TGIC Ch 16

Chapter 16

“Guide Kwon Gidam, we’ve arrived.”

I had been sleeping as if passed out, but woke up at the sound of Vasily’s voice. The car that had been driving down the highway had already arrived at the front gate of the Association. As soon as I got out of the passenger seat, the Association building came into view.

Most of the lights inside the building seen through the window were off. It really is Friday, huh. Not many people working overtime. While there may be personnel on standby in case a gate suddenly opens, people like me would have fled the office right at six.

I passed through the empty lobby and took the elevator upstairs.

Upon entering Vasily’s private room, I glanced at the doorknob. It seemed they had replaced the door—there was no trace of it having been frozen. However…

“Why is it so hot in here?”

The private room was stifling. It felt like the middle of summer in here alone.

As soon as the hot air entered my nose, I frowned. Taking off my light outerwear, I glanced around the room. Suddenly feeling hot air on my face, I looked up at the ceiling and saw the heater running in the empty space.

Fifty degrees?

I was horrified as soon as I saw the set temperature and immediately turned the power off.

“There’s no one here, why on earth was the heater on? What a waste of electricity.”

“I was cold.”

“An S-Class Esper gets cold? And you’re even an ice-type Esper, talking about being cold—at least say something believable.”

“Right? I wonder why I’m cold. I don’t know myself.”

How shamelessly he lies. A man who shouldn’t be able to feel heat or cold is saying this—utterly ridiculous.

Even after taking off my outerwear, it was still hot. I fanned myself rapidly with my hand and looked down at my clothes. I debated whether I should take off my top too, but just then, Vasily approached me.

“Will you guide me now?”

“Understood.”

Well, I had to do the guiding anyway. I was already sweating from the heat, but if I took off my clothes, there’d be more direct contact with Vasily’s bare skin—and that I did not want.

Wait a minute… Could he have turned on the heater just to make me take off my clothes?

Knowing Vasily, he probably did think something like that. I quietly clicked my tongue. How cunning. There’s no way I’m falling for such a ploy.

I checked the time and sat down on the sofa.

“As promised, I’ll guide you for only one hour.”

“So cold-hearted…”

Cold-hearted, my foot. I’m ending this guiding session and heading home. Scoffing, I pulled him into an embrace—and immediately recoiled in shock.

“Ugh… Why is your body so cold? Gave me goosebumps.”

“I told you I was cold.”

“I know your body is usually cold.”

“Oh dear, you caught me.”

I frowned at Vasily’s meaningless joke. He wasn’t even the type to enjoy joking around…

That doesn’t mean his personality had suddenly changed. He was either still pretending to be nice in front of me, or maybe he used to be this soft in the past. But it’s hard to believe Vasily enjoys pointless jokes, so it’s more likely the former.

I continued the guiding in that state. The heat was still oppressive, but the cold air coming off Vasily made it just right.

Fatigue slowly began to set in, and my eyes started closing. But I refused to fall asleep while guiding, clinging to that single conviction to keep my eyes open and push through.

However…

‘He’s already asleep.’

Vasily was already asleep. Leaning against me so comfortably.

Ha, here I am guiding him despite being tired, and he’s just sleeping soundly.

I thought about leaving him and going home, but since I had taken his money, I decided to finish the session properly. He might take the money back if I didn’t. This was purely for the money.

As I held him quietly, his cold waves seeped into my body. The suppressor chip must be working well. Normally, guiding made me feel like I was freezing, but now it was like hugging a giant block of dry ice. A large, heavy block of dry ice wrapped in a stiff yet soft suit, gently emanating cold air…

As I confirmed that Vasily had fallen asleep, my own tension began to ease. I slowly relaxed my body, using the sound of his deep, even breathing like a lullaby.

‘Time to head back.’

The peaceful atmosphere nearly put me to sleep, but I forced myself to get up after exactly one hour.

Vasily was still sleeping soundly. I laid him down on the sofa and was about to leave, but his earlier muttering about being cold and that faintly lonely expression stopped my feet.

“…Damn it.”

Ruffling my hair roughly, I approached Vasily again. I draped his arm over my shoulder and hoisted him up.

He’s disgustingly heavy…!

At 190 centimeters tall, of course he’d be heavy, but he felt even heavier because he was asleep. And to think he doesn’t wake even when his body is being jostled like this—how odd.

Could he be pretending to sleep? I glanced at him suspiciously, but he really was asleep, which made it all the more annoying.

I barely managed to carry him to the bed and lay him down. I even kindly took off his shoes and pulled a blanket over him, then looked down at him again.

“…What’s so pretty about a guy like this.”

Vasily lay peacefully with his hands folded, fast asleep like Sleeping Beauty. Now that I looked at him like this, he really was pretty…

Messing up my hair again in frustration, I walked out. I looked around the now-darkened room and quietly closed the door behind me.

Over the weekend, I ordered the medication that came with the suppressor chip.

The one-month supply of medicine I received when I first ordered the chip was already running low. Now that I had Vasily’s money, I ordered a generous three-month supply.

I converted nearly ten million won into cryptocurrency and transferred it to an illegal seller. My hand trembled a little before hitting the send button, but I calmed myself down at the sight of my abundant account balance.

Then, I started working out.

After being attacked by a monster during the first gate dispatch, I realized the necessity of physical training. In the past, I could swing around a weapon like that without issue, but now I could barely manage to hold up a heavy spear.

I even collapsed from not being able to endure the attack. If Vasily hadn’t shown up at the right time, I’d be dead by now.

From now on, I’ll be working out after work and on weekends. I might not go into another gate anytime soon, but it’s best to build up my stamina in case I get caught in another unexpected accident like before.

And then the weekend ended, and Monday came around again.

“Good morning…”

“Morning…”

The members of my team entered looking like zombies after the weekend, dark circles under their eyes and worn-out expressions, sipping on coffee. There were even more waiting Espers on Mondays. Everyone was anticipating it and already pumping themselves full of caffeine.

After exchanging greetings with the team, I went to my desk, where Jo Wooyeon greeted me cheerfully.

“Good morning, Gidam!”

Still as energetic as ever. Yeah, I was fooled by that face on my first day at work.

Jo Wooyeon was a natural temporary guide. No matter how many guiding sessions he did, he didn’t seem to get tired. Despite his cute face, he had strong mental resilience and great physical stamina.

If only I didn’t have this suppressor chip, guiding these kinds of Espers wouldn’t be a big deal for me either… Sigh… Lamenting the fact that I’d ended up a C-rank guide trying to avoid Vasily, I fiddled with the raised lump of the chip at the back of my neck.

Thinking about the influx of Esper clients that would come starting this morning, I could only sigh deeply—when suddenly the office grew noisy. A chill ran down my spine as anxiety crept in.

“It’s Esper Vasily!”

Of course, it was Vasily.

Hearing that unwelcome name, I grimaced. I didn’t need to see it to know why Vasily was here. No doubt he’d come to make another ridiculous request for me to guide him.

He keeps saying that I’m less effective than a guiding machine, yet he still bothers to come find me. When will he finally lose interest? Clicking my tongue at Vasily’s overly-friendly smile as he received greetings from others, I watched him coldly.

“Did he come to see you, Gidam?”

Jo Wooyeon whispered to me quietly. I wanted to deny it, but it was clear he had come looking for me, so I nodded vaguely.

Rumors were starting to spread that I was Vasily’s temporary guide because he kept coming to see me and applying for designated guiding sessions.

“At this rate, you might actually become his exclusive guide.”

Unaware of the situation, Jo Wooyeon made a cheerful face while cursing me. What a dreadful thing to say. That must never happen.

“No way. A C-rank guide like me…? He just comes around when he’s bored.”

“Hmm… Doesn’t really seem like it though…”

I shook my head in horror, but Jo Wooyeon didn’t seem easily convinced.

“Guide Kwon Gidam.”

As expected, Vasily walked straight over to where I was. His glittering good looks on a Monday made me frown.

“After such a hot night, you coldly left me behind… I felt a little lonely waking up in bed alone.”

As soon as Vasily finished speaking, the room erupted in murmurs.