The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 296: From the Start

Lane had a problem. He had a very serious problem. For the first time in their lasting half a year so far relationship... his boyfriend wasn’t listening to his pleas.

He had thought about it all day, how to convince Damien to let him join the team during the inspections. During the training, he focused all his attention (or, well, at least all of his attention that wasn’t already occupied by Damien, Ethan, and maintaining A-rank appropriate speed) on coming up with arguments as to why his presence was perfectly justified and necessary. So did he during lunch in the cafeteria, during which Ethan didn’t get a clue, and insisted on third-wheeling on Lane and Damien’s lunch date. And when they were back in the office, where Ethan was discussing all the details regarding work schedule and all the duties of Field Agents in the Association, Lane was still thinking, all while sending death glares to the annoying Guide from above his study materials.

He put THIS much consideration. He waited until they got home, and the door closed behind them, before launching a verbal offense, trying to break through the wall called ’laws and regulations’ that Damien was defending.

But it was no use. No matter what arguments he presented, Damien’s answer remained the same.

"You can’t come with us."

"But Damien..." Lane whined, but Damien was firm.

"You can’t possibly leave me here, not when that man will be coming with you..."

"You should have studied properly. If you had your license, then we wouldn’t have this problem," Damien shot him down, giving him a serious look. "Go wash your hands now, dinner is ready."

"Well, how was I supposed to know the Allens would send him to the Association?" Lane muttered, as he obediently washed his hands, and plopped down by the table. "If I knew, I would have made sure I had the license by now..."

Perhaps not by ’studying properly’ as Damien suggested, but he would have accomplished it using... his own methods. The point was that he would have it, so he could legally work as an Esper!

Damien ignored Lane’s mumbling, putting the plates with steaming hot food on the table, and taking a seat as well.

They ate in silence, each preoccupied with their own thoughts. It wasn’t the nice, comforting silence that often accompanied them at home, but one that weighed on Lane’s shoulders. The atmosphere just wasn’t right. Ever since Ethan had barged in into Damien’s office and opened his damned mouth, there was tension hanging between them, and it made Lane extremely uneasy for some reason...

"Is it because of what he said?" he finally couldn’t take it any longer and spoke up again. "About... You know. The ’I don’t date’ thing..."

Damien lifted his gaze, but couldn’t catch Lane’s eyes, because the man was unusually interested in the smudges of meat sauce left on his already almost empty plate. He let out a sigh, finished the last few bites of pickled cabbage left on his own plate, and put his knife and fork down.

"I already knew," he then said calmly.

"H-huh?" Lane flinched, finally lifting his eyes, only to let them dodge to the side a second later. "You knew what?"

"That you’re not interested in relationships."

At Damien’s words, Lane couldn’t help but bring his eyes under control, to take a good look at the man. He stared at Damien, blinking, occasionally looking to the side, as his brain was struggling to analyze the situation and come up with a correct approach...

"You knew," he repeated blankly.

"Yes," Damien confirmed. "From the start."

To which Lane blinked.

Damien remained silent for a moment, until eventually, he let out another sigh, and explained, "When we first met, I knew you were just looking for a fling, not anything serious. So, I tried to keep my distance at first..." He paused again, furrowing his brows, and brushed his hair back. It was the first time he and Lane actually had a talk about it, about everything that had happened between them when Lane had been ’Evan’, then ’Noah’, and ’Aidan’, until they had gotten together when Lane had been possessing Xavier. Lane was always quick to dismiss it, focusing on the present, while Damien... Damien was simply uncomfortable talking about it.

Still, he continued, "But, as you know, in the end I agreed to have guiding sessions with you... And to kiss under the pretext of increasing efficiency... The problem was that as we interacted, I started developing feelings for you..." freewebnoveℓ.com

"You mean, when I was ’Evan’?" Lane couldn’t help but interject.

"Yes."

"Huh..."

It wasn’t exactly all that surprising. Lane had his suspicions before, after seeing Damien’s behavior when they were by Evan’s death place, and then when the man was keeping an eye on him. But those were only ’suspicions’. Meaning, he still had some doubts about their validity.

Until now.

"So, if you already liked me back then... Why did you hold back so much? Was it because you thought it was inappropriate or something?"

"This, and... I was worried that once you got what you wanted, you would move on to your next target..."

"...Ah."

There wasn’t anything Lane could really say to it. Damien was not wrong. That was how Lane used to operate. And sure, he couldn’t get enough of Damien now, even though he had the man for himself pretty much every day at home... But who knows how things would have gone if Damien had agreed to sleep with him all of those months ago?

"This is why I tried to take things slow," Damien admitted. "To spend more time with you first... Hoping that perhaps this way, you could get attached to me."

Now that was... surprising. Lane didn’t expect that Damien had actually been secretly scheming like that underneath the surface! But at the same time, suddenly everything made sense. How Damien had found his way into his world, even though Lane had never let anyone else close enough to even have a chance to catch on feelings!

The corners of his lips twitched, lifting up. It was amusing in a way, thinking about it now. While Lane had been racking his brain as to how to get away, Damien had been setting up traps everywhere on his way, and patiently waiting for Lane to get caught in his love nets...

"I’m sorry."

All of a sudden, Damien spoke up again, causing Lane to pause and lift his eyes.