TGIC Ch 38

Chapter 38

With the intention of just quietly observing the situation, I made my way forward. It’s absolutely not because I’m concerned about the new guide or anything. I just need to confirm whether he really does have a new guide so that I can finally feel at ease removing the suppressor chip.

“Aaagh!”

Just as I neared Vasily’s private room, a sharp scream suddenly rang out.

What was that? That sound just now… wasn’t that a scream? I instinctively froze, sensing something was off. Moments later, the door to Vasily’s room burst open, and someone was carried out on a stretcher.

As they passed by, I caught a glimpse and immediately knew something wasn’t right. The person was visibly trembling, and their fingers were an abnormal shade of blue.

Staring in shock at the stretcher receding into the distance, I froze where I stood—until a familiar voice spoke behind me.

“Guide Kwon Gidam?”

My heart dropped. I slowly turned around and locked eyes with Vasily.

He seemed slightly surprised to see me there without any prior contact. After glancing at my rigid expression, Vasily murmured softly.

“I must’ve shown you something unpleasant…”

“……”

“You came to see me, right? Come on in.”

“…Okay.”

I gave a quiet nod and followed Vasily into the private room.

I glanced around inside. There wasn’t a single thing broken or any sign of frost—everything was clean and tidy as usual. On the surface, nothing seemed wrong, but the image of the person carried out moments ago wouldn’t leave my mind.

Vasily sat down across from me, elegantly crossing his legs. I hesitated for a moment before cautiously opening my mouth.

“I heard a guide with a high compatibility rate has appeared.”

“Well… that did happen.”

…Past tense.

“The person just carried out—was that the guide?”

“Yes.”

A short answer. Vasily’s tone was cold, as if he didn’t want to talk about it. The silent warning not to press further was clear, but I spoke anyway.

“May I ask what happened?”

Vasily didn’t answer. He remained silent, staring at me with a frosty gaze.

But his expression said enough. Something had definitely gone wrong. I didn’t know exactly what. Either the guide didn’t meet his expectations, or something unexpected had occurred during guiding. It had to be one of the two.

I stood up without waiting for a response.

“Guide Kwon Gidam, where are you going?”

“I’ll be leaving now.”

“Already? Didn’t you come to see me?”

“Yes. I heard you’d gotten a new guide, so I stopped by to congratulate you. Whatever happened isn’t any of my business. Regardless, congratulations, and since you now have a guide, please refrain from seeking me out from here on.”

I rattled off the words quickly and headed for the door. As I reached for the handle to leave the room, a dark shadow silently followed me, casting itself over my body. A chill emanating from behind slowly crept over me.

I froze in place with my hand on the doorknob. A pale hand overlapped mine.

Large and firm, yet gentle. A cold warmth seeped into the back of my hand. Vasily’s palm covered mine tightly.

“…Don’t go.”

A faint voice escaped from Vasily’s lips. It was so weak, unlike anything I’d ever heard from him, that I instinctively stopped moving.

“If I tell you what happened… will you stay?”

Slowly turning around, I saw Vasily gazing at me with sunken, somber eyes. His expression was devoid of any trace of a smile, but it was different from the usual cold mask he wore. There was something sorrowful, something lonely in his face—as though he were wounded.

…I’d thought he was someone whose emotions had long since frozen over.

“…I’ll think about it.”

My lips trembled as the words came out. Seeing that, Vasily began to speak again, slowly.

“As you know, Guide Kwon Gidam, I’ve received guiding from S-class and A-class guides in the past.”

“……”

“But… if I stay in contact for even a little while, they freeze. Because I drain their body heat…”

Vasily’s voice was calm, but for some reason, it sounded lonely. I found myself looking at him with worry without even realizing it. Then, Vasily gave a faint smile and murmured,

“But with you, Guide Kwon Gidam…”

He gently intertwined his fingers with mine, wrapping my hand in his.

“You’re okay with this.”

Vasily took a step forward and wrapped his arms around my waist. The strength of his pull drew me in until our bodies were practically touching.

“You’re okay with this too…”

As I panicked and tried to push him away, Vasily’s face moved closer. I reflexively squeezed my eyes shut, thinking he was about to kiss me. But there was no sensation on my lips. Instead, a cool breath fell by my ear, followed by a low whisper.

“It’s strange… other people shiver just from holding my hand… so why are you the only one who’s fine?”

Then he lightly bit my ear.

Something cold and wet grazed my earlobe. That soft, squishy texture… it was definitely his tongue.

“W-what the…!”

I shoved him away in shock. But Vasily didn’t move easily.

In my attempt to push him off, I accidentally pressed against his chest. And—why was it so firm…? No, that’s not the point.

“Let me go!”

“I’m feeling down. Can’t you comfort me?”

“I’m the one who needs comforting!”

I thought I was finally free of Vasily, but that dream shattered into pieces. It wasn’t about compatibility after all. The issue was physical—whether someone could endure Vasily’s energy waves.

“Well, isn’t that great? We’re both wounded—we can comfort each other.”

Vasily rubbed his head against my shoulder like a cat seeking affection. But with his size and weight, it was far from cute.

He leaned into me, putting all his weight down, pressing me firmly.

Ugh, I’m falling over—!

Thud.

Luckily, Vasily cushioned the back of my head with his hand, so I didn’t hit it. But my back ached from slamming into the hard floor.

Why is he so heavy? I wriggled, trying to push him off, but he didn’t budge.

“You’re heavy. Please get off.”

“No.”

“If you don’t move, I’ll call the security team.”

“……”

Now he’s just flat-out ignoring me?

“Sigh…”

Then again, what good would it do to call security? They wouldn’t be able to lay a finger on Vasily anyway…

I let out a deep sigh. Resigned to the fact that I wasn’t escaping him, I relaxed my body. The hard floor began to feel more and more uncomfortable. Of all places, why did I end up on the floor? I could’ve just laid down on the sofa or bed…

I turned my head. The floor, not even a speck of dust in sight, looked so clean it left me speechless twice over.

“……”

With a conflicted expression, I looked down at Vasily. Having toppled me over, he was now forcing his large frame into my arms, hugging me tightly.

‘So this is why… why someone with just a four-percent match rate was the one he clung to…’

That must’ve been it.

Just touching someone was enough to make them freeze. Even I, after guiding Vasily for a long time, had occasionally gotten frostbite. But I hadn’t realized others couldn’t endure even brief contact.

So that’s why he kept asking about my condition during our first guiding session. Why he avoided the subject of secondary guides. Why he kept coming to me despite the low match rate… I was finally starting to piece everything together.

I’d thought all it would take was someone with a good match rate. But now it turns out that person also had to be able to withstand Vasily’s energy waves. A sinking feeling told me it might take much longer for him to find the right guide than I’d thought.

Seeing as he’s been without a guide all this time, it likely means no one abroad could endure him either. What if, three years from now, when the contract ends, he’s still coming to find me? I just want to remove the suppressor chip already… Damn it.

I turned my head and looked at the clock on the wall. The end of the workday was approaching, but Vasily, still clinging to me, hadn’t moved an inch.

So much for leaving on time today. Sigh…

An hour passed just like that.

Which means I’d been lying on the hard floor well past clock-out time. My back ached, and Vasily’s weight was suffocating. On top of that, the suppressor chip was starting to act up, and I knew it was time to push him off.

“Esper Vasily, it’s time to get off now.”

“If you say you’ll have dinner with me.”

“……”

This bastard.