Chapter 61
Ye Han-seo returned obediently.
Despite having a face full of lingering thoughts at being told not to cause worry, he even nodded his head docilely.
I also added that he could apologize only when he wanted to.
I wonder if these words of mine might have stayed with him, but that was my intention.
“Is it really okay to leave him like that?” Ji Yeohoon asked.
“He’ll think a lot about it.”
“Are you really okay not receiving an apology?” Yoon Cheong asked.
“I said it’s fine.”
I can’t know for sure if his thinking has truly changed properly.
It’s true that because I told him I wouldn’t accept an apology immediately, he’s gained more time to think.
Since the transfer wasn’t confirmed yet and Ye Han-seo hadn’t even been informed about it, I couldn’t go there and shout something like “I oppose the transfer!” The most I could do was let him know what kind of behavior he had exhibited.
At least if he were nearby Ji Yeohoon, we could occasionally check his condition, but if he went to a completely different school, it was a foregone conclusion that he’d become a loner.
Ji Yeohoon went back to the classroom first, while I returned to my class with Yoon Cheong.
We needed to head to the gym in the afternoon, but I plopped down in my seat, saying I’d rest a little longer before going.
After blankly organizing my thoughts for a moment, something occurred to me.
When I made a somewhat tired expression, Yoon Cheong, who had been watching me, asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Why do I keep choosing to do such troublesome things?”
“…”
What’s with that expression that says, “You just realized that now?” Change it right now!
Yoon Cheong smiled slightly and patted my back.
“The kids said this during Esper class.”
“What did they say?”
“That our class president seems like he’s picked his mom to be the president.”
“Say it’s dad.”
“Baek Da-hyuk said dad. He said it feels like seeing an uncle.”
It feels like my meddling has only increased from being around kids.
From 5th grade of elementary school to 3rd year of middle school, I never took on the role of class president.
I had the mindset of “Why should I do such troublesome things?”
The problem was that, perhaps because they had already figured out my behavior and personality at the 3rd school, they gave me the temporary class president position as soon as I entered high school.
I thought I had been quietly taking care of just Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon.
Another issue was that I went from temporary class president to official class president.
I shook my head and headed to the gym.
“Soo-young! Where have you been?”
“Just briefly at the middle school section. Why are your clothes like that?”
“I fell while running with Cheol-ho~”
“I’ll tell the teacher, so hurry and change your clothes. Apply some medicine too.”
“Okay.”
Yoon Cheong sighed beside me.
I’m frustrated too, man.
Until 3rd year of middle school, other students served as class presidents, but I often ended up handling various matters together with them.
Seeing adolescent boys and girls unable to easily talk to teachers or adults, suffering in silence, I developed a character that took the initiative to speak up.
The biggest reason was probably that I found it annoying to go through the motions for things that could be finished quickly.
I really wanted to leave everything alone because it was all too bothersome.
“It’s really okay. The class president role ends in a year anyway.”
“You took care of other kids even when you weren’t class president.”
“Well, that’s…”
It’s just faster if I do it.
With memories of living 26 years, I could handle certain things more decisively than my peers who had narrow perspectives.
I could also notice things in advance and prepare for them.
For example, Oh Ji-hyun’s emotions.
“I’m just worried you might get too stressed. The uncle said he’s worried you might get childcare stress.”
“…That was just him teasing you guys for being young.”
“Huh?”
“He was teasing you and Ji Yeohoon?”
How could I have childcare stress when these guys aren’t really children?
It’s in moments like these that I feel these guys, despite their growing bodies, are still young.
Sometimes adults’ jokes can seem very serious to children.
I nodded at the dumbfounded Yoon Cheong, who looked funny and cute.
“I was scared I might get childcare stress~”
“Stop it.”
I briefly teased Yoon Cheong, who hated being treated like a child the most.
Ji Yeohoon, on the contrary, was desperate to avoid expressing that he was young.
They were complete opposites.
Strangely, their inner cores were reversed—Yoon Cheong being a bit slow and Ji Yeohoon being sharp.
“I talked with Ji Yeohoon the other day.”
“What did you talk about?”
“I told him to stop making you worry because you worry too much.”
Those are the things Yoon Cheong doesn’t tell me about.
I couldn’t understand why he keeps interfering with Association matters without properly explaining what’s going on, and whether he’s really just doing an easy part-time job.
Since I was racking my brain over it, Ji Yeohoon seemed to have stepped in slightly.
He’s strangely mature.
Even though he’s still a middle school kid.
“So did that make you want to tell me?”
“…Not yet.”
“And you say what? You’re worrying your Hyung.”
“My birthday comes earlier than yours.”
I nodded at Yoon Cheong, who immediately responded to my teasing.
It wasn’t that I had forgotten.
Recently, the Ye Han-dam and Ye Han-seo brothers had pushed it back in priority a bit.
But I was still looking into things personally.
Even though my head was complicated with incidents happening as soon as we entered high school, I was diligently looking into and learning about the boys’ matters.
There’s a reason I call Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon my kids.
“Esper class is separate today!”
“Ah…”
The Esper students became gloomy.
Some of the Guide students looked disappointed too, but they soon waved at each other, saying they’d meet after class.
“See you later.”
“Okay.”
Yoon Cheong, too, didn’t show much expression change, but he still looked disappointed.
After watching Yoon Cheong leave first for a moment, I turned my head.
“I forgot because I was visiting the middle school section, so I’ll quickly go to the bathroom and get some water. If the teacher comes, please text me.”
“Okay~”
After telling the Guide class students, I headed outside.
I walked quickly to the pink-haired figure visible at the end of the corridor.
Ye Han-dam greeted me with his eyes, and I nodded back.
“I thought we wouldn’t have much time to talk except now.”
“Did you find out anything?”
“There aren’t many seniors at Chaehwa who go into Association work. So it took a while.”
Thankfully, Ye Han-dam, who hadn’t turned villainous, was quite reliable.
Since he had his own matters and Ye Han-seo’s issues too, he seemed apologetic, so I was making good use of him.
Since he was affiliated with Chaehwa, I thought he might have easier access to Association information than me, so I casually asked him a favor, which he accepted, though he seemed puzzled.
“So it seems the Association is deliberately making Yoon Cheong use his ability?”
“Yes. It’s true that Cheong can use his ability more precisely compared to other telekinetic Espers. The telekinetic Esper hyungs in our guild said they also did similar part-time jobs around high school.”
“And there was nothing unusual?”
“Nothing else, they said. Just like what I heard is happening now—asking to move documents or carefully move office furniture.”
There were surprisingly many Espers who used telekinesis in Chaehwa.
Most were of a lower grade than the current Yoon Cheong, and the closest was said to be B-grade.
Why would they only assign such tasks to telekinetic Espers?
Anyone could do these jobs.
In reality, though a bit strenuous, even non-ability employees could handle them.
So why specifically Espers…?
According to what Ye Han-dam found out, there was no particular reason; they just found the use of abilities so impressive that they asked if the Espers could help.
At first, it was just Association items, things needed for moving, or piles of documents that needed to be disposed of, but later there were boxes or cabinets containing confidential documents, so at the time, they couldn’t tell others about it.
Now that it was all in the past, a story from a long time ago, it seemed easy to talk about to Ye Han-dam.
While saying they asked him for help too.
Apparently, as high school students couldn’t freely apply for gates, it was perfect for earning pocket money.
“How long did they keep doing it?”
“It varied. Some did it until their second year of high school, others until they graduated high school.”
“Anyway, thanks. If there’s anything else to check later, I’ll ask.”
“Sure. And thanks for teaching Han-seo.”
He heard already.
At first they clashed, but lately it seemed like they met often and had frequent exchanges.
“Well, it’s your job now, so you do it. If it’s hard to talk with your brother, well… talk to me.”
“Umm…”
I quickly sent away the embarrassed-looking Ye Han-dam.
After checking a text that said “Teacher’s here,” I returned to the classroom.
Since the class was full of theories I already remembered, I doodled and organized notes.
The more I worried and thought, the more I couldn’t understand why they would only assign such part-time jobs to telekinetic Espers.
Of course, they say that like the human body, the more you use an ability, the better its efficiency becomes.
Ji Yeohoon also practiced by enhancing others or applying small enhancements to multiple people, and explosive-type Ye Han-dam did the same.
Since telekinesis is the most helpful ability in everyday life, I sometimes thought maybe the Association was just assigning these tasks without any reason, but then I’d wonder: for what purpose? Why?
In fact, for such trivial part-time jobs, aren’t there F-grade telekinetic Espers too?
“Now then, Soo-young.”
“Yes.”
“What should a Guide do first when an Esper goes berserk?”
“If it hasn’t been long since the rampage started, we should check if they can be brought back to their senses.”
“And if it’s been quite some time since the rampage began?”
“We should leave the scene.”
“Correct. An Esper’s rampage can be fatal to ordinary people even if they’re an F-grade Esper. Typically, we set a limit of 1 hour after the rampage begins—”
They wouldn’t need to assign Yoon Cheong, who was B-grade plus alpha, to move papers or desks.
Yoon Cheong’s power is strong enough to singlehandedly block a C-grade boss monster’s attack inside a gate with his telekinesis.
Telekinesis itself is good for everyday use compared to other abilities and has high utility in various ways inside gates too.
But does it make sense to call someone like that to move luggage, coincidentally matching it with gate raid dates?
Of course, he didn’t always go on raid dates, but it overlapped a couple of times.
“Going to the Association?”
“Yes.”
“Even though you said you’re entering a gate this time?”
“Yes. It’s just an F-grade gate anyway, so it won’t matter much.”
“Well, okay. Then I’ll go with Soo-young hyung.”
“Get away from me.”
“Jealous? Then come with us.”
Even when Ji Yeohoon was grating on his nerves, Yoon Cheong just got a little annoyed and went to the Association.
Knowing Yoon Cheong’s attachment to me, it was suspicious from the start that he would docilely let Ji Yeohoon and me go separately.
I secretly picked up my phone to check the calendar.
The next planned raid date was in spring.
While Espers don’t particularly feel cold or heat, as a Guide, I had declared that I wouldn’t go to gates in winter as it was getting cold and I didn’t want to leave the well-heated school, and in summer I wouldn’t go because of the scorching heat.
Because of that, both Yoon Cheong and Ji Yeohoon had notified the guild in advance that they wouldn’t participate in guild raids until winter.
March was when Ji Yeohoon would enter high school, so we had already told the guild to only schedule outings rather than gates, and in April, there was one at the beginning of the month.
All three of us were eagerly looking forward to buying a gift for his little sister’s first birthday party…
“Maybe I should have let them go in winter too?”
Then I could quickly check if another coincidental incident would occur.
“Soo-young.”
“Yes? Yes.”
“It’s good that you know everything, but would you mind focusing on the class?”
“I’m sorry…”
This is all because of Yoon Cheong.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
