“As you know, I think Cha Jae-woo must have known about Chairman Cha Seong-ju’s plan.”
A fleeting emotion stirred within me at Jo Gyeong-hoon’s words, but it quickly subsided.
No, I can’t arbitrarily judge Cha Jae-woo’s intentions. It’s not like I can read his mind. It’s unfair to blame him. Cha Jae-woo simply didn’t have the opportunity to help me.
“Cha Jae-woo has expressed his displeasure about it. So, we let it slide. It’s better to trust each other.”
“…….”
“However, now that we know for certain that the Guide assigned to him has been hiding a special ability, it’s difficult for us to trust Cha Jae-woo. If he doesn’t trust the association, how can we trust him?”
Jo Gyeong-hoon’s tone was sharp. I had been worried that if my guiding method was discovered, I might become an experiment subject. Ironically, the situation had turned, and now Cha Jae-woo found himself in a difficult position.
The trust between him and the association was crumbling. In this situation, it would be hard for him to look out for me. I understood. My sinking feeling was just an immature emotional response.
“Well.”
As Jo Gyeong-hoon spoke, Cha Jae-woo, who had been staring at him, turned to look at me.
His slow-blinking eyelids made me feel as if he was reproaching me, and I couldn’t help but feel intimidated.
“I guess it was all a lie when he said he liked you.”
Lee Jae-hoon pulled me closer, murmuring. I wanted to snap back, but I realized that even he could see it that way.
“If it were me, I wouldn’t do that.”
I no longer had the energy to push away the arm that was wrapped around me. I just didn’t have the strength.
I felt guilty for putting Cha Jae-woo in a difficult position, but I also felt hurt that he didn’t seem to care that I was in Lee Jae-hoon’s arms.
I shouldn’t be acting so childishly. After all, it was my fault.
I had known that Lee Jae-hoon’s frequency was strange. I should have realized it was a trap then. If I had provided guiding appropriate for a D-rank Guide, things wouldn’t have turned out this way. I acted out of unnecessary fear. Yes, there was no way they would kill someone so easily.
“No…”
I finally managed to deny Lee Jae-hoon’s words, but that was all. I should have been able to provide plenty of evidence to the contrary, but strangely, the words wouldn’t come out. Even though I knew for sure that Cha Jae-woo liked me.
“Lim Haeyul.”
At that moment, Cha Jae-woo called my name. I nodded as if I had been waiting for it. Then, he raised his hand, looking straight at me.
Was he gesturing for me to come? How should I get there?
Before I could finish the thought, the glass wall that had been blocking me crumbled away. It silently disintegrated into powder and scattered across the floor.
“Wow.”
At the same time, Lee Jae-hoon took a few steps back, still holding me. He seemed to realize only then that the glass was turning into powder.
“Come here.”
Being an Esper must enhance reflexes. The trivial thought didn’t last long. Cha Jae-woo had called me.
The wall was gone, and he had asked me to come, so there was no reason to hesitate. I pushed Lee Jae-hoon away and turned to walk towards Cha Jae-woo.
“Let go.”
However, Lee Jae-hoon didn’t let me go. He looked at me with a face full of reluctance. Anyone seeing it might misunderstand.
“Can’t you guide me one more time before you go? I still feel the effects of the drug.”
For a moment, I was speechless at his pitiful expression. But I had learned from experience that he was a good actor.
“I’m out of mana.”
Of course, even if that weren’t the case, I couldn’t do it.
I didn’t have enough mana left to guide Cha Jae-woo. I had used it all up in my haste, without taking the time to control it.
“Would you have guided me if you had mana?”
“Why me? I won’t do it. Oh, please let go!”
I was so anxious and scared. He had the nerve to act so brazenly after toying with me.
Furious, I swung my hand at Lee Jae-hoon. He let me hit him, but it didn’t seem to hurt him at all, and he still wouldn’t let go.
Isn’t the experiment over? Why do I have to go through this nonsense? I wanted to go to Cha Jae-woo, but Lee Jae-hoon was relentless.
“Ow, that one actually hurt.”
No matter how much I swung my hand, it didn’t work, so I didn’t hesitate to kick him.
Lee Jae-hoon reacted only after I kicked him hard in the shin, making a loud thud. Honestly, it felt more like a tickle to him.
“Guide, aren’t you being too cold? What will you do if a Guide refuses to guide?”
Lee Jae-hoon said with a smile, but there was a hint of malice in his words.
“Eventually, you’ll have to come to me too. If you stay in this delusion for too long, you’ll only get hurt more—”
Bang!
“Agh!”
I was about to ask what he meant, but before he could finish, a tremendous crash echoed through the room.
A strong gust of wind swept past me. This time, it seemed unexpected, or perhaps there was no time to react, but Lee Jae-hoon looked genuinely startled.
Of course, anyone would be startled if Cha Jae-woo suddenly unleashed his mana. The mana grazed past Lee Jae-hoon and me, completely crumpling the steel wall. The ceiling looked warped, or maybe it was just my imagination. My heart raced with shock.
“You’re throwing mana around? Are you crazy?”
“Send him over. Don’t make this any more annoying.”
“You crazy bastard! Just because you’re an S-rank, you think you can do whatever you want? I’m an A-rank, not someone you can ignore! If I get hurt, it’s a national loss!”
It was the first time I had seen Cha Jae-woo actually use his mana like that. And it was the first time I had heard him speak in such a cold voice. The fact that Lee Jae-hoon was actually an A-rank, not a C-rank, barely registered.
“Let go. Lim Haeyul, didn’t you hear me tell you to come here?”
Cha Jae-woo repeated firmly. His voice was threatening, and Lee Jae-hoon seemed to feel it too.
I quickly nodded and moved towards Cha Jae-woo. But even then, Lee Jae-hoon didn’t let me go right away.
“Do you want to die?”
“Who wants to die? I’m scared too; my legs are shaking.”
He said his legs were shaking, but his face showed no sign of fear.
“It’s not like you’re an animal. Come and get him yourself. Look at what you’ve done to the floor. Right?”
He kept talking, and I genuinely wondered if he was crazy.
Meanwhile, Lee Jae-hoon waved his hand. I thought he might be about to attack Cha Jae-woo, but he just cleared the glass from the floor.
“We wouldn’t want our Guide to hurt his feet, now would we? How about that? Did I score some points?”
I didn’t respond. I just wanted him to let me go, even if it meant stepping on the glass.
Bang!
Another crash echoed. Cha Jae-woo had unleashed his mana again. This time, it was clearly a warning, as the mana grazed past Lee Jae-hoon and me, but the building shook as if it might collapse.
“You’re trying so hard to deceive someone.”
Lee Jae-hoon’s smirk faded, and he finally let me go with a stern voice.
I rushed to Cha Jae-woo, but Lee Jae-hoon’s words echoed in my mind. Deceive someone? What did that mean? I wanted to know, but at the same time, I didn’t.
“…….”
I stood next to Cha Jae-woo, trying to ignore Lee Jae-hoon’s voice. Cha Jae-woo grabbed my wrist firmly. His hand, usually warm, felt unusually cold today.
“If you don’t want to believe, then don’t. It’s none of my business.”
After gripping my wrist tightly, Cha Jae-woo turned to Jo Gyeong-hoon as if he had no further business with Lee Jae-hoon.
“The association considering Cha Jae-woo an enemy is the same as treating him as a threat to the nation. If you continue like this—”
“Why? Do you want to fight me?”
Cha Jae-woo openly mocked Jo Gyeong-hoon. Jo Gyeong-hoon’s brow furrowed for a moment, but he quickly regained his smile.
The tension was palpable. Was he really planning to make an enemy of the association? What would happen then? The situation was spiraling out of control.
“……We would have no choice. If Cha Jae-woo becomes uncontrollable, we will have to treat him like a monster from the Gate.”
My hand clenched tightly. A monster from the Gate? That meant they would kill him if he didn’t comply. I couldn’t tell if it was a genuine threat or not, but it sure sounded like one to me.
“Hiding a Guide’s ability and now being treated like a monster. How amusing.”
Cha Jae-woo scoffed, clearly irritated by Jo Gyeong-hoon’s words. The air felt like it was filled with ice. I shrank back, my face probably pale as a sheet.
“Then.”
Cha Jae-woo spoke again, his voice laced with a chilling smile.
“Are you saying that even though I knew the association hid the fact that there have been over ten Guides with a compatibility rate of over 50% with me, I should have informed them that Lim Haeyul is special?”
“……What do you mean?”
The smile that had briefly returned to Jo Gyeong-hoon’s face vanished. I looked back and forth between him and Cha Jae-woo, my mouth tightly shut.
“I just made a choice I had to make. It’s better to lie than to go berserk and die, isn’t it?”
Cha Jae-woo’s voice grew weary. He pulled me closer as he drove his point home.
“Looks like you missed the news while you were busy playing with my Guide.”
“What—”
“Let’s talk about trust after you understand the situation. I was the first to break the trust.”
Cha Jae-woo turned and walked away abruptly. Still gripping my wrist, he dragged me along. My wrist hurt a little, but the atmosphere wasn’t right for me to say anything.
