Eyes that conveyed sincerity had a way of warming a person’s heart. I barely managed to answer while avoiding his gaze.
“I-it was fine. I don’t even remember it well.”
“I’m sorry for putting you in danger.”
“Esper Kim Haewon was in danger too.”
“Didn’t I say I would protect you?”
Kim Haewon was looking at me with an expression full of guilt. I raised my hand and lightly tapped the back of his hand.
“You protected me enough. Isn’t it something that we got out of that hell in one piece like this? We didn’t lose the ring either. We completely dealt with Suo Weiqian too. No one was seriously injured.”
“…….”
“You did perfectly well. Good job.”
When I said this while raising both thumbs, Kim Haewon chuckled. I liked his laugh that seemed to say he found it absurd. It felt like a moment when he, who was always sharp enough to be exhausting, was letting his guard down.
“Give yourself some praise. That you did well. If it wasn’t for Esper Kim Haewon, who would have resolved it?”
“I don’t do such things.”
Kim Haewon said firmly. As if such a thing could never happen. His expression was so funny that I let out a “puhehe” laugh. Kim Haewon turned his head straight forward and continued speaking.
“Akutagawa Yu seems to be directly connected to K.”
“The K from MK?”
“Yes. To be exact, I need to investigate a bit more, but it seems the current K knows the whereabouts of Akutagawa Yu’s missing biological father.”
I hadn’t thought there would be family-related issues. Because I thought Akutagawa Yu would only move based on practical benefits. I asked with curiosity.
“Akutagawa Yu’s father went missing?”
“Yes. He’s presumed to be an A-class esper who went missing while attacking espers who had become yakuza.”
“I had no idea. That Akutagawa Yu was adopted either.”
“It seems the Akutagawa family kept it thoroughly secret. I also learned about it through this investigation.”
The Akutagawa family was descended from a warrior household and had been producing S-class espers for generations. Among them, SS-class esper Akutagawa Yu was the pride of the family. Of course, he caused quite a commotion by abandoning Japan and becoming a naturalized American citizen. Still, the fact that the Akutagawa family had been producing outstanding espers for generations remained unchanged.
It was surprising that the existence of his biological parents was related to his sudden naturalization, but his choice wasn’t entirely understandable.
“But would he have made such a big decision just because he could find out about his parents?”
“It would depend on when and how the adoption was decided. Akutagawa Yu’s childhood has never been disclosed to the public.”
“Even so, his biological parents abandoned Akutagawa Yu, didn’t they?”
“What if they didn’t abandon him?”
“Hmm…….”
I let out a long hum. Since an infant’s adoption is usually decided by the parents, it was difficult to think of other options. It was an emotional assumption that wasn’t like Kim Haewon in the first place. I tilted my head and continued.
“We’ll need to investigate a bit more.”
“Yes, it won’t be such a simple matter.”
“What do you mean it’s not a simple matter?”
“Because we don’t know what secrets might be related to his childhood. Sometimes memories from that time can determine one’s entire life.”
“What’s this? Such sentimental words? You know something more, don’t you? Tell me. What is it? You know it’s really petty to only speak when you’re 100% certain, right?”
I poked Kim Haewon’s side repeatedly as I asked. But he only shook his head and didn’t open his mouth. He clearly knew something but seemed unable to be certain. I didn’t press further. Instead, I shared the information I knew.
“I’m not a petty person, so I’ll tell you the information I know.”
“It’s not because I’m a petty person.”
Kim Haewon immediately objected. But I didn’t listen even half-heartedly and continued speaking. As we spent more time together, I felt uncomfortable that I seemed to be resembling his personality a bit. Still, on the other hand, resembling each other also seemed to feel somewhat nice.
“Anyway. It seems only the heads of each organization know what abilities the alliance leader’s ring possesses. The heads of the four organizations.”
“I see.”
“Originally, every organization was going to mobilize their members to seize the ring, but everyone gave up. It seems Alexa Lu’s death had a major impact. You broke a bug when you subdued Wang Feng, right?”
“Yes.”
Kim Haewon couldn’t hide his slight surprise. He had decided to trust my abilities, but it might be unpleasant to have me guess even actions he took out of sight at every moment. I spoke as if to emphasize that I didn’t find out because I wanted to.
“You might find it uncomfortable for me to say this, but I don’t really want to know either. Don’t forget that among the things I don’t tell you, there are many things like fake news that Esper Kim Haewon couldn’t even imagine.”
“What is that?”
“I can’t tell you. Anyway, you should be grateful that I’m handling it alone.”
When I said that, Kim Haewon poked my side just as I had done.
“Ah! It tickles!”
“Are you ticklish even there?”
“Ah, I could be.”
I chuckled while pushing Kim Haewon’s hand away. Then I wiped away my laughter. No matter how much Kim Haewon tormented me, there was content from the novel I couldn’t tell him about. For example, things like BL…….
I recalled the descriptions that had been written down to the point of being intense, and shook my head vigorously. Like my past self, he obviously wouldn’t even know what BL meant. As I was organizing my thoughts, Kim Haewon poked my cheek.
“What are you doing?”
I looked at Kim Haewon with quite a delinquent expression. Then he withdrew his hand and immediately poked my neck.
“No, I mean. There’s no way you’d be ticklish there.”
“It was unconscious. I apologize.”
Kim Haewon seemed quite surprised by his own action and moved slightly away from me. It seemed he really had pressed unconsciously.
‘Wait, so that means he unconsciously thought about wanting to press and see how far I’m ticklish? That’s kind of weird, isn’t it? Isn’t he a pervert?’
When I opened my eyes narrowly, Kim Haewon instead looked straight ahead and continued speaking.
“It’s not like that.”
“Not like what?”
“What you’re thinking.”
“I wasn’t thinking anything.”
Kim Haewon glanced at me once as if to say stop lying, then continued.
“Don’t lie. It’s written on your face.”
“What is?”
“…….”
It seemed to be content he never wanted to say with his own mouth. I let out a small hollow laugh and waved my hand.
“Fine. Fine. In this serious situation…… Anyway, for some reason, it seemed like he hadn’t told even close associates like Will Taylor about the ring’s abilities. Will seemed to have some dissatisfaction.”
“He must have thought he wasn’t trusted.”
“Exactly. How did you know?”
“It’s also the truth. If the ring has the power to move Pamundong, anyone would covet it. Close associates at that level would all have the ability to replace Suo Weiqian’s position. That’s even more reason not to tell them.”
I nodded and thought about the next content. The conversation between the alliance leader and the girl. About taking me to where they were. I decided not to tell Kim Haewon about this. There hadn’t been any concrete plan or movement yet. And even I couldn’t determine what it meant. It was just a very brief conversation.
“What other content was there?”
“Ah, Suo Weiqian’s body had been switched. It was replaced with a homeless person with a similar build and appearance. By the time the Chinese Ability User Association noticed, it was too late.”
Kim Haewon nodded and sent a message to someone. Only then did he speak to me.
“The decision China makes going forward might become a new variable. Since they’ve been cornered, there’s a high probability they’ll join hands with other organizations.”
Kim Haewon seemed to be pondering how to explain this to me easily. He was silent for a long time, and I spoke up while thinking of Director Kim Jeongseon.
“I know even if you don’t explain. Even if they’re a public enemy, you can join hands with them. Nothing else matters. As long as it can protect my country! It’s that kind of logic, right?”
“Similar reasoning.”
Kim Haewon nodded as he spoke. If that happened, it meant that perhaps a nation might sell out the SS-class esper fighting for them. As a choice to protect the majority. Was Kim Haewon thinking similar thoughts to me? He seemed lost in thought for a moment, then looked at me.
“The Association is the same. So you don’t have to follow everything the Association says. However, talk to me about it.”
“…….”
“I’ll worry about it together with you.”
It seemed he had the same thought as me. I smiled brightly and poked Kim Haewon’s cheek.
“This is called tit for tat.”
“…….”
“I thought the same thing. Esper Kim Haewon, talk to me anytime too. I was already prepared to worry together first.”
When I withdrew my hand, Kim Haewon smiled as if finding it absurd. Then he added.
“It’s quite reassuring. Being a pair.”
“That’s because it’s me, you know? Would it be this reassuring with just any guide as your pair? Know that you’re blessed.”
“I understand.”
“What?”
“I’ll think of it as being blessed.”
“You’re being sarcastic, aren’t you?”
“I don’t have that talent.”
“You don’t seem to know yourself well. Esper Kim Haewon, you’re SSS-class in that area.”
Kim Haewon smiled gently at my words, but didn’t give any response. Kim Haewon’s phone rang. Kim Haewon checked the message and his expression hardened. Then he immediately showed it to me.
MK
The sender was Gabriel.
