The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 246: Moving

Meanwhile, back in the city, in the Association Headquarters, Damien had just finished his work for the day. He went once more through the feedback he received from Team Leader Anthony White regarding his raid plans...

The raid plans he probably didn’t need, at least for now, based on what he had heard from Lane. Still, it was better to be prepared, just in case... Not to mention, he might need them later anyway. He would be able to reuse them then, only making necessary changes to accommodate for the changes within his team (that is, the addition of one more high-ranking Esper)...

Once that was all done, though, he got out and left his office, a bit earlier than usual. He had personal matters to take care of. That is, moving to his new apartment.

After pondering over it the whole day, he decided to just accept it. It would be... good for him, all things considered. Less time wasted on commuting, closer proximity to Lane, and with no rent to pay, he would be able to send more money to his mother! His rent was already cheap, so it wasn’t a big difference, but anything counted.

He called Lane as he left the office, but the man didn’t pick up. The number out of range. Probably in the dungeon, if Damien had to guess.

...And Lane didn’t even have an Esper license.

Although, to be honest, the fact that his boyfriend was active as an Esper without a license was the least of Damien’s concerns.

Either way, with Lane unavailable, Damien just took a subway, going back to his old place to pack up. He considered doing groceries first, but after giving it a thought, he decided to get his things first - he still had a lot of ingredients at home, and it’d be a shame for them to go to waste.

He started packing, first putting everything from the fridge and the freezer in his spatial bag... But soon enough, he ran out of space. The spatial bag he had was the most basic, cheapest type, which couldn’t fit in much. Thus, Damien had to pack the rest into his duffel bag and his suitcase...

Which still wasn’t nearly enough. Damien had never realized just how much stuff he had in his small place... He’d have to make at least two trips to get everything. Of course, it didn’t have to do it today, but the sooner, the better, so that he could start paying the rent. If he had made up his mind about accepting Lane’s too generous gift, there was no reason to put it off.

Just as he was about to leave the apartment to make his first trip, his phone pinged.

[Hi, are you still at work? Want to come for dinner?] Clara asked.

[I’m at home already.]

[Want me to pick you up?]

Damien hesitated for a moment, before texting back, [It would be great if you could come... And bring some empty boxes.]

And just a few seconds later, his phone rang.

"Boxes? What, are you moving?"

"Ugh... Yes."

"Finally!" Clara exclaimed happily on the other end of the line. "I’ve been telling you all this time that you should... Wait." She paused all of a sudden, the tone of her voice turning suspicious, "You’re not moving with that guy I met the other day, are you?"

"No... Not... exactly."

Not that Damien would be against moving in together. In fact, he’d feel better about it than Lane buying a whole condo just for him, but he didn’t know if Lane was ready for such a step... Probably not, if he were to guess.

"...Not exactly?" Clara went silent. "I’ll be there soon," she added after a while, before ending the call.

Staring at the black screen, Damien let out a heavy sigh. Well, she was bound to find out eventually. Better sooner and later. And it was good that at least he would be able to have this conversation without having Lane here... as it would undoubtedly result in another petty argument otherwise.

He put the bags down near the door, and returned to organizing his stuff, so that everything would go smoothly once Clara arrived. There wasn’t much he could do without any boxes or anything to put his things in, but...

All of a sudden, a realization hit him, and he abruptly turned around. Looking at the bed standing by the wall. Or whatever remained of it, to be precise. The state of it was unsettling enough, but to make matters worse, it was left completely untouched after the last night! With all the cum-stained sheets still on it! Damien’s face instantly flushed, and he rushed to look for any bag he could use it, eventually stuffing the sheets in a black trash bag. They were too torn to use anyway, so Damien didn’t really feel wasteful throwing them away.

However, although he had dealt with the sheets, the bed’s wreckage still remained, resulting in Damien’s face turning red once again when Clara stepped into the apartment. Luckily, the woman knew better than to ask about the broken furniture... But the sheer horror on her face suggested she had some ideas as to what had transpired there, and it probably didn’t make her think any more favorably of Lane...

"Anyway," she said, placing the cardboard boxes on the table, as she forced his eyes away from the broken bed frame and ruined mattress. "What do you mean by ’not exactly’ moving in?"

"Well... We’re going to be neighbors," Damien admitted.

"Neighbors," Clara repeated, her face twisted with disgust, as if the word left a bad taste in her mouth. "I thought he was rich?"

"He is..."

"Then how are you willing to pay... Wait. Is he... Is he paying for your rent?"

"He... owns it."

"So you will be living in... what, his second place? For free?"

Damien remained silent.

"Damien, this..." Clara rubbed her furrowed brows, not knowing what to say. She didn’t see anything wrong with her brother getting a nice place to live for free, so she had no intention to critique him for that. It was just that... She still didn’t like the guy. Even if he did a good thing for his brother now, it didn’t change the fact that he seemed like a playboy. Completely untrustworthy. And besides...

"How long have you two even been dating?" she asked. "How much do you know about him? What is he doing for a living? Who are his parents? What is his past? Is he even taking you seriously, or just-"

"Clara," Damien sighed, interrupting the barrage of questions. "I get that you are worried, but I know what I’m doing. We... have known each other for a while," he just said, avoiding all the other uncomfortable questions, since he couldn’t tell his sister that Lane was actually the one he had been dating all along... Only that in different identities.

"Just, give him a chance, okay? He’s a really... nice guy once you get to know him."

If you look past all of the terrible things he has done, of course.

"Huh. Suuuure," Clara scoffed, unconvinced. "He’s so nice that he bites you all over and breaks your furniture?"

"...What? Bites...?"

Clara arched her brows. "Have you seen your neck?"

...His neck? Damien rushed to the bathroom to take a look in the mirror.

And his face instantly turned even redder than it already was. There was a large, dark hickey just below his ear!

Guess that explains why people were giving him weird stares all day at work!