Chapter 9
Click.
The door to the Guide room opened. Seoyul, who entered, sat down in the now-familiar chair. Dowoon sat across from him and placed his hands on the table. As Seoyul placed his remaining hand on top, he thought.
‘They’re big.’
He had never considered his own hands to be small, but he wondered if Espers were naturally larger, a thought that came and went.
“Um. I’ll start now.”
When he cautiously asked while reading the atmosphere, Dowoon nodded.
Whoosh!
As he began infusing Guiding energy, Dowoon closed his eyes. Since Guiding was a gradual process, they had to maintain this state for quite a long time.
The teacher had explained that due to the grade difference, slow Guiding would be better for both sides.
Seoyul had diligently listened to that advice and put his heart into Guiding. He still wondered if he was doing well, but seeing Dowoon say nothing reassured him.
‘No words means it’s okay.’
Sunjeong had told him that once. That Dowoon was shy and never spoke honestly. He wasn’t sure about the shyness… but he certainly didn’t seem like the straightforward type.
Having lived swallowing his pain for so long, perhaps he had become unable to express both negative and positive emotions.
‘Am I… helping him at all?’
He was curious. Would it be okay to ask? If Sunjeong were here, she would probably encourage him to ask boldly.
‘Yes. I’ll ask.’
He resolved to find points of improvement if he heard something unfavorable. That would be the way to help Dowoon.
Seoyul made up his mind again and again during the two hours of Guiding.
“Haah…”
As the Guiding ended, Dowoon exhaled a long breath and opened his eyes. Seeing his eyelids lift, tension washed over Seoyul, making all his prior resolve seem futile.
But Seoyul gathered his courage again. Because he had decided to change.
“Um…”
At the cautious voice, Dowoon’s gaze fell upon Seoyul.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
His heart began to race loudly. Seoyul overcame that noise and opened his mouth.
“Am I… being of any help to you, Esper?”
After all that buildup.
Dowoon was at a loss for words at such an obvious question. His personality made him reluctant to answer straightforwardly, but if he did that to this delicate Guide, it seemed like the tears would burst forth immediately.
‘Plus, I’d get bombarded with nagging from everywhere.’
That was the only reason. Dowoon maintained a somewhat indifferent attitude as he closed his eyes.
“You’re helping plenty.”
“Really?”
This single statement, what was it about it? His voice was overjoyed as if he could jump for joy. Wondering what was so great about it, Dowoon opened his eyes to see a bright, smiling face.
His fluffy dark brown hair swayed with joy, and his large eyes sparkled.
For a moment, Dowoon had the idle thought that his eyes were quite pretty. Then, realizing he had never thought such a thing before, he was startled.
But something even more surprising happened next.
“That’s a relief.”
Spring sunlight seemed to settle on his face as he grinned with relief. The face that he had always thought was cute now bloomed like a spring flower when he smiled like that. Dowoon’s gaze went to the crescent-shaped corners of his eyes, and his soft, rosy cheeks filled his vision.
Suddenly, he sensed something strange.
‘Huh…?’
As soon as Dowoon recognized it, he was engulfed by a massive wave. An enormous amount of energy was flowing in. It swept over Dowoon in an instant, rushing through his entire body.
“Huk…!”
Helplessly collapsing under the tremendous shock, his head banged onto the desk with a loud thud.
His face instantly flushed red, and his breathing became rapid. Unable to handle the immense energy pouring in for the first time, excessive pleasure circulated throughout his body.
Not knowing what to do, he just took heavy breaths, when the startled Guide’s voice was heard.
“E-Esper? Are you okay?”
At that moment, the maddening sensation disappeared instantly. It was like the sea becoming eerily quiet after a massive tidal wave had passed, as if nothing had happened.
Dowoon was confused.
‘What was that?’
It had happened so suddenly that he felt dazed. But the sensation that still remained vividly told him it wasn’t an illusion.
Dowoon slowly raised his head. Before him was the face of a Guide full of concern.
The noisy world had become quiet, and the headache had disappeared. In front of this newfound silence of the world, there stood a Guide who claimed to be C-grade.
“E-Esper?”
He gripped the confused Guide’s hand once more. But still, there was nothing to be felt. An ordinary C-grade Guide. No, a somewhat special C-grade Guide.
But…
“You… said you were C-grade?”
Dowoon asked in a heavy voice. At that voice, Seoyul’s body stiffened.
After suddenly dropping his head and trembling, to ask about grade confirmation…
A sense of unease washed over him, thinking something might have gone wrong with the Guiding. No, he was certain.
What other reason would there be for Dowoon to make such a frightening face?
Seoyul, deflated, answered with slumped shoulders.
“Y-Yes…”
He expected words of reproach to follow. It shouldn’t be a major issue… but Seoyul was afraid. However, what came out of Dowoon’s mouth was completely different from what he expected.
“That doesn’t seem right.”
“…Pardon…?”
* * *
“Uwaaah!”
Seoyul was in trouble. Suddenly, Dowoon had muttered declaratively and hoisted Seoyul onto his shoulder.
“I think your grade is wrong.”
“It can’t be wrong! I’m definitely C-grade. Please put me down quickly.”
“Stay still. Don’t make a fuss over getting tested one more time.”
The problem wasn’t getting tested again, but how embarrassing this was. When he first came here, he had been carried in this position, but they hadn’t wandered the corridors like this. But now, what was happening?
Everyone’s eyes were focused on them, wondering what was going on. Seoyul was so embarrassed that he couldn’t raise his head.
Moreover, to say his grade might be wrong… that was impossible.
‘Manager Lee… seems really busy.’
The research wing people were always busy. Most of them rarely got proper sleep. Having recently learned this, Seoyul had resolved not to be a nuisance.
But now, to break that resolution so soon…
—Bang!
“Lee Sunjeong! Is Lee Sunjeong here?”
Dowoon shouted as he loudly opened the research lab door. Sunjeong seemed to have been taking a short nap, as she was sprawled out on the sofa.
“Yawn. Ah, what is it. I told you to call me noona.”
Despite being half-asleep, she pointed out the title issue. But Dowoon, who would normally have exchanged a few more words, immediately stated his business.
“Test his grade again for me.”
“What grade test?”
Sunjeong muttered as if bewildered. Seoyul remained still, covering his face with both hands out of extreme embarrassment.
“Something’s wrong with him. I think his grade is incorrect.”
“Huh? What do you take our research lab for? The grade tests are accurate.”
“Ah, really! Would I be doing this for no reason? Check it once. I’m telling you, something’s really strange. Or check me first. My condition is a bit weird too.”
Sunjeong looked at Dowoon, who was being so insistent, and narrowed her eyes. While he was certainly a prickly guy, he wasn’t the type to bother someone over something like this, so she was perplexed.
The accuracy of grade testing was 99.9%, making the chance of an error almost nonexistent. But seeing him make such a fuss, she thought there might be something to it and sighed heavily as she spoke.
“Haah. Fine. Let’s test you first. What exactly feels strange?”
At those words, Dowoon’s face brightened. As if he had been waiting for this, he reported his condition.
“First of all, my body feels too good.”
“…”
…Sunjeong couldn’t believe that statement anymore. Dowoon had always been lying, saying he felt good, not bad, or that he could endure, every single day.
He might fool others, but he couldn’t deceive her, who had all the data. She thought it was absurd how he could say such things while constantly living with pain that would have driven others mad.
“It’s true! This time it’s not a lie, it’s really true!”
As if he was aware of this fact himself, Dowoon shouted urgently. Despite always pretending to be calm and composed, it seemed like that wall had crumbled now, revealing various expressions.
Seeing this, it seemed that something was indeed strange.
“Okay. I understand, so quickly put Rate down and lie over there.”
“Ah…”
Only then did Dowoon calm his excitement and gently put Seoyul down.
“I’m sorry, Manager Lee…”
Seoyul apologized, unable to raise his head out of embarrassment. Sunjeong quietly shook her head. What could this poor thing have possibly done wrong?
If there was a problem, it would be with that guy making a fuss for whatever reason.
“I really feel good. The tinnitus and headache are back now, but until just a moment ago, they had completely disappeared.”
“The tinnitus and headache?”
Dowoon continued his explanation as he obediently lay on the examination table.
“I was really surprised. Suddenly, a tremendous amount of energy surged from him, and at that moment, my head went ‘whoosh!’ and cleared up.”
“Hmm…”
Sunjeong groaned in disbelief and turned her head. She saw Seoyul vigorously shaking his head with a truly perplexed expression.
Apparently, this was all news to him. She wondered why on earth Dowoon was acting like this.
“Okay, wait a moment.”
Unlike grade testing, checking Dowoon’s condition didn’t take very long. Since there was quite a bit of accumulated data, the test results appeared on the screen quickly.
“Huh?”
“See! I told you, right? My condition is super good, isn’t it?”
Dowoon started rambling like a child. But Sunjeong couldn’t believe the results even as she saw them with her own eyes.
“You… were telling the truth?”
“Ah! Really! I told you it was true! Do you think I live every day just telling lies?!”
Dowoon shouted irritably. But Sunjeong heard nothing. Because his physical condition had indeed improved to an astonishing degree.
Of course, compared to others, it wasn’t at a level one would call “good.” But for someone who had never properly received Guiding, it was truly a miraculous figure.
If the test results were like this, his subjective experience must have been even more pronounced. That’s probably why he was making a fuss like a child.
“Rate.”
Sunjeong erased all traces of annoyance from her face and spoke to Seoyul.
“Let’s do a detailed examination.”
“…What?!”
Seoyul exclaimed in surprise, his already large eyes opening even wider.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
