# Chapter 41
Haegang, who had been on a winning streak collecting gold medals as if he’d been guaranteed the next Olympic gold, suddenly felt the Vigor rising in his body one day, accompanied by a slight fever. The Vigor couldn’t be controlled at will like an Esper’s energy. Instead, it flowed according to the images Haegang envisioned when an Esper was nearby.
Even after awakening his abilities as a Guide, Haegang didn’t think much of it. He knew that having to get government permission every time he traveled abroad and always being accompanied by someone after leaving the country was for managing “potential Guide manifestations,” but he had become desensitized to it over time.
However, the manifestation was incredibly sudden. He never expected that he would have to forfeit on the day of the competition because of manifestation, before he could even take his swimsuit out of his bag.
Afterward, articles about Haegang achieving good results in competitions were deleted from web portals. When searching for Choi Haegang, the number of medals and his once-highest world ranking no longer appeared in search results.
Haegang could have done anything even if he wasn’t a swimming athlete. Perhaps he had sometimes thought about what would happen if he couldn’t be a swimmer starting tomorrow. But that would have been solely by his own choice, not forced upon him like this.
Anger rose within him about everything. He hated being a Guide, hated Espers. So when he saw Dohyun, he felt even more anger.
The first thing that bothered him was the watch on his right wrist.
On the day he returned to Korea, Haegang made one mistake. He absentmindedly put his watch on his right wrist as usual, instead of on his left where he wore it on competition days. Haegang believed he could no longer swim because of this and blamed everything on jinxes.
In the professional world where skill is top-tier but luck also plays a role, Haegang wanted to prevent jinxes that could sway his luck. Even while knowing this mindset was eating away at him, he ultimately blamed his failure to reach the podium entirely on jinxes.
Even after his unwanted retirement, Haegang followed the same routines. He still took towels out from the left side, never skipped walks, and visited the mart once a week to buy fruit for his home. The only change was that he no longer wore a watch on his right wrist.
‘Scary…’
Haegang didn’t care what Dohyun thought of him. From the moment they met, he disliked the watch worn on Dohyun’s right wrist. He also disliked how Dohyun stood among people with his overly gentle face and unchanging expression.
While being ‘that’ Esper. Pretending he doesn’t need a Guide when he actually does.
Haegang thought Dohyun would be like all the others. Although Espers use their abilities, Guides ultimately enable them to do so. Without a Guide, an Esper couldn’t even function properly as an awakened being.
A Guide wouldn’t physically deteriorate if they didn’t guide someone. But Espers developed problems from energy buildup even when inactive.
‘Don’t you know Guides are useless without Espers?’
There was an Esper whose name Haegang couldn’t even remember now, who had shouted this at him. It was truly absurd. Haegang thought about the future he could have had if he hadn’t been a Guide. He was annoyed by Espers who couldn’t do anything without Guides yet treated them as beings who needed to stay by their side to survive. After all, the disappearance of his planned future happened because Espers existed.
Haegang disliked people who couldn’t achieve things through their own efforts. Such people desperately blamed others. Those who hid behind their parents to curse at Haegang, those who rode on their coach’s back to belittle him—they were all the same. Unable to beat Haegang with skill, they tried to bring him down in any way possible.
It was the same with Espers. Their abilities were imperfect and could even go berserk if not careful. They couldn’t even use their abilities properly without a Guide. In other words, their power wasn’t earned through effort, and they couldn’t accomplish anything alone, nor could they clean up their own messes. As a result, Haegang’s impression of Espers was simply ‘annoying’ and ‘irritating.’
Haegang thought Espers were ridiculous. There’s a clear difference between feeling comfortable with guiding and feeling comfortable with a Guide, yet absurdly, after receiving guiding, they would spill everything about themselves and want to get closer. And if things went wrong, they would suddenly change.
‘Extend the guiding contract. If you say no, I’ll explode right now.’
All the Espers Haegang had seen were selfish, demanding, wanted guiding according to their wishes, and even declared they would take his time. On top of that, when he mentioned terminating contracts, some even took civilians hostage at the mart—knowing Haegang visited at the same time each day—to threaten him. He had legally dealt with not a few such cases.
Haegang had always maintained a business-like attitude with all Espers he contracted, from first meeting through the contract period, and never conducted unnecessary guiding. Despite this approach, he still experienced such incidents. This further worsened his image of Espers.
Since all Espers were like that, he assumed Dohyun would be the same. After a few guiding sessions, he’d dilute his initially negative feelings on his own, approach Haegang, and spill his stories easily. He would definitely become annoying. That’s what Haegang thought.
For some reason, even while looking at this small animal who seemed afraid of him, trembling whenever their eyes met, Haegang kept his inner edge sharp. He didn’t like the watch on the wrist that grated on his nerves, didn’t like the Esper sending fearful glances, and…
‘Without guiding, problems will arise, so unfortunately. Good luck.’
He also didn’t like the attitude of this incomplete being—who couldn’t even stand properly without a Guide—drawing boundaries first.
‘Ah, yes.’
Didn’t he feel the tiny bit of guiding Vigor that passed during the handshake? He still has that expression even after receiving guiding? Even after confirming the Vigor?
Coming to the association in the first place meant he was a partner scheduled for an exclusive contract. Of course, there could be exceptions, but for a newly manifested Esper, Haegang would be the first Guide matched with him, so it would be awkward to refuse—yet Dohyun’s response was like an impenetrable wall.
Watching Dohyun walking ahead, Haegang was dumbfounded but still nodded.
Even highly cautious Espers usually opened up after receiving good matching rates. He’ll probably soften up after receiving proper guiding. Then he’ll apologize clearly for his previous behavior after signing the contract. With these thoughts, Haegang approached the matching rate test.
Of course, sending only a minimal amount of guiding Vigor was a small revenge. Having seen many Espers desperate for guiding, he thought Dohyun would soon bow his head to him.
And the matching rate test result was surprisingly high, even to Haegang. He knew beforehand that this rookie Esper, who had just manifested, was taking the matching rate test for the first time. Given the characteristics of Espers, who steadily accumulated energy despite appearing normal, he must be at his limit. Haegang briefly thought this.
Haegang knew his own abilities well. Controlling and transferring Vigor was deeply connected to a Guide’s physical strength. As a former athlete who had consistently trained his body, he had the perfect Vigor quantity for high-ranking Espers and the stamina that made him optimized for guiding.
‘Esper Baek Dohyun, you’re quite lucky.’
This rookie Esper was fortunate from his very first matching rate test. Some people had problems because luck never properly came their way despite having skill. Had to give up their future because of a jinx that acted at the most crucial moment. This young Esper who manifested as high-ranking had met Haegang, so now he only had to develop his abilities.
Honestly, it was irritating. While Haegang himself was still living under the weight of jinxes, he imagined this small Esper, barely out of his teens, would soon become an arrogant Esper demanding guiding, which made him annoyed.
Soon he’ll realize how lucky he is and immediately agree to a contract. A matching rate over 90% doesn’t come easily for S-class Espers. But then.
‘Um… Can I go now?’
Haegang’s expectations shattered with Dohyun’s next words. As if he had no interest from the beginning, as if he didn’t miss even the small amount of guiding that had touched his hand, Dohyun rejected Haegang with a calm face.
Ah, as a high-ranking Esper, does he think even S-class Guides are laughable? The probability of an S-class Esper having a high matching rate with an S-class Guide was extremely rare. Partly because there weren’t even five S-class Guides in the entire country.
However, Haegang had experience successfully guiding Espers with lower matching rates by adjusting his Vigor to provide weaker guiding. He disliked Espers and didn’t particularly want to meet many of them, but he was certainly willing to do what was necessary for official duties. If a skilled Esper who matched well with him didn’t try to personally dig into his life, he was willing to contract without unnecessary rejections.
But without asking to see the contract or modify conditions, he just says he’s leaving. He dropped a bomb with a calm expression.
It wasn’t unheard of. There were nasty Espers who wanted to mess with Guides who came expecting a contract, stupid Espers who tried to break the Guide’s spirit first, knowing they would demand guiding after contracting.
While thinking a newly manifested Esper wouldn’t act that way, Haegang’s mood soured at the thought that Dohyun might be attempting this after seeing or hearing about it from someone else.
He hadn’t missed Dohyun’s trembling eyes. He didn’t like this Esper who seemed to be pretending to be scared while not actually feeling that way, as if following a script. An Esper whose friend handled all contract-related conversations, who couldn’t use his abilities, who didn’t properly understand his own physical condition. What kind of greenhouse flower had this Esper grown up as, to walk around with such an unchanging, calm face for everything?
A gullible and cunning small animal. To Haegang, that was the initial image of Dohyun.
And it took less than a month for him to admit that this thought was wrong.
‘I need living expenses after all.’
It was when that small Esper with an innocent face said those words with an expressionless face.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
