Not Imprisonment, but Living Together (10)
“No, how can these numbers be…”
“Is there a problem?”
I cautiously asked the doctor who was struggling to continue speaking, and he swallowed once before answering.
“No, not at all. It’s not that there’s a problem… I’m just a bit surprised because the matching rate is much higher than I expected.”
His words instantly dispelled any remaining drowsiness from my eyes. I glanced at Sa Hae-geon standing beside me, feeling an ominous premonition, and sure enough, he was looking at me with sparkling eyes.
“Hyung.”
“…Y-yeah.”
“I told you, didn’t I? That our matching rate would be high.”
“Ah, yes. You did say that. You were right.”
“Yes.”
Despite my half-hearted response, Sa Hae-geon was just smiling shyly as if pleased. Seeing him act so ingenuous made me feel frustrated. Did Sa Hae-geon simply want to talk with me, regardless of what reaction I showed or what I said?
I felt somewhat uncomfortable.
After flipping through the results for a while, the doctor spoke again.
“Would you like to see the matching rate first? I think it would be better to discuss the details afterward.”
“Yes.”
Sa Hae-geon quickly responded before I could even part my lips, and received the test results from the doctor, then came to my side. He opened the paper at an angle where I could see it well. The white paper was filled with tiny letters.
Finding the matching rate among all the small text was quite difficult. At the Center, matching rates were usually explained with simple descriptions or tables, so seeing raw results like this was unfamiliar to me. While I was searching here and there, Sa Hae-geon, who had found the matching rate first, pointed to the bottom part of the paper with his index finger.
“Hyung, it’s written here.”
“Where? Oh, thank you.”
At the spot Sa Hae-geon pointed to, there was a number that was hard to believe.
[97.393%]
I wondered if my vision had momentarily failed due to excessive sleepiness. Could such a number actually exist? I was dumbfounded by this figure, which I had never seen even once in all my time as a Guide.
“As you can see, it’s an extremely high figure. There are a few cases overseas, but domestically, it’s so high that there’s no reported case yet. In such a case, what we can assume is…”
The doctor looked back and forth between Sa Hae-geon and me before continuing.
“It must be imprinting.”
“…Well, Doctor, I’ve never imprinted on Hae-geon. Doesn’t imprinting need to be mutual to have significant effects?”
“Normally, what Guide Chae Do-min knows is correct. However, Hae-geon’s case is special and should be considered an exception.”
“…An exception?”
“Yes. There’s a thesis proposing that Espers who awakened through imprinting instinctively align their wavelengths with the Guide who is the object of imprinting. As Guide Chae Do-min said, if mutual imprinting occurs, I think the figure would rise a bit more from the current level. There’s also a thesis related to this.”
What more could I say to the doctor who seemed ready to show me the actual theses and explain if I asked further? All I could do was nod and pretend to understand.
More importantly, an Esper aligning their wavelength to a Guide? It seemed ability users were also evolving in various ways as generations passed. If so, I had something to ask. I glanced at Sa Hae-geon, who was still holding the results, and asked the doctor.
“Doctor, do you also know about the emotional synchronization phenomenon that occurs during Guiding?”
“Have you experienced emotional synchronization when Guiding Hae-geon?”
“Yes. I knew it was a rare phenomenon that can occur when the matching rate is very high, but the frequency was quite high.”
“When did you start experiencing it? And how often?”
“From the first Guiding. I felt the emotions synchronizing every time I skipped even a day of Guiding, or after Hae-geon used his ability.”
The doctor, who had been listening to my story with a serious expression, answered.
“First, emotional synchronization can occur more frequently than in other cases since you ‘imprinted’ and awakened as a Guide. And the phenomenon you experienced after using abilities or when Guiding frequency decreased is likely because Hae-geon’s wavelength is quite entangled. That part should gradually improve as you continue Guiding in the future.”
“Ah… Yes. Thank you.”
The doctor provided a solution based on the premise that I would continue to Guide Sa Hae-geon in the future. He seemed certain that I would continue to stay by Sa Hae-geon’s side. Even I didn’t know how much longer I would stay with Sa Hae-geon.
“Can we go now?”
As the conversation was nearly ending, Sa Hae-geon abruptly interjected. I had felt it since he woke me up before dawn, but he seemed eager to leave his family home as soon as possible.
“I’ve conveyed most of what needed to be said… Hae-geon, are you planning to leave before your mother wakes up?”
“Yes.”
“She’ll be disappointed.”
“I saw her enough yesterday. Now that our business is done, we should go quickly.”
“…Alright. Then Guide Chae Do-min, please take good care of Hae-geon. If there are any problems or questions, please contact me here.”
When I carefully received and checked the business card the doctor handed me, I saw the name “Lee Cheol-ho, Director of Ability Research Institute.” To think that the person standing before me was the director of the Ability Research Institute. My posture unconsciously straightened at this unexpected revelation.
“Hyung, let’s go quickly.”
“Huh? Oh, okay. Then… we’ll be going now.”
I bowed to the doctor and followed the urging Sa Hae-geon. While getting into the car and fastening my seatbelt, a sudden realization struck me. I belatedly remembered who Sa Hae-geon’s mother was.
“…That’s right.”
“Yes?”
“Hae-geon.”
“Yes.”
“About your mother.”
Sa Hae-geon turned his head to look at me while gripping the steering wheel.
“Could she be Esper Min Yu-jin…”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“…Ha. Hae-geon, I must be a real fool. How am I only realizing this now? No wonder she seemed familiar. Shouldn’t I go back and properly greet her even now?”
“Mother doesn’t care about such things. It’s fine.”
Unlike Sa Hae-geon who responded nonchalantly, I was inwardly burning with embarrassment. Sa Hae-geon’s mother, Esper Min Yu-jin, was not only known for her many achievements but had also served as the director of the Esper Center in northern Seoul for a long time.
Of course, there weren’t many occasions to see her.
“How can it be fine…! It’s not fine at all.”
“It really is fine, so don’t worry.”
He tried to reassure me, but my heart was still pounding.
* * *
I opened the front door of the house after driving for about an hour and thirty minutes. As expected, Cream, who was clearly very upset, was nowhere to be seen. She seemed extremely angry. Sa Hae-geon and I exchanged glances briefly before cautiously entering. Cream was sitting on the sofa with her back to us.
“…Cream?”
The yellow cat, like freshly baked bread, maintained her silence without any response. To break this heavy atmosphere, I turned on the TV. Immediately, Cream’s sharp gaze flew at me, but I pretended not to notice. Meanwhile, Sa Hae-geon went to his room.
The TV was covering major news. I was casually watching some chase footage with what appeared to be a foreign backdrop when I sat down next to Cream to appease her.
“Our Cream, are you angry because Daddy and Oppa stayed out overnight without saying anything? Daddy is sorry. We didn’t plan to stay over, but there was something we needed to check.”
Cream’s tail struck the sofa sharply, as if cutting off my detailed explanation. And at the same time, the announcer began reporting the news.
[S-class Esper An Jong-hyeok of the Central Center engaged in an unexpected chase with Shin Woo-jun in a Canadian village yesterday.]
I forgot about appeasing Cream and looked at the TV at this startling news. The announcer added that Esper An Jong-hyeok had responded with silence when a reporter asked about the reason for the chase, and explained that the village where the chase took place was where Jeon Ju-hwan, who was Shin Woo-jun’s pair Guide, was staying.
The news, which added a few more explanations while showing the footage, ended with a close-up of Esper An Jong-hyeok’s face as he returned to Korea.
Of all places, the location where they had the chase was the village where Guide Jeon Ju-hwan lived. Could this be taken lightly? I had a premonition that something was about to happen that would shake my peaceful daily life. Just then, Sa Hae-geon, who had finished changing his clothes, opened his door and came out to sit beside me.
Then he naturally extended his hand and said:
“Hyung, please Guide me.”
As I quietly looked down at his hand and gently placed mine on top of it, Sa Hae-geon suddenly changed and pulled me into his arms.
