# Chapter 61
Among them, Jaeha was the most doubtful.
“I don’t understand why you’re telling lies that no one would believe, even on April Fools’ Day.”
“Come on, Sunbae. You should believe me. I took care of everything because of you.”
“Will you stop talking nonsense? You said you were meeting your girlfriend yesterday.”
“Would I break up over text? That would be so rude.”
Jiho calmly confessed that thanks to his spatial movement ability, he had met all his girlfriends in person to break up with them. Jaeha really didn’t want to ask, but since Kyun Jiho had always dated multiple girlfriends throughout college, he was extremely curious.
“Why would you go that far?”
“Because you’re that special to me, Sunbae.”
Jiho released his arm from around Jaeha’s shoulder, moved in front of him, and grabbed both his hands. As the guiding naturally began, Jiho continued his confession while Jaeha hesitated, unable to pull away.
“I don’t know how others see it, but I truly liked all my girlfriends.”
“Uh, sure. Very manly. Now, about your hands…”
“They were gentle, sweet, and sometimes played hard to get, so it was always fun. But after touching you, I realized that all the feelings I had before were nothing.”
That was the guiding. Even though Jiho surely knew this, he pulled Jaeha’s hands up as if about to kiss them and confessed.
“I’ve never felt such an intense sensation in my life. What I thought was ‘liking someone’ before was just child’s play. I don’t want to be apart from you. I want to stay together. Sunbae, I like…”
“I felt that too.”
Dojoon, who had been watching the situation, immediately stepped in. He placed his hand on top of Jaeha’s, preventing Jiho from touching him.
Feeling guilty about Jiho saying he had broken up with all his girlfriends, Jaeha couldn’t bring himself to push him away, but Dojoon calmly intervened.
“Wow, thank you.”
Knowing how to exploit feelings of guilt. Kyun Jiho was indeed sharp and clever.
As Jaeha was about to thank Dojoon for his timely intervention, Dojoon himself didn’t let go of his hand and unexpectedly revealed his thoughts.
“As you know, Jaeha, I’ve never experienced first love.”
Dojoon was making a shocking confession, but in a different way from Jiho. Of course, Jaeha knew this as an old friend, but he was worried whether it was appropriate to share in front of others.
“Yeah, I know. But should you be sharing such classified information in front of Gaeho?”
As the atmosphere started to get strange, Jaeha desperately tried to stop the conversation, but Dojoon continued with a smiling face and no hesitation.
“So I don’t know what this feeling is, but when I see you getting close to someone else, I want to interfere.”
Dojoon’s confession, having not yet experienced the guiding deficiency, was lukewarm. Even so, the calm confession from someone who had never even experienced first love had quite an impact.
Confused about how to react to this confession that didn’t sound like it was from a friend, Jaeha’s hands remained trapped by both of them.
“Don’t you guys know what guiding is? Why are you suddenly acting like this?”
Jaeyoon approached the three on behalf of the flustered Jaeha. Feeling his brother was particularly reliable today, Jaeha looked at him with dependent eyes, and Jaeyoon actively intervened.
“Kyun Jiho Esper, may I see your phone?”
Despite Jaeyoon’s sudden request, Jiho wasn’t flustered.
“Wow, Sunbae’s brother is even more thorough. Sunbae, you should check on me and be obsessed with me too.”
“Oh, get away! Seriously!”
Coming to his senses at Jaeyoon’s odd intervention, Jaeha shook his trapped hands vigorously in disgust. Jiho, who had been holding Jaeha with both hands, naturally let go and took a step back. It was typical of Jiho to quickly sense the final line. Dojoon also removed his hand and stepped back.
Despite Jaeha’s irritation as he rubbed both hands on his clothes as if they felt unpleasant, Jiho calmly took out his phone.
“If you want to see it, go ahead.”
He handed it to Jaeyoon with the lock already unlocked. When Jaeyoon tried to check the phone, a surprised Jaeha reached out and snatched it. Jaeyoon could have easily avoided this, but let Jaeha take it due to his urgent action. After taking the phone, Jaeha immediately returned it to Jiho.
“Keep it.”
“Wow, Sunbae. Are you protecting my privacy?”
“No, it means I have absolutely no interest in your relationships.”
“Come on, Sunbae, please be interested.”
Ignoring Jiho’s approach as he tried to get close again with a gentle smile, Jaeha spoke firmly to Jaeyoon.
“You’re going too far.”
Jiho was never a target for concern. Unlike Jaeha’s misunderstanding, Jaeyoon saw Jiho as a straightforward person. He simply wanted to confirm if Jaeha was truly Jiho’s only interest, remembering how Jiho had treated his lovers, but he acknowledged Jaeha’s point without making excuses.
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
At this simple exchange, Jiho rolled his eyes trying to assess the situation, while Dojoon nodded with satisfaction.
The brothers seem suspicious. The brothers look good together. As the two watched with their own thoughts, Jaeyoon raised his gloved hand.
“Now that we’re all gathered, I have something to say.”
Though Jaeyoon’s attitude was normal, just a few minutes ago his brother had almost been kidnapped. Everyone had been pretending everything was fine to lighten the mood, but now they quickly focused on the serious topic. Perhaps Jaeyoon would make some request of the Espers for his brother’s safety.
“Since this is about my brother, I’d appreciate your cooperation.”
Dojoon, Jiho, and Jaeha all became tense at the younger brother’s serious proposal.
* * *
The uninhabited island where the villain organization had made its nest remained hidden from the world thanks to the cooperation of various Espers. The combination of perception reduction, illusion, and portal abilities allowed them to turn the entire island into a base without anyone on the outside knowing.
Thanks to the portal ability user, movement from the island to the outside was easy, and it was a useful ability in many other ways too. However, since there were limitations to portal abilities, opening a new portal in a new location had to be done cautiously unless absolutely necessary.
So the news that someone had used the portal ability for personal use made Baek Mahyeok, the organization’s leader, uncomfortable.
“A rookie who just joined the organization dared to use the precious portal as he pleased.”
Baek Mahyeok, a middle-aged man with a robust physique, tossed his abundant white hair like a lion’s mane as he looked for the newcomer Lee Youngwoo who had just returned.
He had recruited him because his carefree attitude even after causing trouble right after awakening seemed to match their vision for Espers. But Youngwoo kept searching for one particular person. And then he finally moved on his own to find the person he had set his sights on.
‘Being reckless isn’t bad. It’s actually good.’
Baek Mahyeok personally checked and selected each Esper brought here. Among them were those who, though weak-hearted, agreed that Espers should lead the world. The portal ability user was like that, and he suspected the cunning Youngwoo had manipulated this weak-hearted person at will.
But when Baek Mahyeok entered the portal area, a different situation was unfolding.
“It-it was dangerous, you know.”
“It wasn’t dangerous. I just went to see his face.”
“B-b-bombs. You threw them.”
“The Association building was under mana control. Bombs made of mana chunks couldn’t possibly explode.”
“Y-Youngwoo Oppa, you u-used your a-ability…you p-promised not to use it unless it was s-safe.”
“Yes, that’s right. I’m sorry.”
Woo Yanghui, the portal ability user, was scolding Youngwoo.
When Baek Mahyeok first met Yanghui, he suspected she might be mute because she hardly spoke. Yanghui, who barely talked to anyone except the Esper she considered like a mother, was somehow pouring out her thoughts to Youngwoo, albeit with a stutter.
In the end, Yanghui, who had fallen for Youngwoo’s smiling face, backed down a step.
“N-next time, make sure to get p-permission from the b-boss.”
“Yanghui, Mr. Baek isn’t the boss.”
“B-boss!”
“Yanghui, you’re special, so you can call him Uncle Hyeok.”
Yanghui was startled to see Baek Mahyeok suddenly appear and bowed her head immediately. No matter how much goodwill Baek Mahyeok showed, his appearance was so intimidating that Yanghui always found him difficult. In reality, it was because she had witnessed him dealing with worthless scum who had joined the organization only to look out for themselves and then try to run away, but since Baek Mahyeok considered this normal, he thought it was due to his appearance.
After hesitating, Yanghui bowed to Baek Mahyeok and then moved away as if escaping.
“Shall we have a talk?”
“Yes, please go ahead.”
Alone with Baek Mahyeok, Youngwoo was smiling without a hint of tension.
He looked like a weak guy with glasses, but he got good responses from the young people in the organization. And now he had even opened up the heart of Yanghui, who was extremely shy. In Baek Mahyeok’s eyes, Youngwoo was dark inside, but useful to the organization.
If he could somehow control emotions, his usefulness would be beyond measure.
“I heard your ability is bomb manufacturing through seeing through and penetrating things. Do you have any other abilities?”
There was no law against dual ability users. However, not a single case had been reported so far.
Seeing Youngwoo tilt his head as if he didn’t understand, Baek Mahyeok waved his hand dismissively.
“I guess it works because you have the face young people like these days. Anyway, you installed a portal to the Association area on your own. What if an Association Esper had come through? You put Yanghui in danger too.”
“I was confident because the location was recommended by a collaborator who is definitely from the Association side.”
They did have connections to the Association side. They had even turned some into spies, but it was impossible for Youngwoo to already be in contact with them.
“When I went for a preliminary check, I found a fan of mine.”
He recalled the large guard who ran toward him with a changing face color as soon as he saw him. Regardless of what connections Youngwoo had, the fact that he had endangered the organization remained unchanged.
“This kind of behavior is problematic, Youngwoo.”
“I’m reflecting on it too. I thought he would be persuaded by my words, but he had other precious people.”
While Baek Mahyeok was trying to caution him about his impulsive behavior, Youngwoo was regretting that his judgment had been too simplistic.
In a situation where they seemed to be having a conversation but not really, Baek Mahyeok frowned. Youngwoo continued with his own agenda, regardless of the other’s reaction.
“I’m going to lure the Espers out. I’ll need to use the portal one more time then.”
“What are you planning to do with the Espers? It’s still too early for an all-out war.”
It was a time to be cautious, to accumulate strength and continue recruiting individuals who would become their forces.
“We won’t be dealing with the Espers. We’ll make them deal with the monsters that pop out of the gate. We’ll need some preparation though.”
“…What method are you planning to use?”
Baek Mahyeok’s ears perked up at the intriguing story, and Youngwoo’s smile brightened.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
