TGIC Ch 101

Chapter 101

Returning to the private room, I endlessly refreshed the news page, waiting for the gate assault to conclude. Suddenly, across from me, Vasily, who had been fiddling with his smartphone, suddenly grinned and spoke.

“Guide Kwon Gidam, an article from this morning’s interview has just been published—take a look.”

No sooner had Vasily finished speaking than my phone buzzed briefly. The message he sent contained only a solitary link, devoid of any text.

Vasily was grinning suspiciously; I shot a wary glance at his dubious behavior and clicked the link.

[Vasily, stopping hotel collapse while on a date with his lover…]

What is this? Just something this trivial?

I had anticipated such an article and responded accordingly, so it did not affect me. Moreover, the article had been vetted by the Association, so there was no suspicious content interspersed.

Seeing my indifferent reaction, Vasily feigned disappointment. Seriously, what kind of reaction did he expect?

“That’s surprising. I thought you hated our dating rumors.”

“I do dislike them. So please issue a rebuttal article as soon as possible.”

“Then why did you answer like that?”

“I didn’t want the pointless questioning to drag on unnecessarily.”

I figured that if I gave a troublesome answer, the Association would handle smoothing things over. And that’s exactly what happened.

Vasily nodded as if understanding. I thought my curiosities were settled, but he posed another question.

“So, really, you won’t tell me how you knew the gate would open?”

“Didn’t we agree not to ask further questions?”

I had done so much on that condition already. Frowning, Vasily gave a faint chuckle and fell silent.

I let out a short breath and checked the time. Even though it was already dawn, news of the gate assault’s success hadn’t arrived.

The assault needed to finish quickly. Evaluating my condition, I clicked my tongue.

Since a while ago, my nape had been burning repeatedly. Just briefly touching lips with Vasily apparently stimulated my suppressor chip.

Unaware that the outing would be prolonged, I hadn’t brought medicine. To make matters worse, the last emergency pill in the private room had been consumed days ago.

As my condition worsened, my body declared a strike. My neck throbbed painfully and my eyelids felt like lead weights. The fever intensified as time passed.

My head was fuzzy. Though I knew I shouldn’t sleep like this, I eventually closed my eyes.

“Ugh…”

Awakening with a pounding headache, I regretted having fallen asleep just as the pain struck. I should have held out somehow and taken medicine before sleeping.

I lay in bed. As my vision cleared gradually, what spread before me was a massive muscle mass.

Lifting my head, I saw Vasily sleeping peacefully with his eyes closed. Wait, Vasily was asleep?

“Esper Vasily! How can you be sleeping?”

“…My head is pounding, so be quiet.”

I sat up abruptly and shook Vasily awake. Annoyed by the disturbance, he furrowed his brow fiercely but opened his eyes.

“Since when have you been asleep? No, that’s not the point—we have to return to the hotel before the ice melts…!”

“Don’t worry. The gate assault was completed earlier.”

“In that case, what about the building…?”

“While Guide Kwon Gidam was asleep, the Association contacted me saying they borrowed another esper’s powers to handle it.”

Ah, if that’s so… I closed my mouth, relieved.

“If you understand, get some more rest.”

“Then why were you holding me? It seemed like I was being guided for over an hour.”

“You don’t remember? When I laid you down on the bed, it was you who grabbed me and refused to let go.”

…Now that I think about it, my fever had risen from the suppressor chip, and in my drowsiness, I must have clung to Vasily seeking cool relief. The forgotten memory left me speechless.

As my drowsiness slowly faded, I felt a dull ache again at the back of my neck. I tentatively touched the area but withdrew in surprise. It was burning hot, as if the suppressor chip was about to explode. I feared my brain might cook.

I definitely needed to go home quickly before my condition worsened.

Since waking up, the pain had steadily worsened. Urgently, I spoke to Vasily, who had closed his eyes as if to go back to sleep.

“Esper, I think we need to return home.”

“Let’s stay a little longer. Guide Kwon Gidam has likely slept enough, but I just lay down.”

“…The suppressor chip feels like it’s about to burst.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Vasily’s eyes snapped open.

He turned his head toward me, reading my complexion, then furrowed his brows. Seeing my grave condition, he immediately rose.

“Can you walk?”

I silently shook my head. Vasily didn’t hesitate; he rose from the bed and lifted me.

Feeling his firm arms supporting my body, I wrapped my arms around his neck. His cold body cooled my burning heat.

“Guide Kwon Gidam is more high-maintenance than I thought.”

“Is that an insult?”

“I didn’t mean it badly.”

Still, my body felt like a blazing furnace. Though I knew touching Vasily might worsen my condition, I couldn’t give up cooling my fever with his cold body.

Leaning my head on his broad shoulders, I pressed my body closer.

I had always taken medicine before symptoms appeared, so enduring this level of pain was rare. Although it would take only ten minutes to reach home, even that short time was unbearable.

“Come to think of it, didn’t they say the medicine contains esper blood?”

Why was that sudden thought popping into my head?

Probably because both Huaiyen and Vasily were S-rank espers. Though the medicine didn’t contain Vasily’s blood, the effects might be similar since they were the same S-rank. If so, drinking Vasily’s blood might soothe my symptoms.

Dizziness made deep thought difficult, so I acted immediately.

“Esper Vasily.”

Hearing his name, Vasily bowed his head. I bit his lips fiercely.

Even with strong weapons, it was difficult to scar his body, but soft areas like lips I could wound easily—as I had confirmed yesterday.

Crunch. His lips split, bleeding. Vasily, who had been reaching for the door handle to leave the private room, startled.

His stiffening body cradled in my arms was unbothered as I licked the blood flowing from his lips. The cool blood moistened my parched mouth, quenching my thirst.

Vasily, who had kept his mouth firmly shut the whole time, murmured softly,

“Guide Kwon Gidam, this isn’t good.”

“Sigh…”

Despite the quiet warning, I could not stop licking his lips. The wound was already healing, the bleeding gradually stopping. To drink more blood, I bit his lips gently.

Swallowing the blood he shed, my symptoms began to rapidly subside. Before I could rejoice the hypothesis was true, the situation changed instantly.

Bang!

The private room door slammed violently into my back. Vasily pushed me forcefully against the hard door and devoured my lips roughly.

“Ugh, uh…”

A cold tongue suddenly pushed into my mouth, clearing the fog from my mind and snapping me fully awake.

“Uh, wait…”

Turning my head, I barely avoided his lips. I caught my breath, but Vasily immediately bared his teeth and bit my neck.

“Ugh!”

A sharp pain spread from the biting teeth into my flesh. Only then did I realize I had crossed a line I should not have.