“Do you not want to?”
“No.”
“Then do you want to?”
“Well…”
His eyelids slowly lifted. His deep green eyes held a warm gaze that seemed to tell me that it was okay to say whatever I needed to.
I swallowed dryly and spoke.
“I’m sorry, Sunbae.”
That was all I could say. It was the response I had practiced many times, anticipating that he might say something like this one day. Pairing with a human as a cremon was greedy. Imagine how betrayed my partner would feel when they found out later.
I didn’t want to disappoint Han-gyeol more than anyone else. And Han-gyeol…
“I know. It’s okay.”
“…”
“I figured you’d say that.”
He closed his eyes again, as if nothing had happened. His breathing was calm.
I had said those words of rejection to others hundreds of times, but this time, it felt like chewing sandpaper in my throat.
“I said it’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
Despite having his eyes closed, he somehow knew I was uncomfortable and tried to comfort me.
“I should have taken you when you said you wanted to marry me when we were kids.”
Suddenly, he brought up an old memory. I must have been in elementary school. It was my first proposal in my life. I responded with a slight smile.
“That was ages ago.”
“Yeah, when did that little girl grow up so much?”
“Let’s focus on the guiding.”
But that was all childhood talk. It was more of an admiration than a romantic feeling, and I had forgotten those emotions after becoming a cremon.
“Sa-weol.”
“…”
“Sa-weol~”
“What?”
I tried to ignore him, thinking he was about to tease me again, but he kept persistently calling my name.
“If you’re not going to pair with me, then don’t pair with anyone else.”
“Are you trying to ruin someone’s life by saying that?”
Embarrassed, my tone came out a bit sharp. It was meant to be playful, but Han-gyeol was looking at me seriously.
“I’ll wait for you, so only do this with me.”
He gently rubbed my finger joints with his thumb. Then he brought my hand to his lips, pressing them like a stamp.
Soft and warm. His breath spread over the back of my hand. As I stiffened noticeably, I felt the curve of his lips against my skin as he smiled.
When my mouth dropped open in surprise, he chuckled and intertwined our fingers. His palm was slightly sweaty.
‘This is crazy. What’s with him today?’
“Anyway…”
“Yes?”
My temperature rose, not due to the guiding’s effect or thirst, but from something else entirely.
“Anyway, you’re the only one I can do this with, Sunbae.”
I turned my head sharply away from him. My heart pounded nervously.
Was this really nervousness? It was so intense it felt almost uncomfortable. Han-gyeol often joked around when we were alone, but not like this. Something was definitely off about him today.
Words that are hard to ignore and actions that are ticklish. Why is this happening?
“You’re kind. Our Sa-weol.”
“…It’s annoying.”
I felt the heat gradually intensifying, and soon my neck and ears were red. Han-gyeol saw me and let out a pleasant laugh.
His aura was hovering around me, as if it was about to penetrate my body. It felt like a precarious tug-of-war where I would be pulled in one direction if I loosened or pulled a bit.
* * *
After guiding Han-gyeol, I came out of the capsule. Originally, guiding takes about an hour, but it seemed to have taken more than two hours.
The sun was setting beyond the glass window. The orange sunset felt unuSu-hally calm and peaceful today.
“Are you going to stop by the office?”
“Yes.”
“I almost fell asleep.”
“……”
Han-gyeol looked relaxed throughout the guiding session today. I had to secretly cool down afterward.
As I exhaled a hot breath while waiting for the elevator, Han-gyeol looked at my side profile and asked.
“Are you hot?”
“Yes.”
I must still be red in the face. Without thinking of any excuses, I just said yes, and Han-gyeol, getting on the elevator, put his hand on my shoulder and poked my cheek.
“Soft and warm.”
“Don’t touch me.”
“You don’t have a fever, do you?”
“No.”
“Your face isn’t going to explode, is it?”
“Stop joking around.”
Even though I tried to pull my face away, he started poking all over the place as if he had decided to do so. My face was squished mercilessly by his hand.
“Stop it. We’re arriving at the 13th floor. Let go of my hand, quickly.”
“It’s okay. It’s someone who can see us.”
Han-gyeol continued to tease me until we reached the 13th floor of the Alpha team. They say Espers can recognize whose aura it is just by being close with their eyes closed. Since Han-gyeol said so, I had nothing to say.
But who in the center is someone who can see us?
Ding.
A clear notification sound rang, and the elevator doors opened. A sweet scent wafted through the gap in the doors. I instinctively held my breath. In that brief moment, I also recognized who was in front of us.
“What are you two doing?”
It was Baek Yu-geon.
He looked at us sternly and asked. Han-gyeol, as if wondering what the problem was, asked, “Why?” and Yu-geon alternated between looking at Han-gyeol and me, then started glaring at me.
‘What. Why. What do you want me to do.’
It wasn’t the first time Yu-geon had caught me with Han-gyeol. It was awkward at first, but after that, Yu-geon seemed to have accepted it, so I wasn’t embarrassed anymore.
Today, his gaze was somehow different. So where is it different….
“Gu Sa-weol guide. Good job.”
“Yes. You too.”
Han-gyeol and I greeted each other formally as uSu-hal. Yu-geon looked at us and let out a hollow laugh.
“Ha.”
Is he angry?
At that moment, someone was running from the office. So Han-gyeol ran away, huh, Baek Han-gyeol.
“Oppa! Listen to me! Oh? Captain, Sa-weol unnie, hello.”
The person running was Su-ha. She greeted Han-gyeol and me with a bow and grabbed Yu-geon’s arm.
“Pairing rates increase gradually, don’t they? If it’s not Sa-weol unnie, there’s no one else suitable, right?”
Su-ha was requesting to pair with Yu-geon, huh. I felt uncomfortable and started to move. Yu-geon grabbed my wrist.
“Where are you going?”
“It’s quitting time, so I need to go home.”
“You’ve got it easy.”
Yu-geon sneered. When I glared at him for his sarcastic tone, he pulled my hand.
“I have something to give you.”
“What?”
“Follow me.”
“No, wait!”
Yu-geon dragged me into the office while still talking to Su-ha.
As I awkwardly got dragged with my wrist caught, the team members who hadn’t left yet looked at us and started whispering.
“What is this?”
“Of course. Baek Yu-geon wouldn’t give up.”
“What about our Su-ha?”
Su-ha followed us in. She looked at us with a greatly disheartened expression.
“Wait a minute.”
At his desk, Yu-geon let go of my hand and rummaged through his things as if looking for something. After searching for a while as if he couldn’t remember, he finally took something out from the back of a drawer with a rustling sound.
“What is it?”
“It’s something you left behind.”
“So what is it…”
I stopped my impatient urging. It was a familiar smell. For a moment, a chilling sensation brushed past my neck. It was a familiar scent that should never be here.
“I wondered when I should give it to you, and now I finally can.”
When Yu-geon fully took out what he was holding from the drawer, I felt like my breath stopped.
“I kept what you left behind. You went all the way to that distant place to pack it, didn’t you? Why didn’t you come to get it?”
“What is this, that chocolate from back then?”
“Chocolate? Is Sa-weol a kid to be tempted by food?”
People gathered around Yu-geon. They looked at the plastic bag and started adding their comments.
Most of them expected it to be sweet chocolate, but soon a foul smell began to spread inside the office.
This was the meat I had packaged at the restaurant on the day we encountered a creature that had turned into a cremon. I had kept it to drain the blood, but I didn’t expect Yu-geon to have it.
“Doesn’t this seem rotten?”
“The smell is terrible. Baek Yu-geon, how did you store it to give it to us in this state? Ugh.”
Jihan, who had approached close by, criticized Yu-geon. Fortunately, the double packaging with paper and plastic made it look like ordinary groceries, so they didn’t suspect it was cremon meat. Yu-geon was looking at me with a faint smile.
His leisurely and relaxed gaze tightened my throat. It felt like sinking into a deep sea of haze.
“What is this anyway?”
“Don’t touch it.”
One of them tried to take the contents out of the paper bag. I quickly snatched it and glared at Yu-geon. My fingers holding the paper trembled. I struggled to calm down and spoke.
“Baek Yu-geon. Let’s talk.”
I turned around immediately and walked off. There were inexplicable cheers around, and I heard Yu-geon’s footsteps following me.
The sharp stench piercing my nose felt like a scarlet letter branding me as cremon. This wasn’t something that could be easily passed. The aftermath of that day was just beginning.
* * *
I entered the conference room and pressed the blinds button on all the windows. When I turned around, Yu-geon was sitting crookedly in a chair.
“What do you want?”
“What?”
“How could you take that out in front of everyone?”
“Seems like it bothers you?”
“Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”
All of a sudden, huh. Yu-geon’s tone seemed somewhat unconvincing.
But it had been over a week since the incident, and during that time, Baek Yu-geon had kept silent as if he had made a promise.
Then suddenly, in front of everyone, he was showing a clue that might reveal I was cremon, which felt like a shocking betrayal.
“Tell me what you want.”
I asked directly. Seeing this guy quietly hold back and now trying to expose me, I thought he might want something.
“Do you still want to pair with me?”
“That’s not bad either.”
“Are you crazy? I’m cremon.”
“Yes, you are.”
Yu-geon, who had been relaxed all along, suddenly stood up and approached step by step. He bent down to match my eye level. His movements were slow and leisurely.
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
Yu-geon sneered as he spoke.
“At a center that protects people from creatures. Why on earth is a cremon. Why on earth is a cremon in the Alpha team, which should be leading.”
His words attacked me like bullets. He examined my face, from eyes to nose to lips, then stared straight into my eyes again.
