# Chapter 16
“You’re staring blankly? Why? Is the real thing too impressive compared to TV?”
“Huh?”
“It’s okay. Everyone makes that face when they first see me.”
Nam Ihyeon jumped down from the hospital room window and tossed the gift onto the bed. Then he looked me up and down.
“You look a bit better in photos?”
“Huh?”
“You’re not as delicate as I expected, and you look a bit stupid? Your skin, well, it’s decent enough. You’ve taken good care of it. Your features aren’t unbearable either.”
“Um… what are you talking about?”
“Evaluating your appearance.”
He spoke as if it was something he naturally had to do. It was rudeness from a direction I hadn’t even imagined. It seemed like S-class espers and above all received some kind of collective training in being jerks. I looked at him in disbelief. He continued speaking while displaying the smile he would show to TV cameras.
“But it’s nice that you don’t grovel. Are you the shy type?”
“You’re talking bullshit.”
“What?”
Nam Ihyeon blinked as if he’d heard wrong. It was like avoiding dog shit only to step in cow shit. I ignored him and headed for the bed. I put the fruit basket he had brought down on the floor with a thud and gestured toward the window with my chin.
“Leave, get out.”
“What did you just say?”
“I said go away because I’m tired of talking to you.”
“You?”
“You’re freely using banmal with me, but you thought I’d use honorifics with you? What’s wrong with all you S-class espers? Please get some character education.”
I couldn’t help but sigh. One guy sent his secretary saying he’d give money, and another guy conducted an assault of useless gifts like he was competing for first place in a ‘useless gift competition,’ and now suddenly appears and immediately criticizes my appearance using banmal.
“Did another S-class esper come visit you besides me?”
“Yeah. While you’re here, take back all the trash you left me.”
“Trash?”
I gestured with my chin toward the gifts placed on the sofa table. Nam Ihyeon walked over with his long legs and casually examined the gifts.
“Those aren’t from me.”
“Right, just take them and go.”
I didn’t want to listen to whatever excuse Nam Ihyeon might offer. All the circumstances pointed to him. He had entered through the window just like when I first discovered the neck massager. Carrying a gift.
He probably intended to just leave the fruit basket today. But since I arrived earlier than expected, he was flustered and spouting excuses. Why would he play illegal Santa? Was he trying to provoke Kim Haewon by letting him know there was another esper approaching me? Looking at it that way, it made sense. Although the two had different grades, they were often portrayed as rivals in the media.
Nam Ihyeon was the association’s mascot and star performer. His celebrity-like arrogance probably stemmed from that background. But that didn’t mean I had to understand and accommodate him.
“You’re an interesting person, aren’t you?”
“Too bad. I don’t find you interesting.”
“Seems like you’re not afraid of me either?”
Nam Ihyeon acted as if he might use his ability at any moment, lighting a flame like a candle at his fingertip. S-class espers could use their energies like parts of their bodies.
In other words, he could turn this place into a sea of fire in an instant. Of course, it was illegal, but this guy seemed like a psycho who wouldn’t care about such things.
“Should I be afraid of you? Will you leave then?”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Kidding? I don’t do that with people I don’t know.”
Nam Ihyeon’s mouth was smiling, but his eyes had become fierce as if flames would burst forth. I pressed the security call button on the bed.
“Does the Esper Department know you go around like this? Using your ability outside of gates and threatening people?”
“You’re the one who pissed me off.”
He walked toward me as if he might charge at any moment. But at that instant, the door flung open. I smiled victoriously, thinking how fortunate it was that the Management Department had assigned security guards.
“Guide Park Garam.”
“Huh? Why is Esper Kim Haewon here?”
“There’s a limit to ignoring someone’s goodwill. This really isn’t right, is it?”
“Ha…”
The security guard I had called didn’t come. Instead, Kim Haewon appeared. He seemed angry that I had returned the documents Hwang Changho had brought without looking at them.
“Oh? I get to see Kim Haewon, who’s hard to spot even in the Esper Department, here? So you were the S-class esper who’s been coming and going?”
“Who are you to be here?”
Kim Haewon finally turned his head to look at Nam Ihyeon.
“Just came to see my new guide’s face. I heard he did quite an impressive job while I was on vacation.”
“Who’s your guide?”
“Didn’t you know? Our matching rate is over 90%. He’s my temporary guide.”
“What is this about?”
“Just as you heard. Since Director Ham Minho of Guide Department 1 made the decision himself, if you have complaints, take them there. Would both of you please leave? It’s driving me crazy.”
As I climbed onto the bed, Kim Haewon continued with a look of disbelief.
“Are you openly trying to play both sides?”
“Watch your words. Don’t judge a guide’s morality. I’ve been very uncomfortable since last time, but guides don’t belong to any esper. Even in pair relationships, it’s the same. We’re a kind of medical personnel who go wherever we’re needed. Whether a doctor treats two patients or three, that’s my judgment, right?”
“Correct!”
Nam Ihyeon quickly became cheerful and clapped his hands. He seemed even more mentally disturbed than Kim Haewon. I looked at him and continued.
“You be quiet too. Entering like a thief through the window, trying to attack with your ability, judging my appearance. I’m going to report all this to the higher-ups. Temporary relationship or whatever.”
“Oh, I’m so scared.”
Nam Ihyeon hunched his hands in front of his face and shook them. I quickly turned my gaze away from his nauseating behavior. Kim Haewon was glaring at me intensely.
“You still won’t apologize even if you die.”
“I would if I’d done something wrong.”
“Guide Park Garam. You are my pair guide.”
“Who doesn’t know that?”
“You don’t seem to know? Is this what someone who was caught making a scene alone with another esper in a hospital room should be saying?”
Kim Haewon was thoroughly angry. I, for my part, was dumbfounded. It felt like both of them had barged into my hospital room and were picking on me relentlessly. I continued speaking, expressing my disbelief as much as possible through my expression.
“Did I invite you? This person came in through the window. And what does it matter? What, just because I became your pair guide, I can’t meet other espers?”
“It creates a defect in your morality.”
“What did you say? Morality?”
“It’s dirty.”
Nam Ihyeon quietly exclaimed, “Wow.” I couldn’t give any response to those words that even shocked that promiscuous rotten pepper.
Dirty? What? What had I done? I could only laugh dryly, unable to think of a retort. Some espers were extremely sensitive about guides having sexual contact to enhance the guiding effect.
I, who was called an all-purpose assistant key, had often been the subject of such low-quality gossip. That memory suddenly came back and disturbed me. No matter how much I insisted that I only did guiding with my hands, espers would whistle, asking what exactly I was touching with my hands. Of course, I had beaten up all those bastards, but there were still memories that remained like residue in my heart.
“But what can we do? You’re the only one who can guide me, so I’ll have to put up with the filth.”
“…”
“I feel like shit dealing with a two-faced bastard like you, but I’m enduring it.”
“Wow.”
Nam Ihyeon stepped back one step and observed the two of us, with an expression that suggested if he intervened, he wouldn’t even be able to collect his bones. Pathetic bastard. I didn’t like him either.
But with such a massive guy present, Nam Ihyeon felt like small fry. Kim Haewon showed no change in expression at my words.
Normally, I would have just ignored it. But my head was already heated up, so I couldn’t just let it go. Even at the risk of getting hit hard by Kim Haewon and saying goodbye to this world.
Just as Kim Haewon was about to part his lips, armed security guards rushed into the hospital room.
“Guide Park Garam-nim! Are you okay? We thought we’d need more manpower, so we were delayed requesting backup.”
If I had been ambushed, wouldn’t I already be dead and gone? I thought briefly. But what the security guards said made sense.
Sensing strong energy from the warning device attached to the hospital room door, they had judged that two people would be insufficient. While the two went to fetch reinforcements, Kim Haewon had entered.
Looking at it that way, the sequence of events made sense. But regardless, this situation was too exhausting. I pointed at both espers and said:
“Both of you should leave now. It seems you’ve said everything you wanted to. I may look fine, but I’m still a patient who needs absolute rest.”
Both remained silent at my words. The security team leader, who had been observing the situation, spoke with difficulty.
“Esper Nam Ihyeon-nim, Esper Kim Haewon-nim. Would you like us to escort you home?”
“I’m leaving. It was fun meeting you today.”
At Nam Ihyeon’s words, I smiled and showed my middle finger. Nam Ihyeon also chuckled before leaving the room. Kim Haewon continued to glare at me while Nam Ihyeon was leaving, then belatedly stormed out of the room.
Even the security personnel soon left, and I was left alone in the hospital room. The chilly night wind blew through the open window.
I stood there, taking a deep breath in and out. Unpleasant memories from the past came flooding back like a tide.
