54
Minjae stood in front of Eunjeong’s door and knocked. He called out to her, but there was no response.
Minjae took out the master key he had obtained from the security team. He never thought he’d use his Team Leader authority like this. Minjae opened the door with a strange feeling of bitterness.
Eunjeong’s room was dark. As soon as he took off his shoes at the entrance, something hit Minjae’s foot. It was a beer can. The room was littered with bottles like a garbage dump. Judging by the broken glass and ceramic fragments, it seemed she had broken dishes or cups too.
Minjae stepped inside, gently pushing aside the debris with his foot.
Eunjeong was sitting under the bed rather than on it, slumped over the mattress. Hearing the noise, she briefly turned her head to look at Minjae, then buried her face again.
Minjae found a bag on the sink shelf and picked up the fragments from the floor. He opened the window to ventilate the room and cleaned the floor with a small vacuum cleaner. He gathered the crumpled clothes and put them in the laundry basket. The silence was filled with the ordinary noise of things rattling.
Eunjeong was now quietly watching what Minjae was doing. Her eyes were red.
“Any injuries?” Minjae asked. Eunjeong shook her head slightly. Good. Minjae slowly approached her and sat on the edge of the bed. Then he checked her wrists. They were still in good condition.
Well, if Eunjeong had used her abilities to destroy the room, it would have been fortunate that only dishes were broken.
“I was concerned, so I checked the casualty list again, and your mother wasn’t on it.”
At Minjae’s words, Eunjeong’s eyes contorted. Minjae could see tears welling up in her eyes.
“I know.”
“…”
“I looked for her everywhere. That day, I kept looking endlessly while being carried by Hoyoung. Not that it would help me find her. I kept searching, thinking ‘where is she,’ and when I couldn’t see her, it was scary in its own way.”
“…I see.”
“It’s funny, sunbae. What would I do if I found her? Why am I scared when I can’t find her?”
Ugh. Eunjeong made a sound like she was enduring a blow. It seemed she was holding back tears. Eunjeong turned on the phone she was holding and showed it to Minjae.
-Mom is sorry.
It was a text message that had arrived around the time the rescue operation was ending.
“She says she’s sorry. Sunbae… how could she do this to me?”
Eunjeong’s voice was dry. Eunjeong must have felt both relief and betrayal from that message. And then she would have spent time hating herself for having such thoughts.
Minjae recalled how he had endlessly repeated hypothetical scenarios of meeting his mother who had never once come looking for him, wondering what would happen if he happened to rescue her.
Back then, in his imagination, he had killed her countless times, saved her, and frantically searched for her again. Eventually, he had to give up.
By now, he probably wouldn’t even recognize his mother if she stood right in front of him. That much time had passed.
“Eunjeong, cry.”
Minjae whispered, stroking her back. He lowered himself to the floor beneath the bed. Eunjeong buried her face in Minjae’s shoulder. She burst into tears with a sound that was part scream, part moan.
“I hate myself.”
“Shh, don’t say that.”
Minjae comforted Eunjeong as she kept saying she hated herself. When the crying that had continued for a while gradually subsided, Minjae’s shoulder was completely damp.
Minjae pulled some nearby tissues and handed them to Eunjeong. She took the tissues and blew her nose.
“And I don’t know about you, but I like Eunjeong.”
“…”
“Probably Seoyeon too, and Wooseok. Quite a few people do.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Eunjeong apologized, lowering her gaze.
“I thought you’d grown out of being a kid, but you’re still a baby.”
Eunjeong laughed weakly at Minjae’s joke.
“Come to work tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“And don’t come out looking dejected.”
Eunjeong nodded. Minjae gently stroked her head.
***
The next day, Eunjeong headed to where the esper academy was located. The academy was formed as a separate zone behind the Center, divided into three buildings. It was roughly divided in the style of elementary, middle, and high school.
Today was the day the rescued children would be enrolled in the esper school.
It’s been a while since I’ve been on this road. Eunjeong walked, thinking that the path she had traveled in the past seemed narrower now. All of Team 1 was at the academy entrance. Seoyeon was there too.
“You’re here?” Minjae greeted Eunjeong as if nothing had happened. Eunjeong nodded. She could feel Seoyeon staring at her for a moment.
“You have to visit us!”
“Of course! Promise!”
On one side, Jihwan and Hoyoung were making promises with the children. It seemed they were promising to visit the academy often.
Soon, an academy staff member came out and checked the children’s list, ability scores, and guiding measurements. Minjae briefly explained the children’s information.
“What do they teach here?”
Seoyeon, who had been standing quietly next to Eunjeong, asked.
Eunjeong turned to look at Seoyeon. She was looking at the building with an expression that seemed to be carefully examining the invisible interior. Seoyeon was also a case where her guide abilities were discovered quite late, so she had entered the Center as an adult.
“…They teach how to save people and how to harm people.”
Eunjeong answered with a bitter expression.
The children would learn various ways to rescue people in crisis situations. They would remember the teaching that they should prioritize people even if they themselves get hurt or die.
And at the same time, they would learn combat methods. They would engrave in their bodies how to subdue and deal with people. Still, Eunjeong hoped those children wouldn’t learn to hate themselves the way she did.
Seoyeon quietly took Eunjeong’s hand. Together, Eunjeong and Seoyeon waved to the children.
After sending all the children off, Eunjeong apologized to her team members.
“I’m sorry. You must have all been busy.”
“No, sunbae. You need to rest sometimes too. It wasn’t that busy.”
Hoyoung left some reassuring words and returned to the Center. Minjae patted Eunjeong’s shoulder and disappeared with Jihwan in tow.
An awkward silence fell between Seoyeon and Eunjeong, who were left alone.
After hesitating for a moment, Eunjeong carefully withdrew her hand from Seoyeon’s. Then she spoke.
“My mom was a follower of The Crow.”
Seoyeon’s eyes widened and then settled. Eunjeong swallowed for a moment.
“Um, I think my mom had a hard time accepting the fact that I was an esper.”
Eunjeong began to tell the story of herself and her mother. As the story continued, Seoyeon’s face darkened, and Eunjeong became somehow frightened by that.
Seoyeon is a guide. Eunjeong was afraid of how she would react to hearing such a story.
“I’m sorry. I…”
Thinking she should apologize first, Eunjeong blurted out that she was sorry. Where should I start apologizing?
While Eunjeong was searching for words, Seoyeon came closer and took her hand. The slightly trembling hand was stabilized by Seoyeon’s strength.
“…Thank you for telling me.”
Seoyeon gently pulled Eunjeong into an embrace and patted her back. Eunjeong, who had prepared herself for the possibility that Seoyeon might just leave and never deal with her again, couldn’t quite believe the current situation.
“…Seoyeon?”
“Next time, at least answer my calls.”
“…Okay, sorry.”
Seoyeon comforted Eunjeong for a long time. Even though Seoyeon was much shorter and was leaning on Eunjeong, Eunjeong felt the stability of being embraced by large arms.
Eunjeong blankly stared at the warmth touching her back at regular intervals and Seoyeon’s hair fluttering in the gentle breeze before her eyes.
***
Minjae glared at Jihwan, who was walking while clinging tightly to his left arm.
Recently, whenever they walked down the corridor, Jihwan would look around as if planning something and then grab Minjae’s arm like he was putting an arm around his shoulder or linking arms. When an irritated Minjae shook him off, this is what happened.
At first, Minjae had let it slide, thinking maybe Jihwan was scared of something, but it was getting more and more excessive.
Jihwan seemed unaware of how heavy he was as he kept leaning his body against Minjae. Besides being clingy, he was heavy and interfered with walking. Pushed into the corner of the corridor, Minjae finally exploded.
“Hey!”
“Yes???”
When Minjae shouted, Jihwan hunched his shoulders and opened his eyes wide. Minjae pushed Jihwan to the side. Backing up a few steps, Jihwan immediately put on a tearful face.
“What exactly are you trying to do?”
“What do you mean…?”
“What do I mean? Are you kidding me? The corridor is this wide, so why are you making it impossible for people to walk?”
Minjae ruffled his hair in irritation. Jihwan’s face visibly shrank. It seemed he wasn’t really aware of his own behavior.
This is maddening. Minjae sighed.
“You… is something wrong?”
“What?”
Minjae asked. Jihwan echoed the question, glancing at Minjae’s expression. Even in the midst of this, he didn’t forget to look around furtively.
Ha. Thinking it wasn’t right to keep grabbing the kid in the corridor, Minjae lowered his voice more calmly and asked.
“I’m asking if something’s wrong. If you have something on your mind, just tell me. I’ll help if I can.”
At Minjae’s words, Jihwan seemed to consider for a moment before speaking.
“It’s about the rumor about you, sunbae… I thought if I did this, maybe it would just disappear.”
Rumor? Minjae frowned. There were many rumors following him. Thinking about which one it might be, Minjae recalled the scandal Wooseok had mentioned.
So now, he was doing these strange things to cover up that rumor?
“Why are you so concerned about it?”
“Pardon?”
“No, I mean, things like that are just gossip. Let people say whatever they want.”
“Weren’t you always concerned about rumors, sunbae? But why not this one…”
Minjae didn’t care much as long as the rumors weren’t critically damaging to his image as a Team Leader. If such a thing happened, he would not only be called in by the Center Director, but many people’s well-being would be shattered.
However, it wasn’t his business what kind of imagination people had about his non-existent love life.
“That kind of thing isn’t related to me or the Center’s well-being.”
But contrary to Minjae’s thoughts, Jihwan’s expression wasn’t good.
“Still…”
“There’s no need to worry so much about thoughtless talk.”
At Minjae’s words, Jihwan pressed his lips together and lowered his head. He seemed to be grumbling something like “I…” Minjae lightly tapped the crown of Jihwan’s head with his finger. Still a kid.
“If you don’t come, I’m leaving without you.”
It was time to eat somewhere other than the Center because Jihwan had said there was something he wanted to eat. Minjae thought he’d treat him once since Jihwan had been working hard lately.
Minjae turned and started walking. “I’m coming,” Jihwan said, sticking right next to him.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
