The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 174: Time to Quit!

Chapter 174: Time to Quit!

Lane... wasn’t particularly shocked by the discovery. From what he knew, infidelity wasn’t all that rare. His parents never cheated on each other, at least not as far as he was aware, but it still was a fairly common occurrence. Plenty of his classmates’ parents had done that. And yes, it was bad, but such was life. People were frequently trash, and they hurt each other.

And it’s not like Lane had any right to judge Austin. While he never cheated on anyone (which wasn’t all that hard, to be honest, since his first and only romantic partner ever was Damien!), he had done... plenty of other terrible things. Such as stealing other people’s lives, for example. He was doing it for a reason, yes, and he wouldn’t do it if he had a better option... But he wasn’t foolish enough to think that it justified him. That it would make a difference to all the people who got hurt by his actions. In the end, it was just a selfish pursuit of his own goals.

He was trash, yes.

But he was still pissed off. For Damien’s sake. Because while he still didn’t know the whole story, what was the relationship between Austin and Damien’s mother, whether they were still together or not... It was clear that his children were negatively affected by his actions.

...Was that why Clara suspected ’Xavier’ might cheat on Damien? Because she saw something that reminded her of their father? It wasn’t unbelievable... After all, Lane was similar to him in some aspects... He also liked spending money on pointlessly expensive clothes, using the highest-grade equipment, going to fancy clubs, flirting and sleeping around...

But that last part was only before Damien! When Lane was still single! He wouldn’t even think of it now that he was in a relationship. And if he ever changed his mind, and wanted to sleep with others again, then he would make sure to end his relationship with Damien first... Which wouldn’t be happening, definitely not anytime soon! He found no excitement in the idea of cheating, and wasn’t even interested in anyone besides Damien at the moment, not in the slightest.

Well, anyway. What Clara thought wasn’t important. Lane was more curious how Damien felt...

His discovery, while not shocking, still soured Lane’s mood completely. No longer feeling like drinking or socializing, Lane quickly gulped down his cocktail, and headed home, only texting Damien back before going straight to bed.

***

The next two raids passed uneventfully. Luckily, Lane didn’t end up again on the same team as Austin, so he didn’t have to suffer the sight of the man’s counterfeit ice ability. He completed them well, and survived through the disciplinary meeting regarding his disappearance at the summit squeezed in-between the raids...

And finally, the time for him to quit the Allen Guild arrived. Although there still wasn’t enough money on Oscar’s account to cover the severance fee... It’s not like the Guild had any access to his bank statements, so Lane could just cover it himself, problem solved. It shouldn’t raise too many eyebrows. Lane filled the online form...

"And... sent!" he clicked on the button, and leaned back on the couch, exhaling with relief. Finally, he was going to leave that wretched place, and reunite with Damien! They haven’t seen each other in over two weeks, save for grabbing a quick dinner out three times, and Lane was frustrated! What kind of life was it, where you couldn’t even hang out with your boyfriend?

He reached for his phone, messaging Damien about the good news, and opened a food delivery app, wanting to order himself something to celebrate (even though technically he hasn’t quit the Guild JUST YET), when all of a sudden, a phone call came.

Damien.

"Hey! Have you seen the message?" Lane said cheerfully as soon as he picked up the call.

"Yes, I did. So when will you be able to leave?"

"Hmm, I’m not sure. It might take a few days... But I’m hoping I’ll be able to join the Association by the end of the week! So, be prepared to snatch me to your team!"

"About that..." Damien paused for a moment. "It might be... a bit difficult."

"What? Why?" Anxious and stunned by the unexpected news, Lane instantly sat up, his fingers tightening around his phone.

"You’re an A-ranker now, aren’t you? And my team... has only one A-rank Guide," Damien slowly explained.

"...Ah."

That’s right, according to the regulations, Damien, as an S-ranker, needed one Guide ranked A or above on his team, just for himself. And while it wasn’t exactly against the law for an A-ranker such as ’Oscar’ to share a B-rank Guide with other Espers... It was still a bit of a stretch. Some might argue that it would be better to put ’Oscar’ on one of the other high-ranking teams instead... Especially ’some’ that might want to make things difficult for Damien.

"I’m not saying it can’t happen," Damien quickly reassured. "I’m just worried that your application might be blocked, or put on hold... As it happened once before..."

"When I was ’Aidan’?"

"...Yes."

"So it was Section Leader who got in my way back then, wasn’t it?"

Damien didn’t answer, but his silence told Lane all that he needed to know.

He let out a long sigh, brushing back his hair. "Why didn’t you tell me? That that’s what happened?"

"Well... I was at fault as well... Since I knew about it and didn’t do anything. I thought it was... convenient... That you couldn’t go into the field. And get hurt."

"Huh," Lane scoffed, rolling his eyes. He wasn’t angry, not anymore, not at Damien. He was a bit annoyed that the man never bothered to explain himself until now, but... "Nevermind that. We’ll think about it later, if there are any problems! How are you, anyway? Still so busy?"

"Busy, yes... But I’ve actually been planning to call you today. Do you have time tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" Lane glanced at the date on his phone. February 12. So the next day was...

"I do, but why?" he eventually said.

"Then can you come over to my place in the evening? I have a little... surprise for you." Damien’s voice was calm, and aside from a short pause in the middle, there was absolutely nothing that could give Lane any clues.

Was he overthinking it? Regardless, he was curious, and above all, wanted to see the man, so he just said, "Okay!"