“That’s what happened.”
“So, is Yu-won okay?”
“He’s fine. The way he was running his mouth, he’s not just okay—he’s completely full of energy.”
Rion vented his frustration to Jin-ha as he recounted what had happened in the Gate.
“I was actually worried about him, and that’s how he talks to me?”
“So, are you saying you regret saving him?”
“…Not exactly, but still.”
The guilt hadn’t fully faded, but Rion was so riled up that the memory of it had grown faint. In a way, that was its own kind of coping skill.
“…So, starting tomorrow, I’ll be doing simultaneous activation training. I’ve been putting it off because it always felt frustrating and like a waste of time—nothing ever went the way I wanted. But now I think I really have to do it.”
“It’s that boring?”
“Boring doesn’t even begin to cover it. After one session, your clothes are a mess, your blood pressure’s through the roof… Honestly, they call it simultaneous activation training, but it’s basically just hurling random crap around.”
Rion made a face as he recalled the early days of training at the Center. Everything else had been fine, but that particular exercise felt less like training and more like being made fun of. It never seemed necessary either.
He’d always been able to handle multiple tasks with brute force alone, without juggling them at the same time. And the seniors would always say things like, “Ah, he’s good at everything else—he can afford to not be great at just this one thing!” They’d cheer him up and brush it off.
“Turns out, there really is no such thing as useless training. I guess there’s a reason they’ve been developing this method for decades.”
“Well, at least no one got seriously hurt. And he said he’s fine, right? Don’t let it get to you too much.”
“To be honest, at first I felt like my mind went completely blank, but now I’m just pissed off. I don’t want to owe that insufferable bastard anything ever again.”
Yu-won had taken a sick day. From what Ye-rin had mentioned in passing, it was a cold. Not surprising, really—he’d gotten hit with a snow bomb and then was immediately thrown from the dead of winter into sweltering heat. Anyone would get sick.
“He’s really that annoying?”
“Yeah. He’s not here today because he took leave, but if he were, I bet he’d be nagging me again.”
“Why is Yu-won only so cold to you, though? You’re a matched pair.”
That was Joo-chan, currently receiving guiding from Jin-ha.
“He’s totally normal with everyone else, really.”
“…Guess he just doesn’t like me.”
Rion’s lips jutted out in a pout. Come to think of it, Joo-chan had entered his first Gate alongside Lee Yu-won. Rion asked seriously,
“Do you think I did something wrong that day we first entered the Gate together?”
“The first day in the Gate? I don’t really remember…”
“It’s barely been half a year. You don’t remember already?”
Rion pestered Joo-chan to jog his memory. Eventually, under pressure, Joo-chan managed to recall.
“But… wasn’t it pretty uneventful? Yu-won was just really shy, and you were asking him stuff to help him relax…”
“You think that made him uncomfortable?”
“Hmm…”
Joo-chan’s hesitation made Rion nervous. He tapped his fingers on the desk as Joo-chan replayed the events in his head.
“If you’re the shy type, I guess it could have been a bit much…”
Rion looked completely stunned, mouth hanging open.
Oblivious, Joo-chan kept talking.
“I mean, asking if he liked sports and then suddenly grabbing his arm—maybe he didn’t like that?”
“What the… wait, really…?”
Rion slumped, letting out a deflated sigh. He’d just wanted to get closer to the guy. Was that too forward?
“Still, come on. If it made him uncomfortable, he could’ve just said so. But no—he makes it super obvious he hates me, acts like I’m some disgusting bug whenever I get close! Isn’t that a bit much?”
He looked pleadingly at Joo-chan, clearly wanting someone to take his side. Ever the neutral party, Joo-chan gave it a thought before answering.
“You’re right. He’s your colleague, you’re a matched pair, and at the time you’d even submitted your pairing application, hadn’t you?”
“Yeah, we had.”
“Even if it was a bit uncomfortable, it’s not like you had bad intentions. You were just trying to ease the mood. When you think about it that way… yeah, he was kind of harsh.”
“Exactly! You’d think I scammed him out of money or something.”
Having finally gotten the answer he wanted after a few emotional scrapes, Rion nodded vigorously.
“But do others also think Yu-won’s only cold to you?”
“I haven’t seen him that often, but… with you, it’s not just cold—it’s like fire. He’s a bit stiff with others, but still polite. But with you, it’s like he turns into a brat or something.”
“Didn’t he just graduate high school less than six months ago? He is still a kid, then.”
“Don’t make excuses for him. I wasn’t that rude when I was twenty, you know?”
Rion grumbled. If Yu-won had treated everyone that way, it might’ve been easier to brush off—even just a tiny bit.
But no—Yu-won was only like that with Rion. So unnecessarily prickly, sharp, and downright rude.
“Were things okay before the Gate? No, wait… we were fine even inside the Gate at first, right?”
“If I knew, would I be like this?”
Rion sighed deeply and pouted again. He’d wanted to apologize and treat him better, thinking he’d suffered because of his own lack of caution—but that plan was clearly out the window now.
“I’m done worrying about him. What, does he think the world falls apart if I’m not around? I’ve got someone else now—I’ll be fine.”
“Glad to be of service, then.”
“Damn right. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Should’ve joined the Center sooner.”
“Haha. Studying abroad made it tough to schedule my tests.”
Jin-ha laughed easily. His mother was French-American, but he held Korean nationality and had lived in the U.S. for a while after graduating high school.
Under international law, ability testing for Espers and Guides could only be done in one’s own country. Jin-ha had found out he was a Guide relatively late.
“But, didn’t you say you were done with Yu-won last time too? I’m pretty sure you said that last month… and the month before that—ow!”
“You seriously have zero sense of timing, huh.”
Rion smacked Joo-chan on the head. The kid had decent ability but was a total airhead.
“This time—no, even last time, I really meant it. But we’re matched, assigned to the same Gate, and he got hurt because of me—how could I not worry about him?”
“Fair point.”
“But after I go out of my way to help him, he picks another fight with me! Like, ‘Maybe you should think about how people feel when you get hurt every time because you can’t even take care of yourself.’ What a load of crap!”
Rion mocked Yu-won’s words in an exaggerated tone, seething.
“He actually said that? I mean… it’s not wrong, though.”
“Hey, you’re an Esper. You can’t say that. If you thought you were about to get hurt in a Gate, would you just leave your Guide behind?”
“Of course not.”
“Do you get hurt in Gates often?”
Jin-ha, who’d been watching their dumb back-and-forth like it was a sitcom, jumped in. He hadn’t even been at the Center a full month yet, so he’d never been to a Gate.
Yu-won had been matched with Rion from the start, so his assignments had come fast. Normally, a new recruit would get about a month to prepare.
“Well, you can’t exactly do this job without some risk of injury. But yeah, Rion tends to get hurt more often.”
Joo-chan jabbed Rion’s arm teasingly.
“Doesn’t he have a pretty big scar under this sleeve? He’s not great at simultaneous activation, so he ends up getting hurt from time to time. He’s the type to just throw his body at the problem.”
“Why’s a guy with that much power so beat up?”
Jin-ha frowned when he spotted a faint scar peeking out from under Rion’s short sleeve.
“…Joo-chan’s right. When things go south, I don’t have time to think—I just move. And yeah, I’m worse at simultaneous activation than everything else, but in a real crisis, I instinctively manage to defend myself, so I do get hurt less than others.”
“Getting hurt less doesn’t really make a difference, though. It’s still getting hurt.”
“Battle scars. Marks of glory.”
Rion shrugged, grinning.
“Hm.”
Jin-ha smiled meaningfully, as if he’d picked up on something.
“Still, take care of yourself. You do need that training.”
“I know. The moment I said I’d start tomorrow, the Center Director got so excited he scheduled it right away. I’m gonna be even busier, but… no way around it.”
Rion absently rubbed the scar hidden under his shirt. Just thinking about starting that dreaded training again tomorrow gave him a headache.
“Anyway, he’s a lost cause. You’ll see—I’m not saying a single word to him in the Gate anymore.”
Rion clenched his teeth. He hoped he wouldn’t get assigned to any Gates for a while. Better yet, maybe no Gates would open at all.
For the first time since joining the Association, Rion found himself wishing he didn’t have to go into the Gate.
And he vowed—again and again—not to even look in Yu-won’s direction from now on.
