# Chapter 14
“It’s fine. I’ll take tonight’s watch, so Esper Kim Minseok can rest now.”
“Esper Choi Dohyuk also seems quite tired right now.”
Jihun, who was guiding Dohyuk while holding his arm, spoke up in response to the instruction for Minseok to rest. His tone was strangely awkward at the end, as if he had thought long before speaking. Come to think of it, this was the first time since that day, wasn’t it? Jihun had reason to feel awkward. Dohyuk was grateful enough that he wasn’t showing signs of discomfort.
“…Is my condition that bad today? Esper Park Seungmin too, everyone seems quite concerned.”
Dohyuk deliberately responded lightly, as if joking. Even after receiving guiding, Dohyuk massaged his aching neck and arms.
Suddenly, as Jihun got up and seemed to move closer, Dohyuk hesitated. He instinctively raised his head to look at Jihun. The shadows that draped heavily over his face rippled each time the light flickered.
Was it his imagination? Jihun, with his face half-hidden by shadows, looked like someone a bit tense. He groaned and ached even while moving his chair less than a handspan closer.
“Esper Choi Dohyuk, may I keep watch with you?”
“Hmm.”
“I’m just bored.”
Sensing that Jihun was speaking somewhat hurriedly, Dohyuk glanced at him.
“Alright then. Esper Kim Minseok, go inside and rest. Even if the conquest goes quickly, we’ll still need to stay here until the day after tomorrow, so conserve your energy.”
“Ah, I want to keep watch too!”
“You’ll have to scan all day tomorrow. For Esper Kim Minseok right now, resting is also a task that requires focus.”
Feeling uncomfortable about going to rest while his seniors stayed up, Minseok moved his lips silently for a while before finally nodding resolutely.
Only after the watchful youngest member entered the barracks did Dohyuk turn to Jihun. Under the dim light set up near the barracks, Jihun’s hair seemed particularly reddish.
“Guide Kwon Jihun, you have something to say to me, don’t you?”
Jihun faltered at the calm gaze fixed on him.
“Is it that obvious?”
“Extremely.”
Dohyuk’s tone was light. It was undoubtedly a consideration to ease the tension and break the somewhat stiff atmosphere. Jihun exhaled and met Dohyuk’s eyes.
“…Why did you leave without properly explaining? You even changed all your contact information.”
Jihun’s expression subtly furrowed. This wasn’t how he had intended to speak, firing words like shots. He was frustratingly lacking in natural eloquence. Let’s stay calm and talk step by step, Jihun resolved as he opened his mouth again.
“I’m not blaming you. It’s just… Esper Choi Dohyuk, you have a tendency to take responsibility for things that aren’t your fault. Ah, I’m not blaming you for this either….”
Was he concerned it might leak into the barracks? Jihun’s voice was lower and quieter than usual.
Dohyuk, who had been sitting on a folding chair about two handspans away from Jihun to receive guiding, slowly rose. The pain that had started at dawn today felt like it was spreading from his arms and legs to his shoulders and thighs now. The dull ache was endless. Deliberately turning his back to Jihun, Dohyuk licked his dry lips.
“That’s strange. I’ve never done that. I only admit fault when I’ve done something wrong.”
“No. You always imagine the worst….”
Knowing exactly what was coming, Dohyuk hurriedly made an excuse.
“We work in a profession where we risk our lives. We should always think of and prepare for the worst.”
“And you take all of it upon yourself.”
But Jihun, having finished what he had started to say, quietly looked at Dohyuk. Even with his back turned, Dohyuk felt that gaze so clearly that he exhaled a sigh.
“……”
“I heard everything from Esper Park Seungmin. You didn’t unilaterally kill, did you?”
Although he had guessed what kind of conversation was coming and had set the stage himself, the moment Dohyuk saw Jihun’s self-reproachful eyes, he sincerely wanted to escape this situation.
Of course, he had expected resentment. His personality seemed fundamentally flawed from the beginning. It was actually easier for him to be resented than to watch someone else struggle with guilt. In truth, Dohyuk had never once been troubled by the gazes of those around him. Since he wasn’t troubled, he had nothing to feel wronged about. In the end, only Seungmin had been beating his chest beside him, and honestly, Dohyuk found that more uncomfortable.
“I don’t know what nonsense Park Seungmin has been saying…. Even though he was dispatched with me, that guy doesn’t know the details of the incident either. He’s just being nice and covering for me.”
It seemed that during their time apart, with that meddlesome personality of his, Seungmin had been running around acting as Dohyuk’s spokesperson. Always complaining about being tired to death, yet he had so much time.
“Esper-nim.”
Jihun, who had been sitting on the folding chair, stood up following Dohyuk. Their gazes met momentarily before sliding away. Dohyuk deliberately half-wedged himself in a spot where the light didn’t reach.
“I did kill them.”
“It was unavoidable, wasn’t it? Why didn’t you explain properly? Do you know how, how sorry I felt after hearing from Esper Park Seungmin?”
Dohyuk clenched his fist. As those eyes, calm but appropriately gentle, stared sharply at him, Jihun swallowed.
“What matters is the result. If Guide Kwon Jihun wraps it up nicely like this, doesn’t that make Esper Lee Seoyeon too pitiful? I don’t know what Park Seungmin said, but it doesn’t change the incident.”
“It wasn’t Esper Choi Dohyuk’s intention!”
“What if it was my intention?”
“……”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. …Let’s stop here.”
Jihun spat out the words he had been holding back towards Dohyuk, who was drawing a clear line.
“Do you think you can prove your worth through sacrifice, Esper Choi Dohyuk?”
Dohyuk merely raised the corner of his mouth in a smile.
Seeing that face, Jihun realized. That he had dug into something.
And that Dohyuk would not give any answer until this long night was completely over.
When the person who had endured misunderstanding had no intention of defending himself, all of Jihun’s prepared apologies scattered. Though Jihun sighed, that night, he stayed by Dohyuk’s side until the end.
***
Director Park Byeongcheol felt like he was going crazy lately because of Yu Junseo.
The guy who usually ignored everyone at headquarters like they were cattle or chickens while just reading his books was now, for whatever reason, constantly blurting out strange questions and being annoying whenever he had the chance.
Thinking back, it all started yesterday when he applied for a matching test, something he had never shown interest in before. Even then, the director thought he must have eaten something wrong, but now it seemed like the person himself was wrong.
Even now, as he fingered the tips of his jet-black bangs with his long fingers, he asked:
“Director, do I look weak?”
Not weak, but like he had taken a bowl of drugs. The director, who had heard such bizarre questions about thirty-six times today, wanted to snap at him but held back. If he were to throw off his Guide uniform and stand in a bustling area conducting a survey of passersby, it was clear that a hundred out of a hundred would vote for the Esper side, given his tall and imposing stature. Why was he acting like this?
Of course, just looking at his face, he was handsome enough that one might exclaim “pretty” before “handsome.” Thanks to his round, downturned eye corners, it was a face that would never be described as having an unpleasant expression, even as a white lie.
But due to his broad shoulders and refreshing physique, even the director, who had lived observing various Espers at headquarters like fish at Jagalchi Market, occasionally felt intimidated. It was amazing how his pretty and innocent face could offset his well-balanced build. How many times had that face deceived him? The director inwardly gritted his teeth.
“A man who doesn’t look at all submissive the more you get used to his face and see him up close” was the objective assessment the director could make.
Having successfully summarized this far, he kindly responded to Junseo’s nonsense.
“…What is an S-class Guide talking about?”
In the past, Guides weren’t properly treated as ability users. Even among ability users, Espers often looked down on Guides. It was the obstinacy of foolish people who only believed in visible power.
From the beginning, the abilities of Espers and Guides were too different to compare. To use an analogy, Espers were like people holding guns with five bullets, while Guides were like people just holding ten bullets without a gun. They had more bullets than Espers but were closer to being unable to use physical force because they lacked the gun.
Therefore, Guides without guns could only use their power through Espers. That was the guiding they did for Espers. Cooling down a gun heated by exploding gunpowder and maintaining it so the gun itself wouldn’t explode or break. That was about the extent of their power.
What good were more bullets if you didn’t have a gun? It was useless. With this perspective, Guides, who were initially stigmatized as nothing more or less than parasites of Espers, began to be evaluated differently as research on abilities became more active.
The answer was simple. If there was no gun, they just needed to make one.
A tool that could convert Guide abilities into physical force.
