The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 72: What Do You Want From Me?

Chapter 72: What Do You Want From Me?

When Damien entered the guiding room, Lane was already there, sitting on the couch, tapping his fingers on the armrest impatiently. He was instantly taken aback. The fact that Lane was the first to arrive was already surprising enough, but the tense mood hanging in the air...

Damien most certainly didn’t expect this sort of tension. Sexual tension, yes, maybe, that would be understandable, considering their last encounter... But Lane’s face was darkened with a frown. He wasn’t even trying to fake calmness or smile, as he tended to frequently do.

"Good afternoon?" Damien said after a moment, in an uncharacteristically unsure tone, closing the door behind himself. "Is something the matter?"

"Well, I don’t know, you tell me?" Lane scoffed.

Damien, however, only furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Do you genuinely not know? Or did you simply think I wouldn’t find out?" Lane twisted his lips in a mocking smile. "We did talk about it last time, didn’t we?"

"Last time... Is it about us... taking things further?" Damien slowly walked over to the couch. After a bit of hesitation, he ended up sitting on the armchair beside it instead of next to Lane. For some reason, he had a feeling it wasn’t a good idea to get too close. Not that he thought Lane might do anything, just that it felt kind of inappropriate in the situation.

Lane didn’t seem to care about it either way. He just clicked his tongue, rolling his eyes. "Not that. Before. About me wanting to become a field agent."

"...Ah." A gasp escaped Damien’s throat, as a flicker of understanding flashed through his face.

’...So it’s really him.’

The little bit of doubt that Lane still had about the man’s involvement had now completely dissipated.

"Wow, Team Leader Lennox. I really wouldn’t have expected that of you," he sneered. "I truly thought that you were a man of integrity. That you’re not someone who would abuse your position to do whatever you want..."

If it was Damien, then blocking Lane’s application wasn’t all that difficult. While his authority as a Team Leader normally wouldn’t allow him to do so, he was an S-ranker, after all. The Association would be more than willing to cater to his whims, especially as simple as that. Heck, even if he asked for a promotion, he would most likely be given it straight away! It was only a matter of time before he rose in the ranks anyway.

Still, Damien was not that sort of person.

Or so Lane thought. Until now.

"I’ve even told you about it personally, that I wanted to become a field agent. And what did you do? You played dumb, not saying a word! If I hadn’t spoken to other field Team Leaders, I would still be waiting like an idiot for my application to be processed!"

"This... I didn’t mean it..." Damien muttered, his voice a bit hoarse.

"Didn’t mean what?" Lane got up from his seat, instantly getting to Damien, slamming his hand on the backrest right next to his head, as he leaned over the man. "What do you want from me, really?"

"I..." Damien gulped. His brows were furrowed as always, but his eyes were so unsure, wandering around, looking everywhere but into Lane’s eyes. It took a while before he finally managed to say, "I want you."

Lane momentarily forgot to breathe, his heart skipping a beat for some reason. It wasn’t exactly a surprising answer - he had figured that much a good while ago already - but hearing it said straight to his face, with such honesty...

But he suppressed the odd feelings, asking instead, "Alright, that’s nice I guess, but what does it have to do with my application? You don’t want me on your team, we’ve already established that. So, why won’t you let me join a different one? It would be harder to schedule guiding sessions then, true, but not impossible. I wouldn’t mind meeting after my working hours... Especially if we could take a step further."

Damien remained silent, staring down at his knees, his fists clenched.

His silence, however, only annoyed Lane more.

It wasn’t that he was exactly clueless as to what Damien’s reasons might be. Lane did already die twice in front of him, after all. Considering how hard the man took it, it was understandable he wouldn’t want to experience it again... He didn’t know what Lane’s ability was, so even if he came back in the body of a different person both times, there was no guarantee it would happen again.

However, understandable didn’t mean reasonable. Both of Lane’s ’deaths’ happened during dungeon breaks. Which he would still have to help with, even as a member of the General Staff. So, if it was Lane’s safety he was worried about, then his actions were pointless.

And above all, it was Lane’s life. Sort of. It wasn’t up to Damien to decide.

"Well? What’s your explanation?" Lane asked again, running out of patience. "I’m waiting."

"I didn’t mean it. It truly wasn’t my intention to block your application. I’m not the one who put it on hold," Damien finally answered, weighing his words carefully. "However, I can’t deny that it happened because of me. I knew about it, and let it be... For nothing else but my selfish reasons."

"Huh." Lane scoffed, raising his brows. "Is that so."

There was no reason for him not to believe Damien’s words. But whether Damien personally did it or not wasn’t the point. He pretty much admitted his guilt.

"Haaah..." He exhaled deeply, pulling away. He brushed his hair back, glancing down at the man. "I think we should take a break."

Damien’s shoulders flinched, and he lifted his head, looking back at Lane. The look in his eyes was so sad, kind of pitiful, to the point that Lane had to look away. He also felt a bit regretful, to end it here, when things had just started getting better...

But he couldn’t let himself be swept away. This whole ordeal with Damien had already messed up his life too much... If he let it slide this time, things could only get worse in the future.

It’s not like this whole thing they had going on could last anyway.

So, without any further words, Lane turned around, and walked out, slamming the door. He didn’t look back. Part of him wanted to, almost instinctively, but he thought it was better if he didn’t. Although his anger had subsided, he wasn’t any calmer, overtaken by even more annoying feelings instead...

And he didn’t want to risk fuelling them even more.