The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 130: Family Emergency

Chapter 130: Family Emergency

Lane’s phone - that is, Xavier’s phone - was ringing. Well, it’s been ringing for half an hour straight now.

That was because it was 10:30 on Friday morning. Lane was supposed to be on the airport an hour ago, and now, the time for check in to end was getting close.

"Ye, yes?" Lane finally picked up, gasping for breath.

As for why he was gasping? Because he was in a rush, busy packing, of course! His actual flight, the one he was planning to take, was in four hours, and he was not yet done!

"Where are you?" Damien’s voice on the other end of the line was uncharacteristically impatient. "You’re gonna be late!"

"Ah, yes! I was going to call! I’m sorry, but I can’t make it today!"

Damien fell silent for a moment. Only the announcements from the terminal could be heard in the background.

"You’re not coming?" he finally asked.

Damien’s calm and serious, but somewhat dark tone instantly made Lane drenched in cold sweat, as he struggled to excuse himself, "Ugh, sorry, but I can’t today! I have a family emergency!"

"...Family emergency?"

"Yeah! Well, I mean. It’s not my family, but I can’t tell them that when they’re asking me for help, can I?" Lane quickly explained. "So, go on without me, I’ll catch up later!"

Once again, Damien went quiet. He sounded almost hopeful when he finally asked, "But you’ll come?"

"Yeah, yeah! As soon as I can! I mean, well, I’m probably going to be three or four days late... But I’ll be there for sure!"

"...Should I stay back and come with you?"

"Eh?" Lane gripped his phone tighter, his eyes widening in panic.

Anything but that!

"But you’re the leader of the delegation, aren’t you?" he pointed out. "So you should go with the rest."

"That’s true," Damien unwillingly admitted. "Then..."

"I’m sorry, I really can’t talk now! Gotta go, bye!" Before Damien could say anything else, Lane disconnected. He tossed his phone on the bed, exhaling deeply, his shoulders slouching as the tension left him. "Damn!"

"Was that Damien Lennox?" From the office chair by the desk, Ava was watching the scene with a hint of amusement.

"Yeah! You know he’s my Team Leader. And he’s also leading the delegation this time..."

"JUST your Team Leader?" Ava arched her brows. "You seemed quite... chummy."

"Well, yeah, I didn’t have time to tell you, but we’re dating now."

Ava, who was just about to take a sip of her coffee, paused. And just in time, because otherwise, she would have ended up choking, no doubt! "...Dating? You?" she repeated, not even trying to hide her disbelief.

"Yeah, it kind of... happened." Lane shrugged his shoulders, stuffing a few more T-shirts into the suitcase. He probably didn’t need this many clothes... But, better that than walk around in dirty ones, right? Especially around his, ahem, boyfriend.

"What about his suspicions? You’re no longer worried about that?"

"What, about me being Evan and so on? Oh, yeah. I’ve already told him about that."

"...What?" Now Ava was even more perplexed. She stared at Lane as if it was her first time seeing the man.

"Yeah, well, not the whole truth... He thinks my real body is dead. And doesn’t know about the Plunder. Just the possession." Lane scratched his neck. For some reason, he felt kind of awkward all of a sudden.

And it was only about to get worse, as Ava went on to ask the most important question. "Then are you in love with him?"

"Wha, what?" The jacket Lane was holding slipped through his fingers, landing on the floor. "In love? Me? Hahah, come on! It’s just, a long term fling. He’s so damn fucking sexy, that I really have to savor him longer... And, well, he’s quite fun to tease, and makes good sweet treats, so it’s not like dating him is that much of an inconvenience!" He laughed out loud. It sounded kind of forced though.

Very fake. And Ava, naturally, was able to pick up on that...

She remained silent though. There were things Lane had to realize on his own, and nothing she could possibly say would work. She could only hold back her sigh, as she thought how much of a mess the man was going to be once he finally caught on.

Foreseeing the future troubles, she only tried suggesting, "Why won’t you tell him that you’re Lane Allen then?", but Lane responded with shaking his head.

"That’s not going to work. He might be accepting of it now, since as a supposedly dead person, I don’t have much choice to possess others, but..." Lane brushed back his hair. "Well, you don’t know him. He’s very much a sticker for rules, a righteous type... He’s not like me, or you, there’s no way he’d be okay with it if he knew the truth..."

"Alright! I think I’m done!" Lane finally shut his suitcase. Although they were only going for around two weeks, it was stuffed to the brim. Well, there were two suitcases actually - Lane packed clothes for both Lane and Xavier, since he was going to be using both bodies to some extent, and their size was different, so they couldn’t really share. It wasn’t much of a problem though, since all luggage ended in Lane’s spatial bag anyway.

Traveling got so much more convenient, thanks to the Mana powered inventions.

"Let’s go then." Ava grabbed her coffee, and got up from her seat. They might have had still a lot of time left, but before they got to the airport, and before they got through the gates - all three of them, in turns, with Lane switching as they couldn’t just carry an unconscious body onto the plane - three hours would pass them by in a blink.

They got into his car - that is, the car he owned as Xavier - and headed for the airport. With his - Xavier’s - phone on silent, he didn’t notice the messages he received...