“……”
“Four oppas? Ha, isn’t that ridiculous? Not just one, not even two, but four of them?”
I realized I shouldn’t have pursued this topic only after seeing the female student’s expression turn vicious. But regrets always come too late, and her excitement didn’t seem like it would subside easily.
“And there’s one even younger than her, right? I heard there’s a twenty-year-old among them. That’s clearly her trying to suck up all the young men for herself.”
We were passing through the main gate, and Sejong Hall was located at the deepest part of the campus, which meant we still had quite a walk ahead of us. I cleared my throat, feeling cold sweat trickling down. While I did feel sorry for the person we were discussing—someone I didn’t even know—who was experiencing something like a morning soap opera, this was an awkward subject to discuss with someone I’d just met today.
“Ahem, since we’ve met by chance, what’s your name?”
The female student, who had been glaring with eyes like a fire fox, blinked at my question. As if she hadn’t expected me to ask for her name, her clear eyes looked at me in confusion.
“My name?”
“Yes. I’m Woo Jeongjae. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine too.”
I was more interested in changing the subject than actually knowing her name, so it wouldn’t have mattered much if she didn’t tell me.
After a brief moment of consideration, the female student slightly moved her lips.
“Jeong Se-eun.”
Though her voice was small, the name reminded me of someone else with a very similar name.
“Your name is very similar to someone I know.”
“Who?”
“Hmm. A hyung I know.”
I scratched my cheek, thinking of Jeong Seyeon. Somehow, my cheeks felt slightly warm. Without mentioning that he was my guide, I found it difficult to find the right word to define our relationship.
“A close hyung.”
I held the same feelings toward all my guides: gratitude and apology.
Among them, Jeong Seyeon always made me feel comfortable, like his bright and refreshing energy. He never buried his emotions for me, nor did he demand any emotions from me. While our relationship was straightforward, I knew it wasn’t because he lacked affection for me. I could be certain of this because I’d seen how his stoic expression, tone, and indifferent eyes subtly changed only in front of me.
My past self would have doubted and repeatedly sought confirmation of his affection, but after letting go of my feelings for Joo Seolhyeon, I became able to accept naturally flowing affection as it was. Since starting to live with my guides, I never had a chance to feel lonely, but Jeong Seyeon was someone who gave me a sense of stability just by being under the same roof.
“Are you sure you’re not the only one who thinks you’re close?”
For some reason, her voice, which had been friendly until now, had an edge to it. I found it slightly strange, but setting aside her emotions, I pondered the content of her question.
“You might be right. Actually, we haven’t known each other that long. About a month now?”
“Aren’t you accepting it too easily? Don’t you feel hurt?”
I slightly wondered why she was so fixated on my relationship with Jeong Seyeon, but I told her the truth.
“To be honest, our relationship isn’t one that can be categorized as close or not close.”
“What does that mean?”
“There are relationships like that.”
While it would be nice if a guide and an esper were close, it was a relationship that could be maintained even without personal intimacy. But if I thought Jeong Seyeon didn’t like me, I might feel a little hurt, as she suggested. After all, I liked Jeong Seyeon and wanted to get closer to him. Of course, people’s feelings don’t change just because I want them to, but there was plenty of time to build our relationship.
‘I’m confident we’ll get closer.’
Suddenly, I found it intriguing how my attitude had changed compared to the time with Joo Seolhyeon.
‘I’m so much more relaxed now?’
I had been in a very unstable state, hanging onto one person and blindly acting to receive even a shred of their affection. I would be happy, hopeful, sad, and depressed over small changes in their expression or casually spoken words. That’s why I was curious about their true feelings yet afraid to know, wanted to get closer yet wanted to stay put. For such a coward to become so at ease was truly a remarkable change. Without my realizing it, something inside me had hardened.
“What business do you have at Sejong Hall?” I asked the student, who was openly showing disappointment, apparently dissatisfied with my response.
“There’s something.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as she mimicked my tone, as if she had been waiting for it. She seemed quite curious about what kind of relationship I had with Jeong Seyeon. Knowing this, I pretended not to notice and nodded.
“I see.”
“That’s it?”
Her slightly furrowed face looked like she was holding back from snapping something at me.
“What is it you’re curious about?”
At my question, she tightened her grip on the umbrella. I vaguely felt that our conversation had been going askew. If I had to pinpoint when, it was from the moment she started projecting her oppa through me.
“Do you know who I am?”
While ‘S-class Esper’ was famous, few people knew that I was that S-class Esper. Especially since I had just started my activities, my presence would be quite minimal. It was embarrassing to ask such a question myself, but seeing that the student didn’t deny it, I began to understand her suspicious behavior.
“You took a picture of me earlier, didn’t you?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“And it seems like you deliberately asked to borrow my umbrella.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She was playing dumb, but the corners of her eyes were trembling slightly.
“Tell me the truth. You’re my fan, aren’t you?”
The anxious student’s eyes widened. Her mouth opened in disbelief, her pupils slightly dilated.
I felt proud that my prediction had hit the mark.
‘That was easy.’
Before my regression, when I had just met Joo Seolhyeon, there were also fans who would recognize me like this occasionally. I wasn’t interested back then, but now it felt quite pleasant. Perhaps it was the influence of Yang Garam, who claimed to be my number one fan.
“…not that, but ‘bulgom’…”
She muttered something quietly, knitting her brows.
Because of the rain hitting the umbrella, I didn’t catch everything, but I definitely heard the word ‘bulgom’ (fire bear).
‘Fire bear? Is that my nickname?’
I glanced down at my body without her noticing, but my build wasn’t one that would evoke the image of a bear.
Looking to the side again, I saw the student in a panic. Being exposed as a fan must have been quite a shock. Feeling awkward, I rubbed the back of my neck.
Maybe I should have pretended not to know.
The awkward silence made our steps toward Sejong Hall quicken unnecessarily.
“If I’m a fan, would you do me a favor?”
Regretting my earlier acknowledgment, I turned my head at the voice from beside me.
“I think I am your fan.”
I felt a sense of dissonance at her ambiguous response. But since the awkward silence had broken, which was a welcome development, I nodded.
‘Taking photos might be a bit burdensome, but I could easily give an autograph.’
Though I hadn’t heard what favor she wanted yet, I assumed it would be within the range I could imagine.
“Would you go somewhere with me?”
We were passing by the building next to Sejong Hall and would soon reach our destination. I showed a slightly troubled expression at her request.
“Of course, after giving the umbrella to your brother.”
Before I could refuse, she smiled brightly and spoke. It was her first smile since being discovered as a fan.
‘If I just deliver the umbrella to Garam, I do have time, but where exactly does she want to go?’
Just as I was starting to worry that this might involve more than just taking photos and giving autographs, the student said:
“I’m not suggesting we go far. If we exit through the back door of Sejong Hall, there’s a snack shop. The tteokbokki there is really delicious, especially on rainy days. Let’s go eat that.”
“Didn’t you have business at Sejong Hall?”
“My business was tteokbokki from the beginning. We need to pass Sejong Hall to get to that snack shop.”
Thinking about it that way, she wasn’t wrong.
It was still drizzling, and she looked determined to go to the snack shop alone in the rain if I didn’t accompany her, so my deliberation wasn’t long.
“Alright. I’ll go with you.”
Happy with my affirmative response, the student’s face brightened.
‘I’ll need to buy her an umbrella after treating her to tteokbokki.’
If her approaching me wasn’t because of the umbrella but because she was my fan, it meant she had come all this way for tteokbokki on a rainy day without an umbrella. Given her boldness, she probably didn’t mind getting wet, but I wouldn’t feel right just sending her off like that. I would need to provide her with an umbrella to sleep soundly tonight.
Soon after arriving at Sejong Hall, I took out my phone and gasped at the pile of messages and missed calls that had accumulated. They were all from Yang Garam.
[Why?]
[Hyung, why are you asking that?]
[Do you miss me too?]
[Should I come see you after class?]
[Just finished. Are you at home?]
Even though they were just text messages, I could vividly imagine Yang Garam whining like a puppy with separation anxiety. As I was about to call, a call from Yang Garam came through faster.
“Hello.”
—Where are you, hyung?
“I’m at Sejong Hall, first floor…”
Before I could finish, I heard loud footsteps from the staircase. I saw a familiar figure coming down the stairs with a ruckus. As our eyes met, Yang Garam, who had been hurriedly taking the stairs two at a time with his phone to his ear, froze.
“Hi there.”
As I removed my phone and greeted him with a smile, Yang Garam’s large eyes became moist, and he suddenly launched forward.
“Jeongjae hyung!!”
People were coming down in droves due to lectures that had just ended, and with him rushing toward me so noisily, all eyes in the vicinity focused on us.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
