# Chapter 40
“Yu Junseo, does this look like the right time for games to you?”
Sangjun hurriedly approached Junseo to whisper in his ear, but Junseo remained unmoved. His pale face, completely devoid of mischief, continued to stare at Jaesik. When Junseo stood there so seriously, even Sangjun, who had initially assumed that crazy bastard was just up to his usual strange antics, glanced at Jaesik. Feeling utterly wronged, Jaesik raised his voice.
“What nonsense is this! I haven’t done anything wrong. It was Yu Junseo Guide-nim who made me faint during guiding in the past!”
“Don’t you remember what you did wrong? You creepily smiled while rubbing my hand.”
“…I was just adjusting my grip!”
Jaesik’s response inadvertently confirmed that Junseo wasn’t making completely baseless accusations.
Hayeon’s expression hardened, and even Hansol moved a little distance away from Jaesik.
“Does Seo Jaesik Esper normally ‘adjust his grip’ that way? You forcefully rubbed with an Esper’s characteristic strength. I even had bruises on my wrist afterward.”
The voice, with strange emphasis on the word “rubbed,” rang out clearly. When Junseo gently lowered his eyelids, a vulnerable air surrounded him. It was almost fascinating how such a large man, nearly the same build as Sangjun, could appear so pitiable.
Hayeon’s expression hardened further, and even Hansol took another step away from Jaesik.
Sangjun asked, “Is this true?”
“Yes.”
“No!”
The two answers came quickly and were completely contradictory.
“And then when you woke up, you tried to get revenge, didn’t you?”
Whether it was because of his delicate expression or his soft voice that trailed off at the end, Junseo looked to anyone watching like someone who found Jaesik uncomfortable and frightening.
Jaesik felt wronged. Of course, he had initially looked down on Yu Junseo. The man’s delicately crafted face, which looked even more docile in person than in photos, was part of the reason. Despite the many unsavory rumors, Junseo was just a Guide. How harsh could a Guide’s guiding possibly be? Jaesik had thought the sense of distance from low compatibility must have been distorted as rumors spread.
So he had treated Junseo somewhat like other Guides. He might have grabbed those hands that had likely never experienced real hardship and joked that Guides seemed to live such comfortable lives. After that, his memories were completely fragmented. When he regained consciousness, he was half-rolling in his own vomit on the empty guiding room floor. He was then moved to the break room, where he spent the next day lying down.
“I’m telling you, that’s not true!”
What bruises on the wrist? If that were true, it would have happened while he was struggling to survive. Even when he had recovered enough to pull himself together, anger had surged to his head, but he couldn’t properly get revenge. What good would come from taking out his anger on Junseo, who wasn’t just an ordinary Guide but had powerful backing? Jaesik was the type of person who only reached out when he saw a safe opportunity.
“Whatever. You’ll keep denying it. Anyway, I can’t bear being at a post with only Seo Jaesik Esper.”
Dohyuk, who had been standing calmly observing the situation, quickly moved next to Jaesik and pulled Junseo, who was explaining himself in a gentle voice, behind him. His glare at Jaesik was intensely cold.
“Seo Jaesik Esper, harassing a Guide is a serious crime.”
Perhaps because he didn’t appreciate being lectured by someone who had branded him as a perpetrator, Jaesik became even more agitated.
“I didn’t harass anyone!”
As Jaesik shouted back, Dohyuk turned to look at Junseo. His pitiful expression remained unchanged. Dohyuk’s eyes grew colder. With a look that suggested he wanted to throw Jaesik out of the dungeon immediately, Dohyuk tried to compose his words.
“I’ll guard the post. …It should be fine since Yu Junseo Guide-nim has my controller.”
“I think I’d prefer Choi Dohyuk Esper too, especially since he has a controller.”
Even Hayeon, the S-class Guide who would remain at the post, added her agreement, causing Jaesik to clench his fist and tremble with fury.
***
Just before departing for the search, Sangjun secretly asked Junseo, as if dying of curiosity:
“Did Seo Jaesik Esper really treat you that way?”
“I already said so.”
Junseo’s voice wasn’t particularly pleasant. Knowing that Junseo wore that shit-eating expression with only the corners of his mouth turned up when his mood hit rock bottom, Sangjun frowned. Those pitch-black eyes never revealed what thoughts lay behind them, no matter when you looked at them.
“Don’t favor your Esper too much. The other side’s claims have some merit too.”
“Merit?”
Junseo, who had been gazing at trees that stretched endlessly toward the sky, tilted his head slightly and turned his gaze toward Sangjun. Feeling as if he was being interrogated, Sangjun furrowed his brow even more and made excuses he didn’t even know why he needed to make.
“There are more than a few strange points. Like how an A-class Esper failed to subdue a B-class Esper with a red warning.”
That must be why the rumors were so rampant. It wasn’t even a case between two A-class Espers—an A-class Esper had failed to properly subdue and ended up killing a B-class Esper who was already weakened by ability strain. This could easily be seen as intentional. Moreover, Choi Dohyuk Esper wasn’t some rookie who would panic and fumble during an ability outburst incident.
In response to Sangjun’s words, Junseo replied in a languid voice. His expression remained the same, with only the corners of his mouth turned up while his eyes remained cold.
“That’s right. The article about the incident only briefly summarizes the accident, and despite such doubts being raised for so long, the victim’s close associates haven’t requested a reinvestigation. Ah, could it be because Lee Seoyeon Esper was an orphan from a facility?”
His voice flowed like water. It seemed less like a conversation with Sangjun and more like muttering to himself, as if spinning thread.
“…You read the article and investigated the victim? How long have you known about this incident? I thought you didn’t know about it.”
Sangjun had assumed Junseo only knew the basics like himself, but it seemed Junseo had already thoroughly researched the articles from before.
Sangjun stared at Junseo with a somewhat disgusted expression.
Junseo, who couldn’t care less what Sangjun was thinking, didn’t even bother to answer his question and continued to roll his tongue as if ruminating on his thoughts.
“Besides, Seo Jaesik Esper would have obviously known my Esper was being dispatched for the mission from the moment he received the schedule notification….”
Sangjun blinked, waiting for Junseo to continue.
“It’s strange that someone claiming he’s dangerous would choose to follow all the way into the dungeon to confront him directly, rather than requesting a personnel adjustment or declaring mission abandonment. No matter how you look at it, he’s clearly trying to isolate someone inside the dungeon. What did he say earlier? He told Choi Dohyuk Esper to go out searching alone.”
Listening to Junseo’s recitation, Sangjun noticed Junseo staring at him intently and scratched the back of his neck vigorously.
No way, this guy.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
When Junseo’s gaze showed no sign of changing, Sangjun felt extremely wronged.
“I really haven’t heard or known anything, okay? Don’t think strange things. Are you suspecting me too?”
“I wasn’t. Just incidentally, since S-class are the ones most tightly leashed by headquarters.”
That means you did suspect me!
Having lived a clean life, Sangjun felt unnecessarily suspected and his blood boiled. Yet, internally, he agreed with Junseo’s words.
“It’s annoying but… I guess, overall, headquarters does seem the most suspicious.”
“Actually, did you know I wasn’t supposed to be dispatched to this dungeon mission? I barely made it by insisting on a correction at the last minute.”
“What? Why wouldn’t they send a Guide for a mission your partner Esper is participating in? It’s not like you’re busy. Come to think of it, didn’t you say your partner application was rejected at first too?”
“There’s definitely something going on, so keep an eye out while we search.”
Junseo’s eyes gleamed. Looking at that expression with a disgusted face, Sangjun thought he’d like to bring Dohyuk right over to show him this sight.
“You’re planning to use him?”
“Of course I need to use such a clueless puppet.”
Then maybe he would never again look at that guy with such tender affection, like a baby rabbit with an injured leg.
***
Sangjun and Jaesik departed for the search.
The atmosphere at the post remained quiet. Hansol had gone into his tent, saying he would scan the area around the post from a quiet place, and Hayeon also looked at Dohyuk as her second-worst option. With bad rumors about two of the only three combat-type Espers in the search team, it was natural for the remaining members to be on edge.
Dohyuk moved to the outskirts of the post near his tent. So far, he hadn’t sensed anything. The probability was high that reconstruction hadn’t occurred yet. Even those who went out searching today might not see a single monster.
“……”
After a while, seeing Jihun’s displeased expression as he stood by his side, Dohyuk eventually coaxed him to go to the tent. Jihun’s frozen expression looked like a sharpened blade about to shatter. Perhaps Jihun saw his past self in Jaesik. Dohyuk hoped that he wouldn’t get trapped alone in memories of the past and harm himself.
Regretting things that have already passed only eats away at oneself.
‘Why don’t you defend yourself? I’m so disappointed, Choi Dohyuk Esper-nim.’
A voice from the past, already faded, vividly stabs at him again. Dohyuk closed his eyes very slowly, then opened them.
It was all ancient history.
The kind that lingers on strangers’ lips only to soon flutter away like vapor.
