# Chapter 46
Morning dawned no different from usual. Jeongyun woke up to his alarm at the set time, quickly washed up, got dressed, and ate a light breakfast.
Before leaving home, Jeongyun sent his attendance confirmation through his pager and put on his shoes. As he was about to open the heavy front door and go outside, he stopped and took out his pager again.
As expected, there had been no calls or messages from Domin since that day. And this silence had continued for more than a week now.
‘Is this right?’
Today again, he had to go to headquarters and wait for Domin’s call that might never come. It was a bit better when he went to the center to provide Guiding for Hwayeon, but in the end, having to think about Domin all day remained unchanged.
‘This isn’t why I became a dedicated Guide.’
When he could only watch from a distance, Jeongyun had his own fantasies about Domin. That despite being a bit sensitive, he might actually be a kind and warm person. After all, he was the one who had saved him.
‘If you’re going to have a one-sided crush, do it quietly by yourself. Don’t expect anything from me.’
But the Domin that Jeongyun experienced directly was very different from his imagination. Self-centered, lacking manners, speaking harshly, and not knowing how to respect people.
‘It must be because of his aftereffects.’
Even trying to understand that way wasn’t easy. It wasn’t like Domin was the only Esper with severe aftereffects that Jeongyun had ever met.
But they didn’t get excited easily or act rudely like Domin. Though their personalities were sensitive due to the constant pain, they knew how to maintain politeness and respected Jeongyun as a Guide.
That should be basic for anyone.
“Would it have been better to just watch from afar…?”
Realizing what he had just said, Jeongyun’s eyes widened. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand, but he couldn’t take back the words that had spilled out.
“This isn’t right.”
Sighing at his miserable feelings, Jeongyun bumped his forehead against the front door.
He should never have such thoughts, no matter what. After a brief moment of reflection, he opened the firmly closed front door.
* * *
He took the subway, crowded with people during rush hour, to headquarters. Coming out from the stuffy underground, clear sunlight poured down. The air was chilly, as if winter was approaching soon.
‘I should just drop off my things at the Guiding room and head to the center.’
Since there was no way Domin would call at such an early hour, it would be better to go to Hwayeon first as usual. Mapping out his route in his head, Jeongyun headed toward headquarters where his Guiding room was located.
As soon as he entered the lobby, an advertisement featuring Domin was playing on the huge screen on the wall. It was a new ad that Jeongyun hadn’t seen before, perhaps filmed during Domin’s recent overseas schedule.
[Government-affiliated Espers are the guardians who protect you, citizens.]
The slogan that Jeongyun could recite with his eyes closed now appeared above Domin’s head.
As always, Domin was shining in the advertisement. Like a star that couldn’t be reached no matter how much one stretched out their hand.
‘Why am I so depressed?’
In the past, Jeongyun would have stared at Domin’s new advertisement for a long time, but now it only hurt. Jeongyun averted his gaze from the ad and hurried toward his Guiding room.
After opening the firmly closed door and putting down his things, he immediately prepared to go to the center. All he needed was his pager, phone, and center access card.
The Center Director had specially made it just for Jeongyun, saying it would be more convenient than borrowing a visitor’s pass every time he came.
The photo on his Guide ID was too old, so they quickly took a new picture at the center for his access card. Jeongyun rubbed the silly-looking photo of himself before hanging the access card around his neck.
“Let’s do well today too.”
After patting his shoulder lightly, Jeongyun left the Guiding room. Passing by the Guides arriving for work and going down to the lobby, he had to face Domin’s advertisement again.
His mood became gloomy as thoughts of Domin that he had been trying to erase became clear again. Jeongyun naturally turned his fixed gaze away from the advertisement and entered the passage leading to the center.
This path, once unfamiliar, had become so familiar now. Well, it made sense since he had been clocking in here every day for several weeks.
“Hyung Jeongyun!”
Hwayeon, who had seen Jeongyun coming from a distance, waved his hand.
Since last week, Hwayeon had been greeting Jeongyun at the center’s main entrance, timing it with Jeongyun’s arrival. Of course, he couldn’t come out beyond the designated line, but Hwayeon, who was waving his hands enthusiastically and jumping up and down, now had a choker around his neck indicating that he was a government-affiliated Esper.
“Why are you out here? I told you there’s no need for this.”
“I wanted to see you quickly, Hyung.”
Hwayeon smiled brightly and stuck close to Jeongyun’s side.
Although he no longer grabbed Jeongyun’s hands as before, since unauthorized contact wasn’t allowed, he still leaned his body against him. Since this was too ambiguous to be called contact, Jeongyun tended to be lenient about it. And the perceptive Hwayeon didn’t miss the range that Jeongyun softly allowed.
“Hyung Jeongyun.”
“Yes?”
“Are you feeling bad today?”
While heading to the center, Jeongyun tilted his head at Hwayeon’s unexpected question. Hwayeon then imitated Jeongyun’s expression as he saw it.
With drooping corners of his mouth and tired-looking eyes, anyone would ask if he wasn’t feeling well.
“Do I look like that right now?”
“Yes.”
Hwayeon nodded his head vigorously.
Jeongyun tried to lift the corners of his mouth, but they quickly fell back down. It seemed he didn’t even have the energy to force a smile.
“Did something happen?”
“No, nothing happened.”
There was no need to tell Hwayeon about his complicated situation.
Jeongyun patted Hwayeon’s back, saying they should hurry to the center, but Hwayeon stopped abruptly with his lips pursed, as if something was bothering him.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“No, I am, but…”
Hwayeon glanced somewhere and then approached Jeongyun quickly.
Surprised by the closeness, Jeongyun tried to step back, but Hwayeon whispered in a small voice that he had something to show him.
“What is it?”
“Wait and see.”
Grinning like a prankster, Hwayeon spread his hand wide. A small spark ignited, gradually building up until it formed a small rose.
“…Wow.”
Jeongyun could only marvel at the beautiful sight that was hard to believe even with his own eyes. Hwayeon plucked the rose that had bloomed in his palm and handed it to Jeongyun.
“Don’t tell the teacher.”
Hwayeon put his index finger to his lips, asking him to keep the secret.
Instead of answering, Jeongyun nodded slowly. His gaze remained fixed on the beautifully burning rose, unable to move.
‘He’s already able to control his ability like this.’
Jeongyun had thought the trainer’s praise about Hwayeon being a genius was just flattery, but it wasn’t.
Hwayeon really was a genius.
If his aftereffects weren’t so severe, could he have received a grade of A or higher? Considering his rapid growth and skill utilization, even an A-grade would underestimate Hwayeon.
“Do you want this?”
“Me?”
“Yes, I made it for you, Hyung Jeongyun.”
Jeongyun carefully reached out for the rose that Hwayeon handed over.
He tried to grasp the burning stem, but due to the hot temperature, he withdrew his hand in surprise. It was natural. No matter how beautiful it was, this was still fire.
“H-Hyung! Are you okay?”
Hwayeon grabbed Jeongyun’s hand and asked in alarm. Jeongyun should have said he was fine, but a blister was already forming on his burnt finger.
“Wh-what should we do…”
“It’s okay, Hwayeon.”
“I’m sorry, it’s because of me. I didn’t feel the heat, so I thought you wouldn’t either. What should we do? What if it leaves a scar? It must hurt a lot. I’m so sorry…”
Hwayeon sniffled and stamped his feet anxiously. Even though it was Jeongyun’s fault for trying to grab what he knew was fire, Hwayeon wouldn’t stop blaming himself.
“Hwayeon.”
Jeongyun called out to the anxious Hwayeon. Eyes that had been nervously darting around turned to Jeongyun. Tears that had pooled in his eyes rolled down his cheeks.
Though Jeongyun was the one in pain, looking at Hwayeon’s face, he seemed to be suffering more. Having missed the timing to express his pain, Jeongyun reached out his other hand and wiped away the tears spreading on Hwayeon’s cheeks.
“We’ll go to the infirmary and put medicine on it.”
“Really?”
“Yes, nowadays medicine is so good that it will heal without any scars.”
Hwayeon nodded at Jeongyun’s words. After wiping his teary eyes, Hwayeon urged Jeongyun, saying they needed to go quickly and apply medicine.
Jeongyun headed to the center with his hand still held by Hwayeon. They scanned the access card, passed through the entrance, and headed to the infirmary located on the first floor.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
