Chapter 58
“What? Seoyul is in Shin Yujin’s team now?!”
Hearing the unexpected news, Dowoon shouted in surprise. Minjun, who hadn’t realized Dowoon was unaware, opened his eyes wide and replied.
“Huh? You didn’t know? Yul joined Team 1.”
Team 1.
Yes, he knew Seoyul had gone to Team 1. But he didn’t know who was in Team 1. The reason was simple: he had no interest in anyone except Seoyul. Since Seoyul was his only Guide, why would he pay attention to other Guides?
The ones he needed to be wary of were Espers, not Guides. But if he had known this would happen, he should have paid more attention.
Why did it have to be Shin Yujin of all people!
“Damn it. Then is Seoyul acting this way because of that bastard?”
Shin Yujin.
Who was he? Someone who had been Dowoon’s nemesis for a long time, someone he didn’t even want to think about. Dowoon disliked Yujin far more than Sunghun, and that hadn’t changed.
He was so good at getting under Dowoon’s skin. It was as if he had been born to irritate Dowoon, and he always managed to get tangled in everything, making Dowoon stressed just thinking about him.
Yujin was also a big reason why Dowoon cringed at the mention of pairs. In the past, he had been forced to form a pair and receive Guiding solely because of their high grades, and that memory was truly the worst.
Dowoon had never hesitated to express this, and Yujin had the same personality.
‘That bastard is crazy enough to endure and do whatever I hate, no matter how uncomfortable it is!’
That’s why Dowoon really hated him. Even though Yujin himself must have been in pain while providing Guiding, he would stubbornly endure and complete it because Dowoon hated it.
He had once heard Yujin say:
‘Because you hate it, I want to do it more. Guiding is terrible, but when I see your face contorted with displeasure, I feel good again.’
…He truly had a perverted personality. Dowoon had tried very hard to break the pair because he hated him so much.
But since Yujin was the only one who didn’t faint while Guiding Dowoon, no one listened to his complaints.
So he had endured painful Guiding for a long time, and when his condition didn’t improve, the Association finally gave up and granted his wish.
He thought that was the end, but whenever Yujin met Dowoon, he would growl and pick fights. Isn’t that why Dowoon had studied harder than ever before?
‘Being S-class means you don’t need to study? Lucky to have a free pass.’
Free pass? No matter how much of an S-class Esper Dowoon was, he couldn’t enter the Association without taking the exam. But Yujin had sneered as if Dowoon was receiving special treatment.
So Dowoon had studied like crazy and achieved the feat of getting a perfect score.
But Yujin had done the same, and in the overall ability evaluation, he had proudly overtaken Dowoon and snatched first place.
‘His personality is even worse.’
He seemed even more despicable because Dowoon knew he always wore a mask of kindness.
After meeting Seoyul, Dowoon had thought he would never have to deal with Yujin again, but what kind of disaster was this!
‘That bastard must have done something.’
Dowoon moved his feet, determined to find and confront him.
Finding him wasn’t difficult. When he opened the door to the Team 1 leader’s office, he saw that dreadful face.
“Hey! Shin Yujin!”
Dowoon grabbed him by the collar without hesitation. But Yujin just looked down at him with an unchanged expression. Then, with a grin that suggested he knew why Dowoon was there, he said:
“You came later than I expected.”
“You!!”
It was certain.
As soon as Dowoon became convinced that Yujin must be up to something, he used spatial teleportation to change their location.
He did so because he thought Seoyul might be nearby.
“Oh? Have you developed the ability to think now? You used to be too stupid to even consider changing locations.”
Though Yujin was being sarcastic, he didn’t lose his smile. He was always like this. He was desperate to get at Dowoon.
“I heard you got a Guide, have you finally grown up…?”
Bang—!
Dowoon pushed Yujin against the wall, pressuring him. A loud noise came from the iron door, but he didn’t care.
What mattered was that Seoyul’s name had come from that mouth.
“What did you do to Seoyul?”
Though Dowoon growled and pressured him, Yujin had been by Dowoon’s side for a long time, so it didn’t have much effect.
“What do you mean? What would I have done?”
Yujin answered calmly. Both his face and voice were so composed that he didn’t look like someone whose collar was being grabbed.
But Dowoon didn’t believe him.
The very fact that Yujin had pulled Seoyul into his team meant he had ulterior motives.
“Do you think I’d believe that?!”
“What will you do if I don’t believe you? And speak properly. I outrank you.”
“This guy.”
Dowoon was on the verge of exploding with anger. He was convinced that Yujin had done something to Seoyul.
But Yujin, still smiling, removed Dowoon’s hand and said:
“Well… I didn’t do nothing, but this time I feel a little wronged.”
His face looked somewhat aggrieved and annoyed. Having known Yujin for a long time, Dowoon could sense that this was the truth.
“It’s true that I invited Guide Seo to our team, but I only found out he was your Guide afterward.”
“What?”
Dowoon couldn’t close his mouth in astonishment.
“You know our team. We scout talented people first. You know Guide Seo has a high matching rate, right? Even if he’s C-grade, that’s enough for him to be in our team.”
“…”
Dowoon fell silent, lost in thought. Could this be true? Was it really not intentional? Without ulterior motives?
“Of course, after learning he was your Guide, I did say some unnecessary things.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Dowoon grabbed his collar again and pushed him back.
Bang—!
The loud sound of collision with the door rang out again, and Dowoon glared at him with a menacing aura. In response, Yujin smiled pleasantly and said:
“Oh! To think I can see this face without providing Guiding now. Not bad!”
“You bastard. What did you say to Seoyul?”
“What did I say?”
He opened his mouth with the same sly smile, not yielding to Dowoon.
“I just told him the fact that you and I used to be a pair.”
“…”
“You might not believe it, but I really didn’t say anything else.”
“…”
“What else could I say about you besides that?”
Dowoon stared at him blankly. It wasn’t that he found it hard to believe; now that he had calmed down a bit, he realized there really wasn’t much else that came to mind.
Moreover, Yujin didn’t seem to be lying.
‘Then why is Seoyul…’
If Yujin hadn’t played any tricks, why was Seoyul avoiding him?
The mere fact that he and Yujin had briefly been a pair in the past wasn’t reason enough for Seoyul to behave like this.
That’s what Dowoon concluded.
Bang—!
But Dowoon pushed him again and brought his face close. No matter how truthful he might be, as long as he was near Seoyul, Dowoon couldn’t let his guard down.
Dowoon growled menacingly in Yujin’s ear.
“If you lay even a finger on Seoyul, I won’t let you off. You better be prepared.”
“Look who’s worried. I’m a Guide, remember? Guide Seo is a valuable team member.”
Of all the teams, he had to end up in this bastard’s team. Dowoon thought about recommending a different team when he returned and released his grip.
At that moment, the sound of someone descending the stairs came from below. Someone had been eavesdropping on their conversation.
‘There’s no particular reason to hide my bad relationship with Shin Yujin.’
Until now, he had to be careful because they were bound by the framework of being a pair. But now that Seoyul was here, there was no need for that. There was no reason for him to be entangled with Yujin ever again.
“Aren’t you going to chase after them?”
“Why would I?”
Dowoon replied curtly as he turned around. Then Yujin dropped an unexpected statement.
“Of course… because it was Guide Seo?”
“What?!”
Dowoon’s heart sank.
* * *
Seoyul ran without stopping. He didn’t know why, but his heart felt tight and his vision was blurred.
They had clearly been kissing.
The rumors that the two had been lovers in the past were true. Their relationship was continuing even now.
‘Then what happens to me now?’
Would he become unnecessary? No, Dowoon needed Guiding. So regardless of who Dowoon was seeing, Seoyul would continue to Guide him.
‘Will I be able to support Esper-nim?’
It seemed difficult. His chest felt like it would burst, and he was so jealous that he might blurt out hurtful words.
“Seoyul!!”
Thud.
He heard Dowoon’s voice in the distance. Only then did Seoyul realize that Dowoon was chasing after him.
Seoyul ran quickly and immediately caught a taxi. Right now, his only thought was to escape. If he met Dowoon now, it felt like things would become irreversible.
He wanted to go somewhere where Dowoon wasn’t present, to organize his thoughts slowly.
‘What…?’
What did he need to organize? Seoyul was lost in thought, not even knowing where the taxi was headed.
No thoughts came to mind. His chest just felt tight because the image of the two people he had seen earlier wouldn’t leave his mind.
His vision blurred.
‘Why am I crying?’
What right did he have to shed tears like this? Why was he crying as if he had been abandoned when he and Dowoon weren’t even in a relationship?
“We’ve arrived, customer.”
At the driver’s words, Seoyul paid the fare and stepped out.
‘This is…’
It was in front of the house where Seoyul had lived until a few months ago. To get to the house, he needed to walk a bit further from here, but this was as far as the car could go.
It seemed he had unconsciously mentioned the most familiar place.
‘That’s right. Esper-nim won’t be able to find me here.’
Seoyul wiped his tears and walked up the path.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
