As I stared at the man blankly in absurdity, he very skillfully snatched the cigarette from my hand. Then he naturally put the cigarette in his mouth.
“Where did a tiny thing like you get something this strong? This is what Espers used to smoke back in the day to dull their senses because of side effects.”
Sssss—, the man drew in a deep breath. Then, without even a lighter, fire ignited at the end of the dry cigarette. What that meant was one thing.
‘A natural ability user.’
And clearly a pyrokinetic ability user, which was said to be difficult to control. One capable of manipulation delicate enough to light a cigarette.
Cold sweat naturally flowed from the shock of facing a high-rank Esper unexpectedly. It was a kind of trauma.
‘Esper-nim!’
One that had formed fairly recently through my pair Esper.
For a moment, I had the illusion of my vision being dyed red. Just as a roar was about to reach my ears and the sensation of when the barricade collapsed was about to come—
“What are you doing?”
“……”
“I’ll smoke it for you, so just eat candy next to me.”
The man calmed my state casually.
As I remained still in a dazed state, he pointed at my coat pocket with his chin. It was precisely where the candy was located.
“What, want me to unwrap it for you?”
As if letting me know he had been watching me continuously from here.
“……You don’t have to.”
I opened my mouth with difficulty. Having faced a situation reminiscent of the past while immersed in memories with Do Ganghyun, it was hard to come to my senses easily. What was fortunate was that the man and Do Ganghyun were different enough that I couldn’t have any mistaken illusions.
“Fuuu—.”
“What, cough cough……! Kek!”
“When hyung-a is being generous, you should accept it nicely~?”
Everything from personality to appearance was completely different.
The man giggled and blew cigarette smoke at me. Even through the hazy smoke, I could see the man’s disheveled red hair and fox-like curved eyes.
If Do Ganghyun was a classically handsome man, the man belonged to the glamorous beauty type. And the thought I had while looking at him was…….
‘A delinquent.’
His appearance and actions matched perfectly.
Even though tears were welling up in my eyes from the violent coughing, my eyes became sharp. It was partly to be wary of the man’s attitude and his identity as an Esper, but it was also an attitude that came from my wounded pride at having momentarily overlapped this person with Do Ganghyun.
“Whether you have a temper or not.”
The man who said that raised one corner of his mouth in response to my gaze. It was a clear sneer.
“Well, I guess it’s better than having none at all?”
“……”
“A word of advice: even if this is the Guide wing, if you spread your delicious wavelength around saying ‘please come catch me~’ like that, innocent Espers are bound to be drawn in.”
‘Like me.’ The man added.
As I tilted my head wondering what he meant, I felt all my wavelength scattered in the air cling to the man. It wasn’t a large amount and I hadn’t spread the wavelength for the purpose of guiding, so I was late to notice.
‘Since when has it been like this?’
Flustered, I immediately gathered my wavelength. It seemed my emotions had intensified and I couldn’t control my wavelength. This had never happened before—could this perhaps be a side effect of the clinical trial?
“Oh? Your wavelength handling skills are quite good.”
In any case, it was true that I had received the man’s help.
Listening to what he said, he seemed to know that I had been acting pathetically in the smoking room recently, and it appeared he had blocked the wavelength that leaked out by converting it into broadcast guiding.
“……I’m sorry.”
“Forget it. When I came to look, I was debating whether to half-kill you since you were a guy, but your guiding tasted pretty good.”
“……”
For a moment, killing intent swirled around my entire body before disappearing. Startled, I lowered my head, and the man deeply inhaled the cigarette. Just as I thought I caught a hint of irritation mixed in his breath—
“Still, let’s keep it moderate. Hyung is leaving the country again now, so I won’t be in Korea.”
With those words, the man disappeared from before my eyes. As if no one had been there from the beginning, only stillness remained.
‘It’s not… a dream, right…?’
It was enough to naturally have such thoughts.
However, the inside of the smoking room was thick with cigarette smoke, and the acrid smell lingering at the tip of my nose also informed me that this was reality.
***
The next day.
I encountered the man again, who had said he was soon leaving Korea. Moreover, in the common guiding room within the Center, which was clearly located in ‘Korea.’
“Who is Guide Myeong Eunha?”
I never even dreamed he would appear calling out my name. With the person in question right before their eyes yet not recognizing him, who could have known the man would look for me?
It wasn’t that Espers never designated specific Guides in the common guiding room. However, due to the nature of the common guiding room, random assignment based on reception order was the standard, and Guide designation was only exceptionally accommodated in emergency cases. After all, efficiency was inevitably better when the matching rate was high.
“I hate saying things twice.”
However, the man before my eyes was not the case. The man was clearly far from an emergency by anyone’s standards, and in fact, as if proving this, he confronted the Section Chief with a clearer mind than anyone. He absolutely didn’t look like someone suffering from guiding side effects.
And the Guides who were used to such situations didn’t give him any attention at all and skillfully focused on their own work. That went for me as well.
Not giving any prey to troublemakers and ignoring them.
That was the manual for dealing with those who thought the common guiding room was some cheap room salon. Of course, behind that had to be premised various methods such as activating emergency devices that block Esper abilities and calling security guards for suppression, but the first response was simply to ‘ignore.’
“……Excuse me, but what’s the reason for this?”
“If you know it’s rude, don’t ask. I kept saying it. I came looking for Guide Myeong Eunha. Why don’t any of the Guides here have name tags?”
The man twisted his expression menacingly. His already delinquent-like face became even more unpleasant to look at. It was enough to clearly understand what he meant yesterday by bestowing ‘generosity’ upon me.
“The common guiding room doesn’t disclose personal information for Guide protection—”
“Bullshitting.”
“……”
“Those who know, know anyway.”
At least the man saying that didn’t know my identity.
‘Did he just come back from overseas or something?’
That certainly might be the case. He had said he saw me every time in the smoking room and that he would be going overseas again.
Decisively, there wasn’t anyone in the Center who didn’t know my face. I had been at the center of controversy and rumors from the beginning.
‘Should I step forward?’
I subtly sent a glance to the Section Chief from behind. It didn’t mean I would recklessly step forward, but that I would draw the man’s attention and then call the security guards.
‘It’s okay.’
However, the Section Chief, judging the situation hadn’t reached that point yet, sent a signal that it was fine.
I was the one who became needlessly anxious at that composed response.
Of course, I knew that in such situations, one must respond calmly. I also knew that if you rashly called security guards and the opposing Esper harbored resentment, it would rather invite disaster. It was unfair, but that was the reality.
However, this time was a situation where I should worry about the disaster that would strike right before my eyes rather than future resentment.
Most who visited the common guiding room were low-rank Espers of C-grade or below, but the man was a high-rank Esper of at least A-rank or above. I had guessed from yesterday’s brief encounter, and I was certain seeing his threatening presence today. That we shouldn’t deal with him this complacently.
‘Why can’t anyone feel this energy?’
Even if they might not know who the man is, there’s no way they wouldn’t know his rank is high…….
I firmly swallowed what I wanted to say. At least I wasn’t so out of it as to voice doubts in such an urgently developing situation.
Just as I was about to send another signal toward the Section Chief to call the security guards—
“What are you two exchanging glances for— Huh?!”
The man with beast-like senses whipped around.
“It’s that kid from yesterday.”
Then he instantly killed his sharp momentum.
The hostile atmosphere loosened somewhat, leaving only the man’s slouchy attitude. Of course, since his mood was still uncomfortable, his wavelength filled the guiding room heavily, but this much was merciful.
“I knew you had some skill, but I didn’t know you couldn’t detect me at such close range.”
“……Hello.”
I greeted him halfheartedly. Judging by how he killed his momentum, he didn’t seem to have any intention of doing anything to me right away, and I couldn’t ignore him when he acknowledged me like that.
“Good timing. You haven’t forgotten that I helped you yesterday, right? Hyung can’t leave Korea right now and is in a pretty bad mood.”
‘So let’s answer in one go.’ The man who said that quickly approached me. True to an Esper’s superior physical abilities, not a single person around could react.
“Where is Guide Myeong Eunha?”
The moment he said that, his wavelength sharpened acutely. It was to the extent that I wondered what connection his departure and I possibly had.
“Wait! Get away from Eunha-ssi!”
The Section Chief, who belatedly grasped the situation, urgently intervened. The problem was that in her haste to intervene, she made the mistake of calling my name. The Section Chief’s face turned pale as she gaped.
The man looked at me once, at the Section Chief once, and swept his gaze over the other Guides around with a ‘no way’ expression.
