When Le An returned to his home from giving a guiding lecture, he was exhausted and close to collapse.
It was Thursday, meaning there was only one day left for the weekend. The weekend was off for Le An. He would rest for two days, releasing his fluctuating flow and, most importantly, his five days of suppressed pheromones. These were his special reasons and needs. But the Guiding Association and government gave the reason to the media as "the treasure of the country's well-earned weekend holiday." Who would dare to protest?
He held the next guard's hand. His house staff's guiding was also essential for them to protect Le An to the maximum. The last one was Theo. He held Theo's hands; he was particularly more relaxed when he was alone with him, and Theo knew that.
"Countdown to the weekend," Theo said, smiling. Le An put his head onto his chest, more accurately, his head fell forward. He nodded.
"Do you want that soothing tea Emerald prepared?"
Le An gathered his thoughts while mumbling. "Yes, and a bath... and when I wake up, I need a stimulating session."
"You want an injection already, are you that exhausted?"
Le An looked at him briefly and averted his gaze. This was the question he disliked the most. This was the question he would never be able to say yes. Yes, I am that exhausted. "I can be more effective with injections."
"But it's still early to decide that."
Le An locked gaze with him and wanted to speculate more; this was the way he always looked like when he wanted to protest. But Theo also knew he wouldn't do that. Le An was still, even though he was with him, he was so beyond prideful for that. So, as he guessed, Le An nodded again. "Yes."
"We'll see your state in the morning. If you feel beyond tired, you'll tell me. Tomorrow is Friday, we can manage."
"Yes." Le An let go of Theo's hands. Slowly getting out of his focus state, he remembered that man. He will come again. His brows furrowed instantly. Theo poked the back of his hand, smiling. "Are you now mad at me because I didn't let you go with injections right away?"
"No, of course not." Le An's laugh followed his. "I know very well that those are not good."
"That's good. Now, good night."
"Good night."
---
He could feel his heartbeat. Thump, thump, thump. Fresh water droplets were falling from his hair, wetting the floor. When he heard the knock on his door, he flinched. It was one of the guards on the second floor, bringing his tea.
"Thank you."
"Please dry your hair, Le An."
"Yes. Yes, I will."
"Anything else, Le An?"
"No, thank you." He watched the door close. Hot steam flowing above from his tea was the only moving thing in the room now. He took the teacup, taking one sip carefully. Put it on his nightstand. Le An checked the time, then stopped. They didn't even talk about a particular time. When did he come yesterday? Le An didn't know. He gave his back to the wall, waiting.
How could he manage to get inside without being noticed? What kind of esper power could that be?
Then, although nothing moved in the room, a shadow passed in front of the window, forming right before his eyes. He held his breath, there was no voice, nothing material at first. In seconds, the shadow got even more black, its shape shifting into a tall silhouette.
The silhouette stopped in front of him. And started to rise from the ground. The blackness dissipated slowly, and from its place, like appearing from a deep fog, a body formed. Only his face was covered with a black smoke. But Le An heard his voice.
Yes, it was this voice. Right after that, the sickening oppression began. "Such a welcoming state. I honestly didn't wait for that from the great treasure."
Le An was... Flabbergasted. So this is how he entered the house, out of nowhere. And he was an esper with a unique power, after all. Seeing the source of the force that made him ill with fear last light, he was... He was trembling again.
Although he was human, even his stance was not humane after all. He was so tall and imposing-looking, as if a wild animal. An animal with no morals, no face, and mastered hunting only.
He caught Le An from his neck right away, turning his face to the wall and locking his hands together behind his back. Le An hardly talked. "My watch. Ugh..." He gathered his voice. "Let me take it off."
The force stopped briefly to get an answer. For a moment, no voice came. Then he heard. "Why?"
"... The watch keeps track of my state. And... ha. The flow's sta- Ha!"
His wrist got twisted painfully right that instant. But the watch didn't budge. Le An rushed, wriggling in pain. "Fi-fingerprint. It unlocks with my-"
He felt the oppression grow stronger and stopped talking. A second later, he felt the hand catching his index finger, roughly pressing onto the watch's screen. The watch unlocked. The man threw it to the bed at that instant. Then, crushing his wrists and arms with his own hands, he demanded. "Start."
Le An started right away. His sweaty forehead was also pressed to the wall. The man behind him was absorbing his guiding energy with all his might, leaving no room for him to breathe. Because of that, Le An started panting. The man hit him on the wall as a warning. "Do not breathe loudly."
Le An stared at the wall, aimlessly. He saw the shadow of the man's full head, meaning that the smoke on his face might be gone. Was his face visible now? But, even for a moment, he didn't dare try to turn around. Several minutes passed. And his hold on Le An's wrists loosened.
"Tomorrow midnight." Le An heard. In the end, the man disappeared without a trace.
---
When Theo got into his room in the morning, he found Le An burning up with a high fever. He let him lie down for a few minutes more and called Emerald. Emerald was here? "We need an injection, prepare now."
In a dazed state, Le An heard voices. He has a fever... I don't know... Tell them to reschedule... He was well... But again... Le An. Le An?
He opened his eyes and saw Theo's sorry state. "D-did I sleep so much?"
"No, just for 8 more minutes."
The silence. Le An knew he had to get up. He slowly got up, his head was spinning at the same time, and Emerald walked in. "Didn't the fever go down since 4 am?" He asked right away, holding a tube and a syringe in his hands. Theo answered him. "He was better an hour ago."
It was already 6 am. "You guys were awake the whole night?" Le An asked, sighing.
"Your watch alarmed us. You were burning." Theo put his hand on Le An's forehead. "And you are still burning."
"I'm okay. Just a little dizzy."
Emerald sat in front of him, his eyes were filled with distress. "I hate to do this."
And three more guards approached the bed. Le An was laid back. Two of them held his ankles lightly. Theo and the other one held his arms.
The injection was a nightmare when the needle pierced through his vein. It had a sympathetic effect on his whole body instantly, causing him a short seizure. Le An placed his head onto his pillow, which was soaked with sweat. He locked his gaze on the ceiling. Breathed in and out. "I'm ready."
Emerald shot the injection into his arm, and pain invaded his mind and body. He aggressively trembled for a few minutes. Till his whole senses go numb. Till he couldn't think or feel anything, and forget which day it was. The hands started to soothe him, patting his hair. He couldn't look at any of those worried faces. In truth, he didn't want to look at them.
The hands on him retracted later. Emerald and Theo stayed with him only, silent. Emerald was checking his vital functions. It was worse. But for Le An, it felt better.
749 guiding in total, 102 of them are S levels and 35 emergency state espers. It was a typical Friday. When all 3 institutes were over, instead of lunch, Le An wanted to sleep. So, they took him to another one of his houses. This house was closer to the city center, which means closer to the Guiding Association Center (GAC), so an hour of sleep was possible.
A message popped up on Theo's watch, right after Le An had been asleep for fifteen minutes. "Rescheduling the meeting with the Treasure- we would like to host the treasure an hour earlier, Mr. Theo. We are informed by his doctor that he's just fallen asleep and his sleep shouldn't be interrupted.
Another message popped up right after. Theo sighed, looking at Le An's sleeping figure. It was from Mr. Renji Qui, GAC's Executive Director. "Wake him up and bring him here at once." And last one more. "And shut that doctor's mouth before it irritates me more."
They woke Le An up for the meeting.