# Chapter 47
“Excuse me.”
Jeongyun carefully opened the infirmary door and looked inside, but no one was there. As he hesitantly entered, Hwayeon followed behind him.
‘Well, it’s just a minor treatment.’
The burn wasn’t severe, and it only affected two fingers, so he could treat it himself if he just knew where the medicine was.
Fortunately, there was a first aid corner set up beside the infirmary for people to use easily. Jeongyun went there and found disinfectant, band-aids, and burn ointment.
“Hwayeon, can you let go of my hand?”
At Jeongyun’s words, Hwayeon obediently released his hand. The blister had grown a bit more since earlier, but the burning sensation was gone. The injury wasn’t as serious as he had thought.
Jeongyun first sprayed disinfectant and gently dabbed around the burned fingers with cotton. The alcohol-based disinfectant evaporated quickly, so it was time to apply the ointment.
“Hwayeon, could you open this for me?”
The ointment cap was too small to handle with one hand. Hwayeon took the ointment Jeongyun offered and carefully twisted the small cap.
“Here you go.”
“Thanks.”
After carefully applying the white ointment to the wound, he finished by putting on a band-aid. Jeongyun lightly clenched and unclenched his hand, then put the medicines back where he found them.
“Shall we go now?”
It was almost time for Hwayeon’s training. As they needed to hurry to not be late, Jeongyun was about to leave the infirmary when Hwayeon, who had been standing behind him, suddenly blocked his way.
Hwayeon lowered his gaze to look at Jeongyun’s bandaged hand. His deliberately composed expression suddenly crumpled, and his eyes grew moist again.
“…Are you really okay?”
“Yes, I’m really fine.”
Jeongyun spread his hand wide to show that it was nothing, but Hwayeon’s worry didn’t subside. Carefully taking Jeongyun’s hand, Hwayeon kissed the band-aid covering the wound.
Smooch. The brief touch of body heat quickly cooled. It happened so suddenly that Jeongyun froze, not even thinking to pull his hand away.
“Someone told me this helps wounds heal faster.”
“…W-who told you?”
He stuttered in surprise.
Hwayeon frowned and said he couldn’t remember who told him, but the words remained clear in his mind.
‘Maybe his memory is coming back a bit.’
Hwayeon, whose memory was mostly wiped out due to manifestation pain, occasionally recalled fragments from before his manifestation. Though fragmentary, even those were very helpful.
“I hope it heals quickly.”
“Me too.”
Jeongyun awkwardly smiled and removed his hand from Hwayeon’s grasp. Then he rubbed the band-aid with his thumb, erasing the sensation of the lips that had briefly touched it.
* * *
“Good, look this way.”
Click. The sound of the shutter echoed through the studio. Domin gazed at the lens with languid eyes, bent one knee and posed as the photographer directed.
The director, notorious for being difficult, had already gone far beyond the agreed shooting time. Junyoung pleaded that they had another schedule, but the director made excuses that he hadn’t yet gotten the work he wanted.
‘Well, since we’ve started, let’s give the director what he wants.’
Figuring the director would stubbornly continue all night if left unchecked, Domin let him continue until he was satisfied. The director, excited, kept photographing Domin.
But the director, who didn’t know the meaning of “enough,” didn’t stop shooting for over an hour. Domin had repeated the same pose so many times that his muscles were becoming stiff.
Domin wanted to smash the lens moving back and forth, but as a government-affiliated Esper, using his abilities on civilians would result in disciplinary action. Not to mention the lawsuit that would follow.
‘Let’s not create troublesome situations.’
Calming himself down, Domin hoped the tedious photoshoot would end soon.
At that moment, the director approached closely to press the shutter and mumbled in a small voice.
“Hmm… would’ve been better without the Choker.”
But Domin didn’t miss those quiet words. Well, if someone mumbles at a distance of less than a hand span, it’s meant to be heard.
“Domin, relax your expression! You’re too stiff right now!”
Afterward, Domin continued to change his expression and pose countless times according to the director’s instructions. The director pressed the shutter continuously and finally gave the OK sign, concluding the long photoshoot.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Domin nodded briefly toward the staff and headed straight for the waiting room.
As soon as he opened the door and entered, he kicked a nearby chair hard. Junyoung, who followed him in, hurriedly closed the waiting room door after hearing the noise.
“Are you okay?”
“…Fuck, you call that a question?”
The reason the director wouldn’t stop shooting wasn’t because he was dissatisfied with the photos or passionate about his work.
It was because Domin was an Esper.
When he first started this job, everyone was desperate to drive him out. He barely got any work, and even the few scheduled appointments he managed to secure were often canceled on the day.
There were many times he wanted to wreck everything after arriving at an empty shooting location only to receive a rude cancellation notice. That’s why he endured more tenaciously to get where he is now.
After becoming famous, obvious harassment like same-day cancellations disappeared, but inconsiderate behavior like today’s still happened occasionally.
And in such cases, the other person was often an Esper-phobic.
‘…I could be right.’
Domin flicked his finger, and his phone flew to him from across the room.
Looking up the director’s personal SNS account, he found that the director had openly posted photos of himself participating in anti-Esper demonstrations, not even trying to hide it.
“Hey, Kim Junyoung.”
“What?”
Without looking back, Domin threw the phone to Junyoung. Barely catching it, Junyoung frowned at the director’s personal SNS account that Domin had found.
“I told you to screen out the Esper-phobic bastards!”
“But there was no contact from headquarters about this.”
“Those bastards don’t bother to do their job properly.”
Domin messed up his styled hair and sat on the waiting room sofa.
Thanks to the delayed photoshoot, one scheduled appointment had been missed. It seemed like an important interview, and the thought of having to fix this mess gave him a headache.
“Just cancel everything.”
“What?”
“Cancel all of today’s scheduled appointments.”
“Are you serious?!”
Junyoung shouted loudly. Domin turned around and glared at him with fierce eyes, asking where he got the nerve to raise his voice.
Junyoung shut his mouth obediently in fear but didn’t back down from his position that this was absolutely unacceptable.
“It’s already a headache that we missed one appointment. We can’t do that with the others.”
“Since things are already messed up, it’s better to clean-slate it all.”
“Domin…!”
Getting up from the sofa, Domin changed his clothes. He wanted to remove the heavy makeup applied for the photoshoot immediately, but his desire to leave this place was greater.
Domin strode up to the foot-stomping Junyoung and flicked his finger. Junyoung belatedly realized what was happening and tried to protect his pocket, but the car keys had already flown into Domin’s hand.
“Take a taxi home by yourself.”
“Hey! Choi Domin!”
Domin left the shouting Junyoung behind and headed for the parking lot. Since he was using telekinesis to keep the door from opening, Junyoung couldn’t follow. The sound of banging on the door as if to break it down gradually faded.
After getting into the car, Domin started the engine and turned the steering wheel with practiced ease. The car left the parking lot and drove onto the road. Perhaps because it was an awkward time of day, the road was quiet.
‘Should I go home?’
But if he went home, Junyoung would surely follow him there. Today’s schedule was packed until early morning, so Junyoung would try to drag him to at least some of the remaining appointments.
‘Ah, my hand…’
But his hand gripping the steering wheel was shaking badly.
It seemed the side effects were starting since it had been quite a while since he received Guiding. Well, he had held out long enough. He had also deliberately restrained from using his abilities.
“What should I do?”
Since that day, Domin had intentionally avoided seeking out Jeongyun. Was he shocked because the guy who used to blush whenever he saw Domin and acted like he would give him his liver and gallbladder suddenly turned cold?
‘That’s ridiculous.’
With a smirk, Domin pulled the car over to the shoulder. He leaned on the steering wheel and repeatedly clenched and unclenched his finely trembling hand. Whatever the case, he needed Guiding now.
‘I don’t want to go to headquarters.’
After some thought, Domin reached for the passenger seat. Opening the glove box, he found a secret contract enclosed in a transparent file amid crumpled receipts and odds and ends.
Domin opened the very last page to check Jeongyun’s personal information. As expected, beside his team affiliation and rank, his home address was neatly written. Perfect.
“Still plenty of time.”
After checking the time, Domin tossed the secret contract onto the passenger seat and started the car. There was someplace he needed to stop by before going to Jeongyun’s home.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
