Chapter 72
“Hyung!”
My eardrum’s about to burst. Yeonwoo wiped his nosebleed with practiced ease and massaged his nose bridge with the ice that Chahun handed him.
“Here’s a towel.”
Even Do Minyoung, who had been so shocked and helpless when Yeonwoo first got a nosebleed, was now calmly handing over a towel, while Chahun sitting beside him couldn’t stop fidgeting. Yeonwoo patted Chahun’s thigh to reassure him that he was fine, then organized the mana that was bursting out.
[Hey! Did you just ignore my instruction to save some mana? Huh?]
Yeonwoo frowned at the Dragon’s telepathic scolding. Do you think I don’t know that? I know, but I can’t do it, you scammer. You said it would be resolved if I made a contract with you. The Dragon sighed in response to Yeonwoo’s complaint.
[Thanks to your contract with me, you’re not going berserk, you idiot. Do you have any awareness as an Esper or not? Did you use all your mana like this when using your abilities too?]
At the Dragon’s words, Yeonwoo closed his mouth tightly and shut his eyes to check his mana core. This isn’t a tiny soy sauce dish. When he was active as an Esper, he never once thought his mana core was small, but since doing Guiding, he realized just how small his mana core actually was.
What did it matter about saving mana? Even if he scraped the bottom of his mana core and transferred everything to Chahun, it wouldn’t make a noticeable difference—like dissolving salt in ocean water. It felt like filling a vast drum with a spoonful at a time, which inevitably led him to overexert himself.
[Are you going to jump from the 40th floor because you want to get there faster? You need to learn to regulate. That’s why you’re here.]
Why would I jump? I could just use my ability.
[Wow, oh, wow. That’s not what I meant!]
I understood what you meant, so be quiet now. Yeonwoo opened his eyes to see Chahun looking up at him while wiping his nose with a damp towel.
“Ah, I told you to keep your eyes closed until I say it’s okay!”
Got it. Yeonwoo obediently closed his eyes again. Only after Chahun had cleaned his face and each space between his fingers with the lukewarm towel was he allowed to open his eyes.
“Let me try one more time.”
At Do Minyoung’s words, Yeonwoo immediately stretched out his hand, but instead of taking Yeonwoo’s hand, Chahun glared at Do Minyoung.
“You said that was the last one.”
“We still have some time left. Let’s do just one more final attempt.”
At those words, Chahun crossed his arms, crossed his legs, crossed everything that could be crossed, and glared at Do Minyoung. Seeing Chahun’s non-verbal behavior indicating his unwillingness to continue training, Do Minyoung looked at Yeonwoo with a resigned expression.
“Since Esper Kang Chahun strongly resists Guiding, let’s practice with someone el—”
“Are you crazy?”
Chahun uncrossed his arms and grabbed Yeonwoo just as Do Minyoung smiled brightly.
“Then shall we try one more time?”
When Yeonwoo inevitably got another nosebleed, Do Minyoung finally suggested they take a break. While Chahun wiped away the blood with a distressed expression, Yeonwoo slowly sipped the potion that Do Minyoung had handed him.
“I know it’s rude to ask, but have you two had any sexual contact?”
At Do Minyoung’s question, Chahun’s mouth fell open, and he covered Yeonwoo’s ears. Not that it mattered since Yeonwoo could hear everything as an Esper. Despite Yeonwoo’s obvious mumbling, Chahun just pressed his palms firmly against Yeonwoo’s ears. Ignoring the laughter echoing in his head, Yeonwoo looked at Do Minyoung with a composed face.
“May I ask why you’re asking that question?”
“Well, I know this might sound unpleasant… Han Yeonwoo… sir? As you know, your Guiding efficiency isn’t very high. But since your matching rate with each other is remarkably high, if there had been any such contact, I should know in advance.”
“There hasn’t been any!”
Chahun’s neck turned bright red as he shouted. Yeonwoo handed Chahun the ice pack he’d been using to massage his nose bridge and looked down at his hands. Thanks to the Dragon’s mana affinity, his mana core was constantly refilling, but he could only transfer a limited amount to Chahun at once. At this rate, it was clear he wouldn’t be able to fill Chahun’s mana core even if they did Guiding all day.
“The reason Hyung and I have a high matching rate is because we’re destined for each other.”
“Pfft.”
At the assertive voice, Yeonwoo spat out the potion he was drinking. Chahun’s face, as he turned to look, had “Did you just laugh?” clearly written all over it.
[Puhahahaha.]
Yeonwoo pretended to have a coughing fit to match the laughter ringing in his head. Who knew Chahun was a fatalist? When Yeonwoo smiled with a surprised expression, Chahun wiped the spilled potion off him with an irritated look. Even when angry, Chahun attended to his every need, making Yeonwoo feel like his limbs would atrophy. Though Yeonwoo insisted he could do it himself, Chahun only let go after confirming his hands were clean.
“Don’t you think so, Hyung?”
While Yeonwoo just smiled without answering, Do Minyoung, who had been observing them, organized his documents with a loud tap.
“Let’s end today’s practice here. Han Yeonwoo, um, sir. You can leave when you feel better.”
Chahun quickly showed Do Minyoung out by turning the path to an ice road, then leaned against Yeonwoo. His sullen face clearly looked like he was protesting, demanding that his mood be improved. However, Yeonwoo just took out his necklace and jingled the bell.
“Your sister?”
“Yeah. I can’t reach her.”
A slight guilt shadowed Yeonwoo’s face as he tucked the necklace back. The reason Yeonhwa couldn’t wake up and kept dreaming was probably, maybe, because of Yeonwoo. She was likely still checking the futures that kept changing because he kept altering Chahun’s future. Sighing, Yeonwoo stroked Chahun’s hair as he gently rested his head on Yeonwoo’s knee.
“What happened to your team members, Hyung?”
For a moment, Yeonwoo angrily grabbed Chahun’s hair. When Yeonwoo apologized, Chahun said it didn’t hurt and nuzzled his head against Yeonwoo’s palm. Though Park Seohyun’s sarcastic tone had made him angry, honestly, he couldn’t deny that he’d focused more on training with Chahun than with his team members. Park Seohyun had left after pouring out blessings that sounded like curses and didn’t participate in the training along with Choi Dongwon. Jo Heeseo also didn’t participate, so Yeonwoo had wandered like an isolated island and inevitably sought out the training center director. Since the situation was such that the team would be disbanded if only Yeonwoo agreed, the center director had sent him away, telling him to think about it more.
How can I think when my team members aren’t even coming to work? It was also torturous to sit blankly in the busy training center. Yeonwoo would either practice handling mana with the Dragon in the Guiding room or practice Guiding with Chahun when he visited.
“Well, I guess we’ll just fall apart like this.”
As Yeonwoo answered with a sigh, he caught a paper airplane that flew through the door.
“The Center Director again, right?”
As Chahun confirmed, it was indeed the Center Director who sent the paper airplane. Since the day they had finished their isolation and returned to work, the Center Director had been sending memos constantly.
“Let me guess? ‘Could you ask Esper Kang Chahun what he’s thinking?’ Right?”
“Huh? No?”
At the negative response, Chahun sat up and examined the memo. The paper, stamped with the Center Director’s seal, instructed them to come to the common area immediately.
“Who does he think he is, ordering us around?”
“He’s my boss.”
When Yeonwoo pointed out that it wasn’t different from a senior telling him to come and go, Chahun seemed to lose his words and just moved his lips. When Yeonwoo stood up, saying he’d be back, Chahun grabbed his arm and stuck close, asking why he was going alone.
“If he wanted to call us, he could have called us to his nearby office.”
“Seeing that he’s calling us to the common area, it might be because of me this time. Or maybe because you don’t have a team, he might be calling you to form a team with Espers from the common area.”
“If he’s curious, he should just call me. Why does he keep calling you every time?”
Well, because you never respond to calls. Hiding his true thoughts, Yeonwoo smiled brightly as he looked around the Guiding room to make sure he wasn’t leaving anything behind.
[Yeonwoo, I want to try eating that.]
At the Dragon’s request, Yeonwoo grabbed a few biscuits and candies from the table. Once they left the familiar spaces of Yeonwoo’s house and the training center, the Dragon didn’t hide its bursting curiosity.
Thanks to its constant demands of being curious about this and that, Yeonwoo’s auxiliary bag was full of various knick-knacks. It even contained a soft blanket because the Dragon insisted it wanted to return to its main body and take a nap when no one was around.
“What is it? Are you hungry?”
“No, just feeling a little bored.”
Though he hadn’t said anything wrong, Chahun stared at Yeonwoo with his mouth wide open.
“This is the first time I’ve heard you say something related to food.”
“Me?”
“Yes. So let’s quickly finish this and go eat. Want to come to my place for dinner today too?”
“Let’s see how it goes.”
Though Yeonwoo hadn’t given a definite answer, Chahun smiled brightly. Taking Chahun’s hand, Yeonwoo headed toward the common area. As they left the Guide area and crossed over to Area C’s portal, a familiar voice was heard.
“So what did mom say to sister?”
It was Jo Heeseo. She was walking down the corridor on a call and smiled brightly when she saw Chahun, but her expression hardened when she saw Yeonwoo standing next to him. Yeonwoo smiled brightly at her in return. Regardless of how things might turn out, having neglected an out-of-control Esper, it would be difficult for him to join a proper team in the future. Far from forming a team with the high-ranking Espers she desired, she would end up wandering without a team.
Yeonwoo kept smiling at Jo Heeseo, who was glaring at him standing beside Chahun, until the end as he opened the portal to the common area.
“There’s no one here.”
They arrived at the common area lobby, but no one was waiting for them. Just as Yeonwoo was wondering if they should wait a bit, the portal opened and Bae Jaeyoung appeared.
“Esper Han Yeonwoo! Esper Kang Chahun! What brings you two here?”
Bae Jaeyoung approached with a welcoming face, holding a familiar paper airplane in her hand. Ah, this. Noticing Yeonwoo’s gaze, Bae Jaeyoung looked around with a troubled expression and then leaned in.
“I think the Center Director might be misunderstanding something because of what I said last time—”
“Wait a moment.”
Just as Yeonwoo grabbed Chahun’s wrist, Chahun also reached out and wrapped his arm around Yeonwoo’s waist.
“What is it?”
Whaaaaaaat? As Bae Jaeyoung’s question stretched out, the space around them began to distort. Yeonwoo noticed the sticky mana flowing from the twisted space and tried to escape using his ability, but he couldn’t escape from the mana clinging to his toes. Feeling helplessly sucked in, Yeonwoo curled up and held his breath.
After a moment, Yeonwoo slowly opened his eyes and looked around.
Whooosh, the sound of the howling wind made his jaw tremble involuntarily. The toned-down gray-decorated lobby of the common area was nowhere to be seen. Only an endless snowfield and a raging blizzard met Yeonwoo’s eyes.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
