Seo Yuseok’s attitude and Hyun Yoonseo’s appearance as he quickly disappeared saying he’d avoid the sparks came to mind one after another. I belatedly understood what situation this was.
At the same time, I recalled the text I had left for Do Ganghyun simply as a report.
[I’ll go to the training room briefly for guiding.]
Since I was moving within the Center, I hadn’t brought the driver along, but perhaps this fact would also reach Do Ganghyun’s ears.
My flushed face turned pale in an instant. I could even feel my fingertips growing cold. Seo Yuseok carefully observed my change before lamenting, asking if I hadn’t known anything.
“…Esper Seo Yuseok, do I need to hurry back right now?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry to interrupt your training, but could you take me back?”
“Please let me escort you.”
‘Please.’ Seo Yuseok earnestly requested once more.
After that, there was no need to use the shuttle on the way back. Seo Yuseok greatly agonized over whether to draw the eyes of everyone in the Esper building by using the shuttle slowly but without contact, or to sacrifice himself and quickly return to the lodging. Of course, without much deliberation, it was concluded with the latter.
As he agonized before resigning himself, he said—
“From the moment you stepped forward saying you’d guide me, there was no option of not being hated. If you had to choose between death and being hated, wouldn’t it be the latter?”
He said if he left me thrown into the Espers’ gazes even on the way back, he wouldn’t survive.
Even though Do Ganghyun was currently in a period of strong possessiveness toward his guide and had improving relations with me in mind, surely it wouldn’t be to that extent.
With that meaning, I told him not to worry and that since it was my fault, I would explain it well, but even that was stopped. He said not to cover for him, not to help, and just to say nothing and stay still.
“Why am I so unlucky with bosses? I shouldn’t have been happy about being with an SS-rank Esper!”
Seo Yuseok raced quickly between buildings while carrying me on his back. Even while doing so, without being out of breath at all, he eagerly explained to me about his pitiful situation. He seemed quite afraid of the moment he would face Do Ganghyun. Seeing him speak like this in front of me, his guide.
Swoosh—
At that moment, I saw Seo Yuseok’s waves sneakily stealing my guiding. It was a completely different attitude from his previous wariness.
Perhaps it was related to the fact that his imprinted guide had welcomed the team guide and their relationship had improved even a little. Although matching rate was important, what had the biggest influence on guiding was the Esper’s psychological state. Since the fundamental reason to refuse my guiding waves had disappeared, he seemed to be unconsciously moving like this to improve his condition.
I quietly watched that appearance before wrapping my body thinly with waves so guiding could happen more easily.
“Ahahaha…”
‘What am I really going to do?’ Seo Yuseok laughed as if he’d lost his mind and increased his speed. He seemed to have felt that guiding was taking place too.
In the first place, it was strange for guiding not to happen when we were in contact like this. Unless the guide didn’t want to guide and locked it up tightly, guiding generally happened with this kind of contact.
“Guide, do you know? I’ve never been so grateful to be physically oriented as I am today.”
Seo Yuseok, who said that, increased his speed even more. Along with the words that all he could do now was arrive at the lodging before the Captain returned.
***
The plan failed spectacularly. When we arrived at the lodging, Do Ganghyun and all the team members had already arrived.
“You came early, Esper?”
I got down from Seo Yuseok’s back, pretending to be as nonchalant as possible.
Looking at them in the yard rather than the entrance, appearing as if they had entered the lodging and come back out, I could tell that the lodging had already been turned upside down once due to my absence.
I might not have known if I hadn’t known, but I had just realized how dangerous it was to go out alone leaving the lodging. Since I had something to feel guilty about, it was difficult to look Do Ganghyun straight in the eyes.
“Ha, drop the clumsy acting.”
“It’s not acting—”
“I’m sorry.”
I tried to say something, but Seo Yuseok’s words were faster. He immediately said sorry first with tension tightly wound up. Even though he had done nothing wrong himself.
“…I’m sorry.”
In the end, I too had no choice but to follow with an apology after examining the situation. Although this wasn’t what I had hoped for, ignorance was also a sin if it was a sin. Even more so in a world where gates occurred and various crimes between Espers and guides were real.
“What on earth were you thinking when you caused this? Do you think I assigned you a driver for no reason?”
I had something to say on this point too.
He told me to call the driver when going between the lodging and the ward, but I didn’t know it also applied when moving within the Center. Until now, I had been riding the shuttle just fine when going between the guide lodging and the communal guiding room. When the Center was properly fulfilling its role, I couldn’t even think of the possibility that someone would touch a guide in broad daylight.
“I didn’t know. I’m sorry…”
Of course, even this was nothing but an excuse.
Crimes by Espers targeting guides had been steadily occurring every year. The reason the guide building was relatively safe was because visits by Espers were thoroughly controlled and punishments were strengthened. The ability suppressors in various places throughout the building and various security systems also played a part.
In other words, it meant accidents could always happen, and a guide wandering alone through the Esper building was especially dangerous. The Center’s response would only be effective after an incident occurred, and it would be difficult to identify the culprit in something caused by many in the Esper building.
‘It really was dangerous…’
The more I thought about it, the more I thought it was a reckless act.
As for the lodging I always went to, other Espers couldn’t approach nearby, and usually they couldn’t have dangerous thoughts about what to do with a guide. Just as an ordinary person wouldn’t suddenly think to steal someone’s money.
But what if a wallet was dropped on the street? If there were no watchers or the owner wasn’t nearby, would it still be the same then?
‘It wasn’t important that I was Myeong Eunha.’
Facing Do Ganghyun’s anger, I became alert once more.
In fact, the reason I hadn’t thought about this danger until now and thought I couldn’t possibly be a target was because of the title ‘C-rank Guide Myeong Eunha.’ I thought I, who was despised at the Center, couldn’t attract the Espers’ attention, but that wasn’t the case.
When I thought that far, no other words came out besides saying I was wrong. The numerous words I wanted to question—why no one told me this fact, weren’t you the ones who avoided me first and made me wander alone—sank below the surface.
“I’ll be careful so this doesn’t happen again. I just wanted to be helpful…”
Tears welled up naturally. I didn’t want to cry, but I couldn’t even do one person’s share properly, and this situation of being scolded in front of many people was embarrassing.
Grumble—
That’s when it happened. My stomach, unable to read the situation, cried out that it was hungry.
I stopped sniffling and hurriedly placed my hand on my stomach. It wouldn’t stop the sound, but it was an instinctive action.
“……”
“……”
“……”
In the heavy atmosphere, I felt various gazes gathering on me. Now I was suffocated in a different sense. I was both embarrassed and ashamed. My stomach, revealing its presence without tact, was cruel.
I stiffened with tension and glanced sideways at the team members. Not even knowing that even that action didn’t sit well with Do Ganghyun.
“Food.”
“Not yet.”
“Ha—”
The fortunate thing was that Do Ganghyun was also an inevitable Korean. He put his emotions aside and first took care of my meal. He had become so sensitive about my meals that this was now a familiar sight.
Do Ganghyun immediately took out his phone to contact his secretary. It seemed he thought it was too late to prepare a meal directly.
“Eat first. Since it’s late, we’ll get delivery—”
“Ah, I’m okay.”
I hurriedly waved my hands. Even recently, every time I ate a meal I suffered from stomach pain, and if I ate wrong in this situation, I would clearly get indigestion.
“Why. If you guided, you should at least eat well.”
“I don’t think my stomach feels well.”
At those words, I saw Do Ganghyun, who had been calling his secretary, hesitate.
From beyond the receiver, “Hello? …Young master?” calls looking for him continued several times. Do Ganghyun looked down at me silently for a long while before slowly moving his steps.
“Prepare one white porridge. I’ll be there within 30 minutes.”
Following his back as it moved away from my sight, I heard a short order. At the words to grind even the rice grains to make it close to thin gruel, my ears flushed for no reason.
So I didn’t notice. That he didn’t ask why my stomach didn’t feel well. Even though he said he had developed such great interest in me, even with my words that my stomach didn’t feel well every time, he had never once brought up that question to the very end.
