Chapter 44
Seoyul’s name wasn’t there.
‘This can’t be…’
He scanned up and down again, but nothing had changed. It was exactly as he was seeing it.
‘This is insane…!’
Dowoon immediately understood what was happening. It was an obvious fact. This wasn’t a matching for Guiding.
It was a matching for learning duties. Espers needed to be paired with Espers, Guides with Guides.
After all, if an Esper were paired with a Guide, what could they possibly teach each other!
‘Damn it!! That bastard!!!’
Dowoon had completely fallen for Sunghun’s trick. Normally, he would have avoided it cleanly, but since it involved Seoyul, his judgment had been clouded.
It was a painful mistake.
‘Damn. Damn. Damn.’
Dowoon ground his teeth and examined the list again. Given the situation, he thought he should at least deal with someone he didn’t dislike.
So, clenching his teeth, he confidently called out a name.
“I’ll go with Esper Yu Min-jun.”
There were too many useless Espers to count.
* * *
‘Esper-nim chose Minjun hyung?’
Seoyul was surprised once again to hear Minjun’s name suddenly called.
While he had always hoped the two would get along, he didn’t expect it to happen this quickly.
Moreover, it had only been Seoyul’s wish; he remembered that Dowoon wasn’t interested. Yet he had chosen Minjun…
‘Was he actually considering it all along?’
Seoyul’s heart fluttered at the thought that Dowoon might have fulfilled his wish. What could be better than the people he cared about getting along with each other?
“Esper Yu Minjun? Are you not here?”
He heard a voice from the front calling Minjun’s name again. Wondering why he wasn’t going forward, Seoyul turned his head to see a face that had turned pale white.
“Hyung?”
When Seoyul called him, Minjun seemed to come to his senses and quickly whispered in a desperate voice.
“Esper Cha Dowoon. He doesn’t just kill innocent people, does he? Right?”
“What?”
For a moment, Seoyul thought he had misheard. The statement had absolutely nothing to do with Dowoon.
But Minjun pitifully demanded an answer with a serious face.
“Tell me he doesn’t. Please!”
Seoyul tilted his head and looked at Dowoon. But there was only a kind and gentle Esper there.
So why was Minjun saying such things? Had he heard some bad rumors?
“Esper-nim is a kind and friendly person. All the rumors are just misunderstandings, so don’t worry.”
“Really? Hmm? I trust you, okay?”
“Yes. Go ahead, hyung. They’re still calling for you.”
The staff member at the front was frowning, looking annoyed that no one was coming forward.
Minjun, still with a pale blue face, went up and shook hands with Dowoon. But he must have still felt scared, as he remained completely stiff and unable to move.
It seemed that even for someone as sociable as Minjun, it was difficult to feel comfortable around an S-class Esper.
Seeing how they would probably have a hard time becoming close, Seoyul just smiled awkwardly, putting away his regrets.
But exactly seven hours later.
Minjun came looking for Seoyul with a completely different face from the morning and shouted.
“Seoyul! You were right, just as you said!”
“Pardon?”
Wondering what he meant, Seoyul turned his head, and Minjun explained with a grinning smile.
“About Esper Cha Dowoon. Just like you said, he’s a kind and friendly person. We’ve decided to be like brothers from now on!”
“What? Really?”
Seoyul opened his eyes wide in genuine surprise. Judging by the morning situation, he hadn’t expected their relationship to progress so quickly.
Was Minjun’s sociability truly remarkable, or…
‘Did my usual praise of Minjun hyung work well?’
If so, that was fortunate. He had been worried about what would happen if Minjun continued to fear Dowoon, but hearing they had become friends was a relief.
“That’s a relief…”
But Seoyul couldn’t finish his sentence. That’s because Minjun grabbed his hand and shook it frantically.
“So I’ll be counting on you from now on.”
“Uhhh… what…?”
Seoyul asked, being shaken back and forth. But Minjun even put his arm around his shoulder and shouted cheerfully.
“Well then, shall we head home?! Esper Cha said he’s busy today, so I’ll take you right to your doorstep.”
“What? You don’t need to…”
“No, no. Your home is right in front of here. Don’t decline.”
“But that’s why you really don’t need to…”
“I said it’s fine. GO! GO!”
He was relentless, though Seoyul had no idea why. Minjun ultimately escorted him all the way to his house, shouted “See you tomorrow!” loudly, and then suddenly disappeared.
“What… was that about?”
Seoyul had no idea why he was acting that way.
* * *
“Hyungnim!”
Minjun thought he couldn’t stay still any longer. Dowoon’s gaze was fierce, and he was very wary of Minjun, who was close to Seoyul.
‘Hahaha…’
He had thought Dowoon might be quite possessive, but it was beyond imagination.
Minjun thought he needed to somehow resolve this issue for his future work life.
After much deliberation, he came up with a few methods.
“You’re worried about Seoyul, right? Leave it to me! When you’re not around, I’ll protect Seoyul for you!”
Yes. He should let Dowoon know that he wasn’t an enemy.
But there was no reaction from Dowoon.
“…”
“…”
He just… looked at him suspiciously, as if wondering what his ulterior motive was.
‘It’s okay. I expected this much.’
Minjun swallowed dryly and carefully held out his phone.
“Actually, I prefer this type over Seoyul.”
Fortunately, this time Dowoon showed considerable interest. It was because he too knew the person well.
No, they were a celebrity that almost everyone in this country would recognize.
Just…
“This… guy?”
Dowoon’s face wrinkled intensely. This guy had quite a few followers, but he was someone whose outer and inner selves were quite different.
‘If that statement is true, it’s quite pitiful…’
Dowoon sent a genuinely sympathetic look before quickly shaking his head. A thought had crossed his mind that this might also be another one of his schemes.
“So? What’s your point?”
Dowoon didn’t lower his guard. But Minjun, as if he had anticipated this as well, confidently showed the next photo.
“This is…”
In it was Seoyul. It was a photo of him sleeping while sitting on the stairs, leaning against the wall.
The moment captured, with his hair and clothes gently swaying in the breeze, was like a painting.
“I take photos as a hobby. If you trust me, I’ll try my best from now on.”
“…”
Dowoon’s heart was mercilessly shaken.
He couldn’t hear or see anything. No, only Seoyul in the photo filled his eyes.
Seoyul didn’t particularly like being photographed. Dowoon had always regretted that. But he couldn’t keep asking. He worried that if he did, Seoyul might come to dislike him.
And now, someone appeared before him offering to do that instead.
That’s why his heart couldn’t help but waver. The composition was perfect, and the lighting control was perfect. Though he didn’t know much about photography, the person seemed quite skilled.
“Ahem. Let me see.”
“Yes.”
Minjun held out his phone neatly with both hands, as if offering tribute. Dowoon quickly entered a number into the phone and handed it back, saying,
“Send one photo a week to that number, and I’ll believe your sincerity.”
One photo a week.
Considering Seoyul’s wariness, it would be the minimum period to proceed without being discovered.
Instead of strong vigilance, Dowoon chose a rare item. Since being wary of Minjun was as easy as breathing, this was more beneficial.
“Then can I keep calling you hyungnim from now on?”
Minjun asked with a bright face and good humor. Dowoon replied, suppressing his lips that were trying to curve upward as much as possible.
“…Fine.”
He seemed like an Esper who could be quite useful.
* * *
On the third day of his internship, Seoyul was extremely busy.
“Here. Look through all these documents and then copy the three best-written ones by hand.”
The Guide who had been matched as Seoyul’s mentor said as he placed heavy documents on the table. He was Choi Insung, the Guide who had entered with a perfect score last year.
Despite three days having passed, they hadn’t had a proper conversation yet. It was partly due to his timid personality, but also because of Insung’s stiff and businesslike manner of speaking.
‘Why did he choose me?’
Seoyul was very curious about that, but he just kept sighing, wondering if he would be able to ask before the internship period ended.
“Guide Seoyul?”
“Ah, yes! I understand.”
Having missed the timing to respond, Seoyul quickly nodded and answered. Insung pushed up his glasses once, said “Good luck,” and suddenly disappeared.
“Haah…”
Seoyul sighed deeply once more and picked up one of the documents placed on the table.
“Guiding… report?”
Do you have to write a report after doing Guiding?
Seoyul slowly examined the content. At first, he read through without any particular thoughts, but gradually his eyes began to sparkle.
“Wow.”
What was inside were detailed records of Espers.
When the Guiding was done, what kind of Guiding was attempted, what was the condition before Guiding and after Guiding.
Various other details were written down, and the items differed slightly for each Esper.
“So this is what needs to be written.”
Seoyul, with shining eyes, carefully read through everything in the same posture. He quickly grasped the essence of the report and soon understood how to write it.
As a result, he could also see how amazing this report was.
‘As expected from someone who got a perfect score.’
Seoyul’s eyes sparkled brightly.
He was truly an amazing person. Needless to say about Guiding, he was a capable talent who excelled in other work areas as well.
He even seemed to have a talent for teaching people. He seemed like someone who knew better than anyone how to quickly learn the job.
Seeing how meticulously he tried to teach, that is.
‘This is so fun!’
Thinking about how all these things would accumulate and reach Dowoon made it feel really enjoyable.
But perhaps because he was too absorbed…
Seoyul was busy reading the report, not even aware of who was in front of him.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
