DPGR 119

”…Esper. Esper Baek Dojin? Are you listening to me?”

“Ah.”

Dojin snapped out of his brief moment of reminiscing when the voice from the other end of the phone pulled him back.

“Sorry. I was just thinking about something for a second.”

—I asked if you knew anything about that dungeon.

“Mm, I know a bit. First of all, that dungeon was a dual dungeon.”

Dojin paused as he spoke. The Jeju dungeon had indeed been a dual dungeon. But something felt off about it already showing up at this point in time.

“Korea shouldn’t have seen any dual dungeons yet in this timeline.”

Just as he furrowed his brows, lost in uneasy thoughts, the Esper leader gave a low groan on the other end of the line.

“A dual dungeon? Damn… Has it already gotten that far?”

“…It does feel a bit fast.”

“Alright. Got it for now. What else?”

“The monsters were mostly insect and plant types. As for the boss monster, it was something I’d never seen before. Looked like… a giant mushroom, and it released spores that caused delirium.”

—Then do we need gas masks or something?

“I can’t say for sure if standard gas masks would be effective. We’ll probably need artifact support that can offer similar protection.”

—Artifacts, huh…

Given the scale of the dungeon, it seemed likely they would need to deploy Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Teams together.

But distributing artifacts to that many personnel might not be feasible.

—As you know, the number of artifacts is limited.

“I have a general idea of the boss monster’s location. Since it’s a plant-type, it can’t move. As long as we pinpoint where it is, the takedown will be quick.”

There was no need to send in all three teams en masse. They just had to eliminate the boss monster to resolve the dungeon.

At Dojin’s words, the Esper Director sighed in relief and let out a laugh.

—Yeah? Well, this is a rare stroke of luck, then. Esper Baek Dojin really coming through. Can you deploy today? I’ll notify the Beta Team immediately.

“Today…”

Dojin glanced toward the door behind him. He was worried about Jiho, who was probably still asleep in the bedroom.

“Jiho Guide still needs to rest.”

Even though he had been treated by Espers in Japan, Jiho’s stamina hadn’t fully recovered yet.

It showed.

Jiho had been sleeping more than usual and struggled with long walks.

Dojin didn’t want to enter a dungeon again with Jiho in that state.

More than that, he didn’t want to bring Jiho into a place filled with monsters again.

“I can go, but I have a favor to ask.”

—A favor? What is it?

“I want the guides excluded from this dungeon entry. Not by my decision, but as an order from the Center.”

—……

“It’s possible without guides. I’ll take full responsibility, so please, just help me cover for it.”

—You’re asking me to lie? Well, I suppose that’s not hard… but won’t the guides find it suspicious? Pair guides accompanying Esper partners into dungeons is practically mandatory.

“Whatever it takes, just give the pair guides an excuse to stay behind.”

—Ha. You really can’t stand the thought of your guide getting hurt, huh? Weren’t you the one who used to yell about not needing a guide?

The Esper Director grumbled. Dojin let out a quiet laugh, wondering if he really had been like that.

—So now your guide is that precious, huh? You can’t live without him?

“Yes. He’s so precious I can’t live without him.”

—……

“I want to protect him. Cherish him. I really care about him, a lot. So please, help me out.”

Just as he finished speaking, Dojin heard a soft sound from beyond the door.

He flung it open.

Standing right there was Jiho, face flushed, wide-eyed, frozen in place.

How much had he heard?

Still staring at Jiho, Dojin raised the phone back to his ear.

“Then I’ll end the call here. Today’s not possible, let’s schedule it for tomorrow morning. Please finalize it that way.”

—What? Wait, Baek Dojin, hold on a se—

Click.

Dojin hung up and reached out to Jiho. When he cupped his cheek, Jiho leaned into his hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

The heat of Jiho’s flushed skin seeped into Dojin’s palm.

“Why are you awake? You should’ve kept sleeping.”

“Be… because you weren’t beside me…”

Mumbling, Jiho hesitantly asked,

“Who was that on the phone?”

“…The Esper Director. A dungeon’s opened, and it looks like only the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Teams are available to go in.”

“A raid? Already? You’re going into a dungeon again?”

“Yeah, well… It’s not a particularly difficult one. Should be a quick job, so there’s no need to worry.”

“But still… you haven’t even received proper guiding yet.”

The guiding rejection symptoms Dojin had developed after the Japan dungeon still hadn’t gone away.

He’d been reducing the rejection little by little through hand-guiding, but as the phrase suggested, it was only a little.

His guiding score still hovered around 50% at best, and Jiho was clearly worried.

“I’m just filling the seat as the Alpha Team’s leader. The actual raid will be handled by the other Espers.”

Even with that explanation, Jiho didn’t look reassured.

But Jiho seemed to collect himself quickly. He pulled away from Dojin’s hand and stepped into the dressing room.

Passing by Dojin, he went to retrieve his bag.

He unpacked everything inside, then picked up the guiding pill container from the nightstand.

“…What are you doing?”

“Packing. Hm, should I bring a handkerchief too?”

“No, no. I can pack that sort of thing myself.”

“You’ll have to use your body a lot. I should be the one to carry the small stuff.”

Only then did Dojin realize that Jiho was preparing to join the dungeon raid.

He hurried to clarify.

“This dungeon will be tackled by Espers only.”

“…What?”

Jiho froze, hand paused mid-search for the handkerchief. He looked up at Dojin with a puzzled expression.

“Why?”

“Because it’s a simple dungeon.”

“E-Even so… I’m your pair guide.”

Jiho tilted his head in confusion. Espers only? That didn’t make sense.

If both Alpha and Beta Teams are going, this can’t be a small dungeon.

And yet Espers were going in alone?

As Dojin struggled to find a proper explanation, Jiho’s phone buzzed with a mass message.

It was a notice stating that there would be a guiding seminar held in the guide wing tomorrow afternoon.

One line at the bottom caught Jiho’s attention:

A new guiding method will be introduced, recently announced in the guide field. All guides, pair or free, are encouraged to participate.

Dojin, reading the message over Jiho’s shoulder, said,

“See? Guide Jiho should probably attend that.”

“…A new guiding method? I don’t remember any training like this before.”

“There’ve been a lot of unexpected variables lately. Who knows, maybe it’ll be useful later, so you should go.”

Dojin actively encouraged Jiho to attend the seminar. It was unusually assertive of him.

Jiho’s expression turned uncertain.

Just how revolutionary is this method that they’re calling in even the pair guides?

Of course, all of this was a setup Dojin had arranged through the Esper leader, but Jiho had no way of knowing that. From his perspective, nothing made sense.

“Well, I have to head out for the dungeon raid tomorrow anyway. I’ll drop you off at the Center in the morning. What time is the seminar?”

“Uh… two in the afternoon.”

“I’ll be heading into the dungeon in the morning.”

“That’s fine. Just stay with Guide Sena and Guide Geonwoo. Okay?”

“Alright. Make sure not to wander off, stay close to those two, and eat properly. I’ll come pick you up when the raid’s over.”

“Will it really be over the same day?”

“Half a day… no, probably even less.”

Dojin spoke with confidence. He already knew everything about the dungeon, so it was harder not to feel sure.

That reassurance helped ease the anxiety Jiho hadn’t realized he was holding.

If it’s only half a day, then it must not be that serious.

“What kind of dungeon is it?”

“It’s just… a large dungeon. The rank isn’t high, but the space is big, so it needs more personnel. Probably just Alpha and Beta Teams will enter.”

Dojin gently pinched Jiho’s soft cheek and added,

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

Jiho had no reason to doubt Dojin, so he accepted the words without hesitation.

When Jiho nodded, Dojin silently sighed in relief.

“So, let’s put that bag down now.”

Dojin casually took the bag from Jiho’s hands and set it aside, then swept Jiho into his arms and started walking to the bedroom.

Jiho instinctively wrapped his arms around Dojin’s neck.

“Let’s finish that nap you didn’t get earlier.”

“But I’m wide awake…”

“You’ll fall asleep the moment you lie down.”

“No, I won’t. I’m not sleepy.”

Jiho kicked his feet, as if to ask Dojin to put him down, but Dojin only held him tighter. Jiho’s slippers slipped off with a soft thump.

“I’m tired, that’s why.”

“T-Then let’s nap together.”

The warmth in his arms felt good. Dojin chuckled low in his throat and adjusted his hold on Jiho.

As they stepped into the bedroom, he pressed his lips to Jiho’s cheek.

Smooch smooch—

Ticklish sounds echoed in the room. That day, Dojin held Jiho for quite a long time, burying his face in the crook of Jiho’s neck.

He breathed in Jiho’s scent like he was trying to etch it into memory.

Even though he was about to enter the dungeon that had once killed him, Dojin felt calm.

Jiho’s scent gave him the courage to believe he could do anything.

“Jiho.”

“Mmm…”

He said he wasn’t sleepy, and yet…

Dojin smiled quietly and took Jiho’s left hand. His eyes fell on the pinky.

The bite mark Dojin had left a few days ago was now completely gone.

He found himself regretfully touching the spot where the mark had been, while calculating tomorrow’s dungeon timing in his head.

‘If I hurry a little more… I might make it.’

Time with Jiho was precious. So after finishing the raid, Dojin decided he’d sneak away to look at rings.