Chapter 14
“What are you doing here?”
“E-Esper-nim!”
Seoyul, who had been lost in thought, flinched in surprise. He had just heard from Sunjeong that Dowoon was in the Center Director’s office.
“W-well… I heard you were meeting with the Center Director… I was worried something bad might have happened…”
The Center Director of the Seoul branch was a high-ranking person, wasn’t he? Even for an S-class Esper, Seoyul thought there wouldn’t be a reason to meet such an important person without a special reason.
“Well… it’s nothing major. Just telling me to form a pair with you.”
“What? A p-pair?”
Seoyul was startled by the unexpected answer. It made sense since Dowoon was S-class and he was only C-class.
With a difference of three whole ranks between them, a pair…
Of course, he could change to S-class under certain conditions, but since it wasn’t perfect, he thought it was absurd.
“They were insistent that we pair up quickly.”
“B-but I’m… C-class…”
“Not anymore, right?”
“B-but still…”
For some reason, Dowoon looked pleased. So Seoyul cautiously asked if he was really okay with him.
“So… what did you say…”
“What would I say? I just said okay.”
At the casual response, Seoyul’s eyes widened. It sounded like Dowoon was saying it was fine to form a pair with him.
“Anyway, since you’re the only one who can guide me, it’s not bad for me. What about you?”
“M-me?!”
He was flustered, not expecting to be asked for his opinion. Seeing this, Dowoon tensed slightly, wondering if Seoyul didn’t want to form a pair.
But soon, words of affirmation poured out.
“I-I’m fine with it if it’s you, Esper-nim.”
The way he clenched his fists, adding that he would work hard, was cute. Dowoon held back a smile that was trying to form and took his hand.
“Good. Then let’s go right away.”
“What? R-right now?”
“We need matching test results to form a pair. Those should be available right away, so let’s go get them now.”
The matching test was one of the necessary steps to form a pair. Though approximate results were available in the data, they had to take the test directly and submit it.
Seoyul solemnly nodded, recalling what he had learned during his Guide classes.
‘To think I’d be taking a matching test with Esper-nim.’
The test results could be higher or lower depending on the condition of the two people. So he was a bit worried.
But Dowoon seemed calm.
‘The matching test won’t be a problem.’
What was there to worry about? He knew from continuously receiving guiding.
His compatibility with Seoyul was the best.
‘Otherwise, I wouldn’t be like this.’
Didn’t he always become dazed when receiving guiding? It hurt his pride, but he knew that the better the compatibility with a guide, the more it affected him.
So the test results were a foregone conclusion.
But when Dowoon arrived at the research lab, he encountered a problem he hadn’t considered.
“What? We can’t form a pair?”
“To be precise, you can form a pair with C-class Yuli, but not with S-class Yuli. It means it’s temporary.”
Temporary…
Dowoon was dumbfounded.
“How can we form a pair when we can’t even measure his rank yet?”
“Ah…”
Now he understood what she meant. Seoyul did too.
Guiding as an S-class Hidden Guide, not as a C-class guide. That part needed to be quantified for a proper rank and to form a complete pair.
‘Damn. That means we’ll have to form a pair again?’
When ranks changed, matching rates sometimes changed as well. So when ranks changed, a re-measurement was required to form a pair again.
In other words, the pair they were forming now was temporary, as she said.
“First, do the C-class test and take your time with the S-class. You have priority anyway.”
She was right. In cases where ranks changed, the current pair had priority. Without that, it was recommended to form a pair with the one who had the highest matching rate.
The Center valued long-built trust relationships over efficiency, and that intent was reflected in the pair priority policy.
Munjin probably knew this and chose not to mention it. It wouldn’t be a problem to form a pair again as they recovered and built their relationship.
But…
‘I don’t like it.’
At the thought that he couldn’t fully possess Seoyul right now, Dowoon felt a merciless twisting inside.
What if other guys targeted Seoyul in the meantime? What if he lost the guide he had just found? All kinds of anxieties washed over him.
“Sigh…”
Dowoon let out a deep sigh. He couldn’t understand why he was becoming so emotional when this wasn’t his usual character.
Seoyul must have sensed his troubled mind, as he carefully tugged at Dowoon’s clothes and called to him.
“Um, Esper-nim.”
When Dowoon turned his head, he saw the much smaller Seoyul cautiously opening his mouth.
“I… I’ll work hard. So I can do S-class guiding quickly… I’ll practice hard.”
—Whoosh!
With that one sentence, Dowoon’s heart softened and melted away. He couldn’t define this strange experience.
‘That’s right.’
There was no rush. No, Seoyul was quite talented, so he might find his ability quickly.
So for now…
“Just do that quickly.”
At Dowoon’s words, Sunjeong chuckled and prepared the matching test.
Beside her, she could see Dowoon still pouting and Seoyul nervously fidgeting.
‘They’re at a good stage. A good stage indeed.’
Sunjeong smiled and called the two over.
* * *
The matching test results were quite high.
87.8%
It seemed like they could exceed 90% if they became closer. Of course, that was in Seoyul’s C-class state, and there might be different results if he guided as an S-class.
Due to the lack of data, even Sunjeong couldn’t answer that with certainty.
Because of this, Dowoon became impatient again. He wanted to quickly retake the test with S-class Seoyul.
Maybe that’s why?
“…”
“…”
A long silence fell between the two.
“I’m… sorry…”
Seoyul muttered with a gloomy face. His face was filled with all kinds of negative emotions.
Dowoon finally came to his senses and hastily spoke.
“Everyone has bad days. It’ll work again tomorrow, so don’t worry.”
That was it. The S-class guiding that had been working well so far had stopped again. Had he put too much pressure on Seoyul? Or had he lost his appetite?
Numerous assumptions crossed Dowoon’s mind, but he couldn’t know the truth.
“…You think so?”
“Of course. How can anyone be in good condition all the time?”
Dowoon comforted the greatly disappointed Seoyul. But the S-class guiding didn’t happen the next day or the day after.
“What’s… the problem?”
He thought they just needed to practice once they knew the activation condition. But to be blocked like this…
“…Maybe eating wasn’t the answer?”
That could be. Or maybe the activation condition was just too demanding. How could someone eat deliciously every time?
It wasn’t something one could do just by wanting to. Because of that, both of their worries grew.
Especially Seoyul, who was losing confidence as time passed. Sunjeong told him not to feel burdened, but he was deeply disappointed that he couldn’t do something he had done before.
‘I should do well…’
He wanted to help Dowoon quickly, but wondered if he had been too greedy. Seoyul felt bad, thinking that his greediness had caused this situation.
‘Let’s not think about it.’
He tried to compose himself with that resolution, but it didn’t work well. The more he tried, the more he felt lost in a maze.
‘What should I do… I have no appetite…’
Seoyul wanted to cry.
He needed to eat deliciously for guiding to work again, but nothing tasted good at all. Even if he could eat deliciously, he wasn’t confident he could do it anytime.
“This won’t do.”
Dowoon, seeing this, spoke as if he had made a firm decision.
“You seem too caught up in this.”
“Caught up?”
“You’re overthinking things.”
“Uwah.”
When Dowoon lightly tapped Seoyul’s head, his body tipped over. Dowoon was startled, his heart dropping. He couldn’t believe someone would fall over from something so minor.
Fortunately, Seoyul didn’t seem too startled, so Dowoon breathed a sigh of relief and asked.
“Is there anything you want to do?”
“Want to… do?”
Something he wanted to do…
Seoyul realized he had never thought about that subject before. All along, he had lived for things he had to do, not things he wanted to do. It had been so difficult and overwhelming that he had never considered it.
“First, we need to clear that head of yours. Maybe we’ll find a way if we do something.”
Dowoon mumbled, also grumbling about why Seoyul was so worried. This made Seoyul even more intimidated, and he said in a small voice.
“I’m sorry. Because of me.”
“I’m banning the word ‘sorry’ too.”
Dowoon thought he should do something about that negative way of speaking first. Even if positive encouragement wasn’t working, such negativity would make even possible things impossible.
“I’m sorr— Ah…”
Seoyul hastily covered his mouth and cautiously looked around. Dowoon sighed softly and asked again.
“So is there anything you want to do?”
With Dowoon pressing, Seoyul felt like he had to say something. If not, Dowoon would be more disappointed.
Seoyul rolled his eyes, starting to look for hints. At that moment, a scene was playing on the TV they had coincidentally turned on.
Seoyul quickly shouted.
“A-amusement park!”
“Amusement park?”
Dowoon tilted his head at the unexpected word. Just as he was about to look around, wondering if Seoyul had just thrown out a random idea, Seoyul hastily continued.
“I’ve n-never been there before… I-is it not… possible?”
Never been…
Dowoon hadn’t been either, but he had never thought about wanting to go. However, it seemed like Seoyul had wanted to go but hadn’t been able to.
‘Haah…’
Dowoon had heard about Seoyul’s past. Thinking about the feelings with which Seoyul had held back from saying he wanted to go, he couldn’t possibly refuse.
‘I did ask him.’
Though he hated crowded places, he thought once wouldn’t be too bad.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
“Really?”
Seoyul’s eyes widened in surprise. He had just thrown it out there and hadn’t thought he would actually get permission.
‘I heard Esper-nim hates crowded places…’
So he had expected a refusal after saying it. But to get permission so readily…
‘You really are kind.’
He was saying he would go for Seoyul’s sake. Feeling that kindness, Seoyul felt his heart lighten.
‘Yes. Let’s have fun and try again.’
Seoyul thought, with a faint smile forming on his lips.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
