Heichi, who had been watching Lee Heewoo’s terrified face, finally began to subdue his sharply honed wavelength. It wasn’t a judgment made through rational thinking. It was just that seeing Lee Heewoo afraid of him made his wavelength, which had been excitedly spreading in all directions, shrivel up like a cowed beast.
But even so, the fear in Lee Heewoo’s eyes didn’t disappear, and Heichi’s heart was struck down to the floor again and again.
Once his wavelength subsided, he came to his senses as if cold water had been poured over his head. The convenience store shelves that Lee Heewoo had worked hard to organize since early dawn were sliced horizontally as if cut by a giant blade, and the spilled items were dirtying the floor. Lee Heewoo was sitting collapsed in the center of the fallen items.
“Lee, Heewoo…”
Step.
Heichi took one step toward Lee Heewoo. Hair that would normally be neatly swept back had half slid down onto his forehead, and when that hair blocked his vision, Heichi swept his hair up with one hand. Only then could he properly see Lee Heewoo.
When Heichi approached one step, Lee Heewoo, still sitting collapsed, pressed his hands on the ground and then hurriedly backed away. The fear in his eyes was vivid. Heichi stopped dead at the rejection, fear, and disgust he felt from Lee Heewoo.
If earlier it felt like his heart was falling to the floor, now it felt like someone was directly squeezing his heart tight and crushing it. Fear seeped into Heichi’s heart just as much as Lee Heewoo’s and began to beat violently. The anxious Heichi approached Lee Heewoo with large strides. Step, step.
“…!”
The more he did so, the faster Lee Heewoo groped backward trying to retreat. When he showed signs of trying to escape, Heichi instinctively put strength in his legs and approached even faster, like a predator seeing prey turn its back. What stopped him was AJ.
“Captain!”
If it hadn’t been AJ, Heichi probably would have rushed over in one bound and snatched Lee Heewoo. With only instinct remaining, he would have simply embraced Lee Heewoo and pushed him into his arms. Regardless of whether Lee Heewoo was scared or rejected him.
“Captain, please calm down. Breathe.”
Only then did Heichi realize he had been holding his breath, having forgotten even his breathing technique. When he took a deep breath as AJ advised, Earth’s characteristically high-purity oxygen rushed in. After breathing that, his head, which had been hazy as if shrouded in fog, seemed to turn properly.
Huu…
Heichi, who had breathed in and out so deeply his ribcage swelled, this time approached Lee Heewoo with a somewhat changed demeanor. Slowly. More slowly. So Lee Heewoo wouldn’t be startled.
When he carefully extended his foot as if dealing with a small animal, fortunately Lee Heewoo only put more strength into his hunched shoulders and didn’t try to flee in a panic like before. Relieved by this sight, Heichi reached Lee Heewoo’s front.
Heichi knelt on one knee in front of him and made their eye levels equal. Since he was afraid of him, he needed to reassure him. With such feelings, he quietly gazed into Lee Heewoo’s pitch-black eyes.
“That, that person… did he… die…?”
The first thing the terrified Lee Heewoo asked was whether the esper who had oppressed him earlier was alive or dead. One of Lee Heewoo’s thin, small fingers pointed to the bastard collapsed behind Heichi. Heichi hated even that finger pointing at him, so he hurriedly answered.
“He’s not dead. I only cut up to part of his epidermis, so he won’t die.”
“But, even so, he’s bleeding so much…”
“That bastard is a supreme-class esper with recovery abilities superior to ordinary espers. So he won’t die from such wounds.”
Saying that much, Heichi briefly glanced at AJ who was standing close by. AJ, who caught the signal, had one of the crew members he’d brought hoist up the collapsed bastard.
But perhaps because that was too conspicuous, Lee Heewoo’s terrified eyes were fixed past Heichi on the collapsed esper. Heichi, who had traced his dry palate, opened his mouth once more to draw Lee Heewoo’s attention.
“I merely dealt with him according to Epsilon’s military law. Please don’t worry about it.”
“Uh…”
“More importantly, where did that esper touch you?”
Heichi asked what he’d wanted to know ever since seeing Lee Heewoo’s disheveled appearance. He wanted to personally clean every body part that the other esper’s touch had reached. However, Lee Heewoo just gently shook his head while watching Heichi’s reaction.
“It was just, nothing much… But, what should we do about this? The manager will be angry when he sees…”
Lee Heewoo turned his head this way and that, looking around. Due to Heichi’s terrifying wavelength and the psychic power that had passed for roughly ten seconds, the interior of the convenience store was almost completely devastated. Heichi glanced around as if not particularly concerned, then called AJ.
“AJ. Handle it.”
“Yes, well… Ahem, Guide-nim, you don’t need to worry too much.”
AJ, who had roughly dealt with the captured esper and returned, quietly stepped forward in front of Lee Heewoo. He seemed to have noticed that Lee Heewoo was stomping his feet in worry. Heichi didn’t want to introduce even AJ to his guide, but given the situation, he firmly suppressed his sinister greed.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am AJ986, who serves by the Captain’s side. For reference, 986 is from my family line, so you can just call me AJ.”
“AJ…? Oh, oh. That, from the news…!”
Lee Heewoo’s eyes widened round. Then AJ cleared his throat softly as if understanding and opened his mouth.
“Yes, that’s the right alien. I’m engaging in exchanges with Earthlings on behalf of our Epsilon’s esper race.”
Whenever they visited a planet, it was always AJ’s job to interact with that planet’s species. Naturally, this meant he often appeared in media, and it seemed Lee Heewoo had seen that. When surprise and delight appeared on Lee Heewoo’s face, Heichi frowned.
“Heewoo. So are you hurt any…”
The moment Heichi reached out his hand to personally check Lee Heewoo’s body with his own eyes, Lee Heewoo flinched in surprise and pulled his upper body back. Then he spoke timidly to Heichi.
“I’m, I’m sorry.”
“…”
“Because I’m scared…”
The palm that had been awkwardly extended ultimately had to curl back in. It had been contact that he’d barely managed to get permission for until now, and it seemed like his relationship with Lee Heewoo had changed back to when they first met, or even worse than that, so Heichi bit his lip.
Just as the atmosphere was cooling, ding-a-ling, the bell rang and someone entered the convenience store. It was the manager.
“What on earth happened here!”
“Gasp, Manager…”
“Heewoo, do you know how shocked I was watching on CCTV!? What on earth is all this, what on earth!”
The manager who burst in shouting strode toward Lee Heewoo who was sitting collapsed on the floor. His demeanor seemed so threatening and full of anger that Lee Heewoo’s complexion darkened. Unable to watch anymore, Heichi stepped forward and blocked in front of Lee Heewoo.
“…Are you a customer? I’m the owner, so move aside.”
“Won’t it be resolved if I pay?”
“Pay? How much are you going to pay? Do you know how much all this is! Good grief, if I can’t open for several days, who’s going to cover that deficit, oh my!”
At the mention of payment, the manager’s demeanor changed instantly. He ostentatiously kicked at the dirtied shelves and floor, constantly bullying them. Watching this, Heichi ordered AJ.
“AJ.”
“Yes. I’ll handle it.”
“Heewoo, please stand up.”
Heichi urged Lee Heewoo, who was still sitting collapsed, to stand. He thought about reaching out his hand to help him up, but it seemed like he’d be rejected anyway, so he just quietly watched.
But when Lee Heewoo stood up, Heichi had to barely suppress the rage trying to rise to the top of his head again. Messy hair, torn shoulders and waist area of his top, pants pulled and stretched out hanging on his pelvis, exposing all his bare skin.
According to Heichi’s memory, the esper who had oppressed Lee Heewoo earlier was a physical enhancement type esper, and because of that, he must have pulled Lee Heewoo with strong hands. Or he tore the clothes right there to try to make more contact somehow. Either way, he was a bastard who deserved to be torn to death.
“…Please wear this.”
Heichi, who still hadn’t been permitted to get close to Lee Heewoo, could only take off his coat from afar and hand it to him. Lee Heewoo, who knew his own state well, obediently accepted at least the coat and draped it over his shoulders. Because of the huge height difference, the coat dragged on the floor, but it couldn’t be helped.
Leaving AJ conversing with the manager behind them, Lee Heewoo wrapped in the coat and Heichi first left the convenience store. As they went outside, cold air instantly swept over their skin. Heichi, who felt no cold at all, looked back at Lee Heewoo out of worry.
“Um…”
Lee Heewoo was calling Heichi in a small voice.
“Please speak.”
“I… may I go ahead first?”
“…”
“I’ll wash the coat and give it back…”
Lee Heewoo’s shoulders were drooping. Heichi couldn’t bring himself to simply tell Lee Heewoo to go when he said he’d leave without giving him a chance to recover, wanting to hold onto him a little longer, so he only traced his dry mouth.
“I’m sorry, you helped me, but…”
“…Yes.”
“I’m a little scared…”
Ding-a-ling.
Just then, AJ came out of the convenience store. He saw Heichi and Lee Heewoo having a conversation in front of the door and tilted his head.
“Captain, the convenience store here is all settled… Hm?”
“Um, if it’s alright, I’ll be going now…”
“How could that be? This was our fault. We’d like to compensate Heewoo as well, so how about going together?”
“What? Compensation?”
Lee Heewoo looked at AJ with a surprised face. Then AJ hid his hand behind him and thwack, hit Heichi’s arm without Lee Heewoo seeing. Thanks to that, Heichi, who came to his senses as if struck by lightning, added:
“That’s right. Heewoo is also a victim, so you should receive compensation.”
Desperate to catch Lee Heewoo who was acting like he’d run away any moment, Heichi had to use any means. And that was, perhaps naturally, his wealth, which was the only thing he could put forward. Heichi, called the richest person on planet Epsilon, decided to spend money generously to hold onto his guide.
—
⚡Category – ‣ Epsilon – ‣ 1st Strategic Fleet – ‣ Chat
✨Epilogue for Sentient Life Forms✨
⦁Discrimination between planets is prohibited.
⦁Fraternization is prohibited.
⦁Spamming is prohibited.
⦁Please be aware that automatic translation functions are installed, so language structure and interpretation results may be reconstructed according to the respective civilization for each planetary coordinate where link access occurs.
225 [Today is Earth’s Christmas]
1 Life Form εCTC.8862.11232 ✋13
Those of you who met guides on Earth, take note. Today is a day for dating.
2 Life Form εCTC.8862.11333 ✋143
What’s Christmas?
3 Life Form εCTC.8862.11365 ✋15
-‣2: It says right there, it’s a day for dating
4 Life Form εCTC.8862.11400 ✋0
-‣3: No I mean why do they date
5 Life Form εCTC.8862.11489 ✋2
-‣4: Why does that matter, fuck (ㅅㅂ), just date
6 Life Form εCTC.8862.11444 ✋7
-‣5: You don’t have a guide, idiot (ㅂㅅ)
7 Life Form εCTC.8862.11589 ✋1
I just asked and they said it’s someone’s birthday
8 Life Form εCTC.8862.11612 ✋12
Who was born and why do we have to date today?
9 Life Form εCTC.8862.11622 ✋3
-‣8: Dating is just good, agreed (ㅇㅈ)
10 Life Form εCTC.8862.11625 ✋4
You need to have a guide to date or not
11 Life Form εCTC.8862.11666 ✋17
Yeah yeah (ㅇㅇ) I’m dating cola today, fuck (ㅅㅂ)
12 Life Form εCTC.8862.11711 ✋11
-‣11: Obviously Coke, right? Not Pepsi?
13 Life Form εCTC.8862.11715 ✋1
So fucking jealous of those bastards who met guides on Earth, I guess I just don’t match with Earthlings, I don’t have one, fuck
14 Life Form εCTC.8862.11743 ✋32
I heard the Captain is dating today too, so why am I…
15 Life Form εCTC.8862.11751 ✋9
lol (ㅋㅋ) Just the fact you’re linking here shows it all, you all got rejected by your guides
16 Life Form εCTC.8862.11888 ✋54
-‣15: You talking about yourself?
17 Life Form εCTC.8862.11891 ✋0
Ahhhhhhh I want to meet a guide with amazing matching rate ahhhhh
18 Life Form εCTC.8862.11932 ✋2
What do Earthlings usually do on Christmas?
19 Life Form εCTC.8862.11955 ✋0
-‣18: I asked my guide and they said they eat a lot of cake
20 Life Form εCTC.8862.11961 ✋17
-‣19: Showing off ㅗ (middle finger)
21 Life Form εCTC.8862.11987 ✋3
Where do they sell Dubai chocolate cake?
22 Life Form εCTC.8862.12002 ✋6
-‣21: What’s that?
23 Life Form εCTC.8862.12058 ✋0
-‣22: I don’t know either but my guide wants to eat it
24 Life Form εCTC.8862.12101 ✋2
I want my guide as a Christmas present too
25 Life Form εCTC.8862.12175 ✋0
-‣24: Reality: Guide plant extracted from Ekarian planet 1
26 Life Form εCTC.8862.12899 ✋5
-‣25: You fucking bastard (이씨발새끼야)
27 Life Form εCTC.8862.12925 ✋0
Guys, sorry for going off topic but my guide’s age is sixty-nine… It’s their birthday today so now seventy… What do I do?
28 Life Form εCTC.8862.13001 ✋2
-‣27: What’s the problem?
29 Life Form εCTC.8862.13153 ✋0
Earthlings’ maximum lifespan is 100 years… What if I can only see them for 30 more years? ㅠ And my guide has one fucking ugly useless unemployed son bastard attached, is there a way to remove him? I want to take them to my shelter and serve them devotedly…
30 Life Form εCTC.8862.13155 ✋16
-‣29: Stop showing off and go to the counseling section, fuck (ㅆㅂ)
31 Life Form εCTC.8862.13328 ✋0
To my fellow compatriots crumpled up in your battleship rooms even on Christmas, anyway Merry Christmas lol (ㅋㅋㅋ) I’m going to meet my guide, see ya (ㅅㄱ)
