STJ_17

"Gosh... seriously, really."

Guhyeong took a clean sports glove and wrapped it tightly around Iijun's hand. Instead of stopping the bleeding or treating it, he seemed to want Iijun to stop biting his hand.

"What exactly do you hate about your brother?"

"You know what I mean, right?"

Iijun replied in a higher tone than usual and buried his face in his hands with an expression of pain.

Guhyeong, who was lying on the equipment, grumbled about how kids have no respect for adults these days, then lifted the barbell to continue the next set while muttering about waiting for Harin's turn, who was frowning.

"Hey, just leave it. Is there any way to beat that? What's the highest score you got so far? Is it 2% with Guide Choi Yumin?”

“.......”

"Even with an S-class Guide, you only get 2%. So don't get your hopes up."

Hard to tell if he was comforting or mocking him, Iijun lifted his head and looked at Harin through the mirror before burying his face in his hands again.

A sigh escaped between his teeth.

"All messed up..."

He lost his beloved Yopi doll, then the person he firmly believed to be his exclusive Guide was probably with someone else now.

And that person... was none other than Sa Kangjun.

His older brother, who was six years older than him, was the perfect figure. He was the love child of Sa Geonho, the country's first S-class Esper, and Cha Yoonhee, a famous actress of the time. He was loved and cared for not only by his parents, but also by the entire nation.

As he grew older, his brother became more and more like their father. He inherited a genius brain and even the exact appearance of his father, from jet black hair to obsidian black eyes to pale white skin.

Iijun could never forget the proud and loving look he saw in his mother's eyes when she looked at his brother, who was just learning to walk, in a home video someone had recorded before he was born.

It was a look he had never seen.

On the other hand, Iijun inherited his mother's looks. Brown hair and amber eyes. People commented that it was as if we both chose one parent to emulate.

However, when Iijun was born, his mother's condition was not so good.

At that time, his mother was so distraught that she didn't want to look in the mirror. She didn't want to see Iijun, who looked so much like her.

‘You're going to be six years old, and you still can't read? Kangjun back then...'

Iijun was always compared to Kangjun's childhood, and every time it happened, his mother would look at Iijun with a look of guilt and inferiority. Thinking about it now, he probably thought that her son wasn't as smart as Kangjun because he looked like her.

That's how time passed.

Eventually, his mother was frightened by the fact that his father was an Esper. She was even disappointed in the Esper race itself. It seemed that even the transcendent love between Esper and non-Guide had its limits.

It was a time of chaos. It was said that their father was also often on the verge of a rampage. Because of that, his mother could no longer understand things she once thought she understood. She could no longer understand her husband, who was forced to embrace others because of the demands of duty.

Even as a child, Iijun thought he had a chance. His father and brother were Esper, but he wasn't. He thought that one day his mother would love him more than his brother.

But that was a vain illusion. Maybe it was meant to be. Where Iijun was concerned, Kangjun was perfect, and everything was superior to him. Even in learning to walk, his brother was faster than him.

But admitting it with your head and accepting it with your heart are two different things.

In fact, UEFC's best asset right now is Sa Kangjun. Sa Kangjun rarely appears on the field for personal reasons, and Sa Iijun is the only Esper in the world to have two special abilities.

However, as the saying goes, one's own shortcomings always stand out more than the strengths of others, and the praise and admiration of people who called him the only one without equal in the world did not touch Sa Iijun's heart at all. Perhaps it was because of the inferiority complex that was already deeply ingrained in him.

“Fuck…”

He hated his brother, who was better than he was. He hates him because, unlike him, he thrives by always accepting love. He also disliked the numbers on the back of their callsigns. He even heard that there was a superior who called his brother, Sa Kangjun, Big Sierra, and him, Sa Iijun, Little Sierra.

Guhyeong crouched down to adjust his height and ruffled Iijun's hair.

"This person you call Master... why is he so special?"

Iijun, remembering that day for a moment, began to speak in a mumbled voice.

"The day I practiced without sleep..."

On that day, Iijun felt a strange electric current pulling him. It was a sensation strong enough to instantly awaken his half-conscious mind.

After that, with a shabby appearance due to not sleeping for five days, he just chased that feeling aimlessly. And as he dragged his limp body towards that destination, he came across a small man.

"What happened to that day?”

"I just followed the signal aimlessly and met him... The moment I touched him, I knew. He came to save me."

Iijun had a strange expression on his face, as if he was dreaming, but also teary-eyed. His face was filled with awe, like someone who had just realized that the characters in the folklore really existed.

Iijun, who had been in a reverie for a long time, suddenly stood up.

"I can't let it go."

Prayer could not stand by and watch. As he walked toward the entrance, the wide-open double iron doors slammed shut automatically. He turned to see Harin reaching for the door.

"Hey, don't go. You'll only get hurt."

At least this time it was sincere advice. However, Iijun only responded by throwing a small fireball at Harin with a blank face.

When Harin dodged the flames flying towards her and turned her head again, Iijun was already gone.

***

Beep.

“Ah!”

Even that small sound startled Doyoung until his shoulders jerked. 30 minutes felt like 3 hours.

『The measurement is complete. You may now cease the contact.』

The announcement came over the loudspeakers.

Is this what guiding is like? He just sat still, but it felt like all his energy had been drained.

It might not have been the guiding, but the overwhelming presence of the man who had held his hand.

Doyoung shook his hand as if he wanted to break free. But Kangjun did not loosen his grip at all.

There was a sound of someone sighing. He turned his head to the side and saw Kangjun's smiling face. His smile seemed vain, as if he was self-deprecating.

Worried that he had made a mistake, Doyoung asked.

"Why... are you smiling?"

"It feels like... I haven't felt proper guiding for so long that I've forgotten how it feels."

Kangjun stared silently at the hand he was holding, as if he wanted to engrave this moment in his memory.

Their palms touched each other perfectly, drenched in sweat. Normally, Kangjun would feel nauseous and want to vomit in such a situation.

But strangely, he didn't want to let go of his hands. Kangjun smiled and expressed his feelings about the matching test he took after so many years.

"It felt great.”

“......!”

Doyoung's eyes widened at the unexpected words from Sa Kangjun's mouth. But the surprise didn't stop there.

"I'm even curious what Joo Doyoung-ssi and I will do next."

Sa Kangjun, who had lowered his head and clasped Doyoung's hand, slowly raised his head. His eyes, as cold and blue as the winter sea, stared at Doyoung. His piercing gaze was like a vast abyss.

What did he mean by 'other things'?

Suddenly, Doyoung remembered the question about guiding preferences in the survey. After guiding by skin contact like holding hands, there was guiding by mucosal contact like kissing.

And the last one....

Guiding by sexual contact.

He couldn't possibly expect that from him, could he? Suddenly, Doyoung felt cold and shivered.

“I, I wonder what the score is. Haha…”

Doyoung spoke as best he could, trying to break the intense atmosphere between them. The hand that was still held by Sa Kangjun continued to squirm, showing his discomfort.

"Score?"

Sa Kangjun chuckled even though there was nothing special, but he seemed happier than usual.

"The match rate must be high. There's probably a commotion out there right now."

No matter what the match rate was, the most important thing for Doyoung right now was to break free from his hand.

"Excuse me... Esper Sa Kangjun... I mean, Lieutenant Colonel."

Instead of continuing his speech, Doyoung pointed at their clasped hands. Kangjun just looked back at Doyoung as if he didn't understand what he meant. His gaze was full of confidence, as if he claimed ownership of Doyoung's hand.

He tried to pull his hand with all his might, but it remained immobile, as if it had been crushed under a rock.

Doyoung felt annoyed and a little angry for a moment. It was not a pleasant experience to feel the huge difference in strength when being held by the same man more tightly than necessary.

"Hands, please let go."

Kangjun looked confused at the stern tone. His face seemed to find it hard to believe that he had been rejected.

Doyoung raised his eyebrows. The two brothers' attitudes were very similar in their selfishness, as if they had never been rejected by anyone in their lives. And even when he thought that, Kangjun still hadn't let go of his hand.

Doyoung frowned.

"Lieutenant Colonel. Let go of my hand, please."

"......."

Only then did Sa Kangjun let go of his hand, resigned. His eyes looked at Doyoung's hand with a regretful look, like a starving animal looking at a bowl of leftovers.

–

TL: Muji

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