Chapter 44
She had expected this.
Joo Seon-min had personally witnessed Seo Jae-yi being subjected to experiments at the Center. She had always been tormented by her inability to properly help her, despite being an S-rank Guide, because of their low Matching Rate.
That was why she remained at the Center, despite despising it more than anyone else. She wanted to prevent another victim like Seo Jae-yi.
“What if Baek Joo-won is really a fraud?”
“He’s suspicious. I suspect he’s hiding something. I don’t deny that. But I don’t think he’ll harm Seo Jae-yi.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“With their high Matching Rate, do you think Seo Jae-yi is the only one affected? You know better than anyone that Guides can be just as devoted to their Espers.”
Kwon Yi-soo’s face hardened, and veins bulged on the back of his hand.
“The government won’t object to your decision. They’re afraid of you. So let him go. Seo Jae-yi will recover quickly if he’s with her.”
“…”
“That’s what you want most, isn’t it?”
Kwon Yi-soo remained silent, avoiding her gaze. Joo Seon-min didn’t press for an answer, knowing she had touched a nerve.
‘Honestly, I can’t deny that Baek Joo-won is suspicious.’
During today’s dungeon raid…
She had seen it. The boss monster had only been interested in Baek Joo-won. She couldn’t have missed it, standing right next to him.
Did he know the fear of facing a monster with claws that could easily tear him apart?
Even Joo Seon-min, who frequented dungeons, couldn’t confidently face the boss monster’s gaze, filled with intense desire.
But Baek Joo-won, the target of that gaze, had an indifferent expression. He had looked at the monster as if it were an insignificant insect he could crush at any moment.
She had been surprised, but…
‘What truly surprised me came later.’
When Seo Jae-yi stood in front of him, enraged, asking how dare it target him, when she effortlessly controlled the massive Ogre Vine, wreaking havoc in the cave…
Baek Joo-won’s eyes, unlike when he had faced the boss monster, had been filled with emotions.
He seemed surprised, happy, bewildered, and even thrilled.
The man who had looked at the monster with its intense desire as if it were an insect had displayed a kaleidoscope of emotions when he looked at Seo Jae-yi.
That was when Joo Seon-min realized.
Ah, just as Seo Jae-yi was drawn to Baek Joo-won, he was also strongly attracted to her.
“So let them be paired, but continue the investigation. He’ll be better off with Haeil than at the Center. And let me know if you find anything.”
She wasn’t sure if Kwon Yi-soo would listen, but Joo Seon-min had said what she needed to say and stood up.
He was still avoiding her gaze, so she left his office without saying goodbye.
‘He’s pitiful.’
Everyone called Kwon Yi-soo a dictator, a cold-hearted tyrant, but Joo Seon-min didn’t think so. As a fellow Guide, she understood him better than anyone else.
But few knew this truth. It was a secret that couldn’t be revealed.
‘To be attracted to someone who doesn’t feel the same…’
What could be more painful? Yet Kwon Yi-soo silently carried out his duties, never expressing his pain.
So that the Esper who didn’t see him wouldn’t suffer anymore.
He never revealed his feelings, fearing someone might exploit it as a weakness. Even the Esper he loved was unaware.
And that Esper would never know the truth.
***
Seo Jae-yi had awakened as an Esper when she was thirteen.
The news of Korea’s youngest S-rank Esper had caused a national sensation. Everyone rejoiced, celebrating the arrival of a powerful asset who would protect them.
Only Seo Jae-yi’s family wasn’t happy.
“After your brother, now you…”
Seo Hye-ryeong, her aunt, who had been raising her after her father’s death, grieved upon hearing the news.
She had only wished for Seo Jae-yi to live a normal life, away from battles, but even that seemed too much to ask.
“It’s okay, Aunt. I’ll be fine.”
Seo Jae-yi hugged her aunt tightly, comforting her, but Seo Hye-ryeong only cried harder.
The child, who was now destined for the battlefield as an Esper, was so small. She was two years older than her daughter, Seo Won-yeong, but smaller, always a source of worry.
She had never imagined she would have to send her to that horrific place.
“Please come back safe and sound.”
Minors who awakened as Espers were required to stay at the Center until they reached adulthood for their protection and ability control.
Seo Hye-ryeong, holding her daughter’s hand, who was crying, not understanding why her sister was leaving, could only watch Seo Jae-yi go.
And so Seo Jae-yi entered the Center.
It was a white hell.
Heartless people, researchers in white coats eager to experiment on her body and abilities, adults who preached about protecting minors but pushed them into dungeons when they emerged…
Seo Jae-yi wasn’t surprised, having already heard about the Center’s horrors. While her body was exhausted, she never bowed her head to them or submitted to their whims.
Even though she struggled immensely without a compatible Guide, she never obeyed the Center’s orders.
Days turned into weeks, and she felt herself breaking, even though she hadn’t outwardly shown it.
Only after her overload level reached 50% did the Center finally allow her to meet a Guide with a relatively high Matching Rate.
37% wasn’t a high number by any means, but he was the person she needed most at that time.
Kwon Yi-soo.
He was a high school student, wearing a school uniform and glasses, but he didn’t exude the usual youthful innocence. To Seo Jae-yi, who was almost fourteen, he already seemed like an adult.
“Hello, handsome oppa.”
It was the first time Seo Jae-yi had reached out to someone after being dragged to the Center.
Despite her body being covered in bandages from experiments and forced dungeon raids, she extended her hand towards him with a smile.
“I heard you’re the Guide with the highest Matching Rate with me. Can you teach me how to prevent harming my Guide?”
Even as a child, her instincts as an S-rank Esper were sharper than any beast. She knew…
He wouldn’t refuse her request.
“What will you do for me if I teach you?”
Kwon Yi-soo asked, staring at her outstretched hand. Seo Jae-yi chuckled at his deep voice, uncharacteristic for his age.
See? He didn’t refuse right away.
“I promise I’ll never hurt you. Ever. I swear.”
Seo Jae-yi folded her fingers, roughened from her experiences, leaving only her pinky extended.
“…Okay.”
After a long silence, Kwon Yi-soo stepped closer and linked his pinky with hers.
A tingling sensation, like an electric shock, coursed through them as their first Guiding session began.
Seo Jae-yi was surprised. She had only ever received Guiding from Guides with a Matching Rate of around 10%, barely enough to keep her alive. Kwon Yi-soo’s Guiding felt much more comfortable.
And unlike his appearance, which seemed mature and composed, his Guiding energy was transparently young and pure.
She was so surprised by the contrast that she didn’t notice Kwon Yi-soo staring at her intently.
Her body slowly relaxed thanks to the unfamiliar, soothing Guiding.
The energy, like a mild electric current, flowed through her veins, gently caressing her from within.
A sense of comfort, drowsiness, and relief.
Her eyelids fluttered closed, succumbing to the unfamiliar sensations, when…
“…That promise won’t be kept. You’ll hurt me someday.”
“Huh?”
She tilted her head, confused by his cryptic words. His reflection appeared in her black eyes.
He was much taller than her, his shirt buttoned all the way up to his neck, reflecting his personality, his school uniform tie perfectly straight, his coral lips devoid of any emotion. And…
And…
‘Huh?’
As her gaze reached his eyes, hidden behind glasses, Seo Jae-yi’s eyes widened in surprise.
An expression she had never seen before was reflected in Kwon Yi-soo’s eyes.
***
Thump!
“Ouch!”
Seo Jae-yi jolted awake, a sharp pain shooting through her head. She had been sleeping so restlessly that she had rolled off her king-size bed, landing on the floor with her blanket.
“Ugh.”
She sat up, rubbing her head and back, which had taken the brunt of the fall, and sighed.
Why was she dreaming about something so old, something she barely remembered?
‘…It was just a dream, right?’
Eleven years ago, her first meeting with Kwon Yi-soo, the day she received Guiding from him for the first time.
The scene was vivid because she had just dreamed about it. Otherwise, she would have simply dismissed it as a distant memory.
That was all it was to her.
But the dream had shown her things she didn’t even remember.
Kwon Yi-soo’s last words that day, and his expression, which she had missed.
“Ah, it must have been just a dream.”
Something like that couldn’t have happened in reality. Could it?
Kwon Yi-soo, who had been mature beyond his years even as a high school student, wouldn’t have looked at her with such a heartbroken expression.
And her hurting him? That was even more impossible.
“I must be tired. What a strange dream.”
Seo Jae-yi shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, and went to the bathroom to wash her face with cold water. The memories washed away with the flowing water.
She finished washing her face and looked out the window. Dawn was breaking, and the wide Han River was visible through the large windows.
This was the first home Seo Jae-yi had bought for herself after finally being released from the Center at twenty.
Despite being exploited by the Center and the government, she had managed to save enough money to buy an apartment with a view of the Han River at a young age.
Of course, it was Seo Won-yeong and her aunt, Seo Hye-ryeong, who had recommended it. Seo Jae-yi had said any place was fine, but they had insisted on this spacious apartment.
They wanted her to live in a spacious place after being confined to the Center for almost seven years.
It had felt strange at first, but after living here for four years, she was grateful to her sister and aunt. It was terrifying to think she might have died without ever seeing such a view.
“Huh?”
Seo Jae-yi, eating cereal while looking at the flowing Han River from the window, checked her phone when she received a notification.
It was rare for her to receive messages at this hour. She looked at the message with a puzzled expression and then gasped.
“What is this?”
[You’re not dead yet, right? I’m coming to Korea soon. Let’s go on a date^^]
Sender: “Millstone.”
It was her friend, who was currently overseas.
Seo Jae-yi’s hand, holding the phone, started to tremble.
Her friend, who hadn’t visited even after hearing about her shortened lifespan, was suddenly coming to Korea at this sensitive time. It could only mean one thing.
“I knew someone would come soon, but I never imagined he would come himself.”
She was both happy and apprehensive. She knew exactly what he was coming for.
She stared at the message and sighed.
It seemed like the US was officially joining the fight for Baek Joo-won.