Not Imprisonment, but Living Together (6)
Sa Hae-geon’s story ended there. He pursed his lips while examining my expression. He seemed to be checking if I remembered him and our past encounter.
Though it was truly regrettable for Sa Hae-geon, I couldn’t recall anything about him even after hearing his story. It was as if that memory had been completely carved out, leaving not even a trace to grasp.
Seeing the faint expectation in Sa Hae-geon’s eyes made me feel a lump in my throat. After hesitating, I finally spoke.
“Hmm, so that’s what happened…”
In response to my words, which I had managed to utter while nodding, Sa Hae-geon replied as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“Yes. But it’s okay if you don’t remember. It might have been important to me, but not to you.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“There’s no need to apologize. I was just happy to have met you then.”
Despite Sa Hae-geon’s assurance that it was fine, I still felt uncomfortable. I had hoped that listening to his story might trigger at least some recollection, but it didn’t. Nothing came to mind. Instead, my suspicion that the person in Sa Hae-geon’s memory wasn’t me only grew stronger.
What if Sa Hae-geon was really mistaking me for someone else?
Considering this possibility made my chest feel even tighter than before. Pressing my aching chest, I looked at Sa Hae-geon. Seeing his innocent expression, I tried to comfort him as if nothing was wrong.
“Honestly, I thought you’d have an easy life as an S-class Esper, but you must have gone through some tough times too, Hae-geon.”
Sa Hae-geon, who had been looking blank for a moment, belatedly moved his lips.
“…Not really.”
After a brief response, Sa Hae-geon scratched his cheek, seemingly feeling awkward. As I quietly watched him blushing all the way to his ears, I suddenly remembered the message I had seen on his phone. I had meant to ask him properly about it but had completely forgotten until now. How could I be so absentminded?
I glanced at Sa Hae-geon and carefully began.
“Hae-geon.”
“Yes.”
“On our way back from the training ground, I borrowed your phone, remember?”
“Yes.”
Sa Hae-geon turned his head to look at me at this sudden topic.
“Well, at that time… a message came in, and I looked at it without thinking.”
“A message?”
Sa Hae-geon tilted his head as if recalling the past memory, then slightly parted his lips. He seemed to have realized what I was talking about. He looked at me with eyes filled with a mixture of emotions, then stammered:
“Which, which message… are you talking about?”
“The message saying you had signs of going berserk. I’m sorry for looking at it without permission.”
Sa Hae-geon clenched his fists and lowered his gaze, as if it was something he had wanted to hide from me. He seemed very embarrassed that I had discovered this fact.
“Hae-geon.”
“…It’s not recent. It happened before I met you again. So you don’t need to worry about it. I’m fine now.”
“How can I not worry as a Guide when you’ve shown signs of going berserk? And how shocked your parents must have been?”
My voice unconsciously rose out of frustration. Sa Hae-geon looked at me with wide, surprised eyes. His deep blue eyes were rippling.
“Call your mother right away.”
“…What?”
“Tell her you’re going for a checkup tomorrow.”
“But…”
“Hae-geon, does it sound like I’m asking you?”
Sa Hae-geon, who had been hesitating until then, was startled when I hardened my expression, and hurriedly went to his room to find his phone. I had never seen an Esper be so casual about signs of going berserk. How could he be so carefree about something that concerned his own life?
‘Do Dual Espers think differently?’
It made no sense otherwise. Shaking my head, I looked at Sa Hae-geon coming out of his room with his phone. He looked uncharacteristically dejected, which made me feel both sorry for him and a bit annoyed. He should have kept secret what needed to be kept secret. Was he planning to keep something so important from me to the end?
Yet he would make such a fuss whenever I showed the slightest sign of discomfort.
“Send it from here.”
“…Yes.”
I stood next to Sa Hae-geon, who was slowly tapping the phone screen with his large hands, and checked the message he was typing.
Mother
I will come to the main house tomorrow. I’m sorry for causing you worry.
The message was extremely concise and contained only what needed to be said, which was very like Sa Hae-geon. I grabbed his wrist as he was about to send the message as it was. There was still one piece of information that needed to be added.
“You should also write that I’m coming with you.”
“…You’re coming too?”
“Of course. I know your physical condition better than you do right now, don’t I?”
The corners of Sa Hae-geon’s mouth twitched slightly. He added a sentence at a much faster pace than before.
I’ll come with Hyung.
If Sa Hae-geon’s mother saw this, she would surely wonder who he was referring to and who was coming with him, but I decided to pretend not to know. The reply came back quickly.
Mother
Alright, see you tomorrow
* * *
The next day, as soon as the sun rose, Sa Hae-geon and I quickly finished breakfast and got in the car. Sa Hae-geon, dressed in clothes similar in color and design to mine, blushed and said:
“I never thought the day would come when I’d go to the main house with you. I’m so… happy.”
“You’re happy even though we’re going to get scolded?”
“Yes. I’m happy.”
Sa Hae-geon responded straightforwardly like a person without guile, then took the steering wheel. While his unrestrained attitude was pleasant to see, I thought it might come across as tactless to some people. I wondered if he would adjust well in a center or guild later…
While I was lost in thought, the car began to move smoothly.
“Do you go to the main house often?”
“No.”
“Why not? Shouldn’t you go often for checkups, considering your condition?”
“Just… I had reasons why I couldn’t go often.”
It was a vague explanation, as if he wanted to avoid this topic. Still, given that he lived quite properly, he probably hadn’t been unable to go because he was doing something bad. I shrugged my shoulders and asked in a light tone:
“Well, it wasn’t for anything bad, right?”
“…”
He glanced at me, then looked straight ahead again, keeping his mouth shut. The silence continued for a long time without me hearing any affirmation or denial.
‘…Did he really do something bad?’
It was hard to imagine Sa Hae-geon doing something bad… But just in case, I decided to ask once more.
“You just couldn’t go because you were tired or afraid of seeing the results, right?”
“…Yes. Well, there were reasons like that too.”
“Ah, you couldn’t go because you were busy kidnapping and imprisoning me. Right?”
“Yes. That was the main reason.”
“But you said the signs of going berserk happened before you met me.”
“…Yes.”
“Then how could that be the main reason?”
“Well…”
The more ambiguous Sa Hae-geon’s answers became, the more stubborn I felt. Since the distance to his main house was quite far anyway, it seemed good to kill time talking about this. I watched Sa Hae-geon’s expression and kept changing my approach.
“Theft… maybe?”
“What? No.”
“Of course. Theft doesn’t suit you. Then what about… assault?”
“That’s also one of the reasons… How did you know?”
Sa Hae-geon took the bait. Sa Hae-geon and assault? What an unlikely combination of words. Though unique, this gentle person hurting someone else… Are Espers really Espers after all?
“What happened that made you hit someone?”
“To be precise, I didn’t exactly hit them.”
“Then?”
I swallowed hard, waiting for his next words. After pondering for a while, Sa Hae-geon’s lips moved.
“I just made them unconscious.”
“Unconscious? Why? What possible reason could you have for making someone unconscious?”
“Because that person was trying to do what I was planning to do first.”
“What were they trying to do first? How could such a situation arise in daily life…?”
This time too, Sa Hae-geon chose silence. I tried to prod him a few more times to make him talk, but Sa Hae-geon never brought up that topic again.
“Anyway, you’re saying you really couldn’t go because you were doing something bad?”
“Yes. But making that person unconscious wasn’t a bad thing.”
“Really?”
Sa Hae-geon, who had been nodding, glanced at me and smiled slightly.
“You said you didn’t like chloroform.”
“Huh? …Oh, yeah. I did say that.”
“Yes. So that’s why.”
It was an explanation whose meaning I couldn’t understand, but it was difficult to ask further, so I just nodded and pretended to understand.
