At his confident answer, I felt something that had been tightly constricting my chest crumble away. Something hot flowed down my cheek, and I wiped it with the back of my hand, but no matter how much I wiped, the tears wouldn’t stop.
“From now on, it would be better to talk in a quieter place.”
But the man seemed to deliberately pretend not to notice as he gathered his documents and stood up, and I followed him out with my head bowed low.
“If we were at headquarters, I’d invite you to my office, but unfortunately, I have nothing but a temporary lodging—I’m completely broke. Shall we go to my place for now?”
As I’d noticed during our call, his Korean was fluent.
I glanced at Peter’s profile and hesitated to answer. I wasn’t sure if it was okay to follow a stranger to their home when meeting for the first time.
“Hmm, you seem uncomfortable. Since this is highly confidential, we need somewhere isolated from the outside. Or should we get a hotel room?”
Perhaps feeling that our conversation was going well, the stiff atmosphere from when we first met had considerably faded.
“Let’s go to your place.”
For me, a hotel or lodging made no difference. Peter seemed to not want to worry about this issue either and said “Thanks” with a native pronunciation before guiding me to his place.
“Sit here. I’ll bring some tea.”
I had continued crying while following Peter, so by the time we arrived at his lodging, I couldn’t stop sniffling. Peter sat me on the living room sofa and was about to go to the kitchen, but I grabbed the hem of his clothes and asked where the bathroom was. I wanted to quickly deal with my salt-soaked eyes and blocked nose.
My nasal voice was embarrassing, but I was afraid that if I lowered my head, mucus would drip, so I kept my head up and just blushed. Peter smiled and pointed to the bathroom.
“Your hands are cold. A warm bath can help when you’re nervous.”
He added this as he freed his clothes from my grip, and I shook my head in alarm.
“I’ll just wash my face and come back.”
In terms of my age here, it had been 1 year and 4 months since I’d seen my mother, but if I calculated the time up until my regression, it had been a whole 7 years before I learned of my mother’s whereabouts. Turning on the faucet at the sink and washing my face, I had to try hard to compose my surging emotions. Perhaps because the five years I spent with Joo Seolhyeon were so difficult, it was a while before I emerged from the bathroom. I’d told Peter I was going to wash my face, and I really did only wash my face, but enough time had passed that it wouldn’t have been strange if I’d taken a bath.
“You’re out?”
This time too, Peter pretended not to notice that my face was even more swollen than when I went in. I sat on the sofa opposite Peter and awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck. Stealing a glance at his face, I noticed a few changes from earlier.
“You took off your glasses.”
Without his rimless glasses, his face appeared much softer. His hair, unlike before, was now flowing down naturally.
“I have a bit of astigmatism, so I tend to wear glasses only when reading documents.”
Although his smile still looked tired, he was much more relaxed than before. Looking at him, I felt like I had experienced this situation somewhere before.
‘Have I met Peter in the past?’
Since I occasionally went on overseas assignments, I might have passed by him by chance. But I had the feeling that he wasn’t just one of those people I’d passed by. I carefully examined his face.
His slightly wavy brown hair naturally covered his forehead, and beneath it, deep-sea blue eyes were staring at me. When his eyes flashed with a hint of curiosity, a memory crossed my mind.
“What is your ability?”
“Ice and snow.”
It was the same element system as mine, but opposite to me, an ability that freezes everything white. And the man in my memory had the same ability as him.
Everything froze at the tips of his fingers, and the pure white ice crystals sometimes became snowflakes, sometimes sharp swords. It was the most brilliant and beautiful ability I had experienced, but equally cruel.
I realized that the man in my memory was the man in front of me.
“Is your Esper rank S-class?”
“Yes, you observed correctly.”
When I went on an overseas assignment due to the emergence of an SS-class dungeon, unprecedented worldwide, he was the only colleague who, unlike other foreign dispatchers, worried about me having no Guide.
But ironically, he was also the figure who contributed the most to killing me when I went berserk. He was the one who put thousands of ice shards into my heart, completely cutting off my breath.
His formal name was…
“S-class Esper, Peter Gray. So you were that Peter.”
“I’m honored you recognize me.”
South Korea only has one S-class, but countries with larger populations like the United States or China have significantly more S-class Espers. I don’t know all of them individually, but even in other countries, seeing an S-class Esper isn’t an easy thing.
“Let’s set aside talk about me and get to the main point, shall we?”
Although his attire was more casual now that we were at his lodging, he was a busy person. Seeing him looking anxiously at his watch, I straightened my back and nodded seriously.
But Peter didn’t provide me with much information. Or rather, couldn’t would be more accurate. The information he had was ridiculously scarce.
“You don’t know the gender or age, but you say it’s an A to S-class Esper?”
“That’s right.”
“If it’s a villain, they won’t be a registered Esper with the state, so they won’t show up in searches.”
“That’s why I need your help, Jeongjae.”
I understood why Peter was saying this. Higher-ranked Espers can identify Espers below their rank. In a situation without any clues, to accurately determine an Esper’s rank, an S-class Esper must necessarily be deployed for this mission.
‘Of course, the U.S. government wouldn’t have sent an S-class Esper here without good reason.’
Suddenly, I wondered if Peter’s path to getting here was accurate.
“Wait a minute. Is it confirmed that the executive of that terrorist organization has entered Korea?”
“That is without doubt.”
I withdrew my suspicion at his decisive answer, but there was something a bit strange.
“But why are you staying at the Esper Union temporary lodging? From what I’ve heard, this doesn’t seem like it will end in a short time.”
“Apart from that case, I’m also a guest invited to this Esper Union event. Of course, now that the event is over, I need to vacate the room by tomorrow. Ah, do you happen to have a spare room at your place?”
This guy is shameless?
I stared at him in disbelief, and he seemed to feel awkward about what he’d just said, clearing his throat and avoiding my gaze.
“Ahem, please forget what I just said. I apologize for the rudeness.”
“Doesn’t the state provide funds for mission expenses?”
“Since I entered the country immediately after obtaining the information, the approval from above hasn’t come through yet. Until permission is granted, I have to stay using my own money, and I’m a bit…”
Peter, who had been talking quite fluently, trailed off. I could infer the rest without hearing it, but he tried to mask his gloomy expression and nonchalantly gathered the documents he had laid out to explain things to me.
“Shall we call it a day? We’re currently narrowing the net, so I’ll contact you again soon.”
Peter found his original pace again, and since I had no reason to stay longer, I stood up.
After purchasing a snack for Serubi and arriving home, everyone was nowhere to be seen. When I texted Woo Jeonghyun asking where they were, the answer came back that they had all gone out to buy stuff for dinner. In my room, Serubi was enjoying a lazy nap in the afternoon sunlight.
“Serubi.”
I woke him up to keep the promise I made to Serubi in the morning, and Serubi, seemingly bothered, rolled around with his eyes closed. After stretching out fully, Serubi half-opened his eyes and looked at me.
“I bought you Churu.”
Serubi’s body sprang up nimbly.
[Hand it over.]
Seeing him rise as if about to walk on two legs and flailing his front paws, I handed Serubi the Churu I had already taken out. I watched contentedly as Serubi lapped up the Churu deliciously, then got up from my seat and removed the piano cover.
“I’ll sing for you too.”
It was fortunately a good time to play the piano since no one was home. Serubi watched me sit at the piano with interested eyes while eating his Churu.
‘This is the first time I’m playing in front of someone.’
The difference between having an audience and not was distinct. Although the audience was more of a beast than a human. I touched my slightly trembling fingertips and opened the piano lid. A melody had been floating around in my ear for a while.
“Serubi, this is my favorite piece. Listen carefully.”
At the clear sound of the piano, Serubi’s two ears perked up. I reminisced about my childhood memories as I nimbly moved between the white and black keys. I struggled a bit at the refrain, but since that part had always been difficult for me, I just glossed over it. It was a little unnatural, but someone who didn’t know wouldn’t notice it much. I thought that Serubi, being a magical beast, probably wouldn’t even notice anything strange, and finished the performance. Before I realized it, Serubi, who had been by the window, was now sitting on top of the piano looking down at me.
“How was it?”
[You deceived me.]
I had secretly hoped that Serubi would like my favorite piece too, but his first words completely defied my expectations.
“What do you mean I deceived you?”
[You said you couldn’t play like Juju, but it’s the same.]
I didn’t understand Serubi’s words at first, then belatedly asked:
“Joo Seolhyeon knows this piece?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
