# Chapter 29
He still didn’t know how to respond to people who asked about him. Haegang’s question was also uncomfortably personal.
“Why do you want to know?”
Dohyun, who always maintained a calm expression, stiffened his face as he spoke. He lowered his hand and looked at his watch. The glass of the watch appeared clean, like new. However, overall, it was visibly worn and peeling, not looking like a well-maintained timepiece. Was Haegang noticing this and asking about it?
Dohyun knew that Haegang’s care for him as an Esper was part of his duty as a Guide. But this particular question would require revealing his personal secrets, so he was hesitant about whether he should answer.
He wondered what Haegang’s intention was in asking. Was he concerned? As both a Guide and a housemate/landlord, it could be something he was curious about. Dohyun organized his thoughts on how to respond appropriately.
“It’s just, it bothers me.”
But that thought quickly froze. Dohyun saw Haegang’s gaze looking at his wrist as if it were an annoyance.
“Because you wear a useless watch on your wrist. Doesn’t it stand out? It doesn’t suit you.”
Dohyun had accurately read Haegang’s mind. Haegang wasn’t curious about Dohyun. He simply found that TPO thing or whatever it was annoying. He wasn’t asking out of interest in Dohyun’s personal circumstances, but merely to confirm why he ‘insisted’ on wearing it.
“…Why are you asking about that?”
Dohyun wanted to maintain boundaries with Haegang. He knew Haegang was someone to be grateful to for his help, but Dohyun preferred him to stay just beyond that line. The diminishing distance between them—due to Guiding and the meals Haegang prepared for no particular reason—was already uncomfortable enough.
It was surprising that Haegang, whom he thought had little interest in him, had noticed that his watch wasn’t working. But the comment about it being a “useless watch” felt hurtful to Dohyun.
Shouldn’t one be careful when asking personal questions of others? Isn’t it rude to give such a bothered look without knowing what memories or circumstances might be attached to it?
Dohyun deliberately responded coldly.
“You don’t have to pretend to be curious. I know that Guide Choi Haegang doesn’t particularly like me.”
“When did I…”
“Just as I know about Guide Choi Haegang’s swimming career but deliberately don’t mention it, I would appreciate if Guide Choi Haegang would also refrain from asking about my past in that manner.”
I’ll wear the watch so it’s not visible.
With those final words spoken in a sunken voice, Dohyun completely hid his watch inside his sleeve. Somewhat surprised, Haegang also closed his mouth. His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly.
The fact that their boundaries were blurring was already becoming increasingly uncomfortable, so Dohyun thought it was fortunate that he had clearly redrawn the line.
From the beginning, what Dohyun wanted was a formal relationship with someone who didn’t cross into his personal space.
❖ ❖ ❖
“…You really have to acknowledge that Baek Dohyun’s personality is subtly difficult.”
“What did I do?”
“How could you just bluntly mention something he’s deliberately hiding?”
Despite Chan’s criticism, Dohyun’s expression remained unchanged. He didn’t think he had done anything wrong.
Even though he had no intention of getting close to Haegang, he couldn’t avoid looking into information about his dedicated Guide.
In fact, there was very little information available about Guides. Compared to Espers, information about the significantly fewer Guides was minimally disclosed to prevent their outflow to foreign countries and to protect their safety.
When Dohyun first heard that Haegang didn’t particularly like Espers, he didn’t pay much attention. Still, since they were living together, he needed to avoid irritating Haegang, so he looked up information about him. In other words, it was to prevent situations where he might offend Haegang by speaking carelessly without knowing anything about him. Not to deliberately provoke him, as he had just done.
“He tested you first.”
At Dohyun’s words, Chan nodded as if to say, “Yes, that must be it.” After all, it was Chan who had initially told him about Haegang—everything, including why he disliked Espers.
“The reason he dislikes Espers because he manifested as a Guide is, from my perspective, quite…”
Pathetic. Dohyun muttered.
In his mere twenty years of life, Dohyun had never possessed much of anything. It was only when he became a high school student that he finally found some stability, and his only friends were the three who stood beside him.
Among people who would glare fiercely, trying to exploit a child living alone, Dohyun had only learned to be sharp and defensive. Far from receiving help, there were plenty of people who would try to take even the tiny things Dohyun had if given the slightest opportunity. That’s why Dohyun didn’t trust people.
And then, amidst all this, Haegang had entered Dohyun’s life. He was definitely a different type of person from those who had approached Dohyun before. Perhaps because Dohyun himself didn’t mingle well with people, most who approached him were extremely sociable.
Dohyun had watched past videos of Haegang that Chan had found. He looked not much different from now. An expressionless face without a hint of a smile, and cold eyes. Yet, he thanked people who sent their support and encouragement. With a cold face devoid of gratitude or even a speck of emotion.
He had been a promising athlete aiming for a gold medal at the next Olympics. He was skilled enough to leave all other athletes behind in domestic championships, had never missed a gold medal in national competitions, and even had an international first-place record.
But all this glory had vanished because he manifested as a Guide. Due to their small numbers, Guides were restricted from leaving the country after awakening to prevent them from seeking asylum abroad. As a result, Haegang too had received a travel ban order.
“Well, I guess it would be frustrating.”
Dohyun acknowledged this. If one received a cancellation notice right before a competition due to manifesting as a Guide, of course they would be angry. But he would have known since elementary school that he was a potential Guide. Wasn’t it his choice to continue swimming despite knowing this? Blaming Espers was illogical.
In Dohyun’s opinion, Haegang’s resentment, and his dislike of Espers in general, was hatred misdirected from the beginning.
“It’s because of his circumstances, not my fault.”
Freelance Guides are obligated to provide Guiding to at least one Esper within a specified period. Haegang had fulfilled this obligation to the absolute minimum. As a result, he was forcibly assigned a dedicated Esper, which turned out to be Dohyun.
After learning they had met due to unavoidable circumstances, Dohyun kept his distance so Haegang wouldn’t have to bother with him. He hoped Haegang would treat him just as obligatorily as he had always done to others. To Dohyun, Haegang was someone he had unwillingly become indebted to due to circumstances, nothing more, nothing less.
Nevertheless, Dohyun acknowledged that Haegang had helped him—providing a place to stay, preparing meals, taking him to the guild, telling him his ability was a good thing, all of it. But being grateful and being angry were two different things.
Everyone had different boundaries of tolerance. And Dohyun’s boundaries were narrower and more sensitive than most. When someone spoke with an irritated face saying something bothered them, his desire to talk immediately vanished. Dohyun redrew the line that had been faintly blurring with the thought that Haegang might be a good person.
“…Still, wouldn’t it be good to get along more? It would help with Guiding too.”
“Do you really want us to get along?”
When Chan closed his mouth, Dohyun turned his head as if he had expected that response.
The broken watch was wrapped around Dohyun’s right wrist. 3:10. The watch had stopped at that time and never moved again. In fact, Dohyun knew that the watch was one of the reasons why Haegang disliked him.
‘Apparently, he had frequent troubles with previous contracted Espers because he even cared about how Espers dressed.’
‘Dressed?’
‘You know, dressing appropriately for the TPO.’
It was an item Haegang had personally added when drafting the contract. Those dress codes included content related to wearing watches.
‘It’s like a jinx from his athlete days? On swimming competition days, he wore his watch on his left wrist, and on non-competition days, on his right.’
Chan had found an interview about the athlete’s jinx in some archive. After hearing that, Dohyun had kept his watch hidden throughout his stay with Haegang. He pulled his sleeves down as much as possible to make it not noticeable. This was because he always wore his watch on his right wrist.
There were many things to be mindful of in Haegang’s house. Still, since it wasn’t his own home, he tried to abide by the rules. And while he couldn’t repay the help he’d received now, he planned to pay it all back someday when he could afford to.
“Anyway, there’s an issue. They’re saying what happened to you, Bbakdo, might not have been terrorism by them. No, it is terrorism, but should I say it was committed by a different organization than the one behind the previous incidents?”
“Huh?”
Dohyun expressed his confusion. Chan, who had been twirling a pen between his fingers, raised his eyes as if retracing his thoughts.
“Bbakdo, you were a temporary member of our guild, right?”
“Yes…”
“At first, I thought they acted because they didn’t know you were a temporary member, but that might not be the case. Or it could have been a genuine mistake.”
The terrorism that had occurred so far was limited only to Espers who weren’t affiliated with guilds. As if they were trying to avoid guild intervention. The fact that they tried to avoid guild intervention meant they had enough intelligence, and if so, they probably weren’t completely unaware that Dohyun was a temporary guild member.
“So there’s speculation that there might be another group.”
“…Where did you hear this?”
“From the Chaehwa Guild.”
“Chaehwa?”
Chaehwa Guild. Dohyun recalled the familiar guild name. Most guilds operated independently from the government or Association for the protection of the Awakened, but uniquely, the Chaehwa Guild was under the Association.
A peculiar guild that both checked the Association while receiving its support.
The Association, which couldn’t employ Esper staff, relied on the Chaehwa Guild’s help when Esper-related matters arose. Because of this, the Chaehwa Guild often took the lead on unregistered Esper issues compared to other guilds.
“Well, it’s a problem whether it’s the same organization or not. Regardless, the need to catch the Esper who caused the terrorism remains unchanged. It’s just that they’re speculating it might be a different organization based on the fact that you, a guild member, albeit temporary, were targeted.”
“Wait, you said it might not be the original organization behind the terrorism?”
“Huh? Yeah. I don’t know the details, but they said we should consider the possibility it’s not them. It could be targeting something different from the previous organization.”
“…Is Haegang’s house under protection right now?”
“Of course. Well, with you here, the numbers might have been reduced a bit… Wait. Is Guide Choi Haegang at home right now?”
“…Yeah.”
Recently, whenever Dohyun was about to go somewhere, Haegang always insisted on taking him. But today, perhaps shocked by Dohyun’s words, he hadn’t followed even after Dohyun said he was leaving. Moreover, they hadn’t seen each other’s faces and had only communicated via text.
“Bbakdo, did you take a taxi here?”
“…Yes.”
Why was this unpleasant sensation wrapping around his body? Dohyun quickly stood up. No, it didn’t matter which group it was. Dohyun had been staying at that house consistently, moving almost in sync with Haegang’s schedule, and for the first time in a long while, he had come to the guild alone and been separated from Haegang for an extended period.
If those targeting Dohyun thought Haegang’s house was Dohyun’s new residence…
“No way, that can’t be… Hey, what? Yah, Baek Dohyun! Where are you going!”
Don’t say “no way.” It’s killing me.
Dohyun rushed out of the conference room.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
