Churu for the Angry Guide

Chapter 72

Siwoo tilted his head.

“You’re left wanting more?”

“Yes.”

Seojun picked up his spoon again as if that was all he had to say. But Siwoo wanted a more detailed answer.

“Why are you left wanting more? Is it not enough? What’s lacking?”

He thought Seojun would understand right away. Unexpectedly, the guide seemed to lack perceptiveness. Or perhaps he knew nothing about Espers.

Seojun swallowed a sigh and picked up the lemonade bottle.

“Want some?”

Siwoo, whose glass was empty, nodded vaguely. He wanted to urge Seojun to answer quickly but held back, thinking Seojun might drag it out even more if he did.

“What are you doing?”

Seojun only pretended to pour lemonade into Siwoo’s glass, which only had ice left. In reality, only a few drops fell into the glass.

“How does it feel?”

He looked at Siwoo’s frowning face and curved one corner of his mouth. How does it feel? Siwoo answered with a sour expression.

“This is how radiative guiding feels to us.”

Seojun continued to drop the lemonade one drop at a time into the glass. Then suddenly, he poured the drink into the glass all at once, almost to the point of overflowing.

“No matter how hard you pour, it’s naturally not enough when you can’t grasp anything tangible.”

He brought the glass filled with cool lemonade in front of himself, as if snatching it away. Siwoo, who had been silently watching this, no longer frowned.

Radiative guiding always left Espers feeling unsatisfied. Even high-level guiding, if there was no contact, didn’t feel fulfilling.

Of course, physical fatigue would decrease and wavelength values would stabilize, but a fundamental thirst remained. This was why almost all guides held hands at the very least during guiding. Unless there was a specific aversion, everyone easily held hands.

“Is it the same even if you do it for a long time?”

Siwoo, who had been staring at the distant glass, looked back at Seojun. Seojun just shrugged his broad shoulders slightly.

“I think it would be lacking for me. It might be different for the hyungs. Everyone’s different, after all.”

He returned the glass to its original place. Siwoo looked at the glass with a deeply contemplative face before turning his gaze away.

“Thanks for the meal.”

Siwoo stood up, taking his plate. He rushed to the dishwasher before Seojun could tell him to leave it.

Seojun stared at Siwoo as he cleared the dishes, then casually remarked:

“But you’re good at it.”

“…”

“Considering you’ve only been manifested for half a year, that level is pretty good.”

Siwoo’s eyes sharpened as he turned his head towards Seojun.

“You said it was mediocre.”

“I said the guiding itself is good.”

“It’s still mediocre anyway.”

Siwoo muttered as if cursing and stormed out of the kitchen. Seojun sat in a slouched position with one arm draped over the chair’s backrest.

Is he sulking? As he thought this and poked at vegetables he wasn’t going to eat with his fork, suddenly a loud scream from Siwoo was heard. Not from Siwoo’s room, but from the laundry room.

“What’s wrong?”

Seojun rushed to the laundry room the moment he heard the scream. Siwoo was sitting in front of the washing machine.

“Did you fall?”

Seojun’s eyes quickly scanned Siwoo. He didn’t seem to be hurt anywhere. It wasn’t a fallen posture either.

“What’s wrong? Are you in pain somewhere?”

Siwoo’s expression, as he crouched on the floor, was on the verge of tears. His crumpled eyes were moist. What on earth had happened?

“What’s wrong? You have to tell me for me to know.”

“I’m so annoyed…”

Siwoo, mumbling as if his throat was choked up, curled up even smaller. A flattened mouse plushie in his arms squeaked, “Squeak— Squeak—”

The moment Seojun’s eyes fell on that plushie, his mouth opened with an “Ah.”

The snow-white mouse had turned into a red mouse. It seemed the red goldfish plushie that was washed together had bled its color.

“Ah… I guess they shouldn’t be washed together.”

Seojun wasn’t particularly savvy about household chores either, so he hadn’t thought of it. Since he was the one who had first brought up the laundry, he glanced at Siwoo, expecting to be yelled at.

But contrary to his expectations, Siwoo didn’t get angry. His resentful eyes were fixed on the goldfish plushie, not on Seojun. He didn’t seem to have any intention of getting angry at Seojun.

“That damn goldfish…”

Siwoo glared resentfully at the goldfish lying alone in the washing machine and gritted his teeth. Although the goldfish was as innocent as Seojun, he needed something to vent his anger on.

“What am I going to do about this!”

Seeing the mouse plushie that had resembled him in its snow-white color now turned red, his voice naturally rose. Siwoo’s loud voice flew at the speechless goldfish plushie.

“This was something I cherished!”

As Siwoo shouted, his body suddenly floated up. Siwoo immediately recognized the telekinesis enveloping his body.

“Why are you sitting on the floor?”

The owner of the deep voice was Geonho. He had just arrived at the dormitory. He had rushed over immediately after hearing Siwoo’s voice making a fuss in the laundry room.

“Is it because of this?”

Geonho pointed at the reddened mouse plushie with his chin as he stood Siwoo upright. He could clearly read the situation without needing an explanation.

“You washed it with that, huh.”

Geonho chuckled as he looked at the lonely goldfish plushie lying alone. Siwoo clung to Geonho as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“Look at this. The color is weird!”

Siwoo, sticking close to Geonho, thrust the red mouse plushie in front of his face. Geonho examined the mouse closely, saying, “Let me see.”

“Will it go back to normal if I wash it again? I don’t like red.”

“I’ll give it a try. Don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying!”

Geonho patted Siwoo’s back as he huffed, and they left the laundry room together. He used his telekinesis to pass the goldfish plushie, which had earned Siwoo’s displeasure, to Seojun.

“You take care of that.”

Seojun just grinned, holding the damp goldfish plushie. Knowing that this meant he should take it and leave, he didn’t follow the two.

As he returned to his room alone, he pressed the wet goldfish plushie hard, but it was silent. This was a plushie that didn’t make sound. Well, that’s no fun.

“Is this good enough?”

Geonho scrubbed the mouse plushie vigorously in the living room bathroom. It was much less red than when it had just been taken out of the washing machine.

“A little more…”

“Alright.”

As soon as Siwoo finished speaking, Geonho immediately lathered up more soap. With each vigorous scrub, the squeaking mouse plushie became cleaner and cleaner. Geonho was applying just enough force to avoid tearing the plushie.

“That’s enough now. Stop.”

Siwoo tapped Geonho’s arm, thinking the red tint wouldn’t come out any more. If they kept washing, the already slender mouse plushie might become completely flat.

After rinsing the mouse plushie, Geonho finished up perfectly. He shook the plushie thoroughly and hung it by its long tail on a doorknob to let the water drain.

The mouse was now a light pink color. Siwoo pressed the slender mouse repeatedly to reshape it. It seemed like it would become round again once the stuffing dried. This was satisfactory.

“Have you eaten?”

Geonho asked with a grin, seeing Siwoo’s relaxed expression.

“Yeah, have you?”

“Not yet.”

“Then eat quickly. There’s still a lot of food left.”

Siwoo led him to the kitchen, saying the youngest had bought dinner. There was still unopened food left.

“I’ll eat later. I’m not in the mood right now.”

“Why? Are you sick?”

Surprised that Geonho refused food, Siwoo examined his complexion. Now that he looked closely, Geonho did seem tired. No wonder he had seemed a bit subdued.

“I’m not sick. Just want to rest a bit.”

“Couldn’t you sleep yesterday?”

Geonho shook his head vaguely and changed the subject. There was a reason he had returned to the dormitory even before finishing work.

“Did your fever really go down?”

He had rushed to the dormitory as soon as he confirmed the photo Siwoo had sent. Hearing the good news made him want to see Siwoo right away.

“Yes, it went down! You saw the thermometer photo, right? 37…”

Siwoo, who was about to brag about his fever-free temperature, trailed off. It was because Geonho had naturally touched his forehead again.

“Oh, it really has gone down.”

Geonho was only reassured after feeling Siwoo’s forehead himself. The forehead, with not even a slight fever remaining, was pleasantly warm. Finally, the fever had subsided.

“So you’re not sick anymore, right?”

Geonho’s eyes curved into round shapes as he looked at Siwoo. After touching his forehead, he also felt Siwoo’s soft cheeks and slender neck to check his temperature more thoroughly.

Huh? Somehow the fever seemed to be rising again, and Geonho tilted his head. When he lightly placed his thumb on the bobbing Adam’s apple, the temperature felt even higher. Was the cold not fully gone yet?

“I wasn’t sick in the first place.”

Siwoo, belatedly brushing off Geonho’s hand, fled to the living room. He resolved to really warn Geonho if he touched him carelessly again next time. He didn’t know how many times he had made this resolution.

“Are you really not going to eat anything?”

“No, I just came for a moment. I need to go out again.”

“You’re damn busy.”

Siwoo grumbled discontentedly as he plopped down on the sofa. Then Geonho sat down right next to Siwoo, as if it was his usual spot.

“Haven’t you forgotten something?”

At Geonho’s sudden question, Siwoo looked at him. Something forgotten… Nothing came to mind immediately.

“Or something you need to get from me.”

“I don’t have anything.”

“Think a bit more.”

Geonho turned towards Siwoo and leaned his elbow on the back of the sofa. Sitting in a languid posture, he looked like he might fall asleep at any moment. He looked that tired. Although his mouth was smiling widely.

“I don’t know. What is it?”

Siwoo checked the living room clock, hoping Geonho would get even a short nap. He was about to ask when he needed to go back.

Just as Siwoo opened his mouth, something glittering gold entered his vision. It was a gold pendant engraved with Geonho’s name.