“And… I’m not just saying this, but you really seem to guide well, Guide-nim. It’s definitely different from Hyeyeon, but it feels like the guide’s will is contained in the wavelength?”
“Yes?”
“Hmm, it’s hard to explain. But I’m being sincere. It’s really rare for another guide’s guiding to succeed with so little resistance. There was one time when I was in real danger, and it’s similar to when I received guiding from an S-rank guide who was overseas. Of course, that guide’s guiding was closer to being forced through by overwhelming me with their rank—”
Seo Yuseok gave specific examples as he thought deeply. He seemed to want to express his gratitude and praise to me but was floundering because there was no proper way to express it.
Having worked in the communal guiding room and often heard praise that my guiding skills were good, I thought I understood what he was trying to say.
Receiving praise from Do Ganghyun’s team member, a high-rank Esper, gave me a slightly different feeling. Perhaps this time I could truly put down roots and become someone worthy of Do Ganghyun’s recognition. Just like Seo Yuseok, who hoped to get his guide back, a similar hope grew within me.
“Thank you for the compliment. I look forward to working with you.”
I smiled broadly and offered a handshake to Seo Yuseok. It was the first bright smile I’d shown since being assigned as the team guide.
***
Before I could even celebrate my first achievement as team guide, Do Ganghyun sharply brought it up.
“Did you do guiding?”
“…Yes?”
“I’m asking if you did guiding today.”
These were the words Do Ganghyun spoke as soon as he saw me after arriving home late. It wasn’t like the communal guiding room where people visited and were assigned guides, nor was it a regular guiding schedule, so the schedule wouldn’t have been shared—yet I wondered how he knew.
“Yes. How did you know?”
At my answer, Do Ganghyun’s brow furrowed immediately.
“There’s not much residual guiding in your body, and I can feel an Esper’s wavelength. …It’s Esper Seo Yuseok, right?”
“That’s right.”
“He’s imprinted. The guiding wouldn’t have worked properly.”
“The guiding didn’t completely fail. And it was more meaningful than I thought—”
My words grew longer with a slightly excited heart.
Esper Seo Yuseok’s circumstances were unfortunate, but it was still too early to give up. The fact that my actions would bring a grace period for the two of them felt hopeful. Several people who were acquainted with Esper Seo Yuseok, including the team members, seemed to already know his situation, so there was no need to be careful with my words.
However, that attitude seemed to come across badly to Do Ganghyun.
“Myeong Eunha.”
“Yes…”
“What’s the reason I put you in the position of team guide?”
Do Ganghyun began his interrogation in a sunken voice. The question itself was hard to see as an interrogation, but the atmosphere and speaking tone fit perfectly.
On top of that, his wavelength was also rippling, fully revealing his discomfort. I glanced sideways at his wavelength surging over his shoulders and answered in a small voice.
“To substitute when team members can’t go find their own guides or when their schedules don’t allow them to receive guiding.”
“Ha! Are you saying that right now—!”
I trailed off and read Do Ganghyun’s reaction. I’d actually answered exactly as Do Ganghyun had said when he proposed the team guide position, so I wondered what the problem was. Esper Seo Yuseok had also perfectly met the conditions for receiving guiding from the team guide.
However, Do Ganghyun sighed as if frustrated and roughly rubbed his face once.
“I stopped the clinical trial, put a caregiver in the guide ward, changed your workplace from the communal guiding room to team guide—do you still not get it?”
I thought for a long while before opening my mouth. Until then, Do Ganghyun steadied his breathing and waited for the answer he wanted from me.
“To focus on the Esper-nim’s guiding?”
As if that wasn’t the answer he’d hoped for, Do Ganghyun opened his mouth as if dumbfounded, then closed it.
I could see his masseter muscles tensing with the breath he inhaled deeply. I was confused, unable to grasp why the atmosphere was flowing so terrifyingly. It wasn’t just a day or two that things between Do Ganghyun and me were bad, but hadn’t it been fairly okay recently since he’d declared he would improve our relationship?
“Of course you should care about my guiding. But more than that, it’s so you, Myeong Eunha, can take care of your body.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Who did you think I was doing this for, keeping an imprinted guide by my side but not even having sex with them, showing such devotion?”
“Ah…”
“It’s because you foolishly can’t even utilize your imprinted Esper and keep your heart set on the communal guiding room. What reason is there for you to guide those who’ve been doing fine without a team guide until now?”
“But Esper Seo Yuseok-nim is in a situation where he can’t receive guiding from his imprinted guide right now, and it wasn’t that much of a burden. I was fully capable of helping—”
That’s when it happened.
“Fuck.”
Do Ganghyun spat out a low curse. The moment I closed my mouth in surprise and flinched my shoulders, he made a face of dismay. However, as if he still needed to say what he had to say, he continued with slightly reduced momentum.
“You have an imprinted Esper right in front of you, and after sucking and biting like that, what?! Can’t you see that I’m holding back?”
“What do you mean…”
Before I could even finish speaking, Do Ganghyun kicked his chair back and left. For some reason, it seemed he’d misunderstood greatly that the guiding I’d done during the day was mucous membrane guiding.
However, Do Ganghyun, who’d left the house before I could even explain, didn’t return even as the day broke.
***
It was the second day Do Ganghyun wasn’t answering calls. It was also the second day he hadn’t come home.
Feeling like I’d driven out the homeowner, I wondered if I should return to the guide dormitory, but thanks to the driver who came to pick me up every day as I went back and forth between the guide ward and team dormitory, it remained just a thought. Because I felt that it was Do Ganghyun’s intention for me to continue staying here.
However, I still couldn’t figure out where the misunderstanding had originated. The person in question, Do Ganghyun, was nowhere to be seen, and—
“Esper Seo Yuseok-nim!”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I’m a bit busy right now…”
Seo Yuseok, who might have known something, was busy avoiding me. The way he avoided me without even properly making eye contact gave the feeling that he knew something, but since I couldn’t have a conversation with him, in the end it seemed like a total wash.
He should be receiving guiding again soon.
No matter how much consideration he received from team members to be excluded from the schedule, two days was enough time for his condition to deteriorate again. I was even more worried since he hadn’t entered a stable zone when I’d guided him before.
Should I go look for him?
I alternated my gaze between the empty team dormitory and the front door once each, then set out.
Just in case, I also left a text message for Do Ganghyun. It was a choice I made anyway since he wouldn’t answer during the cold war, and soon contact itself wouldn’t reach him due to gate raids. I was only planning to go as far as the training room, so it wasn’t very far or dangerous.
I didn’t bother contacting Esper Seo Yuseok. Although I couldn’t know exactly why he was avoiding me, it seemed clear that Do Ganghyun had said something to him.
I planned to quickly check his schedule and visit the training room. Since we’d already had a conversation and I secretly hoped that Seo Yuseok and his guide’s relationship would improve, I didn’t want to just sit with my hands folded like this.
“This is my first time taking a shuttle from the Esper building…”
I looked around and walked aimlessly, searching for the bus stop. Since I’d been using the driver Do Ganghyun had assigned to me whenever I entered and left the Esper building, I had a poor sense of direction.
For a moment I considered visiting the training room through the driver, but for visiting the training room—not the team dormitory—the shuttle had better accessibility than a private car. Besides, it was questionable whether he’d even drive me to a place outside the predetermined route.
Moreover, Espers’ gazes were gradually gathering from here and there. Being at the center of rumors, I couldn’t help the gazes gathering, but it was uncomfortable all the same. If I stayed on the street for a long time waiting for the driver for no reason, I didn’t know what additional rumors might attach themselves.
The Center’s structure is more or less the same anyway—
Just as I cleanly gave up on calling the driver and hurriedly moved my steps after roughly getting my bearings—
“Well, well, look who it is~”
“Esper Hyun Yoonseo-nim?”
A voice that had become quite familiar by now was heard close by. When I jumped in surprise and stepped back two steps, Hyun Yoonseo was sauntering out from the left side at some point. There wasn’t particularly a path on that side, nor had I felt his wavelength from before, so I wondered if he’d dropped down from above again like before.
Though he had a knack for startling people, we’d now become fairly friendly, so I greeted him with a slight smile.
“What brings you here?”
“That’s my line. This is the Esper building.”
‘Is it strange for an Esper to be in the Esper building?’ Hyun Yoonseo added with banter.
It wasn’t wrong, but knowing him who wandered here and there as if he had wanderlust, I made a sullen face.
“You’re such a busy person. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Hyun Yoonseo shrugged, unconcerned by my attitude.
