“By the way, how did you know you came here?”
After receiving guiding, I asked the question that had been nagging at me. But as soon as the words left my mouth, I realized it wasn’t the right question. I immediately followed up.
“No, who brought you here?”
Only about 20 minutes had passed since the end of training, and even if they had been called after training, it didn’t make sense for them to arrive this quickly. Not unless they were already at the Center. And there was only one person who knew the location and could freely come and go.
“I called them.”
The answer came not from the two of them, but from behind me.
“Center Director.”
The Center Director waved lightly as they approached us alongside Song Songi.
In truth, I already knew the answer, but I was just confirming it with my own eyes. I bowed respectfully to the Center Director who had suddenly drawn close.
“Hello, sir.”
“Good to see you.”
He patted my shoulder as he replied. I raised my head, and he looked back and forth between the two guides standing beside me before looking at me.
“They came for the consent forms and when they heard you were training here, they said they’d wait until you finished.”
“I see.”
I didn’t need to ask what consent forms he was talking about. Recalling the conversation Song Songi and the Center Director had before training, I nodded. Watching me agree, he bent slightly to meet my downcast gaze.
“I thought you might be moved to tears, but people can be so dry.”
Despite saying this, his eyes held a peculiar light. It wasn’t as if I had been scrutinizing his expression. He was deliberately making a face that showed his interest in me.
“Your guides must feel neglected.”
The Center Director straightened up and placed his hand on my shoulder. Unlike before, when he had just patted it, this time he pressed down firmly before removing his hand.
I briefly wondered if the Center Director had ever acted like this toward me in the past, but nowhere in my memory was there anything like this. Our relationship had been such that we didn’t even speak outside of work matters. Although he was my direct superior, we weren’t close enough to have such familiar conversations. Moreover, there was a 10-year age gap between us. I couldn’t even imagine how young I must look to him.
‘Is this also something that changed with the regression?’
The Center Director’s sudden interest in me was honestly burdensome. I slightly averted my gaze, secretly hoping that he would pass by me and just leave.
“I’ve received consent forms from all four of them. It’s touching how they all care for Esper Woo Jeongjae as much as a dedicated guide would, despite being temporary guides. Now I just need your consent, Esper Woo Jeongjae. Are you okay with it?”
I thought my opinion would naturally be disregarded, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. I raised my head without realizing it.
“Of course I refuse—”
“I know that Esper Woo Jeongjae won’t refuse. You’ve wanted a dedicated guide for a long time, and this temporary guide cohabitation arrangement offers exceptionally good conditions for an esper. Ah, perhaps the conditions are so good that you feel burdened? Haha, don’t worry about that. You’re the nation’s only S-class esper, so this much is only natural. For my sake as well, I’d appreciate it if you’d accept gladly.”
Despite speaking with a seemingly kind face, he knew I was about to refuse. Standing closest to him, I could sense the pressure behind his smiling face.
‘Basically telling me to shut up and take what I’m given.’
I was so dumbfounded that I froze with my face still turned up toward the Center Director. Anyone could tell this wasn’t about asking for my opinion. I was being threatened under the guise of authority.
“That’s enough.”
I felt something release inside me as gentle hands pulled me back and firm hands grasped mine. Do Wonjin had pulled me away, and Yang Garam was holding my hand.
“I think we understand the Center Director’s intentions clearly, so there’s no need to pressure further.”
Surprisingly, it was Do Wonjin who spoke up for me. He was facing the Center Director with a completely serious expression.
“Is it because you’re young? It’s a shame my little joke doesn’t seem to land well.”
The Center Director pulled up the corners of his mouth in a not-at-all playful manner as he addressed Do Wonjin, then looked at me.
“It seems you’re receiving a lot of affection, Esper Woo Jeongjae.”
As if the matter of seeking my consent had never happened, the Center Director made no mention of it and simply gave a meaningful smile.
“Unlike in the past.”
As he brushed past me, he whispered softly so only I could hear, and I felt as if I’d been doused in ice water from head to toe.
“See you at tomorrow’s mission.”
The Center Director lightly tapped my frozen shoulder and gestured for Song Songi to come along. Song Songi looked back and forth between me and the Center Director with a darkened expression before hurriedly brushing past me to follow the Center Director.
“Hyung.”
As I was blankly staring at their retreating backs, I was startled back to reality by the tight grip on my hand.
“Are you okay?”
Yang Garam was looking at my face with concern.
I replied with a questioning “Huh?” and Do Wonjin clicked his tongue briefly.
“Are you afraid of the Center Director, Jeongjae?”
At Do Wonjin’s question as he released me from his arms to face me, I blinked rapidly.
‘Me, afraid of the Center Director?’
Just as I was about to deny it, the words he had left with me flashed through my mind.
‘Unlike in the past.’
Instinctively, my tongue stiffened, and I couldn’t say anything. It felt as if all my functions had overloaded just from the fact that the Center Director might have realized I had regressed.
“I can’t send you home like this.”
Do Wonjin muttered, and Yang Garam also rarely agreed with his opinion. I couldn’t follow their conversation and was just anxiously biting my lips.
“Let’s get out of here first, hyung.”
Yang Garam said, pulling my hand, and I managed to nod.
When I returned home, I found Woo Jeonghyun packing his things.
It had only been a year and a few months since we moved here after the accident, so there wasn’t much to pack. That’s why I could tell immediately when I saw the half-filled suitcase. He hadn’t been home long, and he had started packing as soon as he arrived.
“Jeonghyun, you’re in such a hurry. Did you actually want to leave all along?”
“Why are you picking a fight as soon as you get home, hyung?”
After scanning the belongings that were too sparse to be considered moving items, I looked up. Seeing my brother’s face, which clearly showed his hurt feelings, the thorns I had raised on my own pricked painfully at my heart.
‘You know very well that Jeonghyun doesn’t want to leave either. What’s wrong with you, Woo Jeongjae?’
I was annoyed at my own childishness. After being swayed by the Center Director’s ambiguous words and causing nothing but trouble for Do Wonjin and Yang Garam, I was also being a burden at home.
“…I’m sorry.”
Jeonghyun’s face was already troubled enough without me adding to it. He must have mentally prepared himself to some extent this morning, and if he still hadn’t sorted things out, there must be a problem. Normally, I would have asked him directly without holding back my curiosity, but I was also exhausted.
After moving my lips a few times, I chose to turn around and go to my room.
My brother didn’t stop me, and silence fell over the house. Both of us prepared for tomorrow in our own ways, facing the last night in this house that had been a haven for us both.
“Hyung.”
The one who broke the silence was Woo Jeonghyun, more mature than I was.
Lying straight on the bed and staring at the ceiling, I answered without a trace of drowsiness in my voice, as if I had been waiting.
“What?”
“Are you going to be like this till the end? I’m leaving tomorrow, you know?”
My large brother came and nestled in my arms like he did when he was young. Seeing Jeonghyun’s body all scrunched up because I was relatively smaller, I felt my stiff expression crumbling.
“You’re not the only one leaving.”
“What?”
“You’re going to Zone A too, right?”
Jeonghyun straightened his crumpled body and looked down at me. I was now trapped in Jeonghyun’s arms.
“Hyung, did you make a dedicated guide contract? Wasn’t it with temporary guides?”
Zone A was a high-end residential complex created by the government to manage espers and guides. When an esper belonging to the state contracts with a dedicated guide, the state provides housing free of charge. Of course, there are stipulations. The condition is that it’s only for A-class and S-class espers.
“Not exactly, it’s more like a special case, I guess.”
In fact, after what happened at the Center, Yang Garam and Do Wonjin deliberately took me to a cafe far away from the Center. And there, I was able to hear the background on how they came to sign the consent forms.
“Anyway, I’m going to be living with the temporary guides.”
The Center Director never asked for my opinion again, and I didn’t express my intentions to him either. But it was as good as decided. That became clear through what I heard from Yang Garam and Do Wonjin. The Center Director never needed my opinion from the start. His asking for my opinion was simply to gauge my reaction. Or perhaps it was just a whim.
“With all four of them?”
“It seems that’s how it turned out.”
“My goodness.”
There was a reason why restrictions were placed so that an esper could only have one dedicated guide, despite guiding being essential for espers. Part of it was that it was more efficient for one high-match guide to provide concentrated care, but it was also to prevent excessive guiding.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
The center director is definitely sus…
Thank you for the update!