At first, I thought, what could that robot-like person have even done? To be honest, I’d lived without thinking about such things myself, so I roughly guessed he’d be the same. But as time passed, it seemed that wasn’t the case. For some reason, my thoughts leaned toward him having kissed someone, unlike me.
Kim Haewon was the world’s most famous esper. On top of that, he had a handsome face and came from a good family. There wasn’t a single thing lacking about him. His temperament was a bit of a problem, but you didn’t need a good temperament just to kiss someone. There was no way the people around him would have left someone like that alone.
Starting with people from the same association, wouldn’t countless people have made passes at him? Kim Haewon didn’t seem like he’d refuse if the person was decent enough.
Come to think of it, Kim Haewon’s standards were probably really high. Like, he probably wouldn’t even glance at someone unless they were truly beautiful. For some reason, I got that feeling.
But they say you can never know what’s inside a person, so maybe he was living a promiscuous private life just like Nam Ihyeon. Imagining Kim Haewon tightly controlling the media to avoid damaging his image gave me a strange, incongruous feeling.
‘He acts like some kind of scholar, but what if he’s actually a complete degenerate underneath?’
Even if that were true, it wouldn’t be Kim Haewon’s fault. It would just mean he was exceptionally good at separating public and private matters. The Kim Haewon I knew was entirely Kim Haewon as an esper. So I couldn’t know about anything beyond that.
Kim Haewon being affectionate only to his lover, Kim Haewon pursuing a promiscuous sex life, Kim Haewon wanting children… I didn’t know about those sides of him. In fact, even if I was curious, I couldn’t pry or criticize. It would be a clear overstepping of boundaries.
“But wait, that bastard’s always telling me not to two-time people, to act morally, and all that stuff.”
So shouldn’t I be able to say something to him too? I found myself unnecessarily conflicted. Because it seemed like he’d swing down his iron hammer again, spewing harsh words asking why I was asking about such things. Then I’d just clam up like I’d eaten honey and only end up feeling bad. I didn’t want that.
Moreover, now that I’d realized I had no sexual experience whatsoever, this became a matter of pride. If he asked me back, I couldn’t even think of a story to make up. I lacked imagination about that sort of thing, and I’d read few books or watched few movies about it.
It wasn’t that I’d deliberately avoided it, but with this line of work, I’d naturally distanced myself from things like romance and melodrama.
‘Right. It’s just because I started this work too young. I was focused on work, that’s all. I’m not a complete novice. Even if it’s my first time, I’ll do better than someone who’s done it hundreds of times.’
I rolled around thinking such unconsoling thoughts. But the more I thought about it, the more miserable I felt. Just as I was about to just go to sleep like this, my phone vibrated once.
Thinking it was Nam Ihyeon, I just pulled down the notification bar. I planned to answer appropriately with “ㅇㅇ” or “ㄴㄴ” and cut off the message. Right now, I didn’t have the mental capacity to discuss restaurants with Nam Ihyeon.
But unexpectedly, the sender wasn’t Nam Ihyeon but Kim Haewon. I sat up and looked at my phone.
(Photo)
The first photo was a menu board from a famous coffee shop. This place was also famous for making you wait two hours just to order coffee. But they say that after one sip, that thought completely disappears because it’s so delicious.
(Photo)
The second photo was of an unfamiliar place—a tea house with a calm and quiet atmosphere. The people brewing tea looked dignified, and behind them were shelves full of medicinal herbs and teas like in an oriental medicine clinic.
Since he just sent photos without explanation, I was dumbfounded. I immediately moved my fingers over the keypad.
What are these photos?
Kim Haewon answered my question right away.
What does Guide Park Garam like?
When I told him to buy some drinks tomorrow, he seemed to have looked things up in his own way. The most famous coffee, the most famous tea, things like that. But since he didn’t know whether I liked tea, coffee, or convenience store drinks, he seemed to have sent the photos first.
“Pfft.”
I laughed. He was probably doing this not to impress me but because he didn’t want to mess up by doing things on his own. In this situation, asking the person directly was actually the best thing to do. You could find the answer right away without mistakes or failures.
His way of thinking always pursued logic and clarity. I thought that was kind of funny as I replied to the message.
Even if you just give me bottled water I’ll drink it well lololol
But if I had to choose, iced latte! Without syrup!
Understood.
He answered neatly. I thought he might buy the most delicious iced latte available in Seoul tomorrow. He often made people happy in unexpected ways. I added one more line to the ended message.
What about Esper Kim Haewon?
What about me?
What drinks do you like?
I like leaf tea.
At the words “leaf tea,” I thought it was unexpected. Kim Haewon had Western features, so coffee or other types of drinks seemed to suit him much better. Of course, dividing East and West by drink preferences was a bit funny. I dangled my legs as I held my phone and continued the conversation.
It doesn’t suit you but it does lololol
If Kim Haewon-ssi wasn’t an esper you would’ve been a village teacher
That doesn’t sound like a compliment
It is though? lololol
Do you know that Guide Park Garam is the only person who teases me?
I’m honored lololol
As I kept laughing through messages, Kim Haewon didn’t respond for a while, then sent a long message.
Enough teasing. The journey to Pamundong will be harder than you think. Rest well. I’ll see you tomorrow.
Okay lololol see you tomorrow
I could almost hear Kim Haewon’s sigh from here. I giggled as I put down my phone. My appearance at Pamundong must have been shocking, because since then, it felt like he was cutting me some slack. Of course, if things went south, he was obviously the type to do whatever he wanted anyway.
“Still, how nice that he’s being obedient.”
Even with the same stiff way of speaking, there was a difference between “ah” and “uh.” You could make it so people could at least try talking to you, or you could be so cold that they never wanted to speak to you again.
If this state continued, we could move forward as a good pair relationship. We couldn’t avoid bickering from time to time, but as long as we didn’t fight badly like last time at Pamundong, everything would probably be okay. If we joined forces, the ending of this novel might not be too bad either.
Kim Haewon had that kind of power, and if he even believed the information I had, it would be the icing on the cake. I flopped down on the bed with a much lighter heart than before. After becoming Kim Haewon’s pair guide, my mood improved and worsened dozens of times a day.
But it was better than at first. Everything was. The grade that changed overnight, the sudden EM, and the enormous existence that was Kim Haewon that I faced. The fears I felt then had disappeared, and now there was anticipation about something we would create together.
Of course, I’d lost many things in the process. Someone’s life, the peacefulness within me, my health, and so on.
What I’d gained and what I’d lost were difficult to weigh. They were like values that couldn’t be placed on a scale and measured. Anyway, to not reduce those sacrifices to nothing, I had to do well.
Without running away, until the end, well.
As I looked at the white hospital room ceiling I’d grown accustomed to, my phone vibrated. Today was definitely the busiest day for my phone in recent memory. I reached out slowly. Without hastily turning the screen, I slowly looked at the floating notification.
[Notification] <I’ve Been Possessed by a Real-Time Serial Novel> Chapter 20 has been uploaded.
It was the serialization notification for the novel I’d been waiting for. I sat bolt upright and stared at the notification window. Hoping I could glean some meaningful information.
I took one deep breath and clicked on the novel notification. The novel began with a group of people secretly visiting Pamundong’s secret base.
A group of men gathered around a small helicopter. They were Pamundong executives. A girl got off the aircraft. She was barefoot. She walked slowly, bathed in moonlight.
She looked around inside Pamundong’s secret base and discovered something sparkling. She pointed at it precisely. It was the eye of a decorative stuffed deer head.
“It’s there.”
When the girl spoke, Pamundong’s executives rushed toward where the light pointed. The girl finished speaking and immediately turned around. Her steps were slow. Before boarding the small aircraft, she received the moonlight in both hands.
“Moonlight is beautiful. Isn’t it?”
She asked the man who had been by her side the whole time. That man was wearing a protective suit. There was no answer. She smiled faintly. Before she knew it, her hands were filled with mysterious black liquid. The girl continued to pour out the black liquid as she moved away with the small helicopter.
It was dangerous work for a young girl. With her body precariously perched on the helicopter as if she might fall at any moment, she endlessly sprayed black liquid from her hands.
The pooled liquid gradually created a larger and larger puddle. Bigger and bigger. A Pamundong executive who had taken something from the deer’s eye and was rushing out shouted.
{A, a gate has formed!}
I stopped scrolling for a moment. I couldn’t move any further. The secret of the gates had been revealed. I vividly recalled the image of that girl at the abandoned hospital.
What on earth was she? Goosebumps instantly rose on my arms.
