“He’s a younger sibling I cherish.”
With a pleasant voice, Kang Hyeseong defined him, standing beside him, that way. Yeoul’s heart fluttered. He was excited by the word “cherish,” but also a bit dissatisfied that it was limited to just “younger sibling.”
“Ah! Could it be, the one who kept in contact from Lebanon…!”
“That’s right.”
Seo Giwon greeted him with a welcoming face. Yeoul, who had been cautiously observing the situation from the side, carefully bowed his head.
“Hello, Esper Seo Giwon. My name is Kim Yeoul.”
“Uh…? You know me?”
He brightened at Yeoul’s response. His cleanly arched eyebrows rose and a refreshing smile spread across his lips. It’s rude to have this impression upon first meeting, but he’s kind of like a retriever… Yeoul, who unconsciously thought that, nodded his head vigorously.
“Of course! I’ve seen you a lot on the news and in articles. …Thank you for always working hard for the citizens.”
The last words were admittedly a bit embarrassing, but he resolutely went through with it. This was something he’d never said to Kang Hyeseong because he was too shy… At Yeoul’s words, Seo Giwon placed both hands together on his chest with a moved expression.
“Wooow, hearing words like this from Team Leader’s younger sibling makes me feel really proud. Totally, makes me want to work.”
“Is that so… Ahaha. Thank you.”
“But, is your younger sibling a high school student? Are you here for a field trip? You’re so cute… Ah, is saying that rude? Anyway, since we’ve met like this, it’s fate, so let’s shake hands…”
He extended his hand as if to shake hands. It was the moment when Yeoul bowed his head and was about to clasp hands.
“Ah, I’m… a college student. I awakened as a Guide this time….”
It was just before the cheerfully extended hand reached Yeoul. Hyeseong’s hand came first and grabbed Yeoul’s hand. His large grip completely enveloped the small hand.
“Don’t touch him carelessly.”
It was a firm voice like a cleanly cut cross-section.
“He’s a Guide who only just awakened.”
Seo Giwon, who had been embarrassed out of nowhere, finally let out an “Ah” in a dazed voice. His bewildered expression quickly evaporated.
“I will correct myself. Team Leader, sir.”
He, who had regained his composure, bowed his head lightly toward Yeoul as well.
“Um, younger sibling… I was rude. I didn’t know.”
“Ah… Not at all! I’m fine.”
“I’ll see you again soon at the training grounds. Let’s greet each other properly then, us.”
Seo Giwon, who greeted Yeoul with a gentle smile to the end, saluted toward Kang Hyeseong again. In contrast to showing only a smiling face to Yeoul, it was an attitude where military discipline and tension were acutely felt.
Only after Seo Giwon had completely disappeared did Yeoul stamp his feet with an excited face.
“Hyung, hyung. It’s really really amazing! To actually see Esper Seo Giwon!”
“What’s so amazing about it?”
Kang Hyeseong’s profile, responding like that and hurrying his steps again, looked uniquely more indifferent than usual. At his attitude as if he had no interest at all, Yeoul got a bit riled up.
“Of course it’s not amazing to you since you see his face every day! Esper Seo Giwon is incredibly popular. GIFs of him circulate like crazy on communities and stuff, you know? Like, two streams of flames coming out of his palm and spinning round and round in a spiral! It’s so cool.”
Of course, Kang Hyeseong freezing monster creatures solid with ice is 2,000 times cooler… Yeoul, who was about to unconsciously add the rest, quickly shut his mouth. Because Kang Hyeseong’s eyebrows were getting more and more furrowed.
“What’s a community and what’s a GIF? Soldiers aren’t celebrities.”
“Oh, come on. This hyung can’t read the times. Esper fangirling is so popular these days. It rivals any idol or actor.”
And among them, you’re the most popular, you’ve been the undisputed number one for years. He was about to explain that, then shut his mouth. Because Kang Hyeseong neither understands nor welcomes this kind of thing.
As expected. He opened his mouth with a disapproving expression.
“That kind of atmosphere should be discouraged. Soldiers are people who devote themselves to the country and citizens, not beings to be revered like that.”
“Tch. Okay, I get it. It’s not like I created the fan club, so why are you scolding me?”
Anyway, Kang Hyeseong had some old-fashioned aspects despite his age. Yeoul pouted his lips and grumbled quietly.
They took the elevator and moved to the Personnel Department on the third floor. All the soldiers they encountered in the office stood up and saluted when they saw Kang Hyeseong. As the crisp salutes continued, it was embarrassing to stand next to him.
“Ah, I just received the data transmitted from the Diagnostic Examination Department. Are you Guide Kim Yeoul?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
The personnel manager came out and kindly welcomed Yeoul. Yeoul, who had been excitedly chatting with Kang Hyeseong until just moments ago, straightened his back with extreme tension and listened intently to the guidance he provided.
He completed his official registration as a Guide and finally received his mobilization date. It was three weeks from now, and after the mobilization date, the probationary process including basic physical training would begin.
‘Three weeks from now…’
Yeoul stroked the dress uniform and combat uniform he received with trembling hands. He’d only ever seen military uniforms on Kang Hyeseong, but now he could wear one too. To be able to work in the same place wearing the same clothes as Kang Hyeseong… It was hard to contain his pounding, trembling heart.
***
“What? An ability user?! Wow, Kim Yeoul. That’s seriously killer.”
Inside a cafe in front of the school, Huijun, who was sitting across the table, opened her mouth with wide eyes.
“What good news, what good news. We should call all our law school classmates together and throw a party!”
“What party… That’s embarrassing.”
Yeoul smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck with his palm for no reason. However, Noona Huijun’s excitement showed no signs of subsiding at all.
“This is seriously amazing. Our Kim Yeoul, aren’t you about to become a popular star in one go?”
“No way… I’m not even an Esper.”
Hearing the words “popular star” made old-fashioned Kang Hyeseong automatically come to mind. Hmph, anyway, sometimes he really seems like a conservative old man. Maybe it’s because he’s been in the military since a young age.
“Hey, hey. Forget it. Popularity or whatever, there’s something more important than that. Yeoul, congratulations in advance.”
“…For what? What for?”
“That person of yours. Now you’ll commute together every day, see each other at the training grounds, run into each other at the dining hall, right?”
When Huijun teased him with a mischievous expression, Yeoul’s face instantly began to heat up. Huijun was almost the only person who knew about his one-sided love.
He couldn’t even dare to open up about it to the alumni he occasionally kept in touch with or some neighborhood friends. He didn’t particularly have any friends with a deep enough relationship to confess such heavy feelings to.
Rather, he could freely share such feelings with Huijun, whom he’d met and become close with as a fellow law school classmate on the wide campus. One year older than Yeoul, she had a candid and bright personality, was friendly with all their classmates, but liked Yeoul the most among them.
“Huh? Wait a minute. Maybe you’ll get to Guide that person…?!”
“That’s impossible, Noona. Hyung is S-rank, how could I do that?”
Yeoul stopped her words with a flushed face. Of course, it would be a lie to say he hadn’t imagined such things… but the possibility of that was probably almost zero.
Kang Hyeseong was an S-rank Esper. And as far as Yeoul knew, there were no currently existing S-rank Guides in the country. There weren’t even many A-rank Guides, and they said there was no one among B-rank and below Guides who could handle him. Because the greater the wavelength gap, the more the Guide couldn’t endure it.
Moreover, the rumor was rampant that he was an Esper who firmly refused Guiding itself. In society, there were many rumors floating around about the reason, but since the Security Bureau was treating it strictly as a state secret, no one except a very small number of high-ranking officials could know the cause. It was an area that even Yeoul couldn’t carelessly ask him about.
There’s no way I could Guide someone like him. No matter how much it’s just imagination, it was an absurd hypothetical.
“Hey, hey. I’m not saying to receive it all and endanger your body. If by chance, if your evaluation grade comes out high. Huh? Then actively try to seduce him.”
Huijun clenched her fist and blinked her eyes repeatedly. Anyway, befitting the class president, she was someone with bulldozer-like execution power.
“And well, you don’t have to become an exclusive Guide to do Guiding, right? Basically, Espers like Guide wavelengths. Hold hands a little bit, huh? Try snuggling up to him too. Do something like that!”
“N-Noona…! What are you really saying? Right now you sound completely like an old man.”
“Hey now. What rude thing to say to a young lady? I just hope Kim Yeoul actively seizes love.”
He was already all excited and got scolded just for asking Kang Hyeseong about wavelengths and stuff… Yeoul fiddled with his fingers with a sullen face. If he acted cheeky trying to Guide Kang Hyeseong as Noona said, he’d probably get nagged until his ears bled.
“Noona, after the mobilization date, I have to stay at the base all four weeks and receive basic physical training too. I can’t even commute from home then. So before that, let’s have a meal together.”
“Wow, when you say it like that, you really sound like a soldier.”
Huijun laughed out loud. At words like how a baby-like kid is a soldier, how it’s funny to death that such a young-looking face is receiving training, Yeoul glared at her with triangular eyes. He really didn’t understand why there were only people around him who said the absurd word “baby” to a proper adult male.
“Our Kim Yeoul has to get nourished before going to receive harsh training. Let’s go to Kkokko Chicken in front of school. You like the seasoned chicken there.”
“Yeah. Sounds good.”
After making plans to meet in front of school two days later, Huijun and Yeoul stood up from their seats. When they shuffled out of the cafe, the sunset was already glowing red. As he briefly took in the beautiful campus dyed in the sunset, he felt a bit wistful.
For the two years of military service ahead, he would have to take a mandatory leave of absence as it would be filled with regular education and training, as well as practical work. After that, he would decide whether to serve long-term—what they call “driving in a stake”—or discharge and work as a freelance Guide.
