Chapter 20
“Should we take a break?”
At Bae Jaeyoung’s words, Yeonwoo nodded without hesitation. Choi Dongwon also muttered “please” in a voice that said he was dying, before slumping down to his knees. Park Seohyun was trying to appear composed while chatting, but her fingertips were trembling slightly.
“Um…”
Seeing Jo Heeseo timidly extending her hand, Yeonwoo let out a light sigh. Choi Dongwon, who had barely managed to lift his head while sprawled out, felt the same way. During normal training, Jo Heeseo would stay far away as if it had nothing to do with her, but today was different. She was sitting right in front of Bae Jaeyoung, gazing at the mana ball with enchanted eyes.
After backing away slightly with butt-scooting steps at the warning of danger, Jo Heeseo rushed over as soon as the training ended and held out her hand. When Bae Jaeyoung received guiding with a word of thanks, Park Seohyun called out to Jo Heeseo as she was about to return to her original spot.
“Ah… do you need it?”
Her sullen face and furtive glances at the mana ball clearly revealed her complaint: “Are you asking for guiding after doing so little?” Despite this attitude, Park Seohyun nodded with a refreshing smile.
“We’ve already adapted somewhat among ourselves, but Guide Jo Heeseo is the only one we haven’t adjusted to yet. We need to get used to your mana, even in this way.”
At those words, Jo Heeseo, who had been staring at Park Seohyun, reluctantly extended her hand. When she finally managed a smile, it looked more like she was giving alms than providing guiding to a teammate.
“What about you two?”
“I’m fine.”
Yeonwoo nodded at Choi Dongwon’s words. It seemed that guiding depended on the mood of the provider, because even when they received it, it was only unpleasant. Rather than soothing the queasiness after receiving guiding, it was better to just lie still and wait for the mana core to produce mana on its own.
“Hmm. Take some rest.”
“Shall I go with you?”
Watching Bae Jaeyoung walking around Zone C with Jo Heeseo, who stuck close to her, Yeonwoo let out a small gasp of admiration. They had clearly done the same training, but unlike his worn-out and tired self, Bae Jaeyoung still had an energetic face.
“Shall we try it this way?”
Seemingly tireless, Bae Jaeyoung was going around Zone C, teaching how to hold weapons and handle mana. Seeing her like this reminded Yeonwoo of his military academy classmate, Seon Woogeon.
He was someone with such a wide sense of responsibility that he couldn’t stand by and watch a failing classmate, helping them until they passed. Looking at such a Woogeon, Yeonwoo had said there would be no one else like him in this world… but he would have to take that back.
I wonder how he’s doing… Thinking of Zone A where Woogeon belonged, Yeonwoo was reminded of Kang Chahun. He didn’t expect Chahun to show such disappointment when he told him to return to his own zone. He could understand feeling hurt about being sent back despite knowing he was being ostracized in Zone A. However, the longer he stayed in Zone C, the more he would be rejected there as well. Now that he had learned to handle his ability to some extent, Chahun would adapt to Zone A. It wasn’t as if he could ask for an S-class to be assigned to Zone C just because he couldn’t adapt.
Enough. I’ve done what I can as a person, Yeonwoo thought, but his mouth tasted bitter. If only he didn’t remind me of Han Yeonhwa, I would have stopped caring by now.
As he was swallowing a sigh, a mana ball came flying with a “yap!” sound. When he reached out and caught it, cool mana wrapped around Yeonwoo’s fingertips. Perhaps because they were both ice freezing types, the waves were quite similar. Looking at the dissipating mana, which lacked the clear and warm comfort within the cool energy, Yeonwoo pushed Chahun out of his mind.
“Um… was the ice very uncomfortable?”
Bae Jaeyoung’s face was gloomy as she approached. It seemed someone had complained during that time.
“I was just making it because someone else had made ice, so I thought that’s how it’s supposed to be done.”
It was Park Seohyun who answered the question. Meeting Yeonwoo’s eyes, Park Seohyun shrugged.
“It wasn’t really uncomfortable, just that having something there that wasn’t there before catches your eye, you know? Just to that extent.”
At Park Seohyun’s words, Bae Jaeyoung ran her hand over her chest with an exaggerated gesture.
“The training director told me to leave some mana behind, saying it would be good to adapt in advance. It was also tiring to set it up every day since it was cleaned away each time I saw it, but if it was uncomfortable, I shouldn’t have done it.”
I suspected as much. So it was you.
Unlike Chahun’s nest that rose modestly in one corner of the training ground, the ice lump that rose right in the middle of the training ground was infused with such concentrated mana that it was a struggle to clean up each time. If it weren’t for Kang Chahun, he wouldn’t have cared whether it was there or not.
“Shall we start again now?”
At Bae Jaeyoung’s words, Yeonwoo got up, infused mana into the mana ball, and used his ability. Just as Choi Dongwon barely caught the mana ball, Yeonwoo clutched his chest. His mana core was protesting, begging him to rest because it was too difficult. After trying to endure the bloated pressure, Yeonwoo finally waved his hand.
“Go rest for a while.”
Only after receiving Park Seohyun’s permission did Yeonwoo, who had collapsed onto the ground with an exhausted face, get up after his mana core stabilized.
Perhaps because the intensity of training had increased, his mana core, which hadn’t faltered even when practicing all night with Chahun, was now whining that it was dying at the slightest provocation.
After checking the time, Yeonwoo chose to rest in the break room rather than the corner of the training ground. This was because Zone C ability users who hadn’t been assigned to the dangerous area were still coming to the training ground. Among them was an Esper who had been nagging Yeonwoo to clean up the ice. Carefully slipping out to avoid provoking them, Yeonwoo was just turning the corner to enter the break room when he heard a voice.
“Esper Han Yeonwoo!”
Raising his head at the call, Yeonwoo immediately narrowed his brow.
The employee who made eye contact was smiling brightly and waving. Yeonwoo turned his body as if he hadn’t seen it.
“Esper Han Yeonwoo?”
A confused voice was heard, but Yeonwoo only quickened his pace.
“Excuse me, just a moment!”
He wanted to fold space and escape, but they would surely find fault with it. They would start by asking if he hadn’t heard the instruction to use abilities only in designated places, then they would thoroughly exhaust him before saying something like, “They say clean water upstream makes clean water downstream—does Esper Han Yeonhwa also use her ability recklessly like you?” and picking at him.
After picking at him like that, they would say they couldn’t trust Esper Han Yeonwoo’s word, that they needed to verify it, and would cause a commotion demanding a meeting with Esper Han Yeonhwa. It was clear as day without even seeing it.
Running almost at a sprint back toward the training ground, Yeonwoo let out a frustrated sigh when he saw another employee approaching from ahead.
“Wow~ Esper Han Yeonwoo. Fancy meeting you here?”
Seeing a Zone C Esper in Zone C—what kind of greeting is that? Watching the employee who was smiling disgustingly as if extremely pleased by this supposedly chance meeting, Yeonwoo looked around. Even as he tried to retreat and avoid them, an employee who had somehow already caught up was smiling brightly at Yeonwoo.
“How’s your training these days? Is it manageable?”
There was a time when he welcomed that question. The attention that someone understood his struggles had made him respond warmly. But the end of that attention was always directed toward Yeonhwa. How much trouble he had gone through to shake off these leech-like employees afterward… don’t they know?
When did I ever?
Pressing his throbbing head, Yeonwoo kept his mouth tightly shut as he watched the approaching employee. Even when he blatantly ignored them and sighed heavily for them to hear, the employees were only momentarily flustered before surrounding Yeonwoo without losing their shameless smiles.
“Have you eaten?”
“You look uncomfortable. Should we help you to the medical room?”
Yeonwoo, looking down at the employees who were trying to continue the conversation somehow, folded his arms and closed his eyes. Despite the clear refusal, the employees didn’t back off.
If Yeonwoo shook them off and left now, that would also become a problem. They had clearly sent ordinary employees on purpose. Even if he was only C-class, an Esper is still an Esper.
“Ah, have you checked this by any chance?”
At the rustling sound of a document envelope, Yeonwoo openly snorted. He had left the envelopes piled in his dormitory mailbox until it was about to burst. He had also sternly warned Yeonhwa not to worry about them.
“Haha. At least take a look at it.”
Even when Yeonwoo ignored them, the employees didn’t give up. If anything, they only made their voices more gentle, as if they had anticipated this attitude.
He didn’t need to see what kind of document it was to know.
Upon turning eighteen, Yeonwoo had applied for a legal guardian qualification review for Yeonhwa. After passing the review, he had signed a pledge that he wouldn’t misuse Yeonhwa’s ability until his fingers felt like they would fall off, and only then could he finally become Yeonhwa’s guardian.
Who misused it? Grinding his teeth inwardly, Yeonwoo had rushed to Yeonhwa, who was sitting like a doll, as soon as he was recognized as her guardian.
Since then, he couldn’t count how many people had approached them trying to buy Yeonhwa’s ability. It was obvious that similar content would be written in those documents they were trying to make him hold.
“Don’t we understand Esper Han Yeonwoo’s concern for his sister? There are no conditions that would harm Esper Han Yeonhwa. Don’t worry too much and at least take a look.”
“That’s right. Esper Han Yeonwoo would also like it if you looked.”
Well, well. They sure know how to talk.
While saying they would revoke his guardian qualification the moment he agreed, accusing him of using Yeonhwa’s ability for personal purposes.
He had been prepared for something like this to happen since joining the Center, but it was more unpleasant than he expected. Thinking that this was just the beginning made his stomach feel like it was slowly dissolving.
Swallowing a sigh, Yeonwoo relaxed his body. There was still time until the end of training, and if he just stayed like this, they would get tired and leave.
What broke Yeonwoo’s expectation was a familiar voice.
“What are you doing?”
When he slightly opened his eyes, Chahun was standing askew, glaring at Yeonwoo and the employees. The employees, who had somehow become three people without him noticing, were surrounding Yeonwoo with painted-on smiles. None of them were responding to Chahun’s words. It was a reaction that suggested they couldn’t even imagine he was addressing them.
“Get out of the way.”
Just as Yeonwoo was thinking “surely not,” Chahun strode over and wedged himself between an employee and Yeonwoo to stand beside him. More accurately, when the employees, surprised to see Chahun, unconsciously stepped back, he took his place in the gap.
“What’s going on here?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
