The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 31: And They Were Roommates

Perhaps they should have insisted on staying in Blue Pine Inn, after all. freewёbnoνel.com

The villa was spacious, luxurious, and very comfortable. It had a terrace over the lake with a stunning view, a kitchenette, a living room with a home cinema, and even a jacuzzi. However, despite all this space... it only had one bed. A king-size bed, of course, but no matter how large it was, it didn’t change the fact that it was only one.

Lane and Damien stared at the bed in silence. They had returned from the dinner with the Trailblazer Guild’s Guild Leader not long ago, and had just discovered this issue.

"I’ll go check with Grant whether her villa has two beds," Damien eventually said, turning around and leaving without so much as a single glance at Lane. Grant, that is Hallie Grant, was the lucky occupant of the other villa, the privilege won through a random draw. She was the only person having a room all to herself, so she wouldn’t have any reason not to switch with them, as she only needed one bed anyway.

Left alone, Lane dropped down on the couch with a sigh. He was a bit tired, but aside from the unwanted room arrangement, he had a pretty good day. Damien tried to keep an eye on him earlier on when they were conducting the inspection, but because they had Elena Harris accompanying them all the way, he had to direct a lot of his attention elsewhere. As a result, Lane was able to find several opportunities to lag behind and plant the Fertilizer.

He tapped his general spatial bag, inside of which his locked spatial bag was hidden, a satisfied smile spreading on his face. It was only the first day, and it already contained seven fewer capsules with the Fertilizer than when they entered the Gate. He was off to a good start.

Damien returned a few minutes later. Upon seeing Lane’s inquisitive gaze, he only shook his head. "It’s exactly the same."

"Hmm." Lane hummed lightly. He already expected this much.

Since that was the case, they had no choice but to accept the situation. Switching with anyone else wasn’t really an option. They all had already left for the other hotels a while ago, and chasing after them would only create a lot of unnecessary chaos. Not to mention, Damien wouldn’t want to use his authority to push such an uncomfortable arrangement onto someone else - this was just the kind of person he was.

"Well, it is what it is, we just have to deal with it," Lane shrugged his shoulders, languidly scrambling off the couch. "If Team Leader doesn’t mind, I’ll go wash up first, alright?" he threw casually, as he headed to the bathroom, not even waiting for an answer.

When he returned to the living room twenty minutes later, all cleaned up and changed, his pale skin pinkish from the steamy hot shower, the tea table seemed to have experienced some... redecoration. It was now filled with a generous assortment of sweet treats.

"What is this?" he asked, glancing at the table suspiciously, as he continued haphazardly wiping his wet locks.

"Just some snacks. Feel free to have any if you want."

Lane gulped, his eyes scanning all the sweets. There were some treats that were among his favorites... Still, he forced himself to divert his gaze. "No, thank you. I’m good."

"You sure?" Damien lifted his brows, observing Lane carefully.

"Yeah. I mean, we just had dinner. I like sweets, but not so much that I would eat them even when I’m already stuffed." Lane shrugged his shoulders, throwing himself on the couch.

In truth, Lane totally would. He loved sweets so much that he was never too stuffed for something sweet... But Damien already knew that. And he himself didn’t have much of a sweet tooth - while he didn’t dislike sweets, he rarely chose to eat any. So, all those treats were obviously brought for Lane. It was just another trap.

Lane turned on the TV, and put on some movie - that was all that he could watch here, as there was no satellite signal from the outside world. But the tea table still continued to attract his gaze.

How was he supposed to resist the temptation? Was that some new kind of torture? Was Damien perhaps trying to drive Lane insane, as an act of revenge for seducing him and then dying?

In the end, it was simply too much for Lane to take. He didn’t last even five minutes, before jumping off the couch, and escaping to the bedroom. There, he secretly took out some chocolates from his spatial bag, stuffed them in his mouth, and hid the wrapping back in the bag to hide the evidence. He didn’t need Damien’s treats! He was well prepared for the trip himself.

Satisfied, he dropped on the bed. Although he wasn’t sleepy yet, he really didn’t feel like going back to the living room, where all the snacks he shouldn’t touch were. So, he pulled out his phone, and started playing some offline games instead.

"You shouldn’t lie down with your hair wet," a stern voice reached him not long later.

Lane briefly lifted his eyes from the screen, holding back a sigh. Damien just came back from the shower, and of course, the first thing he did was lecturing Lane... Lane looked back at his phone, before pausing the game and doing a double take.

Damien was wearing some grey pajamas, his hair down - although still nearly combed, and already dried. It wasn’t anything special, just some cheap pajamas, but Lane was still a bit interested. After all, it was the first time he saw Damien in anything other than the Association uniform. Besides, Damien was so handsome that he would look good even in a potato sack... And most importantly, the pajamas were gray. Lane’s gaze naturally wandered down.

Damn.

Lane involuntarily bit his lip. Yeah, Damien definitely looked good. Too bad it was just another snack he shouldn’t touch...

Luckily, Damien didn’t notice Lane’s reaction, as he walked over to the built-in wardrobe. "You can take the bed. I will sleep on the couch," he said to Lane, pulling out a spare blanket and a pillow from the top shelf, before leaving the bedroom.

"Hmm?" Lane stared at the man’s back disappearing behind the door. His eyes slightly narrowed.

He didn’t really care whether they shared the bed or not. They have never even shared a room before, even when Lane asked to, back when he was ’Evan Greene’, so Damien didn’t know his sleeping habits. Therefore, it wasn’t risky to share, but on the other hand, since Lane had no intentions of trying to seduce Damien again, there was no reason for him to insist on it. He could just happily claim the bed to himself...

But he didn’t want to. Precisely because Damien was such a prude that he previously refused to even share a room while there was something going on between him and Lane, and even know preferred to sleep on separate beds, Lane didn’t want to let the man have his way. If Damien was going to torture him by putting all of those sweets on display, then Lane was going to reciprocate by making sure they shared a bed!

He put down his phone and followed Damien back to the living room.

"Team Leader, this isn’t right. You shouldn’t sleep here. How are you supposed to rest well?" He went over, picking up the pillow that Damien already placed on the couch, getting ready to go to sleep. "We can just share. The bed is so wide, and I am fairly short and thin, there’s more than enough space for both of us to sleep comfortably."

"It’s alright. The couch is soft. On dungeon raids we frequently sleep on the ground, this is nothing compared to that," Damien answered calmly. His ears, however, were slightly red, and he was avoiding Lane’s gaze.

A faint smirk tugged on the corners of Lane’s lips. "But, Team Leader! We’re not on a dungeon raid. We got such a nice, big bed, shouldn’t we take advantage of it?"

"Then you use it, I’m good here." Damien gave up on the pillow without even trying to take it back from Lane, and sat back on the couch, about to lie down...

Before he could do that, though, Lane jumped onto the couch right next to him, blocking the space. "No! If Team Leader isn’t going to sleep on the bed, then neither am I! You’re my superior. I cannot take the better spot for myself!" he pouted.

"I..." Damien hesitated. He could just order Lane to move away and get back on the bed. They were technically still at work, so it was within his authority to command all of his subordinates. However, Damien wasn’t that kind of person. He always disliked using his position for anything that wasn’t strictly work related. He already felt bad enough about forcing Lane to share a room with him when the man obviously wanted to get away...

They sat in silence for a long while, before Damien finally gave in. "Alright," he said with a heavy sigh, standing up without so much as a single glance at Lane.

A satisfied smile brightened Lane’s face. It faltered slightly as his gaze fell on the table again... But, he quickly got up and followed after Damien back to the bed.

Because Damien was facing away from him all this time, he never got to see that the man’s face flushed bright red...