After finishing up today's raid – which was only one, we got dismissed early. Most gates had been handled by our capable A-Rank espers, so there's no need for us – who are basically a powerhouse – to sweep every A-Rank gate that showed up. After all, A-Rank espers also need to make a living, without gate clear records, the government wouldn't pay them.
I waited patiently for Ilyas to finish guiding Cedric. Even though we were already in a relationship, I couldn't monopolize Ilyas' guiding ability as he's the only S-Rank guide that could ease my team members' impurities. But still…
'It's certainly not a pleasant feeling.'
I scrunched my nose. This wasn't something that bothered me before, but now I was really conscious of it.
"Want some drink?"
"I'll skip, I'm not thirsty right now."
Xain asked me as he stood in front of the vending machine. I glanced at him, observing his expression, at least he looked nonchalant on the outside.
'Does Xain and Cedric also experience something like this?'
When you like someone and that someone spent time with others other than you, moreover chose other person over yourself….
My sudden declaration must have broken their heart.
I tapped my fingers on my thigh as guilt filled my heart. Watching Xain sitting down beside me, I opened my mouth.
"Hey Xain."
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry."
Xain looked at me with confused eyes before he lowered his head, understanding what I meant. I gave him a sheepish smile while closely listening to every word he would say, bracing myself for any flying fist or shouts of anger that might be directed at me.
But Xain didn't show any signs of aggravation.
"I have talked about this with Cedric."
The refreshing sound of soda being opened rang in the hallway. Xain sipped his drink and continued, "We both have feelings for you, but the moment you choose someone out of the three of us, we would back down, that's what we promised."
"Our relationship might feel a bit awkward at the start, but we want to keep our friendship as it is. It is a bitter feeling, but we can't exactly kidnap you and take you for ourselves. So we decided to respect your choice and support whoever you choose."
He met my gaze, unwavering.
"You don't have to feel sorry, we have made peace with it."
My body, which had unconsciously tensed up, relaxed as Xain's words assuaged my worries. Even with few words exchanged, I knew how sincere Xain and Cedric's feelings were, yet their strong desire to keep our friendship intact made them decide to let me go – to choose the one I love.
A smile formed on my lips. In some way, they were more mature than me in making decisive actions and sorting out their feelings.
"Ethan, your turn."
Cedric called out to me. He had finished his session and was walking out of the guiding room.
I nodded and entered the room. Ilyas already waited on the nearby sofa so I approached and sat beside him. When I saw no signs of Ilyas starting, I raised my gaze, but all I saw was him cutely tilting his head.
"Are you not going to kiss me Ethan?"
My heart almost jumped out of my ribs. Unlike his cute gesture, his words were brutally unfiltered.
How could the innocent Ilyas suggest that out of the blue?
All this time, our guiding session had been purely relying on contact guiding, as mucous membrane guiding was reserved for more urgent situations such as life-threatening conditions.
"We did it that day, so let's do it again today."
That day… Well, that day was an exception. I thought Ilyas did it in the heat of the situation, but I guess he had an ulterior motive to use it as an excuse to keep doing it with me in our guiding session.
Ilyas climbed on top of me, touching my cheek and brought his face closer to mine. I held his waist, keeping his body steady as I stared directly at his emerald eyes.
He gave me one last mischievous smile, "I'll start guiding now."
Once our lips touched, Ilyas immediately pried open my mouth. He aggressively invaded with his tongue, leaving not a single part of it untouched. Streams of guiding energy kept flowing inside, making my head dizzy.
It still left me wondering who taught him to be this good at kissing but it's certainly not me.
Gasping for breath, our lips parted. Ilyas suddenly chuckled.
"Are you jealous? Who are you jealous of?"
"Ah, no, that's not it…"
'Right, guiding means exposing your internal emotion to your partner.'
I was so out of it that I forgot to keep my emotions in check.
"I was wondering who taught you to be this good at kissing."
I trailed off my words as my voice became smaller in the end, which made Ilyas burst into laughter. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and said in the most cheerful tone.
"I just asked other senior guides for some tips. I have never practiced it on anyone other than you though. Glad that it makes you feel good too."
'Yeah, Ilyas isn't that type of person.'
I knew he's a good kid, I was just being petty, thinking there's someone else Ilyas had kissed before.
"But it's nice, seeing you jealous because of me."
He buried his face on my shoulder, hugging my neck. Even with all this conversation going on, his guiding energy never faded once, that's just how skillful he had become over the past few months.
I patted his back in return, enjoying the warmth radiating from his body.
"Do you still take your medication?"
His sudden question surprised me. I was sure to be careful not to drink my meds around my team members, so there's no way they would know. So how could Ilyas – the one I wanted to hide this fact the most – know this?
"You know I exchanged numbers with your brother, right? I pressed him to tell me all your medical records. As your guide and partner, I need to know that much, don't I?"
'So that's how it is.'
I let out a sigh.
That brother of mine… As a pharmacist, how could he carelessly spill his patient's medical records?
"My condition has been improving since the day you guide me nonstop in the hospital. I still take medicines, but it was mostly for precaution rather than treatment."
Ilyas shifted his body, which made me release my arms around him. His gentle eyes met mine.
"Then I'll make sure you're so healthy you don't have to take it anymore."
Once again, Ilyas gave me a deep kiss.