The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 321: That’s My Seat

Chapter 321: That’s My Seat

When they arrived at the parking garage, it was still mostly empty. Only three people were already waiting at the meeting point.

And one of them was Ethan, of course.

Damien greeted them with a nod, and glanced over the parking lot, checking which minibuses they were assigned this time. Not that they were any different - all the minibuses parked here were the same, white in color, with the Awakened Association logo on the side, with some minor reinforcement made with dungeon materials (although not of the best quality. The Association couldn’t afford to spend too much on mere vehicles, which were left outside of the Gates anyway). The only differences between them were their license plates, and their dirtiness... The field teams always just left them in the garage, and only during the maintenance checks they were cleaned.

Which caused Damien’s brows to furrow, as always. It was natural that minibuses got dirty, but he still thought that the maintenance team should put more effort into cleaning them. They had the Association’s logo on them, so they represented the Association! It was simply unsightly to drive them around when their white color turned into medium grey...

It wasn’t his place to speak up, though, and he was never the one to make trouble for others, so he just lowered his head, checking a few things on his tablet.

Soon, one by one, the rest of his team members started to arrive. Damien marked everyone’s attendance on his tablet, and handed one pair of keys to Hallie. Then he went to the other minibus...

Almost immediately after he pressed the button, unlocking the minibus, the front door on the passenger side opened, and quickly shut again.

Damien looked up with surprise.

...It wasn’t Lane.

In the minibus that Damien was going to drive, on the front passenger seat, sat Ethan. His expression seemed calm, but there was a smugness to it that he wasn’t entirely able to hide.

He must have been observing everything carefully from the start. Earlier, when Damien was confirming the minibuses, Ethan must have remembered which ones they were. Then, when he knew which one Hallie was going to drive, he rushed to the other one, waiting by the door, to take the front seat before anyone else could...

Not that anyone would fight him for it.

Except for Lane.

Lane stared straight at Ethan, his eyes twitching. He... hadn’t anticipated that. He knew that Ethan might try something, that he would surely try to make some move at Damien, even if Lane around, but...

He didn’t expect him to be so blatant about it. He might have spoken bluntly to Damien, offering him sex, but that was in private, in a soundproofed room where he thought that no one would hear. In front of Lane, his actions were still within plausible deniability...

Not that this wasn’t. Just because Ethan took the front seat, that didn’t necessarily have to mean anything... Of course, all of the three people involved knew that it did, but to anyone else, it was just a little weird.

Lane couldn’t help but grit his teeth. He had stuck closely by Damien’s side, making sure that Ethan had no chance to approach Damien... Who would have thought it would backfire on him like that?

He marched forward, and opened the door again.

"That’s my seat," he said, giving Ethan a cold glance.

Ethan tilted his head, the corners of his mouth slightly rising. "What do you mean? I always sit here."

Lane’s eyes twitched again. He turned his head back, shooting Damien a sharp glare...

Damien averted his head, clearly uncomfortable. Although he didn’t say anything, his actions alone confirmed Ethan’s words.

Of course, it wasn’t really Damien’s fault. There were no assigned seats in the minibus. When they had gone on the inspections previously, if Ethan wanted to sit in the front, then Damien had no logical reason to ask him not to, even if he personally disliked it...

Lane understood that much. After all, in the past, he had also always picked the front seat, even when there had been nothing going on between him and Damien. He had only stopped because Damien suspected his identity, and started doing it again once they had gotten together...

Anyway, the point was, that technically speaking, Ethan wasn’t doing anything wrong. Knowing Damien’s character, it would be difficult for him to reproach him when he didn’t act out of line. And no matter what Ethan’s intentions were, taking the front seat was an innocent thing, it would be unreasonable to argue with him about that...

That was Damien, however. Damien might not have wanted to do anything unreasonable...

But Lane was an unreasonable person by nature. Especially when it came to things (and people) he truly cared about.

"Is that so?" he said, his voice freezing cold. "Well, not anymore. Get out, that’s my seat now."

"Don’t be so unreasonable," Ethan rolled his eyes. "I’ve already sat down. It’s just a seat, why are you making that big of a deal out of it? There are still plenty of free seats left..."

"If it’s just a seat, then why won’t you switch?"

"I’m already sitting here. Stop causing trouble."

"If I’m being troublesome, then so are you," Lane snapped back. "It’s not a difficult request. It’s not like you’re injured or incapacitated in any way, getting up from your seat shouldn’t be difficult... If you just agreed, then we wouldn’t have to argue like that."

"But why should I?" Ethan scoffed. "No matter what, you’re still the one who came to cause trouble..."

"Damien is my boyfriend. It’s only natural that I sit next to him."

"Even if he’s your boyfriend, we’re at work now. Did you come here to work or flirt?"

To flirt, of course, but Lane bit his tongue, and didn’t say it out loud.

People around them had already started to whisper. It caused a wide smile to appear on Ethan’s face, as he reproached Lane, "You’re delaying the inspections. We’re already so busy... Even if you don’t mind staying here until late, the others have lives!"

Naturally, Lane didn’t think what others thought about him. He wanted to argue with Ethan some more, or even pull him out by force...

In the end, though, he didn’t. Just as he was about to reach out, a light bulb lit up in his mind. He took a step back, and let out a mirthless chuckle. "If you’re so stubborn, then fine! I’ll still be next to him at night."

Then, he jumped inside, taking a seat at the back.

He may have hated that Ethan got to sit at the front, next to Damien, but that was just a minor victory for the Guide. Even if he won the battle...

What mattered the most was who would win the war.