[78]
The device newly prepared for this mission had been silent for a week already.
Only the consultant named Jay knew this number.
Chris had handed his business card to the guiding establishment’s staff, but there was still no bite.
‘Is this approach a failure?’
Yet Yuri and Chris didn’t seem concerned at all.
Even today, the two had brought a chess board and had been playing chess for three hours straight.
“Did it fail because you acted too nice? Should you have gone with a feeling of… someone familiar with illegal activities?”
To Peter, who was already analyzing the failure, Yuri spoke without even giving him a glance.
“Daily life is arduous. Misfortune is common.”
A dry smile lingered on Yuri’s lips as he moved a pawn one space.
“Would someone who wants to escape from days rolling like a hamster wheel find attraction in what they always see?”
Of course not.
Though Chris was impressive, he would be of little use to someone crushed by life’s hardships.
Yuri was targeting something completely different.
“The hope that man cannot abandon will call to Chris.”
What was saved yesterday, earned today, and will be saved tomorrow.
The reason humans endure and persevere day by day is to reach a better tomorrow.
In Yuri’s view, this was closer to hope than a dream. Without expecting the future, one wouldn’t have the courage to move forward.
Some people could cultivate hope from bare ground. Very rarely. But even such people eventually tire.
Dreams fed on uncertainty and needed no foundation, but hope required at least minimal security.
And the life that this “Jay” lived was prone to becoming precarious with just a slight shake.
“If we wait a little longer… he’ll respond.”
Yuri was waiting.
Waiting for a misfortune that “Jay” couldn’t resolve alone to befall him.
As if answering Yuri’s words, the terminal began to ring.
Peter jumped as if someone had poked him in the side.
‘Could it be?’
With a signal from Yuri, Chris rose from his seat, operated the terminal, and received the call.
“Yes. Chris Northern Light speaking.”
-Chris?
A voice mixed with crying came from the other end. Pain was also evident.
-Please help me…
“Where are you? I’ll come right away.”
-This is Iris District…
Chris noted down the location that came between sobs and looked at Yuri.
Yuri, who sent a hand signal not to end the call, gently pushed his back.
It meant for him to go.
“I’ll be there right away.”
Having received permission, Chris picked up a thin coat from the rack near the door.
Yuri quietly watched as Chris took glasses out of his pocket and went outside, then turned his gaze back to the chessboard.
“Aren’t you giving any specific instructions?”
“Instructions?”
At Peter’s question, Yuri shook his head.
“…Chris lacks aptitude for infiltration missions. Maybe for brief deception, but not more.”
“Is that so?”
“Can’t you tell from his face?”
Yuri frowned as if asking if Peter couldn’t see it at a glance, causing Peter to roll his eyes.
“I think normally, with someone like Chris around, people wouldn’t even try to test him because of his intimidating presence.”
“But he stands out. Too much so.”
That part of Yuri’s statement was certainly true.
Like a wolf released among sheep would inevitably stand out, Chris had an atmosphere that made him prominent among others.
“Hmm.”
Peter expressed quiet agreement with a hum.
“But why send Chris Danil instead of going yourself?”
“Sometimes you have to let him take a walk.”
“…You’re not serious, right?”
“I’ve already told you, yet you keep asking.”
His narrowed brows revealed his sensitive temperament.
“If someone who seems accustomed to dangerous and illegal activities steps forward, the other side won’t reach out.”
At those words, Peter clicked his tongue.
At times like this, Yuri’s self-objectivity was impressive.
“Chris just needs to do as he pleases. That’s the situation.”
Yuri crossed his legs and muttered as he sank deeper into his chair.
“Chris is an Esper after all. Isn’t he more dangerous?”
At Peter’s question, Yuri’s gaze added contempt.
“Having power and being dangerous to others are different issues.”
Peter suddenly understood and shut his mouth.
To put it bluntly, if Peter came across Chris wrestling with someone else with a knife while walking down the street, he would subdue the other person.
Because Chris wouldn’t wield a knife without reason.
“He’s a human who gives that kind of faith… and stability.”
Yuri’s voice gradually became quieter, as if talking to himself.
Limited to Guides, Chris is a ‘safe’ Esper.
Jay would have felt that too.
“It’s fascinating.”
Peter muttered.
“What is?”
“Espers hate sharing their Guides with other humans. But you don’t seem very worried about sending Chris off like that.”
“Does it seem that way?”
“I’m… not sure now.”
At Yuri’s counter-question, Peter realized he needed to reconsider his judgment.
“Of course you shouldn’t know.”
Mockery frosted the purple eyes.
“If you could read me, Chris would have read me too.”
Peter’s mouth fell open involuntarily.
Yuri’s face was too composed to ask why he was acting this way.
He saw Yuri closing his eyes as if no longer willing to engage with him.
‘His personality is really twisted, I tell you.’
Despite grumbling, Peter felt somewhat relieved.
If it was one-sided feelings from Chris, wouldn’t that be a bit pitiful?
But Yuri was also feeling anxious. It was a bit satisfying, and a bit reassuring.
Because it seemed to say that man was human too.
“Try being honest for once.”
Yuri ignored Peter’s words.
***
“Huk, heok.”
January looked down at the Esper before him.
It was someone who often visited as a customer.
He knew his face. Knew his name. Even his ability—the power to create light in darkness.
It was safe to say he had no lethal abilities. The man had even bashfully confessed that his rank wasn’t very high.
But today, this customer’s condition was quite strange.
His eyes couldn’t focus properly, his speech was incoherent, and his hands were burning hot when they touched.
January hadn’t thought an Esper on the verge of going berserk would come here seeking guiding.
“Let me touch you a little longer. I’ll pay the credits.”
“I don’t do that kind of work. What I provide is conversation and holding hands… Ah!”
The person’s eyes gleamed strangely as he roughly grabbed January’s wrist and gnawed on his skin.
“Guiding. Give me guiding… please.”
“I am. That…”
“We’re touching like this, so why isn’t my mind settling? Why! It feels good. This is definitely guiding, but why is my chest burning? Why!”
The man with wildly rolling eyes lunged at January.
“You’re hiding it inside, aren’t you? I know. I know… The thirst won’t subside. It’s painful. Save me.”
January felt guilty listening to the muttering filled with resentment.
Perhaps his momentary lapse of attention due to this guilt was the problem.
The moment his resistance weakened, the Esper pulled January close and bit his neck. Feeling his flesh being gouged out, January screamed. He groped for something and struck the Esper’s head with the first thing he grabbed.
Once, twice, three times.
It was a wine bottle that broke, sending fragments flying everywhere. Blood flowed from the Esper’s head as his body collapsed to the floor.
‘Either it was because the extended contact relaxed him, or the drug worked faster due to his berserk state.’
Either way, it was fortunate.
January tried to escape.
That is, if the Esper had been breathing.
When January approached and realized the person was dead, he felt his vision darken.
He thought he had experienced all sorts of things, but there were still things he hadn’t experienced.
Killing a human with his own hands.
‘What should I do? How should I…’
He didn’t know whom to contact.
Colleagues? He had no one particularly close. Setting aside whether they could keep secrets, were any of them in a position to help, given their similar circumstances?
The manager? The manager who had just arrived recently would likely bury January for causing problems rather than help him.
‘Chris. That man called Chris Northern Light.’
January frantically searched for the business card.
Without any solid clues, he just felt that Chris would help him.
It wasn’t in the drawer or in the trash.
While searching everywhere, he found Chris Northern Light’s business card in the pocket of the cardigan he had worn that day and contacted him.
The connecting tone made January anxious. But Chris said he would come right away and asked for the address.
‘If worst comes to worst… I’ll say it was an accident caused by a man who mistook me for a Guide.’
January hesitated as he picked up a medicine bottle with trembling hands.
He needed to break it and flush it down the toilet. But he couldn’t easily resolve to do so.
How expensive was each of these bottles?
Besides, January had now called an Esper. Even if Chris seemed relatively decent, he would need “compensation” too.
With shaking hands, January popped open the end of an ampule, brought it to his mouth, and snapped the opposite end.
He felt the liquid entering his mouth. After swallowing the slime-like substance, January stepped on the empty ampule to break it.
Mixed among the wine bottles, its appearance wasn’t too conspicuous.
January cried as he put the remaining drugs in a plastic bag. He went to the kitchen, removed some tiles, and hid the drugs behind them.
If he could return, he could retrieve them from here.
Having made that decision, his mind seemed to ease a little. Just a little.
The drug began to take effect. He could feel the edges of his vision starting to blur.
January’s reason slowly sank below the surface as he realized he had sought the drug to suppress his anxiety under the pretext of needing to give “compensation” to Chris.
Knock, knock. There was a knocking at the door.
January approached with a broad smile.
Chris appeared before him. He tried to put his arms around Chris’s neck, but his body was pushed back.
‘Has my sense of distance already started to break down?’
“Are you alright?”
January’s tension released at the firm voice.
It’s okay. This person seems trustworthy.
“Chris, you’re an Esper, right?”
January, intoxicated by the drug, smiled with an ecstatic face.
“Please save me.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
