TGIC Ch 37

Chapter 37

“Why didn’t you just strip completely and wait?”

“Hm… Maybe I should try that next time.”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“I know.”

“……”

I didn’t even have the energy to retort. I just let out a deep sigh and leaned against him.

When I first entered the house, it felt cool, but the longer I stayed pressed up against Vasily, the more I started to shiver. If the heating hadn’t been on, my body would’ve been trembling from the cold like it was malfunctioning.

His body, pressed against my arm, was cold as ice. Even the hot air seeping in through the window wasn’t enough to warm the house.

Ever since I started guiding with bare skin yesterday, I’d noticed that Vasily’s body felt even colder than before my regression. Maybe it was because he didn’t have a guide anymore. Or maybe my body simply hadn’t gotten used to his energy waves yet.

Sighing, I exhaled a breath that came out cold and slowly closed my eyes.

“Well then, this concludes the guiding.”

“You’re leaving already?”

Just as I was about to return home after an hour of guiding, Vasily grabbed onto me.

“Isn’t an hour of guiding enough?”

“You’re not even going to work today. Can’t you guide me a little longer? Please?”

Vasily rubbed his head against my neck like he was being cutesy. As his hair tickled my skin, I froze stiff.

Wait—he’s touching the spot where the suppressor chip is…!

“Alright, alright, just back off a little.”

Panicking at the thought that Vasily might touch the area where the suppressor chip was implanted, I quickly agreed and pushed him away. Fortunately, having gotten the answer he wanted, Vasily backed off obediently.

Phew… I pretended to smooth my hair as I rubbed the back of my neck. Hopefully, he didn’t notice anything.

“Then I’ll rest for a bit before continuing.”

“You’re tired already from just one hour of guiding?”

“…I’m a C-rank guide. That hour was a stretch.”

“Shame, really… If your rank were higher, I would’ve taken you with me.”

Vasily muttered under his breath. The sincerity in his tone sent a shiver down my spine.

There was a time I resented the suppressor chip for lowering my rank, but now I couldn’t be more grateful. If I had met Vasily with my original rank intact, I might’ve ended up signing an exclusive contract again regardless of the match rate. And then it would’ve only been a matter of time before the chip was discovered.

‘I should take the pill before we resume guiding…’

Rubbing at the suppressor chip that had started to throb again, I stole a glance at Vasily sitting next to me. Would it be okay to take it here? I had passed it off as cold medicine last time, so maybe it would be fine. I pulled the pill from my pocket.

“You’re still not over your cold?”

“I haven’t had proper rest, so it’s lingering.”

I made up a casual excuse. He had no way of verifying what the pill was anyway, so there was no risk of being caught.

With Vasily frowning beside me, seemingly displeased, I popped the pill into my mouth. As the familiar sting trailed down my throat, I slumped slightly against the sofa. Soon, I felt the heat of the suppressor chip settle.

Good. This should be enough to continue guiding.

“All right, I’m ready. Let’s resume—”

“It’s fine. I don’t need any more.”

“…What?”

“I don’t need guiding anymore, so you can go home.”

Vasily’s attitude shifted abruptly. Before I could make sense of it, he pushed me toward the entrance. The door shut before I had a chance to react.

“E-Eesper Vasily?”

Click.

My hand hovered uselessly in the air, searching for something to hold onto. I stood frozen, staring at the firmly closed door.

“Uh…?”

My dazed and helpless voice echoed down the hallway.

Being a temporary guide is practically a customer service job. You deal with a constant stream of Esper clients—many of whom are overly sensitive—and there’s no shortage of troublemakers. On average, there’s at least one outburst a day.

“The form clearly says the session lasts one hour, so why won’t you extend it to make up for the time I was in the bathroom?!”

“Sorry, but we have others waiting. I’m afraid that’s not possible. If you come back next time—”

“Come back?! You’re telling me to wait another week?!”

And of course, I wasn’t exempt from this nonsense.

The Esper in front of me had stepped out for the bathroom mid-session and now insisted that I guide him for that lost time. If it had been a minute or two, I might’ve obliged, but he had been gone for a full twenty minutes. Even I couldn’t accommodate that kind of demand.

God, I want to punch him.

I clenched my fists, then slowly relaxed them. No, be patient. If I just hold out a little longer…

“We received a report of an Esper causing a disturbance.”

The security team monitoring the guiding rooms sent in a security Esper.

As soon as they entered the room, the loud Esper fell silent. Without much resistance, he was escorted out, arms restrained by the security Espers.

Good. That was handled well. I flipped him off behind his back as he was dragged away.

With the guiding room finally quiet again, I took a brief breath. But there was no time to relax. After cooling off for a moment, I immediately called in the next client.

‘What a piece of work to deal with in the morning…’

After wrapping up the morning guiding, I returned to my department, rotating my stiff shoulders. But the moment I entered, a strange silence hung in the air.

Something was off.

The atmosphere felt odd. As I walked toward my desk with a sense of unease, people started giving me sympathetic looks.

What the hell is going on?

Confused, I sat down and looked around when Jo Wooyeon suddenly approached me with a look of concern.

“Um… Gidam, are you okay…?”

“…Huh?”

I blinked in confusion, and Wooyeon hesitated a bit before continuing.

“You haven’t seen the article yet…?”

“What article?”

“Uh…”

Jo Wooyeon awkwardly averted their gaze and held out their phone. On the screen, I saw a familiar name.

[Top-Rank Esper Vasily—Finally Getting an Exclusive Guide?]

The news was that a guide with a high compatibility rate had appeared for Vasily.

I quickly read through the article. Apparently, a newly awakened guide’s match rate with Vasily had measured unusually high a few days ago. Though they hadn’t done a live session yet, their energy waves were reported to be highly compatible. An Association representative had told the reporter that they were planning to run a live guiding session soon…

And that it would happen today, no less?

Today was also the day I’d heard Vasily would be at the Association. But he hadn’t mentioned anything to me about another guide.

“Gidam, is the article true?”

“I have no idea. As I said before, I have absolutely no personal connection with Esper Vasily.”

Even so, neither Wooyeon nor the others seemed convinced. My team members kept glancing at me with pitiful expressions.

Ugh, seriously, it’s not like that…!

At this point, I’d rather deal with more unruly clients. Anything to escape these uncomfortable stares. Eventually, I stepped outside just to get away.

‘A guide with a high match rate for Vasily, huh?’

It felt like I could fly. I never imagined I’d be free from Vasily this soon. I couldn’t suppress the grin spreading across my face.

But that smile quickly vanished.

“He didn’t say a word to me…”

If someone with a high match rate had shown up, Vasily must have known.

I felt a confusing tangle of emotions. I took out my phone and searched the article again. The breaking news section was filled wall-to-wall with stories about Vasily.

Before I realized it, I was scrolling endlessly through related articles. Even after lunch, while conducting temporary guiding sessions in the afternoon, I kept checking. But there were no concrete follow-ups—just wild speculation from journalists eager to ride the hype. Sifting through such uncertain information made my head spin.

Even as the end of the workday approached, Vasily didn’t show up. On any other day, he’d have filed for a designated guiding session and tried to leave work with me, coaxing me all the while. Was he really busy doing a compatibility test today?

Yeah. Like I told Jo Wooyeon, there’s nothing between us. Sure, I was his guide before I returned to the past, but I’m the only one who remembers that. Right now, to Vasily, I’m just another C-rank guide among thousands on the street.

Once he has a new guide, he’ll forget about me immediately. He’ll stop coming around, saying he’s lost interest.

Still, couldn’t he at least have told me he’d found someone else?

After dragging me around on my way to and from work, chasing me down when I said no, demanding guiding sessions every time… After all that bizarre obsession! I even got kidnapped because of him!

That’s it. I want compensation for all the trouble he caused me. Including everything I went through before I regressed.

Vasily’s loaded, so if I hassle him a bit, he’ll probably throw some cash at me just to make me go away. With that, I’ll start a new life! And get this suppressor chip out of my neck so I can return to being an S-rank guide!

If I head to Vasily’s private room now… maybe that guide will be there too?