# Chapter 32
“Dojoon… what’s wrong with you?”
Jaeha’s voice trembled slightly, confused by Dojoon’s unfamiliar depressed tone.
“I thought that bastard was going to hurt you both.”
Dojoon’s words about Youngwoo were harsh, but Jaeha understood his feelings. He had been worried about Dorim getting hurt too, but he could hardly imagine the fear that Dojoon, as family, must have felt.
“I don’t know why I got this power.”
Dojoon, seemingly confused by his suddenly developed power, buried his face in Jaeha’s shoulder and sighed. Although Jaeha wanted to avoid the hot breath touching his skin, he couldn’t push away Dojoon who was clearly confused.
“Yanma, thanks to you, we’re all safe.”
“Yeah, that’s really fortunate. But… what would have happened if I hadn’t developed this power?”
Dojoon mentioned what might have happened if he hadn’t gained his power when facing Youngwoo who set off the bomb. This made Jaeha’s suppressed anxiety creep up again.
“Someone died, Jaeha.”
In fact, Dojoon was strangely calm. Despite seeing someone die right before his eyes, he wasn’t emotionally shaken. The only thoughts he had were that he needed to protect Jaeha and that Youngwoo standing across the barrier was an enemy.
“Ugh…”
Unlike Dojoon, Jaeha shuddered as he recalled the person who had been shattered by the explosion. When Dojoon pulled him into a full embrace, Jaeha hugged him back without any sign of resistance. After being reminded of the horror, he was desperate to chase away his fear by clinging to Dojoon’s warmth.
“If that happened to us… it’s terrifying just to imagine.”
Dojoon slowly reclined on the sofa while deeply embracing Jaeha, who had started trembling even in his arms. As they tilted, Jaeha grabbed Dojoon’s back tightly in surprise. From where Jaeha touched him, Dojoon felt so comfortable he could sigh. Despite the pleasant sensation his body felt, Dojoon continued to make pained sounds.
“Why did that bastard appear and set off a bomb at us…”
Jaeha’s body stiffened at Dojoon’s words, which sounded more like a muttered thought than a question. From beginning to end, Youngwoo had only looked at Jaeha, repeatedly calling for him. Saying he came to see Jaeha. That he missed him. Constantly trying to approach him, asking to hold his hand.
It had happened because of Youngwoo, but it was a misfortune they wouldn’t have experienced if Jaeha hadn’t been with Dojoon. Moreover, he couldn’t guarantee he would have been safe without Dojoon.
Having thought this far, Jaeha couldn’t bring himself to say anything.
“If Dorim had been hurt, I would never forgive him. I still can’t forgive him.”
When Dojoon mentioned Dorim, Jaeha felt guilt tightening his stomach.
“I’m glad you’re safe, Jaeha.”
Dojoon’s whispers of concern and relief made Jaeha feel even more indebted. Unable to just keep trembling like this, Jaeha forced himself to raise his voice and playfully patted Dojoon’s back.
“It’s okay. We’re all safe.”
“Yeah. But it still doesn’t feel real. That you and I are safe. I want to confirm it over and over.”
Dojoon deliberately reminded Jaeha of his fear. It was the easiest way to ensure Jaeha wouldn’t reject him. This behavior wasn’t like Dojoon, but he didn’t want to let go of Jaeha.
As intended, Jaeha felt guilty. Trapped between the sofa and Dojoon, unable to move, but too guilty to push him away. Even as Dojoon’s breath flowed down his neck and shoulders repeatedly, he couldn’t refuse like he had pushed away Jiho. Even as the warm breath became moist and rubbed against his neck and shoulders, he trembled with belated fear and guilt, recalling today’s events.
“Jaeha, why are you trembling so much?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t be scared. I’ll protect you.”
“N-no. It’s fine. Protect me, what are you talking about.”
“But right now I’m a bit shocked too… Let me stay like this a little longer. Feeling your body temperature makes me feel at ease.”
“Um, well, if that’s the case, I guess I can’t help it.”
Even though he felt bare skin touching where his shirt had ridden up against the sofa, and even though he felt lips touching his neck repeatedly, Jaeha rolled his eyes and endured it. Thinking that Dojoon must be the type to cling when scared, he was counting the ceiling patterns when he felt something soft and wet on his neck.
Holding back the curse that was about to escape, Jaeha deliberately turned his gaze elsewhere. He had no idea what his friend was doing, and he felt frustrated not knowing how long “a little longer” would be. His body twitched as he became aware of the hand that kept burrowing toward his inner waist.
‘Five minutes. Five minutes should be enough.’
Trying to distract himself somehow, Jaeha grabbed the remote control from the table.
Thinking it would be better if there was at least some TV noise, he turned it on, only for suggestive music to play, making him quickly change the channel. He pressed the buttons faster than when he had watched an R-rated movie with his parents. Deciding to settle on a news channel as something neutral, the screen showed a situation that looked like a scene from a movie.
“…Breaking news. We apologize for the uneven quality of the footage obtained from the scene.”
The normally pleasant-voiced announcer couldn’t hide her urgency as she reported the breaking news.
A helicopter with stopped propellers was tilted and floating in the air. It was strange enough that the helicopter that should have crashed was floating in midair, but the man hanging outside, detaching the door, looked strangely familiar.
“As you can see, it’s just empty air. This is a man performing rescue operations from a helicopter that appears to be caught on something. An interview with this man will be released shortly…”
The footage that had been showing the entire helicopter now showed a close-up of the face of the man rescuing people. The familiar face was so clearly captured that there was no mistaking it.
“Jaeyoon…?”
Dojoon also raised his head at the name that slowly escaped Jaeha’s lips.
“Your brother?”
“Yeah. Why is he appearing there?”
* * *
Breaking news! Helicopter stops mid-crash in Han River!
K-Hero appears at Han River!
These days high school students are tearing helicopters…
⤷ I regret the day I thought this was fake news.
⤷ With a bomb terrorist all over the country, this kind of attention-grabbing… wait, is this real?
⤷ Do they use CG for news reports these days?
⤷⤷ Admit the face of the helicopter-tearing person is CG.
⤷⤷ The footage is shaky and unclear, but he does look handsome.
The footage uploaded to the internet faster than the news reports spread instantly among people, even though it was deleted shortly after. Soon after, as it was reported on the news, the existence of Espers surfaced.
This put the Daesung PR team and those in charge of Esper-related tasks on high alert. Everyone was already confused by the Day of Great Change happening earlier than expected. Amidst all this, they couldn’t take their eyes off the monitors showing the emergence of a hero whose actions were heroic by anyone’s standards.
“This is crazy…”
“Did he just tear off a helicopter door? Earlier it looked like he was flying?”
“There hasn’t been any Esper with flight abilities yet.”
“Is it possible for an Esper who awakened today to move like that?”
“Information received! Seo Jaeyoon! A person not on the list of potential awakeners!”
“Wait, that face looks familiar? Isn’t he the civilian who recently cooperated with the research team?”
At someone’s comment, a PR team employee rushed to the research lab.
Meanwhile, an awakening team employee clicked his mouse a few times and scratched the back of his head.
“Um… his name is on the recently updated list of awakened individuals?”
“Why are you only saying this now?”
“You had an awakened individual like that and didn’t share the information?”
No one would know that the Esper Association, prepared in the name of the Daesung Group, was this haphazard. All of this was due to the Day of Great Change happening earlier than planned.
It appeared to be a lack of communication, but in reality, it was a request to hide Jaeyoon’s existence as much as possible until the Day of Great Change. Despite the unreasonable request, Haeil had accepted it, and information wasn’t shared between teams. Even so, he didn’t expect them to be this disconnected, so Haeil could understand their interests amid the confusion.
“Was it only shared among research facility staff?”
“That’s a bit unfair. We were just doing our job diligently.”
“How is it possible that the dedicated team didn’t know about this?”
There was a clear division between groups that had received the information Haeil provided and those that hadn’t. From here, he needed to distinguish between people to use and people to make allies with.
Haeil, who had been watching all of this from behind a wall, began to move.
“Information about Esper Seo Jaeyoon has been uploaded, so please review it.”
“Esper Kwon Haeil?”
“Mr. Haeil, did you know about Seo Jaeyoon?”
Amidst the commotion, representatives from each department rushed over as Haeil appeared. Among them, Director Kim Mantae, who had known Haeil for a long time, hurried over.
“Haeil, did you see the footage too? Is it okay for that to be broadcast like this?”
“Yes, I saw it. It was agreed upon with our side, and the PR team should have been contacted… Why is everyone so flustered?”
“Th-that’s right. Haha, the report arrived quite late.”
Director Kim Mantae, who was usually negligent, had received the schedule Haeil sent in advance about what would happen after the Day of Great Change, but he had skimmed through it. The contents seemed quite far-fetched, and Haeil had been considered just a convenient hunting dog until now, so he didn’t take the information Haeil provided seriously.
Having anticipated that things would proceed this way, Haeil approached the PR team, who were busy typing and contacting reporters and media outlets, looking past Director Kim.
“Regarding the information about Seo Jaeyoon that I gave you earlier…”
“Hey! Can’t everyone move faster? Should our Esper Kwon Haeil be stuck in an office during such a busy time?”
As Haeil tried to step forward, Director Kim hurriedly squeezed in between and raised his voice.
“Ahem. Haeil, since things have turned out this way, you should also step into the spotlight.”
Director Kim’s eyes quickly scanned several monitors.
“The reaction to Espers is really good right now. You can also create fire, so you can make a spectacular show, and it would be good to imprint you as an Esper representative to the public.”
This guy might be lazy, but he wasn’t incapable.
To calm the public who would be confused by the sudden appearance of Espers, they needed to put forward a figure to act as a focal point, at least on the surface. Jaeyoon had repeatedly reminded Haeil that he was that person. Although Haeil had looked down on him, just seeing the situation unfold made him realize Jaeyoon was right. Additionally, the PR team leader’s quick judgment created the path he should take.
“Let’s make it so that attention shifts to you, Haeil, when Seo Jaeyoon is interviewed. I’ll contact the reporters and assign a dedicated team for you.”
“Understood. Please set it up right away.”
“Yes, don’t worry. I’m Director Kim!”
Despite Kim Mantae’s show-off, his abilities were trustworthy, so Haeil moved without hesitation. He was going to join Jaeyoon by moving to the helicopter.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
