I mentally repeated “hurry up” thousands of times, but contrary to my wishes, the boat moved at a snail’s pace.
The boat needed more time to completely dock at the pier, but my patience was wearing thin. I assessed the distance between the boat and land, then gripped the railing tightly.
‘I think I could jump this distance in one leap.’
Although it was night and visibility was poor, my instincts told me I could make it. As the boat rocked with a splash, my already unsettled stomach flipped again.
‘I can’t take it anymore.’
Without hesitation, I pushed off from the unsteady deck and launched myself toward the pier. With a leap that no ordinary person could imagine, I soared through the air and landed safely on solid ground.
“Ah, land at last.”
It was pitiful to use an S-class Esper’s physical abilities just to reduce seasickness a little, but my thoroughly wrung-out insides had nothing left to expel. I took the opportunity to sit down on the ground and enjoy the comfort of not swaying.
“I brought medicine, but I was a bit too late.”
The bliss of being on solid ground was short-lived as my neck stiffened at the sound from behind me. I turned my creaking head to see Do Wonjin leaning against the bow of the boat I had just jumped from, shaking a bottle of medicine.
“Are you moved all of a sudden? Your gaze is burning with intensity.”
‘It’s because of you.’
I couldn’t say it out loud, so I just swallowed my frustration.
Of course, I would have suffered from seasickness even without his Guiding. But the culprit who had not only failed to reduce my suffering but actually made it worse was right in front of me, so my gaze couldn’t be pleasant.
“Should I take that look to mean you want me?”
“If you need something hot, how about this?”
In response to Do Wonjin’s sly smile, I lit a flame at my fingertips. Even though I only created a single flame in the darkness, it brightened the surroundings. Do Wonjin raised both hands in an awkward smile.
“I surrender.”
I was thinking I’d like to hit him once for his irritating behavior, when something unexpected happened, as if he’d read my mind.
“Wonjin hyung, there’s a mosquito here!”
With a whack and the sound of something like a watermelon being split, there was a noise from the back of Do Wonjin’s head. Startled, I sent the flame I had created floating into the air, revealing someone who had been hidden behind Do Wonjin. It was Yang Garam.
“Hey.”
An ominous voice flowed from Do Wonjin’s lips as he held the back of his head and lowered it. But Yang Garam either didn’t hear or ignored it, pushing Do Wonjin aside to stand close to the railing and wave at me. His face, always full of joy whenever he saw me, was so innocent that I wouldn’t have believed he had just struck Do Wonjin’s head if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.
“Hyung, you went down first!”
“Did you just hit me?”
Do Wonjin’s eyes gleamed clearly even in the darkness. His face, with its bulging eyes and low growl, looked ferocious even to me. However, Yang Garam, not at all intimidated by Do Wonjin’s glare, held out his palm that had struck the back of Do Wonjin’s head.
“Do you see it?”
“See what?”
“The mosquito. It was on the back of your head.”
“Huh. What nonsense. There’s nothing there.”
“Ah~ I guess I missed it then.”
Do Wonjin let out a sarcastic laugh with an incredulous face, and Yang Garam openly showed his disappointment. Do Wonjin, who had been looking at Yang Garam with a dumbfounded expression, suddenly smiled as if something had occurred to him.
“Jeongjae, could you put out this fire?”
Though his face was smiling, his voice sounded chilly, perhaps due to the sea breeze. I complied with Do Wonjin’s request and extinguished the flame floating in the air. Darkness instantly descended, hiding their faces. While waiting for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, I heard a suppressed groan. It was quickly drowned out by the sound of waves, but it was definitely Yang Garam’s voice.
Startled, I lit the flame again and saw Do Wonjin with his arm around Yang Garam’s shoulder, grinning.
I had thought they were fighting, but seeing them so close together made me relax.
‘Did I hear wrong?’
I rubbed my ear as I watched Do Wonjin muss Yang Garam’s hair and drag him away to get their luggage.
Time passed and the boat docked at the pier. Yang Garam was the first to gather both my luggage and his own, running towards me.
“It must be heavy. You carried all this?”
“It’s not heavy at all. Are you feeling better?”
Yang Garam probably didn’t know that I had suffered worse seasickness because of Do Wonjin, yet for some reason, he examined my body carefully with attentive hands. Yang Garam’s face was so serious that despite my awkward expression, I quietly allowed his touch.
“No fever.”
Finally, after checking my temperature by placing his hand on my forehead, Yang Garam seemed to notice my confused eyes and stepped back with a broad smile. Only then did I feel I could breathe freely and exhaled softly, taking my luggage that was still in Yang Garam’s hands. Then I suddenly remembered him going inside with Do Wonjin to get their luggage.
“Garam, was there really a mosquito earlier? You didn’t just imagine it?”
“Ah, was that what you were curious about?”
It was beyond common sense to spot such a small mosquito on the back of Do Wonjin’s head in the pitch-dark night. Yang Garam seemed to find my question amusing and laughed briefly before saying something completely off-topic.
“Jeongjae hyung, your blood type is O, right?”
“Huh? How did you know?”
“It’s the blood that mosquitoes like.”
What does the mosquito that was supposedly on Do Wonjin’s head have to do with my blood type?
Seeing my puzzled expression, Yang Garam grinned and said:
“I’m good at catching mosquitoes.”
“What? You said you missed it earlier.”
“Yeah, I almost caught it. It was a shame.”
Feeling like the conversation was going nowhere, I just nodded lifelessly. Yang Garam didn’t seem interested in continuing this meaningless conversation either and looked at me with a worried expression.
“Hyung, are you really okay? Your already small face has become even smaller.”
‘Is it that serious?’
At Yang Garam’s words, I ran my hand over my face. Thinking ‘I can’t really tell,’ I looked up and saw our companions coming down in a line behind Yang Garam. Then my eyes met the Center Director’s. He frowned at me as if something displeased him.
‘What is it? Did I make a mistake?’
I didn’t recall making any mistakes, but his negative expression made me feel tense. The Center Director turned and approached me.
“Esper Woo Jeongjae.”
I had been avoiding reality by thinking maybe he had business with Yang Garam, but when I heard him call my name specifically, I turned my gaze from the distant mountains to the Center Director.
“I’m not saying you need to report every instance of seasickness, but I would appreciate it if you didn’t forget that I am your superior.”
I had thought I hadn’t done anything wrong, but then it occurred to me that I had left the boat first without reporting. Although they don’t enforce discipline like the military, I was a combat Esper. In a situation where we were dispatched overseas for a mission, not for leisure, my independent action could certainly be problematic.
“I apologize.”
“We’ll return directly through a gate, so you won’t have to worry about seasickness then.”
As I bowed my head in apology, the Center Director patted my head and spoke.
Although I had received criticism, I could tell from his words that he was concerned about me. After the Center Director left, as I was fixing my hair that he had patted, Jeong Seyeon approached.
“Your face looks quite ill. Is your stomach okay?”
Despite his expressionless face and the same indifferent tone as usual, receiving his concern made me feel a bit embarrassed. I couldn’t believe how many people were checking on me just because of seasickness.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“…”
“I’m really okay.”
Silence.
Even after emphasizing it twice, Jeong Seyeon’s gaze didn’t leave me.
As I was becoming perplexed about how to interpret this reaction, Joo Seolhyeon brushed past me and blurted out:
“You do look fine. I thought you were dying from severe seasickness.”
Normally, I would have just given Joo Seolhyeon a glare for his irritating remark, but at this point, I found it strange that everyone in the group seemed to know about my seasickness. I had come out to the deck from the cabin when my seasickness started, and I hadn’t gone back to the cabin since then.
“How did you know I was seasick, Joo Seolhyeon?”
When I grabbed his arm and asked, he frowned and nodded toward something behind me.
“He was making such a racket going through every room, I couldn’t even rest properly.”
In the direction Joo Seolhyeon pointed was Do Wonjin, who was the last to disembark from the boat. I released Joo Seolhyeon’s hand, and he rotated the wrist I had grabbed before walking away briskly.
“Do Wonjin.”
Do Wonjin turned his head at my call and smiled with the corners of his eyes. Objectively, it was a very charming smile, but to me right now, it was nothing but a face saying “I’m the culprit.” I had thought it would end when we reached the island, but now my head was pounding, not just my stomach.
“How did you go around looking for medicine in a way that made everyone know?”
When Do Wonjin reached me, I muttered while pressing my temple. Do Wonjin took out the motion sickness medicine he had shown earlier from his chest pocket and put it in my coat pocket.
“Why, did someone tease you about an S-class Esper getting seasick?”
“Even when you think…”
“Or are you embarrassed because people are worried about you?”
“…”
It was true that I felt embarrassed about getting seasick as an S-class Esper, but I also found this situation where others worried about me awkward and uncomfortable, like wearing ill-fitting clothes. Before my regression, even though every day had been like walking on thin ice with the risk of going berserk never decreasing, no one had shown concern for me. It was too strange to receive so much worry just for seasickness.
“If you’re feeling sorry, it’s okay. In these situations, you just need to say thank you for the concern.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
