Archive of Our Own

Gyuvin didn't have high expectations for his first day on the job. After all, how could he? A couple weeks ago, he had just been another college grad trying to find a job in the overpopulated market and with his mediocre stats, he'd been having no luck getting to the interview stage.

But then suddenly while he's out on a grocery run, he collapses and gets an ambulance called for him only to be told when he wakes up that there was nothing wrong with him and "hey, did you know you just had a late awakening as a guide?"

And that's how four years of college tuition went down the drain.

His sunbae (mentor? fellow coworker that looks out for him?) is rather nice, though they're a bit strange in a good way. A fellow new hire he chats with during orientation, Yujin, tells him that Seungeon is one of the best guides on the team. Gyuvin asks him how he knows when they're from the same batch.

"Oh, my hyung is on that team."

And well, if all guides and espers weren't guaranteed a job (which pays only a bit better than a low-entry office job) because they're seen as crucial and exclusive workforce for dealing with gates, maybe he would've cried out "nepotism!" and avoided Yujin for the rest of his very sorry career tending to probably creepy espers who just want to touch him.

(He's heard a lot of stories from the internet while he was scrolling out of late-night anxiety yesterday and from his little brother who's an esper so he knows it definitely goes both ways.)

He doesn't though, and it's a good thing because Yujin might end up being a bit of a brat but he's his kid now (even though Gyuvin is only three years older) and he won't let anyone mess with him. Including that sunbae with the lazy look who likes to call Yujin over whenever he's not busy guiding to feed him sweets like he's trying to kidnap Yujin.

(Oh my god, what if he is trying to kidnap Yujin? Lure him into a false sense of security being a familiar face only to snatch him up after work, Yujin to never be seen again.)

"Seungeon-hyung… I mean, Seungeon-sunbaenim, is really good at radiation guiding," Yujin tells him which is great because Gyuvin has absolutely no idea what that is. Considering two weeks ago he'd been head deep in numbers, guiding is still somewhat a foreign concept despite the crash course he received and the lessons he still takes, 2 hours a day in the middle of his work hours.

Yujin tries to explain it to him while they're in the elevator, hands flopping around weakly. "Like, you know heating? Kind of like that."

Gyuvin nods, "I see, but how does it work?"

Yujin doesn't end up finishing his explanation before the doors open to their floor. They're greeted by their new coworkers and the conversation is forgotten. They introduce themselves as Seungeon, the person who'll be in charge of making sure Gyuvin gets settled in properly, and Jiwoong, Yujin's version of Gyuvin's Seungeon.

Seungeon leads Gyuvin to the empty desk next to his, a spot close to the windows where he can look out and see absolutely nothing breathtaking because the esper building is right in front blocking any view that could have been. Maybe it'd be more interesting if he could see what was happening through the windows but their side is definitely closed. Boring.

(Or he thinks they're closed. Gyuvin might also need new glasses.)

Yujin is sadly on the other side of the floor but if he stands up, he could probably make out Yujin's head even if the other is sitting. Perks of being tall.

He tunes back in to Seungeon introducing him to the tech he's required to carry around. Sheepishly, he takes it from Seungeon's waiting hands and turns it on. It's a tablet, as Seungeon mentioned and he probably should remember from orientation, that will keep track of his espers.

"My children," Seungeon calls them, showing Gyuvin what his screen looks like when Gyuvin unlocks his own tablet and only sees blanks.

On the main screen, only their codenames are displayed. "For privacy," Seungeon explains, though he clicks on one of the names to show him what the detailed view looks like and what buttons he'll probably press the most.

("Oh, like privacy but not actual privacy. There's no laws or rules on it and no one really cares unless you're trying to dig into why Gunwook-ie has had seven sessions with Taerae-hyung in the last two weeks when he should be fine with once a week worst-case scenario — like rampaging worst-case scenario. It's complicated between them, but we've got a running bet in the office about it if you ever want to join.")

The screen has the codename (Snow Leopard) and their real name below (Shen Ricky in English, followed by something in Chinese, and then Shim Cheonye in Korean) with their session logs below as well as a number for pre-guiding and post-guiding. There's also a picture of the esper, though not that it helps much seeing as they're wearing a mask and a cap in the picture.

(“They told me I couldn't cover anything when I got my picture taken.”)

(“Ah, well, they've always been a little more lenient with espers but Kitty here probably wasn't having a good day and he’s a bit particular about his appearance.”)

(“Ki… kitty?”)

(“Oh, yeah, I've got nicknames for all my kids. Snow Leopard sounds all cool, but really he’s just a cat.”)

Gyuvin goes down a few floors to where they hold classes for new guides every day for 2 hours, and goes back to his assigned unit afterwards for the last 2 hours of the day. It's only until he passes the final exam, which is scheduled six months from now, but until then he gets a little break up to the monotony of an office job. He hasn't been assigned any espers yet but he's been able to sit in on some of Seungeon's guiding sessions, and boy was Yujin for real when he said Seungeon was good.

By the time he sits in on one of Seungeon's sessions, he's been taught the theory of radiation guiding. It's basically sending guiding waves to the esper, similar to physical forms of contact guiding, except instead of being able to directly sense and match the esper's wavelength, the guide has to grasp it by feel and vibes and concentrate on directing the guiding waves through the space between them and the esper in tune with said wavelength. It's a lot of work but if Seungeon has multiple espers in need of guiding, he can guide them all at once.

(And he does it all while explaining to Gyuvin step by step what he's doing. Gyuvin could never, at least not while calling someone ‘Triple Skunk or ‘Kangaroo Shotgun'.)

(‘Kitty' seems pretty tame after hearing those nicknames.)

They go over Gyuvin's test results when they come out, Gyuvin having been assigned to Team 1 without knowing how he did — though Seungeon assures him he must've done well even without experience if they put him on this team.

Efficiency*: 41% (E-)

Control: C

Capacity: S+

Temporary Rank**: B+

* Likely to increase within first week of regular guiding, ignored when assigning temporary rank

** Recommended re-evaluation in 6 months

“Oh,” he hears Seungeon say, voice airy in awe, as he leans over Gyuvin’s shoulder, “first time seeing S+ in capacity. The only other S I've seen is…”

Gyuvin looks up as Seungeon shouts across the floor, a few heads looking up but most ignoring it because it's Seungeon, and Seungeon is always shouting about something.

Seungeon waves someone over and when they're making their way over, he finally realizes where he recognizes them from.

They’re dressed in the same guide uniform as all of them: standard office wear, minus the tie. The top two buttons are undone but really it looks more like three with how much chest he can see. There’s a thin black choker (not standard) — a leather string with a metal bar that sits below his Adam’s apple — and a necklace with a metal feather charm (also not standard) that’s sandwiched between his pecs and Gyuvin can’t stop staring at the delicious display, despite his apprehensiveness of the other.

“Jiwoong-seonsaengnim,” Seungeon rests his arm on their shoulder, contrary to his formal addressing of the other, “I think I've found your successor. You can retire now.”

The other's eyes narrow as they smile but all Gyuvin can think of is a snake, one that plans to gobble up Yujin. “Ey, I’ve got a few years left in me.”

Jiwoong looks him over, folding his arms on top of the cubicle wall and resting his head on them, “So you’re the newbie Yujin’s been talking about.”

Seungeon introduces them. “Gyuvin, this is Kim Jiwoong-sunbaenim, our team’s most precious talent, S in efficiency. He’s kind of ancient,” and Jiwoong ruffles his hair at that comment, “but you can always go to him if you need advice on getting better at guiding.”

“Jiwoong-sunbaenim, this is Kim Gyuvin, your successor,” and Seungeon spins away to the other side, putting Gyuvin in between him so he doesn’t get pinched for his cheekiness, “but he’s got S+ in capacity so maybe he’ll surpass you. You know what they say about surpassing the master.”

Gyuvin stands up, now that he actually has room to slide his chair back, and holds out his hand, bowing slightly, “Please take good care of me, Jiwoong-sunbaenim.”

“Likewise,” Jiwoong says, taking his hand and shaking it, “as long as you take care of our Yujin-ie.”

He doesn’t mean to, but he squeezes Jiwoong’s hand hard once before dropping it. “ ‘Our’ Yujin-ie?”

“Ah, they don’t really look alike but elder Jiwoong here is baby Yujin’s big bro.”

Jiwoong smiles at him. “Half-brothers, hence the different last names.” There’s a lurking challenge in his eyes, like he’s probing Gyuvin but gave up on subtlety.

Gyuvin says something in response, though he doesn’t really remember what but Jiwoong is satisfied, patting him on the shoulder before returning back to his desk. He’ll eventually grow closer to Jiwoong but it takes seeing how childish he can be with Yujin to break the cold, cunning, and low-key debauched image that Gyuvin formed from their first interactions.

For the first time, Gyuvin gets a guiding request. He’s on week two and Seungeon is in one of the rooms in the middle of a guiding session but he’s long since given Gyuvin the green light for most of the normal espers.

(“You’re still a bit shaky at controlling it but you won’t get assigned any of the difficult espers until you’ve been re-evaluated. But you should be fine solo, just remember to press the button if they make you uncomfortable and we’ll all come running.”)

So Gyuvin takes the request, heading to the private room the system assigned him for the guiding session. He’s on the couch, fiddling with the tablet before a knock sounds on the door and a tall man walks in.

He’s probably just a bit shorter than Gyuvin, wearing the standard esper uniform that consists of a white button-up and black slacks, one sleeve rolled up to just below his elbow. He’s also got some sort of a chest guard that covers his other arm, the opposite hand covered in a fingerless glove. His tie is loosened, not so much that he looks unruly but just enough that the dip of his throat is on display. A few strands fall over his open forehead — paired with his strong eyebrows and glance, Gyuvin is feeling a bit intimidated.

The door closes behind the esper, and he brushes his shoulder with his gloved hand.

Scratch that, Gyuvin is very intimidated.

He walks over, looking Gyuvin up and down, pausing by the table between the couches. Gyuvin doesn’t realize why he’s just standing there until he’s back in his head. He’s letting you decide what level of guiding you’re going to give.

“A-ah! Sorry, uh, you can just sit next to me,” Gyuvin gestures at the spot next to him, patting it with one hand and the other hand awkwardly gesturing towards it.

The esper smiles, a side smirk at best honestly, and sits down next to Gyuvin. “Are you new?”

“Yeah... is it really obvious?”

The esper lets out a chuckle. “Oh yeah, you’re kind of like a baby chick. Well,” and he gives Gyuvin another look over, “more like a big puppy. I’ve already have a baby chick.”

Gyuvin brings a finger up to scratch at his cheek, more out of habit than an itch. “Um, thanks? I’ll just, uh… can I confirm your name? I mean, are you Esper De… Demon Bear?” He raises an eyebrow at that.

“Oh, uh… yeah. I’ve been applying to get it changed but they keep denying it. Ah, you can just call me Gunwook! Everyone calls me that outside of raids.”

Gunwook… sounds familiar. Unfortunately, Gyuvin’s a little too scatter-brained at the moment to remember where he’s heard the name.

He taps the ‘Start’ button on his tablet, changing the esper’s status from ‘Requires Guiding’ to ‘Guiding in Progress.’ His eyes slide down their chart and he just happens to pause on the intimacy boxes long enough to read them — really, he didn’t mean to.

✔ Radiation Guiding

✔ Hands-only Contact

✔ Mouth-to-Mouth

✔ Intimate Contact

Gunwook holds out his hand, the uncovered one, for Gyuvin to hold. Gyuvin takes it, hand shaking as he rests his fingers on top and wraps them around Gunwook’s. He concentrates, bringing up the pool of energy that sits deep in his core and channeling it through his fingertips into Gunwook’s body.

Gunwook lets out a low "oh" as Gyuvin guides him, the alert going off not long after signaling that he’s been sufficiently guided. Gyuvin leans over, marking the session as over.

“That was fast,” Gunwook tells him.

Gyuvin doesn’t know how fast is fast, because Seungeon’s usually taken about the same amount of time and he figures Gunwook wasn’t too depleted for the session to end already. He looks over and—

Oh.

Gunwook stands up like whatever Gyuvin’s looking at isn’t a big deal, brushing some invisible dust off his pants, hands smoothing over thick thighs and framing the massive thing between his legs.

“If I didn’t know you were a newbie, I’d think you were inviting me.”

That gets Gyuvin to look up at Gunwook and he can feel his cheeks heating up in response. “Does… is that, uh…”

“Normal? Yeah, if the guiding’s done all at once,” and now why is he running a hand over it like Gyuvin isn’t here, “sometimes it can cause some other reactions, not just negative ones.”

The session ends there, Gunwook thanking Gyuvin and reassuring him that there’s no issue.

Even though the issue was staring Gyuvin in the face a moment earlier.

The point is, Gyuvin’s first guiding session? Successful.

(“So, uh, Seungeon-sunbaenim…”)

(“Yo, just call me Seungeon, man. We’re the same age.”)

(“Okay, so uh, Seungeon, is it normal for espers to get… um, h-hard, after guiding?”)

(“… Did you make sure to spread out the energy when you guided?”)

(“… Ah.”)

“What?!”

Gyuvin’s chair slams against the employee behind him’s chair, receiving a scathing look as he hurries to retrieve the wild spinning thing. He never did learn their name, Seungeon deciding for him that they were too prickly to get along with, and since he’s been here, they’ve always made little side comments he’s just beginning to learn to ignore (Seungeon being a practiced veteran — that or he actually can’t hear).

Seungeon repeats it, like Gyuvin didn’t hear properly rather than the question being out of surprise. “I’m transferring. Well, it’s more like a temporary reassignment. You know how there’s been talk of a big gate appearing in Japan?”

Gyuvin nods.

“Well, applications for the raid went out before you joined and uh… I signed up back then. Really, if I knew I was finally going to get a neighbor, I wouldn’t have done it.”

Gyuvin’s head lowers in both contemplation and sadness. Seungeon takes the opportunity to pat his head, satisfied at messing up the puppy’s hair.

“I’ll coming back. You don’t have to act like you’re sending me off to war.”

But, wasn’t he basically going to war?

For large gates, it was customary for guides to enter alongside the espers in the case of drawn-out battles or time-locked gates. The longest a gate had taken was a month, where the raid party had been limited in the areas they could explore, like a game. The monsters inside the gate wouldn’t discriminate — esper or guide, they were all enemies targeted for disposal. That’s why, besides bonded pairs who could only guide and receive guiding from each other, almost no guide would volunteer for a raid team.

Well… no normal guide.

Gyuvin looks at Seungeon who is packing his stuff, humming a soft tune despite the evil looks he’s getting from his behind-neighbor.

“Eon.”

Seungeon stops, matching Gyuvin’s eyes. “What’s up?”

“You’re really not scared?”

There’s a rattle as something in the box falls. “Well, I wouldn’t say I’m not scared, but I’m more excited. It’s not the first time I’ve been inside a gate.”

There’s something about the way he says it that Gyuvin doesn’t want to probe anymore. So he watches as Seungeon gathers his stuff and introduces him to some of the other members that are part of the raid team.

Sung Hanbin, an S-class guide, bonded to his esper Zhang Hao. Hanbin, a former member of Guide Team 1 who transferred to the Elite Team, an international collaboration, after bonding to his esper. That same esper caught in conversation with a silver-haired man who had come out of the guiding room with Seungeon, the mystery person’s back facing Gyuvin so he couldn’t see his face. He’s wearing a custom uniform though, one arm completely bare and a leather strap running from one shoulder to the thick belt around his waist and oh, yeah, that’s a harness.

Gyuvin only stops staring at the expanse of bare skin when the esper physically leaves the area, so gone from view that even Gyuvin leaning over the partition to the neighbor in front of him doesn’t grant him any sight of the other.

“Gyuvin, right?”

Gyuvin looks at the hand that appeared in front of him, belatedly reaching his own out to shake it. “Yes, I heard a bit about you, Hanbin-sunbaenim.”

“You can just call me hyung. I also heard about you, from Jiwoong-hyung.” Hanbin slips him a piece of paper, a string of digits on it. “My number. You can text if you have any questions though I might not be able to answer right away.”

“Ah, thank you!” Gyuvin bows to him, both Hanbin and Jiwoong reaching out to ruffle his hair.

“Good luck and hang in there!” Hanbin cheers him on even as he leaves, his esper and Seungeon already gone ahead.

It’s unofficially Seungeon’s last day on the team until the gate is closed, having the next day off to get any personal affairs into order. Jiwoong slings an arm around his shoulder, telling him about the sort-of-surprise lunch send-off at a really nice place that they’d planned for Seungeon.

“But, what if he’s eating with his parents?”

“Ah,” Jiwoong’s warping expression tells Gyuvin he's hit a landmine, “uh, you know that Busan gate six years ago?”

The Busan gate, a tragedy that Korea still tiptoed around every mention. A month-long sudden outbreak — unlike any other gate, swallowing the whole city. Emergency rescue teams were sent in along with a squad of ten Elite Team members but even then, the gate was only closed after a month.

Time-gated, the surviving teams had said, different for each person. Forget saving the civilians, we couldn’t even group up. It’s not even that bad that it took a month, it could’ve been longer if not for the Elite Team.

Gyuvin is stuck stiff thinking, knowing what Jiwoong is about to say. Jiwoong continues, even though Gyuvin has given him no signals of acknowledgement.

“Seungeon was the only one in his family who survived.”

Normally, day drinking would be frowned upon, especially seeing as it’s in the middle of the week but even the section chief was drinking. Gyuvin is still shocked, seeing the usually smiley but mercilessly efficient chief with an eyebrow slit leaning onto Seungeon’s shoulder, tears running down his face as he clings to Seungeon’s arm.

Hanbin, Gyuvin recognizes through the eye-catching astral tattoo across his collarbones, sits on the other side of the chief, soft pats delivered to his head. “Taerae-yah, don’t worry, we’ll take good care of Eon-ie.”

“Mhm,” comes from his pair, the pink-haired Zhang Hao, “I made sure we were on the team because I saw Seungeon’s name on the list. He’ll be fine with us.”

He raises his hand, where a sliver of his wrist peaked out between his sleeve and his glove, a cute panda tattoo showing. “At the very least, he won’t die with this.”

Gyuvin glances at Seungeon’s hand where it’s raised, dabbing at the tears running down the chief’s face. On the back of his hand is a little weasel-like creature encircling an acorn. He assumes it’s Hao’s ability. If a member of the Elite Team has gone so far to ensure Seungeon’s safety… maybe he could worry a little less.

Most of them have left as it got closer to the end of lunch break, though the chief is still sniffling, this time into Gunwook’s side (who Gyuvin now recognizes where he’s heard his name from before). Gyuvin gets up, waiting his turn to say goodbye to Seungeon. As a new employee, he still doesn’t have the leisure of senior members like Jiwoong or the section chief (who, literally is the boss) to skip work hours.

He hovers behind the person currently hugging Seungeon, their arms gently patting Seungeon as Seungeon messes with their dark hair.

“I’ll be back, Kitty.”

They separate from Seungeon, fingers light as they run through the tangles Seungeon created. “Be safe. Also, that’s not my name.”

They turn to leave, shoulder bumping into Gyuvin’s chest. Gyuvin moves to the side, exchanging brief nods.

Wow, really handsome.

His eyes follow their figure, tracing a downward path as they disappear out the door. Gyuvin turns to Seungeon, whose face forms a pout, his arms wide open to receive Gyuvin.

“Puppy! Aw, don’t cry.”

Gyuvin hadn’t even noticed the tears until Seungeon called for them to stop.

Seungeon had warned him that he’d be doing a lot of compatibility tests over the next few days but he didn’t realize how many people Seungeon guided on the regular until Gyuvin was sat in the testing room for three days straight, checking compatibility with every esper on the list. He’d recognized a few of them from when he shadowed Seungeon for those first two weeks when he was still new to things, but he didn’t end up with a high compatibility rating, falling below the recommended 45% minimum.

After the first few, all in the 20s, he’d caved and asked the examiner whether it was an issue with him. Like, surely consistently having a low compatibility was a red flag.

“Oh, compatibility doesn’t really matter. I mean, it’s honestly like a scientific version of a intimacy calculator. If you’re complete strangers, it’s bound to be low.”

Which, hearing that from the person conducting the tests is like… ??? Then why are we running these?

“Rank matters more: an A-rank will always be better at guiding another A-rank than a B-rank will or even a C-rank, unless the rating’s like, way higher, like we’re talking 40% for A to A-rank versus some 75% B to A-rank.”

"But the last time someone had that high of a rating, they were already both high-ranked. You know, the famous Haobin duo.”

“Though, erm, thinking about it, this is the first time I’ve seen someone so incompatible with others…”

Please don’t fire me.

Please.

By the end of the three days, he’d had maybe five people who reached at least that 45% minimum but they’d already had existing compatibility checks with other guides that were higher, so there was no reason for them to be assigned to him.

Was it possible to feel burnt out when he hadn’t even done anything in the past few days? He sure felt it. Gyuvin was practically welded to his seat with only the esper side changing people. The whole thing kind of felt like speed dating, except he was only getting rejected.

The examiner’s voice came through the intercom. “One more, Gyuvin-ssi. Thank you for holding on, truly S+ capacity. The last esper’s on their way, they just finished a gate.”

“Oh, yes, thank you as well.”

I want to go home.

Maybe the esper heard him because a few minutes later, they were seated on the other side, not one sign of exhaustion as they entered the room. He’d only caught a glimpse of them before they entered the booth on the esper side, noting the custom esper uniform.

Gyuvin sits up, inputting his guiding energy into the machine at the examiner’s prompting.

And then again.

And again.

He almost fears the examiner would ask for a fourth time, but the esper leaves their booth, standing in the open room.

“Ah, Gyuvin-ssi, you can exit now. Just… had to double-check the results.”

Triple check, you mean.

He makes his way out, trying to punch his legs and butt awake from numbness though it has little effect. Gyuvin automatically bows a bit in greeting to the esper, recognizing them almost immediately when they turn towards him.

“Oh! Kitty!”

They fold their arms, eyebrow raised. “Excuse me?”

The door to the lab opens, the examiner strolling towards them, papers in hand. “Guide Gyuvin-ssi and, uh, Esper… Snow Leopard? Yes, uh, here are your results.”

Gyuvin takes the stapled papers gingerly from the outstretched hand, a little puzzled, the esper doing the same though with more elegance.

He didn’t give me anything for the last 20 tests I took…

Esper: Snow Leopard (Shen Ricky)

Guide: Kim Gyuvin

Compatibility Rating: 82%

Designated temporary assignment for guiding

Gyuvin looks over to where the esper is flipping through the papers with a fervor unlike his calm appearance.

The esper’s soft voice cuts through the silence as he flips back to the front where 82% stands out in bright red. “You’re sure?”

“Y-yes, sir!”

“Hm,” is all that comes in response. The esper pulls out his phone, tapping a few times.

Gyuvin’s watch buzzes, connected to his tablet. He turns it towards his eyes, the screen lighting up.

Guiding request from: Esper Snow Leopard

“Oh, you could just…” But when Gyuvin looks up, the esper is already walking out of the lab. Gyuvin quickly taps ‘Accept’, bowing to the examiner, and chases after the esper. He falls in behind the other, one step away.

The esper slumps against the armrest of the sofa in the guiding room. Gyuvin inches over to the other side of the couch, the esper sitting up when he realizes Gyuvin sat next to him, albeit one cushion between them.

“That—”

“Um—”

They both stop, waiting a second for the other to continue before gesturing at each other. Gyuvin wins.

The esper fidgets with his gloves, bringing them up to the sides of his head where he folds every finger but his index and pinky finger, the thumbs pointed towards his temples.

“Um, you can start whenever.”

Gyuvin stares, “Sorry, what?”

“The… radiation guiding,” Gyuvin follows the bead of sweat that runs down the side of his face, down his neck, disappearing under the unzipped collar of his shirt which leads him to switch targets to the zipper that goes all the way down his sleeve.

“I… I am in position.”

Gyuvin looks back at him. Despite the strong impression he’d made, with his eyes looking down in embarrassment, eyelashes fanning out, hair a bit messy but a clearly styled curl to the front covering part of his forehead still holding on, he’s actually kind of… cute.

But that doesn’t mean Gyuvin doesn’t think the whole hand thing is a bit odd. “Uh, why are you doing that? With your hands, I mean.”

He looks up at Gyuvin, his cheeks a bit pink. “What do you mean? Seungeon said this is necessary for proper radiation guiding.”

And then the tips of his fingers twitch and Gyuvin has to bring a hand up to cover his mouth because he can’t be having the biggest, cheesiest smile on his face while he breaks the news.

“That, uh, you don’t have to do that. I think he was just playing with you.”

The hands lingers by his head for a second before dropping into his lap. He doesn’t say anything but his face gets a little red.

Gyuvin reaches out first. “Actually, uh, I’m not that good at radiation guiding but if you’re fine with it, I can try?”

“Oh! Oh, uh, sure.” The esper makes a quick glance at his phone like the time is there even though he hasn’t tapped it awake, “I’m off after this so I’ll… I’ll be alright.”

So uh, what that mean though?

Gyuvin takes a deep breath before starting, his eyes closed because he’s learned it helps him concentrate on feeling rather than looking for visual clues. Like how the esper’s pale skin contrasts with the black fabric of his shirt, the silver zipper, the sliver of ink Gyuvin only saw by chance on his neck running down under his collar, pink lips that look smooth, leather gloves, leather harness laying on a wide shoulder and wrapping around a tiny waist—

Focus.

He starts guiding, at the usual pace (or so he thought, because he really couldn’t think). Gyuvin feels the air, engrossed in the way the energy he sends out is like an extension of himself, like feelers searching for light.

And then he grasps it, the subtle vibrations of the esper in front of him, dark and stormy, mixed in with white to form gray splotches. He latches onto it, enveloping himself in that color and then he sees it.

A snow-covered hill, the forest below covered in the same white dust. Where he stands, a cottage is to his back, the forest ahead. He turns to the little house, climbing up the steps and testing the door. It swings open with a small pull, revealing the dim light from the fireplace. The fire was dying, so Gyuvin looks for wood, feeding twigs and poking at the red embers.

A hand reaches out, grasping his wrist. He looks down at it, the cold skin flickering orange with the flames and yet it feels… oddly leather?

“That— Gyuvin-ssi, that’s enough…”

He keeps poking at the fire with the poker even after the fire takes hold of the new kindling, ignoring the hand that seemed to appear out of nowhere. If not for seeing it with his eyes, he would’ve thought he’d imagined the touch.

“P-please…”

He tries turning towards the voice but even when he spins around, he can’t find the direction. The grip tightens.

Oh.

Oh.

That wasn’t—

Gyuvin opens his eyes.

The esper faces him on the couch, thighs pressed together around his hand to block his reaction from view. His eyes are a bit wet at the edges, curved as he looked up at Gyuvin. His mouth parts slightly, the pink tip of his tongue pressing against his bottom lip, the corners tilted down, his begging freshly fallen from those lips.

Gyuvin looks down at his hands where they rest on his own knees, the esper’s gloved hand curled around one wrist. He pulls away and the hand returns to its owner’s side, curling around a bare forearm.

“S-sorry, was that too much?”

He gets a tiny nod in response, eyes falling away from his to look down at his own lap.

“Sorry…”

The esper shakes his head. “No, it’s… it’s alright. You’re new, aren’t you? Seungeon’s trainee.”

“Oh, yeah,” Gyuvin didn’t know Seungeon talked about him with other people, specifically the espers he was guiding.

Gyuvin goes home — or at least, he planned to, but the last line echoes in his mind.

“It’s just… I’m a bit sensitive, so you have to go slow.”

(Gyuvin will never admit it if someone asks, because what he did after is between him and the toilet, with the office bathroom’s walls as witness.)

He texts Seungeon when he gets home about the whole guiding thing.

gyub

seungeon-ie
so
I guided this esper today
they used to be assigned to you

eon eon eon

uh huh uh huh
I like where this is going

gyub

and then
bro I didn’t even say anything yet

eon eon eon

but every love story starts like this
a troubled esper who can’t touch anyone

gyub

stop your delulu fantasies

eon eon eon

and a newbie guide who somehow is perfectly capable of guiding them
I mean they gave me most of the no-contact ones
the ones that get the ick from touch
cuz I got that magic baby 😎

gyub

🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

eon eon eon

so you could be talking about anyone 🤔
gimme a hint

gyub

uh
actually I think I might’ve
um
I don’t think I did a good thing
anyways

eon eon eon

woah wait hey
what do you mean

gyub

so they said they were
kinda sensitive?
and

eon eon eon

kim gyubro stop
changing
the subject
what thing

gyub

I uh

eon eon eon

my love story drama
turn it back on

gyub

I think I made them hard

eon eon eon

you guys fuck?

gyub

wtf
no
why
no
that was literally the first time I’ve talked to them

eon eon eon

I heard taerae-hyung and gunwook-ie slammed on their first sesh
I mean I think I would too
hypothetically speaking

gyub

eon

eon eon eon

I don’t think I could do it in the office tho
they’re both catches
not completely my type but I wouldn’t pass

gyub

eon-ie hyung
I will call you hyung forever
so please
never bring any of that stuff up ever again

eon eon eon

no deal
someone’s gotta know
how experimental haobin can be
because I did not know

gyub

yoo seungeon
please
shut

eon eon eon

how flexible hao-hyung could be

gyub

up

eon eon eon

hanbin-hyung’s fist is pretty big you know
quite eye opening you know
or
well
hole opening

Gyuvin blocks Seungeon.

Meanwhile on Seungeon’s side:

eon-ie not eonnie

hey wait
wait
wait wait wait
wait
is it
did you get my Ri-kitty horny???
gyub
did you taint the cat
gyub
GYUB

MESSAGES NOT SENT: YOU HAVE BEEN BLOCKED BY THIS USER [KIM GYUVIN]

eon-ie not eonnie

I KNEW U WERE STARING
I mean Ricky’s got a nice ass
I like them cuter tho
not really into tsunderes
T^T OH KITTY HOW COULD YOU MEET SUCH
SUCH A BAD BAD MAN

MESSAGES NOT SENT: YOU HAVE BEEN BLOCKED BY THIS USER [KIM GYUVIN]

Three days later, Gyuvin learns in class exactly what he did which is exactly what he shouldn’t have done.

“Never — and I mean never mess with an esper’s mindscape. It’s very rare to be able to enter an esper’s mindscape, since it requires a high compatibility rating meaning a strong sense of connection between a guide and an esper. If you find yourself in an esper’s mindscape, do not touch anything. Worst case, you could permanently damage their mind; your actions could trigger some sort of physical or emotional reaction which can not only put the esper and you in danger, but also others around you.”

“A mindscape is the esper in their most naked form, no barriers, their emotions laid out in the open. One wrong move and you could be driving a stake into their heart.”

What the hell you do, Kim Gyuvin?

But the teacher isn’t finished yet. “Now, on a lighter note, if you do happen to bond with an esper and you’re compatible enough to enter their mindscape, guiding can be very effective. That applies to very few people but most accounts describe guiding in the mindscape as….”

“Quite satisfying in many ways.”

The class breaks out into hushed whispers, mostly imagining some fantasy around the idea.

But for Gyuvin, it’s not a fantasy. It is reality. It was reality.

And reality Gyuvin went and gave very pretty Esper Ricky (he may have stalked his profile afterwards) a boner.

(And he wants to do it again.)

(Oh my god, Kim Gyuvin, shut up if you want your job, you literally cannot.)

Reality comes to test his self-restraint when he gets a request for guiding from Ricky a week later.

Gyuvin has guided other espers in the meantime, being more of a backup for overflow and making sure any espers who don’t have designated guides get their guiding on time than having his own regular espers to deal with. He only has one designated esper: Snow Leopard AKA Shen Ricky.

AKA if he reports Gyuvin to HR, Gyuvin would probably be fired or have a restraining order against him and then he’d never be able to look at Ricky again.

AKA actually seems fine with Gyuvin even after what happens last time.

Gyuvin stares at Ricky who’s already in the guiding room even though Gyuvin just accepted the request and spent the last minute after busting his ass getting over to said room just standing in front of the door trying to figure out what he should do or say.

Ricky just pats the cushion next to him. Gyuvin sits because Ricky has the upper hand. Has Gyuvin’s whole job in his hands if he really wants to wield that power.

Ricky doesn’t seem very interested in that though. He holds out his hand to Gyuvin, head tilting when Gyuvin doesn’t take it immediately. Gyuvin lays a hand on his knee, palm up, leaning over to start the session, deliberately scrolling down Ricky’s rather lengthy profile (that he may or may not have memorized by now):

✔ Radiation Guiding

◯ Hands-only Contact

◯ Mouth-to-Mouth

— Intimate Contact

Ricky lays his hand on top of Gyuvin’s, palms touching, the tips of his fingers sliding over Gyuvin’s wrist. Ricky nods, signaling Gyuvin to start guiding and he does, keeping his eyes open and on Ricky this time. Ricky tries to do the same, eyes darting off to the side or down before persistently returning to Gyuvin’s only to repeat the cycle.

And because Gyuvin is actively looking this time, with his actual eyeballs and not his energy/vibes eyeballs, he can watch as Ricky gets noticeably more and more turned on, even though Gyuvin has very consciously wrangled his energy and squeezed it flat so that it can only come out in a slow stream. He directs it into Ricky’s body, making sure it spreads out rather than forcing it in and letting it decide where it wants to go but he still loses control of it past Ricky’s arm.

Doesn’t seem to have been enough control looking at how Ricky’s started to press his thighs together, licking his lips absentmindedly.

There’s a long second where Ricky holds eye contact and then his mouth drops open and he—

Ricky moans.

It’s low, quiet, and maybe if Gyuvin wasn’t so keyed up, he might’ve missed it. But Gyuvin is very attentive and he doesn’t miss it, doesn’t miss the way Ricky tenses after it before relaxing. He keeps his eyes on Gyuvin, searching for something. Gyuvin doesn’t know if he finds it but his fingers flex on top of Gyuvin’s before grabbing hold of Gyuvin’s hand and turning it slightly so he can interlace their fingers at a more comfortable angle.

(Gyuvin doesn’t know but he licks his lips and Ricky traces the path it takes, mirroring the action with his own tongue.)

The alarm goes off and Gyuvin blindly swats at it, holding Ricky’s gaze (thankfully his flapping is successful).

Ricky rises up on his knees, hand still holding Gyuvin’s, the other hovering just above Gyuvin’s shoulder. “That… I saw on your profile but— Can I—”

“Yes.”

And it comes from Gyuvin, though he only realizes after Ricky is on top of him, fingers intertwined for one hand, the other pushing Gyuvin down onto the couch as he climbs aboard, licking and sucking at Gyuvin’s lips.

Gyuvin wraps his free hand around the back of Ricky’s neck, turning his own head so their lips slot together, moving them slowly as Ricky ruts against him, rubbing his soft, very round, very nice ass all over Gyuvin’s clothed bulge.

They hump like teenagers (Gyuvin has the same experience as one — zero) and it’s only because Ricky pulls at where Gyuvin’s shirt is tucked into his pants that Gyuvin even remembers not cumming in their pants is an option, unbuttoning Ricky’s and fumbling the zipper with an impatient hand, diving under the waistband and pulling out the leaking cock, circling the pretty pink thing, thumbing at the head.

Ricky leans back to free Gyuvin’s from his pants, wrapping one slender bony hand around both of them. Gyuvin presses at the top of both of theirs, bullying the slits while Ricky jerks around the base. They spill over Gyuvin’s stomach, chiseled abs painted in a sticky white paint.

Ricky leans down to give him one more kiss, carefully avoiding the mess, before tucking himself back into his pants.

He grabs a tissue from the table, wiping Gyuvin’s stomach the best he can before he surrounds it with more tissues, throwing the tissue ball into the trash can.

He takes another, pointing at it with a finger. It starts to droop, heavy with water, and Ricky uses it to wipe Gyuvin’s stomach, at first with just light passes but then it turns into using his abs like a washboard.

Gyuvin pushes the hands off his stomach, catching the big smile on Ricky’s lips and flipping them over, pressing Ricky against the couch and taking advantage of the position to extort a few more kisses.

Though it’s not extortion if both parties are equally willing and aware.

When Gyuvin pulls away, Ricky snuffs the doubt before Gyuvin can even voice it.

“I don’t lose my brain during guiding. Just in case that wasn’t clear. Since this isn’t the first time I’ve had a reaction.”

“Oh,” and that doesn’t sound as good as Ricky was hoping so he starts rambling. Just a bit.

“I don’t go around kissing everyone that gives me a reaction. Or… or giving them handjobs. I’m not… I’m not—”

Gyuvin takes his hand, covering the back and curling his fingers in the gaps, pressing close to Ricky’s face to kiss the tears before they’ve fallen.

“I haven’t… I’ve only with you.” And Ricky has to stop himself there because maybe that was a little too much of saying what wasn’t said for something that just happened, no proper talking about anything yet.

Gyuvin doesn’t say anything, just holds him close and peppers him with kisses until Ricky’s pushing at him because he wants space now. Gyuvin gives it to him, only for Ricky to dive into his chest.

“Your profile,” and it comes out muffled against Gyuvin’s shirt, “says you’re hands-only and maybe radiation guiding.”

“Mhm,” Gyuvin brings his hands up to pet at Ricky’s head. They get swatted and moved to his shoulders, where they can smooth over the crafted muscles of his arms and back.

“You better keep it that way. For everyone else.”

“Alright.”

“Also, I wasn’t crying.”

All is bliss in Gyuvin-land where he not only has little to no work because he's a fast guide and he happens to have really bad compatibility with mostly everyone besides Ricky. He also gets free kisses and cuddles and sometimes more during his guiding sessions with Ricky. He's getting better at controlling how he directs his energy so he's not randomly handing out boners or free shocks (the almost-horror story that Gyuvin refuses to retell but at least the victim, an esper named Matthew, who happens to also be Ricky's partner on the field, finds it funny enough to laugh at).

Even the section chief catching them cleaning up after a messy session doesn't put a damper on his mood — though more so that he has equal dirt on the chief than being completely secure, namely that he knows the chief's been in both Matthew and Gunwook's pants and neither of them seem to know and that's enough to keep Taerae from slapping some punishment on Gyuvin for “improper use of guiding rooms”.

(Not that Gyuvin's anywhere near getting on his bad side yet so the knowledge that him and Ricky have christened several couches with their activities is surface-level buried blackmail for future use.)

(And honestly, from the way Gunwook and Matthew look at each other, Gyuvin's pretty sure they're one realization away from a threesome and no, Gyuvin does not want to be their reason for it coming to fruition.)

So really, when all is happy daisies and sunshines, Gyuvin really should know better than to not expect something bad to happen to balance things out.

“You might want to sit down.”

Jiwoong comes up to Gyuvin's desk, voice a bit more controlled than the shaky hand that lands on his shoulder, pushing him back into his seat. He should've known the moment he stepped foot onto their floor that complete silence was a really, really bad sign.

“Seungeon is missing. There's no contact from Hao or Hanbin, or anyone from the raid team.”

The gate had appeared as expected, even in the location they'd predicted with all the instruments available to them. The first couple days had gone fine: updates every hour, GPS sensors reconfigured into vitality sensors had all been green indicating no issues, and there were no signs of it being a time-gated instance so there should have been no worry about food or water since the party was well equipped and overpowered for the measured gate level.

But Day 3, time 13:00, the expected message never arrived. The team on standby at the entrance gave it a few minutes, maybe they were in a battle and didn't have the time to relay any updates.

But when it turned to 14:00 and then 14:30 with no sound, the backup team entered.

And that’s when the sensors started turning red and black.

Seungeon struggled to breathe under the rubble. The edge of a chunk of cement dug into his side and he was glad he had no space to turn his head because he really didn't want to find out if it was blood instead of sweat running down his leg.

But there was definitely blood coming from his other leg. He'd figured so when he came to and tried to lift his head off his arms, tensing his leg to push off it only to flinch away from completing the action. He could feel it — something had pierced his leg and if he breathed wrong, he could feel every twitch of his muscle straining against the intruder.

At least his arms were somewhat free. He'd looked at the temporary tattoo on his hand, a one-time use item from Hao.

“If we get separated, use it. The moment you do, it'll teleport you back to me. Don't hesitate to use it, Seungeon-ah.”

This was definitely the kind of situation he should use it. Leg out of commission? Check. Might be sliced open on the side? Check. Finding it hard to breathe? Check.

(He was a bit worried about what would happen with the thing in his leg though. If it came with him or not, he’d probably pass out from the pain of slamming into the ground.)

But standard protocol said to wait 15 minutes in case backup was on the way but Seungeon probably didn't have 15 minutes. Not with the way his head was getting light and and his fingers were cold and numb even though he was sweating like crazy under the collapsed building.

They'd entered the gate on high alert, taking in the surrounding ruined city full of dust and collapsed buildings. It looked like a city after an earthquake, fitting considering the gate's location. So it was normal for them to be wary of monsters hiding in the buildings or behind fallen structures.

They just hadn't expected an earthquake to hit.

Gates would mimic weather but there was no record of them simulating whole natural disasters without some monster being at the source. Maybe there was a monster behind it, but it was awfully quiet outside for what should've been a battle.

(He won't think about what that could mean.)

The cherry on top of a pretty bad sundae had to be buildings falling from the sky. Floating cities? Normal. Actual acid rain? Possible, could be countered. Very large fragments of huge buildings that can flatten one ant-sized Seungeon, no sweat? Not on the bingo card.

He should definitely thank what little lucky stars he has that he wasn't killed instantly. He could definitely have become a very ugly puddle of Seungeon goop. Not that becoming Seungeon soup was any more appealing at the moment.

He'd made to press the tattoo when he heard it: a sharp intake of breath, very human. He held, waiting for another sign.

Because Seungeon knew well enough that something that sounds human isn't always human. They hadn't even laid eyes on any monsters so it wasn't impossible for there to be one capable of mimicry.

“Is there… anyone… there?” A whisper quiet like a breath came from his right.

He couldn't understand them but recognizing the language, it had to be one of the Japanese members of the team. “Hey, are you alright?”

Even though they might not understand him, at least hearing another human could give them a little hope.

To his surprise, they responded in Korean. “I think I'm alright. What about you?”

Wow, their pronunciation is really good. I should put a little more effort into learning more languages after this.

(If there was an after.)

There was no point in telling them that he was slowly bleeding out. At least he could use the tattoo to escape but he'd be leaving the other person alone. He also had no idea what Hao's situation was like. “I'm… alright too. Are you a guide?”

“No, I'm an esper. Wind and healing, but… I used up most of my energy to make a barrier when the building fell.” A bitter laugh bounced around in the tight space. “Not much use though.”

Seungeon chuckled, his throat dry and lungs full of dust. “We don’t all train to fend off falling buildings.”

“Fair enough. I can at least use the last bits I have left to heal you and help get you out before I lose it. I cant heal myself, unfortunately.”

“No need. I'm a guide, I can help you.”

The other person coughed. “I can't even see you though, how can you guide me from far away? Unless…”

Seungeon closed his eyes, trying to ignore the feeling of blood trickling down his skin at a ticklish pace. He focused, spreading his energy thin, covering every open gap until he found them.

Liar. He's as ‘alright’ as I am.

They were on their back at least, legs folded and pressed against a slab. One arm was thrown out, pinned down by a pipe in their forearm. His other arm was bent at an odd angle, flopping unnaturally.

Seungeon surrounded them with his energy but he'd only had enough control to make the connection but not push more through it.

And then, for the first time, Seungeon experienced it: entering an esper’s mindscape.

Seungeon found himself on a beach, lazy rays of sun stretching over the horizon and reflecting on the water. The sand was cool on his bare feet and the beach was empty except for him. Nothing was really setting off any alarms.

And then, in the corner of his eye, the rising sun bobbed.

Seungeon turned towards it, moving his gaze to the reflection on the small waves. Even though the space wasn’t reality, the sun was still hard to look at directly. He waited a second and then… again. It wasn’t just his imagination — the sun was rising and falling.

A clear sign of the esper’s deteriorating state.

“Hey… I know this sounds crazy but…” It was their only shot, in a situation where even Seungeon, one of the most skilled radiation guides couldn't steadily guide from this distance and in his current condition.

“Let's form a bond.”

Silence.

Damn, maybe I should've explained first.

There were uptight individuals out there that were completely against bonding, or others that would rather die than bond to someone out of necessity than feelings, even though it was completely possible to break bonds (and Seungeon would be willing — no, he would gladly tank breaking the bond if it meant their chance of survival would go up).

Like virginity gatekeepers, those absolute purists -- except there was no sex, at least not that they could have sex right now.

But there was nothing to worry about.

His fellow buried-alive companion laughed, full of light despite how shit their situation was. “You better take me out to dinner after this.”

“I can do more than dinner,” Seungeon responded in kind as the esper's energy twined with his, slowly and steadily forming a link between them.

"I'd like that, mystery guide.”

“Seungeon, Yoo Seungeon,” he let out a groan as a shudder ripped through his body at the sensation of the bond settling in, jostling his leg. As soon as he caught his breath, he started sending waves and waves of guiding energy, amplified by the bond. “Can the mystery esper tell me their name?”

“Keita,” he heard in their exhale, “Terazono Keita.”

Hanbin stood on guard next to Hao as Hao drew on his scroll, bringing a ink dog to life.

“Sansan,” his voice called softly. The dog's ear twitched, like how a real dog's might. “[Seek Life].”

The dog ran off, following a trail only he could see.

Hao got to his feet, rolling the now blank scroll into a messy bundle, his brush clutched in his fist. Hanbin knelt down in front of him, wordlessly carrying his husband on his back. Blood had dried from a cut on his forehead but besides that, they'd been lucky with Hao's quick reflexes, invoking a safety barrier he'd been sustaining since this morning to use at a moment's notice.

Hanbin guided Hao as the other pressed against his back, arms wrapping around his neck, pressing a cheek against his neck.

The barrier had taken a lot out of Hao, not to mention keeping Sansan active was a steady drain on his already low energy. Hanbin increased the flow, making sure to input more than Sansan used up so Hao wouldn't fall into a rampage.

And while they trekked the abandoned city, following the path of Sansan's shamrock green footsteps, they were at peace, even for a short moment in a cruel space.

Seungeon supplied enough energy for Keita to clear the rubble above him without falling into a rampage. He'd done so while sustaining the air around Seungeon in case him breaking out caused Seungeon's side to collapse. Luckily, Keita had been close to the surface and it didn't take much for him to get out.

Unluckily, Seungeon was pretty far down.

“Do you think… no, maybe that’s crazy…”

“What?” Seungeon's hearing was starting to go.

“If I… air around… and then… you up… think… work?”

It was getting harder to draw a breath in to speak. As his eyes closed, he could hear Keita calling out his name, like he was shouting through water.

“…eon? Seungeon!”

Sansan found someone.

Hao hadn't even opened his mouth but Hanbin read it from the twitch of his fingers. He sped up his pace, arriving at a pile of rubble where Sansan sat, rubbing against a limp body propped up by the other person’s leg, one of their arms dangling by their side while the other had a rod sticking out of it, catching the faint rays peaking through the clouds. Sansan circled them, demanding pats like he wasn't made of ink.

“Seungeon…” Hao's body shook as they drew closer, the forms of the survivors leaving claw marks on their hearts.

Hanbin let Hao down, Hao focusing on Seungeon's pale body while Hanbin turned to the other person.

Next to them was a narrow pole, bloodied on one end with a chunk of flesh sticking out the hollow end. Though it had been embedded in flesh, it wasn't pulled out with human strength, looking at the state of their arm. Hanbin pulled out what medical supplies he had on hand.

“Terazono Keita, healer and support esper of Japan's Esper Team 1,” he reported as Hanbin reached a hand out to steady his arm.

Hanbin tore a strip of cloth from his inner shirt, balling it up and holding it in front of Keita who took it into his mouth, biting down as Hanbin pulled the rod out of their arm. A muffled scream erupted, short and controlled. Another sounded just as brief as Hanbin set the limp arm. Even with his injuries, he was still heavily alert of possible danger.

Hanbin wrapped the bandage around the open wound the best he could. Hopefully, they'd come across another healer or another group so they could clear the gate and get outside medical attention for the injuries.

He turned his attention to Seungeon who, besides looking pale and the circular dip on his leg, seemed stable. And then Hanbin noticed, the fingers now intertwined with a bloodied hand, a faint energy pulsing into Seungeon through that touch.

“You're…”

“Trying to regenerate it, yeah. He lost a lot.”

Hao whispered, “Thank you.”

Keita's smile was grim. “He saved me too.”

They continued their search for survivors, Seungeon on Hanbin's back with Keita steadily pumping what energy he could afford into Seungeon's unconscious body, Sansan and Hao leading them, scroll and brush at the ready to defend.

Fortunately, they'd encountered a group, their members faring better than them. Most of the attack team was there, with one other healer. The minor injuries had been taken care of so they focused on Keita’s hastily wrapped wound. One of the guides approached Keita, preparing to guide him.

“Oh, no, that’s—”

“Ow!”

The guide flinched away, stumbling a few steps. A few people closer to them turned to look.

Keita raised his free arm, gesturing with his whole hand towards the now rosier-cheeked Seungeon who was lying on the ground between the two healing espers. “We… bonded.”

The guide curled her fingers around the edge of her skirt. “That… Senpai, it can be broken later… right?”

Bonds could be broken, by either side or mutually though the act itself caused a lasting pain on the level of “pulling one’s veins from their flesh” for the initiator. Most people opted to stick to it unless they were in a life-or-death situation and required guiding and their bonded pair was unavailable. On a darker note, bonds could also be dissolved if either guide or esper died.

It was possible, in fact, probably preferred since maintaining their bond meant Seungeon, a highly capable guide that joined the raid team for a major gate, could only guide him, a support-type esper. If Seungeon needed to break the bond later… it was only right for Keita to break it off, so that Seungeon wouldn’t suffer the side effects.

He probably would want to, right?

Absentmindedly, his thumb caressed the soft skin of Seungeon’s wrist where he held it in his hand, feeding his energy through Seungeon’s body to speed up the natural healing process.

“Yeah.” They weren’t even from the same unit, not even the same country. Everything was against them.

But was it too selfish to hope Seungeon wouldn’t want to?

Taerae sat in front of Matthew in one of the private rooms for guiding, though guiding was just a secondary purpose right now.

“Matthew, if you would,” he said, leaned in on his knees, resting his chin on his interlaced fingers.

Matthew sighed, sliding his hand over the table, a silver bracelet dangling from his wrist. Cards spread across the table, a silvery transparent shimmer to them. He reached his hand out, palm up and Taerae laid his on top, eyes closing as he thought of his question.

How ironic that the least superstitious and most skeptical person of all the espers Taerae knows is the one with a clairvoyant item.

“I knew you’d ask so I didn’t draw this month.”

“Liar,” Taerae called out, because Matthew always had a draw up whenever Taerae asked. Matthew’s smile was light, a thing of ease that tried to calm his nerves, a thumb running over the knuckles of his hand

“Yeah.” Matthew pushed the bracelet up so that it was tight on his forearm. “If I could give it away, I would.”

Unfortunately, it was a bound item, a boss drop from the last A-rank gate he’d closed.

There wasn’t much Matthew had to do besides activating the item. The cards would pick themselves and instinctively Matthew would know their meaning.

One card slid away from the rest, flipping itself over in front of Matthew. The rest of the cards disappeared. It was a horse, upside down for Taerae, with a white circle above it, dark lines shooting out of it. A pentagram necklace hung from its neck.

The Chariot

“I don’t know what you asked it, but basically ‘go for it’ is what it’s saying.”

Taerae stood up. He was almost out of the room when an arm wrapped around his waist, pulling him back against a solid chest.

“I won’t ask you what it is,” lips pressed against the bare skin on Taerae’s neck, “but be safe, love.”

Section Chief Kim Taerae

hyung
I have a favor

Deputy Chief Kim Jiwoong

I think I know.
Everyone is trying to make me retire early.
Like you.

Section Chief Kim Taerae

sorry but one last time
like the old days

Deputy Chief Kim Jiwoong

Of course. I was waiting, you know.
I felt like you would ask.

Section Chief Kim Taerae

thank you, hyung
I owe you one

Deputy Chief Kim Jiwoong

No need.
It's always been an honor fighting alongside you.

“What?!”

“That's what I said!” Gunwook pointed at Gyuvin with his fork, “But apparently they were an active duo up until two years ago, when Taerae-hyung took the promotion.”

Gyuvin was momentarily distracted by the leafy green swinging on its last string from Gunwook's very active fork. “But isn't Section Chief Kim… a guide?”

“Mhm,” Yujin spoke, mouth full of beef and rice, “Taerae-hyung's an esper too, a Dual Awakener.”

“So, like, he can do both? Isn't that kind of… broken?”

Yujin shook his head. “He can't guide himself, similar to how healing espers can't heal themselves.”

Ricky slid into Gyuvin's booth, his tray knocking into Gyuvin's, pushing it to the side so he had space on the table. Gyuvin budged up, giving just a bit of space so that their arms brushed as they ate.

“So it should be fine now, with a full squad coming in as a reinforcements.” Gunwook folded his hands behind his head, leaning back in his chair.

Matthew raised his head, turning to Gunwook who sat next to him. “Huh? But I only sent Taerae-hyung and Jiwoong-hyung over.”

Matthew's ability was teleportation and he’d been in charge of sending the emergency forces to Japan to tackle the gate in the morning. Which meant…

Gunwook's chair legs slammed down on the floor. Gyuvin glanced at Yujin who seemed unbothered with the implications.

That meant Section Chief Kim and Jiwoong-hyung were the only backup sent. For a raid already gone awry from the initial predictions.

“They'll be fine.” Ricky's calm voice cut through the silence. “Jiwoong-hyung's overgeared and Taerae-hyung's a walking explosion.”

Yujin chimed in, “A running one if Jiwoong runs.”

Gyuvin didn’t understand. He tried picturing but could only visualize it literally, Chief Kim as a bomb and Jiwoong-hyung running around while carrying him in his arms, throwing him into a crowd of monsters like a hot potato.

“Surprised they let them go though, when Team 1 doesn't even have a third-in-command.”

“Well, Taerae-hyung has weight he can throw around as the main contributor to the Busan gate clear.”

And they were right.

A day later, news came of the gate clear.

Communications re-established on Day 13, 10:31.

Team [REDACTED]’s entry confirmed on Day 13, 10:37.

Gate closed on Day 13, 10:44.

Casualty report: 10 dead, 7 seriously injured. All 52 members of the raid team accounted for.

Gate final rating: S-

Gyuvin first saw Seungeon after finishing a guiding session with Ricky, returning back to his desk. He’d been on his phone, arguably more lax since the chief and deputy were still on official business in Japan and Gyuvin had gotten more used to being in the office so he hadn’t seen the bouncy brown hair peeking over the divider until he put his phone down, planning to finish some paperwork.

His phone went flying, suddenly seeing a smiling face looking at him expectantly, smashing a few keys on his keyboard as it landed, closing the page he was on.

“Woah!” Seungeon shouted, backing off the wall and falling into his seat, pushing away from his desk so he entered Gyuvin’s space. “You could warn me first.”

"That’s my line!” Gyuvin drew Seungeon into a hug, pulling away to tilt his head this way and that before giving another hug. “Why didn’t you tell me you were back?”

“Ehem. Someone still has me blocked. Imagine how I felt when I was planning to text a certain someone that I was alive and breathing only to see,” he shoved his phone screen in front of Gyuvin’s face, “this!”

eon-ie not eonnie

I KNEW U WERE STARING
I mean Ricky’s got a nice ass
I like them cuter tho
not really into tsunderes
T^T OH KITTY HOW COULD YOU MEET SUCH
SUCH A BAD BAD MAN

MESSAGES NOT SENT: YOU HAVE BEEN BLOCKED BY THIS USER [KIM GYUVIN]

eon-ie not eonnie

i’m alive
omg it was close there for a minute

MESSAGES NOT SENT: YOU HAVE BEEN BLOCKED BY THIS USER [KIM GYUVIN]

eon-ie not eonnie

STILL???
I DIDN’T EVEN SAY ANYTHING THAT BAD
GYUB
MAN UP DUDE

MESSAGES NOT SENT: YOU HAVE BEEN BLOCKED BY THIS USER [KIM GYUVIN]

eon-ie not eonnie

oh wait
you know, fair if you’re a virgin
hey didn’t you corrupt Ricky tho

“Wha— I’m not—”

“You’re not a virgin?”

“What…”

They both turned to the third voice. Ricky stood at Gyuvin’s side, holding a black tie in his hand. Gyuvin looked down at his front where his tie was very much missing. Seungeon looked too.

“Have some class. Don’t discuss such matters at work.” Ricky spun on his heel, his shoulders tense and ears turning red as he disappeared from view.

Gyuvin’s hand was still awkwardly stretched out where he expected to receive his forgotten tie.

Seungeon took Gyuvin’s phone and placed it on top, folding Gyuvin’s fingers over the edges and tilting his wrist up. He tapped it awake, sliding the screen up as it unlocked with Gyuvin’s face, going into the messenger app to unblock himself.

“So, uh…” Seungeon started.

Gyuvin’s hand dropped to his lap, drifting back in to focus on Seungeon’s next words.

“When’s the wedding?”

Gyuvin couldn’t help it, pulling a stack of papers from the tray on his desk to smack Seungeon with them.

“Ah, hey, hey, hey, calm down! Down, boy! Ow! Okay, that one kind of hurt. Wait, ceasefire, don’t throw the— I surrender!”

Gyuvin swore the redness of his face was from beating Seungeon and not from the assumption of his and Ricky’s relationship. He put the papers down, falling into his seat. Seungeon rose from his kneeled position on the floor, eyeing the papers like they might turn sentient and carry on Gyuvin’s embarrassment-filled assault.

After a moment of silence, Gyuvin asked, “Is it that obvious?”

He only turned to look at Seungeon after not hearing a reply. Seungeon was looking at him like it was a dumb question.

It was a dumb question. “He was holding your tie and you have hickeys on your throat and chest.”

And Gyuvin, being the one inflicted with these signs of territory marking, cannot directly observe what Seungeon was talking about because his head was still very much attached to said neck and that was a bit beyond his capabilities to look. Seungeon very helpfully pulled up his camera and flipped it, showing Gyuvin how he looked.

It wasn’t the first time Ricky’s taken to showing Gyuvin’s neck some love, so Gyuvin was thanking his lucky stars that both the section chief and deputy were out of the office — because he’s a walking advertisement of their work-inappropriate activities.

He’ll just have to hope no one would tell them because he does need this job.

“I heard you and Ricky got together while we were gone,” are Jiwoong’s first words to him after “let’s go eat with the others” because Gyuvin had innocently believed his hyung was going to tell him all about the gate. He had not expected to be grilled—

“Hyung, they’ve been together since before you left,” Yujin exposes.

“Oh, really?”

—and served.

A hand rests on his shoulder. Gyuvin peeks between his fingers at Jiwoong’s face. His brows are furrowed, a slight downturn at the corner of his lips.

“He’s not forcing you?”

Gyuvin shakes his head. Jiwoong pulls away.

“Alright. You tell me if he starts giving you problems and we can rearrange some things so you’ll never cross paths, alright kiddo?”

Gyuvin’s probably more likely to cause problems than Ricky seeing as Ricky could be so nonchalant about requesting guiding but Gyuvin was always glancing at his tablet, hoping Ricky would show up on it. They’d only met a couple times outside of guiding, like when Gyuvin would explicitly invite him for lunch with the rest of the group of friends he’d formed. Ricky had responded vaguely every time, mentioning work or some other commitment and that Gyuvin shouldn’t expect him there but he’d try to make it if he could.

And now that Seungeon is back, he’d probably be reassigned to Seungeon… right? It’d only make sense — Gyuvin being Ricky’s designated guide was always a temporary assignment. He probably wouldn’t see Ricky anymore.

The thought makes him sick, the strings of his heart pulled taut, causing a dull ache that persisted throughout the meal. He excused himself after pushing around his galbi, letting Yujin snatch it before he returned the tray to the cafeteria staff.

He might have spent some quality time with the toilet again, this time rethinking his life choices, though the cause of both instances was the same.

It took two weeks before Gyuvin noticed, which, considering how the whole source of his dilemma was triggered by Seungeon’s return, was a couple weeks too long.

(Really, Gyuvin has to start being a bit more observant about non-Ricky things.)

Seungeon was always at his desk, typing away on the computer.

Before he’d left for Japan, Seungeon was more often than not in a guiding room, his chair very much an empty neighbor to Gyuvin. But after returning, when Gyuvin left for a session and when he returned, Seungeon was there.

At first he’d reasoned that Seungeon’s designated espers had all been transferred so he didn’t have anyone he needed to guide. Maybe he had a lot of paperwork to fill out, especially considering the scale of the gate, or they were putting him on desk duty before throwing him back into guiding on the regular — but then he saw that Jiwoong-hyung was back to doing guiding sessions and then he knew something was strange, he just didn’t know how to bring it up.

Thank heavens for Yujin.

It was just the three of them for lunch, deciding to treat themselves (read: Seungeon bought his own, Gyuvin “treated” Yujin) to some fried chicken at a place near the office. Yujin had just finished polishing off one piece, his hand reaching for another when he brought it up.

“Hyung, one of my espers was asking about you, wondering when you were going to start taking on guiding sessions again. Said I was alright but you were better.” He’d said it in that familiar tone, the one full of faux nonchalance.

“Mhm, yu shee,” Seungeon paused to chew and swallow, “I, uh, actually bonded to someone while I was in Japan so I can’t… guide other people.”

He meant while in the gate. Jiwoong and Taerae had offered up what wasn’t confidential as lunch talk while Seungeon left it vague, just mentioning that it “had been a close call” but nothing about his experience — they all had enough tact not to pry.

“I’m going to be transferring to the research team after this month. Researcher Lee reached out to me before about this project he’s been trying to start and I never considered it before because I was so busy but now… well, I think it’s a good opportunity.”

Researcher Lee… ah, the researcher that had tested his compatibility rating with all those espers. He seemed… alright. Not the type to butter up someone or use flowery words, very straight cut, very… short.

(Gyuvin wouldn’t dare say it to his face though — not to a man who trimmed and filed his nails with a pocket knife, sometimes without even looking.)

“What… what kind of person is your bonded pair?” Gyuvin asked, hoping it wasn’t a landmine he was setting off.

Instead, Seungeon smiled, “Oh, he’s great. We decided to give it a try — we’re not officially dating yet but he’s part of the delegation for the upcoming conference so we decided to go on a date that weekend.”

After that, they could barely get a word in.

“Terazono Keita is his name. He’s kind of cute, just a little shorter than me but he’s so cool.”

“He collects little raccoon plushies and keychains. I think he and Hao-hyung would get along — Hao-hyung seemed to like him well enough in the gate.”

“I also met his sisters though he kicked them out after a bit. Ah, yeah, we were in the same hospital room.”

“Sure, suspension bridge effect and all, but I entered his mindscape before we even bonded. That’s like, totally romantic, like those romance novels. And then we tested our compatiblity when we got discharged and it was 92%! 92, when we haven’t even kissed or had sex—”

Seungeon had to be silenced after that.

And Gyuvin's back to the problem that's been plaguing him: what exactly was his relationship with Ricky? Well, there were several factors he had to consider:

1

Seungeon becoming Ricky's guide again and Gyuvin never seeing Ricky again

Seungeon was bonded now to some stranger none of them have met except Jiwoong-hyung and Section Chief Kim. Gyuvin was still Ricky's designated guide for the foreseeable future.

Weekly meetings with Ricky = safe

2

Them being coworkers and the guidelines “prohibiting intimate contact between esper and guide in the guiding rooms”

Gyuvin still remembers the haunting information Seungeon told him and also witnessing with his own very scandalized eyeballs, a serving of “intimate contact" between the section chief and Matthew (granted maybe the finer detail that it didn't occur in the guiding rooms mattered, meaning no guidelines were broken — though surely there were rules against doing it in the break room).

BIG HR headache… not if we can keep it a secret though

It’s not a secret anymore though, Chief already knows and so does Jiwoong-hyung

3

Ricky introduced him to both:

• Matthew, his partner on the team for field work

(Note: this happened after Gyuvin found him with his boss doing unspeakable things)

• Zhang Hao, who is a big brother figure to Ricky

(after the gate was closed, though he only stuck around for a few minutes before catching a flight to somewhere in Europe)

The thing is, Gyuvin would’ve probably never met Matthew unless another “incident” occurred or the section chief just happened to be busy and his espers got put in the overflow (like when Gyuvin electrocuted Matthew that one time)… Zhang Hao as well, being such an illustrious figure with unique abilities in-demand internationally. Gyuvin was just a new guide on Team 1 and he happened to be Ricky’s assigned guide after Seungeon. It would be like introducing your sister to your new coworker.

(Gyuvin would never introduce his sister to any of his coworkers. Which is probably a moot point since Gyuvin would never introduce anyone to his sister... ok, wait, in the context of a very normal and civil interaction, he’d never go out of his way to bring his sister over and introduce her to his coworkers. There.)

Which… if Ricky and I were just esper and guide, there shouldn't have been a reason for Ricky to go out of his way to introduce me to them?

Is this like being introduced to the family

None of my other espers have introduced me to their esper partners unless they just happened to be passing by

Was Hao passing by, oh my god I don’t remember, was I the one interrupting them is that why he left so fast

No but Matthew definitely wasn’t just passing by so the point should still stand

4

Their second session where Ricky very clearly said he doesn't get ‘horny guiding brain' or however he put it

That doesn't mean he likes Gyuvin

But he also said Gyuvin was the only one

Ricky is the only one for

Gyuvin stops writing, angling the small notebook he'd been writing in away from prying eyes.

Namely, Seungeon, who'd returned from the chief's office, probably finalizing paperwork, so close to Gyuvin that if Gyuvin had turned in his direction while he'd been writing, they would've had a shoujo anime accidental kiss moment — except maybe not shoujo because they're total bros very interested in other people.

“Whatcha writing?” Like he wasn't just reading over Gyuvin's shoulder.

Gyuvin closes the notebook, tucking it away in his drawer, “It's nothing.”

“I think,” and Gyuvin has to give Seungeon a glare, which doesn’t make him very intimidating paired with his red ears, “you’re being silly.”

“I didn’t ask you.”

“Take it from me: I’ve been Ricky’s guide for the last who-knows-how-many-years,” no, Gyuvin, not something to be jealous over, stop right now, “and you’ve unlocked different facial expressions for him. Like I’ve never seen him cheesing so hard while getting smacked by a laughing giant.”

Of course Gyuvin has to smack him after that because he might be tall but he’s not a giant.

“Yah, but I’m right!”

They spend a few minutes going back and forth: Gyuvin trying to silence Seungeon from saying anything else that Gyuvin’s humility and innocence deny and Seungeon trying to speak his truth.

“You should just try the classic strat: ask him what you guys are and you’re guaranteed to get a clear answer. Like if he’s so “not into you” like you think, he’ll just ask to get a different guide, no biggie— Ow!”

Gyuvin will not be following Seungeon’s advice.

“So, what are we?”

This comes not from Gyuvin, but Ricky. Because Gyuvin would never take Seungeon’s advice.

Gyuvin fumbles with his buttons because he’s settled into the habit of untucking his shirt from his pants during their guiding sessions. Which then turned into pulling his tie loose and letting the first couple buttons go.

To letting Ricky claim whatever space he wants on his chest.

Ricky is sitting on the couch, watching as Gyuvin’s pink and red skin is covered up, inch by inch.

At most, Ricky pulls out his dick. Well, Gyuvin pulls out Ricky’s dick because they almost always start with Gyuvin going down on Ricky — he’s always so vocal when Gyuvin touches him and more when Gyuvin’s mouth is on him while he’s being guided. So if Ricky lets out cute little whines with kitty punches as Gyuvin sucks him off because Gyuvin’s guiding waves are entering his body through his dick first before spreading throughout the rest of his body and it just happens to be extra stimulating on top of everything else, well… can you really blame Gyuvin for making sure that’s how they begin every session?

They’ve yet to take the last step though: Ricky doesn’t bring it up and Gyuvin can’t bring it up.

Ricky looks impeccable, not a hair out of place despite how much they rolled around on the couch. One leg is crossed over the other, arms folded over his chest. His long and slender fingers run up and down the zipper seam on his arm, manicured fingernails flicking at the metal zipper. His hair curls artistically over his forehead, brushing against his eyelashes. He flicks it to the side, tilting his head up to look at Gyuvin.

“Gyuvin.”

God, it’s so unfair how devastating he looks.

Gyuvin can only gurgle out something along the words of “urh?” but at least it makes Ricky smile.

“Gyuvin?” This time punctuated with a soft touch at Gyuvin’s leg, feeling at the seam of his pants.

He wraps his hand around Ricky’s, fingers smoothing over the base of his palm and circling around his wrist. “You hungry?”

Brows furrow. “What?”

“You, uh,” Gyuvin looks away, spotting an object on the table next to his tablet, “you wanna do dinner tonight? With me? Somewhere nice?”

There’s a tug on his hand, a signal to look. He does, meeting Ricky who is very, very pretty looking up at him at this angle. “Just us?”

His tongue is heavy in his mouth, refusing to move when he wills it so he just nods. Ricky nods in return, grabbing the discarded object on the table. He moves to put it on but Gyuvin takes it from his hand, properly resting Ricky’s palm on his index finger, his thumb smoothing over the back of his hand, his other hand turning his loot around with his fingers.

“That,” Gyuvin starts, “you will— I mean, will you go date— ah, no, I will— I—”

Oh. Ricky’s mouth is on him. And that’s his tongue, hi.

“Hey, stupid,” Ricky says, pulling away, “I’ll go out with you so stop holding my ring hostage.”

Gyuvin does put it on, the placement a little early for their stage of the relationship but his excuse is that it doesn’t fit on any other finger. He brings it up to his mouth to give it a kiss, then holding Ricky’s hand up so Gyuvin can kiss the lines on his palm. Ricky giggles, a tickle of a laugh, pulling Gyuvin with it as he takes his hand back, wrapping his arms around Gyuvin’s waist. Gyuvin flails a bit before wrapping his own around Ricky’s neck, a bit lost since their positions are reversed from usual.

“You know you’re taller, but—”

Hands scoop under his butt, lifting him up. Gyuvin lets out a very scared squeak (a shriek, to be honest) as he scrambles to tighten his hold on Ricky, legs locking behind hips as Ricky drives him back against the wall.

“I’m stronger.”

Gyuvin’s had his fair share of manhandling but Ricky tossing him around, using that esper physique to his advantage?

Pretty damn hot.

Gyuvin’s pretty happy trying out this new angle, bearing straight down onto Ricky’s lips instead of the slight angle when they stand, when Ricky pulls away. Gyuvin rests his hands on those strong shoulders, squeezing cord-like muscles under his fingers.

Ricky smirks, liking the way Gyuvin is silenced by his display of strength. Gyuvin just likes Ricky and his pretty face and his pretty everything. His mouth opens to say something and Gyuvin just knows he’s about to say something sexy.

“I guess I have to thank Seungeon.”

Seungeon is very not sexy to Gyuvin. He can’t stop the frown that pulls at his lips, wondering why Seungeon of all people is being brought up now of all times.

“Your face will get stuck if you keep doing that.” Fingers poke at Gyuvin’s cheeks, pinching the skin and dragging it to the side to stop him. “He told me I should just ask, and that you’d for sure turn stupid.”

“Hey.”

“My dumb puppy.”

And because Gyuvin can’t take that sitting down (well, he’s in Ricky’s lap essentially, he’d be down to take anything), he hits back with a very practiced “wo de xiaomao [my little kitty]” that has Ricky’s eyes wide.

“Where did you learn that from?”

And while he’d love to give credit to some green bird app on his phone, his real teacher was… well…

“Seungeon.”