Ordinary Person A

#Side Story 7

Side Story 3. A Brief Daily Life

Squeak squeak.

Everyone must have heard it before. The squeaking sound from children’s shoes. The one walking while making this noisy, attention-grabbing sound was an adult male about 177cm tall and weighing around 65kg.

“Ho-woo. Is something stuck to the sole of your shoe?”

At Han Seong-won’s innocent question, Ho-woo trembled with shame. Seeing Ho-woo’s ears turn red and his teeth clenched, Han Seong-won, who had approached after being urged by his team members’ gazes, quietly took a couple of big steps back.

Squeak squeak.

Meanwhile, the steps hadn’t stopped, so the squeaking sound was still loud. The man wearing a platinum collar bar on his shirt collar, a gift he had received for the first time in his life, was the only one smiling in this bizarre atmosphere.

Why was it always only him feeling ashamed? Was the word ‘shame’ not even registered in that man’s mind?

Ho-woo felt ashamed while walking, but he couldn’t not walk either. In this current situation, he just wanted to hide in a mouse hole. Perhaps thinking the squeaking sound was similar to a bird’s cry, the monster tamed by Oh-yul, perched on his shoulder in bird form, made a clear chirping sound.

Fortunately, they were in the ruins outside the city where there were no other people, so it was somewhat okay, but the moment they returned to the city, Ho-woo planned to take off these damn shoes even if it meant going barefoot.

“What on earth is going on?”

Hearing Yu Hee-eun whispering to Woo Tae-sik, Ho-woo recalled the day that was the starting point of this incident.

***

Ah, the weather’s nice.

Ho-woo opened the window and looked at the sky. It was a particularly pleasant winter morning with a clear sky. With less dust and cold, it was perfect for a walk.

He thought about going out for a while, but it was difficult to make a decision easily. This was because the stalker attached to him couldn’t bear to be apart even for a very short time. He had just barely managed to separate from him.

At Han Seong-won’s plea about an important meeting, Ho-woo had told Oh-yul to go, saying he would wait quietly in the office. Oh-yul had hesitated for a moment at the condition Ho-woo set before leaving his seat, so if Ho-woo went out now, he didn’t know what kind of backlash would hit him.

Still, wouldn’t it be okay to go out for a bit?

Should he live worrying about just going for a walk, as if he was being held captive? Feeling a moment of doubt, Ho-woo closed the window he had opened and this time opened the office door and came out.

Espers he met in the corridor bowed politely to Ho-woo. Passing by those who showed courtesy to a degree that might seem excessive, he saw people not wearing Esper or guide uniforms occasionally as he came out to the wide grass field. This was one of the changes that had appeared not long after breaking down the walls of the Management Corporation.

Perceptions of Espers were slowly changing. They were gradually changing from beings that were just fearsome or unfamiliar and difficult to approach, to friendly beings, solid fences protecting the city. Although immediate results would be difficult, everyone seemed satisfied as they could see the gradual changes.

Crunch, the dry grass was pleasantly crushed under his feet. Although the guide uniform was still pure white and it would be troublesome to wash if grass stains got on the hem of the pants, who cares? Oh-yul was in charge of laundry. In fact, Oh-yul was in charge of meals and cleaning too.

Ho-woo, who was enjoying freedom after a long time, felt someone approaching him and turned around. Seeing that they weren’t wearing the designated uniform, it was a civilian.

“Um…”

As it was difficult to ignore someone approaching shyly and carefully speaking to him, Ho-woo smiled faintly and replied in an terribly clichéd tone, “What can I do for you?”

He had seen on an anonymous bulletin board that while it was still difficult to approach Espers, guides were essentially no different from ordinary people except for their clothes, so citizens often approached like this.

In fact, guides were also quite good-looking people, just overshadowed by the Espers’ crazy looks. There was no law saying they had to choose each other just because of their Esper and guide characteristics.

“Are you perhaps Oh-yul Esper’s pair guide?”

Ho-woo felt a slight uneasiness at being asked again when they were already sure. Mentioning that damn man unnecessarily.

“P-please give this to him!”

Yeah, I knew it would be like this.

Ho-woo reflexively accepted the shopping bag she held out. It was an expensive brand that even he, who was ignorant about luxury goods, recognized.

“Kyaa~”

Ho-woo sighed heavily as he watched her retreating back as she fled. They all don’t know. He wanted to tell them that the man wasn’t worth fangirling over like a celebrity, just seeing his glossy appearance. …Not that they would listen even if he told them.

The number of members in the fan cafe Yu Hee-eun had shown him last time had increased enormously, and they often sent gifts to the Management Corporation from that fan cafe. Somehow they had found out Oh-yul’s birthday and sent a coffee truck, though Ho-woo hadn’t seen it directly. Instead, Yu Hee-eun had shown him photos. The banner had cringeworthy messages written on it, and the cup holders had cute drawings of Oh-yul printed on them.

They would be dumbfounded if they knew that the man who had passed by indifferently after receiving such birthday wishes had burst into tears at home over a shabby tree that barely met the requirements.

Ho-woo looked down at the shopping bag with a complicated expression. Even if he handed it over, Oh-yul probably wouldn’t be happy, but he still had to deliver it since he was asked to. However, the fact that Ho-woo, who had promised to stay quietly in the office, was holding this meant he had broken his promise, which was quite awkward.

Is there no one else who could deliver it instead?

Looking around, he couldn’t see any familiar faces. Whenever their eyes met, Espers were busy bowing politely, and guides were watching cautiously and quietly avoiding the area. To begin with, when with Oh-yul, everyone kept a certain distance and didn’t approach, so it was difficult to even ask someone to deliver it.

Finally, as Ho-woo was returning to Oh-yul’s office with heavy steps, he spotted a man leaning diagonally against the wall in front of the office and smiled awkwardly.

“The meeting ended… early?”

It was just a 10-minute walk time, a brief deviation, but he hadn’t expected to be caught red-handed. Ho-woo smiled awkwardly at the other person whose expression was ambiguous as to whether he was angry or not. He quietly hid the shopping bag he was holding behind his body, as it wasn’t the right timing to hand it over.

“I came back and…”

Swish-

As he straightened up from leaning against the wall, his clothes brushed against the wall, making a small sound.

“Ho-woo wasn’t there.”

Oh-yul wasn’t angry. He just calmly recited while approaching Ho-woo one step at a time.

“I know. You probably didn’t go far. At most, you went for a walk?”

The Esper looked at the shopping bag Ho-woo was holding with displeasure.

“But, I really don’t like that. Bringing back things like this.”

“This is for you, Oh-yul.”

“That’s exactly it.”

Ho-woo doubted his own comprehension for a moment. No, it’s his own thing, so why? It was really difficult to understand what was in this crazy person’s head. Fortunately, this time Oh-yul poured out directly instead of using his characteristic convoluted way of speaking.

“Don’t do these kinds of errands. I don’t like people who want to deliver something to me daring to use Ho-woo.”

“―!”

He heard everything. No, did he see? Anyway, Ho-woo couldn’t bring himself to tell the man not to tear apart the shopping bag he had taken without hesitation. Oh-yul wrapped the thing that had instantly become trash in water and shoved it into the trash can at the end of the corridor.

“And there’s only one person who can give me anything.”

He habitually fiddled with the collar bar on his neck. Oh-yul had worn it every single day without fail since receiving it as a gift from Ho-woo. He acted as if he had received the world’s greatest treasure, to the point where Ho-woo felt embarrassed.

“Anyway, you broke your promise, so you need to be punished.”

****

And when they spent time that night in what he called ‘punishment’, Ho-woo thought it was all over, but then he brought this outrageous thing.

Ho-woo felt the urge to take off the noisy shoes immediately and glared at Oh-yul’s back with burning eyes. With the muscle strength and power that had become quite Esper-like now, it seemed like just one proper hit could make an impact, but landing that one hit was difficult. He said he would take the hit on the bed, but by then Ho-woo never had the presence of mind for it.

How on earth did you put a squeaker inside adult men’s shoes?

It was a talented feat if you could call it that, to procure and bring such a bizarre object. Ho-woo shot a sulky glance towards Oh-yul who was turning back to look at him again.

Oh-yul raised the corners of his mouth mischievously as he received that gaze. Although Ho-woo looked very upset now, the emotions flowing through their imprint were much more relaxed.

It was always like that.

Ho-woo hated yet loved him, wanted to distance himself yet couldn’t escape.

Lee Ho-woo would probably never say he loved him forever.

But that was okay.

Because he felt something more truthful than words.

End of Ordinary Person A Side Stories.