# Chapter 42
“…There’s nothing like that.”
It took quite a long time for this short answer to come out. Suhyun must have known that a long silence was as good as confirmation.
“There absolutely is.”
“…No, there isn’t.”
“Tell me if I did something wrong. I don’t want to make the same mistake again.”
The tone that seemed to be coaxing Suhyun appeared, at a glance, like an attempt to gently persuade him.
“Don’t suddenly try to distance yourself from me.”
Isn’t the purpose of keeping distance ultimately to grow apart?
Honestly, Suhyun avoiding him was just Jiwon’s suspicion, so even if it made the back of his head sting a bit, he’d planned to cautiously probe. If Suhyun denied it, Jiwon would believe him.
But when he actually saw Suhyun’s face, he couldn’t do that. The thought that their hard-earned closeness might become strained again made him unconsciously anxious.
“Esper-nim.”
Jiwon had never encountered someone so difficult to deal with. In reality, he wasn’t the type to try hard to maintain relationships, preferring to let them flow naturally.
After all, no matter how hard he tried, things didn’t always go his way. If he wanted someone to stay by his side but they didn’t want to, it was impossible.
Jiwon knew this better than anyone. Yet strangely, he wanted to hold onto Suhyun. Had he somehow decided that Suhyun was someone who could fulfill his expectations?
“I… wasn’t particularly trying to distance myself.”
Though Suhyun denied it, his eyes, which could barely meet Jiwon’s, very honestly revealed that he was lying.
Jiwon was about to tell him to at least make eye contact, but stopped himself. If he said something unnecessary and hurt Suhyun’s feelings, that would be troublesome in its own way.
“Then I’m relieved.”
Now that he’d pointed it out once, hopefully it wouldn’t happen again. If it did, Jiwon intended to point it out as many times as necessary.
“Let’s eat after the guiding is over.”
Jiwon clasped his hands together and smiled in earnest.
“I know you haven’t eaten. I have quite a few eyes in the Association.”
Since one person was doing the work of a hundred, it seemed appropriate to say “quite a few.”
“Are you referring to Esper Won Jungyeom?”
Jiwon raised the corner of his mouth, then shrugged his shoulders, pretending not to know.
“Who knows?”
Just how much was he poking around here and there? He was definitely a person who never had a dull moment.
Jiwon closed his eyes to begin the guiding in earnest. Though he didn’t say it, perhaps because of the distance he’d felt from Suhyun over the past two days, he seemed to have been rushing during each guiding session. Now that he’d said that one thing about not avoiding him, he finally felt a bit more at ease.
Warm hands hesitated beneath his own. Jiwon’s cheeks twitched. It felt like his heart was floating. Though it was difficult to name exactly what emotion this was, it wasn’t bad.
Jiwon smiled softly amidst this unidentified feeling.
***
Jiwon had been in a good mood lately. With so much work requiring deep thought and having spent time in a somewhat anxious state, he couldn’t believe how peaceful things were now.
Of course, the biggest contribution to Jiwon’s improved mood was Suhyun. More precisely, Suhyun’s condition had reassured Jiwon.
“They say Esper-nim has developed resistance to Riska.”
Resistance. This couldn’t be anything but good news.
Riska was the name given to the unknown “thing” that not only increased the risk of Espers going berserk but also tried to control their minds.
It was named after the Russian word meaning “gap,” in honor of Yenin, Russia’s Esper who was the first to fall victim to Riska.
“Based on the assumption that it controls Espers through wavelengths, they replicated the wavelength remaining in the Riska that Esper-nim brought back and experimented with it. Apparently, only Esper-nim’s wavelength didn’t respond at all.”
Jiwon was proud, as if he himself had developed the resistance.
“According to these experimental results, Esper-nim is now free from Riska’s mental domination.”
Well, it was news worth getting excited about.
To reach this point, he’d nearly died twice, but regardless of the process, what mattered was the good result. Jiwon was greatly relieved that Suhyun had become much safer.
“Of course, since it wasn’t confirmed in the field, we can’t be certain.”
Tsk, Jiwon clicked his tongue briefly.
The field ultimately meant inside a dungeon. As soon as Jiwon heard this, he threw a fit. Asking him to enter a dungeon again?
“So they suggested that instead of entering the dungeon, how about waiting outside?”
To Jiwon, who reacted that way, the Association offered an alternative as if they had never even considered such a thing.
“From the moment a dungeon entrance forms, Riska tries to control Espers. We’ll check if Esper-nim is affected by it.”
Riska induces Espers to enter the dungeon. If it’s true that Suhyun has developed resistance, nothing should happen even if he goes in front of the dungeon.
So the idea was to have only Suhyun guard the entrance of the dungeon, while other Espers would move beyond the estimated 50km range of influence.
“If the hypothesis is wrong, or if Esper-nim’s resistance isn’t perfect, or if Riska tries to control Esper-nim through other means… For various reasons, he might end up entering the dungeon again. Then the same thing… could happen again.”
Of course, this wasn’t a safe experiment either. But Jiwon wanted to believe in Suhyun, who had attacked Riska without being influenced by it. There was no way that had been a temporary phenomenon. It just couldn’t be.
Though if things went badly, he would probably want to kill himself for having such thoughts.
“If that happens…”
Anyway, regardless of his desire to believe, it was a situation where they had to keep in mind that Suhyun might try to enter the dungeon again.
If that happened, Jiwon wanted to follow him in. But if Suhyun didn’t want that… it would be difficult to insist this time. Now that he knew Suhyun feared he might kill him.
Jiwon took a deep breath and watched Suhyun’s reaction.
“I’d… like to go in with you.”
And very carefully asked. Suhyun couldn’t possibly miss that this was loaded with Jiwon’s wish to be taken along.
“…I’m not sure.”
But Suhyun pretended not to understand Jiwon. Jiwon grinned. At least he hadn’t refused outright, so that was something.
“Hmm, think about it once more, slowly. No, think about it several times.”
Jiwon said playfully as he stretched. If this experiment confirmed that he had resistance, the next experiment would likely involve actually entering the dungeon. After that, he might even enter with other Espers.
While continuing to participate in experiments was uncomfortable, it also meant that issues were being resolved sequentially. So he wasn’t just displeased. He was only somewhat sorry that Suhyun alone was taking the risks.
The weight of being an S-class Esper was too heavy. Because he accomplished alone what Espers from other countries wouldn’t even attempt, Suhyun was actually suffering more.
“Ah, but it seems they do have some conscience. They said they’d prepare a top-quality tent for comfort while waiting in front of the dungeon, no matter where it appears.”
Jiwon deliberately raised his voice.
“Even though it’s an experiment and we’re waiting for monsters, they say they’ll let us briefly feel like we’re properly camping.”
It seemed like a grand gesture but was a fitting comment to lighten the mood. Jo Wooyeon, who had relayed this message, probably had similar thoughts.
“Are they going to light a campfire in front of the dungeon too?”
Jiwon made a frivolous remark. Come to think of it, he was genuinely curious. If they were going to create a camping atmosphere, shouldn’t they at least light a campfire?
“…Seems so.”
Suhyun kindly responded to the trivial comment. Jiwon grinned. It was as if he had caught some strange disease—even hearing a single word made a smile creep across his face.
Jiwon nodded.
“Since we’re doing this, I should ask them to grill meat over the campfire too.”
“……”
“Isn’t that how you’re supposed to grill over a campfire?”
Suhyun shook his head. Jiwon just laughed. Even though it would be a dangerous journey if Suhyun’s mind were controlled again, strangely, he wasn’t afraid.
He was worried that Suhyun might try to enter the dungeon alone, or that a high-grade abnormal dungeon might appear that would be too much for Suhyun to handle alone. If even one monster escaped from the dungeon, it could lead to a major disaster.
In fact, some Espers had a history of letting monsters escape. Although there were no casualties thanks to preemptively evacuating citizens, the scale of damage naturally increased.
But.
“We’ll need proper equipment rather than a campfire, I think.”
Just as worry began to surge at the uncertain situation, seeing Suhyun glance at him and make frivolous remarks made even his concerns easily melt away.
Jiwon erased his unnecessary worries that couldn’t be resolved by thinking, and smiled.
“I’ll tell them that.”
