The mana swirled round and round. It was a sensation that Kim Sol had never mentioned before. Sitting on the couch set up in one corner of the room, feeling the mana, Lim Haeyul tilted his head in confusion.
He sensed the presence of mana, checked its quantity, and when coming into contact with an Esper, he would tightly seal it off so that none leaked out, then cautiously guide it toward the Esper. That was all Kim Sol had told him. There had been no mention whatsoever of this swirling sensation of mana.
‘Maybe it’s nothing important, so he didn’t bother to say it?’
Thinking it over, it didn’t seem like something that needed explicit explanation. If mana existed, wasn’t it natural that one might feel it spinning like that?
‘No, it’s still strange.’
They said the mana was swirling, but in truth, it was moving according to his will.
If he thought of the mana as blood, it would mean he was controlling his own blood at will.
“……That’s a little weird.”
His cheek itched for no reason, and he scratched it with his fingernail. The analogy felt a little odd, yet somehow strangely fitting at the same time.
He decided he would ask Kim Sol about it later. Sure, he could call or text, but Kim Sol was currently away on a business trip because of a newly opened gate in the provinces, and it felt wrong to bother him over something so trivial. It was probably nothing anyway.
“Haa…….”
Pushing thoughts of Kim Sol aside, Lim Haeyul refocused his mind.
Lately, whenever he had time, he would immerse himself in mana. It had started after he had been exposed to the raw, unrefined waves of Cha Jae-woo. Since then, he had spent countless hours peering into his own mana.
Of course, just doing that didn’t mean the small amount of mana he had would increase. Still, it felt like he had to do something. Maybe if he kept at it, he could grow his mana somehow. Even a tiny sliver of hope was enough to grant him a bit of peace of mind.
And as a result, he had gained the bizarre ability to move his mana at will, so it hadn’t been entirely fruitless. Though whether it was actually useful was another matter entirely.
No matter what he did, he still couldn’t be of any real help to Cha Jae-woo. A heavy sigh kept escaping his lips.
“The ground’s gonna cave in at this rate.”
Cha Jae-woo’s voice rang out after he had sighed at least ten more times. Lim Haeyul’s eyes snapped open, and he looked toward the door. Cha Jae-woo was approaching, having left the door wide open behind him without making a sound.
“You’re here.”
As usual, you showed up without a sound, huh. Lim Haeyul swallowed the second half of the sentence.
Seriously, this house was unnecessarily well-made. At least a creaky door would add a touch of humanity. Though, maybe it was him who was strange for looking for humanity in a door.
“Why do you talk to yourself so much?”
Cha Jae-woo stood close and asked. Whenever he came to Lim Haeyul’s room for guiding, he usually didn’t bother to make small talk first, so Lim Haeyul’s gaze wavered, not sure where to settle.
And the fact that the question was about his habit of talking to himself made it even worse. Considering how many times a day he cursed Cha Jae-woo under his breath, he felt a sharp pang of guilt.
“Uh, how long have you been there? Did you hear all that? You could’ve called out to me…….”
Had he just been cursing Cha Jae-woo? Lim Haeyul racked his memory as he cautiously asked. He had been so focused on his mana that he didn’t think he had cursed Cha Jae-woo this time… but given how often he did it, he couldn’t be entirely sure.
“I can hear you from my room too.”
“……Huh?”
“All that muttering—you know, I can hear everything.”
Cha Jae-woo’s words were beyond shocking. From his room, he said—what the hell did that mean?
“‘Why the hell is that bastard Cha Jae-woo S-rank anyway,’ things like that.”
“……Uh, uh?”
“I heard you grumbling about that the day before yesterday too.”
Fortunately or unfortunately, it didn’t take long for Lim Haeyul to understand. It dawned on him that the muttering Cha Jae-woo had heard wasn’t from just now in front of him, but from the day before yesterday, when he’d been staring into his mana and had grumbled out of sheer frustration.
“Uh, th-that, no, that’s not true!”
He immediately denied it. But the way he stammered betrayed him, making it as good as a confession. Cha Jae-woo’s lips curled into a mocking smirk.
“That bastard, I can’t even tell if he’s a good guy or a bad guy.”
“Uhh……?”
“Yeah, I should just endure it. He wired me 500 million won into my account, so if I can’t even do my job properly, I’m the one at fault—”
“W-Wait a second!”
Despite it being Cha Jae-woo, Lim Haeyul couldn’t help but raise his voice sharply. He didn’t even have the presence of mind to calculate the situation properly. Frantically, he darted his eyes around the room. Was there a bug hidden somewhere? Maybe even a hidden camera recording him?
The moment he heard Cha Jae-woo claim he had heard all of his mutterings, it was only natural that Lim Haeyul became suspicious. There was no way his muttering could have traveled all the way to Cha Jae-woo’s room without help, considering the distance. Compared to that, it seemed far more plausible that there was some device involved.
“Are you worried I’m secretly watching you?”
Cha Jae-woo immediately caught on to his suspicions and asked. Lim Haeyul, who was already sitting on the couch, instinctively leaned even further back. Cha Jae-woo let out a dry chuckle, as if finding the reaction absurd.
“You really think I have that much free time?”
Honestly, yeah, a little. It didn’t really seem like he had much to do……
“No.”
The words came out faster than his actual thoughts. He nodded quickly, knowing better than to be too honest when it came to Cha Jae-woo. Who knew what kind of reaction he’d get?
“It’s written all over your face that you’re lying.”
“……Don’t lie.”
“You were totally thinking I don’t have anything better to do.”
Lim Haeyul pressed his lips shut. It was easy to lie once, but getting caught again made the words stick in his throat. In a halting voice, he barely managed to deny it.
“I’m literally doing nothing, you know.”
“…….”
“There’s no way I could look busy.”
So he really was doing nothing. Lim Haeyul squeezed his eyes shut. He had walked right into that one. Still, even if it was true, who in their right mind would say to someone’s face, ‘Yeah, you really do look like you have nothing better to do,’ especially when that someone was Cha Jae-woo?
“……Then how do you know?”
Even though frustration was simmering inside him, he swallowed it down and asked.
“I told you. I can hear you.”
Cha Jae-woo answered immediately. Lim Haeyul blinked rapidly, waiting for an explanation, but it seemed Cha Jae-woo had no intention of elaborating.
“You’re saying you can hear what I’m saying here from your room?”
“Yeah.”
“……Isn’t this place soundproofed?”
“…….”
“I mean, it’s not like I was shouting or anything…….”
“…….”
“Wait, were you maybe eavesdropping at the door…….”
“…….”
“……No, right. Of course not.”
If there had been some bug or hidden CCTV, he could maybe understand. But the thought of Cha Jae-woo crouching by the door to eavesdrop was just too ridiculous to believe.
‘Then how the hell does he know?’
Was it really possible for his voice to carry all the way over there? There was no way. Even if someone had extraordinary hearing, it would be impossible to pick up such quiet muttering from that distance.
“You don’t really understand what an Esper is, do you?”
Cha Jae-woo suddenly asked, throwing a completely unrelated question at Lim Haeyul, who was still deep in confusion. Lim Haeyul frowned slightly at the sudden absurdity. Who in this day and age didn’t know what an Esper was? Even kindergarteners knew.
“How could I n-not know, when there’s literally an Esper standing right in front of me…….”
His voice, which had unknowingly risen again, gradually quieted down by the end. A deep furrow formed between Cha Jae-woo’s fine brows. Lim Haeyul quickly lowered his head, worried that Cha Jae-woo’s waves might leak out again, but thankfully, Cha Jae-woo didn’t let that happen.
“Espers are hypersensitive.”
‘Yeah. You seriously do seem hypersensitive.’
“Their physical abilities are also highly developed.”
‘I know. I’m not an idiot. They talk about it on TV all the time, you know?’
“Their eyesight and hearing are at least ten times better than that of ordinary people.”
‘Must be nice. Good eyes, good ears… wait, what?’
“And in my case, it’s especially true.”
“Th-then…”
“Whatever you mutter here, I can hear it all. At least from my room, it’s crystal clear.”
“…….”
“So can you cut down on the muttering? It’s noisy.”
At that moment, Lim Haeyul clamped his mouth shut. He had no idea what to say. So what Cha Jae-woo was saying was that he hadn’t installed anything in the room, nor had he been eavesdropping at the door—he could simply hear him just by sitting still.
Just like that?
“……That’s insane.”
His mouth hung open. It wasn’t just that he was shocked by Cha Jae-woo’s abilities. The real problem was that every muttered word he had ever uttered in this room flashed before his eyes like a cursed panorama.
“Fuuuck… What a scammer. Signed the contract without me knowing and doesn’t even bat an eye…”
“Shit. If guiding’s not working, why not do what he did before and just drag a whole group of Guides to cling to him!”
“It’s Cha Jae-woo who refuses to go into gates, so why am I the one getting cursed out…? It’s so unfair, so damn unfair.”
He had cursed him so much, he couldn’t even remember it all. And now, to think Cha Jae-woo had heard it all…
“Poor guy. Finally found a Guide, and it’s me. And not just me—I’m a D-Rank, too.”
“Maybe Cha Jae-woo likes men…?”
“Fuck. Is there really no way to make the mana flow better?”
“It’s pity, pure pity. No matter how you look at it, it’s just sad.”
Words he had muttered without a second thought blossomed in his mind, leaving him drowning in despair. He could have handled the cursing somehow. But pitying him, speculating about his sexuality—those were things that crossed the line.
‘Couldn’t you have told me sooner if you could hear me? Why are you only saying it now?!’
All the conversations he’d had while staying here came flooding back—especially the frequent calls with Kim Geon-ung and other friends. Cha Jae-woo had been hearing everything.
“……You could have told me earlier.”
“I thought you already knew.”
‘What the hell do you think I am, trash? Of course I muttered it because I couldn’t say it to your face, you jerk.’
“I really didn’t know…….”
“Yeah. Now that I look at you, I believe it.”
Cha Jae-woo’s face was utterly indifferent. Lim Haeyul swallowed down a heavy sigh. Better to just change the subject. Continuing this conversation would only dig him deeper into a hole.
“Then… I’ll start the guiding.”
He cautiously rose to his feet, and Cha Jae-woo fell silent. Since the whole reason he came to the room was for guiding, there was no reason for him to refuse. It was better for both of them to move on from this unpleasant conversation.
“Huuu…….”
Lim Haeyul took a long, deep breath, trying to sweep away the shock of what he’d just learned. Thank goodness Cha Jae-woo wasn’t saying anything more.
“…….”
Gently, Lim Haeyul touched the back of Cha Jae-woo’s hand with his fingertips.
This was the usual way their guiding sessions proceeded. The less skin contact there was, the slower the guiding would be, but increasing the contact area made it harder for him to control the flow properly. So he stuck to the minimum necessary contact.
Despite the rocky conversation earlier, Lim Haeyul quickly regained his composure and started the guiding. He could feel the mana clearly moving from himself to Cha Jae-woo.
He focused solely on the mana. Normally, he would have simply pushed it outward toward Cha Jae-woo and left it at that. But having been so attuned to his mana just before, his awareness lingered naturally.
His mana slowly traveled toward Cha Jae-woo. Just like it had moved inside his own body, now it obeyed his will as it slipped into Cha Jae-woo’s body.
……?
But was it a trick of the mind? He could feel his mana swimming inside Cha Jae-woo’s body. He had already stopped the flow to prevent exhaustion, so he shouldn’t have been able to sense it anymore—yet the sensation remained vividly, as if the mana were still within him.
The mana moved along a pitch-black path. It felt almost like he was watching a hallucination. How long had it flowed along that path?
Before long, he encountered it: A chaotic, clumped, seething black mass.
“…….”
It was so massive that Lim Haeyul’s face instinctively twisted into a grimace. The mana he had sent into Cha Jae-woo was utterly minuscule in comparison.
Yet, somehow, without hesitation, his mana moved toward the black mass.
Naturally, as if it had always been meant to do so, it slowly made contact with it. He hadn’t held out any real hope, but astonishingly, as soon as his mana touched the furious mass, it began to soften, little by little, melting away.
It was a strange phenomenon, but that wasn’t the only thing that caught Lim Haeyul’s attention. Parts of the black mass that hadn’t touched his mana began writhing busily. It was as if they had found a prized prey and were rushing toward it with greedy fervor.
“Ugh…….”
A cold sweat broke out over his body, as it felt almost like they were attacking him. But for some reason, he instinctively knew that he couldn’t afford to back down here. He compressed his mana tightly, desperately holding on to prevent it from being devoured in an instant.
The black mass, though viciously writhing, didn’t immediately lunge at the condensed mana. Instead, it sluggishly crept closer, trying to engulf it slowly. The pitch-black energy around the mana was being drained away by the encroaching mass. However, the closer it got, the faster it seemed to swallow the mana.
‘……Just a little more.’
The mana that had left his body and was now embedded in Cha Jae-woo’s was gradually fading as it was devoured by the black mass.
In a desperate attempt to see it more clearly, Lim Haeyul spread his palm and tightly grabbed onto the back of Cha Jae-woo’s hand. Acting purely on instinct, he figured that widening the area of contact might sharpen his perception.
“Ah!”
And in that instant, just as he had hoped, the blurred mana grew vivid again. But it lasted only for a moment. The vivid vision, which had been so clear he could almost trace it with his eyes closed, dissipated in an instant.
It was because Cha Jae-woo forcefully smacked away the hand he had been clutching.
“Uh, ah…….”
Lim Haeyul sat there, dazed and completely disoriented. He couldn’t believe what had just happened, even though he had witnessed it himself. Had he fallen asleep during the guiding session? It didn’t seem possible, but the experience had been so surreal it felt like he had been dreaming.
“What the hell were you doing just now?”
Cha Jae-woo asked. Lim Haeyul blankly stared back at him. His face was rigid, utterly frozen.
