Beyond The Control

Chapter 24

“…Now?”

“Yes.”

I examined Song Ji-hyeok’s expression again. From what I could see, there didn’t seem to be any problem…

Of course, I only thought this to myself. To be blunt, we were here because of Song Ji-hyeok. If he said to do it, I had to do it.

“Come in.”

As I stepped back and said this, Song Ji-hyeok ducked and entered the tent. Though he was slim, his basic frame was still large, and as soon as he sat down, the interior felt cramped. The distance between us was closer than usual.

Our clasped hands were cool. I soon closed my eyes and began guiding. It was a kind of habit.

Eventually, I felt my energy flowing to Song Ji-hyeok as if connected through an invisible passage. As always, there was no discomfort or obstructing sensation.

Despite his calm outward appearance, there was a slight accumulation of energy inside Song Ji-hyeok’s body. It was understandable, considering he had been firing off skills and slicing through monsters all day.

But then again, thinking about it that way, the damage was extremely minimal. If I had used that much energy, I would have been drained and groaning long ago…

“Focus.”

“I am.”

“I can feel you thinking about other things.”

This guy was like a mind reader. While grumbling internally, I cleared my mind of other thoughts.

Although I concentrated while guiding, it wasn’t to the point of being on high alert. When physical contact was made for guiding purposes, the energy flowed automatically, like a reflexive response.

So when Song Ji-hyeok first told me to concentrate, I thought he was just picking a fight. Despite my years of dealing with Espers on and off, I had never been told to focus during guiding.

It was the same when I received guiding. Although I could feel differences in sensation or efficiency depending on the matching rate, I never felt that the other person wasn’t concentrating.

But Song Ji-hyeok was different. If I zoned out or had even a slight distraction during guiding, he would notice with uncanny perception and nag me. If it had happened once or twice, I might have thought he was just guessing from my expression, but since it kept happening, I couldn’t help but wonder if he really could feel something.

“It’s done.”

Thanks to that, I finished the guiding with all my heart and soul. Although the task was complete, Song Ji-hyeok didn’t immediately leave. He looked down at his hand, repeatedly clenching and unclenching his fist.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.

“Amazed by your hand moving?”

“The amazing one is you, senior.”

“Me? Why?”

“…Even though you’re C-rank, you seem to be pulling your weight.”

What the hell, this guy?

I frowned sharply, but Song Ji-hyeok had already turned his back. As he stood up to leave the tent, all I could see were his two legs in boots.

“I’m going.”

With that, he quickly disappeared from view. Even after he had gone, I stared outside with a dumbfounded expression for a moment, then shook my head and unwrapped a chocolate bar to eat.

Judging by the nuance, it seemed like a compliment… but his skill in twisting it to sound like an insult was remarkable, if you could call it that.

The next day, the monster extermination resumed and progressed smoothly. Except for Song Ji-hyeok, who had trouble sleeping due to the hard ground and took it out on the monsters even more viciously than yesterday, and Lee Seong-min getting his foot tangled in a Fortes branch again and struggling, we advanced towards our destination without any significant problems.

As I walked at the rear, responsible for watching our backs, I couldn’t shake this thought from my mind: Was conquering a B-rank dungeon always this easy?

Since our team’s strength was so good, today again I hardly had to engage in combat as an Esper. Except for occasionally helping Kang Ha-na, my job was to stand with my arms folded, observing the team members’ battles, and collecting any useful byproducts from the monster corpses. It was so relaxed that I even had time to simulate the contents for this dungeon conquest report right in the middle of the battlefield where monsters were dying en masse.

And here too, my predictive ability proved its worth. On the third day, we finally encountered the boss mob, which was indeed a Zhu-wolf.

Whatever it had been eating, its body was enormous, uncharacteristic for a B-rank, and its pitch-black claws were as sharp as ominous blades. If hit properly, it seemed like it wouldn’t just slice flesh but could even sever limbs.

“Tie its hind legs!”

There were three humans who didn’t care about such dangers at all. Hearing the resounding order, Han Song-i bound the Zhu-wolf’s hind legs with bright yellow chains. The monster’s chest, which was rearing up on its front legs and roaring, already had a large hole in it.

Song Ji-hyeok prepared to deliver the finishing blow. “Just blow away the upper body!” Gitae’s voice rang out more urgently than before, and almost simultaneously, a massive spherical energy shot out from Song Ji-hyeok’s hand. It was an incredible force, so blue it appeared almost black.

Bang-!

At the ear-splitting boom, I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut and turned my head away. When I looked back at the collision site, it was… truly devastating. The monster’s upper body was completely gone, with only the lower half standing upright like a taxidermy. Even that was so tattered it looked like a rag, to the point where I almost felt sorry for it.

The final touch was Gitae’s job. He walked over steadily, easily cut open the remaining lower body of the monster, and then reached his hand into the gap. It was to retrieve the boss mob’s core.

But somehow, Gitae’s reaction seemed a bit odd. He tilted his head saying “Huh?” and then dropped something on the ground. There was one blood-red sphere about the size of a fist, and five or six much smaller spheres.

Everyone slowly gathered around. It was obvious that the blood-red sphere was the Zhu-wolf’s core. But what were those small spheres?

Han Song-i seemed equally puzzled. Fearlessly tapping them with her foot, she asked,

“What are these little ones?”

“Don’t know. I felt them along with the core, so I took them out.”

“They don’t seem to be cores… Oh no.”

Where she had removed her foot, only a crumbled jellylike form remained. Han Song-i, confirming the disaster, showed a rare look of embarrassment.

“I didn’t even apply much force, why did this happen? I’m sorry.”

But instead of getting angry, Gitae showed his magnanimity.

“It’s okay. It’s not a core, and it came from inside a monster, so how good could it be?”

An unexpected confession came as a bonus.

“Actually, I think I broke a few while looking for the core. They felt mushy when I grabbed them.”

“Really? I almost took all the blame.”

“I only confessed because it’s you, kid.”

Gitae chuckled and stood up, fortunately picking up the intact monster core. It was the end of the second raid.

***

After returning to the guild, the first place we headed was not the office or the cafeteria, but the guiding room.

Espers who have been to the field are obligated to receive guiding within three days. This clause was created because of those damn Espers who never listen, idiots who keep rampaging without realizing their bodies are breaking down, almost reaching the stage before going berserk.

In that sense, Song Ji-hyeok was incredibly reassuring. Following the first day, he came to my tent last night as well, and today he demanded guiding as soon as we got off the bus.

As we rode the elevator up, I glanced at Song Ji-hyeok. He still looked quite neat on the outside, but having used the most power today, I suspected it wouldn’t be less than yesterday or the day before.

My prediction was accurate. When I sat down and grasped Song Ji-hyeok’s hand, I could feel a considerable accumulation of energy.

Hoo, I let out a long breath and focused on guiding. Since he would nag even at the slightest distraction, I intended to concentrate and finish quickly.

Even though it was quiet around us, it didn’t feel particularly awkward. How many minutes had passed? Song Ji-hyeok’s voice broke the silence.

“Can’t you do it a bit stronger?”

At those words, I opened my eyes. Seeing our gazes meet immediately, it seemed Song Ji-hyeok had his eyes open during the guiding.

Anyway, I could instantly understand what he meant. Even though I was channeling energy as usual, I too had vaguely felt that the efficiency seemed subtly lower.

But I hadn’t spoken up first because of the guiding method. I knew that mucosal guiding was much more efficient than simple skin contact, but since he hadn’t said anything, I held back and didn’t push it. But now that he was asking first, it was a different story.

‘Will he be okay?’

I didn’t voice the thought that suddenly occurred to me. This wasn’t an act based on affection or to satisfy sexual desire. I knew from experience that even though there might be an instinctive aversion at first because we’re the same gender, once the guiding starts, they end up wanting it more urgently.

Just one thing bothered me: this would be Song Ji-hyeok’s first time. To avoid getting punched for suddenly pressing my lips against his, I spoke up beforehand for safety.

“Then we’ll need to do mucosal guiding… You know what that is, right?”

I’m heterosexual, and Song Ji-hyeok clearly was too. There’s the simple word ‘kiss,’ but fearing he might find it unpleasant, I managed to think of a term that might appear in a guidebook and asked.

But to my surprise, Song Ji-hyeok went one step further.

“Where are you going to do it?”

“What?”

“You said mucosal guiding. I’m asking where you’re going to do it.”

I stared at him with a dumbfounded expression without realizing it, then belatedly stammered a reply.

“O-Of course, the lips.”

“Okay. Hurry up and do it.”

…What’s this? This confident attitude as if asking for the return of something he left in my care?

I was taken aback, but also felt relieved. Seeing his unexpectedly calm face, it didn’t seem like I’d get punched as I had briefly worried earlier.

“Close your eyes.”

Song Ji-hyeok obediently closed his eyes. I gazed at his handsome, soft face for a moment, then cleared my mind and cupped the back of his neck with one hand. Tilting my head slightly, I pushed my tongue between his parted lips.