How About I Guide Myself Right Into Your Heart? || Joongdok - Chapter 4: Chapter 4

If he was being honest with himself, Dokja would realize that he actually didn't want a fifth coffee of the day.
But Dokja was anything but honest, so he poured himself the freshly brewed cup with a half-smile.
This was one of the few times the staff room was empty, and Dokja hadn't realized how used to the chatter of curious employees he had gotten in the last weeks. With Esper Yoo off on a mission –no doubt massacring hordes and carrying his entire team– Dokja could take a breather.
Since there wasn't a predicted time of return, the company decided keeping Dokja available was best. They didn't want to risk having Dokja ill with guiding another Esper only for Joonghyuk to show up on edge.
Of course, Dokja was fine with the arrangement. The only downside was how tedious the day seemed with nothing going on. And so, here he was on his fifth coffee, the work day not even reaching noon.
The Guide took a swig, making his way out of the employee lounge and back towards the familiar hall that led to his assigned space. He might as well take a nap to pass the time a little easier.
As he strode in the direction of the solid door, purposefully drowning out the sounds of surrounding guiding sessions with a hummed tune, he got startled by the vibration of his watch on his wrist. His eyebrows shot up as he brought up his arm to get a look at the screen that had been quiet the last week.
[Yoo Joonghyuk]
Dokja wasn't sure why he was so surprised by the name. Maybe he had gotten used to his lazy lifestyle the last few days.
Pushing the door open, Dokja got another surprise: the dark figure of Esper Yoo himself sitting still in the guiding room.
With a hand on his chest, Dokja paused at the entry-way. The turn of the Esper's head to look back at the Guide was what allowed Dokja to gather himself and finally greet the other.
"Hello Esper Yoo." Dokja coughed behind his hand, smiling as he walked hurriedly over to the waiting Sentinel. "I just got the guiding notification. . ."
The other stayed silent, turning his head back to face straight ahead.
"How long were you waiting?"
"I'm here for a guiding session." Joonghyuk replied curtly.
Of course. Dokja hurried to join the other on the seat across from him. The man was always to the point.
With an outstretched hand and fully seated, Dokja took Joonghyuk's hand in his own, taking a sip of his coffee with his other.
Guiding the other was doing wonders for Dokja's tolerance of Esper energy. He could feel it in his body as well; the space within him was adjusting to undertake the task of guiding such a high ranking Esper. The press of hands no longer felt like such a daunting task anymore.
Though, the development in ability came with its downsides as well: Dokja had more mental energy available to ogle the Esper sitting in front of him.
Dokja wonders if he could convince the Esper to join him in getting coffee at the employee lounge. Without a doubt, the other had likely never set foot in such a commoner's space, but Dokja could already see the panicked and awestruck faces of the other employees if he was successful in bringing him over.
He couldn't help the wriggling of his lips into a wily smile, which he tried to hide behind his coffee cup by taking another drink.
Obviously the shrewd Esper noticed, looking up from his blank stare at the table to direct it at the guide on the other end of the hand hold. Dokja averted his eyes, no longer enjoying his mind wanderings.
From his periphery, he could see the other's mouth open to say something, and Dokja knew he was about to get a berating or a threat of a write-up for making Joonghyuk uncomfortable.
"You cut your hair."
"I'm sorry, it won't hap–" Dokja blinked. "Excuse me?"
"It's no longer in your eyes."
The guide nodded, "Yeah," Dokja could imagine an error message visibly hovering over top him, "It was getting too long. . ." Self-conscious, he reached a hand up to comb the now shorter bangs off his forehead, mussing up his hair in the process.
The Esper nodded as if he was responsible for the change. Dokja thought back to a conversation they had had a while back,
"I didn't cut it because you told me to," feeling like he had to make that clear.
The Esper just looked back at him blankly, and it did annoy Dokja, he couldn't deny the prickling of the feeling building up.
"Really, I was already meaning to cut it." He narrowed his eyes when the other just nodded along half-heartedly, obviously not believing the words.
"You were gone, so I thought it was a good opportunity to visit the salon."
Dokja was starting to feel like he was embarrassing himself, but this was unfair! He really did plan to cut it. With slanted eyes, Dokja stared back at the stoic man across from him.
The one positive of the longer hair had been the ability to hide his unsavoury expressions.
Eventually getting tired of staring pointedly into the other, Dokja let his mind wander again, thinking about taking some days off and running the errands he had been putting off since joining the company. It had already taken weeks alone to get a trim, one could only imagine the numerous other tasks he had avoided. Of course, it would be more of a stay-cation, but Dokja wasn't exactly the type to plan to leave the city for a break. The most rejuvenating thing would be getting on top of those tasks he had been slacking on.
Deep in his thoughts, Dokja could still tell his body was getting weary with all the energy slowly flowing in. The end of session was getting near, so Dokja planned to relieve as much pressure from the overflowing Esper as he could, especially considering the other had just returned from a mission.
What Dokja hadn't realized was that, out of boredom at the slow guiding, he had begun absentmindedly playing with Joonghyuk's fingers, turning his hand this-and-that way. Joonghyuk was quick to pull his hand back soon after Dokja became aware enough of his own actions.
"Oh! Sorry, Jooghyuk, I didn't mean to–" The other was on his feet the next second, turning abruptly to leave without another word, leaving Dokja to flounder for an apology.
Though Yoo Sangah was a lovely lady, Dokja knew even she couldn't save him from a sexual harassment report from the Esper.
Why did I have to do that? Dokja thought, resting his head in his hands in disappointment at himself.
Dokja would understand if there was no nausea medication waiting for him after he took a rest today.
— — — — —
— — — — —
The entire next week, Dokja was on edge, waiting for a call down to HR and a blemish on his employee record.
The call never came, and neither did the gloomy Esper. When he had awoken the prior guiding session, there had been the familiar blue of the antiemetic bottle, but that did little to ease his nerves.
Dokja sighed in his seat, tired of scrolling on his phone until the Esper decided to show up on a whim. The idea of a vacation was starting to sound pretty good.
Maybe he should look into guiding more espers during his free periods for more pay. He was feeling quite confident in his increased guiding capacity. Most importantly, it would allow Dokja to save a bit and afford a week or two without the headache of waiting for something that may or may not happen.
Dokja didn't realize how much of a mental toll it was taking to be at beck-and-call for the Esper this past while.
With a yawn, Dokja decided to lay down on his side of the couch and get some shut eye. Sleeping really was the best way to pass time on his shift – even though it really messed with his sleeping schedule at home.
That was a problem for future Dokja, though, and present Dokja got comfortable on the off-white cushions, covering his face with an arm to shield his eyes from the sun that was still high in the sky and projecting bright light into his office space.
He doesn't know when exactly he dozed off, but a steady tapping of shoes from nearby got him jolting up from his resting place.
Blinking rapidly, Dokja could see Joonghyuk Yoo seated in uniform across from him in the matching set couch, arms crossed and foot tapping rhythmically against the pristine floors while typing away at his phone. With nimble fingers, Dokja combed his hair flat and neat.
"I knocked." The man said, not looking up from his phone.
"Okay." But that didn't answer how the other even got in, or even how long the other had been waiting while Dokja drooled over himself in sleep. He was sure he had locked his door, keen on it in the ever likely case of napping. Deciding that he didn't want to know, he extended his hand to the other. "I presume you're here for a guiding."
The other said nothing and took the outstretched hand, a now familiar task between the two of them.
Guiding was notably uneventful, and Dokja was careful to not let his mind wander too drastically –despite being in dreamland only a few minutes ago– lest he end up with a disorderly conduct statement written against him. Instead, Dokja chose to focus on the guiding wholly, using it as an opportunity to strengthen his own guiding prowess.
Guiding the top Esper was proving to be better than any other employee training venture he could have taken up. The speed at which he was improving was slow, but notable. He could even swear the Esper was leaving with a bounce in his step whenever he left after a session.
Okay, maybe the last part was a bit exaggerated.
But regardless, there was a positive change occurring for the both of them, and it almost made up for the dreary hours in between spent waiting for sessions. . .
Almost.
Dokja had best improve his abilities and apply for overtime. His well-deserved stay-cation was in sight.
Gripping the other's hand, he tried opening the imaginary valve in his mind to allow more of the dark waves of energy in. At this, he felt his hand heat up momentarily where they were in contact, the painful zapping diffusing up his arm and then into his body where it was less noticeable.
It wasn't so bad the more Dokja got used to the feeling of guiding. The more he guided the S-class, the better he could anticipate the feeling of energy transferring into his own body to be dispersed. There was something particularly vile about the energy the other carried, and he was sure questions wouldn't be welcomed by the Esper.
For now, he would aim to reduce the energy as much as possible before finding the perfect opportunity for a week or two off. He would need to ensure the other was not on the verge of a rampage, or scheduled for any raids as well . . . That last part might be difficult, Dokja realized. The Esper was almost always assigned to dungeons.
Dokja shook his head, trying to reign his thoughts back in. He could deliberate more once he was approved for more hours and the break was actually in sight. As well, he shouldn't let his mind be elsewhere when guiding Esper Yoo, his past experiences already being enough of a warning of what could happen.
Though the feeling wasn't as painful as past sessions, the tiring feeling was creeping up on him. Dokja wouldn't even have been aware of it himself if he wasn't practicing mindfulness at the moment. The session was going quite long – longer than most sessions they've had.
Esper Yoo was sitting across from him quietly, still tapping through his phone. He looked much better when he wasn't scowling, that's for sure. That was the last thought Dokja had before he was vaguely aware of his body falling forward and onto the table between them. A deep shout of surprise echoed in the room, but Dokja was out like a light.
It was an odd experience; Dokja could feel that his body was moving, but it was as if his mind was in a different room and all sensations were blurring together and indiscernible from one another.
Vaguely, he had the humorous thought of what Joonghyuk's expression must have been like when he suddenly slumped over despite them guiding without issue just moments before.
But, all he could perceive right now was a black nothingness, numb to much else.
He wasn't sure how long he was out, but when he awakened, the sun was lower in the sky, casting longer shadows in the room. The first thing he noted was how comfortable the couch was, only to then realize he was laying on the bed that took up a good portion of his session room.
Disoriented, he struggled to sit up, instead opting to prop up on his elbows and blink the delirium out of his eyes. He was laid on the usually tidy bed diagonally, his shoes still on and blanket till underneath him.
How gross.
Surely if he had crawled his way to the bed, he would have the decency to remove his shoes and get under the covers. Noting how carelessly he was placed on the mattress, dirt dusting the usual pristine bed, he had the terrifying thought that the grumpy Esper had thrown him there after getting a jump earlier.
For his mental sanity's sake, he hoped he had just forsaken manners and gotten onto the bed himself. He could learn to forgive himself for messing up the white sheets.
He had a second terrifying thought, realizing that he'd have to call cleaning services. He wasn't looking forward to putting in the request, anticipating the insinuating eyes of the staff and rumours to follow.
Letting his head plop back onto the mattress, he stared up at the ceiling with a resigned expression.
Dokja seriously contemplated taking the sheets home and doing the laundry himself. . .
That break was not going to come soon enough.