Chapter 114:
Just like the rest of the house, Seo Hye-ryeong’s bedroom was decorated with colorful, charming knick-knacks, reflecting her taste.
However, Seo Hye-ryeong herself, lying in bed under a deep orange blanket, was devoid of color. Like her father and Seo Jae-yi before her, she looked as if her color had been drained away.
Seo Jae-yi bit her lip, seeing the fatigue etched on her aunt’s face.
“I brought you some medicine. It’s good for you. Try it.”
“I’m fine, though.”
“No, you’re not. Just like I wasn’t actually fine, you’re not either.”
Seo Hye-ryeong’s eyes widened at her words, then she burst out laughing.
“Now that you have a paired Guide, you really seem to be doing better. You’re even saying things like that.”
“Yeah. I’m really okay now. I’ve gotten close to Baek Joo-won, too. So now it’s your turn to get better.”
Seo Jae-yi offered the pale pink medicine, diluted with water. Despite its suspicious appearance, Seo Hye-ryeong drank it without question.
“It’s sweet?”
“The potion maker said he hates bitter tastes, so he made it sweet.”
Shin Woo-hyun had proudly explained that it cost a bit more in research expenses. Since she had given him unlimited funding, he’d happily used it.
“……You look well, Jae-yi.”
“I have a paired Guide now, you know. Baek Joo-won forces me to get better by Guiding me even when I tell him not to. And I’m not even resisting anymore.”
Seo Hye-ryeong laughed heartily.
“Yes, he seems like the type to do that. I can finally stop worrying about you.”
Seo Hye-ryeong’s eyes began to droop. Unlike the past days, where she couldn’t sleep despite her exhaustion, she seemed to be drifting off immediately after taking the tranquilizer.
“Yeah, Aunt. You don’t have to worry about me anymore. Baek Joo-won and I will always be together. I won’t be in danger anymore.”
Baek Joo-won wanted to be her last Guide.
Seo Jae-yi had felt joy at that moment. His words had filled her with happiness and relief.
It was a feeling similar to contentment.
She now understood, at least a little, why Baek Joo-won looked so satisfied while Guiding her.
“Jae-yi…”
Seo Hye-ryeong was already half asleep. Seo Jae-yi gently cupped her aunt’s right hand in both of hers.
“Sleep well, Aunt. You can sleep now.”
As if waiting for those words, Seo Hye-ryeong quickly fell asleep.
Unlike when she had to force herself to sleep with sleeping pills, her face now looked completely at peace.
Seo Jae-yi stayed by her aunt’s side all night, watching over her.
Worried about potential side effects, wondering if she would wake up suddenly, or if she would have nightmares.
She sat there, watching over Seo Hye-ryeong, without sleeping a wink.
Until the darkness faded, and the first light of dawn arrived, giving way to morning.
Listening to Seo Hye-ryeong’s peaceful breathing, Seo Jae-yi turned her head towards the light filtering through the curtains.
It was the most joyful and dazzling sunrise she had seen in a long time.
The tranquilizer was perfect.
After her brother, Seo Ju-il, died and her niece, Seo Jae-yi, whom she raised like a daughter, was taken to the Center and lost contact, Seo Hye-ryeong had developed depression, insomnia, and various other ailments. After eleven long years, she could finally sleep peacefully.
It wasn’t a deep, dreamless sleep, but a normal sleep like everyone else. A sleep where she could have good dreams and nightmares. But that made it even better. This kind of sleep wouldn’t be addictive.
“I’m so relieved.”
Seo Jae-yi, who had watched over her aunt all night, felt at ease as she listened to her aunt mumble in her sleep and toss and turn.
It had been a long time since she felt this lighthearted on her way home from her aunt’s house.
“It’s all thanks to you.”
As the car stopped at a red light, Seo Jae-yi beamed at Baek Joo-won.
It was her usual bright smile, but this one held a different meaning.
It was a smile that resembled a clear blue sky, free from the dark clouds of worry and anxiety.
“It’s all because of you that I wanted to open a flower shop, that I wanted to grow and sell dungeon plants. If I hadn’t thought of that, I wouldn’t have discovered the Sleeping Flower.”
How could he be the reason for so many good things in her life? Thanks to him, she was alive, and her family had found peace. Baek Joo-won was her greatest benefactor.
“Thank you so much.”
She often expressed her gratitude, but today’s thanks felt especially heartfelt.
Baek Joo-won gazed at Seo Jae-yi’s radiant face.
“……I have something to show you.”
“What is it?”
“Let’s go home first.”
Though curious, Seo Jae-yi complied and headed home.
Once they arrived, he led her to his room.
“Why are we here?”
Seo Jae-yi had never entered his room since she gave it to him. She didn’t want him to feel like she was monitoring him.
It was his room, so even if he was raising monsters in there—though she hadn’t sensed any such presence—she wouldn’t have minded.
She hadn’t expected him to invite her in.
“Come in.”
Baek Joo-won opened the door. Her nose reacted before her eyes did.
Seo Jae-yi’s eyes widened at the familiar scent.
“……Wow.”
The spacious room, bathed in the blue sky’s light, was filled with flowers. Hydrangeas, roses, callas, peonies, even dungeon flowers.
Every single flower Seo Jae-yi had given him was there, filling the room.
And none of them had wilted.
Knowing he had carefully preserved them all, even using his ability to do so, touched Seo Jae-yi deeply.
“These, these are the flowers I gave you. You kept them all this time?”
“Why would you think I’d throw them away?”
Seo Jae-yi was speechless at Baek Joo-won’s casual question.
“Didn’t I tell you when we paired? That the bribes you’d been persistently giving me worked? That wasn’t a lie. So there’s no way I’d throw away your gifts.”
From the flowers he’d received over the past month to the furniture she’d bought him at the department store a while ago, everything in the room was a gift from Seo Jae-yi.
“Don’t think you’re the only one receiving things. I’ve received plenty from you, too.”
“But, they’re just bouquets.”
“You didn’t just give me bouquets.”
Baek Joo-won stepped closer to Seo Jae-yi. Even as the distance between them rapidly closed, she didn’t back away. As if pleased, Baek Joo-won smiled and caressed her cheek.
“You gave me your heart along with those bouquets, didn’t you?”
“…….”
“Asking me to see you, to choose you. Promising to give me everything if I did. You poured those feelings into the flowers, didn’t you?”
With each bouquet, Seo Jae-yi’s feelings accumulated.
For a month.
Finally, Baek Joo-won had obtained Seo Jae-yi’s whole heart, bound by the title of “Pair.”
“I have you, Seo Jae-yi. The Esper no one could obtain, the strongest Esper in Korea, the Esper I couldn’t kill and could only save… I have you.”
Did she think she was the only one who gained a lot? Not at all. He had gained something far greater.
There was nothing in this world more desirable than Seo Jae-yi.
“Do you still think our relationship only benefits you?”
“Well, no, not really.”
Brimming with self-confidence, Seo Jae-yi readily agreed.
Her agreement was also a declaration that she would give him everything, or rather, that she already had.
Baek Joo-won’s smile deepened. It was the look of satisfaction and desire Seo Jae-yi had seen often.
Perhaps because she was receiving this look in a space filled with her gifts, Seo Jae-yi felt an irresistible urge to touch him. Even though they were already close, she wanted to be closer.
“Joo-won.”
As she whispered his name, a hand wrapped around her waist, as if understanding her unspoken desire.
Their bodies pressed together. Now, Baek Joo-won’s scent was stronger than the fragrance of the flowers.
“Ah.”
As soon as she registered that thought, Guiding flowed through their point of contact. The wider the area of contact, the more intensely the Guiding spread throughout her body.
Still, it was slow and unhurried, allowing her to endure it with just gasps of breath.
‘But it’s so slow, it’s agonizing.’
It felt like droplets of rain falling on parched earth. This slow burn was somehow harder to bear than the explosive surge of energy.
She had never experienced this kind of Guiding before.
“Seriously, aren’t you being too much?”
This kind of Guiding when she wanted him so badly!
Seo Jae-yi gritted her teeth. Her hands were now wrapped around Baek Joo-won’s back.
His low chuckle vibrated through their connected bodies.
“What? I like it.”
Lowering his head, Baek Joo-won’s lips brushed the sensitive skin where her neck met her shoulder. Seo Jae-yi held her breath as the Guiding intensified.
Then, he bit down hard on the very spot his lips had been caressing.
“Ah!”
It didn’t draw blood. But the sensation of being bitten, even by something not sharp, was intense.
When Baek Joo-won licked the now-sensitive area with his tongue, a shiver ran down her spine.
Still, Seo Jae-yi couldn’t bring herself to push him away. She could only cling to him, lost in the gentle current of Guiding. Her fingernails dug into his back.
“You’re clinging to me well now.”
His low chuckle tickled her neck. The blatant sensuality made Seo Jae-yi bite her lip.
“Seo Jae-yi.”
Baek Joo-won, after biting and sucking on her neck to his usual satisfaction, lifted his head. His green eyes stared intently at her lips.
His gaze, though seemingly weightless, felt incredibly heavy.
“Can I kiss you? It’ll feel even better.”
He whispered, slowing the Guiding even further, teasing her senses with agonizing slowness.
Ohhh ooooh finally some skinship