A Certain Moment (3)
“Guide Do-min, what are you doing here?”
Thinking it might be Sa Hae-geon, I quickly checked beside me, only to see the face of Yoon Seon-hoo, the healing-type Esper from my team. He kept tilting his head in confusion, seemingly puzzled by the sight of me moping on a bench and skipping lunch.
“I had such a big breakfast… I’m not particularly hungry. Isn’t Esper Yoon Seon-hoo eating?”
“Ah, yes. I’m on my way back from eating at the field site. May I sit next to you?”
Though I desperately wanted time alone, Yoon Seon-hoo had been the team’s youngest member until Sa Hae-geon arrived. With his gentle and timid personality, I felt somewhat concerned about him, though not as much as I did about Sa Hae-geon.
He was someone I couldn’t refuse.
“Um… sure. Have a seat. It’s a public space anyway.”
“Then I’ll sit down. Thank you.”
Yoon Seon-hoo bowed politely and carefully sat down. However, once seated beside me, far from looking comfortable, he fidgeted with an anxious expression.
“Excuse me, Guide Do-min.”
“Yes.”
“That… umm. I think Esper Sa Hae-geon is really amazing. He hasn’t been here long but he already won a mock battle against someone with three years of experience… S-rank really is different. I’m… um… quite envious.”
“In my eyes, Esper Yoon Seon-hoo is plenty amazing too.”
“N-no. I didn’t bring this up to hear such words… I’m still very lacking. Anyway, I mentioned it because you and Esper Sa Hae-geon seem to be quite close…”
“I’ve never seen a healing-type Esper who uses their ability as meticulously as you do, Esper Yoon Seon-hoo. So you don’t need to be so modest.”
“Um… ah… Thank you.”
Yoon Seon-hoo bowed his head while remaining seated. However, no matter how much we talked, he continued to fidget restlessly, rolling his eyes. It seemed he had something else he wanted to discuss but was finding it extremely difficult to bring up.
No matter how long I waited, Yoon Seon-hoo just wiggled his fingers without getting to the point. Suddenly, I found myself thinking that Yoon Seon-hoo actually felt more like a younger brother and the team’s maknae than Sa Hae-geon did. After waiting about five more minutes, I finally asked directly.
“Esper Yoon Seon-hoo, what do you really want to tell me? I don’t think praising Hae-geon is your main point.”
“Ah…”
Yoon Seon-hoo squeezed his eyes shut as if hit on the mark, then opened his mouth with a soft sigh.
“I’m sorry… I was too apologetic to bring it up. It’s about Esper Yoon Seon-hu who just joined Field Team 2…”
“Ah, yes. You mean the mental-type Esper?”
“…Yes.”
“Go ahead, tell me.”
As I nodded and answered, I suddenly noticed something strange. Come to think of it, their names were quite similar.
‘…Could it be?’
Even while thinking that the world is wide and there are many people with similar names or appearances, I couldn’t help glancing at Esper Yoon Seon-hoo. Their facial features seemed somewhat alike too… or was that my imagination?
The lips of Yoon Seon-hoo, who had been fidgeting repeatedly, opened again.
“…He’s actually my brother.”
“Ah…”
“I kept trying to stop him from following you around, but it was no use. I’m sorry. It must be quite uncomfortable for you…”
As he said, Esper Yoon Seon-hu had been greeting me every time we met at the Center. But it wasn’t particularly bothersome or uncomfortable. It was just tiring how persistently he tried to shake my hand from our first meeting. Of course, that was only during that moment yesterday.
I said to Yoon Seon-hoo, who seemed to feel deep guilt toward me:
“Why are you apologizing? I’m fine. More importantly, I didn’t even know you two were brothers. Now that I think about it, there are so many similarities… I was too unobservant.”
“What? It’s okay. Guide Do-min is equally inattentive to everyone, aren’t you?”
“…What?”
Is this a compliment or an insult? Judging by Yoon Seon-hoo’s expression, it seemed like a compliment… but the content didn’t sound like praise at all. I was uncertain.
Yoon Seon-hoo, unaware that I was pondering the intention behind his words, cautiously spoke while observing my reaction.
“If he’s bothering you too much, I’ll try my best to stop him somehow. So please do tell me. Don’t hold back.”
“Do I look like someone who would hold back?”
“…No. I just said it. I don’t like my brother causing trouble for others, so I wanted to do something to help.”
“I’m fine, so you don’t need to worry too much. Esper Yoon Seon-hoo, you’re very busy too.”
“Yes, thank you. But my brother talks about Guide Do-min particularly often, which concerns me.”
“Really?”
He nodded with a gloomy face. Esper Yoon Seon-hu talks about me a lot? What is there even to talk about? Our conversation time was brief, and I had drawn a clear boundary, perhaps too clearly. No matter how I thought about it, it didn’t make sense.
“But there shouldn’t be much to talk about…? We’ve only had one conversation.”
“It’s just… my brother talking by himself. He keeps asking me how to become close with Guide Do-min and what kind of things you like. Of course, I don’t answer him.”
“Ah… I see. Esper Yoon Seon-hoo, you must be having a hard time too.”
“Not at all. I’m fine.”
“Still. Ah, you should go inside and rest a bit. There’s more training in the afternoon.”
I tried to send him away quickly since his face was filled with fatigue… but he repaid my kindness with a strange observation.
“But it seems like you and Esper Sa Hae-geon aren’t sticking together today. Did you… have a fight? Or am I not seeing things correctly because I was out in the field?”
Unnecessarily perceptive. I tried to respond as nonchalantly as possible, hiding my surprise.
“It’s just your imagination. It’s similar to usual, really.”
However, Yoon Seon-hoo tilted his head, seemingly not believing my words.
“Guide Do-min, you used to always be nearby even before Esper Sa Hae-geon came looking for you. But today you don’t seem to be doing that. You’re not even having lunch together…”
“…That’s also your imagination. As I said, I’m skipping lunch because I’m not hungry.”
“I don’t think so…”
“It is your imagination. Now go inside and rest.”
I hurriedly sent away Yoon Seon-hoo, who still couldn’t hide his puzzled expression. I was completely drained. I had come out to clear my head, but instead, my mind felt even more complicated. Was this little dispute enough to make me this tired? I couldn’t help but sigh.
Above all, as Yoon Seon-hoo had pointed out, I couldn’t understand myself why I kept distancing myself from Sa Hae-geon. Why was I acting like this? Why did I need to avoid Sa Hae-geon and skip lunch to sort out my thoughts?
Was it because Sa Hae-geon stole a kiss like a thief last night and ran away, or what…? No, Sa Hae-geon, the actual perpetrator of the kiss, was acting perfectly normal, so why was I the only one…
My plan to calmly settle my feelings had spectacularly failed with Yoon Seon-hoo’s appearance. When I checked my phone to see the time, I found it filled with missed calls and messages from Sa Hae-geon.
“…How many are there?”
I was almost afraid that he might cling to me crying when I returned to the Center. Even worse, the last message from Sa Hae-geon read, “Hyung, this is really too much.” Even I had to admit that I was indeed being excessive, so I planned to indulge all his whims later.
However, when I returned to Field Team 1’s office with determination, I encountered a rather bewildering scene.
“What? No, why? Team Leader An approved that too? I mean… really, why?”
“This doesn’t make sense. How long has he even been here? Even if it’s a low-grade dungeon…”
“No, this is actually good. We need to prepare for S-rank dungeons, so should we teach him at the same pace as other Espers? Everyone learns by facing challenges. Espers develop their skills rapidly in the field rather than through theory, you know.”
The office was excessively noisy. Jong-hyeok hyung, who would normally have quieted their commotion, was nowhere to be seen, perhaps away from his desk. Come to think of it, Sa Hae-geon also seemed absent… Could he have gone to the training ground right after lunch?
The team members, who were having a heated discussion without noticing my entrance, belatedly spotted me and beckoned.
“Oh, perfect timing. Do-min, come over here. What’s going on?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m talking about the maknae! I heard he’s entering a dungeon. Are you going in with him? How did this happen?”
“Exactly. I thought he’d train for at least a week before being sent out, but Team Leader An is certainly in a hurry.”
“From what I heard, Esper Sa Hae-geon was the one who asked to go first?”
“What? Then all the more reason to have stopped him! What would a newly arrived kid know! And one who didn’t even attend the training school!”
I was dumbfounded by the excited conversation among the team members. What were they all talking about? What had happened while I was away? Sa Hae-geon entering a dungeon? My mind went blank at this unexpected news.
I was looking around continuously for Sa Hae-geon, even though I knew he wasn’t in the office, when the office door opened and Sa Hae-geon appeared with Jong-hyeok hyung.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
