Rion thought it was probably because that kid had been looking at him with such desperate eyes. As if he were gazing at him like someone truly remarkable—at someone who mattered—when even Rion himself felt like he was useless, like he had no real worth at all.
So it really must’ve been bothering me that much.
Come to think of it, even though being an Esper was a job meant to protect people, this was actually the first time he’d ever seen someone he had personally helped.
He knew that an Esper’s role was to work behind the scenes so people could live their lives without worrying about Gates, so he hadn’t felt resentful about it. Still, having a gaze like that directed at him so directly made him feel strangely unsettled.
So this is why I do this job.
Given the situation, it wasn’t a look he ever wanted to receive twice—but in a daily life that had felt nothing but bleak and stifling, it was a gaze that brought him a small sense of reward.
To think that something as simple as a single look could calm his heart. It was ridiculous, and yet he liked this feeling he was experiencing right now. It felt as though even the anxiety he’d been carrying about his work was being completely washed away. That was how powerful the sense of fulfillment was.
Yeah. It’s not like I can be good at everything from the very start. There’s no need to rush.
Once his mind eased, his motivation returned. As Rion flew toward the hospital with the boy in his arms, he spoke quietly.
“I guess I should try harder from now on.”
“…Why?”
A response came back to Rion’s muttering. Judging by the fact that he still had the presence of mind to talk back despite the amount of blood he’d lost, his condition didn’t seem too critical.
Rion paused for a moment, thinking about how to answer the question. Why should I? There wasn’t any grand or noble reason—but if he had to put it simply—
“Because I’m someone who can do that. So I should work harder.”
Because I have that kind of power. And because I’ll be able to keep using this power to help people, to save them—I should work harder.
Thinking that way made his head feel refreshingly clear, to the point where all the anxiety he’d been stewing in up until now felt downright foolish.
From that day on, Rion was able to stop rushing himself. Nothing dramatic happened—there was no sudden awakening where he figured everything out overnight or became capable of clearing Gates on his own—but once his heart settled, he was able to improve little by little.
As more Espers joined the Center after him, and as he started hearing the word sunbae directed at him more and more often, he found himself feeling increasingly embarrassed about his own rookie days.
He’d almost completely forgotten about it, but because of Jin-ha’s pointless chatter, Rion ended up briefly recalling a past he’d rather not think about. He shook his head from side to side.
“Hmm, but now that I think about it… that kid’s face was kind of….”
As a vague sense of déjà vu brushed past him, Rion tilted his head. Why did he feel like it was familiar? After mulling it over for a moment, he decided it must just be his imagination and gave up on trying to remember more.
“What about it?”
“Nothing. Anyway, don’t even bring up my rookie days.”
“What, like you’re the only one with a mouth? Maybe if I ask the other seniors, they’ll tell me.”
There was no point reacting strongly—he’d just get more excited and tease him even harder. Suppressing the urge to clamp a hand over Jin-ha’s mouth, Rion shot him a glare instead.
“By the way, even if you don’t know, Yu-won must be pretty happy these days. He doesn’t have to go into Gates, and he doesn’t have to deal with you driving him crazy.”
“From a Guide’s perspective, not going in is definitely something to celebrate. And there’s no Guide who enters Gates as often as he does anyway…”
Now that he thought about it, he’d never heard Yu-won complain about not wanting to enter a Gate, despite how frequently he was assigned to them. Well, that made sense.
Aside from his issues with Rion, Yu-won was someone whose work ability and sense of responsibility were beyond reproach.
“What the hell, turns out it wasn’t me on break—it was him.”
“Is it? Instead, he’s been getting dragged around by the Center Director all over the place.”
“But aren’t you an S-rank Guide too? How do you look so free?”
“I can join back in slowly. I think the Center Director wants to get Yu-won adapted first before you return to Gate duty.”
That I’ll be going back into Gates again soon. Jin-ha spoke with a deliberately gloomy expression.
“Do you have a schedule yet?”
“No, but it feels like it should be coming out soon. It’s been quiet for a few days—doesn’t that mean it’s about time for things to get noisy again?”
“True. There are times when Gates pop up two or three times a week, so for it to be quiet for over a week…”
Rion nodded. Even if things seemed calm lately, that was only in comparison to the usual chaos.
“You heading out soon?”
“Probably. Ugh, I really don’t want to go in.”
“It’d be nice if they sent the people who want to go in and let the ones who don’t take a break.”
Rion said regretfully, then his eyes suddenly lit up as if something had occurred to him.
“If I go back in, it should at least reduce how often you have to go. You should talk to the Center Director about it too.”
“Well… for the sake of poor Yu-won-ssi, you should take some rest yourself.”
Jin-ha clicked his tongue. Having been rejected outright, Rion smacked his lips before another thought surfaced.
“Come to think of it, why are you still calling him ‘Yu-won ssi’?”
“What?”
“No, it’s just that everyone who went to that S-rank Gate calls him Yu-won now, but you’re the only one who still says Yu-won ssi. Even Min-hyeon seems to have gotten pretty close to him, so it’s kind of unexpected.”
Jin-ha was the type with excellent social skills. Less than half a year after joining the Center, he’d already adapted well enough to chat comfortably with almost everyone.
And yet, his relationship with Yu-won was oddly distant.
Well, to be fair, since Jin-ha was closest to Rion—and Rion bickered with Yu-won practically every day—it might’ve made things awkward by association. Still, did it really need to be that blatantly awkward, right down to how he addressed him?
“Even the most shy people end up getting close after an S-rank Gate.”
“Um…”
Jin-ha smiled with a vaguely uncomfortable expression. His face clearly said, How do I even explain this?
“Well… things just turned out that way.”
“Try getting a little closer. When the two of you stand together, it’s awkward enough that other people feel uncomfortable watching. Since you probably won’t be entering Gates together much anymore… maybe once or twice at most, you don’t have to become best friends or anything. But it’d be nice to at least stay on speaking terms.”
“It’s not something I can decide on my own.”
“Why not? Want me to talk to him and set something up? You live close to each other anyway. If you meet often, you’ll probably get close naturally. Want to have dinner together tonight?”
Rion spoke as if he were about to run straight over to Yu-won and suggest the three of them have dinner together. It came from a simple belief that it was better to have more people you got along with.
“Then he’d probably… hate it even more.”
“What? You?”
“Forget it. Like you said, we won’t be entering Gates together anymore. Just exchanging greetings is enough. Forcing it only makes things more awkward.”
“But still, at least talking a little—”
“Just stay still. Stay still.”
Jin-ha waved his hands emphatically, firmly rejecting the suggestion. After trying to persuade him a few more times, Rion finally gave up.
“He’s stubborn in the weirdest places.”
“I hope there comes a day when you understand me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
Smiling with the air of someone who’d reached enlightenment, Jin-ha thought to himself that Yu-won was a little pitiful. He knew Rion was dense, but how could he not even realize that Yu-won outright disliked him?
“Did something happen between the two of you?”
“Yu-won’s strangely only like that with you.”
Everyone else had noticed that Yu-won openly avoided him and even asked what had happened—so why was the person who lived and worked closest to him the only one who didn’t notice?
“Let’s eat together some other time. For today, let’s skip it. If he invites me first, that’s one thing—but I don’t want to force it.”
“Really? Then… oh. I got a notification.”
At the sound of the alert buzzing in his pocket, Rion pulled out his phone. Jin-ha’s phone went off at the exact same time, so it was probably a message from the Center.
“A new Gate has appeared… It’s pretty far. If it’s near Busan, we should head over in advance.”
“You’re not even the one going—why are you checking it so carefully?”
“I’ve got nothing else to do, so I might as well keep an eye on stuff like this… Huh?”
Rion’s eyes, which had been lazily scanning the mass notification out of habit, stopped at one particular spot. Jin-ha, who’d only just taken out his phone, spoke without noticing Rion’s reaction.
“I think my name’s probably on this list. Feels like it’s about time I went back in.”
“No… Am I seeing this wrong? Wait. Hold on—give me that for a second.”
“Huh? Hey—!”
Before he could even check, Jin-ha blinked in confusion as Rion snatched the phone from his hand. He had no idea what had him acting like that.
“My phone’s perfectly fine—why are you grabbing mine?”
“This is weird. Did our Center have two Lee Yu-wons? Or did someone with a similar name join recently?”
Rion’s name wasn’t on the Esper list—but Yu-won’s name was clearly listed among the Guides. Seeing a roster so unprecedented since Yu-won had joined the Center, Rion spoke in a flustered voice.
“Isn’t this an error? They said that post-processing team or whatever is still in the setup phase. If that’s the case, shouldn’t he not be entering Gates right now?”
“Oh… Yu-won ssi is on the list? Yeah, that is strange. I thought I’d be the one going in too.”
Only then did Jin-ha check the list himself, reacting with equal surprise. Even though they weren’t officially registered as a pair, they’d been operating as good as one—so while Rion wasn’t entering Gates, Jin-ha had naturally assumed Yu-won wouldn’t either.
“…I need to check this directly.”
Rion turned around and retraced his steps. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like a mistake—but he needed to make sure.
