Chapter 32
‘I didn’t expect… he’d cry.’
When he first woke up in Ko Eungyo’s body, getting medicine for simple bruises from the hospital after cracking the back of his head had been a stroke of genius. Ko Eungyo was using that medicine he received then very carefully.
Ko Eungyo applied medicine to his face and body, bruised jet-black or bluish. While doing so, he occasionally let out sighs. The medicine container rattled in his hand.
Well, he wasn’t sure. What Woo Sihyun’s feelings had been at that time…
Without his breathing changing or his eyes reddening, Woo Sihyun had cried. Perhaps it was because his emotions had softened right after Guiding. Or maybe because Ko Eungyo had given Woo Sihyun such enormous stress that just hearing those words alone had softened something deep inside his heart.
Not knowing when Woo Sihyun might return, he pulled himself together as quickly as possible and returned home. Then he found the first aid kit, checked his wounds through the bathroom mirror, and roughly finished treating them. Going to the hospital would be the surest treatment method, but perhaps because he was so exhausted, he didn’t feel like going to the hospital.
Thinking that so many things had happened, he slowly lay down on the bed.
Just that… getting hit a few times by a young Esper, his whole body ached and throbbed.
As soon as Monday came, Ko Eungyo went to the Center’s computer room. Then he activated the delete button that had been deactivated in the Center application, ‘my’. And without much deliberation, he deleted Woo Sihyun from ‘my’.
Fortunately, the process was simple with nothing much to it. Contact came from Secretary Shim that his intentions had been properly conveyed. He worried about what would happen if Ko Eunso put Woo Sihyun back on his list again, but he kept thinking that if that happened, he could just immediately delete Woo Sihyun again. When that time came, he absolutely wouldn’t come even if Woo Sihyun summoned him.
He deliberated for about one second, then also deleted the one remaining Esper in ‘my’, Lee Seungwoo.
‘If I leave Lee Seungwoo… he might beat me up again for bullying his friend.’
Getting called out and beaten like crazy again like this was something he’d pass on. With those two taps, Woo Sihyun and Lee Seungwoo were gone at once.
The ‘my’ list was completely empty.
‘Match with a new Esper!’
“Ha…”
He didn’t know how this matter would be conveyed to the Director, but he decided to think about that when the time came. From what he could see, it seemed Ko Eungyo had been hit by Woo Sihyun more than once or twice, and he felt that even if Ko Eungyo sued over this, the Center would somehow protect Woo Sihyun anyway. Or they’d just give a suitable warning on the surface and brush it aside.
Honestly speaking, Woo Sihyun’s side would also have all sorts of disadvantages received from Ko Eungyo. Naturally there would be evidence, and he didn’t think he’d be perfectly advantaged. In that case, it seemed better to just leave Woo Sihyun alone. It might be best not to get tangled up with Woo Sihyun as much as possible.
Contact did come from the department directly under the Director that night, but he ignored it. If they were going to contact him, they should have done so when pressure came on Ko Eunso. He felt somewhat betrayed by the Director.
Contact from Ko Eunso came the next morning.
[I heard from the Director. They say you were the one who asked to move Woo Sihyun?]
“Ah…”
It was before he could even say hello. He blinked rapidly. When he wanted to make contact, she wouldn’t even answer saying she was busy, but now that she had business, a call came—it was absurd. This bastard or that bastard, there were only people doing as they pleased around Ko Eungyo.
But in any case, now he had to seize the opportunity to speak. He spoke without even breathing.
“I have no feelings whatsoever for Esper Woo Sihyun now. Esper Woo Sihyun said the same. So we decided to separate from each other. There’s no need to forcibly put Esper Woo Sihyun in my ‘my’.”
The voice beyond the phone was silent for a moment.
[Are you trying to deceive even me?]
“Pardon?”
[Whatever it is, you said you wanted to get your hands on Woo Sihyun somehow. I know that Woo Sihyun hates you. Even though I’m letting you have him without going the long way around.]
“……”
Only then did he realize his mistake. Ko Eungyo had one-sidedly loved Woo Sihyun for too long and had struggled desperately to somehow tie Woo Sihyun to himself. He shouldn’t have judged that Ko Eunso wouldn’t know about that long process. Ko Eunso would have granted Ko Eungyo’s requests countless times.
So Ko Eungyo shouldn’t have said so simply that he’d break up with Woo Sihyun for the simple reason of a ‘change of heart’.
Was that why Woo Sihyun was so angry? He thought while scratching near his mouth with his finger. Well, Woo Sihyun might have simply thought he was being toyed with.
But whatever reason he gave, violence couldn’t be justified. He was just a bit anxious wanting to divert Ko Eunso’s attention since words didn’t get through to her.
“More than that, I’ve become interested in something else.”
If a simple change of heart couldn’t explain this feeling… how about this direction instead?
[…Something else?]
Ko Eunso’s voice was clearly displeased, but she chose to ask about the ‘something else’ Ko Eungyo had newly shown interest in.
He felt a bit relieved as the topic seemed to flow as desired. It was as he’d led it.
When Ko Eungyo first started liking Woo Sihyun, there surely would have been no reason for it. It would have just been an emotion that suddenly started at some point. Because emotions were originally like that.
Moreover, it wasn’t ordinary pure devotion but an obsession close to possessiveness. So saying the target had changed had more persuasive power than saying he no longer liked Woo Sihyun.
“Yes. As you know, no matter how much interest I showed, Woo Sihyun hated me, so I couldn’t help but get tired of it. Rather than that… I’ve become interested in Gate sites.”
[You’re a kid who has no interest in things like Gates, aren’t you?]
“……”
Ko Eunso was more interested in Ko Eungyo than he thought. As he moved his eyes busily, they met with Woo Sihyun, who was plastered all over the room.
This is it.
Good, kind Woo Sihyun had bestowed a revelation upon him. By kind Woo Sihyun, he meant the Woo Sihyun in the photos who didn’t say anything and didn’t hit him.
He quickly said.
“At the site… I became interested in an Esper. His face is… decent, and they say his personality is kind. So I’m trying to actually check if he’s really that good.”
[…Really? Is he that good of a guy?]
“…Yes, probably.”
Though I don’t really know since I just blurted it out as it came to mind.
“Anyway, I received a temporary license through the Director, but they say I need to clear a Gate to get an official license. But there’s no suitable Gate… Is there perhaps a Gate that I could clear, one that isn’t monopolized?”
[Hmm…]
At his words, Ko Eunso seemed lost in thought for a moment. As the silence lengthened, he thought he might have said something unnecessary.
It didn’t seem like Ko Eunso would go out of her way to pass Gate information to him, and Gates were very expensive assets. He had no intention of trying to obtain an official license with just a word or two. He just thought that if Ko Eunso refused saying it wasn’t possible, he could pretend to be disappointed saying it couldn’t be helped.
Then, from beyond the cell phone, Ko Eunso called someone. Soon the voice that had grown distant came close again.
[There is one undeveloped Gate you could go to. As you know, if it’s a Gate appearing these days anywhere, everyone’s frantic trying to monopolize it somehow. It’s top secret, but a signal is being detected on Jeju Island. Since it’s a Gate that appeared on an island, the samples will be rare and valuable, and the grade isn’t bad either, so our company’s Espers and Guides are currently on standby nearby. It looks like it’ll open within a month, and the difficulty isn’t that high, so even if one or two people go as if sightseeing… Thank you, Secretary Shim.]
Not at all, Executive Director. A faint voice he’d heard once came from beyond the phone.
[Anyway, it should be fine even if one or two people go out as if going for a walk.]
“……”
The grade not being bad meant it was at least a B-grade Gate or higher. Obviously, if the ‘one or two’ among the top elite forces entering the Gate just stood there doing nothing, it would cause tremendous damage to the team. They’d have to spare personnel to protect those ‘one or two’, and those ‘one or two’ wouldn’t stand night watch and would only be a hindrance to clearing the Gate. It was common knowledge that anyone with abilities would know.
Of course, Ko Eunso wasn’t an ordinary person so she wouldn’t know such detailed contents, but she would at least know that ordinary Guides shouldn’t recklessly go to sites. And it didn’t seem like she wished for her blood relative, whom she’d recently praised for coming to her senses and being pretty, to suddenly die a miserable death in the Gate she’d arranged.
Which meant it seemed close to meaning she would support enough forces to just crush the Gate for Ko Eungyo alone.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
