Feels good, Yujin.
For a moment, a voice seemed to overlap with his thoughts. Yujin immediately shook his head.
It wasn’t uncommon for Espers who had been prickly toward him to change their attitude after receiving Guiding. On top of that, Min Jaeha currently had the highest matching rate among all the Espers under his care. Marginal as the difference was.
“Don’t stick your face in so close.”
“Ow.”
Yujin raised his free arm — the one not clasped in Min Jaeha’s hand — and pushed Min Jaeha’s face away. Min Jaeha could have easily deflected the gesture without a second thought, yet he exaggerated his reaction, letting out a pout and puffing out his lips as though genuinely hurt.
“That’s mean.”
“Guiding is hand contact only.”
“Tch.”
Yujin said it firmly and leaned back. He settled against the chair and focused his Guiding energy into his palm. At that, the grumbling Min Jaeha fell quiet.
He can barely handle the Guiding energy he’s already receiving, and still he wants more. Yujin watched Min Jaeha trembling and clicked his tongue.
67%… 66%…
When the quest window had first appeared, Min Jaeha’s Contamination level had been at 69%. But whether because of today’s mission, the number had surged even higher, shooting well past 70%. He seemed to have skipped his Guiding medication since a Guiding session had already been scheduled for today.
At least there’s Guiding medication here, so the Espers have been managing.
Unlike the Espers in the novel world — who had to endure by sheer force of will alone unless a Purifier sent from the temple was present — this world had the advantage of modern science, which allowed Contamination levels to be reduced to some degree through Guiding medication. That was probably how the Espers had kept from going berserk during the three years Yujin Langford had been neglecting his duties.
Of course, the medication’s effectiveness varied widely from Esper to Esper. Fortunately, Min Jaeha seemed to respond better to it than Baek Dohun or Kang Taejun did. His levels were lower than theirs, after all.
“That’s enough for today.”
Once the Contamination level had dropped to his target, Yujin released Min Jaeha’s hand without hesitation. Min Jaeha looked back at him with obvious displeasure.
“Already?”
“The numbers dropped enough.”
“Isn’t that really too much?”
“What is?”
Min Jaeha raised his voice in complaint. Yujin, who had already drawn his hand back and was about to get up, frowned.
“You Guided the other two longer than me. Why am I the only one who gets cut short?”
“Hmm…”
It seemed Min Jaeha had heard all about the Guiding sessions from Baek Dohun and Kang Taejun. Yujin scratched his head, mildly at a loss.
Baek Dohun’s Contamination level had been in such a dangerous state that Yujin had no choice but to pour in twice the Guiding energy and go on longer. With Kang Taejun, it had been cut off midway, but it was true that his session had still lasted longer than Min Jaeha’s. His Contamination level was higher than Min Jaeha’s, too.
That said, if he told Min Jaeha the truth, he seemed like the type who would sulk over it. Whether Min Jaeha was disappointed in him or not wasn’t something Yujin particularly cared about — but come to think of it, unlike the other Espers, Min Jaeha was the only one who had actually helped him.
He was also well-behaved during the Guiding.
Yujin studied Min Jaeha with a newly composed gaze. The incident in the cafeteria had led him to see Min Jaeha as a twisted, odd Esper — but perhaps it was time to revise that assessment somewhat. At least slightly better than the others, if nothing else.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Hmm.”
Sensing something unsettling in the way Yujin was watching him, Min Jaeha stiffened like a cat raising its hackles. Having finished his deliberation, Yujin looked at him and smiled.
“Do you want more Guiding?”
“……”
Min Jaeha didn’t answer right away at Yujin’s loaded question. Then, tilting his head to one side, he answered carefully.
“Obviously?”
He seemed to feel uncertain about the question itself, and yet his reluctance to let go of the Guiding was plain as day. Having been cut off right in the middle of a session, it was only natural he was restless for more. Yujin watched him with quiet satisfaction and continued.
“Then do you want to make a deal with me?”
“A deal?”
“That’s right.”
Yujin gave a decisive nod toward the puzzled Min Jaeha. His eyes swept over him again, top to bottom.
If I play this right, I can make use of him.
The incident with Kang Taejun had given Yujin a genuine taste of what it meant to have his life threatened. Until he could get Yu Haneul fully on his side and improve things with the other Espers, he needed a way to keep himself alive. And the alternative that had just come to mind was standing right in front of him — Min Jaeha.
He was a little sly, but he’d been reasonably well-behaved during Guiding, and more than anything, judging by how he’d held Kang Taejun back earlier, his abilities as an S-rank Esper were solid enough. That was why Yujin intended to propose something along the lines of a personal bodyguard arrangement, using Guiding as the incentive.
“The thing is, if I keep Guiding all of you going forward, I have a feeling incidents like today are going to keep happening. I’d like you to stay by my side and run interference for me. In return, I’ll give you longer Guiding sessions.”
“……”
“If there’s anything else you want as compensation, you can say so.”
As an S-rank Esper, Min Jaeha was certainly pulling in compensation beyond imagination every time he entered a Gate. So a straightforward monetary offer would be hard to negotiate with — but the point of leverage wasn’t money anyway. It was Guiding.
“Is this — are you asking me to be your Pair?”
“What?”
But at the question that followed, Yujin’s eyebrow twitched.
He’d anticipated that money wouldn’t be what Min Jaeha wanted — but a Pair? Yujin’s expression twisted with distaste.
“Are you out of your mind? Absolutely not.”
“Tch.”
A Pair was, in essence, a form of exclusive Guiding rights. It was a contracted arrangement in which a Guide committed to Guiding only one specific Esper — but lately, the Pair system had taken on such strong symbolic weight in the public consciousness that it had come to carry something of a romantic connotation.
The idea of being bound to an Esper he had no feelings for in that kind of arrangement made his skin crawl — but beyond that, it was a condition he could never accept regardless, since he was supposed to be Guiding his assigned Espers across the board.
“So essentially, what you’re saying is — if I work as your bodyguard, you’ll give me Guiding priority?”
“…Yes.”
It seemed Min Jaeha had only been testing the waters with the Pair comment and hadn’t actually been seriously considering it. Yujin watched him concede without resistance and looked away.
“You’ll still have to go into Gates, so that part will need some working out.”
“Ahh, it’d be nice to be your guard and skip the Gates too while I’m at it.”
“I’m the Association President’s son, not the Association President himself.”
Min Jaeha let out a quiet laugh at Yujin’s dry remark. From the way he was talking, it didn’t seem like he was going to turn the offer down.
Guiding really is the most effective leverage with Espers. Yujin Langford had known that too — which was exactly why he’d done whatever he pleased. He’d been so excessive in holding Guiding over them that he’d pushed the Espers’ resentment past a breaking point and met his end because of it — but Yujin was confident he wouldn’t make the same mistake.
Beep. Beep-beep.
“…And there’s a summons from the center, right on cue.”
“Oh, is Kang Taejun getting disciplined?”
“Who knows.”
Yujin murmured under his breath as he glanced at the Center Director’s name on his watch. At that, Min Jaeha’s eyes lit up. Whether it was simply Min Jaeha’s nature or whether bad blood within Alpha Team 1 had left him with a taste for others’ misfortune, Yujin couldn’t tell. Perhaps it was both.
“Then I’ll take your silence as a yes.”
He pressed the button to respond to the summons and got to his feet. Min Jaeha rose alongside him.
“I’ll come with you.”
“…Why?”
“I’m your bodyguard now, aren’t I?”
“……”
Min Jaeha said it with a soft, eyes-curving smile. It was a remarkably breezy thing to do — and yet his looks carried it well enough that it didn’t come across as irritating. What a gift. Yujin clicked his tongue inwardly and gave a nod.
“Do as you like.”
“Yes, sir.”
And so, with Min Jaeha trailing behind him, Yujin headed toward the Center Director’s office. On the short walk over, he sorted through in his head what he intended to demand from the Center Director.
The Center Director would already have been fully briefed on everything Kang Taejun had done. With so many witnesses and CCTV inside the office, there would be no wriggling out of it. And the door embedded in the wall would still be right there as evidence.
“Team Leader Kwon! Are you all right?”
“…Yes.”
Just as he’d expected, the Center Director rushed toward him, face drained of color, and looked Yujin over anxiously. Yujin gave a calm nod.
“You’re not hurt anywhere, are you? Hm?”
“I’m fine. I’ve recovered.”
“Phew, how did something like this even happen…”
The Center Director let out a weary sigh, as though this entire situation was a headache. Yujin gazed down at the man’s face — somehow even more washed-out than his own had been.
How did it happen — well, it was the spectacular collision of Yujin Langford’s tyranny and Kang Taejun’s rotten temperament. And Yujin, caught squarely in the middle, had eventually paid the price with his back.
But explaining all that would get him nowhere with the Center Director. He’d probably start genuinely wondering whether Yujin had lost his mind and suggest he see a doctor. That much was obvious without even needing to think about it.
“What is going to be done about Kang Taejun?”
“Well, that’s…”
At Yujin’s question, the Center Director’s expression darkened even further. Just seeing that was enough to give Yujin a rough sense of how things were going.
He hadn’t expected the military to come down hard on Kang Taejun in the first place. From the Center Director’s perspective, one of his own Guides had nearly been seriously hurt, so he would push for as strong a response as possible — but they were dealing with an S-rank Esper. With high-level Gates still needing to be closed and the personnel to do so stretched thin, handing down a severe punishment to Kang Taejun would be difficult. There might be some form of confinement dressed up as disciplinary action, but even that would be lifted the moment a Gate appeared.
Yujin held the Center Director’s gaze with an impassive expression, then spoke again.
