49.
Ah, again. Ryu Ho-yeon habitually scratched his chest. The shirt that Choi Jae-won had carefully ironed became completely wrinkled.
“What’s been wrong with you? Did a mosquito bite you? That’s strange, it’s not even mosquito season yet.”
Lee Han-seo asked, tilting his head curiously as he took a big bite of his hamburger. If it had happened just once or twice, he might have thought it was just an itch. But after nearly three or four hours since they’d met, Ryu Ho-yeon had been scratching his chest roughly every ten minutes, so it was impossible for someone sitting across from him not to notice.
Ryu Ho-yeon awkwardly lowered the hand that had been scratching his chest. He couldn’t honestly say that if there were any mosquitoes around, it would be Han-seo’s cousin, and it wasn’t really anything else. Lately, strangely enough, just thinking about Choi Jae-won made his chest feel unbearably itchy. Maybe Berlin’s water didn’t agree with him? Could parasites live in your chest too? While chewing on cold French fries, Ryu Ho-yeon repeatedly constructed and demolished several nutritionally empty hypotheses.
“By the way, did Jae-won go somewhere? He was always following you around.”
He had just managed to lower his hand but had no choice when Lee Han-seo mentioned it. While Lee Han-seo lowered his head to gulp down some cola, Ryu Ho-yeon quickly clawed at his chest. It was an unfamiliar sensation, but not an unpleasant one.
Today, Choi Jae-won had been dragged away to an urgent guiding support request before he could even say “uh.” An Esper from headquarters had entered a rampage state, setting off red alarms throughout the Center. Since it was definitely a full rampage with no signs of calming down, they needed to pour in tremendous amounts of guiding energy to minimize the damage. Given the circumstances, even those who were visiting as guests had to gather if they were Guides. It would be different if there was an Esper who had already been imprinted. That’s why Lee Han-seo, who had imprinted with Park Woo-jun, could sit peacefully across from him now, devouring hamburgers with cold fries.
Lee Han-seo apparently hadn’t heard that even invited guests had been called in. When Ryu Ho-yeon told him where Choi Jae-won had gone, he nodded and said, “Ah, I see.”
“I guess they really are short on Guides. Even calling in all the guests.”
“We didn’t know we’d be called in either, until a staff member came directly to our room. But I thought the ability user supply situation was okay here?”
It was the United headquarters, after all. He naturally thought the situation would be much better than elsewhere.
“It is, but you know how it is. It’s like pouring water into a bottomless jar. No matter how many they gather, there’s always a shortage. How old is the kid who’s rampaging now? I think I heard they’re still a student. Sigh, it’s a shame. Since they have fire abilities, they called in our Woo-jun to help with suppression in case a big fire breaks out.”
“By suppression, you mean…”
Lee Han-seo shook his head and made a cutting motion across his throat with the side of his hand. While there might be ways to save someone showing warning signs of rampage, once they crossed the line completely, it was unpredictable. Pouring in guiding energy was more about restraining the uncontrolled abilities rather than keeping them alive.
Remembering this fact anew made their appetites disappear. They both put down their half-eaten hamburgers on the tray and washed down the bitter taste with carbonated drinks. The flat soda stuck to their teeth and tongues before gulping down their throats. Their mouths still tasted bitter.
“I hope it’s not dangerous.”
“Yeah, I hope Woo-jun doesn’t get hurt.”
“No, not him.”
“Huh? Not Woo-jun? Then who?”
“…”
Jae-won. For some reason, saying those two syllables felt embarrassing. Ryu Ho-yeon avoided Lee Han-seo’s wide eyes as he said, “Your cousin.”
“Whaaaat…”
Lee Han-seo seemed quite surprised. He was almost in shock with his mouth wide open. Seeing his friend’s reaction made Ryu Ho-yeon reflect. If even Lee Han-seo, who could arguably know his personality best, was this surprised to hear Ryu Ho-yeon expressing concern for Choi Jae-won, then his usual behavior must objectively not be very affectionate.
This was troublesome. Considering Choi Jae-won’s unique preferences, he undoubtedly enjoyed being treated harshly more than being warmly worried about.
“Wow, amazing. Choi Jae-won succeeded?”
“Huh?”
Now it was Ryu Ho-yeon’s turn to widen his eyes. The source of Lee Han-seo’s surprised reaction wasn’t the person in front of him, but rather Choi Jae-won, who was probably buried among several Guides diligently radiating guiding energy right now.
“Such incredible persistence… He finally broke through that iron wall? Did Choi Jae-won properly confess? And you accepted it? Huh? Huh?”
What algorithm led him to leap from a simple “I hope it’s not dangerous” to talk of confessions and acceptance? Ryu Ho-yeon opened his eyes wide and feigned ignorance, saying “What are you talking about?” It wasn’t an intentional act; he just felt caught off guard and blurted out whatever came to mind.
“Hey! Don’t try to fool me!! Would the great Ryu Ho-yeon worry about someone he doesn’t care about? Huh? Does that make any sense?”
He quickly tried to search his memory. Properly… confessed? Did I ever… receive one? This can’t be. It doesn’t seem like it. The color of Choi Jae-won’s feelings was so clear to anyone who looked, so obvious that it was impossible not to notice, so he just accepted it as a given. But a clear-minded Choi Jae-won had never properly said “I like you” or “I love you” to an equally clear-minded Ryu Ho-yeon.
He was about to shake his head when suddenly a memory buried deep below shot up to the surface.
‘I’m not asking you to love me. Just, I’ll do everything myself. I won’t get tired… You just need to pretend not to know, like you’ve always done.’
‘Choi Jae-won.’
‘I love you, hyung. Really, so much.’
‘…’
Unfortunately, the one formal confession(?) he seemed to have heard came crashing in like an accident when their relationship was falling apart, so the timing was a bit awkward. Moreover, thinking more carefully, the body of the confession—the declaration of love—was actually heard while Ryu Ho-yeon was pretending to sleep with his eyes closed because he didn’t want to see Choi Jae-won.
So then, was this… a received confession or not? And if it was the latter, had Ryu Ho-yeon naively accepted someone who hadn’t even properly confessed? How was that different from surrendering without even fighting? Of course, this all assumed he had accepted Choi Jae-won, as Han-seo had arbitrarily deduced.
Suddenly, the back of his neck felt stiff, and he felt unjustly angry. He could accept not being able to become an obsessive fan due to inherent physical limitations. But to think that he was a pushover? Me, a pushover character!
Strictly speaking, it was like someone who didn’t qualify as a character in the first place getting upset over something trivial, but Ryu Ho-yeon hadn’t thought that far. The keyword that Ryu Ho-yeon, a dignified media addict who respected various keywords and preferences, hated most was being a pushover character. (All this while being unaware that he was, though unintentionally, training Choi Jae-won to be the ultimate pushover character.)
Seeing Ryu Ho-yeon’s face quickly turning red and blue, Lee Han-seo clapped his hands and burst into laughter.
“Wow, wow, wow! Honestly, when I saw him throwing away his life after seeing you once at five years old, I thought my cousin was truly hopeless, but I guess if you dig just one well persistently enough, something works out? Wow!!”
A particular segment of Lee Han-seo’s bright voice stuck clearly in his ear.
“…Five years old?”
“Huh, what? He still hasn’t told you? I’m talking about when you two first met. No, since you probably don’t even remember, I should say the day Jae-won one-sidedly saw you.”
Lee Han-seo’s words were still full of laughter. He explained that it was a very old story, from when he and Ryu Ho-yeon were barely ten years old. Among the numerous kidnapping attempts directed at Lee Han-seo, there were very few that almost succeeded, so Ryu Ho-yeon vividly remembered that time as well.
The kidnapping plan, backed by overseas guerrilla forces, used the principle that it’s darkest under the lamppost. They had placed an accomplice inside the Center, planning to first hide Lee Han-seo in a warehouse at the central branch, then, when the time was right, smuggle him out disguised as disposing waste materials and take him overseas. Had Ryu Ho-yeon, who was eagerly waiting for Lee Han-seo’s arrival, not built an information system that automatically alerted him whenever Lee Han-seo entered the Center, the bold plan might have succeeded.
It was certain that Lee Han-seo had entered the central branch, so finding the target within a limited area wasn’t too difficult. But apparently, a five-year-old child nearby had been accidentally kidnapped along with him. And this child had desperately run toward Ryu Ho-yeon after meeting him just that once. It sounded completely surreal.
“What’s this, Ryu Ho-yeon? Why is your face turning red?”
“…It’s not.”
“This is hilarious, really! They say late-learned thievery is the most dangerous, and that’s exactly what this is!”
