26
“Now—repeat after me. I…”
Eunjeong said in a voice tinged with boredom. In front of her, sitting crookedly on a chair in the training room, were three espers in a push-up position with their heads bowed.
These three, who hadn’t been at the Center long, had caused quite a few incidents since their arrival—hanging out together, teasing guides, or making verbal mistakes to civilians at rescue scenes.
Disciplinary measures and punishments were sometimes imposed on espers, but when manpower shortages occurred during disciplinary periods, the punishments had to be lifted so they could be deployed on missions. This made it difficult to enforce penalties according to laws or rules. That’s why there were anti-esper groups in the public claiming that espers were placed above the law.
How should I deal with these bastards? With troubled thoughts, Eunjeong stared at the three heads.
Eunjeong was throwing and catching an esper-specific gravity-weighted dumbbell. Every time the dumbbell fell into Eunjeong’s hand, the espers flinched.
“I…”
Eunjeong repeated. But the espers with their heads bowed, despite making groaning sounds, did not repeat after her.
After silently staring at the backs of their heads for a moment, Eunjeong gave a derisive laugh.
“You guys probably don’t even know what you did wrong.”
Thud—
Eunjeong put the dumbbell down on the floor. A heavy sound resonated.
“Honestly, weren’t you the one lacking professional awareness?”
A small, disgruntled voice was heard. It was full of complaints.
“You?”
“Hey, kid. Shut up…”
When Eunjeong questioned in a menacing voice, one of the bowed heads seemed to try to stop the other, giving a scolding. But the esper who had raised his head continued, paying no mind.
“Guides exist to treat espers’ injuries and prevent them from going out of control in the first place, right? Espers already manifest unexpectedly at a young age and jump into dangerous places for the sake of the country.”
“…Ha.”
“Getting guided feels good too, and it’s the only pleasure while living as an esper. How can it be good to receive terrible looks when all we want is to be guided once?”
The esper who had raised his head was now almost shouting with a face reddened from blood rushing to it. Eunjeong clenched and unclenched her fist.
“It feels disgusting to be treated like a monster. And, Sunbae, whose side are you on anyway? Aren’t you being too harsh?”
“…So, you did it because you felt disgusted?”
At Eunjeong’s words, the esper who had been ranting stopped talking. The esper, who had been spouting his own twisted logic, seemed to realize he had misspoken and closed his mouth with a gloomy expression.
“Do all of you bastards here agree with this statement?”
Eunjeong asked in a calm voice. At her words, another head raised up. The esper, whose face had turned pale, laboriously shook his head.
“No, no, I don’t!”
“Then?”
“What?”
“What’s your opinion?”
“Well… you… man, what kind of way is that to talk to Sunbae! Apologize!”
At the esper’s words, Eunjeong bowed her head deeply. Surprised by Eunjeong’s sudden reaction, the espers exchanged glances busily, seemingly confused. Ha… Eunjeong’s deep sigh filled the silence.
“It would be unfair to say I raised my juniors wrong.”
“…What?”
“It’s not like I have an obligation to raise you.”
“……”
“But it is deplorable.”
Sensing the somber atmosphere, the espers kept raising and lowering their heads, continuously checking Eunjeong’s mood.
“Guides are forcibly drafted just like espers. And…”
Dragging out her words, Eunjeong slowly stood up. Hup. The sound of one of the espers drawing in a sharp breath was heard.
Bang!
Eunjeong grabbed the collar of the esper who had been arguing with her and shoved him against the wall. The impact was so strong that the esper coughed with a ‘kek’ sound.
Eunjeong then began to grab the esper’s outer garment and pull at it randomly.
“Why, why are you doing this, Sunbae!”
Without responding, Eunjeong tore apart the esper’s outer clothing and started pulling at the t-shirt underneath. The esper struggled to shake off Eunjeong’s hand on his collar, but it wasn’t easy.
Since Eunjeong was not only large in build and physically strong but also had physical enhancement abilities, there was no esper in the Center who could beat her in strength. Moreover, as Eunjeong lifted his collar even higher, the esper was left dangling in mid-air.
The other two espers didn’t even think about getting up from their position and just remained prostrate, turning only their heads back to stare blankly at the scene.
“Let go! Fuck!”
Finally, the esper burst into tears, spitting out curses. Eunjeong looked at the esper impassively and released her grip on his collar.
Unable to properly support himself, the esper fell forward. He sobbed uncontrollably, randomly spewing curses.
“I find it fun to beat up weak bastards like this. It feels good too.”
At Eunjeong’s words, the espers lying face down looked at each other with expressions full of shock.
“Hey, I’m higher in rank than you, higher in position, and I’ve been here longer. Work is fucking shit, so I want to have some fun with a cute junior. How can you whine like that?”
“Fuck!”
The crying esper, unable to contain his anger, shouted and cursed. Eunjeong bent down and, as if patting the back of his head, tapped it lightly several times as she continued speaking.
“Don’t you think you lack professional awareness too much?”
The three espers remained silent like mutes who had eaten honey. Eunjeong straightened her back and stretched out her arms.
“If you have any conscience, stay in that push-up position for another hour before leaving.”
“…Yes.”
The two espers who were still face down answered in small voices. The one who had fallen over did not answer until the end.
After leaving the training room, Eunjeong turned on her phone. And habitually opened her message window. But there was no contact from her close friend.
She’s been slow to respond lately. Eunjeong muttered. Even without replies, Eunjeong often contacted Seoyeon. Eunjeong needed that now. Something ordinary. Something warm.
-Have you eaten? I miss you.
The weather was nice. As she muttered about having a daytime drink, her phone rang. Eunjeong quickly checked her phone.
-I think I can come soon. Take care and eat well, Eunjeong.
She’s coming soon? Eunjeong’s mood improved instantly. What should I do first? Eunjeong thought about Seoyeon’s dormitory, which had been neglected for quite some time.
I should clean up a bit so Seoyeon can stay comfortably when she comes. Eunjeong hummed a tune as she headed to her own dormitory to get cleaning supplies.
As soon as she opened the front door, Eunjeong realized that before cleaning Seoyeon’s dormitory, she needed to clean her own first. She could almost hear Seoyeon’s voice exclaiming in shock: This isn’t a place for humans to live!
Eunjeong picked up clothes scattered all over the room and stuffed them into the washing machine.
After spending two hours cleaning her room, Eunjeong shouldered a vacuum cleaner and a tray filled with cleaning products and headed to the guide dormitory. Espers glanced at Eunjeong as she carried her load.
“Eyes forward~”
At Eunjeong’s words, everyone turned their heads away.
This is really fun. Giggling to herself about something no one else found amusing, she entered the corridor where Seoyeon’s dormitory was located.
And Eunjeong discovered a suspicious man lingering in front of Seoyeon’s dormitory.
The man was wearing a black cap pulled down low, but what stood out was the white hair peeking out from underneath. He seemed to be trying to peer into the gap of Seoyeon’s front door while fidgeting.
Eunjeong recalled hearing that female guides sometimes went home in the morning after night shifts because of male espers lurking near the dormitories.
Seoyeon isn’t even at the Center that often, so when did she get a pervert stalker? I’ve seen that white hair somewhere before. Eunjeong tilted her head askew.
“Hey.”
Eunjeong called out to the man. The man’s shoulders visibly flinched. Eunjeong put down the vacuum cleaner and tray where she stood. The man had his head turned toward the corridor on the opposite side of Eunjeong.
“Hey, come over here.”
Eunjeong gestured for him to come, addressing the back of his head. The man seemed to be thinking about something, remaining silent and still.
“It’ll be worse for you if I come over there.”
Eunjeong’s voice lowered. Then the man started to flee at a rapid pace. Eunjeong cursed under her breath as she watched the back of the man’s head moving away in the opposite direction. Fuck.
“Hey!!!”
Eunjeong began to chase after him. With longer legs than most and good leg strength that allowed for quick jumps, Eunjeong was also faster than most espers when it came to running. But the white-haired man was so fast that it was difficult to catch him.
The man left the corridor and headed towards the lobby, which tended to be crowded with people.
“Hey!!! Are you going to stop or what?”
As Eunjeong ran while making threatening sounds, all the espers in the vicinity moved aside to the corners. Even though she was running without any obstructions, the distance between her and the white-haired man continued to widen.
What the hell is that guy? Eunjeong was getting irritated. He even seemed to grab someone and say something while running. Eunjeong increased her speed, not missing the opportunity.
But suddenly, the white-haired man was carried piggyback by someone else and they flew up into the air.
Eunjeong, who had ended up like a dog chasing chickens, threw a punch toward the air.
Eunjeong, her eyes wide open, tried to identify who was helping the white-haired man escape. The brown-haired guy was flying wobbly like a dung fly.
What the hell, isn’t that Park Jihwan? Why is Park Jihwan helping a pervert escape? Eunjeong’s mind became complicated.
“Hey! You know you’re dead if I catch you!!!”
Eunjeong’s threatening voice echoed through the lobby.
***
Wooseok, who came to work later than usual, grabbed his heart when he discovered Seoyeon sitting in his office like a statue waiting for someone.
“Hey, give me some warning before you come…”
“It’s been a while, Director.”
Seoyeon smiled brightly. Unable to say anything to that face, Wooseok smiled awkwardly.
“I reported half an hour ago that I had returned and would visit you first…”
“Ah, yes, I know. Sorry, did you wait long?”
“Not at all.”
She subtly smiles while giving me a hard time. Wooseok cleared his throat with a “ahem” and passed by Seoyeon, who was sitting on the sofa, to head to his own seat.
“Are you working overtime today?”
Seoyeon asked.
“No? Why?”
“You came with a shopping bag. I thought you might have brought a change of clothes.”
“Ah, it’s not like that.”
The shopping bag contained Ojun’s clothes. Wooseok quickly pushed the shopping bag into the inside of his desk. Seoyeon seemed to accept it casually, nodding her head and standing up to hand over a file.
“This is the field report for this time.”
-Writer: A-class Guide Lee Seoyeon.
Wooseok took the report and began to examine it briefly. It was a well-written, neat report.
She really is capable. Wooseok thought.
Whenever long-term guide dispatch requests came in from the provinces, Seoyeon always applied to go. Although provinces had significantly lower frequencies of terrorism, it wasn’t an easy job due to manpower shortages.
It was very rare for a guide like Seoyeon, who had a decent rank and was paired with a skilled and decent-tempered (?) esper like Eunjeong, to choose dispatch.
Wooseok found such a Seoyeon somewhat interesting. And as much as he cared for Eunjeong, he was also concerned. Because it wasn’t comfortable to see Eunjeong visiting his office in a dangerous state.
“Isn’t it tough to go on dispatch so often?”
“Well, someone has to do it.”
“Eunjeong has been missing you a lot. You two are really close.”
“I missed her a lot too.”
Wooseok raised his head to look at Seoyeon. Seoyeon met his eyes and smiled. Despite having worked together for quite some time, Wooseok found it not so easy to deal with Seoyeon. It felt that way even though Seoyeon seemed quite friendly towards Wooseok.
It was as if they had a strange communication barrier. Or perhaps she was just very stubborn.
“I heard that you sometimes guide Eunjeong, Director. Thank you for taking good care of her.”
Seoyeon smiled politely, said goodbye, and left Wooseok’s office.
Give me a break, they call this a pair? A small laugh escaped from Wooseok’s mouth.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
