Chapter 34
Thanks to the guild’s request, I could spend the rest of the weekend at home.
After spending a relaxed day with my parents, I returned to school early Monday morning.
Since what happened over the weekend had already spread throughout the school, everyone was buzzing about what happened inside Calling Guild’s gate.
As I entered the classroom thinking they should really keep reporters away from gates, Yoon Seong-jin grabbed me and cried. Even though nothing had happened to me over the weekend.
“I, I, I… heeung, I thought something bad happened to Soo-young…”
He thought I was the S-class Guide from Calling Guild who fainted from reverse guiding in the news article.
How did he forget seeing me eating breakfast in the dormitory cafeteria on Saturday morning and cheerfully greeting me?
“Step back a bit, you’re heavy.”
It was suffocating. With him being much taller than me, nearly 190cm, hugging me and crying, I couldn’t see anything.
Seeing my half-dead expression, Yoon Cheong finally used his ability to separate us.
“It wasn’t me, why are you acting like this? The ones who had a hard time were these guys and Ji Yeohoon.”
“But he looks fine. He looks healthy. He looks completely normal.”
“I’m even more fine, okay?”
This guy was fretting as if I’d collapse from something happening around me, but I was confident I wouldn’t lose my composure even if my closest allies Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon went berserk.
It might sound cold, but it was sincere.
“Really…?”
When I said exactly that, it was Yoon Cheong who looked hurt instead.
“If I lose my mind, it takes more time to bring me back. Think about it. Do you want me to lose my mind and jump in while you’re going berserk? In the extremely unlikely event that happens, I would die with 100% certainty.”
“That’s a bit…”
“See? I’ll stay sane for you. That’s how I can bring you back, right?”
Yoon Cheong nodded at my calm words.
“Then Soo-young, if something like that happens, can you come to my guild…? Hm? I’ll never go berserk.”
I smiled with crinkled eyes at Yoon Seong-jin, who was making his eyes sparkle.
“Not going, punk.”
I’m too busy raising two kids to look after a puppy too.
I spent the day brushing off Yoon Seong-jin who complained about feeling left out during every break.
I took Yoon Cheong to visit the first-year classroom at the urging of Baek Da-hyuk and Yoo Ji-ae, and I split my pizza bread in half at lunch and shared it with Yoon Seong-jin who had been noisy all day.
During today’s afternoon class, I also gave a simple guiding to Sun Cheol-ho, who approached timidly after watching other children receive guiding from afar.
Except for the slight commotion around me due to the weekend’s events, it was definitely an ordinary day until I visited the faculty office.
“…What?”
“It’s what came from the guild. You need to handle the guiding for Cheong and first-year Yeohoon.”
“Can’t they receive guiding from other Guides at all?”
“Yes. Since your matching rate with them is so high, it seems it’s a bit difficult for them to receive guiding from others. Since reverse guiding could happen again, you’ll have to work hard until things stabilize.”
Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon received most of their guiding from me from the beginning.
We were in the same guild, albeit temporarily, and having grown up together since childhood, it felt somewhat like my duty.
But until now, they had also received guiding from other Guide students.
There are four other Guide students in our class besides me, and they received guiding while I was guiding other Esper students.
The probability of reverse guiding happening was almost non-existent.
However, I quietly nodded my head.
“Yes, I understand.”
It was a question that had been floating in my mind even while having dinner with my parents over the weekend.
What was the reason for the sudden occurrence of reverse guiding that had never happened before?
And why was I okay?
What about that absurd matching rate number exceeding 90%?
What did the researcher mean when they jokingly talked about imprinting?
“I’ll take care of it.”
There was only one conclusion.
I hadn’t done it, but these guys had imprinted on me.
With so many hints, it was impossible not to know.
With the circumstances so clear, even Moon Soo-young, who wasn’t really a middle school student, had to pretend not to understand.
I had seen it a few times when I worked at the Association.
The state of Espers who had imprinted, or whose bodies were preparing for changes to imprint.
The interesting thing was that I had never seen a case where a Guide imprinted first. I had seen a few cases where Espers imprinted on Guides first, making regular guiding impossible.
Espers who imprinted unilaterally, like Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon, often experienced reverse guiding.
It’s as if their matching rate drops with any Guide other than the one they imprinted on.
Espers already suffer from physical pain due to their powers, and with the increased probability of reverse guiding, the risk is doubled.
I wished I could undo it. I thought I should look for a way.
At the Association, if an Esper and Guide imprint together, they arrange for the two to be together whenever possible. But if only the Esper has imprinted and the Guide wants to be separated, they prioritize the Guide’s opinion.
Just thinking that these guys had imprinted on me gave me a headache.
It hadn’t been long since I told them I would act rationally even if they went berserk.
“Hyung, let’s go to the dormitory!”
“What did the teacher say? You were there for quite a while.”
Looking at their faces, I realized it would be difficult to stay apart from them like other Guides had done.
These guys looking straight into my eyes as they approached were upsetting and pitiful, but also just as cute as always.
Did they knowingly imprint on me, or did they naturally become attached to me, someone they’d known since childhood?
I couldn’t tell what kind of person Moon Soo-young, a friend or hyung good at games, a tutor, had become to the growing Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon.
“Shall we go get a snack?”
“Good. The ice cream in the fridge is mine.”
“Hey, that’s mine!”
“You didn’t write your name on it, hyung.”
“Why would I write that?”
“If you didn’t write it, it means it has no owner.”
“Hey!”
Ji Yeohoon ran as usual, and Yoon Cheong raised his voice as usual.
It seemed I was the only one troubled by their usual behavior.
I won’t imprint.
For their sake too, I absolutely cannot do it.
6.
Yoon Cheong and I became third-year middle school students.
These guys who had imprinted on me without my consent readily believed that due to their extremely high matching rate with me, other Guides could suffer reverse guiding if they tried to guide them.
Perhaps because they remembered the incident where Ji Yeohoon’s uncle nearly had a serious problem while guiding them, the two never received guiding from classmates either.
Thanks to that, their guiding became my responsibility for the past year.
If something unusual happened, they would need to receive guiding from others, but since guiding from anyone but me could cause serious problems for both parties, they hadn’t applied for any gate part-time jobs since then.
They watched their classmates entering gates and wanted to go too, but since there had been an incident even in the first gate they entered with me, they couldn’t easily ask me to go.
My family is ordinary middle-class, so me working part-time would help the household finances. Before my regression, when I manifested as a Guide, my parents even changed their family planning from having two children to just one because raising a child who needs more money than ordinary people. But after I entered the special school for ability users where all basic needs and education were provided, my family’s financial situation became relatively comfortable.
Plus, with just my parents at home, it seems they were enjoying the newlywed feeling again.
“Dad said she looks like mom, a beauty, he mentioned casually?”
“Ah…”
I was getting a sibling.
They said it was five months along, so when it’s born in spring after I enter high school, it will be a sibling 16 years younger than me.
I never imagined the butterfly effect from my regression would be big enough to change even my family relationships.
“…Mom.”
“Yes?”
“I’m thinking of doing part-time work.”
“Why?!”
“Just…”
I deliberated whether to do it or not, but in the end, I started guiding part-time work.
That was the reason I started the part-time job I had been reluctant to do.
I should at least be an oppa who can give pocket money, right?
Since I was also a bit hesitant about entering gates, I applied for standby work doing guiding outside gates, but when Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon found out, they managed to get part-time jobs on the same date.
Since they were students with a guild, they would basically be assigned to their guild’s gate raids anyway, but the two were so busy they visited the faculty office every day.
“Think of a pretty name for the baby.”
“I’m not good at naming things.”
“Me neither…”
The three of us pooled our thoughts on the bus heading to the gate.
Even my parents hadn’t thought of a name for my sibling yet, but a pretty name would be nice.
“Does your family use generational characters, hyung?”
“No. My dad said they stopped using them from his generation.”
“Then we don’t need to match anything.”
“What’s the meaning of your name, hyung?”
“It’s a Chinese character name. Su (秀) means excellent and Young (英) means glory.”
“Glory?”
I told them it’s not “movie,” and they both fumbled for their phones to search.
I thought it would still take time to raise them properly.
“Hyung, does it have to be a Chinese character name?”
“No. My name has Chinese characters because it was given by a professional name maker.”
“Then Yuri!”
“Why?”
“I’ve always thought if I had a sibling, I’d want them to be called Yuri.”
“What about you, Yoon Cheong?”
“Haneul.”
“And why that?”
“Just because I like it.”
It seems neither of them had Chinese character names in mind.
Since the baby’s name wouldn’t be decided by our suggestions anyway, we just talked about names we liked until we arrived at the gate.
Today was a D-class gate being raided by Calling Guild, and Ji Yeohoon’s parents, who had arrived earlier, approached with worried faces.
They weren’t originally supposed to enter this gate today, but they had arranged to go in together on the condition that they wouldn’t intervene unless there was danger.
Even though they shouldn’t need to worry with the Guild Master going in too, they came just in case.
No matter how worried they were, an S-class Guide and a B-class Esper participating in a D-class gate raid?
Isn’t this a waste of resources?
“Then shall we go check over there? Honey, I’ll take the kids and be right back.”
“Okay, see you soon. Should Soo-young stay here with me? They’re just going to check the Espers before gate entry.”
“Yes.”
It seemed like he had something to say to me.
After waving goodbye to them, I stared at the uncle.
“What is it?”
“Do our son and Cheong still only receive guiding from you these days?”
“Yes.”
It was a natural precaution.
If reverse guiding happened among students, it would be a big problem.
Even though the guys had imprinted on me, I hadn’t done so in return.
They say you can only know if you’ve imprinted yourself, so it was certain that I hadn’t.
Not knowing how to undo it, I kept it a secret from the guys and just continued giving them guiding.
“I see… Isn’t it hard for you? You have to look after both of them frequently.”
“Not really. I’ve been helping with their studies since they were young anyway.”
When I said it was just like helping with homework, the uncle burst out laughing, saying I was an old soul in a young body.
He had looked full of worry, but his face was now more relaxed.
“I have no intention of going along with the guys’ arbitrary imprinting.”
Since the uncle seemed to want to confirm something, I just brought it up first.
“I’d like to help them undo the imprinting they’ve done. So they can be safe.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
