Something was strange.
Even as Heewoo calmly continued his conversation with Heichi, he kept glancing toward the area behind him. In the past, he’d only been able to see that formless energy when his emotions had reached extremes in urgent situations.
But today, he could see Heichi’s energy just from holding his hand. Heewoo wanted to subtly pull his hand away to check if he could still see that energy without physical contact, but every time he tried to slowly slip his hand free, Heichi would squeeze firmly and hold on, making it impossible.
“What’s the matter?”
“Huh? What?”
“You keep trying to pull your hand away, don’t you?”
Heichi must have noticed how unusually fidgety Heewoo’s hand had been inside his coat pocket today, because he finally asked. Flustered, Heewoo’s lips moved wordlessly before he closed his mouth again for a moment.
For some reason, he felt he shouldn’t tell Heichi that he could see such things. No matter how kind Heichi had been to him, he was ultimately an Esper, and if Heewoo was identified as some strange kind of Guide and Heichi withdrew all the goodwill he’d shown him until now… It wasn’t about the money—if Heichi stopped coming to see him anymore…
Heewoo’s heart grew terribly heavy. Afraid of losing him, Heewoo decided that instead of asking Heichi, he would wait and ask Kim Sowoon, the Guide he’d met before, if he ever had the chance to contact him.
“It’s just, well, um… two men holding hands like this walking around is a bit…”
It was a weekday, so the streets were relatively quiet, but even so, among the people walking around them, it was rare to see two men holding hands. Just as the embarrassed Heewoo tried to pull his hand away—
The energy around Heichi that had been clearly visible suddenly seemed to droop. It wasn’t the overwhelmingly massive size he’d seen at the convenience store, but even so, the sharp, pointed energy that had been rippling began to sag weakly when Heewoo tried to let go of his hand. Heewoo’s mouth fell open at the astonishing sight.
“Is my being biologically male the problem?”
“What? No, that’s not…”
“Do you prefer a female Esper, Heewoo?”
Each time Heichi spoke, his energy churned violently. It looked as if it were in pain, or perhaps—
“No, I like you, Heichi…”
It looked as if it were pleading for help.
Heewoo stared blankly, pretending to look at Heichi while actually focusing his gaze behind him, and spoke. The moment Heewoo finished speaking, the drooping energy perked right back up. It still looked somewhat tattered, but at least it wasn’t as powerless as before.
“I see.”
Unlike his formless energy, Heichi answered calmly and instead of asking further, he gripped Heewoo’s hand tightly and wouldn’t let go. In the end, Heewoo had to keep holding hands with Heichi all the way until they arrived at the sushi restaurant.
* * *
Heewoo had thought Heichi would take him to one of those cheap conveyor belt sushi places he’d seen before, or a Japanese restaurant that sold pork cutlet and udon together. That was all Heewoo knew about sushi. Of course, even those were so expensive his eyes would pop out, so he’d never actually tried them.
But the sushi restaurant Heichi brought him to had such a subtle atmosphere that Heewoo wondered if it could even be called a ‘restaurant.’ From the entrance, staff who had been waiting came out to take their coats and organize them, then guided them inside to a beautifully decorated interior with soft lighting and objets d’art. This was the first time in his life Heewoo had received such attentive treatment.
Unable to endure the awkwardness, Heewoo sat down and looked around, prompting Heichi to hand him a warm hand towel. Even the hand towel looked expensive, so Heewoo wiped his hands with trembling fingers.
“Wh-where’s the menu…?”
“This place doesn’t have a menu.”
“Then how do we order?”
“They only have one set menu.”
Heewoo, who had secretly planned to look at the menu and suggest they just leave if it was too expensive, closed his mouth at the news there was no menu. Even if it was a single set menu, shouldn’t there be a price listed somewhere? That’s how you’d know if it was cheap or expensive…
While he was worrying about this, a chef with a shiny bald head approached them. Thanks to the soft lighting, the chef’s smooth bald head also glowed gently.
“Will either of you be eating nigiri by hand?”
Startled by the sudden question, Heewoo’s eyes widened. Uncomfortable with the idea of eating food with his hands, Heewoo subtly shook his head, and Heichi conveyed that they wouldn’t. The chef nodded and began forming sushi. A staff member waiting beside the chef brought out the food.
“Today’s appetizer is chawanmushi topped with salmon roe and caviar.”
Inside a cup smaller than Heewoo’s palm was a yellow, soft pudding. Having no idea that chawanmushi meant Japanese-style steamed egg custard, Heewoo simply thought of the contents as pudding. When he scooped up a small spoonful with the teaspoon-like utensil and put it in his mouth, his eyes widened at the umami flavor he’d never experienced before.
“Next is young bluefin tuna tataki.”
The next dish was a red-fleshed fish smaller than the pudding, with only the surface seared as if with a torch. Heewoo stared at the tataki with a rather serious expression. Then he scooted his bottom toward Heichi to get closer and whispered in his ear.
“Th-this is under… undercooked…”
If it were just sashimi, they wouldn’t have seared the surface, and if it were grilled fish, it would be cooked through. But the red fish before him was neither cooked nor was it sashimi. Worried he might get parasites from eating it wrong, Heewoo cautiously told only Heichi.
Not cruel-hearted enough to scold the chef for cooking it wrong, Heewoo had no intention of doing so. But since he wasn’t the only one eating this, and a quick glance showed Heichi’s portion looked the same as his, he couldn’t not say something. That’s why he whispered so quietly that only Heichi could hear, but…
“This. Is it undercooked?”
When Heichi suddenly asked the chef, it was Heewoo’s face that turned bright red instead. He shouldn’t do that. That’s not polite. Heewoo flustered about when—
“No, sir. Tataki is a Japanese cooking method where only the surface is lightly seared to preserve the tender texture. Please enjoy it without worry.”
Heewoo let out a gasp of surprise at those words. With his limited knowledge, he’d naturally assumed the dish was prepared incorrectly. Even though a high-end restaurant like this wouldn’t make such a basic mistake. Heewoo felt deeply embarrassed.
But on the other hand, Heichi, who had boldly asked what Heewoo couldn’t, seemed amazing. Even though everyone around now knew Heichi didn’t know what tataki was, he showed not a hint of embarrassment. If it had been Heewoo, he probably would have shriveled up in shame at being the only one who didn’t know.
Fortunately though, thanks to Heichi, Heewoo was able to relax and continue the meal asking various questions about things he didn’t know. Despite his intimidating appearance, the kind chef was actually delighted by Heewoo’s questions and explained everything in detail. Besides, if he’d been the only one who didn’t know, it might have been embarrassing, but thinking that Heichi didn’t know either gave Heewoo courage.
His first sushi adventure, what must have been an incredibly expensive meal though he didn’t know the exact price, ended safely like that. When he first ate the chawanmushi, his mouth felt rough and uncomfortable so he thought it didn’t taste good, but by the end, the slow but long meal left him with a pleasant sense of fullness.
Just as a cheerful Heewoo stepped outside and tried to take Heichi’s hand again—
“Heichi…?”
Before they’d even left the building, Heichi’s knees buckled and his large body swayed for a moment.
Then he finally collapsed to the floor. Heewoo, who had been watching Heichi crumble, rushed over in shock. He saw Heichi leaning against the wall, breathing heavily.
“Why, wh-what, what’s wrong…?”
He was so shocked that not only were his hands trembling, but he couldn’t speak properly either. The idea of the robust-looking Heichi collapsing was something that had never occurred even in Heewoo’s meager imagination. Seeing him like this, Heichi closed his eyes deeply and said,
“I’m… fine. Please wait, just a moment. I’ll recover soon…”
But despite saying that, Heichi’s complexion showed no signs of recovery at all. Trembling, Heewoo struggled to somehow support Heichi.
“A hospital, what about a hospital? Should we go to a hospital? Heichi, why is this, so suddenly…”
“Captain.”
At the voice from behind, Heewoo’s head whipped around. There stood an Esper he’d seen before—that’s right, it was AJ.
“Let’s head back for today.”
