# Chapter 27
“There was no need to burn his hairpiece too.”
After walking silently with Heerim through crowds of people, I finally spoke once we were far enough from the A Industrial building. Heerim, who had been walking ahead, stopped in his tracks.
“Are you taking that bald guy’s side now?”
Heerim turned around and completely removed his mask. His face had already become sullen again. I exhaled a sigh I couldn’t hold back and shook my head.
“I’m not taking his side. I just felt like your actions seemed like you were venting your anger.”
“Anger? You’re the one who got angry. At me.”
Heerim bit his lip as if wronged by my words.
Heerim described my drawing a line as ‘getting angry,’ but that wasn’t correct. From the beginning, maintaining this level of distance was the right thing to do.
I didn’t trust Heerim, and Heerim hid his true self from me. It was unreasonable for us to become friends, so I merely restored the appropriate distance between us that had somehow narrowed without my realizing it.
“Why do you keep doing this? I told you I wasn’t angry.”
Even though there was no need to correct Heerim’s words, a needless stubbornness rose within me.
I grabbed Heerim’s hand abruptly. His shoulders flinched in surprise at the sudden contact. I pressed on and sent a small amount of energy to Heerim. Even I was confused by my own actions. I couldn’t understand my contradictory behavior of trying to push Heerim away while still caring for him.
“Ungh…”
A soft moan escaped Heerim’s lips. I also took a deep breath, feeling a fresh, tingling sensation spreading throughout my body. Though I was performing Guiding for Heerim’s sake, its effects greatly influenced me as well.
“Jaeo hyung…”
“Do you feel better now?”
After completing the short but intense Guiding, I examined Heerim. I could see a pink flush rising on his face, which had been dejected and drooping just moments ago.
“Please don’t hate me.”
Heerim carefully hooked his pinky finger around mine as he spoke. Instead of answering that such trivial emotions wouldn’t accumulate between us, I just smiled bitterly.
***
What is a Guide?
What is an Esper?
Characteristics of Guide Espers
Korean Espers
Side effects of Esper Guiding
When I pressed the search engine, the phrases I had searched all day on the website appeared. While Guiding Heerim, I realized I didn’t know much about Espers and Guides. But it was difficult to find the information I wanted.
“Sigh.”
I sighed as I skimmed through the text displayed on my phone screen. Then I noticed a post titled “Everything About Espers.”
Hello~!
Today we’re going to learn everything about Espers~!
You’re anxious because of the occasional news about Rifts, right? But don’t worry! We have Espers.
Espers are people with supernatural abilities who protect us from monsters in the Rifts.
I learned about Espers today.
We should always be grateful to Espers. See you in the next post~!
“What the… There’s no real information here.”
It was a post plastered with annoying emoticons but containing no valuable information. I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.
Information about Espers and Guides was really hard to find, with only such ridiculous posts on the internet. After pointlessly web surfing for a while, I changed the keyword and searched again.
‘Rift’
This time, more texts and articles appeared than before. Among them, one title caught my eye.
《Gradually Disappearing Rifts. What’s the Future for National Espers?》
It seemed to be a column written by an individual.
Gradually Disappearing Rifts. What’s the Future for National Espers?
The number of Rifts is decreasing worldwide. According to experts, as the distorted space-time between Earth and space returns to its original state, Rifts are gradually disappearing. So what will become of Korea’s NECC (National Esper Control Center)?
It was a much more informative article than the blog post I had just read. The writer criticized the closed structure of the NECC and argued that its existence was no longer necessary in Korea.
It was a difficult topic, whatever it was.
“Right. Let’s not try to understand it.”
I put down my phone and closed my eyes.
Five days had passed since the Kang Seokgi incident.
From what I later heard from the client, Kang Seokgi attended the meeting completely bald that day. Surprisingly, his hairpiece was an expensive product from a famous brand, so few people knew he wore one. Because of this, the news of his “morning baldness exposure” quickly spread through the company messenger and community. It was a humiliation like no other.
Without his hairpiece, Kang Seokgi appeared at the client meeting looking almost like a chief mourner at a funeral. But that wasn’t the end of it.
The moment the dazed Kang Seokgi began his presentation, our prepared evidence of his embezzlement was projected onto the screen in large format, and the panic-stricken Kang Seokgi fled immediately.
“The business partner seems to have been really pissed off. They filed a lawsuit for damages against A Industrial.”
The Director held out her phone to show me. On the screen was an article dated today about the embezzlement of hundreds of millions of won by an A Industrial employee.
“That’s good, right?”
“Yes. That bastard was fired from the company and handed over to the prosecution on embezzlement charges. On top of that, workplace sexual harassment issues surfaced, so he’s probably ruined. The client said she got transferred and is doing well.”
“That’s a relief.”
I was genuinely relieved. Although we handled it with a makeshift, ridiculous plan, it was resolved in the direction everyone wanted, which made me feel proud.
“Ah. I hope we can rest without work for a while now.”
The Director stretched out and lay down on the sofa. Seeing her always lying around like this, I wondered if someday a bed would appear in the office.
“Isn’t it better to have more work?”
“What are you talking about, Jaeo? Think about it. Although we work under the name ‘Earth Peace Research Institute,’ if many people seek our help, doesn’t that mean this society isn’t peaceful?”
I couldn’t argue with the Director’s words, which seemed sophistry yet somewhat reasonable.
“But it’s boring without work.”
Heerim, who had been reading webtoons on his phone, yawned and joined the conversation. At that moment, Heerim’s and my eyes met in mid-air.
“…”
I pretended not to see and turned my head away.
Since I distanced myself, an ambiguous line that was neither friendship nor collegiality had been drawn between Heerim and me. I was the one who drew that line, and Heerim stood helplessly in front of it.
I continued Guiding as usual, but I didn’t engage in casual conversation or show emotional fluctuations. I simply sat with the mindset of doing what needed to be done and only provided Guiding for Heerim.
“Ah, Heerim. If you’re bored, want to go out with me? Today is the regular car inspection day, so I need to go.”
“What? Am I crazy? To go out in your car, hyung?”
Just as Heerim frowned at Jeongmun’s words and turned his attention back to his phone:
“Wait. Does anyone else hear something?”
Jeongmun lowered his voice and looked around. At his words, everyone stopped what they were doing and focused on the surrounding sounds. As he said, a faint sound could be heard from outside the office door.
“Hic, huu.”
“S-Someone seems to be crying.”
The sound of someone sobbing could be heard from the corridor outside. It gave me a chilling feeling, making goosebumps rise on my forearms.
“I’ll go check.”
In contrast, Heerim got up from his seat with an indifferent expression and strode toward the door. He opened the office door without hesitation.
“Hmm?”
After checking outside the door, Heerim tilted his head and then widened his eyes.
“Huu, please help me. Hic. Waaaaah.”
What on earth was happening—a boy who appeared to be in the lower grades of elementary school was crying, tears and snot streaming down his face.
The child was holding a large amount of A4 paper in his arms. After sniffling for a while, he finally stopped crying when Jeongmun gave him snacks bought from a nearby convenience store.
“What brings you here?”
Jeongmun smiled brightly and spoke to the child. It was the first time I’d seen him initiate conversation with someone.
“Hi, hic. Hiccup.”
However, the child seemed to find Jeongmun’s kindness threatening, as he shuddered with a pale face when their eyes met.
“Jeongmun. You just stay back there. Everyone’s scared when you talk to them with that face. Heerim, you try to comfort him.”
At the Director’s words, Jeongmun wore a shocked expression and stepped back.
“Hello?”
Heerim replaced Jeongmun and spoke to the child with a bright smile. The child, who had momentarily flinched, saw Heerim’s harmless face and bowed his head in greeting.
“What’s your name, friend?”
“Lee… Hayul.”
The child fidgeted with his fingers as he said his name.
“Okay, Hayul. How did you get here? Did you come alone? Where are your parents?”
Heerim didn’t seem particularly skilled at dealing with children, but he appeared to be doing his best to comfort the boy.
“Um, mom and dad went to work. Sniff.”
“I see. But why did you come here?”
The child seemed to lower his guard upon seeing Heerim’s pretty and striking face. He sniffled and held out the paper he was carrying. The paper had a printed photo of a white Pomeranian dog sticking out its tongue with an adorable expression.
“Hic. Our dog disappeared. Huu, waaah.”
The child, who had just stopped crying, burst into tears again. Only then did I notice the phrase “Looking for Dog” written below the cute dog’s picture.
The surprised Heerim looked at the Director and mouthed “What do we do?” The Director scratched her head and approached the child.
“Hmm. Little one. So you want to find your dog, right?”
“Hic. Uh-huh. We need to find our Jjongie. Sniff. We must, must find him! It says here you solve worries and problems. Can you solve my problem too?”
The child spoke clearly and nodded his head vigorously. He was quite a smart kid. The Director read the flyer the child was holding carefully. She had just been saying she wanted to rest. Apparently, the child didn’t even seem to know he had to pay a fee for the request. It was a minor matter that didn’t necessarily require the Earth Peace Research Institute’s intervention.
However, the Director opened her mouth with a reassuring smile.
“Yes. Auntie and the uncles will help you find him.”
And so, unexpectedly, all the office staff found themselves taking on the job of finding a dog.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
