DPGR 70

Knock knock—

A quiet knock sounded from outside the door. It creaked open, and a familiar face peeked in.

“Ah, Yulchan…!”

Geonwoo was the first to call out in delight at the sight of him after so long.

But then—

“W-what happened to your face?!”

“…Ah.”

Both Geonwoo and Jiho were visibly shocked at Yulchan’s appearance.

And rightly so.

Didn’t she say it was just a small bump…?

Now that he was up close, they could see his lip was split and scabbed over, and a faint bruise bloomed along his cheekbone.

All marks carefully tended to—by Sena, of course.

Geonwoo and Jiho turned to look at her.

Sena avoided their gazes, cold sweat forming on her forehead.

“Um, Sena…”

At that moment, Yulchan awkwardly called out to her.

He must have come all the way here to make up and soothe her anger.

Geonwoo shot Sena a meaningful glance—Now’s your chance. Apologize. Look at his face, come on.

Eventually, unable to ignore the unspoken pressure, Sena got to her feet. She snuck a glance at Yulchan.

Even she had to admit—he looked… pretty bad.

She hesitated, then finally opened her mouth.

“I, I, I’m s—”

Yulchan’s eyes wavered.

No way… is she apologizing?

Sure, he’d gotten punched, but he was clearly more at fault.

Even Yulchan knew that.

He hadn’t told his Pair Guide about his guiding issues, and he’d gone so far as to secretly take suppressants—an obvious breach of trust.

He’d been reflecting on that the whole time, and came here to say sorry.

But now, seeing Sena trembling and trying to move her lips, the stinging pain in his cheek seemed to vanish.

Because… she had never apologized first before.

“I, I, I—”

The longer she hesitated, the higher Yulchan’s hopes soared.

Everyone in the training room had their eyes fixed on her.

Then, with a face bright red, Sena finally shouted:

“You—you idiot! You’re the one who messed up!”

“……”

“……”

A heavy silence dropped over the room.

Aside from Sena huffing in frustration, no sound followed.

But it didn’t last long.

“Ha… Ahahaha!”

Yulchan, wide-eyed at first, suddenly burst into laughter.

He laughed so hard tears welled up in his eyes, then stepped right in and pulled Sena into his arms.

“You bastard! Let go! I said LET GO, you moron!”

Sure, she was swearing, but Yulchan knew this was her way of showing courage.

It must’ve been embarrassing for her—hence the over-the-top reaction.

So cute…

The wounds on his body would heal on their own soon enough.

Yulchan, used to this, hoisted the squirming Sena up in his arms with practiced ease.

Then he turned to Geonwoo and Jiho and offered an apologetic nod.

“Sorry, I just need a quick word with Sena.”

“O-oh… yeah. Take her. Please…”

“Apologies for startling you too, Guide Jiho.”

“Uuugh… face… his face…”

“It’ll heal quickly, don’t worry. Thank you for the concern. Well, we’ll be off now—”

“Hey! Where do you think you’re taking me?! PUT ME DOWN!”

Yulchan adjusted his grip on the flailing Sena and casually exited the training room.

It felt like a storm had just blown through.

Geonwoo let out a hollow laugh, still dazed.

“Whew. They’re gonna stay paired for the next ten years at this rate.”

Nod, nod.

Jiho couldn’t even bring himself to deny it. All he could do was nod in agreement.

***

That night.

As always, Jiho laid down in bed beside Dojin, holding his hand for guiding before sleep.

“No muscle pain tonight, I see.”

“……”

“Still, a light massage before bed would be best.”

With all the training and exertion lately, Jiho had been pushing his body too far, so Dojin had gotten into the habit of giving him a quick massage before bed.

The pain had been keeping Jiho up at night.

Thanks to the break disguised as guiding training earlier that day, Jiho hadn’t overworked himself again.

But the soreness from the day before didn’t magically disappear after a single rest day, so Dojin offered the massage himself.

“Ugh… ah, that hurts…”

“Bear with it. I told you, you didn’t need to push yourself so hard.”

“Uuugh… nagging…”

“If you don’t want to hear it, reduce your training.”

“Uuu…”

As Dojin gently massaged Jiho’s skinny arms and legs, he leaned in and planted a small kiss on Jiho’s pouting lips.

Jiho puffed out his cheeks and gave him a sideways glare—but then, Geonwoo’s words from earlier in the guiding room popped into his mind.

About Dojin being a bit of an old man… no, about how Jiho should try calling him “hyung” or “hyung-ah.”

‘Hmm. Maybe Dojin didn’t say anything, but inside, he might’ve thought I was rude for calling him by name.’

He’d looked up the term “Boomer” online, and they all seemed to get hung up on stuff like that.

And if Dojin really was one of those old-fashioned types, he might’ve felt uncomfortable with someone ten years younger calling him so casually by name.

‘Then… maybe I should try calling him hyung-ah?’

While he hesitated, the massage ended. Dojin pulled the blanket up over Jiho, bundling him snugly, then lay down beside him and wrapped him in a loose hug.

“Let’s sleep now.”

Jiho was the one who got the massage, but Dojin looked like he was the one feeling refreshed.

Jiho stared at him for a bit, then finally worked up the courage to open his mouth.

“Thank….you, …..h-hyung-ah.”

“…!”

Still smiling, Dojin instantly froze in place.

“W-what did you just… say?”

“Hyung-ah?”

Dojin’s face flushed bright red in an instant—so red, it was visible even under the soft yellow glow of the bedside light.

What’s his deal?

Jiho blinked in confusion.

Geonwoo said he’d like it, but that didn’t look like someone happy. That looked like someone trying very hard to hold something back.

Dojin’s gaze on Jiho was intense—alarming, even.

As Jiho cautiously observed him, trying to figure out what was wrong—

“Haa…”

Dojin let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his face with both hands.

Now he looked worried.

Concerned, Jiho pushed himself up on one elbow and tried again.

“Hyun—ack!”

Just as Jiho was about to say hyung-ah again, Dojin suddenly pulled him into a hug.

Caught off guard, Jiho fell back with a soft thump, too surprised to resist.

Usually, Dojin would’ve apologized right away, making sure Jiho was okay.

But this time was different.

As if he couldn’t take it anymore, he buried his face into the crook of Jiho’s neck and let out a groan.

“Why are you being so cute… Are you trying to kill me?”

“Wha—huh?!”

Jiho, still lost on what was happening, blinked in confusion as Dojin was seized by the sudden, overwhelming urge to just devour him whole.

Hyung-ah. Hyung-ah, of all things.

It was just a term a younger person used to affectionately address someone older…

And yet, for some reason, his heart wouldn’t stop fluttering.

Maybe it was the tone—or maybe, to Dojin, it felt like Jiho was trying to be sweet with him.

Smooch, smooch, smooch—

Unable to resist, Dojin began planting kisses all over Jiho’s neck.

He wanted to bite those soft, plump cheeks too—but barely held himself back.

“Uuugh! Stooop, stoooop!”

Jiho flailed, unable to understand why Dojin had suddenly launched a full-on affection attack.

Dojin, still kissing the side of Jiho’s neck, finally pulled back.

“Say it again.”

“Eh…?”

“What you just called me—say it again.”

“H-hyung-ah…?”

Haa…

Jiho tilted his head, puzzled—Was that really what he wanted?—while his mouth moved in a mumble.

He looked so unbearably cute that Dojin felt like he might explode.

Smooch! Smooch smooch smooch!

“Uuuuugh!”

In the end, Dojin smothered Jiho with kisses all over his face and body until the poor guy was cranky and drowsy with exhaustion.

And from that day on…

The term “hyung-ah” was forever sealed from Jiho’s lips.

***

The next day.

Just like Jiho—who showed up for work bleary-eyed after suffering Dojin’s endless barrage of kisses—Sena came in with dark circles under her eyes.

Yulchan, on the other hand, was practically glowing. His complexion was brighter, and his usual grim expression had been replaced with a carefree grin.

“Chan? You look like you’re in a good mood today.”

“Hmm? Oh, hehe. No reason. I just feel really great today.”

At Sehun’s question, Yulchan answered with a radiant smile—earning a sharp glare from Sena nearby.

Dojin looked around at his rather rowdy team and clapped his hands to get their attention.

“Alright, today’s the regularly scheduled group training. Everyone remembers, right?”

“Yes sir!”

“Got it!”

“Good. Delta Team’s requested to observe, so be mindful of that.”

Once every two weeks, the center encouraged full-team joint training sessions—

And today was one of those days.

They’d enter the special simulation training room, where models of real monsters would be projected for coordinated combat drills.

The full Alpha Team of espers headed into the simulation chamber, while the guides and Delta Team members who came to observe gathered in the viewing room that overlooked the training area.

“Alpha Team, all present. Beginning training now.”

And so, the simulation began.

But before long—

“Uh… wait a sec?”

“No way…!”

The person drawing the most attention wasn’t Dojin or any of the offensive espers.

It was Yulchan, the support esper.