TGIC Ch 99

Chapter 99

 

 A piercing gaze suddenly felt upon me from somewhere.

…What is it?

I shifted my body and slowly opened my eyes. Spotting a shadow flickering in my vision, I turned my head and saw Vasily standing beside the bed.

“Esper Vasily? Why are you standing there?”

“Get up and prepare to go out. There’s a place we must go.”

“A place we must go…?”

Hearing my voice, cracked and weak, Vasily fell silent for a moment. His gaze landed on my split lips.

“They’re torn.”

A pale hand moved toward my lips. The instant his cold fingertips touched the cracked wound, a sharp sting coursed through me.

Smack.

I slashed his hand away with a dull sound echoing — a clear refusal for anyone to see.

“Tell me where we’re going.”

“To the Association. The reporters want to ask questions about the gate that opened yesterday.”

“Then why are you taking me with you?”

“They think Guide Kwon Gidam would know the gate better than I do.”

I asked, sharpening my tone, and Vasily withdrew the back of his hand casually while answering. I frowned as I looked at him.

“I’ll give you ten minutes. Get ready and come out.”

Leaving those words behind, Vasily stepped out of the room. Left alone, I let out a deep sigh and rubbed my aching forehead.

I barely slept last night, checking breaking news all night long. Scenes of rescuing hotel guests were broadcast live, and the news came that the rescue operation had finished just before dawn. When the sun rose, the assault on the gate commenced, and after barely catching some sleep, I felt miserably exhausted.

Of course, I wasn’t the only one awake. I often heard Vasily talking on the phone behind the door last night.

Since his voice lingered until dawn, he probably couldn’t sleep either. That fact comforted me a little — I wasn’t the only one tossing and turning all night.

Shaking off my drowsiness, I got out of bed.

I wanted to resist going, but if I tried, Vasily might kidnap me again in my pajamas like he did before. Damn Vasily. Why does he insist on bringing me to a meeting I’m perfectly fine skipping?

I washed my face briefly and opened the wardrobe. Since executives at the Association would likely attend, I reached for the neatly hung suits.

“I’m ready.”

“Then let’s go.”

As we descended to the parking lot in the elevator, I glanced at him. Naturally, Vasily wore different clothes than yesterday.

My gaze involuntarily dropped to his lower body, and I winced as I noticed a heavy outline not concealed even by clothes. My throat still felt raw, so I rubbed it.

“This way, Guide Kwon Gidam.”

As we walked toward the Association vehicle we used yesterday, Vasily’s voice came from the opposite side. Turning my head, I saw him calling me near a foreign car I had never seen before.

Approaching him, I asked,

“What’s this car?”

“It’s a spare. My cars often break down.”

I nodded, recalling how the steering wheel sometimes froze whenever Vasily wasn’t well.

This time, it had lasted unusually long. Vasily was a reckless driver, so all his cars had short lifespans. Six months was considered a long time.

Getting in, I felt an unfamiliar ride as we headed to the Association. Since it was slightly past rush hour, I thought we’d get there quickly—but we got stuck in severe traffic congestion.

“……”

“Looks like it’s jammed near the hotel.”

Possibly because the roads around were all controlled after the gate opened, we found ourselves trapped at a gridlocked intersection, barely moving.

Vasily tapped the steering wheel with his fingers. Staring at the car in front with a chillingly hardened expression, it seemed he seriously considered freezing the entire road.

Seeing Vasily on the brink of causing an accident, my eyelids kept growing heavy. I was exhausted from lack of sleep.

Better to nap now than doze in the meeting later. I blinked slowly and shut my eyes gently.

“Guide Kwon Gidam, wake up.”

“Ah… Are we already there?”

I had barely napped before we arrived at the Association.

Waking groggily, I got out of the car and followed Vasily. He headed to the conference room. Because we were late, it seemed he skipped the private room and came straight here.

Opening the door, I saw reporters standing at the back of the conference room. Spotting the cameras, I hastily lowered my head, but then relieved myself to find they weren’t recording.

“Oh my, Esper Vasily! You’re here?”

The chairperson of the Association got up to welcome Vasily the moment he appeared. Although Vasily had only frozen the collapsing hotel and left without further rescue operations, the media treated him as a national hero for preventing casualties, an attitude the chairperson seemed conscious of.

I silently stood in a corner, holding my breath without revealing my presence. No one recognized my efforts, but that was enough. I let Vasily take all the spotlight, while I remained as inconspicuous as possible.

The chairperson led us to our seats. Fortunately, not only Vasily’s chair, but mine was prepared as well. Before Vasily could order me to sit on his lap like last time, I quickly took my own chair.

Soon, people settled one by one, and the questioning officially began.

“Esper Vasily, I heard you were at the site yesterday. Could you please explain in detail what happened?”

“I visited the hotel with my guide, and the gate opened by chance. I just froze the building because it was about to collapse.”

Vasily emphasized the word ‘by chance’ as he stared at me with a smileless gaze. I was used to ignoring that look.

Then, a reporter standing behind asked,

“How did you happen to be at the site?”

“You should ask Guide Kwon Gidam beside me, not me. I only followed the guide.”

Remaining silent as if I had nothing to do with the incident, Vasily deliberately passed on the question.

Really? Is he for real? I furrowed my brow and protested silently with my eyes, but he lounged arrogantly, showing no intention of answering.

So, I was really the one to answer. I sighed deeply and finally spoke.

“Does a couple need a reason to go to a hotel?”

A brief silence followed. The faces of the Association members, who knew the dating rumors were false, hardened uncomfortably.

I scoffed inwardly, thinking they should have released a rebuttal article sooner, but then Vasily chuckled beside me.

“So, do you admit to the dating rumors?”

“I won’t answer that question.”

Though I refused to answer directly, what I had just said was almost an admission. The reporters began buzzing, sensing a scoop.

For about an hour afterward, the reporters’ questions continued. Perhaps because I had dropped the bomb, except for a few first questions, the Association answered all of them, so Vasily and I didn’t need to say much.

The meeting ended with Vasily taking photos with the chairperson for the article’s publication.

Dragging my terribly exhausted body, I entered the private room and saw a bed placed by the window. I threw off my suit jacket carelessly, loosened my tie, and headed toward the bed.

“I’m going to use the bed for a while.”

I climbed onto the bed without caring that Vasily was in front of me, too sleepy to mind. Lying down on the soft bed, I finally felt relief.

“Are you going to sleep?”

“I’m tired because I couldn’t sleep.”

Just as I closed my eyes to sleep, the bed tilted to one side. What was that? Turning my head, I found Vasily perched on the bed.

“W-why are you coming up here?”

“I realized I haven’t slept well recently either.”

“No… Esper, you can’t sleep.”

“Why not?”

“Are you really asking because you don’t know? If you fall asleep now, the hotel will collapse.”

If Vasily falls asleep, his powers disappear. Of course, the ice wouldn’t melt immediately, but since the sun was still blazing during the day, it would quickly thaw away. It was only safe to release his powers after the gate vanished and the hotel was secured from collapsing.

“All the civilians have been rescued already.”

“The gate assault is still underway…! And if a building that big collapses, the damage to the surroundings will be considerable.”

“So what does that have to do with me?”

Talking to him is futile. My already aching head throbbed painfully.