Lee Heewoo was startled enough to jerk his shoulders at the name that fell like a bolt of lightning. Even the owner, who had been in the kitchen, came rushing out due to Heichi’s sudden intrusion.
Though this wasn’t the first time Heichi had come to pick up Lee Heewoo from his part-time job, it wasn’t often that he came all the way inside the shop to find him. And urgently calling out for him while raising his voice even more so. Lee Heewoo couldn’t help but read the owner’s mood.
“H-Heichi, what brings you here…… More than that, I—”
“Has anyone come here?”
“Pardon?”
Lee Heewoo’s eyes widened at the abrupt question. Someone coming? As if there were only one or two customers who’d come to a soup restaurant of all places. Just as Lee Heewoo was looking at Heichi, wondering if he was worried about the loan sharks who had barged in just yesterday:
“Someone slightly shorter than me but with an unusually large build—did they come?”
“What? Uh……?”
Lee Heewoo blinked. Someone like that had come. No, not just came—they were still in the shop as a customer right now. As soon as Heichi finished speaking, Lee Heewoo turned his head to look at where the customer had been sitting. He was planning to tell him that exactly such a person was here right now.
But when he turned his head, what he faced was one bowl of untouched pork soup and an empty seat.
Between the hot ttukbaegi pot and the stand was a crisp 50,000 won bill wedged in. That seemed to be payment for the soup he hadn’t managed to pay for. Lee Heewoo looked at the empty seat with a sour expression. He’d known the customer who came in a little while ago was an Esper, but he hadn’t expected him to vanish like smoke in the blink of an eye.
It was just as he was about to tell Heichi everything truthfully. The owner, who had been watching from behind, squeezed between Lee Heewoo and Heichi.
“Heewoo, who is this?”
“Ah, um……”
How should he introduce him? Friend? But Lee Heewoo didn’t even know Heichi’s age, so he couldn’t tell if he could dare call him a friend. The same went for calling him an older or younger brother acquaintance. After pondering, Lee Heewoo said carefully:
“He’s an acquaintance.”
“Oh. Did he come to pick you up? Must have plans after work. Hmm, but still, just bringing people you know into the shop like this is a bit……”
The owner’s voice grew quieter as she went on, adding it almost like muttering. Knowing that wasn’t just some passing complaint but a reprimand directed at him, Lee Heewoo bowed his head.
“I’m sorry, he must have m-mistaken the time I get off work.”
“No, I’m not saying anything.”
The owner turned her head to glance at the clock on the wall. 3:48 PM. Only 12 minutes remained until Lee Heewoo’s shift ended.
“It’s almost time for you to get off anyway, so go ahead.”
“……Is that okay?”
“Yeah. I said go ahead.”
Lee Heewoo glanced at the owner’s face repeatedly, watching to see if she was upset. The owner, who squinted one eye, didn’t look particularly pleased, but she didn’t seem angry either. Lee Heewoo decided it would be better to quickly take Heichi and leave the shop.
Lee Heewoo grabbed his coat he’d left inside and hurriedly left the soup restaurant. Heichi, who followed him out, stuck close behind Lee Heewoo as he rushed out and whispered:
“I was rude. ……I was in a hurry.”
“Ah, n-no! Thanks to you, I got off a bit earlier than usual, so……”
Though it bothered him that the owner, who would normally tell him to get home safely, hadn’t greeted him today, it was also true that he’d gotten off work early thanks to this. The soup restaurant owner ran the evening business alone, so there were countless times when she kept Lee Heewoo, the shop’s only part-timer who got off at 4 PM, well past his shift time.
“But what really happened……?”
Lee Heewoo, who had come outside, asked questions as he walked alongside Heichi. Heichi’s expression as he’d come rushing into the shop earlier was particularly vivid. It was because Heichi’s expression, which usually wore only a gentle smile, had looked urgent as if he were being chased by something.
“……Ah. It’s nothing serious.”
“Hmm……”
“I heard news that Dumor had escaped and worried he might have come looking for Lee Heewoo.”
Dumor?
Lee Heewoo blinked at the unfamiliar name. Noticing this, Heichi quickly added:
“Dumor 127. Former Jupiter Team 1 leader and one of the highest-grade Espers. His ability is physical enhancement including physical force. He was recently imprisoned for charges of breaking into Lee Heewoo’s convenience store, forced contact, and attempted kidnapping.”
‘My name is Dumor 127. Jupiter Team 1’s Dumor. Please, remember. I’m your only Esper.’
Only after hearing that much explanation did the memory that had already passed belatedly surface. The memory of being held almost tied up in the huge man’s body, unable to move. In the midst of that chaos, the memory of the man saying he was Dumor came back to him upon hearing Heichi’s words.
At the words that the one who’d been imprisoned had escaped, Lee Heewoo belatedly grasped the situation. The fact that the man imprisoned because of him had escaped ultimately meant that he could be in danger again, and that was why Heichi had come running so urgently.
“Ah, c-could that person come looking for me?”
“In my judgment, the probability is high.”
“Why……?”
“……Dumor is one of the Espers who has been in a weakened state for a long time, unable to find a Guide with a high matching rate. Since he confirmed that contact with Lee Heewoo resulted in smooth guiding, the probability he’ll come looking again is high.”
At those words, Lee Heewoo’s mind also worked busily. He vaguely remembered hearing from AJ what a weakened state was.
Naturally, Lee Heewoo recalled the figure of the man wearing a hoodie who had come alone just before he got off work today. That man, no, that Esper had some similarities to the man he’d seen at the convenience store……
There were.
Definitely, there were.
When he recalled the man’s energy he’d encountered at the convenience store again, the form felt extremely familiar. Because he’d felt similar energy from the soup restaurant customer who came alone. Though he couldn’t express this in words, the thought flashed that the customer might be the same person as the convenience store Esper.
“H-he was here. That person.”
“When?”
“Earlier, so right before I got off work…… Ah. He suddenly disappeared as soon as Heichi arrived.”
A crack appeared across Heichi’s calm complexion.
“Is there a back door in the shop?”
“Ah, uh, yes. You have to go out the back door to get to the building’s b-bathroom……”
“Since physical enhancement type Espers can enhance their bodies in various ways, there’s a high probability he escaped without a sound.”
Then that customer really was the convenience store Esper. Lee Heewoo felt goosebumps rising at the thought that he could have been in danger.
“I will be keeping watch, but Lee Heewoo must also be careful.”
“Ah, yes, yes. I will.”
“From now on, not only on your commute but if you need to go out separately, I will escort you. And for a while, how about moving your residence into the battleship and staying with me?”
Going out together every time had been the case all along…… Lee Heewoo was about to mention that point but stopped. Instead, when he obediently nodded to accept Heichi’s proposal, he could see Heichi, who had restored his cracked expression, relax.
After that, Heichi threw out several simple questions. For instance, about whether there was anything strange when Dumor came to the shop or if there were any particular signs. Lee Heewoo honestly confessed that nothing special had happened.
Then Heichi’s questions suddenly jumped in a different direction.
“By the way, how were you so certain, Lee Heewoo? That the customer who came to the shop was an Esper.”
“What? Uh, yes……?”
At the question that came out of nowhere, Lee Heewoo’s eyes widened and he hesitated with his answer. He was so nervous he even gulped. If he could avoid answering like this, he wanted to, but since Heichi had stopped still and was asking almost like an interrogation, there was no corner to escape to.
After hesitating, Lee Heewoo ultimately had no choice but to honestly confess the things he’d been hiding.
“When he c-came into the shop…… I saw it, you know, the energy……”
Even as Lee Heewoo spoke incoherently, he watched Heichi’s mood several times. What if I’m weird? What if he, who doesn’t even have a particularly high grade, gets classified as a strange Guide and Heichi leaves? He kept licking his already dried lips without realizing it.
“What…… What are you saying?”
As expected, Heichi’s reaction that flowed out wasn’t good. Lee Heewoo felt his heart drop. However, since Heichi was urging an answer with his eyes, Lee Heewoo squeezed his eyes shut and confessed honestly.
“I can see something strange behind Espers’ backs…… E-even now……”
Lee Heewoo barely opened his eyes that had been closed to look at Heichi. No, to be precise, not at him but at the energy spread out behind him. Lee Heewoo raised his trembling index finger to point precisely at the rippling energy and said:
“Right now too, Heichi’s energy is very torn and crumpled……”
