Chapter 32
‘He said he had something to say, but I wondered what it would be.’
Yeon Jiwoo straightened his posture as he watched Seoyul’s reaction.
He was furious that Seoyul had summoned him without knowing his place, and he’d only meant to intimidate him a little, but the match was already over.
He was about to leave, but then thought that since Seoyul seemed so stupid, he might as well properly finish what he’d started.
“You must have heard the rumors, so you probably know. I’ve been aiming for Cha Dowoon Esper’s pair position.”
At those words, Seoyul’s body froze. Cold sweat ran across his palms, and his heart began to pound fearfully.
Amid the great confusion, Seoyul realized one fact: why Yeon Jiwoo disliked him, and why he himself had been trying to ignore this fact.
‘Because I’m afraid.’
He was afraid of losing Dowoon. He must have heard among the many rumors that Yeon Jiwoo was after Dowoon. Yet he had closed his ears and looked away.
Because he knew that once he acknowledged it, he could no longer ignore it and would end up trembling like this.
‘Ca-calm down. That won’t happen.’
But would it really?
Yeon Jiwoo was confident. It seemed like he could take Dowoon away at any time. It felt like Seoyul would lose his only light and be trapped in darkness.
Just because no one had matched well with Dowoon until now didn’t guarantee it would always be that way.
A Guide who matched better than him could appear at any time. Seoyul was so terrified of this possibility that he tightly shut his eyes.
Then, a voice filled with mockery poured into his ears.
“That’s right. You just keep being like that. I’ll take that position from you soon enough.”
No.
That’s my place.
Faint voices denying this fact echoed from a corner of his heart.
Seoyul’s eyes flew open.
From somewhere, he found the courage to grab Yeon Jiwoo’s hand as he was about to leave.
-Slap!
“Ugh.”
But he immediately bit his lip at the sound of his hand being harshly slapped away. Pain shot through the back of his hand, and his feeble courage instantly scattered.
“Do you think you can change anything by doing this?”
Yeon Jiwoo shouted fiercely. Seoyul stared blankly at his face. He wanted to argue something, but no words came to mind.
His small, tiny courage had long since faded away.
Why was he so foolish? Why couldn’t he say anything?
‘It’s because I’m lacking.’
Seoyul’s consciousness began to sink back into the abyss. Yeon Jiwoo drove in the final stake with a sneer.
“Well. I guess I have my answer.”
The sound of the door sliding open was heard. Seoyul stood still, thinking.
If this was going to be the outcome, would it have been better not to have taken courage? Would it have been right to do nothing?
His mind gradually filled with regret.
‘Huh…?’
At that moment, he sensed something strange. Looking up, he saw Yeon Jiwoo frozen at the open door, not leaving. Plus, there was a familiar scent.
Seoyul looked up in surprise.
‘Esper…nim…?’
There stood Dowoon with a chilly expression, looking down at Yeon Jiwoo.
* * *
Dowoon arrived at the special school for ability users with the solemn determination to find out everything. As a bonus, he planned to check if anyone was making advances on Seoyul.
‘Today’s mission is very important.’
Since neither task could be taken lightly, he felt quite tense. Despite never having failed any mission before, this was the first time he felt nervous.
‘Maybe I should have called ahead?’
Dowoon shook his head. If he had, Seoyul might have been more careful to hide whatever he was concealing.
He wasn’t sure if it was something worth hiding, but there was no need to take that risk.
“Oh my, Cha Dowoon Esper. Welcome.”
The newly appointed president of the school came out in a hurry to greet him. There were a few more people behind him, but all were unfamiliar faces.
‘Better unfamiliar faces than ones I know.’
It was annoying when acquaintances tried to act friendly. Besides, wasn’t he now an S-class Esper who had become considerably safer after finding a Guide?
Now that the risk factors were gone, more people would try to cling to him. So those trying to form new connections were much easier to handle than those who clung to old ties.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Cha Dowoon.”
Dowoon put on his media-friendly mask and shook hands with the people in front of him. In the past, he would have ignored them out of annoyance, but things were different now.
‘I need to improve my image.’
When Seoyul’s class was revealed in the future, it would be disadvantageous for pair renewal if Dowoon remained known as an Esper with a bad personality.
So he planned to project the image of an Esper who had reformed after meeting his Guide. Of course, he planned to stop once he proudly secured the number one contribution ranking.
“It’s an honor that you’ve come in person. The students are really looking forward to your special lecture.”
“Thank you for approving my sudden request. I’ve always wanted to do this, and it seemed like now or never given my schedule.”
“Not at all. I understand completely.”
The principal praised Dowoon with a “ho ho ho” laugh. Having become thoroughly accustomed to such situations, Dowoon let it go in one ear and out the other before getting to the point.
“Before the lecture starts, may I look around the school a bit? I’d like to see how it’s changed.”
“Ah! Of course. Then I’ll…”
“No, thank you. I’d like to look around quietly on my own.”
Dowoon firmly declined the principal’s offer with a slight smile. The principal seemed quite disappointed, but having no reason to detain him further, had to let him go.
Finally able to escape, Dowoon walked away thinking:
‘Hmm. Where should I go to find out about Seoyul?’
He thought he might interrogate students from the same department. Despite having just mentioned image management, Dowoon was now imagining intimidating students to extract the truth.
But feeling no dissonance about this at all, he continued walking.
Whispers followed him as he passed each lecture hall. However, due to the sharp energy characteristic of an S-class Esper, no one dared to approach.
Since this made it easier to move around, he didn’t bother to hide his sharp energy.
Without any interference, he was able to reach his target lecture hall. This was possible because he had memorized Seoyul’s entire schedule.
Slide.
As he opened the door without hesitation, everyone in the lecture hall turned to look at Dowoon.
“You there.”
“Y-yes?”
Dowoon called out to someone at random. But having opened his mouth, he realized he didn’t know what to ask.
He had imagined intimidatingly threatening… “What did you do to Seoyul?” but the sane thought that this might be excessive crossed his mind.
“Where is Seoyul?”
So instead, he simply asked for Seoyul. At the same time, a brilliant idea occurred to him—maybe he could discover something by following Seoyul.
But no one knew where Seoyul was.
“You don’t know?”
“No… We’re not really close.”
If you’re not close… you don’t know?
In the past, although Dowoon had no close friends, everyone knew where he was and what he was doing. He had lived under excessive attention for a long time.
‘Does that make sense?’
Dowoon slightly furrowed his brow. But calming himself again, he asked:
“Is there anyone who does know?”
“Uh, well…”
The student trailed off, looking uncomfortable. Others around also seemed hesitant and flustered.
Dowoon instinctively sensed that something was wrong.
“What is it? Tell me.”
“Well…”
Intimidated by Dowoon’s pressure, the students hesitantly began to speak. Hearing their words, Dowoon frowned deeply.
‘Seoyul doesn’t have any friends. He’s quite… quiet.’
That’s what they all said in unison. But Dowoon didn’t believe it. While Seoyul was indeed on the quiet side, he basically liked people.
Plus, he was now Dowoon’s paired Guide. This meant people would inevitably be drawn to him.
‘Do they really not know?’
That couldn’t be true. Just look at their current reactions. They weren’t surprised that Dowoon was looking for Seoyul. They knew that Seoyul was Dowoon’s Guide.
There was only one answer.
‘Is he being ostracized?’
There were sometimes people like that. People who divided others solely by their rank and looked down on them. And if such a person had a high rank, they controlled those around them.
This school was worse because students had to see the same faces for many years.
‘If someone like that exists, Seoyul would be good prey.’
How displeased they must be.
Seoyul was actually an S-class Hidden Guide, but officially C-class. Yet he was paired with an S-class Esper. These were conditions that rank elitists would despise.
Of course, despite his low rank, Seoyul was a competent Guide with his unique trait of having high matching rates, but they wouldn’t acknowledge that.
At least not whoever was acting as the leader here.
‘Are they crazy?’
Dowoon’s mood instantly soured. How dare they bully Seoyul, whom he found so precious he couldn’t even touch the tip of his finger.
‘I need to find out who it is.’
This wasn’t something he could find out here. Thinking he should use separate personnel to investigate, Dowoon continued searching the school for Seoyul.
Since he had no way of knowing where Seoyul was, he stopped random people to ask.
But most just shook their heads with blank expressions. After wandering around for a while, someone who finally knew Seoyul’s whereabouts appeared.
“I… saw him going to Building C.”
“Building C?”
Building C was an unused building. He had heard it was so old that it would soon be demolished.
‘Hmm.’
Dowoon fell into thought. Something suspicious was definitely in the air.
“Did he go alone?”
“Ah. Well. I think Yeon Jiwoo was there too.”
“Yeon Jiwoo?”
The student added that he was an A-class Guide in the same department as Seoyul.
Only then did Dowoon feel like the puzzle pieces were falling into place. He also remembered what Munjin had said a few months ago.
‘There’s an A-class Guide among those taking the test this year. We’re trying to persuade him to come to the Association now, so if it goes well, take a matching test with him.’
At that time, he had dismissed it, thinking it pointless regardless of how high the rank was.
What was the point of taking a matching test? Since it was basically a matter of whether Guiding was possible or not, he had thought it a waste of time and erased it from his mind.
‘So that’s what was happening.’
Though he wasn’t certain yet, he somehow sensed what was going on.
Dowoon continued walking with a coldly composed face.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
