A Small Boat on the Sea (6)
It was Esper An Jong-hyeok, or rather, Hyung Jong-hyeok. When he spotted me, he momentarily stopped and widened his eyes, then quickly approached and patted my shoulder. Then he said in a slightly hoarse voice:
“Do-min, welcome back. I’m glad you seem to be doing well.”
“…Yes. Have you been well too, Hyung?”
“…Well. I’ve been doing alright.”
“Hyung, do you know you’re really bad at lying? I saw everything that happened even while I was imprisoned.”
At my remark, Hyung Jong-hyeok fell silent for a moment, as if at a loss for words. It was his typical attitude when at a disadvantage. From the beginning, he was terrible at lying. Jong-hyeok was an honest person who couldn’t tolerate injustice.
Because of that, he had many enemies and received many reprimands from others, but he didn’t care. Only those who believed and followed him felt frustrated.
“But what exactly happened with Esper Shin Woo-jun?”
When I asked that, hoping he would tell me the inside story that I didn’t know, other team members chimed in.
“Right! We were curious about that too. How could you hide it from us? You should tell us!”
“Exactly. Jong-hyeok oppa, tell us quickly.”
“Mr. An Jong-hyeok, answer right away. Please explain in detail what happened.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Ha, Jong-hyeok. If it was nothing, did you play tag with Shin Woo-jun in Canada, not Korea, and right in front of Jeon Ju-hwan’s neighborhood? Huh?”
When Esper Lee Cheol-min, the oldest member of Field Team 1, criticized him with his hands on his hips, Hyung’s gaze trembled slightly. It seemed his heart was trembling along with his gaze. And the team members didn’t miss this.
“Come on, we’re close enough to talk about this kind of thing.”
“Yes, yes. We’re such deep and rich friends.”
“What, are we beef bone broth? What do you mean by ‘deep and rich’ friends?”
The term “beef bone broth” reminded me of someone, but I pretended not to know and pressed Hyung Jong-hyeok.
“That’s right, Hyung. Tell us a little. Everyone’s curious.”
“Do-min, you…”
Hyung Jong-hyeok, who looked at me reproachfully, sighed and began his story.
“It’s really nothing. I just had advice from a friend. To catch Shin Woo-jun, who’d been in hiding, I should go to places he might head to and stake them out first.”
“Ohhh, and then?”
“The only Guide with a high matching rate with Shin Woo-jun has been Jeon Ju-hwan, and from Shin Woo-jun’s perspective, Guide Jeon Ju-hwan would be easy to handle. That’s why I went to Canada. But… I didn’t expect to actually encounter Shin Woo-jun there.”
“Wow, that’s no joke. What does the Team Leader’s friend do? Is he a researcher or something?”
At B-class Esper Lee Seong-rok’s question, Hyung Jong-hyeok fell silent again. It seemed that Esper Seong-rok had guessed correctly. In the excited atmosphere, the team members continued their chitchat at length.
Watching them, Hae-yoon noona, Hyung Jong-hyeok’s pair Guide and Field Team 1’s Team Leader Guide, clapped her hands and said:
“Okay, everyone, that’s enough chatter! I heard a new Esper is coming today, so don’t be too relaxed. Got it?”
“Yes!”
“But why a rookie out of nowhere? Not that we mind.”
“Well… Could it be because of the S-class dungeon? Our team has been especially short on Espers. This is good.”
“But if they’re too new, won’t it be hard to train them? It’ll be intense if we need to get them ready by the S-class dungeon’s emergence date.”
“Well, we’ll just have to train them hard. Team Leader Jong-hyeok would think so too, right?”
The two Espers who had been chatting glanced at Hyung Jong-hyeok as they returned to their seats. Hearing their conversation, I began to feel very sorry for Sa Hae-geon, who would be making his first day at work here today.
“Oh, by the way, Do-min. Given the current situation, the deployment of high-grade Guides will be reduced until the S-class dungeon is completely conquered. You’ll just need to go to high-grade dungeons.”
“…Really?”
“Yes.”
At Noona Hae-yoon’s words, I nodded while suppressing a smile. I had expected to be sent out to dungeons as soon as I arrived… but it seemed I would have a much more relaxed time than I thought for about a month.
* * *
The door of Field Team 1’s office swung open. Everyone held their breath and watched the person entering. A person as tall as An Jong-hyeok, who was particularly large among Espers, stood before the members of Field Team 1.
The team members, either surprised or impressed, whispered to the people next to them in voices filled with bewilderment.
“What, why is he so tall?”
“His physique is no joke… Is he really the youngest?”
“Did they say he’s the youngest? How old is he?”
“From what I briefly heard, it sounds like he’s 21?”
“Oh my, really?”
“He’s so handso… no, he’s so prettily handsome.”
“Right? He’s handsome but in a pretty way.”
Despite surely being able to hear the team members’ conversations, Sa Hae-geon’s expression didn’t change. He just… stood still, staring intently at my face. He usually blushed at even minor compliments, so I thought he might be embarrassed this time too, but it was unexpected.
Hyung Jong-hyeok, watching the noisy team members, opened his mouth.
“As you all probably already know, this is S-class Esper Sa Hae-geon, who has joined Field Team 1 as a new member. Since it’s his first time working anywhere, please take good care of him.”
“Yes!”
“Of course!”
“Then, Esper Sa Hae-geon, please give a brief self-introduction.”
Again, Sa Hae-geon’s cheeks didn’t flush. He opened his mouth while keeping his gaze fixed on me.
“I’m S-class Esper Sa Hae-geon. As the Team Leader said, since this is my first time working anywhere, I’ll be quite inexperienced, but I’ll work hard to learn. I look forward to working with all of you.”
“Welcome!”
“Welcome, welcome.”
“Wow, unlike typical Espers these days, he’s very polite. I like that.”
Sa Hae-geon mumbled thanks and that he looked forward to working with everyone in response to the greetings thrown at him one by one.
“Ah, right. Other Guides don’t need to Guide Esper Sa Hae-geon. It’s been decided that Do-min will take full responsibility for that.”
“Huh? Wouldn’t that be too hard for Do-min?”
“Do-min won’t be going out into the field much for the time being anyway. He can provide Guiding during that time, and we can discuss what happens after that among the Guides later.”
“We don’t mind. It’s a burdensome task to Guide an S-class Esper anyway. But we should ask Do-min’s opinion. Do-min, are you okay with this?”
Noona Hae-yoon looked at me and asked. Cold sweat ran down my back for a moment. What should I do if they discovered what had happened between us? Such questions and worries filled my mind.
I looked back and forth between Noona Hae-yoon, Hyung Jong-hyeok, and Sa Hae-geon, then forced a casual smile and replied.
“Yes, of course.”
“Do-min says he’s fine with it.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Do-min say he’s not fine with something. Have you?”
“…”
Hyung Jong-hyeok fell silent again at Noona Hae-yoon’s question.
“But why is Do-min the only one Guiding him?”
“I don’t know the details, but the Guide Team Leader said Esper Sa Hae-geon has a somewhat unusual constitution. So apparently, Do-min is the only Guide in the country whose wavelength matches him.”
“Is that so…? Then there’s no choice. Do-min, I’m sorry to ask this of you.”
“What? Noona, you have nothing to be sorry about. It’s fine.”
“Still… Wait. Then will Esper Sa Hae-geon also join the S-class dungeon conquest team?”
Hyung Jong-hyeok nodded in response to Noona Hae-yoon’s question.
“So we have to raise this newborn chick-like kid into a sturdy Esper and send him to the conquest team? In that short time?”
“That’s right.”
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, An Jong-hyeok.”
Noona Hae-yoon burst into laughter and patted Hyung Jong-hyeok’s back. As if envious of that sight, Sa Hae-geon flinched as if about to rush to my side right away. However, when I firmly shook my head, he immediately looked dissatisfied.
“Well, since it’s the first day, let’s start with ‘light’ training. Everyone come when you’re ready. Esper Sa Hae-geon, follow me.”
Hyung Jong-hyeok said that while beckoning to Sa Hae-geon. The innocent Sa Hae-geon, who knew nothing, simply followed behind Hyung Jong-hyeok like a chick following a hen. After the two left, silence fell in the office.
“…Poor thing.”
“No matter how far he has to go, training with An Jong-hyeok on the first day?”
“When he trains, he’s not An Jong-hyeok, he’s a madman. He’s beyond being called by his name.”
“It’ll be fortunate if he comes back without breaking something.”
“By the way, did they say his name was Sa Hae-geon? Anyway, what’s the new Esper’s ability? Does anyone know?”
Everyone shrugged, saying they didn’t know, and I cautiously opened my mouth after observing them. It seemed better to establish some background that Sa Hae-geon and I were acquainted to some extent.
“He’s a Dual Esper. He can control water and electricity.”
Dozens of pairs of eyes suddenly turned to me. It was a moment when I felt I might have given the wrong impression.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
