A Hero Always Appears at the Scene 14

13

Wooseok looked down at Minjae’s haggard, sleeping face. He was tucked away in the farthest corner of the Guiding Room with all the curtains drawn.

Minjae was the type who only knew how to drink himself silly and never paid much attention to his guiding levels, so Wooseok frequently coaxed him to meals as an excuse to provide guiding. Today was no different—he’d called Minjae for lunch, administered some guiding, and now Minjae had fallen asleep on the cot.

“Hello~!!”

A cheerful greeting echoed through the quiet Guiding Room. It was unusual for someone to be so loud when Minjae was inside.

Wooseok lifted the curtain around the cot to look toward the entrance. A young-looking esper was bowing repeatedly as he moved around the Guiding Room. His face seemed quite familiar.

“What’s that kid’s name?”

Wooseok grabbed a passing junior and pointed at the esper.

“That’s Park Jihwan, sir. He’s been coming in frequently these days.”

Park Jihwan? Ah, the S-class. Wooseok quietly observed Jihwan chattering away at the Guiding Room counter.

He was the one who had recently joined the Center and been assigned to Minjae’s team. It was the first time Minjae had ever shown such open dislike for a junior. Given the circumstances, his dislike was understandable, but Wooseok was curious about what kind of person Jihwan was.

Jihwan began looking around the Guiding Room, peeking at some of the curtained cots. The Guiding Room consisted of several cots separated by white fabric curtains. Generally, the curtains were kept open in case of emergencies, so Jihwan’s movements were clearly visible.

As Jihwan looked around, he gradually moved closer to Wooseok. It was quite empty at this hour since people were taking their lunch breaks in shifts. Wooseok approached and stood next to Jihwan.

“Hello!”

Jihwan greeted him with a friendly smile. Wooseok responded with a slight bow.

Jihwan’s gaze moved to the necklace Wooseok was wearing—the ID card for guides to access the Guiding Room. Wooseok quietly observed Jihwan’s behavior.

A few guides who had just finished lunch and were entering the Guiding Room noticed Wooseok standing in front of Jihwan and slowed their pace.

“Could I give you guiding?”

“Pardon…?”

Huk. Someone audibly held their breath. The guides entering the room exchanged anxious glances.

Jihwan looked at Wooseok’s face and his outstretched hand, then smiled brightly.

“Thank you!”

Jihwan extended his wrist, where a yellow warning light was blinking, indicating the early stages of guiding deficiency.

Wooseok took Jihwan’s hand like a handshake and studied his face.

Jihwan stared at his hand in Wooseok’s grip, then when their eyes met, he cleared his throat with a “ahem” and fixed his gaze on the curtains.

“I see you’ve been coming often lately. Is your assignment difficult?”

Wooseok asked in a musing tone. It sounded like he was fishing for information.

Jihwan stared into space for a moment as if thinking, then scratched the back of his head and laughed.

“I’m not participating in missions.”

“Why not? Is your rank not good enough?”

At Wooseok’s question, the corners of Jihwan’s mouth drooped slightly.

“Um… that’s not it…”

“Then what?”

This time, even his eyebrows drooped. Quite amusing. Wooseok suppressed a laugh and put on a concerned expression.

“Because I made a mistake… so for now… I’m still in training…”

“Training must be really tough. For your guiding to bottom out this frequently.”

“Ah… I haven’t mastered the technique yet.”

As the conversation with Wooseok continued, Jihwan’s voice grew more dejected. Wooseok, trying not to laugh, threw out a line.

“Who’s your supervising senior? That’s harsh.”

“What??? No! My senior is just giving me special training…”

Partway through his sentence, Jihwan seemed to realize something was off and let his words trail off.

So transparent. Wooseok thought he could understand why Minjae couldn’t stand him.

“Hey, it’s okay. You need somewhere to vent when things get tough, right? I don’t even know who you are, so feel free to talk.”

Jihwan took the bait completely at Wooseok’s gentle voice. His lament began with “Actually, I…” and as it continued, Wooseok found it increasingly difficult to contain his laughter.

In the end, the gist was that Jihwan, who had dreamed of becoming a hero, felt like he was being hated by his senior—Minjae—after making a mistake on his first mission. As a result, he’d been given impossibly difficult training tasks and hadn’t seen his senior or participated in any missions for over a week.

“My goodness, that senior sounds like a real pain in the ass. Don’t you think?”

“What? That’s…”

Huh. As Jihwan’s words trailed off, a scoff was heard from behind Wooseok.

Seems he’s awake. Wooseok grinned and pulled the curtain wide open.

“Sleep well?”

“…”

Wooseok greeted him with a smile.

Minjae frowned, glaring at Wooseok before turning his gaze to Jihwan. Jihwan’s mouth fell open.

Ah, this is fun. Wooseok held onto the curtain and started laughing.

“Having fun?”

“Yeah. Absolutely.”

Wooseok nodded, wiping the corners of his eyes. Minjae grabbed him by the collar and yanked.

Hey, hey. Ignoring Wooseok’s flailing, Minjae searched the pockets of his coat and found several guiding pills.

“Senior, that’s not what I meant…”

By the time Jihwan had repeated “that’s not it” for the third time, Minjae tossed the guiding pills toward him. Jihwan caught them reflexively.

“Stay out of this asshole senior’s sight.”

Minjae showed a sweet smile that completely contradicted his clenched-teeth voice. Gulp. Wooseok could hear Jihwan swallowing. Haha. Wooseok couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Hurry up and buy me lunch.”

Minjae got up and walked toward the entrance of the Guiding Room. Wooseok patted the frozen Jihwan on the shoulder and followed after Minjae.

***

A phone light flashed in the dark room.

-The Assemblyman is very concerned. Young master, how is your life at the Center?

Taehyun lay on his side in bed, staring at his phone screen.

After a moment, the screen went dark, and the room fell into darkness again. It didn’t really matter how he responded to these check-ins—when they really needed him, they’d keep calling until he answered.

Light pierced through Taehyun’s closed eyelids again.

-Noona.

It was a call. The screen didn’t go dark. Blinking in disbelief, Taehyun sat bolt upright. This was the first contact in the three weeks since he’d entered the Center.

Ahem, ahem. Clearing his throat, Taehyun carefully held his phone with both hands and answered.

“Hello? Noona?”

[Taehyun, have you been well?]

“Noona, are you okay? How are you feeling? Is everything alright? Are you eating?”

Taehyun rapidly fired off questions. On the other end, his noona laughed softly, finding his concern endearing.

[I’m fine. How’s the Center? Is there anything uncomfortable?]

“You never properly answer when I ask about you.”

Taehyun’s voice carried disappointment and hurt.

I wish you’d tell me if things are hard or good. I could do anything for you if you’d just say the word. You never tell me what I want to hear. Taehyun gave a bitter smile.

A soft laugh came through the receiver again. It was the laugh his noona made when she was troubled. Wanting to hear even this laugh more clearly, Taehyun pressed the phone tighter to his ear.

[Have you contacted Father?]

At those words, Taehyun’s grip on the phone loosened slightly.

“No, not yet.”

[Why not? I think Father is curious about how you’re doing.]

“Has that old man been giving you a hard time?”

[What are you saying? You know he’s not like that.]

Liar. Taehyun closed and opened his eyes.

“I’m just not used to being affectionate with him yet. It’s awkward between Dad and me. I’ll call him later.”

[…Is anyone bullying you at the Center?]

“Who would bully me? I’m a nobody, so no one pays attention to me.”

Taehyun, with his “Recover” ability to restore small objects, had been assigned to a sub-team. It wasn’t the type of ability suited for rescue operations, so this was expected.

[What about that S-class kid?]

“Hmm…”

Taehyun paused briefly, choosing his words. Park Jihwan. Flying ability. Skill level poor for his rank and…

“He’s nice. He’s nice, but…”

[But?]

“He’s stupid… I need to observe a bit more. We’re getting along for now.”

[Be careful not to get involved too deeply. Just in case.]

Her voice was warm yet chilling. Taehyun often felt this way when talking with his noona. He turned onto his side.

“Are you worried about me?”

[…Of course. Have you made any other friends?]

His noona changed the subject to friends, perhaps feeling a little guilty about his question. So cute, really. So kind. Still thinks I’m a little kid with a runny nose.

“No. I miss you, Noona. When are you coming?”

Taehyun made his voice sound nasally. If that’s how his noona saw him, he’d play the part.

[Aww, my baby. I’ll come as soon as I can. Take care of your health.]

“Okay, Noona.”

Taehyun called out to his noona.

Yes, Taehyun. A response similar to his call came back. Taehyun was silent for a moment.

“You’ll call again, right?”

Taehyun clenched his fist, feeling inexplicably anxious.

From the other end of the line came an affectionate reply: “Of course, naturally.”

***

Minjae was facing off against a herd of wild boars in the middle of a four-lane road.

They had already set up temporary fencing to prevent the situation from spilling onto sidewalks or other areas, but it was still a rather unsettling situation.

Of all places, the boars had emerged in a high-traffic area, ramming into buildings and causing a commotion. People had rushed out to take photos and videos.

“How do wild boars end up in the middle of the city?”

“Whoa, crazy. They’re fucking huge.”

The wild boars were indeed larger than normal. Almost as tall as an adult human, Minjae found himself face-to-face with their flaring nostrils.

This is pretty disgusting. Minjae pulled his cap down and shoved his hands into his pockets.

The wild boars, apparently unhappy with the situation, stomped their feet, cracking the cement, and made loud grunting noises.

All he had to do was stand there until the large rescue trucks arrived to transport the animals. Officially, he and a few rookie espers had been deployed to handle any unlikely emergencies, so Minjae just wanted to finish this mission quickly.

“Hey, you fucking piece of shit!”

One of the bystanders suddenly shouted and rushed forward.

The man had a large rock in one hand and a phone in the other. He seemed to be recording something.

Minjae gestured, and the police officers standing nearby moved to stop the man. However, they couldn’t prevent the rock he threw.

Clang-! As the fence shook with a metallic sound, the wild boars began to stir. They started ramming into each other and hitting the fence, which further enraged them.

Finally, one section of the fence collapsed, and one boar charged toward the civilians. People screamed and ran in the opposite direction.

Ugh, shit. Minjae cursed under his breath and started running toward the accident.

At that moment, a boy stepped in front of the wild boar and formed a shield as large as a front door. The wild boar hit the transparent shield and backed away. The boy was thrown backward and crashed into the corner of the road.

The physical enhancement and defense-type espers who rushed in afterward drove the wild boar back inside the fence.

Minjae walked toward the fallen boy. He was wearing a blue jumpsuit. Minjae sighed and extended his hand.

“…Did you come secretly?”

Minjae asked after taking the boy to a first aid tent. He handed over a guiding potion and secretly injected healing energy into the boy’s back.

The boy, after downing the medicine, trembled and shed tears. He even had hiccups.

“…No…”

“…Were you assigned here?”

“Yes… Sir, I’m scared. But I also feel a bit humiliated.”

The boy was huffing, apparently feeling both afraid and indignant. He seemed to have calmed down a bit, but his nose was still red from crying.

Are all kids these days this strange? Minjae started to recall his own childhood but stopped.

“…I’m not a teacher.”

The boy ignored this and rubbed his snotty face all over Minjae’s clothes. Minjae squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them.

“How old are you?”

“I’m fifteen.”

“…Ha.”

At Minjae’s derisive laugh, the boy’s face crumpled. Thinking Minjae was mocking his age, tears of indignation filled the boy’s eyes again.

Puheng! The boy deliberately blew his nose on Minjae’s suit. Minjae gritted his teeth.

Author: Hyacinthus B

Hyacinthus