9
Eunjeong dragged the unconscious perpetrator with one hand as she walked toward the classroom door.
“Eunjeong.”
“I know. I’ll hold him properly when we get to the first floor.”
When Minjae called her in a stern voice, Eunjeong responded and headed outside. As soon as Eunjeong left, Minjae took out his phone from his pocket and turned on the news that was currently broadcasting.
[It’s been an hour since the heroes from the Hero Center were deployed to the scene. The Center has announced that they have successfully rescued all the children who were in the school. The identities of all rescued children have been confirmed.]
[The Hero Center has stated that the hostage-taker may be a member of a new cult, and that they will conduct the interrogation at the Center, which is expected to spark heated discussions within the National Assembly.]
Minjae let out a small sigh and put his phone back in his pocket. Jihwan was quietly watching Minjae’s actions. As Minjae was about to go outside, he turned around and looked at Jihwan.
“Hoyoung.”
“Yes!”
“Make the rookie clean up and come downstairs.”
Minjae called Hoyoung while looking at Jihwan, gave the instruction, and then went outside. Hoyoung gave Jihwan an awkward smile.
“Just wipe up the bloodstains and come down.”
Hoyoung said. Jihwan quietly nodded.
After Hoyoung left the classroom, Jihwan remained alone.
Jihwan took out a mop from the cleaning supply closet in the classroom, rinsed it in the bathroom, and wiped the windows, desks, and floor.
A cool breeze was blowing in from outside the window. Jihwan, who until recently had been a student himself, somehow thought that today the classroom looked smaller than before.
Was a classroom always like this? Maybe they built it smaller because it’s a middle school building?
Jihwan thoroughly wiped away Minjae’s blood. The sound of gunfire still seemed to strike his ears.
In Jihwan’s ears, he could hear the sound of Minjae’s hand being destroyed. Since Jihwan had his eyes closed, he thought the sound was coming from inside his own head.
That must have hurt, right? Jihwan started to vigorously scrub the mop in the sink filled with water.
After delivering the children to the ambulance, Jihwan had boldly headed back into the school, and when he encountered the perpetrator, he felt a fear he had never experienced before. The hair all over his body stood on end, and his legs stuck to the floor.
Since in his imagination he had always been defeating evil villains, he had never once considered a scenario where he would freeze in front of a black gun barrel. In that moment, Jihwan couldn’t even walk, let alone fly.
When the gunshot rang out loudly, Jihwan looked at Minjae. With his neck held firmly in place, there was nowhere else to look anyway. Even though he was facing the same gun barrel as Jihwan in a situation where he could barely see what was happening, Minjae didn’t waver.
When facing Minjae, Jihwan felt an inexplicable shame. Still, he couldn’t look away. As if entranced, Jihwan only stared at Minjae. With determined, cold eyes, the hero told him to shoot.
“Shoot.”
And saved Jihwan.
If I had been standing on the other side, would I have been able to reach out without hesitation and twist the gun barrel? Jihwan wrung the mop violently. Water splashed down, soaking his shoes.
After finishing the cleaning and going down to the first floor, Jihwan found Minjae talking with an elderly man—someone had called him the vice principal.
“So first, three classroom doors and… are the windows okay?”
“Are there any broken ones?”
Listening quietly, it seemed they were discussing compensation for damaged fixtures.
Jihwan felt somewhat embarrassed, as he had vaguely thought Minjae would be surrounded by people giving a press conference or being praised by others, like before.
Jihwan cautiously approached Minjae.
“Um, Sunbae.”
“…What is it.”
Minjae glared at Jihwan. Gulp. Jihwan rolled his lips inward.
Minjae had clearly told Jihwan to return to the dormitory, but he didn’t listen and then got taken hostage… anyway, he had caused trouble again. Jihwan wanted to make up for his mistake.
“Is there something… something I could help with…?”
Minjae had such cold eyes that it was hard to believe he was the same person who had saved him just a while ago. Jihwan felt intimidated by those eyes.
Just then, the sound of someone whispering from afar reached Jihwan’s ears. Isn’t that the S-class? In Team 1?
“…Help?”
You? Hah. Minjae’s mouth curved into a crooked smile. That smile made Jihwan realize he must have made another mistake.
Minjae turned around and walked away as if Jihwan wasn’t worth dealing with. Jihwan couldn’t follow and could only blankly stare at Minjae’s receding back.
***
“Huuuh…”
Eunjeong made her way to the bed, pushing aside clothes that were thrown around everywhere. Throwing herself onto the bed, Eunjeong lay down and stared at the ceiling.
She couldn’t remember the last time she had properly lain down in the past few days due to the amount of work. Although she had recovered from fatigue to some extent after receiving guiding, lying in bed was still a different story.
“Oh, right.”
After lying motionless for a while, Eunjeong fumbled around and took out her phone from her pocket to make a call. “Oh, Eunjeong?” A woman with a soft, clear voice called Eunjeong’s name.
“Babyyy~ I miss youuu.”
Eunjeong stretched out her voice in an aegyo tone. The person on the other end, called “baby,” seemed familiar with Eunjeong’s behavior and let out a small laugh.
[Me too. I think I’ll be able to come back soon.]
“Our Seoyeon must be having a hard time. Is the food there decent?”
Seoyeon was Eunjeong’s guide. Since being matched as guide and esper, the two had become close friends.
Seoyeon traveled frequently for work, and because of that, Eunjeong often whined about missing her. Seoyeon always kindly indulged Eunjeong’s behavior.
[Yes, it’s fine. What about you? Are you eating properly?]
“Of course, of course. Oh, Seoyeon. Have you heard any news about the Center?”
[Hmm? Did something happen at the Center?]
“The rumor’s all over the place. Our Seoyeon is so oblivious sometimes. You know, Sunbae Minjae? He’s got an attachment now.”
[…An attachment? Is there something wrong with Sunbae Minjae’s face?]
Eunjeong burst into laughter at Seoyeon’s unexpected question. No, not thaat.
“The new S-class esper. Articles are spreading everywhere that they’ve formed a pair.”
[So a new S-class has joined.]
“Yep. He’s a flight-type, but he’s a bit…”
[What’s he like?]
“…I guess you could say he’s a bit dumb? He doesn’t seem like a bad kid though…”
Eunjeong thought of Jihwan for a moment. Troublemaker. That was the nickname she had given him in her mind. He was someone who caused trouble everywhere without even realizing what he was doing.
But watching him, he didn’t seem like the hateful type…
[When did this happen?]
“This morning. This is super fresh news.”
[Ah… Then the atmosphere at the Center…]
“It’s completely ruined.”
[You must be feeling awkward too, Eunjeong.]
Seoyeon worried about Eunjeong in a gentle voice. At that voice, Eunjeong smiled mischievously.
“Me? Why would I?”
[Well, since you’re on the same team…?]
“I find it entertaining! I’m going to go see Woo Minjae’s expression in a bit.”
What? You’re incorrigible. Seoyeon laughed as if she couldn’t help it.
I can’t miss such an entertaining sight. Eunjeong recalled Minjae’s expression as he looked at Jihwan at the school.
A face that clearly said he was annoyed to death. …Is he bothered? Either way, it had been a while since Eunjeong had seen someone so openly disliking someone else.
“Hurry back so you can see the fun too.”
[Okay. Eunjeong, I need to hang up now. Take good care of yourself.]
Seoyeon gave her farewell and ended the call. After staring at the blank phone screen for a moment, Eunjeong tossed the phone carelessly into the corner of the bed.
“I should do laundry…”
Eunjeong muttered in a small voice before closing her eyes.
***
A heavy door closed behind Minjae’s back. Thinking that the “thud” sound was particularly stifling, Minjae looked at the man in front of him.
Center Director Kim Jinsung, who oversaw both guides and espers. Despite being neither an esper nor a guide, just an ordinary person, he sat in the top position of the Hero Center. This was possible because he was a tremendous politician and a skilled operator.
“You seem to be in a good mood.”
Minjae tried to be sarcastic. Not that it would make any impact anyway.
“Ah, if it isn’t our Minjae! Good to see you.”
Our, my ass. Minjae thought as he shoved his hands into his pockets and perched on the sofa opposite the Center Director.
“I have no intention of carrying around an attachment.”
Minjae got straight to the point. At Jihwan’s mention, the Center Director smiled. Minjae thought it was a truly unpleasant smile.
“Jihwan, you see, is a rare S-class esper in this country.”
As expected. Hearing Jinsung’s main point, Minjae swallowed a derisive laugh.
“What are you trying to say?”
“Aren’t you a senior at this Center? And the Esper Department Director too.”
“Yes.”
“Shouldn’t you guide him a little? He’s your junior with an S-class ranking.”
Jinsung showed a gentle smile. Minjae smiled back.
“Why should I? We already have one flight esper in the team.”
“Right, that’s true… Flight espers have become quite… common recently, haven’t they?”
Jinsung stroked his chin as if measuring something. When he made such an expression, Jinsung’s face looked like that of a viper.
“…So?”
“Jihwan isn’t exactly an… outstanding case either. For an S-class, the government might be a bit…”
Trailing off, Jinsung looked Minjae up and down. Fuck. Minjae swallowed his curse.
He was saying in a roundabout way that Jihwan was useless.
Minjae had heard similar words from Jinsung before. An SSS-class but a healer, the government is a bit…
“They find it troublesome.”
“And?”
Indeed, in Korea, the manifestation of flight espers was relatively high. Next came telekinesis and some physical enhancement abilities. Of course, the manifestation of S-class was rare regardless of the type.
It wasn’t a gacha game, but the Center Director wanted to collect espers. He wanted to bring high-ranked ability users of various types into his domain.
Minjae glared at Jinsung. Jinsung was looking back at him with composed eyes.
“Train him yourself, educate him too. It’s one of your duties as Department Director anyway.”
“You already made him do a power demonstration.”
Minjae pulled out a different attack card. Now that he brought it up, he felt even more heated.
Jinsung smiled as if troubled by that.
“Not just about you, but public opinion has been concerning. The Hero Center’s reputation was tarnished, and public sentiment has been unsettled. After all, our role is to serve the citizens, so how can we not reassure them?”
Jinsung spoke like a capable boss comforting a novice.
“Yes, and thanks to that, I’ve become too busy. I’m not sure if I’ll have the time to train a rookie.”
Wherever Minjae went these days, journalists always swarmed like bees. Because of that, Minjae had to keep pushing himself. After all, they came to dig into the scenes where “Woo Minjae” appeared.
“Can you manage without me now?”
“……”
“You must feel some guilt, don’t you?”
At Minjae’s words, Jinsung looked at him for a moment. His smile, now with less composure, was somewhat fishy. What an unpleasant bastard. Wish he’d die. Minjae thought to himself.
“Then I’ll leave the matter of Jihwan entirely to you.”
Just like that? What decision does he think I’ll make? Minjae examined Jinsung’s face, trying not to react hastily.
“The team assignments were already finalized yesterday. Poor Jihwan has nowhere to go. However, if you, as the Esper Department Director, decide to kick out an S-class esper who has already been assigned to a team, I won’t stop you.”
This fucking bastard, really. Minjae glared at the Center Director who was pretending to be generous while mocking him.
“Useless espers usually don’t meet a good end.”
Jinsung spoke as if he was genuinely concerned. At Jinsung’s words, Minjae had to admit that he had lost.
That snake knew that he couldn’t kick out an S-class esper. What a sucker. Minjae cursed himself.
Seeing Minjae’s expression, Jinsung showed a subtle smile. It was a smile of victory.
“Later, you’ll understand too, Minjae. That all this is for your own good.”
“…That’s something you shouldn’t say.”
Minjae gritted his teeth. He wanted to grab and twist that wrinkled neck.
Minjae slowly rose, nodded his head slightly, and headed toward the door. If he stayed seated any longer, he felt like he would vomit something.
“I’m counting on you, Minjae.”
Jinsung added as Minjae was walking out.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
