# Chapter 30
I thought I was saying the same thing, but seeing Seungmin angrily shouting, it seems my words got twisted again. Dohyuk raised his handsome eyebrow sharply at Seungmin’s unpredictable mood change.
“Enough. Let’s talk about this later. I’m busy because I have to go on field duty today. Before that, I need to give Junseo the control device too.”
He thought Seungmin would understand the dismissal, but seeing him standing rigidly without the slightest movement, perhaps not. Dohyuk waved his hand pointedly, but Seungmin still didn’t move. He just glared at Dohyuk with eyes that couldn’t believe what they were hearing.
“Control device? That control device? Why are you giving him that?”
“Sorry my new hobby isn’t dating, but we decided to be partners, not lovers. I submitted the application forms yesterday, so they should be processed by now.”
Partnership applications with consent forms attached from both parties were never rejected. Taking out his phone to check the time, it was already 10:30. It would be perfect to go to the Guide Management Office to confirm if the documents had been processed and to receive the control device that Dohyuk had separately requested when Junseo was filling out the application forms.
Seeing Seungmin’s ominous appearance, not moving or responding to his continued answers, Dohyuk glanced at him and added one more thing.
“Are you upset about the partnership? It’s nothing. Only until a new Esper with a good matching rate appears for Junseo…”
“That bastard is even giving a control device. Have you really decided to live recklessly?”
“I have to give it to him, you never know what might happen.”
“Don’t tell me you like Yu Junseo?”
Dohyuk unknowingly paused for a moment. As Seungmin widened his eyes, Dohyuk finally moved his lips.
“…Since this is my first Guide with a high matching rate, I’m not sure yet. But I do have a favorable impression, naturally.”
“Hey, you probably want to hide him somewhere and do everything he asks, right? Don’t misunderstand that. It’s not that you like him. I have a baseline level of fondness for anyone with a matching rate above 60%. You shouldn’t be giving a control device for just that level of feeling!”
Seungmin, seemingly frustrated, ran his hand through his hair. Then, without even thinking of tidying his disheveled hair, he tilted his head back and groaned. He seemed to have a headache. Thinking he’d be getting an earful as a fellow Esper, Dohyuk quietly listened to Seungmin vent.
“Fine. I understand, so calm down a bit.”
He wasn’t sure if he seriously liked him yet, but his body’s reactions were real. Dohyuk had finally applied for and received a long-mission libido suppressant shot from headquarters today. It felt like his previously uneventful life had been hopelessly tangled by Yu Junseo. Dohyuk, not wanting to share such below-the-belt circumstances even with a close friend, brushed it off.
In this situation, Dohyuk was the one who wanted to cry, but he didn’t know why Seungmin was acting this way.
Seungmin, who had been openly showing his desire to smash something, finally regulated his breathing and spoke as if lecturing Dohyuk.
“How do you expect me to calm down! Don’t give him the control device. It’s dangerous. How long has it been since the law changed? There’s no real need to give it. Besides, it’s not like this is going to be a lifelong partnership.”
“Would it be dangerous for the Esper, or for the Guide? I might end up harming him in some way.”
Seungmin glared at Dohyuk as he continued speaking calmly.
“I’m an Esper too. You occasionally treat Espers like irredeemable monsters, and it feels bad for the Esper listening.”
Dohyuk realized he had misspoken.
“Park Seungmin. I didn’t mean it toward you.”
“Don’t say it to yourself either.”
Dohyuk nodded, but Seungmin didn’t believe him. Compulsively pressing his lips again, Seungmin was lost in thought before exhaling a thin sigh.
“Haah. From what I see, that guy would live well enough even if you didn’t look after him. I don’t understand why someone who can’t even take care of his own bowl always tries to take care of others’ bowls first.”
“As you said, maybe it’s because I want to hide him somewhere and do everything he asks.”
“That’s the problem! I told you clearly. Don’t misunderstand. That’s just the leash-like emotion every Esper feels toward Guides with a matching rate above 60%.”
Seungmin’s hair, which he had brushed up several times, was completely disheveled and puffed up wildly. Unable to find a response that would please Seungmin, Dohyuk just smiled silently.
“I’ll buy you a meal when I get back from the dungeon.”
“I won’t accept unless it’s expensive.”
“Make a list. Something really expensive.”
Besides that, he didn’t know how to express his apology for being stubborn toward Seungmin who was worried about him.
***
“I heard you were with an A-class in the guiding room.”
The docile face that looked at Sangjun wouldn’t appear to be someone who had called the relevant department five times at five-minute intervals to urge the processing of the partnership application forms as soon as he arrived at work. Unlike usual, his expression full of vitality was as beautiful as magnolias blooming profusely in spring, but Sangjun, who had seen Junseo commit all sorts of crazy acts with such a face, only felt chills.
“That’s interesting. Tell me more.”
He doesn’t even ignore the strange rumors spread everywhere, loud enough for anyone with ears to hear. Sangjun was confused whether it was because they were absurd false rumors, or because they were true. Sangjun openly examined the smooth face in front of him and spoke. Undisguised curiosity mixed into his voice.
“I heard that Yu Junseo, rejected due to lacking technique, desperately clung on again, and with eyes rolled back, went into the guiding room for another session. Did you really do it?”
Sangjun knew about Junseo’s daily life even though he didn’t want to, due to their deeply intertwined family connection.
Junseo was basically indifferent to people. It wasn’t that he had no social skills. Outwardly, he pretended to participate adequately in conversations. But since he had no real interest, those conversations always felt superficial, and there were few people whose names Junseo remembered. It had taken half a year for him to remember Sangjun’s name. If only that were all. It made Sangjun even more annoyed to know that Junseo liked poetry collections and literature with affectionate content, and easily memorized information about characters in books.
Such a guy was, for some reason, putting effort into an A-class Esper, staying tied to the headquarters like a zoo animal instead of his usual behavior, which made Sangjun wonder if he had gone a little crazy.
“Ahaha.”
The way he laughed brightly, with the corners of his mouth rising up like flowers blooming, was quite pretty, but Sangjun thought bitterly.
He really must have gone crazy.
No, he’s always been crazy, so maybe going crazy one more time here might give him a chance to become normal. Sangjun wound up his spring, trying to pull up the hope that was rising.
“I heard the hyungnim is coming to headquarters soon. He’s concerned about your strange behavior lately.”
“That’s not interesting.”
His long eyelashes fluttered with each blink of his lowered eyelids as he flipped through the poetry book. Even though it was casual, the fact that he responded at all was a huge development. Despite having such a good personality that he could easily make at least three friends wherever he went, when Sangjun first met Junseo, he nearly went berserk with frustration. In fact, if it weren’t for his respected hyungnim’s concerns, Sangjun wouldn’t particularly want to mix words with Junseo. After all, a conversation requires two people to match rhythm.
“Why, you usually don’t even care.”
“I told you. He really likes my face. He doesn’t like it when I look at others.”
“Don’t tell me you’re… already jealous… No, never mind. Don’t answer. It’s creepy.”
White fingers turned another page of the book. With his sharp intuition honed over the years, Sangjun noticed one of the few topics that interested this corpse-like fellow.
“Why are you acting so unlike yourself? Do you really like that A-class?”
Indeed. Only then did Junseo lift his eyes from the poetry book and face Sangjun. As the corners of his mouth formed a slight smile, his cheeks rose prettily. Sangjun always thought that look resembled poisonous mushrooms or moths. Incomparably splendid, but harmful to everyone.
“There’s nothing to sell, so don’t pay attention.”
“Who’s treating an S-class Esper like a mere reporter? Hey, tell me properly. Though my father might have probed, I won’t sell you out, at least.”
Sangjun even added the Esper salute, placing his right hand over his heart with his palm facing down, trying to probe Junseo, but Junseo still didn’t answer. Angered by the continued disregard, Sangjun impulsively made the book Junseo was holding float in the air and frowned.
“Not going to answer? There was even a general meeting today. It’s because of you, right? The talk about your call being connected to the director’s office is widespread. Thanks to that, I was summoned from the morning, needlessly having to please those good-for-nothings.”
It was a rule that one S-class Esper and one A-class Esper attend as security personnel when a general meeting with high-ranking officials, including the director, was held. It was a system that had been necessary during the First Upheaval, a time of chaos when security was so vulnerable that monsters raided the headquarters, but now it continued to be utilized as a symbol of the headquarters’ authority without disappearing. Today was an emergency general meeting, so Sangjun, the only S-class Esper not dispatched to dungeon missions, had suddenly been assigned that role.
