I Wish They’d Just Leave Me Alone 60

Chapter 60

Visually, it didn’t look good.

It seemed like a high school senior had brought his lackeys to attack a middle school student left alone on the school rooftop during free time after an early lunch.

But I’m just an innocent victim who wanted to talk.

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, hasn’t it?”

I suspected people at school, the Association, and Chaehwa had been talking to him about various things.

Since then, I’d noticed Ye Han-dam going to the middle school building during every break time, and it seemed like he’d talked with Ye Han-seo multiple times.

So his expression looked somewhat guilty.

Seeing that expression, I actually felt a bit relieved.

The situation wasn’t as bad as I thought.

When emotions become jagged and a defensive mechanism takes root—the belief that nothing they do is wrong—no matter what you say, they won’t listen.

Having heard various accounts and being told that Ye Han-seo’s actions were wrong, he was now avoiding me.

“Why did you co—”

“I came because you didn’t. Hasn’t everyone been telling you to apologize to me?”

Ye Han-seo pressed his lips tightly together.

It seemed like many people had already spoken to him, as he closed his mouth and turned his head away.

When I tried to approach, Yoon Cheong grabbed me and shook his head.

His expression was still hard, perhaps still angry about what happened inside the Gate, so I took his hand briefly to assure him not to worry.

“It seems you know what you did wrong.”

His pride must have been hurt.

He probably had thought of himself as a strong person and had lived all wrapped up in that identity, but now everyone around him was unanimously saying his actions were wrong.

When he fought with Ji Yeohoon, an apology for the fight itself would have been enough.

But this time, the very thought he held was wrong, which would naturally be confusing.

“Ye Han-seo, you know, right?”

Even as I spoke to him questioningly, I couldn’t help feeling some self-reproach.

When an Esper Manifests, only their body grows quickly.

Their heart and mind still grow at their original pace, and I thought that this kid was probably being treated like an adult because of his physical development.

I stared steadily at him sitting in the corner of the rooftop, looking anywhere but at me, then sat down in front of him to meet his gaze.

I knew Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon were tense, but I trusted them enough to do this.

If I got thrown here, I’d fall from the rooftop this time, so Ye Han-seo would probably be careful too.

“I won’t accept your apology right now.”

“What?”

“I said I won’t accept it right now.”

He’d need time to sort things out internally, and I didn’t know how things had developed with Ye Han-dam yet.

Judging by Ye Han-dam’s behavior in class and his occasional attempts to look after Ye Han-seo, it seemed they had discussed why this happened and how he had been living.

Until before fighting with Ye Han-dam, Ye Han-seo probably thought of him as the bad guy who killed their aunt and could cause reverse guiding to others too.

But after learning that Ye Han-dam didn’t do it on purpose and that reverse guiding happens due to shock and fear, he stopped rushing to the high school section.

“You must be confused too, and you’ll need time to think. I’ll give you that time, so in the meantime, listen to what I have to say.”

Probably no one had taught him.

Why Ye Han-dam acted that way, why he had to live alone, what it meant to become an Esper, and when he would Manifest.

Without answers, one loses their way when searching alone, and this kid had only grown physically while becoming self-centered.

My words weren’t always right, and I wasn’t certain that my perception of him was accurate.

I’m just sharing my opinion like my mom and dad did with me, hoping his thoughts would turn in a positive direction.

If I tell him what’s wrong, give him time to think, and wait, how will this kid grow differently from those who grew up with me?

“I won’t force you to apologize. You’re sixteen, and I don’t think everything you do is wrong. If you believe your actions or words are right, then stick to them.”

From his perspective, it must be confusing.

Everyone’s scolding him, but why am I suddenly telling him to stick to his beliefs?

I was deliberately making it confusing.

Isn’t adolescence the age when one begins to establish their own sense of justice?

From his point of view, he might think I’m talking nonsense, but apologies can’t be forced—the other person won’t accept them.

Forcibly resolving a visible conflict might create a situation where further fighting becomes awkward.

However, the mindset he holds can’t be changed just because I try to wrap things up.

“But you also have to take responsibility for the consequences when you stick to your beliefs.”

These children are young, but not that young.

For ordinary students, people might comfort them saying they’re young, or suggest forgiveness for the sake of their future.

But since he’s an Esper with power, and has already completed a Gate attack, more people will treat Ye Han-seo as an adult.

“At first, it’ll end with just apologies or seeking forgiveness.”

It’s not a situation where I can constantly guide him like Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon, telling him about my experiences.

So I decided to tell him before he ran away further and blamed his surroundings more.

“If it happens a few more times, it’ll be resolved financially. With fines or compensation. After that, since you’re a Chaehwa-affiliated Esper, you might have heard that the Association will impose sanctions, and eventually, you won’t be allowed to enter Gates at all.”

“…”

When an Esper causes trouble, Association sanctions are imposed, and Chaehwa handles these sanctions.

Guides are essentially like ordinary people, so the police can handle them, but Espers can’t be caught even if several police units respond.

Though he’s been in school for a shorter time compared to us, I think he’ll understand from what he’s heard coming and going.

I spoke calmly and then stopped.

See, I told you he’s not too young to understand.

If he had easily dismissed the meaning of “You must not force guiding on Guides or sexually harass them” like before, he wouldn’t have such a serious face now.

It’s because his strong belief that he needed guiding prevented him from thinking that his actions toward me could be coercion or harassment.

“These guys are stronger than you.”

“I know that.”

“You know that he wants to throw you every time you get close to me, right?”

“…I know that too.”

He seemed to remember being severely thrown by Yoon Cheong, as I could see him swallowing.

“You don’t want to be thrown, right? From the receiving end, it might seem like an excessive reaction, but these guys have a reason for reacting that way—they’re trying to protect me.”

“…”

“It’s a different example, but how would you feel if Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon just threw or attacked you when you were standing still doing nothing? What if they used all their strength, more than what you experienced?”

You’d be annoyed, you’d be angry.

Ye Han-seo, who had been looking down for a while as if thinking of a rebuttal, raised his head.

“But I didn’t use much force!”

“What if what seems to you like using very little strength feels to them like something that needs to be blocked with all their might?”

The strong do not easily understand the feelings of the weak.

If he was just a child who didn’t know because no one had told him, or because no one had explained it in a way he could understand, then someone needed to tell him.

“The action you casually took is a problem for me.”

That day, after coming out of the Gate, I deliberately didn’t get treated.

I rolled up the sleeve of my uniform top.

I purposely showed Ye Han-seo the hand marks left on my wrist from when he grabbed and pulled me.

Ye Han-seo’s eyes widened as he saw the wound that remained even after several days.

“You pulled weakly, but it left a wound on me like this. This is the difference in strength between Guides and Espers.”

This boy’s Manifestation was in summer when he fought with Ji Yeohoon.

Until now, as autumn approached, he had been trapped in his own world, so it was time for him to listen to others.

“Since you Manifested not long ago, you remember how much it hurt when you got bruises as a normal person, right?”

Ye Han-seo stared blankly at the gradually fading marks.

The longer he silently looked, the more impatient Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon appeared, but I patiently kept my arm extended.

When Yoon Cheong couldn’t stand it anymore and supported my arm with his power, I relaxed a bit.

I shook my head at Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon, who wanted to knock away Ye Han-seo’s hand as he reached toward me.

Looking scared, he lightly touched the bruise with his fingertips and then quickly pulled his trembling hand away.

“…My brother told me.”

The one who used to get heated, calling him “that bastard” or not even using his name, had apparently talked a lot with Ye Han-dam without our knowledge, as his form of address had changed.

“He said he unintentionally hurt our aunt too. That’s why she died. He said even though I was destined to become an Esper, since I wasn’t one yet, he didn’t appear before me because something terrible might happen if we were close.”

“Yes.”

“He said his power was scary, so I just… thought he was making excuses.”

One shouldn’t think of the relationship between Espers and Guides as simply Guides healing Espers’ pain.

If you only think of them as people who heal your pain, you’ll see Guides not as precious people but merely as medicine.

Even with high compatibility rates, guiding doesn’t work as well as expected if one doesn’t think of the other as someone to live with while maintaining some distance, or feel like a friend.

It’s no coincidence that Espers want guiding only from people they feel comfortable with, or that Guides want to guide mainly Espers they’re close to.

“You shouldn’t pull on Guides as you please. It hurts.”

“…Okay.”

“You can control your strength well, right?”

“Yes.”

The middle schooler whose eyes had been full of intensity nodded obediently.

Ye Han-seo, who hadn’t known where to direct his lost resentment, could only stay still.

At first, I thought I should receive an apology, but now it didn’t matter.

With the feeling that he wouldn’t do it again and would behave well from now on, I stood up.

“Ah…”

“I’ll tell them you apologized, so don’t run away.”

“…Okay.”

“Go back to the classroom. People look for you when you disappear during breaks.”