TGIC Ch 39

Chapter 39

I offered to guide him because he looked depressed, and now he’s sneakily adding conditions.

Instead of answering immediately, I checked the time. Almost 7 o’clock. If I went home now, it would be an awkward time to eat dinner, and I wasn’t in the mood for delivery food or a convenience store lunchbox either. In that case, it might be better to just have dinner with Vasily.

“Are we going to the same restaurant as last time?”

“Yes. It’s nearby, and at least the food’s tolerable.”

Well, Vasily is a foreigner. He’s only been in Korea for a year, so Western food is probably still more familiar to him.

Come to think of it, in the six years we’ve spent together, I’ve never once seen him eat Korean food. Because of that, I was effectively banned from eating it too. It’s such a shame he doesn’t understand the brilliance of Korean cuisine.

“Alright. Then please move. I can’t breathe.”

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Vasily obediently got up.

Finally, I could breathe again. I stood up and patted my stiff lower back.

Since it was a little past quitting time, the Association building was relatively quiet. But the moment we pulled out onto the road, we were instantly caught in rush-hour traffic.

We arrived at the usual upscale restaurant near the Association and, as always, entered a quiet private room at the back.

Since we hadn’t made a reservation today, we were handed menus. After some deliberation, I ordered the steak course. Vasily chose the same dish.

“……”

“……”

Once the waiter left and we were alone in the enclosed space, neither of us spoke first.

Today, the silence hanging in the air felt especially oppressive. Normally, I wouldn’t have minded, but after the things I heard in his private room, my thoughts were a mess.

I’d thought I knew him fairly well after spending six uninterrupted years by his side. But I hadn’t known this. That I’m the only guide who can withstand Vasily’s waves…

Now I finally understood why he never lost interest in me. But I still couldn’t wrap my head around why he’d overworked me so relentlessly during that long stretch before my regression.

If I’d died, he wouldn’t have had anyone left to guide him—so why did he keep dragging me into gates? Was it really just to receive guiding whenever he needed it? The more I thought about it, the less I understood him.

After a long silence, the food began to arrive.

We quietly started eating. I kept glancing at him, while Vasily ate calmly, no different from usual.

Eventually, I couldn’t hold back and opened my mouth.

“Esper Vasily… how can you be so composed?”

“What do you mean?”

“The guide who just appeared… ended up like that.”

A guide with a high compatibility rate had finally shown up, only to be unable to withstand his waves. The man had collapsed right in front of Vasily, his face pale and drained.

Vasily must have been through this his whole life. If it were me, I’d be devastated. But Vasily didn’t even seem fazed, and that puzzled me even more.

“I’ve gotten used to it.”

He replied calmly, as if it were someone else’s problem. In fact, the slight frown on my face probably looked more pained than his.

“How have you managed until now?”

“Once a week, I’d request a guide from the Association. I’d squeeze out every last bit of guiding from them, and afterward, they’d all try to avoid me at any cost.”

“……”

Despite how serious the topic was, he said it with a smile. I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. As I lowered my head in silence, Vasily spoke softly.

“But now I have you, Guide Kwon Gidam. The match rate isn’t great, but if I get guided every day, I can manage.”

He wasn’t wrong. And because there was no way to refute him, I found it even harder to respond.

After hesitating briefly, I asked,

“What would you do if I refused to guide you?”

“……”

Silence fell again.

Vasily stopped eating and quietly stared at me. His sharp gaze made me shrink back without realizing it. Should I not have asked? I tightened my grip on my utensils.

“Are you going to refuse?”

“…No.”

“Then there’s no problem.”

Vasily gave a faint smile and resumed his meal.

Clearly, I shouldn’t bring up things like that again—not even lightly. I sighed inwardly and resolved to be more careful in the future.

This confirmed that avoiding Vasily would be pointless. My compatibility rate might only be four percent, but I’m the only guide who can handle his guiding properly. There’s no way he’d let go of me so easily.

In that sense, getting the suppressor chip implanted was definitely the right choice. If he ever found out that I’m an S-class guide with a 91% match rate, he would never let me go.

I reminded myself that no matter what, I had to make sure he never learned about the chip—and shoved a large chunk of steak into my mouth.

After that day, Vasily didn’t seek me out again.

No requests for assigned guiding, no random visits, and the smartphone that used to buzz constantly was eerily quiet. He’d acted like he was going to cling to me every day, but now he was completely MIA.

Because of that, the gazes from my coworkers grew more and more sympathetic by the day. Apparently, there were even rumors going around that Vasily had found a new guide and abandoned me.

Who got abandoned?

There were so many things I wanted to say in rebuttal, but from the very beginning, the rumors that I was Vasily’s guide or some secret lover were all nonsense. If I responded to every little thing, I’d only wear myself out. I kept my mouth shut and dragged myself to work at the Association as usual.

Then, just before quitting time, the Association issued an official statement. It said that due to unsuitability discovered during the actual guiding process, Vasily’s match had been canceled.

“Well, that’s good news.”

“Congratulations.”

As I prepared to leave work, everyone who passed my desk offered a word of congratulations.

“I’m really glad, Gidam.”

Even Jo Wooyeon joined in…

“Haha… I’m telling you, there’s nothing going on between us…”

At this point, I had no idea how others had perceived our relationship, but the misunderstandings had clearly piled up to absurd levels. Realizing that trying to explain would be pointless, I fled the office.

Once I left the Association, I headed toward the subway station and casually checked my phone.

Still no messages from Vasily. The last one had been a week ago. The guy who used to contact me daily had gone totally silent—somehow, that made me even more uneasy. I stopped walking and glanced back at the Esper Association.

‘Should I go check on him…?’

I hesitated for a moment, then shook my head. There was no need to stir up unnecessary misunderstandings. And yet, thoughts of Vasily kept nagging at me, and my pace slowed.

It’s all because of what he said in the private room. Why did he have to make that kind of face…

I don’t know. I came home with my mind a tangled mess.

After work, I was working out at home when the doorbell rang.

Was it a delivery? Vasily’s house had basic furniture but none of the daily essentials, so I’d ordered a bunch of stuff online. I figured it was one of those and ignored it, continuing my push-ups.

Before bed, I came out of the shower and glanced at my phone. Still no messages. I narrowed my eyes at the empty chat log.

I tossed the phone aside and flopped down on the bed. That guy—whatever. He can go find another guide on his own.

“Oh, right. The package.”

Just as I was about to fall asleep, I remembered the doorbell I’d ignored earlier. Annoying, but I figured it was better to bring it in before bed. With a groan, I hauled myself toward the front door.

But for some reason, it felt a bit cold by the entrance. It’s usually cool, but today there was an eerie chill in the air. Maybe I was imagining it. Thinking nothing of it, I opened the door…

Clunk, clunk.

The door wouldn’t open.

Did they leave the package right in front of it? I didn’t remember ordering anything heavy… I found it odd and pushed harder.

Then, as the door opened, I heard the sound of something cracking—and shards of ice tumbled into the doorway.

Ice?

‘Don’t tell me…’

A bad feeling washed over me, and I quickly craned my head outside. Instead of a package, I saw a pair of legs sprawled out across the doorstep.

Vasily had collapsed at my front door.

“Esper Vasily?”

Startled, I rushed to shake him awake, but he was unresponsive. Looking closely, I saw he was bleeding, and the area around him was beginning to freeze.

If I left him like this, he might go into a rampage. I hurriedly dragged him inside to initiate guiding.

“Ugh!”

While supporting him, I accidentally brushed against his hand—and my arm instantly froze. I almost dropped him in shock, but the sight of his bleeding body flashed through my mind, and I gritted my teeth to endure it.

After laying him on the bed, I quickly rushed to the bathroom. I filled a container with warm water and slowly poured it over my frozen arm.