# Chapter 23
Dohyuk planned to pull himself together until evening, receive guiding from Guide Kwon Jihun, and then receive guiding from Junseo. He looked down at his phone with sunken eyes.
Not long after, his phone began to vibrate furiously. It almost seemed like a call.
S-class Guide Yu Junseo
It’s okay I’ll just eat
alone and lonely
They say people come alone and leave alone anyway
S-class Guide Yu Junseo
I’m happy even though I’m alone
because I can eat while feeling
the truth of solitary life
Really I’m fine Junseo is used to being alone
He didn’t look fine at all.
There was also a strange obsession evident in how the word “alone” appeared in every message.
Dohyuk’s straight brow furrowed slightly. At times like this, Junseo didn’t seem like such an innocent kid. Yet the image of his pouty face beyond the screen made Dohyuk easily weaken.
Choi Dohyuk
Sorry. I’ll buy you dinner tonight.
After guiding.
The reply came quickly.
S-class Guide Yu Junseo
I want beef!
Choi Dohyuk
No. Someone once said there’s no beef without a price.
S-class Guide Yu Junseo
I know.
Buy it for me with evil intentions hehe
Insane.
Choi Dohyuk
Fine. I’ll buy it without expecting anything in return.
Dohyuk quickly sent his reply and then pressed his forehead against the small phone screen. Guilt that he’d forgotten resurfaced at this innocent joke.
Thinking of that face, yesterday I…
***
The lab schedule that had filled the entire morning and dragged on boringly past noon finally ended. Dohyuk blinked slowly with a dazed expression. His desires were one-dimensional. He felt dizzy and hungry.
“What’s wrong with your face? Were you seriously injured on Ganghwa Island after all?”
“Are you two in cahoots? You keep saying the same thing.”
“Hey. But your face looks even worse than this morning.”
Sizzle, sizzle. The sound of meat cooking on the iron plate was appetizing. Despite Seungmin saying he wanted to discuss today’s menu separately, he apparently failed to change Seah’s mind, as the three were now at a famous dak-galbi (spicy stir-fried chicken) restaurant popular on social media. This restaurant, which normally required standing in line for over 20 minutes to enter, was fortunately quiet at the awkward time of 3 PM.
The bright red apron that Seah had insisted they all wear featured a gallant rooster mascot holding a frying pan with one wing while giving a thumbs-up and winking with the other. Was it inviting people to happily grill and eat it? A character with self-sacrifice that would make even Prometheus take a step back. Dohyuk was deeply impressed.
“I wasn’t seriously injured. I’ve been fasting for over fifteen hours, that’s probably why.”
Dohyuk replied casually while clenching and unclenching his fist. The meat seemed to be burning a bit, so he reached for the spatula, but Seungmin grabbed it first.
“Just open your wallet and pay, will you?”
Though he spoke lightly, he kept glancing at Dohyuk strangely, probably noticing that his fingertips were trembling slightly. The truth was, he really needed to eat. The schedule wasn’t over yet. After the meal, he had to return to the lab to have his abilities examined. Dohyuk picked up some well-fried dak-galbi and said to Seah as he ate:
“It’s cooked. Try it.”
“Are you really okay?”
“I wasn’t even injured. Collapsing happened several weeks ago, what wouldn’t be okay about it? Seungmin was making a fuss again, right?”
Seah was dressed in gym clothes again today. While Dohyuk was thinking like an old man that comfortable clothes were best at her age, Seah spoke to him sulkily:
“I thought you might be badly hurt since you kept ignoring my messages.”
“…Cough!”
Seungmin, who had been diligently frying dak-galbi that he couldn’t even eat while on his second plate of children’s pork cutlet, began to cackle.
Dohyuk kept coughing from the spiciness that went down the wrong way and took a drink of water.
“What’s with the pine nuts? They’re seriously annoying!”
“No, in Gapyeong… They’re famous, I heard.”
At Dohyuk’s answer, Seah glared at Seungmin, who waved both hands.
“Hey, it wasn’t me. I didn’t recommend it.”
“Of course. If Mr. Seungmin had recommended something, it would’ve been a keychain or something. Anyway, you’re both so annoying!”
“Wow, that really hurts. Being lumped together with that guy.”
“You were really awful. How could you ignore contact for almost a week? Especially someone who has a history of disappearing once!”
Seungmin, who had been responding to Seah’s words jokingly, pressed his lips tightly shut and began vigorously frying rice when Seah’s voice lowered.
Sharp kid. Dohyuk secretly sighed and lightly tapped the back of Seah’s hand with his gloved finger. He would have been scared if Seah was truly angry.
Moreover, to be precise, Seah wasn’t just pointing out that Dohyuk had not responded to contact for nearly a week this time. It seemed like various things were bubbling up, all mixed together.
She had reason to be upset. Dohyuk was at fault. Preemptively cutting off contact without a word when facing difficult situations, fearing the accusatory gazes from close relationships—this was one of Dohyuk’s bad habits that even Seungmin detested.
“I’m sorry, Seah. I couldn’t check properly because I was busy with dungeon work. I know I caused worry again after what happened before.”
“At first, I tried to ignore it. Even though you were the one who disappeared without a word, you were the one looking scared. But… I tried to overlook it as much as I could. Now I get anxious if I can’t contact you even for a little while.”
On a normal day, if Dohyuk had just apologized, Seah would have pretended to scold him with “Don’t ever do that again!” and forgiven him, but today she seemed seriously angry. Her voice had a chill to it. On the day they met again, Dohyuk thought it was strange how easily she had let things go, unlike her character which typically confronted things head-on until all questions were clearly resolved. It seemed she had been considerate in her own way. When had this little middle schooler in Dohyuk’s eyes grown so much?
“It’s the same as before. You always call me a middle schooler, but you’re worse at social interactions than I am. What were you so afraid of? You didn’t even consider trusting me or Mr. Seungmin. So you just left without a word! Right?”
When they first met, Seah was about fourteen years old. Despite suddenly facing a time when she had to stand alone in the world, she had bravely wiped away her tears while her large eyes shone brightly. Now she seemed to have grown beyond comparison with Dohyuk. While he remained stagnant in the same place, she was already walking far ahead.
“That’s not it. Back then… there were circumstances. I absolutely wasn’t trying to cut ties with you unilaterally. …That goes for you too, Park Seungmin.”
He finally voiced an apology that was already several years late due to his vague attempts to gloss over the situation.
It felt like various things that he thought would be forgotten or treated as nonexistent if he just kept his mouth shut were suddenly reappearing to grab his ankles. It was disconcerting yet strangely ticklish. That’s how persistent relationships worked. Though burdensome, it strangely gave him peace of mind. It was both frightening and comforting. When wrapped up in such a colorful array of feelings, one unconsciously becomes sensitive to others’ reactions.
Dohyuk felt both overwhelmed and fearful as he became aware of this anxiety.
“I’m almost an adult now. I’m not stupid, and I know you maintained the donations even though you cut contact. You even sent a present for my last birthday, didn’t you?”
Her youthful voice was full of hurt feelings. Dohyuk was greatly surprised, his mind going blank, at how Seah knew facts she shouldn’t have known. When he unconsciously looked at Seungmin, Seungmin shook his head again as if to say it wasn’t him.
“How did you know about that…?”
“Who else would give such a tasteless present except you!”
“……”
“I know you cared a lot about me even though you just happened to save me. Once I become an adult, I’ll properly start working as an Esper, and my rank isn’t bad either! I’m confident I can repay you multiple times over.”
Dohyuk straightened his back at her clear, articulate tone.
“You don’t need to repay anything. That was a facility I was already donating to, it wasn’t because of you. And saving you was just part of my mission…”
“So what? It’s my feelings.”
“…Yeah.”
After her cheeky reply, Seah scooped up her portion of food and nibbled at it bit by bit. She deliberately buried her face in her food, not even looking up at Dohyuk.
Seungmin, who had been watching Dohyuk’s flustered appearance with an expression that suggested he wanted to record it, seemed unable to contain how adorable he found Seah and gave her a few pieces of his children’s pork cutlet. Seah didn’t refuse and ate the pork cutlet bit by bit with a pleased expression. Only Dohyuk waited for Seah’s whip to come down on him again.
“Actually, I don’t really know what happened to you. I don’t believe unfounded rumors. But no one properly told me what happened either.”
Seah, who had been muttering slowly, suddenly lifted her head again and glared at Dohyuk. Startled, Dohyuk nervously looked at her, but when she frowned saying, “Aren’t you eating? It’s getting cold,” he hesitantly took his portion.
