How could he possibly know he was an omega? Are there any other people who also know? There must be, it seems. So why did they still do nothing about it? Just for this esper's advantage, even secretly? Why, how?He swallowed hard, but his throat was dry—as if his body refused to digest even the thought. What if more people found out?
Le An got up. He checked every corner of the room, looked outside. His hands were trembling. He gazed at the back of Theo outside. And his foot moved on its own.
After just a few steps down, three security staff saw him and reflexively looked for a demand, or some kind of trouble—anything. He continued and passed the hall. Another two guards opened the main door for him, and Theo looked at him instantly, moonlight casting his shadow between them.
He closed the gap between them and stood, trying to figure out his face. He immediately recognized it. "What's wrong?"
"Are you feeling sick? Should I call Emerald... A nightmare? Why are you so pale?"
Could he really tell him what happened? How did Theo and others not realize that, just seconds ago... Theo really was clueless. Le An looked at his face blankly.
Theo opened a hologram through his watch and checked his arrangements: what did he eat, drink today, who he met with and how many espers he guided. With his other hand, he checked his temperature.
"You guided 342 espers today—not much."
Funny, 342 espers were indeed not much. But it was wrong—there should be added one more now.
Theo paused after looking some more, opening another one—the one only a few people could see. So he looked at his watch rather carefully, keeping the screen just to himself. Sometimes, weird people would wander around Le An's house, to take a photo of him. He checked the screen.
No, Le An's heat was also not close and there were no gland or hormone issues to cause an early heat, as this week's health report showed.
Le An held Theo's hand on his shoulder. He was going to panic even more if he didn't talk any sooner.
"It's nothing bad, no," he managed a smile. "Like a nightmare, as y—"
"What happened 8 minutes ago?"
Le An gulped, as the wind sent shivers down his spine. No, he couldn't tell him. He felt under threat, as if oppression was still on him, as if he was still here, watching him. "I was meditating to put the flow into stability, but it—"
"Your flow looked like it was being sucked by something. You emitted so much guide in an instant, as if—"
Theo would actually reach the right conclusion, but he interrupted.
"I lost control over my guiding and I felt like I was in a sleeping state, so… I panicked and stood up abruptly. Was that so much of a guiding? I didn't realize. It was only for a few minutes, but—"
"It was for a solid 7 minutes. We should call Emerald." Theo tapped the screen for contacts.
Le An stopped him once again.
"No need, geez," he said, waving his hand and feeling chilly again.
Theo stood in front of the wind for him and once again asked. "But something like this—it hasn't happened to you for a long time. Are you sure?"
"Yes. I think it was because I was so close to sleep. I should meditate in a more conscious state. You know my sleep structure, especially when I don't do stability and go directly to bed."
"I know," Theo said briefly and gestured him to go inside. "You turn pale and skip breakfast, and skip lunch, and skip—"
"Come on..." Le An laughed, climbing the stairs with him. He was still anxious.
What if that man was still in the room? No, he wouldn't be. He continued to smile, as if nothing happened, and added,
"I'm not that much of a trouble for you when I don't eat."
Theo, alongside him, laughed. They reached the room; it was empty.
Theo said, as he leaned on the door frame. "You being a trouble to me has only one way. You being a trouble to yourself."
Then he got inside Le An's room and pulled his bed sheet up. Ready to put him to sleep.
That man wasn't here anymore. Nevertheless, Le An couldn't open his mouth. He got into the bed. As Theo sat beside him, he covered Le An with an extra layer of blanket.
"Are you cold? You're trembling."
"No. I'm fine. It's just the overflowing."
With his powers, Theo turned off the lights and gazed at the window. Le An put his hand on Theo's and Theo scoffed. He mimicked Le An.
"Don't close the curtains, you'll say. I know. Okay."
The warmth took Le An's body, and as he leaned into his pillow more, he grabbed Theo's hand. Theo didn't make a sound. It was this gesture of Le An—meaning: please don't say anything and take it. Theo knew. The guiding flow soon ran through his body, filling Theo's lungs. Theo did nothing but receive the given. He didn't absorb the guiding, didn't touch the flow, just let Le An control it.
Le An was stabilizing himself by giving away the excessive amount of overflow, even if it was just a little.
But after only nearly 2 minutes, Theo squeezed his hand. "That's enough. Don't tire yourself anymore."
Le An had already guided them a few hours ago. He would guide all of his protector espers every night. But Theo's reasons for asking to stop were different.
Any more, and I might fight for it. Try to take all of it.
His knuckles were clenched; he was looking away.
An esper, due to Le An's intense guiding power, was already weak in front of him. But this weakness would only hurt Le An again—because for any esper, as they touched him, the tendency to devour him whole would start.
Even for Theo, who was right beside him every time, an S-level esper—it was always hard. Le An took his hand back, quietly nodding.
A normal guiding session with Le An—holding his hand for 2 minutes—was well enough.
That man, close to going into a rampage, had sucked the guiding for 7 minutes without going crazy and even stopped with his own control.
It was something extremely hard. Le An's mind was wandering continuously.
"Thank you," said Theo. "But if that happens again—"
"I said no. We will not call Emerald, Theo. And don't mention it to him. He's been spending too much time on me recently."
"That's his job, Le An," Theo said. Le An looked at his eyes, disapprovingly.
There were many things they shared together—Theo and him. Some of them were spoken between them, some never even told to each other, but understood right away. And many, many silent understandings.
They had this friendship for three years. And he was one of the only ones that Le An trusted deeply.
"Sorry." Theo locked eyes with him in the moonlight and apologized silently.
Le An would hate to hear the words "job," "duty," and "responsibility" when it came to his relationships with those close to him. So even though Emerald was Le An's personal doctor, to Le An, he was one of his close friends—primarily.
Theo added after his quick apology, "I won't tell him about it."
Le An managed to smile once again. "Promise me."
"I promise." Theo's face held worry. What ifs.
Le An felt even more guilty for not telling him the truth. But he was scared.
Theo got up and left the room. And silence took over.
Le An didn't sleep a wink.