DPGR 116

He doesn’t know what state of mind he was in when they left Esper wing.

‘Ugh, this is so awkward…!’

As they exited the building, Jiho fidgeted in Dojin’s grasp. His palm had started to sweat from nervousness, and it was bothering him.

“Hy-hyung. My hand…”

“Why? Is it uncomfortable?”

“No, no. It’s just, my hand is sweaty…”

“It’s fine. Let’s just go like this.”

Apparently Jiho was the only one bothered by the dampness, because Dojin instead intertwined their fingers more tightly.

“Uhh…”

Whatever the rush was, Dojin hurriedly flagged down a taxi.

Just as he’d intended, Jiho’s head was now filled with nothing but thoughts of Dojin.

‘Are we going straight home? Then, at home…’

The look Dojin had given him in the hallway had been fairly explicit. The way his gaze had lingered near Jiho’s jaw, the way his voice had dropped to a quiet whisper…

He said he wanted to finish their conversation at home, but—

‘Would we even have time to talk?’

Jiho imagined that the moment they got home, Dojin would pull him into a hug or go straight for a kiss. No—maybe something even more than kissing might happen.

And considering he’d said, ‘Let’s spend the whole week together,’ he might start tormenting Jiho even more persistently than before.

As his mind naturally drifted to lewd thoughts, Jiho gulped down a dry swallow.

“Where to?”

The taxi driver adjusted the rearview mirror and asked for their destination. Jiho had assumed Dojin would give his home address—but instead, he gave a completely different one.

“To Incheon, please. The address is here.”

He pulled a business card from his wallet and handed it over. Jiho caught a glimpse of the name on the card.

‘Huh…?’

It was the name of the family psychiatric hospital in Incheon where Jiho went.

“H-Hyung?”

Flustered, Jiho called out to him, but the taxi was already moving. Dojin looked at him with a faint smile.

“Today we’re going for my counseling.”

“You’re getting counseling?”

“I said I’d try once I got back to Korea, didn’t I?”

Now that he mentioned it, Jiho vaguely remembered that. Still, he hadn’t expected him to actually go through with it.

Jiho’s face, which had been flushed with shyness, quickly clouded over with worry.

‘If he needs counseling…’

Especially if the first thing he did upon returning to Korea was go to the hospital, then Jiho’s guiding must have left a serious trauma on him.

Maybe Dojin’s condition was worse than he thought.

‘It’s my fault…’

If only he hadn’t forced that guiding session back then.

As always, self-loathing started to gnaw at Jiho. Ever since the day he collapsed from the dream demon’s attack, Dojin’s heart must have been silently rotting away.

And yet Jiho had been fantasizing about kissing him.

How could he be so immature and shameless? He felt truly sorry and ashamed in front of Dojin.

“Guide Jiho.”

Dojin’s quiet voice came from beside him. Jiho bowed his head even lower.

Dojin gave a faint smile.

‘It’s obvious what he’s thinking.’

From Jiho’s slumped shoulders, downturned mouth, and darkened expression, Dojin could tell what was going through his head.

Sometimes Jiho’s emotions were written plainly across his face.

And that too, was something Dojin found endearing.

“I’m not going to counseling just because of the guiding. I have personal issues too.”

“…Personal issues?”

“Yes. The nightmares I had because of the dream demon. They’ve been keeping me from sleeping lately.”

“……!”

It wasn’t something he made up just to reassure Jiho. In fact, he had lost weight from several nights of insomnia.

Whenever he closed his eyes, he was back in the snowfield, finding Jiho’s belongings.

During the dream demon’s nightmare, he had seen it all from a third-person perspective—but now, his dreams put him in the first person, experiencing the horror himself.

And beyond that, memories from the first and second cycles were jumbled together, showing up chaotically in his dreams.

There was no way he could sleep soundly like that.

“…….”

Jiho opened and closed his mouth, speechless. He had completely forgotten that Dojin had also suffered nightmares because of the dream demon.

He even forgot that the taxi driver was glancing at them through the rearview mirror, as he suddenly cupped Dojin’s cheeks with both hands.

Then, as if trying to assess Dojin’s condition, he turned his face this way and that.

“You haven’t been sleeping? This whole time?”

“Ah, no, I mean…”

“What kind of nightmare was it? So you didn’t sleep last night either? Why? Are you still having that same dream?”

Now that he mentioned it, the skin under Dojin’s eyes did look a bit dark.

His face and body seemed slightly thinner too, and his skin had lost its usual luster.

Jiho had assumed it was just the aftereffects of the ordeal at the Japanese dungeon, that Dojin hadn’t fully recovered yet.

“I had some tranquilizers. If you’d told me, I would’ve shared mine with you. Or we could’ve gotten you a prescription from a hospital in Japan.”

Jiho looked as upset as if he’d been the one suffering from insomnia.

He had believed that he’d experienced the worst nightmares of all, but seeing Dojin now, his own dreams seemed mild by comparison.

Or maybe, despite appearances, Dojin was even more soft-hearted and fragile than he was.

Thinking that, Jiho began to feel a protective instinct toward him, which made him start nagging without realizing it.

“Why are you only telling me now? You should’ve told me earlier, even if it was just me.”

Dojin was thoroughly pleased by the way his tiny guide was scolding him. The way Jiho glared with all his might and chirped away with his small lips made him look just like a sparrow.

Of course, if he said that out loud, Jiho would definitely get mad—so Dojin just kept it to himself.

“I’m sorry.”

“Let’s go to the hospital. Get counseling, take some medication—then you’ll be able to sleep soundly.”

“Yes. I’ll do that.”

As soon as Dojin responded obediently, Jiho’s energy calmed down. Though he was still puffing up a little, the stream of scolding stopped all at once.

He could’ve kept going. Dojin felt a twinge of regret and grabbed Jiho’s hand, which was still resting on his face.

“Are you done?”

“…Huh? Done with what?”

“The nagging. I wouldn’t mind more.”

His murmured voice held an unavoidable hint of amusement. Realizing too late that he had been nagging Dojin, Jiho blushed.

His wide eyes wavered in embarrassment. Dojin let out a quiet chuckle and gently bit the tip of Jiho’s finger.

“It’s been a while since someone worried about me like this. Feels… different.”

A faint bite mark appeared on the fingertip. Jiho flinched in surprise.

The way he reacted to every little touch, Dojin found it somehow delightful.

As he stroked Jiho’s flushed cheek with his hand, Dojin imagined biting down on that soft skin.

Not just the finger—he wanted to sink his teeth into Jiho’s blushing cheek, or the nape of his neck just below.

If he bit hard enough to leave a mark, Jiho would probably tear up from the pain and whimper—yet wouldn’t be able to push him away, only pout with trembling lips.

Completely unaware of how arousing that was to someone else.

As his imagination spiraled, heat pooled in Dojin’s lower body.

He recalled the time Jiho once asked, half-angrily, why he was always being teased like this—was he some kind of pervert?

‘Maybe I really am…’

With the guiding no longer sufficient, Dojin had become more in tune with his instincts.

He was constantly thirsty, always hungry.

He wanted to pin his young guide down, taste him all over, and leave his marks everywhere.

At the same time, he also wanted to wrap that soft body in his arms under warm sunlight on a bed and savor the peace.

By now, he couldn’t tell whether what he craved was to satisfy his hunger, his lust, or simply to rest.

“Hy-hyung. Um…”

Ah.

Jiho’s whisper snapped Dojin back to reality. He released the finger he had been absentmindedly chewing.

At the same moment, Jiho yanked his hand away and clutched it tightly.

Just like in Dojin’s imagination, Jiho was tearful at the corners of his eyes, whimpering as he glanced up at him.

Now not only his cheeks, but even his round ears and the back of his neck had turned bright red.

That sight was just…

‘…Mouthwatering.’

Dojin’s throat bobbed. He swallowed hard. Forcibly tearing his gaze away from Jiho, he rubbed his face with both hands to calm down.

The back of Dojin’s neck was just as red as Jiho’s.

***

Jiho and Dojin arrived home late in the evening.

After a quick wash, Dojin headed into the kitchen, and Jiho silently watched his back.

‘Did the counseling go well?’

Unlike Jiho, who had his sessions with Dojin by his side, Dojin had chosen to do his counseling one-on-one with the therapist.

Because of that, Jiho knew nothing about what had been discussed, nor about the feedback or medication Dojin might have received.

‘He didn’t even tell me about the nightmares…’

He had tried to casually ask on the way home, but Dojin had just looked troubled and deflected the question.

And since Jiho hadn’t told Dojin everything about his own nightmares either, he couldn’t press the issue.

Still, it was only natural to be worried and curious.

‘And about the guiding…’

He was still at a loss as to what to do about that.

He needed to check Dojin’s condition through the watch and provide the proper guiding.

“Why? Do you have something to say?”

As Jiho stood there hesitating, Dojin turned and asked. Jiho flinched and shook his head.

“N-no!”

“Then go wash up. Let’s eat something simple first.”

Dojin’s expression and tone were flat. There was no excitement or anticipation, nor any disappointment either.

So Jiho did as he was told: he washed up, changed clothes, and came out to sit at the table.

Even while they ate, he kept stealing glances at Dojin.

When this slowed the meal down, Dojin spoke in passing.

“There won’t be any guiding tonight.”