The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 344: Inappropriate

Chapter 344: Inappropriate

Ethan’s finger pressed against Lane’s fair cheek, creating a dimple right in the middle, and causing the man’s eyes to twitch again.

"What are you doing?" Damien grabbed his hand. However, because he didn’t use too much force, Ethan still maintained some freedom of movement, enough to poke Lane’s cheek again, and then pinch it.

"Nothing much~" Ethan answered with a hint of amusement, his words half-sung at the end. "I’m just testing something. I don’t want Lane to take advantage of Team Leader!"

"Take advantage of me?" Damien repeated, furrowing his brows in confusion.

"Mn. By lying on Team Leader’s lap even though he’s not under the hypnosis..."

"He had truly fallen under the hypnosis!" Damien tried to defend Lane, but Ethan chuckled again, shaking his head.

"I’m not saying he hasn’t... I’m just checking if he has recovered yet..."

"...He was the last one to escape the influence of the hypnotic ability. Everyone’s still hypnotized, so how could he be conscious?" Damien pointed out.

However, Ethan shook his head again. "But he’s also the one who had resisted it the longest, no? So perhaps... He has a higher immunity?"

For a moment, Damien remained silent, not knowing what to say. He wasn’t used to lying at all, so coming up with excuses didn’t come easily for him. In the end, the best he could do was to shift the topic of the conversation a bit.

"Either way, that wouldn’t be taking advantage of me. I would allow him to lie on my lap even if he were awake," he said. His voice was firm, even though the tips of his ears turned a bit red.

"Oh, is that so?" The smile on Ethan’s face faltered, his expression growing colder. "But Team Leader... isn’t it inappropriate?"

Damien didn’t answer. Truth be told, he also thought it was inappropriate. It was one thing for Lane to rest on his lap when they were alone at home - then naturally there were no restrictions - but now they were at work... With plenty of their coworkers around. Unconscious for now, but they would soon wake up and see this scene...

Because of his personal beliefs, Damien couldn’t exactly defend his actions. But at the same time, he couldn’t agree with Ethan either...

Just then, a voice a few feet away from them suddenly said, "Whass ina...ppropriate? Damien can do... whateva he wants..."

Lifting herself on her elbows, Clara slowly dragged herself up to a sitting position, struggling a bit. She was one of the first to be tossed into the dungeon, thus she was also one of the quickest to wake up from the hypnosis... But her eyes were still hazy, and her speech slurred, which suggested that she hadn’t fully recovered yet. She was barely conscious enough to hear the conversation taking place right next to her, but her mind was still too dazed to process it, so she had just automatically rushed into Damien’s defense, not understanding what she was saying.

A moment later, though, when her mind started catching up, her face darkened.

Defending Damien was one thing... But allowing Lane to shamelessly claim her brother’s lap in public was another!

Even though it wasn’t Lane who asked for it, not this time.

She cleared her throat, quickly correcting herself, "It indeed might be a bit inappropriate. Team Leader, perhaps it would be best if you moved him before the rest of the team wakes up..."

She called him ’Team Leader’ to remind him of his position, but it still wasn’t enough. Damien looked down at the man resting on his lap with a complicated expression... On one hand, Clara was right, he had to mind his position, but on the other, if he moved Lane off his lap, then he’d have a sulking boyfriend to deal with! No matter what he did, it wouldn’t be quite right.

"Just until he wakes up," he eventually said. "It’s just lying on my lap... It’s... not that big of a deal."

From the uncertainty in his voice, it was clear that he didn’t truly believe that, and yet he insisted on letting Lane remain on his lap. He even started stroking his hair!

Ethan scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Are you sure he’s not awake already?"

He wanted to poke Lane’s cheek again, but Damien pushed his hand away, giving him a warning glance.

Clara sat on the coat, observing the three men, her head still aching a bit, although whether it was from the hypnosis, or the situation she witnessed, it was unknown. In the end, she just let out a sigh, and said to Ethan, "Just let them be. It... really isn’t that serious."

It wasn’t that she approved of what was going on. It was just that, while she was a zealous Lane hater... She was also a Damien supporter. And, as much as she hated to admit that, she had never seen Damien this happy... It might not have been obvious to others, because of Damien’s perpetual frown, but her brother truly was happier than ever, being by Lane’s side. How could that be possible, she didn’t understand, but... That was an undeniable fact. So, for now, at least until Damien finally realized that he deserved so much better, she had no choice but to compromise. If Damien wanted to have that disgrace of a man resting on his lap, then she couldn’t bring herself to take that simple pleasure away from him.

She wanted Lane gone from Damien’s life, but that wasn’t because of her personal dislike. To put it simply, most of her hatred for Lane came from the fact that he was dating her brother, but didn’t seem like a good guy... He was bound to hurt Damien eventually, she was convinced of that. If he were just a random person, nothing more than a team member, Clara wouldn’t care if he was a playboy, or even if he used his abilities without authorization...

All her meddling was just because she was concerned about Damien.

Ethan observed her carefully for a while, his gaze slowly turning darker with disappointment. He wanted to bother Damien and Lane more... But now that Clara unexpectedly took Lane’s side (kind of), he didn’t press any further. He understood that at this point, it might only backfire...