AAGULT Ch 3

Chapter 3

 

“Boss.”

-Yeah.

The boss was a good person. A criminal, yes, but to Jaeha, he was oddly kind to the point that it made him uncomfortable. If there was one flaw about him, it was this.

-Haaah…

“……”

From the receiver came a languid breath and the loud sound of something clashing. At first, Jaeha was confused as to what the sound was, but now he knew well. It was the sound of damp flesh colliding during an act.

The steady, weighted sound of something striking landed clearly in Jaeha’s ears through the phone. A pained, suppressed moan could be faintly heard from someone being pinned down. The kind of noise that made anyone listening feel awkward.

Jaeha clenched his teeth and shut his eyes tight. Even without seeing, he could tell his ears were turning bright red.

His superior’s sex life… Did he really need to know? Why did the boss insist on letting him hear it…?

-Come down now.

“Ahem, yes…”

He almost choked swallowing wrong. As he cleared his throat and replied, a soft chuckle could be heard through the receiver. The voice, sunk low in pleasure, was charming even to another man. You know, the type of man every guy envies—mature and cool. The boss was exactly that kind of man.

The call ended.

“Haaah…”

A sigh escaped him naturally.

“I don’t want to go down…”

Since there were no customers, he could grumble openly. It wasn’t even open yet, after all. Jaeha double-checked that the bar’s front door was securely locked, then took out a key and opened the inner door. Pulling the liquor bottles, placed in a specific irregular order, one by one revealed the hidden entrance. The order changed every week, so he had to remember it well.

“Huuuh…”

He would’ve felt less nervous if the door at least made a sound opening, but the state-of-the-art door opened silently and smoothly.

Hesitating, Jaeha eventually went down the stairs.

Even after going down, he had to pass several security locks before arriving in front of the door to the guiding room where the boss was.

Apparently, the guiding wasn’t finished yet, as the sounds continued from inside.

Jaeha stood quietly with his hands behind his back, leaning against the wall, waiting until the boss told him to come in. A faint scent of cigarettes seeped through the door crack.

“……”

How much time had passed?

Click.

The door opened, and someone stepped out. It wasn’t the boss. It seemed to be the guide who had been with the boss. He’d been in charge of the boss for a while now, and every time Jaeha saw him, it made him feel strange. The man had a similar build and appearance to Jaeha. The only real differences were in his subtly different features and eye color.

It had to be a coincidence. All the boss’s previous guides looked nothing like Jaeha, so he was sure of it.

Worried their bodies might brush, Jaeha instinctively pulled back and gave a slight bow in greeting.

“Thank you for your work…”

“Ah, yes…”

It was an awkward exchange. Jaeha had lowered his eyes, worried that meeting his gaze might make things feel worse, but when he heard footsteps approaching him, he quickly lifted his head. Their eyes met naturally. The hazy, grassy-colored eyes held concern.

[Your wave looks off…]

“Uh, um…”

No, I can’t. But the guide’s distinctive guiding aura, now so close, tickled Jaeha’s body. There shouldn’t be such a thing as a smell to guiding, but the sensation—like tiny hairs standing on end and skin tingling—was hard to describe any other way.

That faintly sharp-eyed look, so similar to his own, entered his vision again.

[This person is…]

And then the guide’s fingertips came just close enough to brush, ever so slightly. Even without overtly guiding, a guide’s aura could be sensed by an esper in urgent need. Around them, there would be a sweet, comforting mist-like presence, known as “radiant guiding.”

“……”

Entranced by the faint sensation, Jaeha stared at him. In that moment, the boss’s instructions and everything else left his mind. He simply wanted to experience real guiding just once and be freed from this pain.

And so, Jaeha reached out to him, almost entranced.

And that was when it happened.

“Song Jaeha.”

“…!”

“Come in.”

It was like a bucket of cold water was dumped on his muddled mind. Ah, what was I just doing?

If comic-book-style exaggeration were allowed, Jaeha’s face would’ve turned completely pale.

Startled, Jaeha quickly pulled back from the guide, pressing himself flat against the wall.

“S-sorry… I-I mean. You can’t guide me. I, um, well, I mean… yeah.”

He couldn’t even speak properly. He could only imagine how pathetic and clumsy he must’ve sounded. But it was the best he could manage.

He didn’t dare look into the guide’s eyes to read his thoughts, just bowed his head awkwardly in apology. Then he quickly grabbed the guiding room door and slipped inside.

“B-boss…”

He hastily shut the door and walked over to the boss. The man was sitting on the edge of the bed, smoking.

As he ran a hand through his slightly tousled hair, his eyes rolled toward Jaeha. It had already been years since they’d come face to face like this. Instantly sensing that the man was in a foul mood, Jaeha quickly picked up the ashtray and knelt before him.

“I, I’m sorry…”

The boss had forbidden Jaeha from receiving guiding. Yet he had shown such obvious attraction to the guide right in front of the boss. Of course he’d be offended. It was entirely Jaeha’s fault.

Objectively, it was an abnormal sense of guilt, but Jaeha didn’t realize it.

With trembling hands, he simply held up the ashtray to him.

“……”

The man looked down at Jaeha indifferently, then reached out with his large hand and slowly pushed the ashtray to the side with the edge of his hand. The ashtray fell to the floor with a loud clatter.

“……”

“……”

Startled by the noise, Jaeha froze in the same posture, hands still extended. He cautiously looked up at the man and saw the firm line of his jaw.

“Jaeha.”

“…Y-yes.”

“Come closer.”

Without hesitation, Jaeha, still kneeling, shuffled forward on his knees. He got close enough for the man’s foot to touch his knee. Looking up at the man again, Jaeha’s face crumpled with distress. His eyebrows drooped endlessly, and his nose began to sting.

“Show me that cuteness again.”

“……”

The boss liked it when he made this kind of expression. …It wasn’t something he did on purpose. It just naturally appeared, out of a desire for the boss not to get angry. The boss was a benefactor who had helped him, cherished him by his side… kept him from starving and even arranged a job for him. Upsetting the boss was not the right thing to do.

And right now, very much so… how should he put it. He could smell the scent of guiding on him.

Thick, soft, pleasant like bundled cotton… Unlike himself, who was always starved for guiding, it felt like this man’s body was overflowing with guiding to the point that it was seeping out.

And for Jaeha, who had come so close to receiving guiding but had barely pushed it away, that was a temptation enough to be entrancing.

His head grew slightly hazy.

As the man reached out his hand, Jaeha naturally leaned his head forward. A large hand stroked his cheek. Just like when petting a beloved animal, a languid laugh rumbled from his throat. It was a relief to think that his twisted mood seemed to have improved—if only briefly. Then, a familiar command reached his ears.

“Open your mouth.”

Though the thought flashed through his mind that this was unfortunate, he didn’t hesitate and opened his mouth. He even remembered to stick out his tongue.

Somewhere beyond the hazy consciousness in his mind, a small voice grumbled, “This is why I didn’t want to come down…” but in that moment, nothing else was heard. He was simply drawn to that faint trace of guiding. If he could just get that on his face, on his skin, he felt like it wouldn’t matter what happened to him afterward.

“Good boy…”

He looked pleased, but Jaeha didn’t know why. Then again, had he ever understood the boss?

Ssss.

The boss, who had been smoking a cigarette, pressed it against his tongue between his fingers. As he slightly ground it out, a stinging pain flared up and his nose tingled. Reflexive tears welled up involuntarily.

Even though he’d gotten used to it, having a cigarette burn a sensitive spot from a misstep and the acrid smoke puffed out under his nose made him want to cough. He held his breath to suppress it to the end, and the man, who threw the cigarette roughly to the floor, brushed back Jaeha’s slightly disheveled hair with a guiding-imbued hand as if to praise him.

“You’re this good at it, so why’d you make a mistake…”

“…Be…cause…”

“Why? Suddenly craving some guiding?”

“…”

He didn’t say anything, knowing that if he lied, he’d be caught immediately. But at the same time, he felt unfairly accused. The boss was an Esper too—surely he could feel how Jaeha was feeling…

He didn’t dare say it and just muttered inside, and the boss let out a soft, breezy laugh. Even when Jaeha looked up slightly to peer into his eyes, he felt nothing.

That’s right. The boss—Baek Beom-woo—was an Esper, and he could block out all external abilities.

To Jaeha, he was the only person whose thoughts couldn’t be read even when making eye contact. The only person he could look at without reading the room, without burden… And maybe that’s why, sometimes, he found himself wondering what the boss was thinking.

“Jaeha.”

Just like now.