It was already the second week of basic physical training.
While each day passed in a frenzy according to the tight schedule, they could rest on Sundays with no schedule at all. Going out was possible as much as they wanted, but most trainees were busy pulling blankets over themselves and resting.
Yeoul was the same. Early in the morning, he rushed to the cafeteria with his fellow trainees, devoured breakfast, then immediately returned to his room and took a sweet nap. He was sleeping deliciously and was about to stretch and get up when suddenly a message came.
[Yeoul. Want to come out for a bit? I’m in front of the Guide training building right now.]
“Of course!”
Oh no… In his excitement, he answered out loud. Yeoul hurriedly covered his mouth and looked around. Woojin tossed and turned for a moment but fortunately soon fell back asleep snoring, and Jihu didn’t budge an inch while snoring away.
Yeoul stealthily got down from the bed and headed to the bathroom. After washing his face and finishing brushing his teeth, he dampened his hair with water and smoothed it down. He put on cleanly washed trainee gym clothes and left the room with a fluttering heart.
The moment he got off the elevator and came down to the first floor, he saw Kang Hyeseong sitting at a table on the left side of the lobby. As if he’d come from work, he was also in combat uniform. It was the moment when Yeoul, who was excited to the fullest, was about to unconsciously break into a run out of habit.
‘Oh no. I almost made a mistake.’
This was the training center… Fortunately, the lobby was quiet, perhaps because it was the weekend, but you never knew where someone might be listening.
He almost bounced around like an excited puppy. Yeoul approached Hyeseong with a dignified gait.
“Peace!”
Yeoul stopped in front of Hyeseong and saluted with a loud voice. A hint of curiosity seemed to creep into Hyeseong’s eyes as he quietly looked up.
“Trainee Kim Yeoul.”
“Trainee Kim Yeoul, G312-A!”
“Were you resting?”
“Yes, I was!”
His body froze stiffly at his voice, which had a subtly different texture from usual. Yeoul answered with a face that clearly showed tension, putting full strength into his abdomen.
Here, it was absolutely right to treat him as a superior. That would be the way not to cause trouble for Hyeseong… Despite having steeled his heart with that thought, standing in front of Kang Hyeseong, he naturally had no choice but to treat him as a superior.
Not only was it the location, but from him wearing the same military uniform as himself, he felt an aura that demanded submission. It was the same sense of pressure he’d felt when receiving his rank insignia.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
However, his following question was friendly content that didn’t match his strict and businesslike tone. Yeoul, who had been rolling his eyes, answered in a slightly reduced voice.
“…A little… hungry.”
“Yeoul.”
“…Trainee Kim Yeoul, G312-A.”
“Want to eat with hyung and go see a movie?”
Hyeseong’s face looking up at Yeoul was endlessly soft, unlike a moment ago. It was the voice he was familiar with.
Hyeseong hyung, who would sit upright in his school uniform studying late into the night while still making sure to prepare his meals without fail, who on hot summer nights would often take his hand and go out to buy ice cream, who would silently stay by his side until he fell asleep.
“…Yeah.”
Yeoul nodded and whispered in a very small voice. So that no one else could hear.
Hyeseong’s smile deepened. He stood up from his seat and asked “What do you want to eat?” while stroking his hair. The hand gently touching the back of his head felt especially good today.
***
“…You wanted to eat this that badly?”
“Yeah, yeah. Totally.”
Crunch, crunch. The blindingly yellow pickled radish broke refreshingly in his mouth. When he picked up a chopstick full of sweet jjajangmyeon and slurped it up, deep emotion welled up in his chest.
The place he was at with Hyeseong was a famous Chinese restaurant near Seoul Station. From the moment he entered the restaurant, Yeoul felt moved. He’d only lived inside the Security Bureau for two weeks, but it felt like he hadn’t seen the world for years.
It had been a while since he wore casual clothes too. Even as a trainee, he could wear casual clothes when going out. Kang Hyeseong, who had likewise changed into casual clothes, radiated a dazzling light. When wearing military uniform, he looked like nothing but a stern superior, but wearing a shirt and jeans like this, he was just the familiar hyung from next door he’d seen since childhood.
“Eat slowly and plenty. If someone saw, they’d think you were starved. Is the training center food bad?”
“No way. It’s like a hotel.”
Yeoul busily slurped up noodles until both his cheeks were puffed up, then chewed and swallowed. Watching Yeoul eat with a happy hamster-like appearance, Hyeseong clicked his tongue while diligently refilling pickled radish and bringing water.
They each completely cleaned out a bowl of jjajangmyeon and a large sweet and sour pork. As a pleasant sense of fullness washed over him, Yeoul smiled contentedly like a well-fed cat.
“Ah, this is nice.”
“How’s training? Is it bearable?”
Hyeseong’s touch wiping around his mouth with a napkin was naturally flowing. Yeoul, who naturally offered his mouth, shuddered with his clean face.
“Training? Ugh, don’t even start. It’s so hard. We run ten laps around the track in the morning, you know? Does that make sense? That huge track! And the training is no joke either. Like…”
Yeoul, who had been pouring out words like a broken dam, suddenly felt a bit embarrassed and stopped talking.
Because Kang Hyeseong’s gaze looking at him was imbued with excessively warm warmth. How should he say it, like the gaze of a father watching his son’s talent show…
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
“It’s nothing. Keep going. So, is the training too hard? Your chest hasn’t felt tight or hurt, has it?”
“It’s not hard. My heart was fine too. It’s totally manageable, you know?”
Yeoul pouted with unnecessary stubbornness. Realization came a beat late and he felt a bit embarrassed. If we Guide trainees exercise this much, how much more so for the Esper trainees… It was like showing off in front of a butterfly while being a chrysalis.
‘Ugh… embarrassing.’
Yeoul picked up a cup and took a sip of water to hide his face, which was gradually heating up. Anyway, this is all Kang Hyeseong’s fault. Because Kang Hyeseong takes care of everything like taking care of a baby and asks if it’s hard, he keeps acting unnecessarily spoiled like this…!
“That’s right, our Yeoul is amazing. A cool and sincere trainee.”
However, instead of laughing at or teasing such a Yeoul, Hyeseong said that and gently stroked his hair. His heart fluttered at the sincere voice.
“I hope I get my grade judgment soon.”
“Why are you in such a hurry?”
Yeoul jutted out his lips sulkily. Mr. Kang Hyeseong, who received an S-grade judgment immediately upon awakening without going through the trainee period, wouldn’t understand…
“Right now I’m just Trainee Kim Yeoul. I want to quickly become Guide Kim Yeoul. So I definitely want to join a rescue team…”
“…Rescue team?”
“Ah, no.”
Yeoul hurriedly shut his mouth. He felt embarrassed, as if his secretly hidden ambition had been discovered. But unfortunately, Kang Hyeseong’s ears were excessively sharp. It was very awkward, but since it had come to this, it seemed okay to confide his aspirations to him, who was both a senior and a rescue team senior.
“Actually, I definitely want to join a rescue team and run around in the field guiding Espers…”
“Don’t even dream about it.”
“…Huh?”
However, Kang Hyeseong’s reaction was cold enough to make Yeoul embarrassed. Yeoul unconsciously widened his rabbit eyes and looked at him. Had he ever cut off his words so sharply like this before…?
“Even if you get a high grade, join a support team.”
It was an unbendingly stiff order. Enough that he could feel a cold wind blowing from him. Yeoul, who had just been dumbfounded, belatedly felt emotions welling up. It was the first time he’d felt resistance toward Kang Hyeseong.
“Hyung. Why are you suddenly like this? I…”
“Kim Yeoul. Don’t think about anything else, just do as I say.”
Yeoul froze in an instant. It was a cold voice he’d never heard from Hyeseong in his entire life. It was confusing, scary, and above all, sad.
“……”
Why is he being like this?
…Did I say something wrong?
No matter how much he mulled it over, he couldn’t understand why Kang Hyeseong was getting angry like that. How his saying he would apply to a rescue team had touched his nerves.
He suddenly felt like he’d get indigestion. The food he’d eaten pleasantly felt like it was settling heavily in his stomach. Yeoul kept his head down with his gaze fixed somewhere on the empty jjajangmyeon bowl. With his hands, he kept fiddling with the innocent chopsticks.
The silence wasn’t long, but it felt like dozens of minutes had passed. Hyeseong let out a deep sigh and spoke first.
“Yeoul.”
“……”
“…As soon as I heard the words ‘rescue team,’ my heart got anxious and I spoke too stiffly to you. I’m sorry.”
Yeoul stubbornly kept his gaze only on the jjajangmyeon bowl without making eye contact with Hyeseong. He knew this appearance of his would look like a stubborn child throwing a tantrum, but right now he didn’t have the capacity to care about such things.
A large hand came to cover Yeoul’s hand placed on the table. Unable to shake off Hyeseong’s hand carefully finding and holding his, Yeoul slowly raised his gaze. However, unlike the earlier apology, the eyes coming toward him were only straight and clear.
“But my thinking hasn’t changed.”
While making a sincere apology, Kang Hyeseong was firm.
“Whatever grade you get, you can’t join a rescue team.”
“…Hyung.”
“I’ll block it with the power I have. Even if I have to abuse my authority.”
At this point, he was dazed. Kang Hyeseong was Korea’s only S-grade Esper and someone who had earned the rank of Major General at a young age.
From what he’d heard through the grapevine, the power he held in the Ability Security Bureau was second only to the Director. If such a Kang Hyeseong made up his mind, excluding someone like him from a rescue team would be nothing.
