability to hear everyone’s thoughts in the space.

[Stay in there quietly.]

“Haa…”

A thought came. No—this was a memory as well as a thought. When he had been in the closet, someone had told him…

[You can hear Mama, right? Do exactly as Mama says!]

‘—Mama?’

Aiden briefly pulled away his lips. Sticking out his tongue, he slowly licked up the saliva that had dripped between their mouths. The simultaneous tickle and chills made Jaeha grit his teeth.

“Memory,”

“Haa…”

“A memory, came—”

“—If it did, then let’s finish the kiss.”

Kiss, he said? It was far too vivid and embarrassing to call it just a kiss. But caught up in arousal, Jaeha shoved aside rational thought, closed his eyes, and kissed him again. Aiden hugged him tightly. The pressure felt overwhelming, as if he had fallen into a snake’s den.

“Shit…”

As their fronts pressed together, it became unmistakably clear that both of them were aroused. No wonder the position had become uncomfortable compared to when he first climbed on top. The intense pressure must’ve hurt Aiden, so Jaeha lifted his body slightly with some strength. The limited space meant even a small shift of their bodies caused the loosely shut wardrobe door to rattle open, so Jaeha couldn’t relax at all.

“Haa…”

While Jaeha sat there gripping Aiden’s thighs, Aiden eventually moved his hands to Jaeha’s waist, and even Jaeha—who didn’t want to come back to his senses—had no choice.

“Aiden, Aiden, please stop… W-We’ll get caught…”

“Just a little more.”

“If, if we move, the door keeps opening…!”

Indeed, every time they moved, the wardrobe door thudded as if to open, so Jaeha had to hold it with one hand. It was clearly an unreasonable situation for two grown men to be engaging in affection in a space like that.

Then Aiden clicked his tongue sharply and, gritting his teeth, sat up straight. Since he still practically had Jaeha by the collar, Jaeha had to sit up too.

“Ugh…”

“Turn around.”

“Aiden, Aiden!”

“I won’t put it in. Please… okay?”

The clothes hanging in the wardrobe shifted and several pieces fell to the floor with a soft thud thud.