56.
Just like the journey there, the return flight also immersed Ryu Ho-yeon in unfamiliar pleasure. During a light nap while gliding over the fluffy cloud carpet, the dark and empty nightmare that always left him feeling desolate visited him again, but perhaps because his relationship with Choi Jae-won had changed in such a positive direction, Ho-yeon could detect the scent of blueberries wafting through the nightmare, as he had once felt before. If emptiness could be this sweet and fragrant, it wouldn’t be so bad to be completely immersed in it.
* * *
“Did you two have a good time? Looking at those chubby cheeks, I see some very content faces?”
When they returned to the center immediately after completing immigration procedures, Kim Jun-young was the first one waiting for them. Ryu Ho-yeon nodded repeatedly, confirming that indeed, as he said, they were very content, and he was nodding to convey how satisfied he was with that fact.
“Really, even after not seeing you for a while, you still know how to get under my skin. Are you genuinely clueless, or are you just pretending?”
“Jae-won.”
“Yes, hyung.”
While the subordinate staff and junior Espers below Kim Jun-young would instinctively cower when he merely narrowed his eyes, somehow those who should be the most obedient showed the least fear.
Ignoring Jun-young’s playful sarcasm, Ryu Ho-yeon poked Choi Jae-won in the side or elbow, regardless of whether Jun-young was speaking or not. Like a vending machine that had swallowed a coin, Jae-won promptly extended the shopping bag he was holding. There was not a single drop of respect or caution in Jae-won’s actions toward the esteemed Acting Head of the Esper Coordination Team with nearly twenty years of Esper activity experience.
At first, when Ryu Ho-yeon acted this brazenly, Choi Jae-won used to cautiously check the mood. Having been at the facility for only three years, why had he changed so quickly? Perhaps it was true that the young ones are more easily influenced by bad examples. At twenty-three, he would be a proper college senior in the outside world, but Kim Jun-young didn’t consider this and just clicked his tongue inwardly.
“What’s this?”
“Souvenirs.”
Good grief. Even that terse answer, which had polished off its manners and finished the dishes long ago, seemed welcome after not hearing it for a month. He hadn’t really raised him… and he probably wasn’t a snotty kid either. Anyway, as someone who had watched Ryu Ho-yeon grow up from childhood until now, it was both surprising and touching that he knew to buy souvenirs after traveling outside the center.
With a strange sense of nostalgia, Kim Jun-young accepted the shopping bag that Choi Jae-won was holding out. Ryu Ho-yeon had a somewhat proud expression as he told Jun-young that the souvenirs had been selected after comprehensively analyzing various SNS reviews and famous streamers’ vlogs. He would surely tell this to Lee Jung-hyuk when he returned from training later, and he’d definitely like it too. As Jun-young looked contentedly into the bag…
“Oh, come on. Is this it?”
“What do you mean ‘come on’? Is that how you disrespect someone’s sincerity?”
“No, I’m not disrespecting your sincerity… but are you sure this didn’t get mixed up with something meant for someone else? Is this really, really my share?”
If it were for Jung-hyuk, he might understand. However, a Post-it note with “Jung-hyuk” written on it was neatly attached to the other shopping bag in Choi Jae-won’s hand, so this souvenir was most likely indeed the portion allocated to Kim Jun-young.
Ryu Ho-yeon stuck his head forward to check the contents of the bag, then proudly confirmed that it wasn’t given by mistake.
The souvenirs Ryu Ho-yeon had bought for Kim Jun-young were products from a drugstore famous online for their effective remedies. These included tea-like cold medicine, licorice candy for sore throats, effervescent vitamins, and highly concentrated liquid vitamins praised as “drinkable IV fluids.” Though Kim Jun-young wouldn’t know, these were all famous items that people would even pay extra to import directly. They were souvenirs perfectly suited and necessary for an S-class Esper with physical enhancement abilities who never suffered from colds, let alone minor muscle aches. (That’s irony, of course.)
Out of curiosity, Kim Jun-young also checked what was in the bag meant for Jung-hyuk. It was filled with biscuits, chocolates, and various famous snacks not imported to Korea. He surely knew that Jung-hyuk did not enjoy sweet foods…
When he glumly asked why these had been bought, the answer was a masterpiece:
“These are things I selected from what I ate in Germany that were delicious. They were really tasty.”
“Uh, hmm, I see…”
His generosity in wanting to share what tasted good to him and what he had enjoyed experiencing was astounding. Well, one can’t expect perfection right away. It was wrong to expect him to have the discernment to consider the recipient’s preferences or circumstances when selecting gifts.
After completing the gift-giving ceremony and the return report, Ryu Ho-yeon left the team leader’s office without looking back, saying he was in a hurry to visit Jung-hyuk at the training grounds. Due to his hurried manner, it was quite a while before Kim Jun-young remembered he had something to tell him.
“Ah! An S-class Guide who visited wanted to meet Ho-yeon, but I forgot to schedule it. Well, it’s not like they need to meet right away, so we can set up a schedule later…”
After carefully placing the various health supplements and quasi-drugs Ryu Ho-yeon had given him on one side of his desk, he returned to his regular duties.
If he had known that the unexpected meeting would occur much sooner than he had anticipated, he would have run after Ho-yeon to at least tip him off about the visit of an S-class Guide, but the situation had unfortunately developed in a different way.
* * *
“It’s been a while. Did you have a good trip? Was the jet lag difficult to handle?”
“Yeah.”
The questions were roughly similar in context, but the way they were expressed was completely different. Ryu Ho-yeon thought this as he watched Lee Jung-hyuk wiping sweat from his face with a towel. Since the other person’s expression style was different, this time he didn’t ignore the words and answered properly.
Jung-hyuk was definitely cut from a different cloth than Jun-young. When Ryu Ho-yeon showed his usual healthy and spirited appearance, Jung-hyuk also politely greeted Choi Jae-won, who was waiting a step behind. This was probably what made him the overwhelming first choice in the unofficial survey circulating among center employees, beating out Kim Jun-young, Park Woo-jun, and Han Ji-su.
“Jae-won, you must have worked hard too. Is Han-seo doing well?”
“Yes, senior. Actually, Han-seo hyung asked me to send his regards. He said he’s doing very well, so don’t worry about him.”
“That’s good news to hear.”
The last time he saw him was when he went to the Berlin headquarters to attend a symposium, and for some reason, as soon as he asked how he was doing, Han-seo had burst into tears, so Jung-hyuk had been worried. He nodded with a slight smile.
Ryu Ho-yeon poked Choi Jae-won in the side again. The vending machine unfailingly extended the shopping bag he was holding.
“Souvenirs.”
“You didn’t have to bring anything. Let’s see… snacks? I’ll enjoy them.”
“…Yeah.”
The same “yeah,” a single-word answer, but twice as shy as the previous one. When Kim Jun-young and Lee Jung-hyuk used to return from overseas trips, they would bring rare snacks from duty-free shops as souvenirs for Ryu Ho-yeon, both hands full. That memory was registered as a very good one for Ho-yeon, so he wanted to give Jung-hyuk, if no one else, the same kind of good memory that he had experienced then.
He had carefully selected the souvenirs, but was somewhat concerned because Kim Jun-young, who had received his gifts first, seemed quite dissatisfied. Fortunately, Lee Jung-hyuk kept saying thank you and even opened a small packaged chocolate right there to take a bite.
“Delicious. If I eat one during each training session, they’ll be gone in no time. Thank you. Really, thank you.”
“It’s nothing…”
His expressionless face with downcast eyes was gently tinged with a pale pink.
‘He’s really cute, I tell you.’
Choi Jae-won thoroughly enjoyed the view from a step behind, with an intense gaze as if he would lick up Ryu Ho-yeon’s reddened earlobes and nape. While he was absorbed in his appreciation, the Guide training ground seemed unusually noisy—or was that just his imagination?
“By the way, senior, is there some event today? Why does the atmosphere seem so hectic?”
“Ah, that. Didn’t Jun-young hyung tell you? A few days ago, an S-class Guide newly arrived at our center. Everyone seems to have gone to watch the simulator training.”
“An S-class Guide? Was this person newly evaluated?”
“No, not that. They’re a foreigner, and according to them, they came with the intention of even getting naturalized. For now, they’re staying as a visitor to observe. Ah, here they come.”
Choi Jae-won and Ryu Ho-yeon simultaneously shifted their gaze following Jung-hyuk’s eye signal. A man in combat attire was slowly walking toward them. The red hair color visible above his goggles… was somehow familiar to Ryu Ho-yeon.
