“One car…”
Even after moving to his next part-time job location, Cafe ‘Bonita,’ the story the soup restaurant owner had told him kept circling in his head. Actually, he didn’t even hope for a whole car—if he could just receive even meal costs for a day, that would be really great. Then he could work while catching his breath at least…
“Heewoo-ssi, what are you thinking about so deeply?”
“Oh, nothing.”
“Mm, then can you take out all the syrups from the refrigerator? I told the opening staff to use them cleanly, but they won’t listen.”
At Cafe Bonita, which closed at 7 PM, it was routine for Heewoo, in charge of final cleanup, to close up together with the owner. Heewoo took out all the syrups as Bonita’s owner requested and wiped the spouts.
Even until then, rumors about ‘Espers’ and ‘Guides’ were floating around in Heewoo’s head. It had been like that ever since he heard the story that it could make money.
Should he try giving his hand if someone asks to hold it next time? But that Esper he met at the convenience store this morning told him not to carelessly give his hand. He wished someone would tell him what to do in times like this, but Heewoo’s only means of communication with the world was the old television at home.
Ding-a-ling…
The bell that Bonita’s owner had bought while playing in Paris rang clearly. The owner cleaning the coffee machine and Heewoo simultaneously turned their heads toward the door.
“I’m sorry. We’re already closed.”
“Huh…?”
Heewoo’s eyes widened. Because the person who opened the door and entered was none other than Heichi.
The owner seemed to have mistaken him for a simple customer and tried to send him away, saying the shop was closed. Heichi didn’t care about the owner’s subtle urging and just stood blankly, looking only at Heewoo.
“Oh, um, Owner, he’s someone I know…”
“Huh? Really? Someone Heewoo-ssi knows? How unusual, someone came to pick you up.”
Like the surprised owner, Heewoo was also in a dazed state. The owner seemed to want to ask Heewoo who he was, but seemed to know it wasn’t polite to carelessly ask questions with the person in question present, so kept their mouth shut. Instead, they smiled at Heewoo and said:
“Heewoo-ssi, let’s call it a day. Since someone came to pick you up.”
“Oh, but it’s not 7 o’clock yet…”
“Heewoo-ssi is just too diligent. The other kids always leave 10 minutes early too.”
Since the owner was directly pushing his shoulders, Heewoo, who kept glancing back, had no choice but to go into the storage room and change clothes. He untied the apron he was wearing, put on his old padded jacket, then rushed out without even having time to zip it up. It was because of the thought that someone was waiting for him.
Even when he lived with his grandmother, no one had ever waited for him while he was working. No, they had. People who came to collect money from him. Naturally, they hadn’t waited for a good reason.
So Heewoo prepared to leave work with a rarely fluttering heart. Looking around the cafe, the tall, large man was already gone, so Heewoo poked his head around as he went outside the cafe. Ding-a-ling—along with the bell sound, cold wind rushed in.
It was such a chilly wind that his nose started running. Heewoo briefly sniffled, then looked for Heichi. Fortunately, he was waiting for Heewoo right in front of the cafe in his usual coat outfit.
“What… brings you here?”
“You need to eat dinner, don’t you?”
At the answer that flowed out strangely, Heewoo made a surprised expression once more. He’d already taken care of breakfast and lunch, and now dinner too.
Then Heewoo suddenly realized his hands felt too empty. He recalled the fact that he’d forgotten the paper bag he’d brought today in the break room, which was also the storage room, where he changed clothes. Fortunately, he’d taken the crossbody bag he wore every day, but he’d forgotten the paper bag.
“Um… I left the lunch box… Just a moment.”
Heewoo, who rushed back inside, briefly explained to the owner looking at him, grabbed the paper bag, and came out. Heichi was still in that spot until then.
“I-I got everything. Um, there’s a park just a little way from here. Should we… eat there?”
Naturally thinking dinner would also be the lunch box Heichi had prepared this morning, Heewoo pointed in the direction where the park was. Of course, he knew that now, after the sun had set, was too cold to eat outside. But Heewoo still had food he hadn’t eaten, and he couldn’t even think of eating something else while leaving that behind.
Heichi, who had been listening to Heewoo, slowly shook his head.
“We’ll go this way.”
“Uh… Where? I have to go to my part-time job right away in 30 minutes…”
“I know.”
The part-time jobs rushing relentlessly all day weren’t over yet. He was worried he might be late if they took a different route, but fortunately Heichi reassured Heewoo that he wouldn’t take much time.
Reassured by those words, Heewoo walked along the street following Heichi. The place he headed to was a small food cart outside the downtown area. From the food cart with vinyl sheets set up to block the cold, warm heat was rising.
“Why here…”
“Don’t you need to eat?”
“…”
“It was stated that human individuals with thin subcutaneous fat layers are vulnerable to external temperature changes. Additionally, since Heewoo-ssi’s nutritional intake time is currently limited due to labor activities, I judged that a meal form with simple and short processing procedures would be rational in terms of physiological efficiency.”
Heewoo closed his mouth at the lengthy explanation that passed in an instant. Subcutaneous fat layer…? Physiological efficiency? He was momentarily at a loss for words at the terms that were difficult to understand easily. In the meantime, Heichi was leading Heewoo to the food cart.
When they pushed through the vinyl split on both sides and entered, the food cart owner only glanced at the two. This was because there were already customers who had come before them. Heichi, heading to a corner spot, stood blankly in front of the fish cake broth.
The food cart owner still didn’t even glance at the two. That was natural, of course. Originally, at food carts like this, it was normal to order on your own even if the owner didn’t speak to you. But that didn’t seem natural to Heichi.
“It seems the orders are backed up. I’ll wait a moment.”
“That’s not it…”
Heewoo, who had been hesitating, carefully ordered 1 serving of sundae and 1 serving of tteokbokki toward the owner. And he ladled fish cake broth into two paper cups and handed one to Heichi.
“H-here, this isn’t originally a place where you wait.”
“I see. There was a misunderstanding.”
Looking at the paper cup that came before him, Heichi lowered his eyes. From the fish cake broth in the paper cup, warm steam was rising freely. Heewoo, who lifted the paper cup with both hands, cooled the broth by blowing on it with his breath—hoo, hoo.
Heichi just quietly watched that sight.
Soon, when the hot broth had almost completely cooled, Heewoo held it out to Heichi and said:
“The broth is hot… Please have this.”
Heewoo, shyly holding out the paper cup, as soon as Heichi received it, newly brought what had been Heichi’s originally—that is, the paper cup that hadn’t cooled yet. And he started blowing on it again with his breath—hoo, hoo.
“I’ll do it for you.”
“What?”
Heichi, who suddenly spoke, took the paper cup Heewoo had been holding. The reason he’d been just quietly watching until now was because he didn’t know why he was doing that behavior, how to do it.
No matter how much he learned and acquired the behavioral patterns of humans living on Earth, it felt insufficient to grasp everything in a short period. Among those things, he’d only acquired academically that the sensory organs inside the human oral cavity, especially the tongue, had low tolerance to high-temperature stimulation, so he hadn’t even thought about such detailed parts.
However, that wasn’t the only thing Heichi had overlooked. The paper cup was endlessly small, Heichi’s hands were almost 1.5 times as large as Heewoo’s, and Heewoo was gripping tightly with his hands, worried he might spill it.
As a result of missing that fact, fish cake broth that hadn’t yet cooled spilled onto Heewoo and Heichi’s hands. A high temperature of fully 98 degrees, hot enough for fragile human skin to get heat burns and then some.
—
You can sell guiding for money
This is my friend’s story. While working part-time, an Esper asked if they were a Guide, so they held hands and turned out to be a real Guide.
So that Esper asked if they could pair up, going on about destiny or whatever, and my friend said give me money lololololololololol
Said if they give money, they’ll hold hands. But they really gave money.
They’ll even give a million won just for holding hands. They give whatever you ask for.
‣Likes (21)│Comments (5)
Anon1: Isn’t that kinda dangerous?
⤷Anon2: 22…how is selling for money any different from selling your body?
⤷Anon4: I’ll give you money if you just hold my hand << Isn’t this a standard repertoire of sex offenders?
Anon3: But your friend is fucking rational lol
Anon5: So jealous
Don’t just believe the bullshit here
I heard that there are less than 100,000 Guides among Earthlings
If you look at the statistics, it’s 0.001% = 100% probability that everyone here saying they’re a Guide or their friend is a Guide is all bullshit
If you’re an unemployed shut-in, just watch the news at home about each country’s situation and response methods regarding Espers ㅇㅇ That’s right
‣Likes (8)│Comments (4)
Anon1: Is that 0.001% really true? There were fucking tons through the grapevine
Anon2: This is just my theory but I think there are unusually many Guides in Korea, this is real. My younger sibling is in America right now and they said it’s not this chaotic there
Anon3: lol fuck, a passing unemployed person got hit for no reason
Anon4: But I don’t know about Guides, but there really are unusually many Espers in Korea. I see them at least once a day, those guys wearing those weird black jumpsuits ㅇㅇ
I think my older sister is a Guide
My sister and I are both on break so we’re stuck together every day these days, and Espers talk to her every time we go out, really.
I’m going crazy… My sister already suffered because of a stalker ㅠ Mom and Dad’s worry is no small matter
Anyone know how to get rid of Espers?
‣Likes (41)│Comments (13)
Anon1: Is your sister pretty?
⤷Anon3: You bastard really.. But is she really pretty?
⤷Anon5: These fuckers are really so fucking clueless ㅡㅡ Does your sister need a man who’s 186cm tall, weighs 81kg, eats well and has a good body?
Anon2: How old is your sister?
Anon4: I think I’m a Guide too. If it’s okay, please contact me. If you reply, I’ll give you my email address in a private comment.
⤷Private comment.
⤷Private comment.
Anon6: How does Guide work? Is there like a certificate or something?
Anon7: Seriously speaking, just report to the police. That’s the only answer right now…
⤷Anon9: lol There’s still someone who believes in the people’s stick
Anon10: Isn’t there a way to become an Esper instead of a Guide
⤷Anon12: I’ll tell you. Just copy and paste this comment into other posts 10 times
Anon11: I heard if you become a Guide you can sell guiding for money? Check out the post below
