But today of all days, fate was being especially cruel to Choi Tae-hoon.
The Minister’s gaze, which had been sweeping over the Guides standing behind the researchers with clear displeasure, stopped dead on Tae-hoon. Tae-hoon felt despair at realizing he was far more widely known than he’d thought.
One famous person was enough. Ji Gwan-young alone was already too much.
“You there. You’re that Guide, aren’t you? The one whose matching rate supposedly shot well past one hundred percent. That Ji Gwan-young Guide.”
‘Ji Gwan-young Guide.’
It was the first time Choi Tae-hoon had heard himself referred to that way. Feeling the faint mockery in the Minister’s gaze as he looked him over, his fists clenched on their own.
“……Yes. That’s right. I’m Choi Tae-hoon.”
“Tsk. A healthy young man like you ought to live like a real man!”
“I’m trying.”
The sentence, spoken as though slowly exhaling, trembled faintly.
Watching Tae-hoon, Mihyun was already halfway to igniting flames in her hand from where she stood ahead of him, while Oh Yeon quietly stopped her. But the words that came out of the Minister’s mouth next were so vile that it might’ve been better if Mihyun had simply fired a flaming arrow at him instead.
“Hoh. Really now. So in bed, which side are you?”
Faced with a question he’d never even imagined hearing, Choi Tae-hoon unconsciously bit down hard on his lip instead of answering.
From somewhere among the Guides, someone swallowed a curse that sounded almost like a groan.
Tae-hoon desperately tried to force together a coherent sentence, but his mouth only twitched weakly instead of producing words.
“Guess you can’t even play the man’s role. To think a grown man was born and yet…….”
“M-Minister!”
For the first time in hours, Tae-hoon felt a tiny bit grateful toward the secretary who’d been indifferent the entire time. At least the man had enough sense to intervene.
But the Minister, apparently entertained by Tae-hoon’s stubborn silence in response to the rude question, merely clicked his tongue at the secretary with a small, “Tsk tsk,” and tried to continue.
The Minister really was a textbook Esper-Guide phobic.
Director Kwon Dahee subtly signaled to Oh Yeon, instructing him to remember every detail of what was happening right now. Oh Yeon, whose face remained calm while only his eyes turned cold, gave a slight nod.
But the order was unnecessary.
-Thud. THUD. BOOM.
The impacts were concise and unmistakable, devoid of any unnecessary noise. And that strange series of crashes was steadily growing louder from far away.
The Guides looked toward the laboratory entrance in confusion. But the Espers reacted differently.
The exact same emotion crossed every one of their faces.
We’re fucked.
It was the first time Choi Tae-hoon had ever seen a Physical-type Esper directly use their ability on people.
He couldn’t even begin to comprehend exactly how the scene before him was being accomplished, but one thing became crystal clear.
Ji Gwan-young—his Esper—was unbelievably strong.
The movement was so slight it barely even looked like he’d exerted force. With one small gesture, the bodyguards surrounding the Minister outside were hurled away and grotesquely slammed into the walls unconscious.
Tae-hoon had heard countless times that his Esper was supposedly so powerful he couldn’t even be measured properly. Setting aside the fact that he’d destroyed a training ground before, it had also been Ji Gwan-young who’d saved him during the Gangnam terror incident, so Tae-hoon had never doubted his strength.
But he hadn’t known Ji Gwan-young could neutralize elite bodyguards—including Espers among them—in the blink of an eye like this.
Frozen in shock, Choi Tae-hoon could only blink.
The pressure emanating from him suddenly felt entirely different now.
Meanwhile, the people at The Center were just as panicked as Tae-hoon.
The instant they realized the one approaching from afar was none other than Ji Gwan-young, the Esper researchers collectively thought, Something catastrophic is about to happen.
But that Ji Gwan-young had knocked the bodyguards out neatly instead of killing them.
The researchers inwardly clicked their tongues, imagining Tae-hoon fainting in shock if he knew how astonishing that actually was.
Pressed down by the atmosphere where nobody around him even dared move, Tae-hoon stared at his Esper.
It had been nearly a week since he’d last seen Ji Gwan-young, and somehow, he looked unfamiliar.
Not metaphorically. He genuinely looked unfamiliar.
His hair, always immaculate, was a complete mess, and both his clothes and forehead were drenched in sweat. Even the faint stains here and there looked deeply out of place, like things that absolutely shouldn’t exist on him.
The dark brown eyes staring at his Pair in disbelief blinked slowly.
Only then did Gwan-young, who’d been tilting his neck as though stretching, lazily open his eyes wider—and his gaze locked directly with his Guide’s.
Thanks to that, Tae-hoon unconsciously swallowed dryly. But contrary to his fears, Gwan-young’s eyes curved faintly as if he was pleased.
It wasn’t the expression from dramas or public appearances.
It was Ji Gwan-young’s own genuine smile. But it lasted only for a moment.
Not long after, Ji Gwan-young emptied that warm gaze once more and turned to stare blankly at the Minister, who stood there with his mouth hanging open.
What on earth was that Esper going to say?
Everyone’s attention gathered on him.
The researchers secretly guessed, Well, probably his usual endlessly sarcastic politeness.
However, the words that came out of Ji Gwan-young’s mouth were nothing anyone had expected.
“I’ve actually been trying pretty hard lately.”
The Minister, hearing Ji Gwan-young speak in a clear voice while looking him straight in the eye, merely coughed awkwardly instead of replying.
Truthfully, he’d already shrunk back internally long ago, but he was stubbornly forcing bravado into his demeanor to avoid admitting it.
No matter who the opponent was—even Esper Ji Gwan-young—if he got crushed in a battle of nerves without even putting up resistance, his dignity would be completely ruined.
But Gwan-young looked entirely unconcerned with the Minister’s puffed-up expression as he continued speaking.
“My Guide was obviously worried about all the idiots at The Center, so I even lowered myself to their level and played nice with these morons…….”
As expected, Ji Gwan-young never simply let things slide.
Though his tone was casual enough to make both Choi Tae-hoon and the researchers sigh deeply, the Esper’s face looked endlessly languid despite the razor-sharp content of his words.
“I tolerated all the annoying ordering around too. Came when called, left when told. I’ve been very generous.”
The Esper’s gaze slid toward Director Kwon Dahee.
“So what’s this supposed to be? Why are all these lined-up pieces of trash here?”
‘Lined-up pieces of trash.’
The meaning was obvious.
He meant the bodyguards he’d slammed into the walls to get here—and ultimately the short Minister standing before him now.
No one inside the laboratory failed to understand that.
“You insolent little—! Do you even know who I am, acting like this?!”
The Minister shouted, trying desperately to force strength into his voice.
Considering all his bodyguards were sprawled unconscious near the doorway and the only person left standing beside him was a secretary trembling like a leaf, it was actually fairly brave of him.
Even Gwan-young’s handsome but expressionless face finally changed for the first time.
One eyebrow lifted slightly.
Now not only Choi Tae-hoon but everyone at The Center knew exactly what that meant.
Standing crookedly as he looked down at the middle-aged man far shorter than himself, Ji Gwan-young spoke.
“And who exactly are you?”
“I’m a man who serves this country! Huh? I’m a Minister of this nation! And yet a filthy bastard like you, fucking another man, dares hold your head high and act arrogant?!”
Ji Gwan-young despised anything that diminished his dignity.
That was also the root of his hostility toward the people at The Center. He couldn’t tolerate being treated like some laboratory monkey.
The monster looked down at the Minister, who continued spewing insults freely with no clue what kind of thoughts lay behind that unreadable face.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
Fuck. He’s really going to do something.
The researchers at The Center exchanged glances, fully unwilling but preparing themselves to rescue the Minister anyway.
But instead of raising a hand to snap the Minister’s neck, Ji Gwan-young opened his mouth in a low voice seductive enough to captivate anyone instantly.
“Tae-hoon-ah.”
The owner of that name stood there blankly for a moment, not even realizing he was being called.
Only after noticing everyone except the Minister staring at him did Tae-hoon belatedly process the word his Esper had spoken.
Tae-hoon-ah… Tae-hoon-ah?
“Y-Yes?”
The end of Tae-hoon’s reply trembled slightly, his voice cracking involuntarily.
Ji Gwan-young’s eyes curved as if he found him unbearably cute.
It was a sickeningly sweet attitude that completely clashed with the murderous atmosphere.
Gwan-young continued smoothly.
“Want to immigrate?”
“……What?”
“I said let’s go. So? Where do you want to go? Just pick a country.”
At Ji Gwan-young instantly turning what sounded like a question into a statement, Tae-hoon froze with the exact same “What?” expression still on his face.
The first thought that came to him was, I actually like it here though…….
But he knew full well this wasn’t an atmosphere where he could possibly say that aloud.
Ji Gwan-young gently coaxed his Pair.
“Is there anywhere we can’t go? Hmm?”
Only then did the people at The Center realize the meaning behind those Zen-riddle-like words.
Esper Ji Gwan-young and Guide Choi Tae-hoon immigrating?
It was utterly absurd.
That wasn’t the kind of incident just some Minister should stop—even the President himself would have to come running barefoot to prevent it.
That cunning, vicious Esper had just played his trump card.
It was such a perfectly Ji Gwan-young move.
To that flawlessly crafted Esper, concepts like hierarchy simply didn’t exist. Unless it was the Guide holding his leash, he was always prepared to expose his twisted temper to absolutely anyone.
Sometimes lunatics really were useful like this.
Director Kwon Dahee barely suppressed a laugh from escaping.
Tae-hoon, standing there with that shocked face, had no idea, but Ji Gwan-young had recently rejected a luncheon invitation with the President outright as well.
When he’d curled his lips into a smile before the Blue House Chief Secretary and said, “I’m busy. If he wants to eat with me, tell him to come personally. According to my schedule.” she’d genuinely wanted to strangle that arrogant bastard.
But in this moment, she decided to forgive every outrageous thing Ji Gwan-young had ever done.
A counterattack like this deserved forgiveness a hundred times over.
“N-Now listen here. Ji Gwan-young, Ji Gwan-young-ssi.”
“Haha. You’re even fulfilling my unrealized dream. ‘Ssi.’? Thank you.”
“……”
“I was in a mathematics education program, you know. Though I dropped out.”
You were?!
Tae-hoon and several researchers who hadn’t known that widened their eyes in shock.
Tae-hoon especially looked stunned.
Ji Gwan-young teaching someone? Even imagining it felt several hundred light-years removed from reality.
And in another sense, it was a relief. With that personality, if he’d become a teacher, every bright young student would’ve grown up completely emotionally withered.
“What about America? LA. Warm weather’s nice, isn’t it? Ah, or maybe—”
“Ji Gwan-young-ssi, I misspoke. So…….”
“—Should we go to Russia instead? Honestly, I’ve been thinking I might dedicate myself to wiping some tiny little country off the map.”
That was the final blow.
Now the Minister’s face had gone pale enough to look pitiful, and even his hands were trembling.
If this precious Pair, born from impossibly slim odds in this tiny country, ended up being driven out to Russia when relations were already strained enough as it was, losing his ministerial position would be the least of his problems.
No—the far more chilling issue was the twisted Esper standing behind it all, who would gladly and enthusiastically stab his own homeland in the back.
“Tae-hoon-ah. Which sounds better?”
“…….U-Um, well…….”
“Should we visit a few embassies together later? Hear their offers too. If we’re making a fresh start, we should compare carefully.”
“Oh dear, Ji Gwan-young-ssi! A-And here, this side… I mean…….”
The Esper kindly supplied his Guide’s name for him.
“Choi Tae-hoon.”
“Choi Tae-hoon-ssi. Yes, I misspoke. So please calm down, hm? I truly apologize. I’m old, and my mouth got ahead of me…….”
At this point, Choi Tae-hoon had become completely dumbfounded.
