TGIC Ch 65

Chapter 65

When I placed my hand on the doorknob, the remaining ice easily crumbled, and the handle turned smoothly.

Vasily was still gazing at me with those cold eyes. I exchanged glances with him in silence before closing the door and stepping out.

“Haah…”

A sigh escaped me the moment I stepped outside. Surely I wouldn’t have to go through this kind of psychological warfare every time I went out, right? I felt exhausted in an instant.

If I really end up running away like this, it’ll cause a huge commotion.

Although I had already signed a contract, so that shouldn’t happen… still, if I ever do need to run, I promised myself to plan it meticulously to avoid being caught.

Perhaps because it was a good neighborhood, there was a well-maintained walking trail near the apartment. After glancing around for a moment, I loosened up my body a bit and began jogging.

The sunlight was particularly strong today.

Wiping the sweat that trickled down my chin, I gradually slowed down. Days like this were definitely the kind Vasily didn’t like. The sun was blazing, and even in the shade, the heat was suffocating. The incessant chirping of cicadas all around was not just lively—it was downright noisy.

On the way back after circling the area, a supermarket sign caught my eye. Come to think of it, the fridge I saw earlier when I took out some water was in a terrible state. There was hardly anything in it aside from a few bottles of water, let alone any food.

After a brief moment of indecision, I turned and stepped into the store. By the time I came out, both my hands were carrying large bags.

After doing a bit of simple grocery shopping and returning home, I saw Vasily sitting on the living room sofa.

His silver hair and silvery-gray eyes stood out even more thanks to his skin, pale like ice. Though he was simply sitting still on the sofa, the atmosphere felt like a scene from a photoshoot.

Vasily was gazing out the large window at the cityscape beyond. From here, even the massive association building in the distance could be seen.

Vasily slightly turned his head to look at me.

“You’re back?”

“…Yes.”

Perhaps because of what had happened before I left, an awkwardness lingered between us. We were never particularly close to begin with, but now the sense of distance between us felt even more pronounced.

Feeling awkward, I lifted the grocery bag slightly and asked,

“Would you like to eat together?”

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing special… just a simple salad.”

“Sounds good.”

Vasily nodded, though I had fully expected him to refuse. I thought for sure he’d shake his head and say no… His unexpected response, despite being my own suggestion, left me oddly dissatisfied.

I was relieved I’d brought enough for two, just in case, and headed to the kitchen.

I rinsed the plastic-wrapped salad under running water and heated the chicken breast in the microwave. As I tried to divide it evenly onto plates, I noticed Vasily standing uncomfortably close behind me, observing each step I took. The cool aura he emitted made it impossible to ignore him, no matter how much I tried.

While transferring the chicken breast to the plate, I finally opened my mouth.

“Um… don’t I smell like sweat?”

“It’s not bad, so it’s fine.”

“Could you step back a little…? It’s making me uncomfortable.”

Having just come back from exercising, I was certain I must smell like sweat. Vasily had a particularly sensitive sense of smell, and the close distance was bothering me. I said it partly for his sake as well, but he showed no reaction and continued standing right behind me.

With no other choice, I added the final touch to the salad while he watched. On the freshly washed vegetables, I placed the warm chicken breast and finished it off with a light drizzle of oriental dressing—a simple dish.

Without exchanging a single word, we sat across from each other and silently ate our salads.

Although the menu was tailored entirely to my own preferences, seeing Vasily eat without complaint made me think I could try other dishes next time. If we continued living together like this, maybe I could gradually get him used to Korean food so that he’d be able to have at least one Korean meal a day.

If I slowly started changing things in a different direction than before the regression—bit by bit—then maybe, just maybe, the doomed ending between us could also change.

After finishing our meal and clearing the empty plates, I was about to head to my room when Vasily stopped me.

“I’ll request guiding in the evening. Rest until then.”

“Understood.”

That meant we wouldn’t have to see each other again until the guiding session. I nodded, and we each returned to our rooms.

 

Lately, my daily routine had become monitoring gate activity at work.

While I sat at Vasily’s work desk all day staring at the status board, Vasily would either go out to a gate or sip coffee on the sofa whenever he stayed in.

Back in the day, whenever we had time like this, Vasily would drag me to the training room under the pretense of “training” and push me hard… But now, with him quietly sitting around, things felt quite peaceful. If only things had been this way in the past, our relationship might not have deteriorated so badly.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I was just thinking how peaceful things are.”

“If you’re bored, want to spar like last time?”

“No, thank you.”

I curtly shut down Vasily’s nonsense and turned my attention back to the board.

In the middle of the West Sea, one lone gate floated in the distance. It would be tackled next week after a brief Sunday meeting with China. As in the previous timeline, Vasily would most likely be the one dispatched there. But since I wasn’t attending the meeting or the gate mission, I didn’t even bother looking toward the West Sea.

There didn’t seem to be anything unusual this week. It looked like I’d be able to spend the weekend in peace. After confirming there were no prominent gates to worry about, I got up from my seat.

As I started packing up my things with the end of the workday approaching, Vasily asked,

“Shall we call it a day?”

“Sounds good.”

“Then I’ll contact your physician and let them know we’re on our way.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Did you forget already? Today’s the day for your suppressant chip injection.”

Ah, right. We did agree to do that every Friday.

I had forgotten for a moment. Saying I now remembered, I followed Vasily out of the private room.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I followed him to the physician’s office. Once I started getting injections, the day I’d be able to remove the suppressant chip would not be far off.

At first, I was reluctant to remove the chip for fear of exposing my grade, but once I learned the ingredients in the red pills I was taking, my mindset changed to prioritizing the chip’s removal. The blood of a monster mixed with narcotic substances? If I’d known that before starting, I would have never taken a single pill.

“Hello, Esper Vasily. And it’s been a while, Guide-nim.”

As we entered the lab, the familiar physician greeted us. I followed his guidance and sat down in a chair set to the side.

“Guide-nim, have you been doing well?”

“Yes. The guiding sessions have gone smoothly, and I’ve taken the prescribed amount of medication.”

“Hmm… I wasn’t asking about that, actually…”

The physician glanced subtly at Vasily.

Only then did I realize what he truly meant. He was checking to see how well a delicate C-rank guide was enduring under that madman Vasily.

I nodded calmly.

There had been a few moments over the past week where it felt like things might fall apart, but I was still holding on. Vasily hadn’t forced any guiding sessions or caused trouble, so things had been relatively okay so far.

Just as a faint sense of camaraderie started to grow between the physician and me, who seemed to understand each other’s situations, Vasily cut in.

“Wasn’t it just an injection? I didn’t expect such a long chat.”

He must have sensed the odd rapport forming without him. The physician and I quickly composed ourselves and returned to the original purpose of our visit.

“Then I’ll administer the injection.”

Prick.

A brief sting as the needle pierced my skin, followed by the unpleasant sensation of the medication entering my body. But it lasted only a moment—soon the needle was withdrawn, and a small bandage was placed over the area.

“It’ll probably ache a bit where the injection was given. Don’t rub it. Also, it’s important that the suppressant chip doesn’t overheat, so don’t overexert yourself with guiding today.”

“Understood.”

After hearing the additional precautions, Vasily and I exited the lab.

On our way home, we stopped by the usual restaurant for a light dinner. As we stepped out afterward, Vasily noticed me absentmindedly touching the bandage on the back of my neck and asked,

“Is it bothering you?”

“Yes… a little. It’s a bit sore, but manageable.”

After all, I’ve endured that burning heat like my neck was going to explode after every guiding session. This is nothing—just mildly annoying.

As soon as we got home, I took off my shoes and headed for my room. But as I quietly tried to slip in, Vasily stopped me with a pleasantly toned voice.

“Guide Kwon Gidam, since we’ve finished everything else for today, would you guide me now?”

I stopped in place and turned to him with a confused expression.

“What are you talking about? This week’s guiding session already ended.”