TGIC Ch 122

Chapter 122

“Moreover, Guide Kwon Gidam appears to be in a confused state, believing himself to be an S‑rank guide. It would be best if he were hospitalized for the time being…”

“I refuse.”

Ignoring the doctor’s attempt to persuade him, Vasily started walking away. When he returned to the laboratory, Gidam was seated exactly where he had left him, sitting quietly in his chair.

Seeing that, Vasily’s lips curved faintly. He had heard the small rustle of movement by the door — Gidam must have been eavesdropping, and, noticing that Vasily was returning, had hurried to sit back down. But Vasily chose not to address it.

“Guide Kwon Gidam, get up. Let’s go back to the private room.”

“Yes, sir.”

The doctor tried to stop them, insisting that Gidam needed rest, but Vasily ignored him and took Gidam back to his private room.

Once inside, Vasily sat down on the sofa and gazed at Gidam, who had seated himself opposite him.

Gidam pressed his lips together and lowered his head, visibly uneasy beneath that stare. Though he had spent six years as Vasily’s guide, his whole body still tensed whenever their gazes met.

“Now that I think about it, wasn’t it like this the first time we met, too.”

From the very beginning, Gidam had always stiffened and trembled in his presence. It had indeed been their first meeting, yet he had looked as if he feared something intensely.

Only now did Vasily clearly understand the source of that incongruity. Guide Kwon Gidam had been afraid of him — just as he was now.

Now he could imagine why. It wasn’t hard to guess how, in the future Gidam remembered, he himself might have treated him.

Fear — it was the perfect means of control. Vasily must have trained him so thoroughly that he could never escape his grasp.

But he could not simply wait idly, hoping Gidam’s memories would return on their own.

At first, Gidam had been terrified of him, but given time, his wariness had eventually faded. Perhaps that had been due to Vasily’s decision to suppress his true nature and behave meekly, all for the sake of getting closer to him.

Vasily intended to restore things to the way they had been before. He had already spent six months pretending to be docile; continuing the act would be no difficulty at all. If he treated Gidam the same way he had before, he was certain the man would soon drop his guard and return to his former self.

First, he needed to reacquaint him with physical contact. In this state, he wouldn’t even be able to perform proper guiding until his memory returned.

“Guide Kwon Gidam, come here.”

Like a well‑trained dog, Gidam obeyed promptly. Rising from the sofa, he came to stand beside Vasily, awaiting his next instruction.

“Sit next to me.”

This time too, Gidam obeyed — though he sat at a subtle distance, leaving a small gap between them. That faint space bothered Vasily.

Well, that couldn’t be helped for now. He softened his expression and spoke instead.

“Guide Kwon Gidam, you haven’t heard the results of the examination yet, have you? Aren’t you curious?”

“…Yes.”

At the mention of the test, Gidam finally turned his head, interest flickering in his eyes. It seemed he had tried to overhear the conversation between Vasily and the doctor back in the lab, but had failed to catch the details.

That must be making him uneasy. Right now, Gidam believed he hadn’t lost his memory at all, but had traveled back into the past. So he must be nervous that Vasily might uncover the truth — that he had, in fact, lost his memories.

“Guide Kwon Gidam injured his throat while trying to suppress my rampage, and that shock seems to have caused his memory confusion. There’s nothing wrong with your brain, so you can relax.”

At Vasily’s words, Gidam visibly relaxed in relief. But Vasily wasn’t finished speaking.

“And to help you recover your memory, the doctor said it’s best for me to treat you just as I normally would.”

“What… do you mean by that?”

“Exactly as it sounds. I was advised to act as if nothing has changed — just as I did before you lost your memory.”

Vasily continued smoothly, face utterly calm. The doctor had never said any such thing, of course — but Vasily intended to use this as a pretext to draw closer to him, little by little, under the guise of helping him regain his memories.

“So, I was thinking we might try living as we used to…”

As he spoke, Vasily shifted and sat close beside Gidam, close enough for their thighs to touch. He could feel Gidam’s body go rigid at once.

Vasily reached out and lifted Gidam’s hand, bringing it toward his own lips.

“B‑Vasily‑esper‑nim…?”

Gidam’s breath caught sharply, his tension spiking. If even this faint contact flustered him so, Vasily would simply have to train him until he ceased to resist it.

Toying with Gidam’s hand, he pressed a light kiss to the back of it. Warmth flowed through his lips like gentle water, the guiding energy spreading smoothly between them.

The stifling thirst that had plagued him dissipated in an instant.

Even the dull ache in his head vanished at the touch, leaving his mind clear. The guiding and heat that entered him through that small contact melted away the chill within, leaving no trace.

“So you mean we used to… do things like this…?”

“Why? Does it feel strange?”

“This kind of thing…”

Gidam faltered, unable to give voice to the rest of his thought. Vasily finished smoothly for him.

“You mean, it feels like something lovers would do?”

“…”

Though Gidam stayed silent, Vasily caught agreement in his reaction and murmured softly, almost to himself,

“How hurtful…”

His unexpectedly positive reaction stirred a faint urge to tease him. Pretending to press another kiss to that same hand, Vasily concealed the smirk tugging at his mouth.

“Have you even forgotten what we were to each other?”

“…?”

Gidam blinked in confusion. At first, he merely sat there, quietly turning over the words in his mind — and then, as their meaning dawned on him, his body slowly stiffened.

“Y‑You can’t mean…”

His dark pupils trembled violently. With disbelief written plain across his face, he asked,

“You’re saying we were… lovers?”

“Can’t believe it? Then look it up yourself. There should be an article or two.”

Saying this, Vasily released his hand, allowing Gidam to check for himself. His face drained of color as he fumbled out his phone, hands trembling.

After a few taps, his fingers stopped; it seemed he had found it. As his eyes traced the lines of text, they widened — then filled with shock.

Those dark eyes wavered pitifully. Vasily, enjoying each change of expression, waited patiently until Gidam had finished reading.

“H‑How… how could something like this…”

Gidam muttered with a hand to his mouth, clearly shaken. Looks like there hadn’t been any dating rumors back then, Vasily mused. No wonder Gidam had been so desperate to have that article taken down.

Indeed, it had been wise not to delete it. Now he had a perfect use for it.

Watching Gidam reel in disbelief, Vasily smiled in satisfaction. He planned to use this as an opening to narrow the distance between them — sustained physical closeness under the guise of a “lover’s relationship” would make refusal nearly impossible.

Just picturing the expression Gidam would make when his memories finally returned filled him with delight. For now, with all memories of their time together wiped away, Gidam had no means of disproving the claim.

“Do you believe me now? We are—”

“Urgh…”

But Vasily never managed to finish his sentence.

“Uuugh…!”

Gidam gagged, clutching his mouth, and bolted out of the room.

“…”

“…”

“Um… Esper Vasily.”

Cautiously, Gidam broke the silence.

Since the moment he had fled for the restroom, retching, Vasily hadn’t looked at him again — not even as they left the private room to head home. The tension in the air was so icy that it took no small courage for Gidam to speak first.

“I’m… sorry for what happened back in the room.”

“And why is Guide Kwon Gidam the one apologizing?”

“Well… because you’ve been angry ever since, Esper‑nim.”

“Angry, me?”

Vasily let out a short, incredulous laugh — one utterly devoid of amusement.

“Hardly. Guide Kwon Gidam not only forgot what we were, but ran off gagging — yet I haven’t been angry, not once.”

“…”

“You’re disoriented from memory loss, that’s all. Reactions like that are perfectly understandable.”

“…I apologize.”

Even after Gidam apologized once more, the car sped down the road recklessly fast, the engine growling as if Vasily had heard nothing at all.