Honey-Coated S-Class Guide — Chapter 13
“Were you scared?”
“N-no. I’ll begin guiding.”
Honestly, Jin Hyoseop was still afraid of Flat, so he said nothing more. With trembling hands, he took hold of him and channeled his power.
The chill in his fingertips was stronger than last time.
Flat let out a low sigh and rested his forehead against Jin Hyoseop’s neck.
His condition was much worse than before. Jin Hyoseop kept pouring power into him, but it wasn’t easy.
Perhaps sensing that too, Flat stared at him and asked, “How far?”
“P-pardon?”
“The guiding. You said you didn’t want anything beyond contact, but how much contact? Tell me your upper limit.”
The limit he had decided on was kissing.
But somehow, if he said that now, he felt certain Flat would immediately claim his lips.
It was a strange situation, almost as though he were being made to ask for a kiss himself.
As Jin Hyoseop struggled to speak, his lips twitching, Flat pulled him closer by the waist with his free hand.
Startled, Jin Hyoseop went rigid. Flat paid no attention and slipped his hand beneath the tattered shirt.
Rough fingertips slowly rubbed along his hip.
“Tell me quickly. I’m reaching the end of my patience. Is anything allowed as long as we don’t go all the way?”
Flat’s roughened breaths washed over his neck.
Between their bodies pressed so closely together and the lips repeatedly brushing against his neck, Jin Hyoseop’s breathing kept growing unsteady.
“N… no.”
“Then?”
Every time he tried to speak, the hand pressing against his waist made it difficult to get the words out.
The touches were too insinuating.
He wanted to release Flat’s hand and stand up immediately, but his legs had gone weak.
By now, he was flushed red all the way to his ears.
“Ngh…”
“Ha. What was that? That’s a pretty sexy sound.”
Flat gave a small, amused smile.
He seemed so at ease that it was hard to believe he had been covered in injuries. Jin Hyoseop couldn’t have purified even ten percent of the toxins in his body yet.
“Are you really the one who insisted on a guiding limit? Your body doesn’t seem to agree.”
Flat’s wandering hand moved from his waist to stroke between his ribs, making him twitch involuntarily.
“Look at that. You seem pretty used to reacting like—”
“Flat.”
Ahn Dante’s voice came from nearby.
Jin Hyoseop was trembling too much to raise his head, but Flat looked toward him.
A brief silence passed.
Then Flat clicked his tongue and withdrew his hand.
Only then did Jin Hyoseop let out a ragged breath. He had been so tense that he hadn’t even realized he was short of air.
“Hah… Hah…”
As Jin Hyoseop struggled to catch his breath, as though they had just shared an intense kiss, Flat apologized.
“Sorry. I got carried away.”
He didn’t sound sorry at all.
Ahn Dante walked past them toward his usual seat.
At last, Jin Hyoseop could raise his head and look around. The office, which had felt like an animal’s cage moments earlier, looked normal again.
When Flat had pinned him down, he had felt as though there were no one else in the world. Realizing someone else was there allowed him to breathe again.
Ahn Dante keeping watch, ready to help, seemed to play a part too.
He even felt relieved, believing the danger had passed.
Still, what had just happened had been dangerous.
He had only hesitated a moment before stating his limit, yet things had nearly gone terribly wrong. If Ahn Dante hadn’t intervened, Flat surely would have devoured him.
Afraid Flat might pounce again, Jin Hyoseop hurriedly gave the answer he hadn’t managed earlier.
He decided it would be better to calm him down quickly with a kiss than let his hesitation lead to things going all the way.
“K-kissing is my limit.”
“What?”
“Earlier… You asked how far I was willing to go with guiding.”
“Oh.”
Flat quietly studied Jin Hyoseop’s pale face, then sighed.
“Forget it. This is enough.”
“Pardon?”
“You don’t look very comfortable. I said this is enough.”
“…Will you be all right?”
“I’ll be fine, so stop asking. Ask me again, and I might want to bite those lips of yours.”
Jin Hyoseop promptly closed his mouth.
At that obvious indication that he didn’t want to kiss, Flat stuck out his lower lip.
Healing severe injuries took time.
Flat and Jin Hyoseop remained close together for a long while. Throughout it, Ahn Dante said nothing, leaning against the wall and staring at his monitor.
This was Jin Hyoseop’s first time staying in the office until the early hours, and its atmosphere felt different from the morning.
The night air was a little clammy and melancholy.
Only after they had spent nearly an hour in the same position did Ahn Dante speak.
“It’s already three in the morning. That’s enough.”
Flat looked dissatisfied, but he didn’t object.
He released Jin Hyoseop’s hand and stood.
“I can take some time off, right?”
“Yes.”
“Nice.”
Apparently feeling reasonably better, Flat grinned.
“Then I’m off. Thanks for your hard work, too.”
“Oh… Yes.”
Halfway between sitting and standing, Jin Hyoseop watched him leave.
He could see that Flat’s wounds had faded, but he knew his body hadn’t fully recovered.
He felt guilty.
He had confidently claimed that, as an S-class, holding hands would be enough. In reality, he had only managed to guide Flat just enough to keep him from losing control.
For a moment, he wondered regretfully whether he should have simply offered kissing-level guiding.
“You’re going home now, aren’t you, Mr. Jin Hyoseop?”
At Ahn Dante’s question, Jin Hyoseop turned toward him.
“Yes. That was my intention.”
“Then I’ll drive you. Get your things.”
“Thank you.”
Jin Hyoseop accepted the offer without protesting.
With his shirt torn, getting home had become something of a problem. Inconveniencing someone for one night was better than being mistaken for a pervert and hauled off to the police station.
Ahn Dante stripped off his blood-soaked combat shirt and tossed it aside.
Seeing his body beneath the fluorescent lights, Jin Hyoseop’s eyes widened.
He hadn’t realized it while Ahn Dante was dressed, but the man was quite muscular.
His chest, however, was covered in scars where the flesh looked gouged out and seared.
They looked so painful that Jin Hyoseop didn’t know where to look.
His arms were unmarked, but the center of his body was badly scarred. They didn’t look like injuries from this trip.
Why did an esper have so many scars?
Espers’ bodies were nothing like those of ordinary people. Even when injured, they healed easily.
Of course, severe wounds didn’t heal quite so readily, but timely guiding generally made the injuries disappear.
So why…?
“Guild Leader.”
Ahn Dante, who was roughly wiping the blood from his body, glanced back.
Unlike usual, the shadows beneath his eyes seemed deep. He looked rather tired.
“Let me guide you.”
“I’m fine. You used a lot of energy guiding Flat. Go home and get some rest.”
“Even so, let me do a little.”
Ahn Dante had entered the dungeon alongside Flat.
Jin Hyoseop didn’t know how Flat had gotten so badly hurt, but Ahn Dante must have had a difficult time too.
Yet he still shook his head.
“If you have energy left, use it on the other guild members tomorrow.”
“But—”
“Let’s get going.”
Ahn Dante lightly cut him off and left the office.
He didn’t say a word during the drive.
Jin Hyoseop could only steal glances at him, finding it difficult to start a conversation.
Perhaps because he had just returned from the dungeon, the air around Ahn Dante was exceptionally cold.
Even when he smiled, his eyes remained strangely sharp.
The expression was so obviously false that even someone as oblivious as Jin Hyoseop could tell.
Before long, Ahn Dante pulled up outside his apartment building.
“We’re here. Go inside and get some rest.”
His words were gentle, but his expression still looked like a mask.
“If you’re tired, take tomorrow off too. Flat won’t be coming in anyway.”
“What are you going to do, Guild Leader?”
“Me?”
He tilted his head as though he didn’t understand the question.
Jin Hyoseop suspected he wasn’t going to receive any guiding at all.
Shouldn’t he at least give him a little before going inside?
It would be disastrous if Ahn Dante went berserk.
The many scars carved into his body kept flickering before Jin Hyoseop’s eyes.
After hesitating, Jin Hyoseop finally unbuckled his seat belt and reached toward him.
He only intended to take his hand.
But Ahn Dante seized his wrist.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
His expression had turned cold in an instant.
Jin Hyoseop hadn’t expected such an icy response, and it left him flustered.
“Pardon? I… thought it would be better if you received… some guiding…”
His voice grew quieter with every word.
He lowered his head like someone who had committed a serious offense. Facing Ahn Dante’s piercing gaze in the confined space of the car wasn’t easy.
“I believe I’ve told you several times that I’m fine.”
“But… you’re enduring the pain, aren’t you?”
Jin Hyoseop wanted to explain that he had only been trying to help.
The truth was, Ahn Dante had done a great deal for him.
Earlier, he had helped when Jin Hyoseop was trembling with fear. He had noticed his financial difficulties and given him an advance on his salary.
And now, he had driven him home.
So Jin Hyoseop didn’t want to put off guiding him simply because he himself was a little tired.
Now that he was Noapi’s guide, he wanted to be of help to Ahn Dante too.
But the more he thought about it, the more it all sounded like a pathetic excuse, and he couldn’t bring himself to say any of it.
Meanwhile, Ahn Dante’s expression grew colder still.
“Mr. Jin Hyoseop, don’t overstep.”
