Churu for the Angry Guide

Chapter 66

Geonho carefully closed the door as he left. Only then did Siwoo poke his face out from under the blanket.

After staring at the door for a moment and confirming the receding footsteps, he rubbed his hot forehead.

“It’s hot…”

The elevated body temperature was stifling. Somehow, it felt like his fever had gotten worse after Kang Geonho touched his forehead.

Siwoo squirmed on the bed and leaned his back against the soft headboard. As he stared blankly at the door waiting for food, there was a knock after a short while.

It was a distinctly different sound from when he used to knock as if he was trying to break down the door.

“Come in quickly.”

Siwoo answered as if he had been waiting, with a satisfied expression that Geonho had knocked gently as he had taught him.

“Thanks for the warm welcome.”

However, the one who opened the door was not Geonho, but Jihan.

Siwoo’s eyes, which had briefly widened, quickly narrowed again. He wasn’t at all pleased to see Jihan, who had suddenly shown up after being absent for a while.

“Why are you here?”

“Aw, keep welcoming me. Geonho will be here soon too.”

Jihan walked leisurely to the front of the bed, pretending to be hurt.

Siwoo narrowed his eyes at the chair Jihan had brought in. When he gestured to ask what it was, he received a lame answer.

“A chair.”

Jihan’s smile deepened as he set the chair down in front of the bed. Siwoo looked exasperated.

“I can see that. Why did you bring it?”

“We need at least one chair. Are you going to have everyone sit on the bed when they visit?”

Even though Siwoo hadn’t invited him to sit, Jihan made himself comfortable in the chair.

“Our guide said he didn’t need any other furniture, so I just brought one. Let me know if you need more.”

Instead of answering, Siwoo turned his body away so he couldn’t see Jihan. Where was this guy when he used to come and go so frequently? He disliked Jihan’s capricious behavior of suddenly stopping his visits to the dormitory without a word. Not that he had been waiting for him or anything.

“How does it feel to have made up with Geonho?”

Jihan looked intently at Siwoo while sitting in a relaxed posture. As expected, there was no answer.

Jihan burst into laughter as he looked at Siwoo’s back, turned towards the wall.

How could everything about him be so white? From his round back of the head to his neck and even his clothes, he looked just like a snowman. A very small snowman.

“Did you guide him all night?”

Jihan’s languid gaze, which had been observing Siwoo, shifted to the clothes that had fallen under the bed. It was the t-shirt Geonho had taken off before going to sleep.

“Geonho needs to be scolded. He shouldn’t make a sick guide work all night.”

“I didn’t guide. We just slept.”

Siwoo had tried not to react until the end, but finally opened his mouth. He had no choice but to speak because of the annoying sounds coming from beside him.

“You slept?”

Jihan’s voice grew a little louder as he tilted his head. Startled by his reaction as if surprised, Siwoo burst out:

“Don’t think weird things! We just slept!”

He emphasized that nothing had happened, even hitting the innocent pillow. Jihan, who immediately dropped his surprised expression, shrugged his shoulders and teased again.

“Why is that a weird thought? It’s just a naughty thought.”

“Stop talking nonsense!”

Siwoo was about to throw the pillow at him but gave up. Shouting had drained all his strength. He even felt a bit dizzy.

In the end, he lay back down with his face buried in the pillow he had grabbed.

“Are you in a lot of pain?”

As expected, Siwoo didn’t react to Jihan’s words. But he didn’t tell him to leave either. He just showed how annoyed he was by Jihan’s presence.

“Do you often catch colds?”

Jihan asked cautiously after observing Siwoo closely. This was already the second time he had seen Siwoo with a cold. He seemed to eat and sleep well enough, but his thin body that never seemed to gain weight appeared prone to minor illnesses.

“Should I buy you some porridge?”

“…”

“You need to eat well when you’re sick.”

Jihan’s kind voice continued without pause. His voice was as smooth as if his throat had been oiled. Although it was annoying, the fact that it was pleasant to listen to only doubled Siwoo’s irritation.

“If there’s anything you want to eat, just say so. I’m faster than Geonho.”

Siwoo, who had been unresponsive until now, suddenly raised his head. Jihan greeted his gaze with a grin.

With only his face peeking out from under the blanket, he looked like a cat. Maybe it was because of his prim expression.

“Why didn’t you come?”

An unexpected question flew out. Jihan blinked once and tilted his head slightly, pretending not to have heard. Siwoo kicked his feet under the blanket and pressed for an answer.

“I asked why you didn’t come all this time.”

“Were you waiting for me?”

Siwoo’s facial muscles crumpled like a paper ball at Jihan’s brazen smile.

“Stop talking nonsense and just answer.”

He hadn’t wanted to ask because he knew Yoo Jihan would react like this. But he couldn’t let it go because he was curious about the reason.

He couldn’t help but wonder why someone who used to show his face in Siwoo’s room every day, as much as the secretary, had suddenly stopped coming. If he had a problem, he should have said something. Or at least made an excuse about being busy.

“If you were waiting, you should have replied to my messages. I would have come right away.”

Jihan had been consistently sending messages. Even if he didn’t visit Siwoo’s room, he kept in contact without fail. He continued to leave messages tirelessly, even though he never received a reply.

“I asked first.”

This time, Siwoo pulled his legs out from under the blanket, looking like he was really going to kick. Even so, he couldn’t reach anywhere near Jihan.

Jihan briefly scanned Siwoo’s legs, which were as thin as his arms. His naturally slender frame made him look even more emaciated. Not just his arms and legs, but his waist and neck were thin too.

Can he guide all of us with such a weak body? It seems like even one person would be too much.

“Answer me.”

“I was very busy.”

Jihan met Siwoo’s eyes again and smiled nonchalantly.

“That’s why I couldn’t come. There’s no big reason.”

Siwoo just pouted his lips and lay back down facing the wall. He couldn’t bring himself to mention that he had seen photos of Jihan drinking coffee and having fun on his social media account. He felt like if he confronted him, he would just hear nonsense about whether Siwoo was interested in him.

“Now get out. I’m going to sleep.”

“You should eat before sleeping.”

Right. My food.

He had forgotten about Kang Geonho, who had gone to prepare a meal. Siwoo sighed and thought he should go to the kitchen himself as he got up. He was worried because Geonho being quiet was unlike him.

“Can I ask you something?”

Jihan spoke up before Siwoo could leave the bed. He didn’t look like he was about to play a prank.

“What is it?”

Siwoo sat on the edge of the bed and crossed his arms. Although his body felt hot, he felt a chill. This was why he hated colds.

“Don’t answer if you don’t want to.”

What on earth does he want to ask? Siwoo glared at Jihan, who wasn’t getting to the point. He was ready to throw a punch if it was a weird question.

“Why do you avoid contact guiding?”

The strength left Siwoo’s clenched fist. His large eyes closed and opened once.

It wasn’t an unpleasant question. He had already heard the same question from his superiors more than dozens of times. Each time, Siwoo always gave the same answer.

“I just don’t like it.”

There was no other reason. It wasn’t that his body had an adverse reaction when he did contact guiding, or that he had a bad memory associated with it.

He just didn’t like it. When his energy transferred through touching skin, it felt strange. It was a sensation he didn’t want to recall in detail. During his first contact training, he had recoiled and pushed away the Esper’s hand in disgust. After being thoroughly scolded for that, he never even attempted contact guiding again.

“This is just my opinion, but…”

Jihan broke the momentary silence that had settled in, lowering his voice. He had no intention of teasing or upsetting Siwoo. He wanted to share his observations from watching him.

“I don’t think our guide actually dislikes contact guiding.”

His calm voice continued slowly. Jihan examined Siwoo’s expression carefully with each word he spoke.

“Usually, guides who are averse to contact guiding can’t tolerate Espers touching their body at all.”

“…”

“But that’s not the case with you, is it?”

It wasn’t wrong.

Even when he wasn’t a cat, Siwoo didn’t find Geonho’s touch on his body unpleasant. He had traveled long distances in Geonho’s arms and remained still even when Geonho touched his face without permission.

Moreover, in the early morning, he had voluntarily hugged Geonho and guided him. It was an action that a guide with an aversion to contact guiding would never do.

“What exactly do you dislike? The feeling of being touched?”

Jihan asked in more detail. His expression was serious as he interlaced his fingers, palms pressed together.

“Or are you afraid the Esper might use too much force?”

Siwoo just looked at Jihan without opening his mouth.

There was no clear reason that came to mind. He had only thought he disliked it, without trying to examine the cause in detail. Somehow, it felt uncomfortable to do so.

At that moment, both Jihan and Siwoo inhaled through their noses. Suddenly, there was a smell of something burning.

“Looks like Geonho had an accident.”

Jihan chuckled and walked towards the door. Siwoo just sat on the bed, touching his hot forehead.

When the door opened, the acrid smell of burning intensified.

“Wow.”

Jihan exclaimed loudly as he approached the kitchen, which had become a disaster zone.

The counter was a mess with all sorts of ingredients, and the floor was covered in white powder as if salt had been spilled while trying to take it out. Moreover, all the kitchen utensils were unnecessarily out in the open.

The burning smell was coming from a blackened pot.

“Geonho, what are you doing?”

Jihan asked with a grin, standing in front of Geonho who was by the burnt pot. It would have been less messy if a monster had swept through.

“Nothing.”

Geonho threw a broken ladle into the trash bin and nonchalantly attempted to cook again. Despite not knowing how to cook.

He should have just ordered delivery.