Chapter 3
After calling more than once every three days, the Association finally summoned Dohyun directly. Thanks to that, his plan to look for a morning part-time job after finishing his dawn package loading and unloading work went awry. He had thought about resting at home for a day afterward, but that idea turning to foam made him a bit irritated.
Thanks to working diligently for a month without a break, quite a bit of money had accumulated in his bank account. He’d done well to find jobs that paid wages daily.
After checking his balance, Dohyun decided to indulge a little. He chose a boxed meal instead of a triangle kimbap at the convenience store, and bought a drink he had been pretending not to see every day.
It was less than 5,000 won in total, but it still felt like he’d spent more than expected. How long would it take to walk to the Association from here?
Wednesday, May 4, 2022
Sa Gongchan:
“Ah seriously bbakddo-rai”
“Are you crazy? Not even a taxi”
“If you take the bus and transfer it won’t cost much”
“Why are you even hesitating?”
Oh Jaewon:
“Don’t understand”
“ㅗㅗ” (middle finger)
Jung Haesu:
“Good thing I didn’t add to the conversation ㅎ I’m not getting the middle finger ㅎ”
“ㅗ” (middle finger)
Jung Haesu:
“ㅜㅜㅜㅜ”
This is what happens with rich kids. Somehow all three of his only friends were in this state. Dohyun clicked his tongue and ate the last piece of tonkatsu from his lunch box.
After clicking “leave” on the noisy group chat, he came out of the convenience store and checked the time, thinking a bit. Walking was already out of the question. Taxis were lined up at the nearby taxi stand waiting for customers, and beyond them, he could see the bus he needed to take departing from the bus stop.
“Ah…”
If he took a taxi, he would arrive well before the appointment time. But if he took the next bus, it seemed difficult to arrive on time. Well, let’s admit it. For once, taking his time eating had messed things up. Better to be early than late. Dohyun sighed and got into the taxi at the front of the line.
Standing in front of the Association’s main entrance, Dohyun made a sour face. It wasn’t exactly a place with good memories. Annoyingly, he had to visit monthly to be tested for manifestation, and after the tests, he had to consistently attend education sessions about unfunny videos or the mindset of an Esper, and so on.
That wasn’t all. Because he was expected to manifest at a high grade, the employees didn’t hide their curiosity or goodwill, and there were quite a few scenes of people from various guilds coming to wait for him. It was all just burdensome.
“Hah…”
Dohyun exhaled deeply and rubbed his face with both hands. To think he had to come again to this place that was always uncomfortable and awkward.
“If you’re not going in, please move aside.”
Dohyun, who had been lingering in front of the revolving door, flinched at the low voice from behind. Cold sweat ran down his back as he felt the large presence at the same time. A sunken voice that seemed annoyed. The silhouette reflected in the revolving door’s glass completely covered Dohyun’s body with room to spare.
Dohyun slowly turned his head. The man standing behind him was looking down at him with cold eyes.
“Uh…”
Dohyun swallowed and stepped back, moving away from the man.
The sharp eyes and tall height were so intimidating that he couldn’t help feeling fear. The man’s broad shoulders, which made it obvious he was someone who worked out, immediately blocked the sunlight that had been visible behind him.
With that, a shadow fell over Dohyun’s face. As the man’s shadow covered him more, he grabbed his trembling wrist due to the rising anxiety.
The man, displeased about something, approached closer and glared at Dohyun’s arm before walking past him. The large shadow gradually disappeared.
“Scary…”
It wasn’t something he said deliberately. The man heard Dohyun’s voice that came out without his realizing, glanced at him, and turned away as if offended.
Although Dohyun knew it was impolite, he couldn’t take back what he’d already said. He wanted to apologize, but the words wouldn’t come out. Just as he was about to speak, the man entered the building.
Dohyun stared at the revolving door and only exhaled deeply after the man’s figure completely disappeared.
“This won’t work.”
Let’s say today is impossible. If it feels like something’s going wrong before even starting, it might be better to go back now.
Just as he decided to go back today and come again another time due to the tall man’s cold gaze, the revolving door turned again.
“Esper Baek Dohyun! It’s been a while~. Come this way!”
After hesitating, he missed the chance to turn back. It seemed an employee he occasionally saw had come out to meet him. You didn’t need to come out. At the voice of the employee calling him, Dohyun reluctantly moved his feet that didn’t want to move.
“This worked out perfectly. The Guide who was scheduled to check compatibility with Esper Baek Dohyun just arrived. I’m so glad you both came early.”
“Yes… What?”
At the employee’s words, Dohyun’s mouth opened slightly. Suddenly, the large man he had bumped into earlier came to mind. The cold face, the chilly gaze. Surely not… it couldn’t be?
He wanted to think that way, but an intense intuition washed over him.
Baek Dohyun. Winter, as he turned from nineteen to twenty.
Before even greeting the Guide that an Esper should rightfully make a good impression on, he had blurted out rude words saying he was scary.
❖ ❖ ❖
It can’t be. There’s no way that person is the only one who just arrived at the Association. It must be a figure of speech. Even as he consoled himself this way, his feet wouldn’t move.
He wanted to ask the employee if he could come tomorrow instead of today. Then the Guide waiting for Dohyun would think the Esper stood him up and leave, and tomorrow wouldn’t a different Guide who had time be available?
“It’s been a while~.”
“Yes, it has been a while.”
However, this employee was the only one at the Association with whom Dohyun had normal conversations or contact, so he couldn’t bring himself to say he was going back.
There was no special reason. It was because this person was kind enough to smile but maintained the best distance. They didn’t add any unnecessary comments about him, didn’t give pitying looks toward Dohyun who lived alone, and didn’t ask about personal matters. Half-baked sympathy was of no help whatsoever to Dohyun’s life.
As Dohyun followed the Association employee, he cautiously asked.
“I’m curious about something.”
“What are you curious about?”
“By any chance… what kind of person is the Guide who’s scheduled to check compatibility with me today?”
Wasn’t there a sliver of possibility that it wasn’t that person from earlier? He definitely heard the word “just now,” but as long as it wasn’t the person who entered right before, it would be fine. However, the employee’s words crushed Dohyun’s hope.
“You must have just missed each other! He came right before you arrived, Esper Baek Dohyun. Didn’t you see a very tall man?”
He had seen him. Not just tall, but large-bodied with sharp features. Dohyun thought of a bear. Not the cute bear with a honey pot from animations, but a ferocious wild bear with blood smeared around its mouth and gleaming eyes. The moment he imagined a black bear suddenly appearing on a dark, unpaved mountain path, his mouth opened without his realizing.
“Like a bear?”
“…A bear?”
I’m done for. It seems words flowed out of my mouth again while I was lost in thought. The nagging of his three friends seemed to ring in his ears, saying if he didn’t fix his habit of getting lost in his thoughts, people would keep calling him rude!
He thought he should correct his habit of talking to himself without realizing it, but it wasn’t easy. Dohyun was the type of person who thought it better to speak honestly than to lie.
“No. I misspoke.”
“He doesn’t really look like a bear… Isn’t he more sharp-featured than round? Did you see someone else? Still, he has a good personality~.”
Excuse me, bears tear people apart. And that face earlier was completely a wild bear.
The gap between Dohyun’s thoughts of a bear hunting prey in a video and the employee’s thoughts of a cute stuffed bear was this great. Dohyun didn’t say anything more and quietly followed the employee.
He had thought he didn’t need a Guide, but now he felt any other Guide would be fine as long as it wasn’t that person from earlier.
“Guide Choi Haegang~. You could have remained seated.”
“No. You said it wouldn’t take long, so I waited.”
“……”
As expected, Dohyun’s wishes never came true. In the small office where the employee took Dohyun, there was that man from earlier, the one who had seemed like a wild beast.
But who is this now? Dohyun was confused when he saw the man’s face. When they had met at the building entrance, his expressionless face had clearly been covered with irritation. The expression that had been so scary he couldn’t move was nowhere to be seen.
“The Esper I was going to check compatibility with today is…”
As the man glanced at Dohyun with a somewhat impassive expression, the employee who had come along smiled and introduced Dohyun.
“Yes, it’s this person. I heard there’s been quite a bit of talk in the freelance Guide community.”
“Ah, I see. I’m Choi Haegang. Nice to meet you.”
The large Guide extended his hand first. Unlike the friendly employee, his face remained expressionless throughout. But there was no bad atmosphere. Had he seen wrong earlier? Dohyun looked at the hand readily extended as the man approached, and after considering, he extended his own hand. He pushed aside what had happened earlier for now.
“So you’re ‘that Esper.'”
“…That?”
“There was quite a commotion about an S-grade Esper appearing.”
Their bodies got a little closer and their right hands touched. A strange tension arose in that moment. Had he ever shaken hands with a stranger before? During his school days, no one had offered to shake his hand. Dohyun looked at his right hand and then raised his head.
At that moment, Dohyun broke into a cold sweat at Haegang’s gaze looking down at him. He was clearly evaluating him. And in quite a negative direction.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
