Chapter 34:
Seo Jae-yi glanced back and forth between the food before her and Baek Joo-won, who was sitting across from her.
A humble restaurant, tables crammed together with no privacy, chairs that bumped into each other with the slightest movement, and Baek Joo-won wearing a tiny red apron that barely covered his chest.
A pot of bright red tteokbokki was bubbling in front of him.
That’s right. The food Baek Joo-won had chosen was the famous Sindangdong Tteokbokki.
“I never imagined you’d want to try tteokbokki.”
“I was curious about what Koreans eat, and I found out that tteokbokki is one of their soul foods. I’ve never tried anything like it before, so I wanted to see what it was like.”
“It is a soul food. I know all the best tteokbokki places; I love it.”
Seo Jae-yi had been a bit surprised when Baek Joo-won said he wanted to try tteokbokki, but she had immediately brought him to this restaurant without hesitation.
As she had mentioned before, she loved almost all Korean food.
“Chicken and samgyeopsal are also considered Korean soul foods. Aren’t you curious about those?”
“I am, but I can somewhat imagine what they taste like since they’re meat. But not tteokbokki.”
That made sense.
“It’s done. You can eat now.”
Baek Joo-won picked up his chopsticks at Seo Jae-yi’s words.
He handled them with surprising dexterity, considering he had said he rarely ate Korean food. It was the textbook way of using chopsticks. Did his long, elegant fingers make it look even better?
“Oof!”
Baek Joo-won, who had casually popped a piece of tteokbokki into his mouth, quickly covered his mouth, his face turning red.
“Is it spicy?”
He looked like a Korean, but his reaction was exactly like a foreigner trying tteokbokki for the first time.
“Spicy, sweet, and salty. All the flavors are there, right? That’s what makes it delicious.”
“Is this really a soul food? Are you sure you didn’t put something in there to prank me?”
“So it’s not good?”
“…It’s actually quite delicious.”
Baek Joo-won glared at the tteokbokki as if it were his archenemy, but fortunately, it seemed to suit his taste. He continued eating with gusto, sniffing back tears from the spiciness.
After they finished the pot, he had given her a “Are you insane?” look when she suggested frying rice in the remaining sauce, but he ended up enjoying the less spicy fried rice even more.
“Do you know a lot of good restaurants?”
Baek Joo-won finally asked after cooling down his mouth with cold water. Seo Jae-yi nodded, suppressing a laugh.
“When it comes to Korean food, yes. I know a lot.”
“Do you like eating?”
“I love it. It’s a kind of compensation psychology. I couldn’t eat much good food when I was a teenager, when I was supposed to be eating well and growing.”
During her years confined to the Center, those bastards had worked her hard but hadn’t provided her with proper meals. Just bread and juice, at most.
Espers usually had large appetites because of their energy expenditure due to their abilities, but they had only given her that much. It was because of the previous Center Head’s ridiculous order to minimize food expenses, claiming there was no need to feed Espers well since they wouldn’t die as long as they received Guiding.
‘It’s their fault I’m short.’
She suddenly felt a surge of anger. She would find that former Center Head, wherever he was, and make him pay.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
Baek Joo-won asked with a concerned expression.
“Huh?”
“You’re trembling. I thought you might be feeling sick.”
No, she wasn’t sick. She had just clenched her fists, overwhelmed by anger.
“No, I’m fine. Ah, right. We were going to talk about my condition.”
It wasn’t the most appropriate setting, a bustling restaurant on a weekday evening, but Seo Jae-yi didn’t care. Talking about it in a quiet place might create a somber mood, so she preferred this setting.
“I awakened as an Esper when I was thirteen. It was the youngest S-rank Esper awakening in Korea, so it caused quite a stir.”
Seo Jae-yi started casually, as if it were nothing special.
How she had never met a compatible Guide in eleven years, how the highest Matching Rate she had encountered was 37% with Kwon Yi-soo, how she had almost overloaded a year ago, pushing her overload level to 80% after overusing her abilities.
“But don’t overload pre-symptoms usually start after 90%?”
Baek Joo-won, who had been listening quietly, asked with a serious expression.
When an Esper’s overload level exceeded 90%, an alert was sent to all Espers’ receivers, and nearby Espers had to be on standby in case of emergency.
That’s what Baek Joo-won had learned during his training. He was surprised to hear that Seo Jae-yi had experienced pre-symptoms at 80%, far below the threshold.
“It was because I was suffering from Guiding deficiency. And my ability is quite strong.”
“…”
“Fortunately, it didn’t lead to a full overload. And after that, I was lucky enough to meet a benefactor who helped lower my dangerously high overload level to 55%. I mentioned him before, right? The one I went to see but couldn’t find.”
“Ah.”
Receiving the power of the Fixed forest dungeon master.
Seo Jae-yi unconsciously rubbed her stomach, where the dungeon master’s power resided. Baek Joo-won’s gaze naturally followed her hand.
“And now my level has decreased further thanks to the three times you Guided me.”
Seo Jae-yi showed him her watch.
The overload level, which had dropped to 25%, was slowly creeping back up, but it was still at 28%.
“I’m not going to explode or anything, so you don’t have to worry. I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner.”
“What is there to be sorry about?”
“You’ve been with an Esper at risk of overload without knowing anything. I understand if you’re angry.”
Seo Jae-yi braced herself, saying it was okay if he cursed at her.
“I’d love to curse at you, but I’ll have to postpone it. I already knew about your condition.”
Seo Jae-yi was startled by the unexpected revelation.
“What? Really?”
“I recently Guided you. How could I not know your condition?”
Ah, right.
Just as Espers could sense a Guide’s energy through Guiding, Guides could also sense an Esper’s condition.
How much Guiding they needed, how far their overload had progressed, how weak their bodies were.
Guides could sense things that couldn’t be quantified by numbers alone.
Why had she forgotten something so basic?
“I didn’t sense it clearly during the unintentional Guiding, but I definitely felt it this time. The overwhelming heat within you, your body parched from lack of Guiding, and how desperately you craved me.”
Baek Joo-won leaned towards her.
“You were practically devouring my energy. You craved me far more intensely than my previous practice partner.”
Even if Seo Jae-yi had controlled her actions, she couldn’t hide her instinctive desire for him.
A Guide, who could sense everything about an Esper, couldn’t possibly miss it.
“Ah, this is embarrassing to hear. But I did a good job restraining myself, didn’t I?”
“You did. That’s what I find fascinating. Your true feelings are a powerful desire for me. Yet you casually dismiss your own needs.”
Seo Jae-yi tilted her head, confused. What did he mean by “dismissing her needs”? She wasn’t being blatant, but she was trying her best to appeal to him, wasn’t she?
“You’re not telling me all this now to plead with me to be your Guide because you don’t have much time left, are you?”
“I’d be happy if you did!”
“No, you would be happy, but you were also going to say that it’s okay if I don’t become your Pair, even though you’re not going to explode right now, because you understand if I’m scared and worried since you could explode at any moment.”
What the…? How did he know? She couldn’t even deny it; he was too accurate.
“Mr. Baek Joo-won, are you sure you’re not an Esper? Do you have the ability to read minds?”
“Are there Espers with that ability?”
“There might be, somewhere.”
It was essentially confirmation that he was right. Baek Joo-won chuckled.
“It’s even more absurd that this isn’t an attempt to evoke sympathy, but your genuine feelings.”
Baek Joo-won muttered to himself, loud enough for her to hear, removed the tiny apron that barely covered his chest, and stood up.
Seo Jae-yi was flustered as he naturally reached for the bill.
“Uh, I…”
“You wouldn’t mind if I paid for this tteokbokki meal after you spent hundreds on a suit, would you?”
Baek Joo-won smiled, and she felt a strange pressure emanating from him.
Satisfied with her silence, he went to pay.
Feeling strangely guilty, even though she had done nothing wrong, Seo Jae-yi offered to drive him home.
But he firmly refused.
“I can get home on my own. And we’re not close enough to share our addresses yet.”
“That line suits you surprisingly well. Is it because of your handsome face?”
“Focus on the rejection, not my face.”
Unlike Baek Joo-won, who frowned, Seo Jae-yi giggled. She handed him the bouquet he had left in the car.
“As long as you’re not afraid of me, that’s all that matters. I’ll continue to bribe you relentlessly.”
Until he chose her.
“I’ll only accept one suit.”
“Ah, what a shame.”
Seo Jae-yi quickly got into her car and drove away, unable to withstand Baek Joo-won’s laser-like gaze, which implied that she had been planning to buy him multiple suits.
She glanced at the rearview mirror and saw Baek Joo-won still standing there.
He hadn’t avoided her or shown any fear. That alone gave her hope.
But…
‘Where does Mr. Baek Joo-won live?’
It wasn’t some creepy desire to stalk him.
As a stateless individual, he likely didn’t have proper identification. How had he found a place to live?
Where was he living?