When he raised his gaze that had been fixed only on the register, he could see the Espers’ faces had stiffened.
Their gazes were fixed on the man who had just opened the glass door and entered. He was a large man dressed entirely in black and even wearing a black mask.
For a moment, Onyul’s and the man’s eyes met. It felt like he would be sucked into those jet-black eyes whose depth couldn’t be known.
He normally didn’t stare at people, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the man.
A feeling of being caught in a snare. No, more than that, like he was caught wrong…… An inexplicably unpleasant feeling.
The man’s name circled around inside Onyul’s mouth.
Gu Baekyoung……
Gu Baekyoung, an S-rank Esper called number one in South Korea.
He was an Esper with a connection to Onyul.
He had awakened as S-rank early on, but had no compatible Guide and was always suffering from a lack of Guiding. Onyul had often used his therapy ability on him because he felt sorry for him.
……Of course, that was also something he couldn’t do after he died.
At that moment, Gu Baekyoung, who had only been making eye contact, began to walk. Like the Red Sea parting, the Espers stepped aside.
Gu Baekyoung stopped walking in front of the register.
His face, encountered up close, seemed much paler than before. The dark circles that stood out because of his white skin made him look even more eerie.
Is he still not receiving Guiding?
Onyul suddenly recalled the past when he first met him. Gu Baekyoung, who had extended his hand to him with eyes devoid of emotion, solely to survive.
Gu Baekyoung extended his hand to Onyul just like back then.
“……Hand.”
Onyul thought that his deathly pale fingertips seemed to desperately desire him.
But he was no longer Kang Onyul.
“Customer-nim, we don’t sell hands.”
He was just the owner of a small convenience store.
Gu Baekyoung’s extended hand didn’t move as if frozen. He just silently looked down and stared blankly at the hand that no one would hold.
His eyelashes, which seemed longer than a doll’s, were trembling finely.
“…….”
Onyul felt an inexplicable sadness.
No matter how ominous an energy Gu Baekyoung emitted, no matter how cruel and violent he was in tearing monsters to death, no matter how intimidating he was in pressing down on people…… Even so, in Onyul’s eyes, he just looked like a pitiful Esper who couldn’t receive Guiding.
Having been quite close with him in his previous life, Onyul knew that Gu Baekyoung wasn’t eccentric or cruel as he was known to be.
He just severely avoided strangers. Once you became close, he became so gentle.
At that moment, Gu Baekyoung’s voice, which had been silent for a while, was heard again.
“How much to buy it?”
It was a statement anyone would misunderstand. Because it sounded like he was telling him to sell his hand, and moreover, his body.
Onyul thought it was strange. Gu Baekyoung wouldn’t know that he was Kang Onyul, so he couldn’t understand why he was acting as if he desired Guiding from him.
As far as Onyul knew, Kang Ian, the owner of this body, was an ordinary civilian.
Perhaps because his thoughts deepened, he belatedly realized that other customers’ gazes were fixed on him. Before people had strange misunderstandings, Onyul said firmly.
“I won’t sell it even if you give me a fortune.”
“I’ll give you more.”
Gu Baekyoung was really the type to do that. He had that kind of material means.
What’s more, he was quite stubborn, so once he set his mind on something, he never backed down. That’s why the Management Bureau usually complied with Gu Baekyoung’s demands.
If he didn’t hold his hand today, Gu Baekyoung would visit the convenience store day after day and make Onyul’s life miserable.
It was a development far from Onyul’s dream of living peacefully as a small citizen.
This won’t do. Rather than arguing like this, it seemed better to confirm that nothing would happen even if he held his hand.
“Just this once. And I’m not a Guide.”
Onyul finally took out the hand he had hidden below the register.
As his hand approached Gu Baekyoung, the people around swallowed their breath. Even though they weren’t the parties involved, they all waited tensely for their contact.
Because everyone thought Onyul was a Guide hiding his identity.
They just hadn’t brought it up, but there were many who had the wish to hold Onyul’s hand if given the chance.
It was Gu Baekyoung who suddenly brought up that wish without any hesitation.
Soon, Onyul’s small hand was placed on top of the register.
Before he could approach further, Gu Baekyoung, who had seemed frozen, extended his hand forward.
“……!”
As soon as the two hands met, five fingers intertwined messily.
Gu Baekyoung’s long fingers dug into the gaps between Onyul’s hands and squeezed him like a snare.
He was flustered, but it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. Perhaps it was because Gu Baekyoung’s hand was unexpectedly warm.
Onyul just hardened his expression, unable to pull his hand away.
A suffocating silence flowed. Even though quite some time had passed, Gu Baekyoung didn’t budge.
If he had been holding it this long, he should have realized that he wasn’t a Guide, so why?
At this rate, he seemed prepared to hold it all day, so Onyul finally opened his lips.
“……Is that enough now?”
Onyul tried to pull his hand away, but Gu Baekyoung didn’t let go of his hand.
Hah, as soon as he let out a sigh and raised his gaze, his eyes met with Gu Baekyoung’s.
His jet-black eyes that had been without light had changed. He was shining his eyes like stars in the night sky, as if asking when he had dead eyes.
Even though they were beautiful eyes, Onyul felt an inexplicable anxiety. Because Gu Baekyoung came alive whenever he had something he wanted.
He pulled down the mask he was wearing. On his face, which he was encountering after a long time, hung a faint smile.
His smile, which lazily pulled up his red lips, was still wonderful. Because just one smile made his heart feel a little stuffy.
Yet the anxiety he felt just moments before hadn’t disappeared. No, facing Gu Baekyoung’s smile, that ominousness seemed to have doubled.
At the moment when he couldn’t predict what would happen, an unexpected question flowed out from Gu Baekyoung.
“Specifically, how much is a fortune?”
Gu Baekyoung was determined to obtain Onyul’s hand even if he had to offer a fortune.
“Well. At least it would be more expensive than this convenience store?”
“I’ll give it. Even if I’m short right now, I’ll keep filling it up.”
“…….”
“So sell to me. Your everything.”
He stuck out his red tongue and licked his lips once. It was a face like a demon skilled in seduction.
It was a beauty that anyone would be bewitched by, but fortunately Onyul had immunity to that face, so he quickly came to his senses.
More than that, when did this guy learn the technique of bewitching people?
The Gu Baekyoung that Onyul remembered was about the level of a duckling following its mother around.
“I won’t sell.”
At the clear rejection, Gu Baekyoung’s face hardened. It was as if he hadn’t considered the fact that he might be rejected.
The items displayed in the convenience store began to levitate into the air one by one. It was the manifestation of telekinesis, one of Gu Baekyoung’s abilities.
Soon after, an energy that pressed down on one’s shoulders flowed out from him.
“Ra, rampage?”
The faces of the other Espers inside the convenience store turned white.
Almost simultaneously, they all recalled Gu Baekyoung’s rampage incident from six months ago. That nightmarish incident when he blew away half the Center.
Some even rushed out of the convenience store in a hurry. They were genuinely terrified of Gu Baekyoung.
Onyul was equally flustered.
Because the Gu Baekyoung he knew wouldn’t use his abilities outside of Gates no matter how lacking in Guiding he was.
But if he just stayed flustered, the convenience store items would become a mess. Onyul called to him gently as if soothing a child.
“Gu Baekyoung-ssi. Calm down.”
“But you……”
“You can’t carelessly say to sell yourself to someone you’re meeting for the first time. People can’t be bought with money.”
“…….”
“Answer.”
“……Yeah.”
“If you want to get close to me, you have to do something that appeals to me. First, put away your abilities. I hate people who cause trouble the most.”
“……You hate it?”
Hah, a deflated sound leaked from between Gu Baekyoung’s teeth as if he was shocked.
The items that had been floating in the air finally fell down.
The interior became somewhat messy, but if he had left Gu Baekyoung alone, the situation would have become more serious. Onyul was relieved that the situation had concluded at this level.
“For now, go back and think about what you should do to win my favor.”
“…….”
“Answer.”
Nod. Gu Baekyoung’s head moved slightly up and down.
“Let go of my hand before I hate you more.”
He reluctantly fiddled with Onyul’s hand several times before letting go.
“I’ll come again.”
“……Wait.”
“Yeah?”
“Before that, clean up the items you made a mess of first.”
“Ah……”
Gu Baekyoung didn’t particularly refuse and moved his body slowly. The sight of his large frame going back and forth through the narrow aisles organizing items was quite bizarre.
After organizing the convenience store for quite a while, he left the convenience store. Leaving behind the words that he would definitely see him next time.
Several Espers who watched that were shocked. Some Espers even rubbed their eyes, saying they couldn’t believe it.
Is, is that right?
To them, who couldn’t even approach Gu Baekyoung because of his intimidation, the fact that a mere ordinary person could control him was simply astonishing.
