# Chapter 13
What seemed impossible became reality.
“Are you okay?”
“Hyung. Answer me.”
“Wow. Such a persistent guy.”
Jaeyoon was really checking in every hour on the dot. Jaeha, who was making jerky with seasoning on his hands, found it annoying to wash his hands each time.
“I’m fine, I’m fine.”
“Ok”
After sending a short but clear answer, he went back to handling the meat when his phone dinged again.
“Ugh, seriously obsessive.”
Annoyed at having to write a long response, he checked his phone, but it wasn’t Jaeyoon.
“Is this Jaeha’s phone? This is Youngwoo sunbae. If you haven’t saved my number, please save it now.”
Of course Youngwoo’s number was already saved, but this was the first time he had contacted Jaeha first.
“Huh? Why is Youngwoo sunbae messaging me?”
“Lee Youngwoo sunbae? He contacted you first?”
Dojoon was surprised because it was rare for Youngwoo to contact someone first. It was a trivial piece of information, but they knew this fact because of a betting game that happened when Youngwoo left his phone behind, wondering who would contact him first.
“Well, I should reply anyway.”
Though confused, he messaged back and immediately received a reply.
“I think you don’t have class today. Can we meet?”
“Youngwoo sunbae, this is so random.”
Bewildered by the sudden invitation but replying honestly:
“I’m cooking right now so going out would be difficult. Sorry.”
“I’ll come help. I’m nearby so I can be there quickly.”
Dojoon, who saw the screen while carrying ingredients, casually commented:
“Sunbae really wants to see you. When did you two get so close?”
“Not really close, more like there was a small mistake.”
There were no more messages, but Jaeha felt rushed thinking Youngwoo might be waiting for a response. Suddenly, Jaeha’s eyes lit up seeing the pile of jerky growing on the table. He realized he had found someone else to offload the excess meat to. But he hesitated, remembering Jaeyoon’s disgusted reaction.
The day Jaeyoon saw him with Youngwoo, he broke a window frame and ran away from home. Though given their ongoing messages, it wasn’t exactly running away.
But after seeing Jaeyoon’s changed reaction after meeting Dojoon a few times, there was hope. Maybe this could be a chance to clear up Jaeyoon’s delusions or misunderstandings. For Jaeyoon’s return to normal life, this might be necessary. Besides, it wasn’t just the two of them – Dojoon was there too.
“Hmm… it should be fine since we’re not alone, right?”
Thinking he should ask, he sent a message to Jaeyoon. Even though seeking permission for such things seemed silly, Jaeyoon’s recent behavior made him feel it was necessary. He waited for a while with his phone, but the notification didn’t disappear as time passed.
“I came over since I was nearby. Can I see you just for a moment?”
“Huh?”
While waiting for Jaeyoon’s answer, Youngwoo contacted him again. Since he hadn’t replied, the situation had progressed, making it more awkward to refuse.
“Um… Dojoon, we shared contact information in the group chat before, right?”
“Yes, in the chat with all the seniors and juniors.”
Thanks to a class representative who committed the atrocity of posting everyone’s address book in a group chat, their information had become public property. With Youngwoo already knowing his address and arriving, it was appealing to have another person to help clear away the meat. Plus, an extra pair of hands would help.
With Jaeyoon still not responding, Jaeha made his decision.
Jaeha’s fingers moved quickly.
“Sunbae, do you like braised pork?”
* * *
Jaeyoon was after an insect-type monster called the Red Mantis. It looked similar to a praying mantis, but was nearly 2 meters tall with front legs as sharp as blades and as hard as steel.
Even Haeil hesitated to jump in without protective gear against such a creature. Yet Jaeyoon, wearing no protective equipment at all, remained calm.
“It’s more dangerous than it looks. Would be hard to catch alone.”
“Maybe for a beginner.”
Jaeyoon lightly replied and leaped forward. His timing was so perfect it wouldn’t have been concerning if he were an awakened one. However, while his movements were incredibly good for a normal person, they weren’t enough since he wasn’t awakened.
“Be careful!”
As the Red Mantis swung its front legs aiming for Jaeyoon’s neck, he skillfully twisted his body to avoid it. Then he stepped on the mantis’s leg as it touched the ground and jumped upward with agile movements that looked natural. The series of actions happened so quickly they looked textbook perfect.
“What kind of movement…”
A steel pipe thrust downward without hesitation pierced through the mantis’s weak spot at the neck joint.
Crunch. Crunch.
Sounds that couldn’t come from an insect echoed through the forest each time Jaeyoon moved the steel pipe. He managed to cut off the Red Mantis’s head with just that one pipe.
“Impossibly skilled.”
He looked as familiar with it as if he had hunted dozens of times. However, meeting Jaeyoon in person, Haeil couldn’t sense the characteristic mana flow of an Esper. He was undoubtedly in an unawakened state. Even if he had items related to weakness detection or foresight, such body movements didn’t make sense.
“Amazing. Your movements… I’d believe you were awakened.”
Jaeyoon, holding the dripping steel pipe in one hand and the mantis head in the other, approached Haeil.
“Give me my phone please.”
“Ah, right.”
Despite Haeil’s admiration, Jaeyoon calmly asked for his phone that had been left behind.
Modern items didn’t work well inside dungeons. You needed places with weak mana or special devices.
That’s why Jaeha and Jaeyoon had difficulty contacting each other. Since meeting Haeil, they were able to connect through his dungeon-specific device, which solved the problem.
Jaeyoon’s face frowned as he checked the KakaoTalk message from Jaeha.
“Ah, really. Hyung.”
Not knowing the future, Jaeha had invited Dojoon over when Jaeyoon had been gone for less than a few days. It was annoying, but seeing the kid in the photo, Jaeyoon calmed himself down.
The day of the great change. This kid will die.
He recalled Jaeha proudly showing off pictures of the child as if he were his own nephew.
‘If it means one more memory for hyung, I should endure even if I’m anxious.’
Still, he had set the condition of hourly contact. It was to remind Jaeha to be cautious around Dojoon every time they spoke.
“But why did you take the mantis head? Does it have some undiscovered use?”
“I want to show it as proof to my hyung who doesn’t believe me.”
“I could show him if that’s the case.”
Seeing the fire rising from Haeil’s hand, Jaeyoon considered briefly. If it were Jaeha, he’d probably clap his hands and say the magic trick was cool.
Only now did he realize that Jaeha had quite an innocent side. That’s probably why he became prey to an Esper obsessed with guiding, which made Jaeyoon’s mouth bitter.
“I’ll try what I can do first. I want to avoid introducing Espers to my hyung for now.”
“Even without introductions, they already know each other.”
Jaeyoon’s gaze turned cold. Even though he had mentioned Jaeha first, he couldn’t simply overlook Haeil touching on this sensitive topic. Haeil honestly confessed to Jaeyoon’s apparent wariness.
“Oh my. Since you seem to see the future, I thought you might be able to read the subsequent situation, but I guess not.”
“I can’t read minds, so please speak.”
“Alright. To be honest, Seo Jaeha, not Seo Jaeyoon, was the one under surveillance.”
“That would be typical of Daesung. They even built a school to secure awakened ones in advance.”
Jaeyoon mentioned what he had known before and what he discovered after returning. He was serious about making Haeil his ally.
“You even knew that. Impressive.”
“But I didn’t know Espers would monitor potential awakened ones. You’re not even a low-ranking one.”
“Ah, that was coincidence, you could say.”
Haeil showed a bitter smile.
“Before awakening as an Esper, I had to live quietly as if dead. Gaming was very useful for killing time.”
“Hyung is addicted to games.”
“Haha, true. When I received the list of potential awakened ones, Seo Jaeha was there. Since he played the same game, I recruited him into my guild. At that time, I hadn’t awakened yet, so I had a lot of time and we quickly became friends.”
It was common for Daesung to assign the management and monitoring of potential awakened ones to strong awakening candidates. However, even after awakening, Haeil didn’t hand Jaeha over to someone else and maintained their relationship.
As expected, Haeil valued relationships and was diligent. Seeing Jaeyoon nodding with satisfaction, Haeil shared more of his opinion.
“I don’t think my connection with Seo Jaeha, who has a high probability of becoming an Esper, would be harmful.”
“No, Jaeha hyung won’t become an Esper.”
“You’re quite certain.”
“Because I’ve seen it.”
“I see. That’s a bit disappointing. I was enjoying the time together under the pretext of monitoring.”
Haeil laughed lightly, suggesting he would stop monitoring Jaeha. As this small threat toward Jaeha was withdrawn, Jaeyoon’s wariness faded. He decided to make Haeil completely his ally as originally planned.
“If you cooperate with me, I’m willing to share the future.”
“If you really know the future, is it okay to share such valuable information with me?”
“Even if I lose a bit, you deserve such treatment.”
“It seems my future self is quite a decent person.”
“Well, that’s… Oh, right. Please stop feeding Black Pig to your father.”
“What?”
When Jaeyoon suddenly mentioned Haeil’s father, he was greatly surprised.
“If he’s a normal person, he should just eat the flesh, why eat the heart? It must have been quite painful each time.”
“How do you know that…”
“Around next year, the addiction symptoms will worsen and he’ll hoard status-altering potions, just driving up potion prices, so stop him early.”
Haeil’s expression wavered at Jaeyoon’s criticism.
Haeil had supplied the hearts according to his father Chairman Kwon’s request, keeping it secret even from researchers. There was no way anyone else could know this fact.
“Can you see other people’s thoughts? See the past? A skill… no, since it’s before awakening, is it an item?”
“I tell you about the future and you ask if I can see the past?”
Haeil completely accepted the fact that Jaeyoon could see the future based on their conversation so far. Seeing the trust in Haeil’s eyes, Jaeyoon nodded.
“Be on my side. Then I’ll cooperate as much as I can.”
Jaeyoon’s tone was as light as a child dividing teams for a territory game.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
