Honey-Coated S-Class Guide — Chapter 15
Jin Hyoseop stared down at the swimsuits spread across the wide table.
The floral patterns and fluorescent colors weren’t the problem.
The problem was that every last one was either a palm-sized pair of briefs or a pair of short trunks that left the hip bones fully exposed.
Wearing any of them would undoubtedly be embarrassing.
“…Are these the only options?”
“There are others.”
Still smiling merrily, Ahn Dante opened the neighboring wardrobe door.
This time, swimsuits with utterly outrageous designs came into view.
“If these are more your taste, you’re welcome to them.”
“No…”
Looking away from the revealing swimwear, Jin Hyoseop inspected the swimsuits on the table again.
Strangely enough, they looked ordinary now.
Did everyone really wear things like this to a pool? An outdoor pool, no less?
His expression grew grave.
Having to choose one of those was far too difficult.
“Then what will everyone else be wearing…?”
Belatedly thinking to ask, Jin Hyoseop raised his head.
Flat was holding a perfectly ordinary swimsuit of the kind he recognized.
Ahn Dante likewise had a pair of knee-length swimming shorts.
“…”
Jin Hyoseop stared at Ahn Dante’s shorts.
“What is it?”
Ahn Dante looked as though he had no idea what was wrong.
He was utterly shameless.
“Please give me something like that too.”
“Oh, come on. Those are much more expensive than these.”
“I don’t need anything expensive.”
“How cruel. I bought them because I wanted to see you wearing them.”
“…Please give me something ordinary.”
“What a shame.”
With a small, disappointed smack of his lips, Ahn Dante handed him a pair of white swimming shorts similar to his own.
They were a little short, but they weren’t tight, so Jin Hyoseop accepted them without complaint.
Behind him, Czerny let out a disappointed sigh.
Jin Hyoseop did his best to ignore it.
A short while later, leaving the guild members who wanted to rest in the suite, four of them—Czerny, Flat, Ahn Dante, and Jin Hyoseop—headed to the outdoor pool.
From above, it hadn’t looked particularly crowded. Once they arrived, however, there were plenty of people enjoying themselves.
“Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve been to a pool.”
Flat had complained about being sick of the sea earlier, but now that he was standing by the water, he seemed pleased.
Grinning, he began warming up.
As he stretched both arms overhead, the muscles in his back shifted smoothly.
People nearby stole glances at him.
All he was doing was stretching before entering the water, yet everyone was watching.
In fact, plenty of looks came Jin Hyoseop’s way too.
Czerny was yawning languidly on his left, while Ahn Dante stood on his right, smiling at the sunshine and remarking on the fine weather.
Seeing them every day at the office, Jin Hyoseop had certainly thought they were handsome.
Here, though, there was something about them that set them apart from everyone else.
Flat had a dangerous air, like a beast stretching its limbs.
With his delicate, sensitive-looking features and unusual hair color, Czerny resembled a singer on television.
Beneath the bright sunlight, Ahn Dante’s light brown hair looked almost ash-colored, perfectly complementing his gentle features.
Each possessed a distinct appeal.
Unconcerned by the attention, Flat jumped straight into the water.
His skill at swimming made it easy to believe he had spent enough time around water to grow tired of it.
As Jin Hyoseop watched him, Czerny spoke beside him.
“Hyoseop hyung, shall we get in too?”
“No. I can’t swim…”
“Then I’ll teach you. Come on.”
Jin Hyoseop glanced at Flat swimming through the pool again.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to get in, but…
“No, thank you. Go ahead.”
“Oh, come on—”
“That’s right, Czerny. Go in by yourself.”
Smiling, Ahn Dante gave Czerny a push on the back.
“We’ll watch from over there.”
Apparently displeased, Czerny stuck out his lower lip and looked between the two of them.
Both wore white sleeveless shirts, as though they had never intended to enter the water in the first place.
“If you come to a pool, you’re supposed to swim. Why just watch? Are you a voyeur, boss?”
“How did you know?”
“…”
“Don’t scowl so much. Swimming in this blazing sun could leave someone with a painful sunburn.”
“Ha. Since when do you worry about that? Stop pretending you’re normal.”
“I meant Mr. Jin Hyoseop, not me.”
Leaving Czerny to complain, Ahn Dante led Jin Hyoseop away.
As they headed toward the lounge chairs, Czerny briefly looked between the water and Jin Hyoseop, considering his options.
His indecision didn’t last long.
Apparently resigned, he gave up and approached the pool.
A mischievous expression crossed his face as he swept back his wavy fringe.
Splash!
He jumped in right on top of the swimming Flat.
Flat made a choking sound and sank beneath the surface. A moment later, the two began squabbling.
As Jin Hyoseop watched the oddly cheerful scene, Ahn Dante lightly tapped his arm.
“Let’s sit down and watch. Stay out here, and your skin will be peeling later.”
The sun was certainly strong today.
Even an hour in it seemed enough to leave his skin red.
Jin Hyoseop nodded and sat on a lounge chair beneath a parasol.
Perhaps he had already caught some sun in that brief time, because his shoulders felt warm.
“Will you be all right, Guild Leader?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Your skin looks delicate.”
Jin Hyoseop looked at his pale shoulders.
He wasn’t as tanned as Flat himself, but his complexion was still on the darker side. A little sunshine wouldn’t make much difference.
Ahn Dante, however, had skin so exceptionally pale and fine it almost looked translucent. It seemed as though it would burn and peel easily.
Yet Ahn Dante laughed cheerfully, unconcerned.
“Haha. I’ll be fine. My skin doesn’t burn in the sun.”
“Is that true of all espers?”
“Hmm. Not all of them, but it is for me. I’m quite sturdy.”
He lightly gestured to his arm.
His skin was indeed almost translucently pale, but the muscles beneath it were firm.
Without realizing it, Jin Hyoseop glanced at the sliver of torso visible beyond his upper arm.
Remembering the scars he had seen before, he couldn’t help being concerned.
It occurred to him that perhaps those were why Ahn Dante wasn’t getting in the water.
“Why are you looking at me like that all of a sudden?”
“Pardon?”
“You’re staring rather intently at my bare skin. I wondered if you were trying to sneak a look at my nipple.”
As Ahn Dante propped his chin on his hand and smiled teasingly, Jin Hyoseop shot to his feet in alarm.
“N-no! I was only—!”
“I’m joking. Just joking.”
Laughing aloud in obvious amusement, Ahn Dante pulled on Jin Hyoseop’s arm.
Flustered, Jin Hyoseop awkwardly sat back down.
“Your reactions are so entertaining that I can’t help teasing you.”
“I really wasn’t… looking at your n-nipple.”
“I know.”
Assuring him that it had only been a joke, Ahn Dante held out a drink Jin Hyoseop hadn’t noticed him getting.
“Though honestly, I wouldn’t mind if you were. I’ll show you as much as you like.”
“…”
“Anyway, are you staying out because you can’t swim? Or do you dislike water itself?”
“I just don’t like water, and I can’t swim either.”
“Hmm. Is that so?”
Ahn Dante nodded without apparent suspicion.
Since Jin Hyoseop had said earlier that he disliked baths too, he seemed to accept the explanation.
“I thought there might be another reason.”
Jin Hyoseop flinched.
“…What do you mean?”
“Nothing in particular. You seem especially reluctant to show your body, so I wondered whether you had some scars you were hiding.”
He might have said it casually, but Jin Hyoseop felt his heart drop.
How had he noticed that he was reluctant to show his body?
He had never given any indication of it.
Forcing himself to remain calm, Jin Hyoseop answered.
“I don’t. Nothing like that.”
“Really?”
Ahn Dante narrowed his eyes slightly, then hooked a fingertip into the neckline of Jin Hyoseop’s shirt and gently pulled it aside.
At the same time, his fingertip lightly brushed the red mark on his neck.
“Then is it because of this?”
“Ah…!”
His face burning, Jin Hyoseop covered his neck with his palm.
He had forgotten about the dark bruise left by Flat’s bite.
“Oh, so that is it? You’re cute when you’re embarrassed, too.”
Ahn Dante smiled and continued teasing him.
Red-faced, Jin Hyoseop lowered his head.
All he wanted was to change the subject as quickly as possible.
“Th-then why aren’t you getting in the water, Guild Leader?”
“Let’s just say I have a similar reason.”
So it is because of those scars.
They were certainly the kind of scars someone might feel uncomfortable exposing in public.
Everyone would steal glances at them. Jin Hyoseop could understand how he felt.
Thinking about the scars naturally led him to wonder about Ahn Dante’s condition.
He looked far better than Jin Hyoseop had expected.
Even after roughly four days of rest, his condition shouldn’t have improved without guiding.
There were plenty of medications these days that neutralized toxins. Perhaps he had taken those.
But Jin Hyoseop had heard they weren’t very effective—at best, they were a stopgap.
That left only one possibility.
…Did he receive guiding from another guide? But why?
He couldn’t understand why Ahn Dante would recruit a guide into the guild, only to seek guiding from someone else.
He wanted to know whether that was really what had happened, but ultimately, he couldn’t ask.
Ahn Dante had reacted so coldly to the subject of guiding.
Jin Hyoseop didn’t want to bring it up needlessly and face that icy gaze again.
Mr. Jin Hyoseop, don’t overstep.
Remembering that moment, he almost felt his skin sting again.
Those cold eyes, that hard tone, those firmly closed lips.
Even thinking back on it sent a chill through his heart, dragging his mood down with it.
