“Did he leave? Did Shin-yul leave? If he can’t explain himself to headquarters, we’re writing incident reports the moment we walk in tomorrow.”
“You’ve worked with Shin-yul for how many years and you still don’t know him? I’ll bet my left arm he didn’t leave.”
“Come on, Shin-yul. Please just go. Typing an incident report with three arms would be faster, wouldn’t it?”
“Are you actually insane?”
At the sound of the employees bickering in hushed voices, Hee-young’s long lashes fluttered faintly, and then his eyes opened, slow and blinking.
“Hah…….”
Hee-young didn’t bother hiding the discomfort the pain of his wound caused and frowned, glancing around the room. Darkness had fallen beyond the still-open hospital room window — it was night. At the sign of Hee-young stirring, the employees jumped to their feet and approached.
“You’re up? How are you feeling?”
Hee-young stared blankly at the employees speaking to him warmly, then let out a long, heavy sigh with a troubled expression, and shakily tried to sit up.
The people made worried faces — he shouldn’t be moving — and Hee-young forced himself to hold back his irritation. Recognizing the absurdity of the situation and calming himself down, even his unruly dialect smoothed over somewhat as he answered in a more subdued tone:
“The doctor said I could walk. Said to walk around for exercise too.”
“But earlier—”
“Yeah, yeah, he didn’t say sprint around — that was me. I was trying to find a mirror and panicked.”
Hee-young answered and staggered to his feet, and the employees fell in beside him, supporting him as tenderly as one would an elder. Hee-young accepted their help naturally and slowly made his way to the bathroom.
The bathroom, befitting a deluxe room, had a large shower booth — and along one wall, a large mirror. And in that mirror, the reflection of a startlingly young man.
“Hah……. What am I supposed to do about this….”
Hee-young stared intently at the young man in the mirror. Pale, washed-out face. Gentle eyes with not a trace of ferocity or charisma. Arms and legs that looked like they’d snap at a touch, and why was he so short…. No, more than that — who even is this kid….
Unable to believe he had woken up in the body of a young man he had never seen in his life, Hee-young pressed one hand over his eyes and rubbed at them. The left hand, where he’d roughly torn out the IV needle, was wrapped in bandages and felt rough against his skin.
Now he finally understood why people had been calling him a different name all along. That was this young man’s name. Accused an innocent person for nothing. Having calmly sorted his thoughts, Hee-young turned around, staggering — and the employees who had followed right on his heels supported him attentively. These young ones are polite and diligent. He thought appreciatively, but the employees only smiled awkwardly.
You’re the youngest one here, sir….
Hee-young returned to the hospital room and lay back down, then called to the employees.
“Alright, tell me that again.”
“P-pardon?”
“That thing — the superpowers, Guides, whatever it was.”
The employees, who hadn’t been able to leave even this late at night, had dark circles deepening under their eyes — but at Hee-young’s request for another explanation, both snapped their eyes wide open, answered yes!, and launched back into their explanation, chattering away. Being careful not to shock him, as gently as possible, choosing words and sentences as if explaining to a kindergartener — and now, at last, Hee-young nodded along and said is that so, which put the employees at ease as they continued.
Hee-young answered compliantly on the outside, but inside his mind was moving quickly. Everyone’s accepting these absurd facts as a matter of course, so they’re not joking around….
Hee-young’s eyes sharpened. He had woken up in an unfamiliar world in an unfamiliar body. In this place where this bizarre phenomenon occurred, there are people who use bizarre abilities. In that case — couldn’t this phenomenon also be the handiwork of those ability users?
“So among these Esper-whatever people… is there anyone who can do something like… soul transference?”
“Pardon? No, no….”
“Why not? You said the abilities are diverse, didn’t you? Breathing fire, flying through the sky, all of that?”
“Well…. But there’s no recorded ability related to the soul yet….”
“No, just because there’s none recorded in this tiny country doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Other countries, I mean.”
When Hee-young said that irritably, the employees fidgeted, at a loss.
“As we explained, national power is now largely determined by the number of Espers and Guides a country possesses — it’s that critical. So if such a rare ability did exist, it’s highly likely the government would be keeping it classified.”
“So it might exist?”
“It might not either….”
“Alright, alright, got it.”
Hee-young nodded slowly. Either way, the mere possibility alone was a significant gain.
“And to obtain that information… working at the Center would be essential….”
The employees said, watching his reaction carefully. What, going on about being a government employee again. Hee-young’s face crumpled in annoyance and he was about to snap — but held it back once. This place is different from where I lived. For now, getting information had to come first if he was going to understand the situation in detail. Unconsciously he had clenched his fist tight with force — he slowly, tremblingly released it. The employees stared with wavering eyes at the hand clenching and unclenching with terrifying intensity.
“……Is that so?”
“…Yes! Information regarding Espers’ abilities isn’t disclosed to the general public. Especially as you mentioned — matters concerning overseas Espers are handled as top secret, so even within the Center it may be difficult to obtain.”
“What a pain…. But more than that — does this kid have any money? A place to live?”
Looking at that young face, he couldn’t imagine there was much of either. Lucky if he’s even had a job.
The employees were taken aback by Hee-young casually asking about his own information as if it belonged to someone else. The doctor had requested they treat him exactly as the separate individual he claimed to be, until proper treatment could begin.
On top of that, they had been told to refrain from giving too much personal information beyond basic social facts. To avoid causing further confusion about his sense of identity.
Hey, what do we do.
How would I know….
The two of them started mouthing wordlessly at each other again like goldfish, and Hee-young waved it off as if to say never mind. The pale, slender hand fluttered in the air.
“Right, what would you two know anyway….”
No, we know quite a lot actually. We’ve read Yoo Hee-young’s school records going back to his childhood.
The Center’s Esper-Guide matching work was something the public practically called matchmaking — it amounted to assessing the compatibility between an Esper and a Guide. Of course the matching rate was the top priority, but in an era where the Esper-to-Guide manifestation ratio had settled at roughly 6:4, exceeding the matching threshold of 75% had become commonplace. More emphasis was placed on the personalities and dispositions of the Esper and Guide, and so the Center scrutinizing every detail of their lives was something the entire nation knew.
Of course, it was a good thing Hee-young didn’t know.
Both employees’ lips twitched but they barely held it in, exhaling trembling sighs.
Feeling sorry for the pale face clouding over in apparent bewilderment, Deputy Shin murmured quietly:
“Well… it’s not… great, I can only say that much….”
“What? Seriously?”
Whether some small hope had still remained — at the employee’s hesitant answer, Hee-young’s face crumpled even further.
“This life is rough….”
Hee-young’s fine features were instantly consumed by despair, and he let out a deep, heavy sigh. His clear, large eyes were filled with worry. I just gained youth and lost all my money? I’d rather just have my own age and my own money.
“Working at the Center, as we mentioned, you’ll be serving as the dedicated Guide for your matched S-rank Esper. A basic living stipend will be paid from your first day of work, so you won’t need to worry about money. At our discretion, we also plan to provide housing and the hospital bills will be covered by the Center, so you can rest comfortably.”
“Not a proposal a broke man can refuse. Right — it’s not even my body to begin with, and I have no idea how long it’ll take to get back. I can’t be blowing through some kid’s pocket change frivolously. I do need to earn. I was already a disgrace to my own parents — it’s not like I can leech off some stranger’s parents while acting filial either.”
The employees, who knew Hee-young’s family background, flinched and went still at the casually mentioned parents. On top of that, they continued pretending not to hear and kept taking notes of everything he said, including remarks made under the delusion that he had entered someone else’s body entirely.
“Ah, and the Esper matched to Hee-young is Esper Han Shin-yul — 26 years old, male, a telekinetic S-rank Esper, and his placement within the Center has already been finalized.”
“Damn, it’s a guy? Can’t you swap him for a woman? You said there’s touching involved. It’s gross — how am I supposed to put my hands all over a man.”
“Ah…. Matching is determined with the matching rate as the absolute priority, so with a 95% matching rate with Esper Han Shin-yul, it would be difficult to assign you a different Esper. Please understand.”
Deputy Seong made an apologetic face, and Hee-young let out another deep sigh. Damn, nothing’s going right.
“Alright. So babysit one kid and get paid — that’s what you’re saying?”
“Babysit… yes…. And the basic forms of Guiding include holding hands, hugging, a light kiss, and—”
At the employee’s continued words, Hee-young’s eyes went wide. What is this person saying.
“What? A kiss? You said he’s a man too? Earlier you said all I had to do was mess around a little? You expect me to pass out from this — touching a man’s body and kissing him on top of that?”
“With the mutual consent of both parties, more intimate physical contact is also possible. Since Guiding efficiency increases with mucous membrane contact, if the relationship is amenable, that approach is recommended.”
“No, wait a moment—”
“In unavoidable situations — such as the assigned Esper entering a Rampage state — the Center may also need to request sexual Guiding from the Guide—”
“What the hell! Hey!”
At Hee-young’s outburst, the employees who had been gritting their teeth and pushing through the explanation snapped their mouths shut.
“Hey, you two. Right now…. Are you in your right minds?”
