Han Seoha’s tears were unfamiliar to Ryu Jaegeon.
During their time as partners, Han Seoha never showed his struggles no matter how difficult things were. Regardless of what time it was, when Ryu Jaegeon emerged from the gate and returned to the dormitory, Han Seoha always greeted him with a smiling face and provided guiding. Even when he collapsed from excessive guiding, he never once complained.
To Ryu Jaegeon, this was completely natural. He figured it was unavoidable for an A-rank esper to endure with insufficient C-rank guiding.
It was commonplace for him to fall asleep during the slow and tedious guiding. Han Seoha’s guiding was comfortable, but it wasn’t efficient. That’s why he discarded him.
Even after obtaining the A-rank guide Yu Haneul and bringing him into the dormitory, the pair approval still hadn’t come through, leaving him restless. In the midst of this, his anger flared briefly at the gifts from Baek Uihyeon that started piling up in front of the dormitory. His heart felt like it stopped when he saw the three-character name written on each gift box.
Han Seoha. Han Seoha. Han Seoha.
It was only for a moment, but his sensitive esper ears failed to pick up any sounds. His vision narrowed and only Han Seoha’s name entered his sight.
Even when he thought the gifts were meant to appeal to Yu Haneul, anger had boiled up, but a completely different kind of shock now dominated Ryu Jaegeon’s body.
The surrounding noise was erased and his narrowed vision only illuminated the path toward the guide dormitory. The waves he rapidly drew up contained heat as energy exploded. Despite having no flight ability, he ran as if flying, quickly arriving at the physically distant location.
Simply unbearable rage and anxiety led Ryu Jaegeon to the guide dormitory. Since it was still early, there were few people coming and going from the guide dormitory, which actually made it easier to locate them with certainty. That an S-rank esper existed far off in the distance. And that the subtle guiding of a guide who had spent a long time with him was flowing there.
What he witnessed after rashly chasing the waves was Han Seoha crying out his name and Baek Uihyeon greedily devouring him.
As he burst out with the joy and rage that arrived in an instant, Ryu Jaegeon felt his anxiety dissipate.
Why had he been anxious? Why do your tears stabilize me?
Even while frowning at his blood-covered hands, when Ryu Jaegeon saw Han Seoha rush over to him, his churning insides calmed down. He didn’t care about the surrounding gazes or murmuring either.
“Why on earth, why did you use unnecessary strength? Even if you got a pair, it still hurts.”
Only Han Seoha entered his vision, scolding him with a trembling voice while focused on guiding and unable to even make eye contact.
“It hurts a lot, right? I’m sorry, Jaegeon-ah. Guide Yu Haneul will be here soon…”
“You asked me to help you.”
“What?”
“Jaegeon-ah, help me. You called me like that and now you’re saying something else.”
Only then did Han Seoha lift his head, unable to hide his confusion as he wavered back and forth, his face gradually reddening. The innocent guide who couldn’t even deny it couldn’t run away and continued guiding.
It was so like Han Seoha, and Ryu Jaegeon was certain that whenever he wanted, he could grasp this hand. That’s why he’d been able to discard him.
“Just because you’re S-rank, does that mean everything? Carrying people around like luggage!”
With Yu Haneul’s appearance shouting loudly, Han Seoha’s hand fell away. When he turned around at the sound behind him, he saw Baek Uihyeon pushing Yu Haneul in this direction.
“Huh? Jaegeon-hyung, did you hurt your hand?”
When Ryu Jaegeon tried to signal Han Seoha with his eyes, he saw that he’d already hidden his hands behind his back. Even though there was nothing that needed to be hidden from Yu Haneul, just how cautious was he? His irritation at Han Seoha being mindful of others melted away with the A-rank guiding transmitted through his captured arm.
Watching that scene with a faint smile, Han Seoha quietly moved away, and even while concerned about him, his body leaned into Yu Haneul’s guiding. Then, at some point, his insides twisted again at Baek Uihyeon’s presence embracing Han Seoha, but he vanished in an instant. More precisely, he appeared to vanish by leaping away at a speed that would gouge the ground, so only Ryu Jaegeon could witness it.
Baek Uihyeon, who shot up into the sky, landed lightly on the rooftop of the guide dormitory. He took care not to startle Han Seoha in his arms, but it was meaningless.
For Han Seoha, there were no emotions to feel from the rapid movement or the tall building. All his senses were focused entirely on the partner he had lost.
“Seoha-ssi.”
Even wiping the cheeks of Han Seoha, who only stared at Ryu Jaegeon who had grown distant and was barely visible, was useless. He couldn’t fully grasp Han Seoha’s sadness from just the soundlessly rolling tears alone.
Conquering a weakened guide should have been easy. But Han Seoha was different. Even though he seemed weak, he struggled in the embrace of an S-rank esper he couldn’t escape from even as his palms tore. When Baek Uihyeon wanted guiding, hadn’t he used that as a bargaining chip to be released and stubbornly run to the esper who had abandoned him?
A guide who threw everything away even after being abandoned by the partner he’d chosen once. To go this far for someone who was just a partner, not even a pair.
“Seoha-ssi, please keep your promise.”
“What?”
“You said you’d guide me.”
When he lightly grasped his chin, the eyes that met his blinked slowly. As the moisture they held dried, he nodded faintly, and Baek Uihyeon pressed their lips together.
Despite the unwanted situation, the guiding still seeping in subtly made Baek Uihyeon glad he’d rushed over after forcibly clearing his morning schedule. Wanting to continue pushing him unreasonably for hours like this, Baek Uihyeon lifted Han Seoha into his arms again.
“We’ll go to the guiding room. I’ll move quickly, so it would be better to close your eyes.”
Instead of answering, Han Seoha only closed his eyes, and at this silent refusal, Baek Uihyeon’s heart stirred uneasily. Seeing how he clenched his fists as if his blood-covered hands didn’t want to touch him made Baek Uihyeon anxious.
Even though Ryu Jaegeon’s hands were covered in blood, he’d grasped them.
Even if he forcibly made Han Seoha his partner, it didn’t seem like he would cherish him the way he did with Ryu Jaegeon.
What he desired was merely guiding, yet after witnessing how Han Seoha treated Ryu Jaegeon, greed suddenly raised its head.
All without knowing that all of this was Han Seoha’s intention.
* * *
While the majority of espers were combat types, some had prominent talents in production or recovery. Production types only received love calls if they could handle special materials, but recovery types—those called healers—were welcomed no matter how weak their abilities.
Jo Yonghwi. He was an esper with energy so faint he was close to F-rank, but he was undeniably a healer. His healing ability only worked on wounds light enough to slap a bandaid on. It was nowhere near enough to handle ability users who came in with limbs blown off and barely breathing. Despite his trivial ability, the Association gave him a job. It was work that involved commuting to the Center and dealing with quack patients who came to get their face stamped by a healer, a premium personnel.
On days when bothersome business trip requests occasionally came into Jo Yonghwi’s cushy work life, his mood was never good.
“There’s a healer call from the Guide Center.”
“It’s not a high-grade request, is it?”
“No, no. It’s not marked urgent, so Yonghwi-nim can go alone.”
Guide Center business trip requests without an urgent tag meant a 100% chance of seeing something he didn’t want to see. In these cases, it was usually a guide who had sustained injuries in intimate places due to excessive demands or excessive conduct by an esper during guiding and couldn’t move.
Another employee who had caught on to the situation jeered while biting the end of their pen.
“Ah, I wanted to go to that one too. There’s a distinct flavor to messing with guides who’ve become sensitive as can be from guiding.”
At the employee’s comment treating the injured party’s special circumstances as mere entertainment, Jo Yonghwi silently packed his things. Since the majority of people treated guides like prostitutes in this way—the only difference being whether they expressed it or not—he didn’t bother engaging with them.
Jo Yonghwi, shouldering a bag made heavy with towels, cleansing tissues, and other items he packed additionally for guide facility business trips, moved hurriedly.
“Huh? You’re leaving already? It’s a call that came in right at lunch time, so why not eat before you go?”
“No, the guide must be injured, so I need to see them quickly.”
Even though his rank was low, Jo Yonghwi was an esper. Receiving guiding from guides always felt like receiving a favor, and he was always grateful. Thinking that these people he was thankful for were waiting for help from an F-rank healer while torn apart and in shambles from espers’ greed made his heart heavy.
If a high-grade request had gone out, the pain would heal in an instant, but if Jo Yonghwi went, he couldn’t immediately heal severely torn or broken wounds.
Jo Yonghwi, having refused the employee who kept hovering around asking if he needed assistance until the end, moved busily through the people pouring out during lunch time.
Even if he might see an embarrassing sight, thinking of them as a patient made him feel urgent.
Having hurried to arrive at the guiding room, Jo Yonghwi felt relieved at a scene different from his expectations.
The uniform was only slightly disheveled, there was no fishy smell, and the beauty who appeared to be a guide looked fine enough to sit perched on the bed. Except that his lips were excessively swollen and the area around his neck was splotchy as if afflicted with a new skin disease.
“Um, Esper Baek Uihyeon requested treatment… You’re Guide Han Seoha, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right. Thank you for coming despite being busy.”
“First, I’d like to treat the lips and neck visible to the naked eye, do you consent?”
“…That’s not where it is.”
Only after Han Seoha held out both hands did Jo Yonghwi discover red handprints all over the bed sheets and uniform. Belatedly realizing he’d been called for an actual injury rather than to erase excessive skinship, Jo Yonghwi flustered and apologized for his narrow-mindedness.
“S-sorry. It’s just that your lips are so, I mean, the marks on your neck, that’s not it, I-I’ll treat you.”
“Thank you, I’ll be in your care.”
Han Seoha, looking at Jo Yonghwi who was currently F-rank but scheduled for a future rank increase, deliberately didn’t hide the smile that naturally flowed out at another connection accumulated. He didn’t hide it thoroughly, knowing this would be seen as an attempt to conceal embarrassment.
