Chapter 45
8.
The pink-haired boy who had been wearing a sad face and only giving glances to the Guide students became remarkably calm after being able to receive guiding.
As if he wasn’t a year older than our kids for nothing, he didn’t join in playing but quietly sat and gradually accepted approaches from other children.
Due to his explosive-type ability that could easily injure others, he didn’t use his power during afternoon activities, but as time passed, he gained popularity in an unexpected area.
Even I had to throw up my hands at the brilliant idea of these high school freshmen.
“…What is this?”
“A frying pan? Is it for frying?”
“And who brought the pork belly?”
“Me!”
Yoon Seong-jin raised his hand high.
I knew he liked food, but to think he’d bring it all the way to school.
“What’s this tissue for?”
“When you grill meat, it gets greasy. We need to wipe it.”
“And who brought this kimchi?”
“Me~ Soo-young, want me to feed you?”
“Yoon Seong-jin, get away. Hurry up and grill the meat.”
Who told them to grill meat during school hours?
After receiving sufficient guiding and becoming accustomed to mingling with students, Ye Han-dam’s ability could now be controlled to produce moderate flames rather than explosions.
Perhaps because it was fire created by an Esper’s ability, it was a peculiar fire that wouldn’t spread to places Ye Han-dam didn’t want it to.
So he continuously maintained fire in the desired location, and above it, the physical enhancement trio with their good strength held the pan while grilling meat with Yoon Cheong’s ability.
When first seeing this sight, the teachers made the same dumbfounded expression as me, but after about 10 minutes, the Esper class homeroom teacher, assistant homeroom teacher, and the Guide class homeroom teacher and assistant were all grilling and eating meat together.
They surrendered to the smell of meat.
Since ability users were gathered, there was no risk of injury, and the Guides were seated a bit further back with the Guide class assistant homeroom teacher standing guard in case something went wrong and they needed to block the flames. (The high school Guide class freshman assistant homeroom teacher was a barrier-type Esper.)
“Here you go.”
“Ha. And what’s this ssamjang?”
“I just brought it.”
“Teacher, don’t tell me these plates are also…”
“Those are from the Esper class teacher.”
The Guide class homeroom teacher speaks with a somewhat excited voice.
What’s going on, am I the only one thinking normally here?
I bet those wooden chopsticks the teacher is using were also brought by the teacher.
Later, I also thought, “whatever,” and picked up chopsticks to scoop out meat and distribute it to the students.
Even among high school freshmen Espers who fear nothing in this world, there are inevitably those who can’t step forward due to their personalities. Not to mention the Guides who are overwhelmed by the Espers.
After I started scooping with tongs, other students also took their friends’ plates and shared.
Ye Han-dam seemed to find this interesting too.
After staring for a while, he grilled meat and passed it to Oh Ji-hyun, who had suffered because of him.
Oh Ji-hyun said she was fine now, not feeling any pain at all, despite having to be hospitalized for days due to reverse guiding.
Since the person directly involved wasn’t uncomfortable, other kids could also treat Ye Han-dam more comfortably.
Fortunately, the kids are still innocent. Even if that innocence will soon disappear once they leave school.
But teachers shouldn’t be swept up in that innocence too!
“Who suggested this?”
I asked Yoon Cheong, who was busily flipping meat with his ability next to me.
You’re using your ability to grill meat?
Do you realize that’s a waste of your ability?
When Yoon Cheong, who was casually grilling meat beside me, said “Ah” and pointed, Sun Cheol-ho blinked as if embarrassed.
I was stunned to hear that the reliable Sun Cheol-ho, that quiet, timid guy, had brought up the meat idea that caused this commotion.
He’s not ordinary either, I tell you.
Anyway, the meat was delicious.
Eventually, I too gave up thinking due to the smell of meat and eagerly ate with wooden chopsticks.
“…Moon Soo-young?”
“Just hurry up and hand over the cooked meat.”
No, I was eagerly shoving it into my mouth.
As I kept pushing meat into my mouth and chewing as soon as it was placed on the plate, Yoon Cheong watched for a while before grilling more enthusiastically and flying it to my plate.
“Did the Esper class teacher know they were planning to bring this?”
When I asked while chewing meat, both teachers nodded.
So this happened with the teachers’ permission?
“How did this conversation come about? The Guide class didn’t know anything about it.”
“Ah~ The day before yesterday, when the Guide class had separate lessons for guiding skills.”
After Oh Ji-hyun’s reverse guiding incident, the Guide class’s guiding skills lessons were moved up.
I had experienced guiding with various Espers since before my regression and could use “advanced” skills to minimize damage even if reverse guiding occurred.
However, the Guide students didn’t yet know that guiding should be adjusted as much as possible depending on the situation.
Moreover, Ye Han-dam’s reverse guiding was a phenomenon caused by childhood trauma, not because of matching rates.
When Espers’ abilities manifest, they often destroy or break their surroundings even against their will, and that’s when guiding is needed.
There are two ways Espers behave when manifesting without a Guide present.
One is to not suppress their ability and damage their surroundings due to the pain they start feeling, and the other is to try not to use their ability at all.
Ye Han-dam was focusing only on blocking his ability to prevent damaging his surroundings, but when a Guide appeared and suffered severe reverse guiding from the concentrating Ye Han-dam, the Guide was badly injured and couldn’t get up for a long time.
Of course, this was the story Ye Han-dam told directly.
A vicious cycle was repeating where guiding wouldn’t work even with good matching rates, perhaps due to the fear of reverse guiding happening again.
For some reason, the D-class energy from before my regression that remained in me had done something.
“The Guide class students said they wish they could do something with their abilities besides just guiding without getting hurt during classes or afternoon activities.”
“Ah…”
“They discussed what to bring, what’s needed and what’s not, and today it ended up like this.”
But I never imagined they would thank us by grilling meat with their abilities.
Although they’re still a minority and only in our class, fortunately, the Espers were changing in a positive direction.
They don’t see Guides as just “people who provide guiding,” nor do they try to “possess” well-matched Guides. Seeing them progress together as partners and friends was subtly moving to me.
While working at the Association, I didn’t particularly have conflicts or fights with Espers, but since my guiding worked well, I often received unwanted flirting or exclusive contract offers.
There were guys who acted arrogantly as if giving me the honor of being exclusive despite my small amount of energy, and Espers who made baseless proposals for me to just stay by their side.
Although the frequency might differ, I’m sure every Guide has had a few such unpleasant experiences.
It was because Espers who had never had human interactions with Guides only found meaning in a Guide’s existence through guiding.
That’s why Guides and Espers usually didn’t have much human exchange or relationships unless they developed into romantic relationships.
So imagine how proud I am seeing these guys who’ve become true friends.
If only they continue to grow well without changing.
“The remaining meat is mine~”
“Hey!”
…Maybe I’ve let the class kids act too childish.
Somehow they seemed more mature when they were younger, and as they grew, they became more childlike.
It feels like they were more careful with each other during middle school when emotional changes were extreme, but conflicts seemed to have grown a bit larger before puberty ended, perhaps because things burn more intensely then.
Even Yoon Cheong seemed to treat Ji Yeohoon like a kid during the dark second year of middle school when their height difference began to show, but these days it seems like they fight as equals more and more as time passes, making me wonder if I’m doing the right thing.
When I sighed deeply, Yoon Cheong met my eyes.
“What?”
“What about you?”
“No, what were you thinking to sigh like that?”
“I was thinking you’re still not fully grown.”
“…”
Did my fact hurt a bit?
I picked up a piece of meat and put it in Yoon Cheong’s mouth, who had gotten upset.
“I’m taller than you.”
“That’s true.”
“Definitely taller.”
He grabs my hand and stares down at me, as if saying, “You’re so small.”
I couldn’t help but laugh and grab his collar.
“Have I ever helped with my smallness?”
This bad guy is destroying me with facts.
The meat party ended quite enjoyably, and the cleanup was left to the Guides.
“No, these bad kids…”
“Since we enjoyed the food, it’s fine for us to do it.”
“Kids, let me tell you one thing. When you host a housewarming or treat someone to a meal out of gratitude, it means you’re responsible for the cleanup too.”
“Uh, what…?”
“If those bastards prepared this because they’re grateful for our guiding, they should finish the cleanup too.”
As I prepared to throw the pan that had been used to grill meat at the Esper guys, the Guide class kids tried hard to stop me, telling me to be patient.
The teachers disappeared somewhere with just the remaining wooden chopsticks as things were wrapping up, saying that the activity time was over, while the Esper guys played energetically among themselves and then distanced themselves just before cleanup.
I was about to yell at them for making a mess and not cleaning up, but when the Guide class kids said they enjoyed it and didn’t mind, I had nothing to say and quietly put down the pan.
As I walked to gather the dishes in one place to wash them, the Espers finally approached hesitantly.
“What, why.”
“Should we carry them?”
“We can do it too!”
Don’t lie, you’ve been avoiding doing the dishes until now!
Over the past few years, I’ve learned the skill of cursing with my eyes, and the kids have learned that they can feel chills down their spine even without hearing curses.
The Guides who were smiling while moving the dishes spoke up, saying it was fine.
“It’s okay, since we ate well.”
“Thanks for the meat.”
“It would be fun if we could do this again sometime.”
“Then we’ll do all the cleanup.”
The kids who had been looking at them as if seeing angels soon frowned.
“But today, I don’t particularly want to guide.”
“Soo-young taught us something good.”
“No, no, no!”
“I’ll do it, I will!”
The Esper guys scrambled to snatch the dishes, raising a fuss.
I told you, if you’re going to treat someone, do it all the way to the end.
Then we would bring food to eat together next time and do all the cleanup too.
Of course, I was just teasing them with these stories; from the time we were eating meat, the Guide class students had already gathered and said they would handle the cleanup.
As I rolled up my sleeves after asking the cafeteria ladies to lend us a washing basin, an announcement came over the speakers.
“First-year Esper class Yoon Cheong, first-year Esper class Yoon Cheong, please come to the faculty office immediately.”
“Immediately?”
They would usually say “now,” but suddenly?
Yoon Cheong, who had been following with dishes he couldn’t carry in one go, placed them by the sink and headed straight to the faculty office.
And shortly after,
“First-year Guide class Moon Soo-young, first-year Guide class Moon Soo-young, please come to the faculty office immediately.”
The announcement calling for me felt somehow chilling.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
