***
Contrary to such worries, on the surface, nothing happened at all. No, rather, it was precisely because nothing happened that the worry was spot-on.
This became clearly apparent from the very next day through the Espers’ attitudes. Because they acted as if I didn’t exist.
“Good morning.”
Not only was my greeting ignored from the very first day of work, but they frequently left the team dormitory completely empty.
Today, everyone except Esper Seo Yuseok was absent. I figured they were probably somewhere cursing about how some guide came in wrong and now they can’t even go home, what kind of bullshit is this.
They might say I’m being unnecessarily diligent when there’s no one monitoring my comings and goings.
I sighed and went to the kitchen to brew coffee. It was one of the routines I’d developed in less than a week. I had to stay awake with a clear mind in case of any summons, but life here—where there was no paperwork or other miscellaneous tasks besides dealing with Espers like in the communal guiding room—meant I’d endlessly space out when there was nothing to do like this. So I had no choice but to rely on caffeine and somehow find things to make time pass faster.
The Esper said he’d be coming this evening.
I heard Do Ganghyun had gate raid schedules packed until evening today. They weren’t high-ranked gates, but he was coordinating with team members, rotating through three A-rank gate raids.
So the team members’ schedules would be completely empty all day today. They’d be taking turns entering gates, so at least two or three more people should have been here. It was impossible not to notice that they were blatantly avoiding me.
“Haah—”
I sighed and wrapped both hands around the coffee cup that had finished brewing. Do Ganghyun’s suddenly changed attitude was already bewildering, and trying to get along with his team members on top of that wasn’t easy either.
But I couldn’t comfortably complain to Do Ganghyun that his team members seemed to be avoiding me and it made me uncomfortable. I wasn’t on terms with Do Ganghyun where I could openly discuss such things, and besides, I’m an adult who should be pulling my own weight in society—I couldn’t shake the feeling that it would be like tattling.
What on earth should I call this relationship where we’re imprinted but still can’t open up to each other?
It was an idle thought, and also one of the topics I’d been pondering most recently. Do Ganghyun had declared he would improve our relationship, but underneath it all, he still harbored feelings of disgust toward me. In this state, if our imprinted relationship improved, what kind of relationship would that even be?
Even as I worried about this now, the lunchbox Do Ganghyun had packed for me was sitting heavily in my bag.
In just a few days, Do Ganghyun, who’d been practicing cooking whenever he had a moment, had now reached the point where he could prepare fairly decent lunchboxes. It was the result of asking about the taste each time and reading my expressions rather than my answers.
Maybe I shouldn’t eat it today…
Nevertheless, it was also true that his efforts felt uncomfortable. Was it because I kept eating in uncomfortable places? I got indigestion easily and had stomach pains. The problem was that I couldn’t bring myself to refuse Do Ganghyun, who packed a lunchbox every time while watching over me.
He’ll definitely scold me for not eating it.
Then naturally, words would come out about how uncomfortable the house was. Even if I didn’t say it, he might keenly notice.
“…Hello.”
That’s when it happened. As I sighed again and stared blankly down at my coffee cup, someone suddenly spoke to me. It was the youngest member, Seo Yuseok, who was the only one remaining here. He was finally responding to the greeting I’d given 20 minutes ago.
“Yes?!”
When I jumped in surprise and snapped my head up, Seo Yuseok stepped back and waved both hands widely.
“Sorry for startling you. I just needed to return your greeting but missed the timing.”
“Ah, yes…”
I made a deflated sound and put down my coffee cup.
Even though he was the same A-rank, since he was the youngest on the team, I wondered if he’d been gauging the others’ reactions even for a single greeting. Nevertheless, seeing how he spoke to me right away when no one was watching, he didn’t seem to have a bad nature.
“It’s okay. I understand the whole situation.”
“Haha.”
Seo Yuseok laughed awkwardly.
However, he seemed to have something to say, because even after exchanging greetings, he lingered awkwardly near the kitchen, muttering interjections like “um,” “well,” “so” while working his mouth.
“Do you have something you want to say to me?”
From both the atmosphere and his behavior, it didn’t seem like he was trying to corner me like that Esper Park Subin from before. The way he was gauging my reaction made it seem more like he had a favor to ask.
If it’s a favor, it can only be guiding…
Just in case, I looked him up and down.
Though I was called the team guide, the Espers’ guiding statuses weren’t synced through the watch. All the Espers had their own respective guides.
Unless I had the ability to cover the entire team—which I didn’t—there was no need to cut their connections with their existing guides and provide me with information.
However, as the team guide, I needed to grasp each Esper’s capabilities and current situation to some degree, so I knew about their abilities, recent gate raid history, and which guides they were currently matched with.
And the Esper Seo Yuseok before me—
I know he has an imprinted guide.
He was the only Esper on the team besides Do Ganghyun who had an imprinted guide. What’s more, it was known to be so devoted that they imprinted immediately upon manifestation.
They’d been childhood friends, then their relationship fell apart when one manifested as a guide, but time passed and they reunited at the Center when Esper Seo Yuseok manifested belatedly.
You could say it was similar to Do Ganghyun and me, yet completely different in outcome.
“Do you need guiding by any chance?”
I asked lightly, even though I thought it unlikely. If you heard it fleetingly, it might have sounded half-joking.
In fact, it was a question I’d thrown out to lighten the mood, so that wasn’t wrong either. It meant, why are you hesitating so much over something when it’s not even a guiding request? Perhaps because I’d often been in the position of reading the room, I was particularly conscious of the other person’s position.
“That’s not—”
“Yes.”
“You can ask comfortably…”
The rest of the words, “You can ask comfortably,” didn’t continue.
I stopped speaking in surprise and stared at the Esper before me.
Did he just request guiding from another guide when he clearly has a guide, and not just any guide but an imprinted one?
And from me, a C-rank guide who’s much lower ranked at that?!
Is he mocking me?
I naturally thought that. However, Seo Yuseok seemed sincere as he squeezed his eyes shut and spoke with determination.
“Yes, I need it. Myeong Eunha-nim’s guiding.”
I couldn’t understand what this was about.
Of course, I couldn’t know precisely since it wasn’t displayed on the watch, but Esper Seo Yuseok’s wavelength condition wasn’t good. That’s why I’d thought he was excluded from today’s schedule.
“You may already know this, but my current condition isn’t good.”
“…I know. That’s why you’re resting, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Before requesting guiding, Esper Seo Yuseok began explaining his situation.
As expected, he was indeed in desperate need of guiding, and that was the reason he was excluded from today’s schedule.
“But if it’s that bad, I think it would be better for you to receive guiding from your imprinted guide rather than me. You don’t have any schedule afterward anyway.”
This wasn’t out of dislike—it was the proper thing to refuse.
Imprinted Espers have difficulty using drugs and can’t easily complete guiding with other guides. It wasn’t for nothing that Do Ganghyun had made such a fuss. If there was no schedule afterward, of course he should go find his imprinted guide and recover.
“Actually—”
However, Esper Seo Yuseok had a reason that outweighed all of that—a reason serious enough to request guiding from me, a C-rank.
***
“Imprint dissolution?”
“Yes, she’s already taken the medication.”
Seo Yuseok nodded with a devastated expression.
Hearing those words, my expression wasn’t any better. Naturally, I couldn’t find appropriate words of comfort.
“Imprint dissolution” was a term I’d thought I would hear first from Do Ganghyun, not through someone else like this. However, Do Ganghyun, who had smashed the hospital room and thrown sharp words at me, was ultimately accepting me in resignation.
In such a situation, suddenly encountering these words was enough to leave me speechless. Because it could be the future for Do Ganghyun and me.
“Of course, I haven’t taken it myself, but I can feel the connection weakening every time I receive guiding.”
“Is that possible? As far as I know, imprint dissolution—”
“The imprint won’t be dissolved. But the matching rate is clearly dropping continuously. I’m too anxious to get tested yet, but I can tell right away.”
“Because Hyeyeon and I have that kind of relationship.” Seo Yuseok added. A bitter smile followed on his face.
Somehow, that expression strangely overlapped with when I thought about Do Ganghyun.
“If it’s affecting me this much when I haven’t taken the imprint medication, she must have increased her dosage.”
It was truly absurd.
