Moreover, the Esper in front of me hadn’t even said anything particularly malicious. I was the only one whose eyes turned over from my inferiority complex.
Upon realizing the situation, my face began to turn white. It was natural that my hands and feet grew cold.
Nevertheless, obliviously, embarrassment came before survival instinct.
“…I’m sorry.”
I apologized in a crawling voice.
“It’s fine. Even I think it probably didn’t sound like words of praise.”
Esper Hyun Yoonseo looked down at me for a moment, then sighed and roughly tousled his hair.
“I didn’t mean it as criticism. I was worried and said it. I was worried the matching rate might rise if you tried too hard to do well.”
Flinch.
At those words, I quickly raised my head.
“The matching rate might rise…?”
“It’s just something that could possibly happen. It’s news that’s not yet well known in Korea—”
Hyun Yoonseo half-opened his eyes drowsily and looked me up and down.
“Kid, why are you suspicious somehow?”
“……”
“Hey, you’re not thinking that, are you? Whatever you’re thinking, that idea you’re having right now is really dangerous. Stop it, stop!”
Even though I hadn’t said anything in particular, Hyun Yoonseo made a stern face as if scolding a child since I seemed to be interested.
“What? What thoughts am I having?”
The words that followed from his mouth were quite shocking. Because that word—the absurd card the Research Director had pulled out to persuade me—appeared again from Hyun Yoonseo’s mouth.
“Natural imprinting. You were thinking about that just now, weren’t you?”
In reality, what I had reacted to was the part about the matching rate rising, but he, having properly misunderstood, continued speaking to instill a sense of alarm.
“No matter how much your pair Esper Do Ganghyun is acting pathetically like that, you can’t do that. I’ve never seen a good end when natural imprinting occurred between an Esper and Guide with such a large emotional difference.”
Hyun Yoonseo irritably swept back his hair. I briefly heard a voice that seemed to be interrogating me about who told me how to raise the matching rate, or who had let slip the term natural imprinting. However, those weren’t words that entered my mind right now.
Natural imprinting.
It was because the sense of dissonance that word gave was significant. And this was a sensation I had felt from the Research Director before.
A feeling of hiding something. An instinctive sense that brought alertness, as if it would harm me if I didn’t find out for certain.
I didn’t ignore this and immediately opened my mouth.
“What exactly is natural imprinting?”
“Ah, so you didn’t know that far…”
Hyun Yoonseo made a troubled expression as if he had unnecessarily brought up the topic.
And from that attitude, I gained conviction. That I absolutely must hear the answer.
‘Only then can I know what the Research Director is trying to obtain through me, how far he’s looking ahead.’
“Please tell me.”
“Hmmm, ah, really—!”
“You said it’s a dangerous idea. I need to know to avoid it, don’t I? If I end up causing trouble unknowingly like this, or get dragged into something, will you take responsibility?”
“No, what kind of kid are you… They say small peppers are spicy, and anyway, even though you’re tiny, you’re so stubborn—”
When I came out more firmly than ever before, Hyun Yoonseo was flustered unlike himself. However, he soon muttered something like “Well, I’ll be in Korea anyway so it should be fine” and opened his mouth.
“If the matching rate exceeds 90%, imprinting can occur even without imprinting drugs. They say it only exists in theory, but it’s not that there are no actual cases. Even without a physical relationship, if hearts connect—”
Hearing those words, my strength suddenly drained completely.
‘If hearts connect?’
It was something that would absolutely never happen to me. Hearts must connect with each other.
“Then there’s no need to worry.”
For a moment, an inexplicable sense of regret bloomed from deep in my heart. In fact, the Research Director’s scheme was an excuse, and I laughed at myself, wondering if I was still looking for a way to fulfill my heart’s desire.
“Because that can never happen.”
Absolutely never.
***
Recently, the frequency of Do Ganghyun coming in injured had increased. It was because the accumulated fatigue had grown as the disciplinary action neared its end. Thanks to that, the frequency with which the Research Director summoned him also increased.
Since the contract period extension was also a secret from Do Ganghyun, the more frequently he visited the research lab, the more clinical experiments were pushed back, but ultimately there was no choice since the purpose of all this research was for Do Ganghyun. Because we couldn’t cause trouble while neglecting his safety.
‘I want to rest.’
In line with that situation, my schedule also became packed. Because I had to continue clinical experiments while avoiding Do Ganghyun’s eyes. Moreover, since Grandmother had opened her eyes not long ago, I was on edge not knowing when consciousness would return again.
Clinical experiments, Do Ganghyun’s guiding, Grandmother’s nursing care.
Since all three schedules couldn’t overlap, I had no choice but to reduce rest time. Especially nursing care required a lot of stamina, making it even more so. It didn’t distinguish between day and night either.
‘Today really won’t work. First, I’ll return to the dormitory—’
That’s when it was.
“Did you see Do Ganghyun’s form during the Sadang Station gate raid? It was insane.”
“Is Esper Do Ganghyun your friend?! Calling him so casually. But he does seem crazy. They say he cleared the raid in 20 minutes.”
“But they say he’s hooking up with Myeong Eunha again. He doesn’t look it, but Myeong Eunha’s night skills must be useful.”
I entered the Guide building to go to the dormitory when fairly loud whispering struck my ears. I could tell without even checking. As guiding with Do Ganghyun started again, the common gossip was circulating.
I stopped walking and steadied my breath for a moment. Since showing myself like this wouldn’t lead to a good outcome, I hid my presence while suppressing my wavelength as much as possible. I couldn’t help the stinging around my eyes, but in a situation where the other party hadn’t discovered me, even this much was sufficient.
“Would he?! It must be because of the matching rate. Esper Do Ganghyun isn’t a moron, so why would he like that used-up hole that’s been used as much as it could be…”
Smack—!
That’s when it was.
“Ahhh!”
I was pressing hard around my stinging eyes to swallow my tears when I heard a bursting sound from somewhere. The direction was where those diligently spreading gossip were. Puzzled, I naturally lowered both hands and looked ahead.
“Who is it?!!”
“Hello, moron has appeared~.”
“……Esper Hyun Yoonseo?”
There was Esper Hyun Yoonseo naturally walking out of the Guide building.
Not only the direction, but I couldn’t hide my surprise at the fact that an Esper had assaulted a Guide so casually. No matter how lacking awareness about Guide protection was, there were clearly regulations within the Center, yet to commit assault like this.
“I guess I’ve been playing around noisily recently? How long has it been since I came to Korea, and they already recognize my face.”
“Right now, right now you, no, you assaulted a Guide?!”
“Huh? No way.”
Hyun Yoonseo approached them closely with banter.
“You were talking like such a rag, so I gave you candy so your mouth wouldn’t smell like a rag.”
‘See.’ Saying that, Hyun Yoonseo raised his arm high. Then the two or so Guides nearby screamed, and the Guide who had been hit on the head squeezed their body and closed their eyes tightly.
I was staring blankly at this whole scene when I suddenly made eye contact with Esper Hyun Yoonseo.
Wink.
‘……A wink?’
I reflexively frowned. At this, Hyun Yoonseo grinned, then bent his upper body and stretched out the arm he had raised to pick up a candy that had fallen on the floor.
“See, I told you. It’s candy, right?”
Then he waved the candy left and right toward the Guide in front of him.
The Guide who had slightly opened their eyes lost their words and made a powerless voice saying “Yes, yes…” To my ears, it seemed no different from a groan.
“But you say really funny things. If I hang out with Myeong Eunha, I’m a moron? I’ve lived 26 years and it’s the first time I learned I’m a moron.”
“No. It’s not that meaning, it’s just that Esper Do Ganghyun’s situation is pitiful…”
“Are you worrying about an SS-grade Esper right now?”
Hyun Yoonseo widened his eyes and exaggeratedly covered his mouth. The feeling of ‘With just your level?!’ emanated strongly.
One person who was upset flared up, but before they could even open their mouth, Hyun Yoonseo made the first move.
“You guys should take care of yourselves first. Don’t babble on without even knowing what situation you’re in.”
“…What situation?”
“Your words are too harsh…!”
“Even if it’s the Guide building, isn’t it too defenseless? There are no people around, the CCTV is in a blind spot, and you have an S-grade Esper right in front of you.”
‘Right? You said you know who I am.’ Hyun Yoonseo lowered his voice. His face, which had instantly withdrawn all traces of laughter, couldn’t be said to look good even as words. When even I, who was at quite a distance, froze, I wondered how it must be for those receiving his wavelength right in front of them.
“It’s a joke, a joke!”
At that moment, Hyun Yoonseo smiled broadly and put away the wavelength he had been pressing with. Those who seemed to have their strength suddenly drained let out sighs of relief. I didn’t know about anything else, but they seemed to have clearly become aware that they themselves had been in danger.
