Confinement Constitution Guide

Life in Confinement, Hard Ver. (1)

“When will you start Guiding me?” 

Sa Hae-geon stared at me with an persistently enthusiastic gaze. His eyes, both transparent and dark, seemed to bind my entire body.

“…First, we need to check our matching rate, so could you buy a simple matching test kit?”

“No need.”

“No, you’re saying that because you don’t know the mechanism of Guiding well. If the matching rate is low and we thoughtlessly do Guiding, we could both suffer, so unless it’s an urgent situation, we must do a matching test.”

“Don’t you think there can be exceptions?”

He didn’t seem to trust my words very much. Or he was convinced our matching rate would be high. The latter was something we wouldn’t know until we properly tested it, so why was he being so stubborn?

Unlike Sa Hae-geon, who was a novice Esper who had never received Guiding, I was a field Guide with 8 years of experience. Still, I was willing to hear what kind of “exception” Sa Hae-geon was talking about.

“Exception? What exception?”

“I’m certain our matching rate will be 100%. I’m not just saying it, I truly mean it.”

“And?”

“So we don’t need things like a kit. And doesn’t it have a high error rate too?”

“Of course it does, but in ‘our situation’ we can’t get tested at a center or hospital either.”

At my words, Sa Hae-geon blushed and lowered his gaze as he replied.

“Don’t… worry about that. I can get the machines used for testing anytime. Anyway, let’s stop talking about this, I’m going to go get Cream now.”

“Oh? Should I go with you?”

“No. I’ll go alone.”

“Ah, are you worried about getting caught on the hallway CCTV? If I’m careful… No, wait a minute.”

As I suddenly stopped talking, Sa Hae-geon made a puzzled face.

“The Esper from the Department of Abilities earlier said the hallway CCTV wasn’t working, right?”

“Yes. So?”

“…Is it your doing?”

Sa Hae-geon blinked at my question, then smiled, raising the corners of his mouth. After showing a rather innocent smile, Sa Hae-geon soon turned his body and headed towards the front door. It seemed like an attitude of not answering, but interpreted differently, he had practically already answered.

“When did you even manage to tamper with the CCTV? How thorough.”

Sa Hae-geon was so skilled, as if he had experience kidnapping other Guides before me.

And that night. Sa Hae-geon, as if he had completely forgotten about trying to sleep in my bed together like yesterday, said good night and went into his own room alone. It was fortunate for me, but I was suspicious of the whims of someone who seemed to keep his word even if he had to be stubborn.

On the third day of the kidnapping. I went under the bed, met eyes with Cream who had no intention of coming out, and spoke as kindly as possible.

“Cream, don’t worry, daddy’s here. If you’re hungry, come out and eat anytime. Okay?”

Instead of answering, Cream turned her head and ignored me. Spiteful cat. Even if she’s upset that I didn’t make up with her and stayed out again, how can she ignore her owner like this? And she reacts well to Sa Hae-geon’s voice.

Remembering how Cream immediately came out from under the bed, perking her ears at Sa Hae-geon’s voice last night, my chest tightened. 

“You don’t need daddy anymore, is that it? I’m just a can opener to you, is that it? You like the kidnapper who kidnapped daddy more than daddy? Huh?”

“…”

“Cream Chae, your last name is Chae. Not Sa!”

Despite my firm teaching, Cream didn’t even twitch her ears, let alone answer. Instead, she only revealed her discomfort by tapping the floor with her long, cheese-colored tail.

“Wow, are you in a bad mood? You ungrateful cat. We were able to reunite thanks to me, don’t you know that? Fine. I’m disappointed in you too, Cream Chae. Rubbing up against and purring only for the kidnapper who kidnapped daddy.”

“Hyung, what are you doing there?”

“Ah, you startled… Ouch!”

Surprised by Sa Hae-geon’s voice, I hurriedly tried to get up but ended up hitting my head hard on the bed frame. The tip of my nose tingled and tears welled up from the pain in the back of my head.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine.”

I wiped the corners of my eyes, trying to act like it was nothing, and turned around. Sa Hae-geon was standing there with a puzzled face, wearing a green apron with a cute frog on it.

No matter how much I looked at it, I couldn’t get used to his taste. Did this house even have normal clothes? Surely his outdoor clothes wouldn’t have such a bizarre design too. I had an ominous feeling.

“I, I was just talking with Cream a bit.”

“Ah. I thought something happened because I heard a loud noise.”

…Something did happen. The big deal of Cream being very upset with me, not responding or even looking at me. And the very, very big deal of her reacting happily to Sa Hae-geon’s voice, not mine.

“Meow!”

Just then, Cream, who hadn’t budged from under the bed, crawled out and rushed to Sa Hae-geon’s legs.

“Ah, Cream.”

Sa Hae-geon looked at Cream, who was rubbing against his legs and being affectionate, with a gentle gaze, then belatedly checked my reaction.

“…But it seems Cream has adapted quickly. Right?”

As a pro can opener and a pro cat butler, my pride was deeply hurt. Where did the bond we had firmly built up over the years, to the point of exaggeration, go? I felt completely betrayed. Would Sa Hae-geon understand these feelings that can’t be described just as spiteful?

No. Sa Hae-geon, who had so easily won Cream’s favor, couldn’t possibly understand how I felt. I glared at Cream and Sa Hae-geon in turn, then passed by them and headed to the living room. I heard Sa Hae-geon say “Cream, wait a moment” and follow me.

“Hyung, breakfast isn’t ready yet. You’ll have to wait a bit more, do you want to watch TV or something?”

“…Forget it. I don’t feel like eating.”

“What? But you have to eat breakfast to have a perfect day.”

“I lost my appetite from the pain of being betrayed by Cream.”

“No matter what, you shouldn’t skip breakfast. Please eat even a little, okay?”

Sa Hae-geon started following me around, listing reasons one by one why I should eat breakfast. Even my maternal grandmother didn’t urge me to eat this much. I tried to head to the living room bathroom to avoid Sa Hae-geon, but he blocked me.

Sa Hae-geon stood blocking the bathroom door and looked down at me. My face was reflected in his coldly-colored eyes.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you really not going to eat? Today’s breakfast is beef bone soup. I simmered it since last night so it will be really thick.”

…Beef bone soup? Simmered since last night. Imagining the milky broth of the beef bone soup, I unconsciously salivated. I really don’t have an appetite, but…

“Please eat even just half a bowl.”

Sa Hae-geon urged in an earnest voice. Then I’ll eat just half a bowl.

‘I should eat a lot of delicious food while resting so I can be energetic when working at the center…’

It’s absolutely not that I was swayed by the temptation of the beef bone soup. Even if that were the case, I wasn’t captivated by the soup, I was only considering Sa Hae-geon’s sincerity.

“You don’t want half a bowl either? Then how about six spoonfuls?”

“Aren’t half a bowl and six spoonfuls the same thing?”

“Then ten spoonfuls.”

“…Okay. It would be rude not to eat when you put in the effort to make beef bone soup.”

“Really? Then eat a whole bowl, hyung.”

Sa Hae-geon said with a suddenly bright face. It’s funny for me to talk about manners when I’ve been kidnapped, but it’s also funny for Sa Hae-geon to be so worried I might not eat when he’s the one who kidnapped me. And gradually increasing the amount from half a bowl to ten spoonfuls, and from ten spoonfuls to a whole bowl, what is that?

At this rate, it doesn’t feel like a kidnapping but like we’re living together. And Sa Hae-geon seems to be taking care of me.

‘…Is this right?’

It’s only been three days since I was confined, but is it okay for me to get used to him like this, and is it okay for Sa Hae-geon to treat me this way even though he’s a kidnapper?

Every day has been a series of confusion because it’s so different from previous kidnappings.

“Hyung?”

“Yeah. Okay. I’ll eat a bowl.”

“Okay!”

When I nodded and gave a positive answer, Sa Hae-geon smiled happily. Then he said he’d diligently make other side dishes too and headed to the kitchen.

‘Is he that happy…?’

Sa Hae-geon was a curious Esper in many ways. The fact that he kidnapped me because he likes me, and the fact that he seems to like receiving guiding but doesn’t seem very interested in pairing.

He was a type of person I had never met before in my life, so it was very difficult to deal with him. It was no less absurd when the direction of the conversation would go somewhere completely different if I left even a small opening.

It was troublesome but not unpleasant. At first, I thought what kind of crazy person this was and it was ridiculous, but thinking about it now, even that seemed quite cute.

The fact that he let me bring Cream was proof that he was a decent person to begin with.

“Hyung, it’s almost ready. Come sit down.”

“Okay.”

Making delicious food is also something that proves Sa Hae-geon’s character. So I can understand his occasional lunatic-like behavior.

But…

“…What is this?”

I had no intention of understanding this.

“What do you mean? It’s rolled eggs.”

Anyone would be baffled to see ‘Hae-geon♥Do-min’ written in ketchup on top of the rolled eggs.

I stared blankly at Sa Hae-geon, who was brazenly ladling out the beef bone soup.