#70
It seemed like it would be difficult to pack different side dishes in the lunchbox every day, but he managed to fill the container with side dishes that perfectly reflected Ho-woo’s tastes 100%.
Thanks to this, feeling like he might have gained some weight, Ho-woo sat down at a corner table in the pantry today again with his lunchbox.
“Lunchbox again today?”
At first surprised, but now seemingly quite used to it, Mi-yeon approached with just a sandwich dangling in her hand.
“That’s a nice lunchbox.”
She sat down across from him, genuinely admiring it.
Ho-woo stared down at the perfectly shaped yellow rolled omelet neatly arranged, the stir-fried anchovies sweetened with malt syrup, and the apple slices cut into rabbit shapes. The excessively perfect lunchbox lacked human touch again today.
So much so that Mi-yeon, who had sat down saying she didn’t have much appetite and would just eat a sandwich, asked how he could eat it, finding it too precious.
“But why the lunchbox? You’ve been bringing it continuously lately, right?”
“My partner wanted to prepare it for me.”
“Partner?!”
Startled by Ho-woo’s words, Mi-yeon quickly glanced around before lowering her voice as much as possible.
“Did it work out?”
With that Oh-yul. The latter part was spoken so softly that even Ho-woo could barely hear it.
What should I do about this?
Ho-woo hesitated, looking troubled. He should deny it here, but he didn’t want to. He had no desire to deny his partner, even if they couldn’t hear it.
“So this was packed by that person too?”
Noticing that Ho-woo’s lack of response was an affirmation, she let out a hollow laugh. It was close to the kind of laugh one might give upon realizing that someone who seemed almost otherworldly was no different from oneself.
“But Ho-woo must feel upset.”
“Pardon? Me?”
“Since they’re an Esper, they’ll need a guide, right? You two are dating, so I’m sure you’ll manage somehow, but still…”
“It’s fine.”
So that’s how others see it.
Ho-woo calmly continued eating while considering his public position.
In Mi-yeon’s eyes, Lee Ho-woo appeared to be Oh-yul’s partner, but neither a guide nor anything else – just someone who could be broken up with at any time.
Well, that made sense. Even he found it hard to believe that he had become a guide. Despite actually seeing his eye color change, Ho-woo often wondered if he might have been dreaming.
That was because he hadn’t done anything. He could only assume that something had happened when he felt a sensation similar to elation rising from the point of contact. He knew nothing, after all.
He wanted to be of even a little more help to Yul, since he would be in charge of Yul’s guiding after officially obtaining his guide qualification through all that hard work on the weekends.
Moreover, while it was said that both parties suffer if the matching rate is low, Ho-woo hadn’t felt anything like that at all.
Rather, the wave-like feeling enveloping his body tickled Ho-woo’s senses from the periphery. Almost like an act deliberately meant to arouse excitement.
If guiding is like this, it’s no wonder ordinary people can’t beat guides.
A bitter smile appeared on Ho-woo’s lips. Realizing once again that his choice before becoming a guide wasn’t wrong wasn’t a particularly pleasant feeling.
And realizing that while he might have the highest matching rate with Yul now, someone with an even higher rate could appear later was equally unpleasant. Like the person from the past that he had mentioned.
Ho-woo didn’t want to become such a past. Being human, he kept developing desires. He didn’t want to lose this opportunity that had finally come around.
“Mr. Lee?”
“Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment.”
While Ho-woo had been lost in thought, Mi-yeon, who had finished her portion of sandwich, got up and dusted off her seat.
“It’s not my place to comment. But I’m envious that you’re dating. I wonder when I’ll find a good partner.”
Joking around, she left the pantry with light steps after saying they should work hard for the afternoon shift too.
Ho-woo watched her retreating figure for a moment before picking up his phone from the table and composing a message to some familiar names.
[Are you free this Saturday?]
Since his Esper didn’t want to teach guiding to his guide, there was only one option left.
He had no choice but to contact someone who could help.
***
Ho-woo sat in a run-down cafe on the outskirts of the city, sipping an unpleasant Americano.
The coffee, failing in both smell and taste, wasn’t to his liking, but he had to endure it since this was the agreed meeting place.
As it became safer towards the city center, buildings in the sparsely populated outskirts showed signs of being shabby and old. Even though Ho-woo’s house was in the same outer area, this place even further out rarely saw people.
The existence of such a cafe in this area was purely due to the Espers’ border outpost and power plant built by the seaside.
Ho-woo adjusted his sunglasses, even though he knew the old owner standing at the counter wasn’t looking at him.
He had tried to hide his face since he was meeting people, but he belatedly thought he might have been a bit paranoid.
He quietly took off his sunglasses and put them away, then checked the pager he now habitually carried.
There were only about ten minutes left until the appointed time. After checking the time, Ho-woo rested his chin on the table, staring at the entrance.
When he went to the training center with Yul, Sa Jin-hyeok had clearly said:
‘Guides don’t need to learn guiding?’
His lover hadn’t answered that question. But judging by his narrowed eyes and gaze, his answer was affirmative.
For some reason, Oh-yul didn’t seem to approve of Ho-woo learning guiding. Yet if he wanted to keep him close by granting him guide qualifications, there must be some reason.
Although he didn’t seem likely to explain it, Ho-woo was desperate in his own way. The medium that strongly connected him, who knew nothing, with Oh-yul, who was hiding something, was guiding.
As Ho-woo was fiddling with his pager out of habit while thinking about Yul, he slowly waved his hand at a familiar figure who appeared with the sound of a small bell.
“Over here.”
“I can see you without you waving your hand like that.”
Joo Si-yeo, speaking in a playful and light tone, sat down across from Ho-woo with a bright smile.
The old cafe owner, making eye contact with her, lowered his gaze as if this was a familiar occurrence and started unnecessarily washing perfectly clean cups.
Only when the small conversation could be drowned out by the background sound of running water did Joo Si-yeo open her mouth.
“Did you order coffee? It’s terribly bad here.”
“It seems so.”
Ho-woo pushed aside his cup, which hadn’t even decreased by half.
“The non-coffee drinks here are better. Try them next time.”
Joo Si-yeo, acting friendly like a long-time friend, examined Ho-woo like a snake looking for something interesting, her characteristic yellow eyes gleaming.
“What’s up suddenly? Did something happen that you need to consult a friend about?”
Friend.
Ho-woo smiled awkwardly at the word Joo Si-yeo used to refer to herself. His only friend so far had been Kim Do-hyun, but he hadn’t been able to confide about this situation to that friend yet.
Ding-
The bell on the door made a small sound again. Simultaneously, a man with ash-gray hair opened the door and entered the cafe. Behind him, a man with a gentle impression and similar height to Ha Eun-chan also came in and scanned the interior. Ho-woo’s eyes widened slightly as he was wearing a white guide uniform.
“Huh? It’s Eun-chan and Geon-woo. Did you invite them too?”
Joo Si-yeo, recognizing them, showed a puzzled expression while acknowledging them.
“Since the location was near the power plant, I wondered, but it seems you were meeting with noona too.”
Ha Eun-chan smiled broadly with his youthful face. Cha Geon-woo, standing behind him, slightly bowed his head when his eyes met Ho-woo’s.
The two who naturally joined the table focused their attention on Ho-woo, who had gathered them all here.
“I brought Geon-woo hyung along because I wanted to introduce him, is that okay? He’s my dedicated guide.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Cha Geon-woo.”
“I’m Lee Ho-woo.”
Is it just okay? It was very good.
Ho-woo returned a very kind smile to Cha Geon-woo, who was dressed in pure white guide attire, with personal interest. He had been thinking of asking Yu Hee-eun if he got the chance later, but meeting another guide, especially one who seemed unrelated to Yul, was fortunate.
After all, Yu Hee-eun belonged to Oh-yul’s team, so she would have to be mindful of Yul, and to meet her, he would have to go through his lover who didn’t want to teach him guiding.
Even if they met, it would be difficult to get all the information he wanted.
Ho-woo assessed the situation as coolly as possible.
“Of course it’s okay. As it happens, what I wanted to ask about was related to guides.”
“Guides?”
“Guides?”
Joo Si-yeo and Ha Eun-chan expressed their doubts simultaneously. However, unlike Ha Eun-chan’s pure curiosity, Joo Si-yeo looked at Ho-woo with eyes tinged with a bit of worry.
Ho-woo looked at Joo Si-yeo for a moment, puzzled by her inexplicable concern, but she didn’t say anything else and quickly gave a mischievous grin.
Receiving her strange smile, Ho-woo stared blankly at Ha Eun-chan, who was delighted that he had been of help.
