# Chapter 22
“Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
“Did you call me?”
Dohyun quickly took off his rubber gloves and checked his phone. Two missed calls. But none from Haegang. His friends who were looking from behind also turned their gazes toward Haegang with confused expressions.
“You didn’t call me, though?”
“Not me. Let’s go.”
“Pardon?”
“The guild. They called me because Baek Dohyun the Esper wasn’t answering his phone.”
Dohyun checked the names of the missed calls again. They were from Handam and Chan.
“Ah… I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Let’s go.”
Haegang gestured briefly and took the lead. Dohyun’s friends, who had been admiring Haegang’s physique, snickered.
“Bbakdo, Bbakdo~. We’ll continue the treasure hunt then~.”
“We’ll stay a bit longer before heading back. And if we find anything good, we’ll take it. Thanks in advance.”
“Hah….”
All three of his so-called friends were the same. Dohyun closed his eyes tightly and opened them again before following Haegang.
“I’m sorry for making you come all the way here. But how did you know where to find me?”
“Where else would you be?”
Haegang was clearly here to turn Dohyun’s insides out. While secretly glaring at Haegang, the man suddenly asked:
“The clothes I bought you last time.”
“What?”
“You’re not wearing them?”
“Ah. I get covered in dust when I work my part-time job. Cheaper clothes are better.”
Dohyun wore the clothes Haegang bought him at home, but didn’t wear them to his part-time job. He had never worn them outside. Perhaps Haegang was curious about that. After Dohyun’s explanation, Haegang nodded.
“Answer your phone.”
“Yes.”
“Even if it’s not the guild, you must always answer my calls.”
“Yes. …What?”
Dohyun had answered reflexively, but something was odd. Haegang had never contacted him separately before. Telling him to answer calls when he’d never even called—what a strange person.
❖ ❖ ❖
The guild had summoned him because of footage secured by the police. The guild, as Dohyun’s legal representative, had been contacted by the police who had obtained video of Dohyun’s room through nearby vehicle dashcams and street CCTVs, and called him in to deal with it.
But even though awakened ones were managed by the state, why would the association be involved in a fire issue? It made no sense. As he sat there bewildered, an unfamiliar person began speaking.
“Wow…. How should we explain this?”
The person had introduced himself as some team leader from the association. The person sitting next to him was introduced as the association’s headquarters director, but that person didn’t say much while the team leader gave various explanations.
“Since Baek Dohyun Esper is clearly a victim in this matter, we’re not sure how to properly console you regarding this situation.”
It was a truly bizarre situation where important people had flocked to offer condolences to him, a temporary guild member. Chan had set up drinks and then left without returning, so apart from Dohyun, the only people present were those with titles ending with some sort of “director.”
One by one, they offered words of comfort, but feeling burdened, Dohyun just nodded.
It made sense they didn’t know what to say. Everyone who had watched the video had blank expressions from right before the fire until the scene where firefighters arrived and first sprayed water. Only the police officer who brought the video showed no change in expression.
“Then, this is…”
“Terrorism.”
At the police officer’s assertion, Dohyun felt dizzy.
‘Why me?’
He was just a half-baked Esper who hadn’t yet found his ability. But terrorism? He couldn’t understand how they could be so certain based on that video.
Dohyun was bewildered, and everyone else remained silent. In this atmosphere, he couldn’t possibly ask what was going on. Would Chan know if he asked him? His mind was too jumbled.
“I think you should explain this.”
It was Haegang who spoke up on behalf of Dohyun, who couldn’t utter a word. Dohyun, who had been hoping for this confusing meeting to end quickly, shifted his gaze from the screen.
“Isn’t the concerned party Baek Dohyun Esper?”
“But Baek Dohyun Esper is still young…”
“He’s an adult.”
“…Isn’t he someone who just graduated high school?”
“Awakened ones, especially Espers, exercise rights similar to adults after manifestation, and he’s already no longer a minor by age. Protection doesn’t mean everything.”
Dohyun, frustrated by the situation, nodded in agreement. He hadn’t expected Haegang to take his side. Though he had missed opportunities by not reaching out, he had no intention of letting go of opportunities that came to him.
“Since it’s my business, I should naturally be informed.”
At Dohyun’s words, the person called the headquarters director frowned uncomfortably and clicked his tongue. Dohyun hesitated at that expression. That expression—he’d seen it before. When was it?
“Well, since we need to discuss this, Guild Master Somyeong can explain it well. Unfortunately, we have another appointment, so we’ll have to leave first. If there are any further related findings, you’ll be contacted through the team leader.”
Why wouldn’t he speak for himself? The headquarters director who stood up and the team leader who followed him nodded slightly in greeting before disappearing. The team leader Dohyun knew was the awakened support team leader, but the team leader who visited the guild wasn’t that person. Dohyun couldn’t understand what team this person was the leader of, even after hearing it.
The guild master, who had been wearing an outward smile, immediately hardened her face as soon as the association people left.
“Aargh! I swear!”
“M-Mom! Mom, calm down!”
“If it weren’t for Team Leader Moon, I would have turned the association upside down…!”
Chan, who had entered as if taking over from the association people, tried to stop the guild master from bursting with anger. Dohyun, who had been sitting quietly, remembered where he had seen the expression on the association people’s faces.
‘Look, student. You could just let it go, why do you need to drag it out like this? Let’s handle it nicely.’
‘Yeah. I’m taking care of you this much! Do you really want to make this a legal issue?’
The headquarters director’s face was just like those adults who wanted to extract themselves from troublesome matters. A face that seemed to blame Dohyun for creating problems out of something that could have been smoothed over if he’d just stayed quiet. Dohyun sighed with a feeling of numbness inside.
“Did I bring this up unnecessarily?”
“Why would you think that, Dohyun Esper?”
“They left as soon as they heard me speak.”
“That’s not it. You didn’t do anything wrong, Dohyun Esper. That person has been butting into all sorts of business without proper knowledge for a long time, coming along just to show his face without being helpful at all… And when a job is done! He takes! All the credit!”
The guild master went out to get some fresh air, saying she needed to cool down. Chan sighed and raised his hand to run it through his hair.
“Mom—I mean, the Guild Master will take some time to calm down before she can explain, so I’ll just explain it to you myself.”
“…Sa Gongchan, weren’t you a regular guild member?”
“Well, officially that’s what we say.”
That meant he was unofficially responsible for something. Haegang’s eyes flashed sharply, but Dohyun just nodded, thinking that as the guild master’s son, he must have some special role.
“I thought this didn’t happen to Espers affiliated with guilds.”
“What do you mean?”
“There are people who target newly manifested Espers, especially those not affiliated with guilds. Looking at this incident, I wonder if we’ve been mistaken.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. We haven’t figured it out precisely yet. Just that they’re an unregistered Esper group. It’s a relatively new occurrence. For now, we’ve barely determined that there are at least three of them. Oh, and Guide Choi Haegang. Don’t mention this elsewhere. Baek Dohyun, I know you don’t have anyone to tell, but be careful anyway.”
“I won’t.”
“…It’s annoying because that’s not wrong.”
Unlike foreign countries where it’s difficult to accurately track awakened ones, Korea had been thorough from the pre-manifestation stage, so almost all awakened ones were registered with the state. This was thanks to the resident registration system. Citizens are registered in the national system at birth and receive manifestation tests in lower elementary school. So it was impossible not to track awakened ones. That’s why terrorist crimes by unregistered Espers, which happened quite frequently in foreign countries, rarely occurred in Korea.
Nevertheless, unregistered awakened ones appeared from somewhere. That’s why guilds always kept their eyes open to find unregistered awakened ones and help them live in the light rather than in the shadows.
Seeming to understand immediately, Haegang nodded.
“I see. The association probably wants to pass this off as an unfortunate accident. But since the Somyeong Guild is digging deeper, the association keeps changing their story, stopping and starting. They don’t even want to explain further.”
“But why?”
At Dohyun’s question, Chan shrugged. His face showed a bit of irritation.
“If it’s related to awakened one crimes, then the Awakened Management Headquarters can be involved. They have the justification that terrorism threatens the lives and property of citizens.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
