The commute was more congested than usual, so we barely made it to the center on time. However, as soon as Yu-geon arrived, he had to head back to Area B because a gate had appeared there.
“Ah, Ji-han hyung, just this once. I’ll go in your place next time.”
He was asking another Esper to take his place, complaining that he was exhausted from staying up late the previous night.
“Do you want me to go?”
“No, it’s fine.”
Han-gyeol, who was passing by, overheard this and asked Yu-geon, but he was quickly turned down. Yu-geon spun around and pressed the deployment readiness button on his smartwatch as if he had never wanted to avoid going in the first place.
Han-gyeol saw this and smiled slightly before moving on. At some point, the two of them had grown distant. They no longer went to the same gates, and even in the office, Yu-geon barely acknowledged Han-gyeol.
Yu-geon had declared his intention to be independent from Han-gyeol, but instead of independence, he seemed full of hostility. Of course, since Han-gyeol didn’t respond in kind, their tension didn’t escalate into a full-blown conflict.
Recently, Yu-geon had been on edge, especially wary of any Esper who approached me. I wondered if Han-gyeol was included in that group, considering they were both of the same rank.
‘But still, he’s his brother; isn’t this too much?’
I thought to myself that Yu-geon was being harsh, but I didn’t interfere. Yu-geon already didn’t like that I was close to Han-gyeol, and I feared he might have another outburst if I brought him up.
Ever since I started pairing with Yu-geon, there had been an awkwardness between Han-gyeol and me as well.
I had decided to dismiss his pairing request as a joke, but I had never actually heard it from him directly.
I wanted to rid myself of these uncomfortable feelings, but since we weren’t guiding together, there was no opportunity to talk it out.
For some reason, after Yu-geon and I became a pair, Han-gyeol started speaking to me formally, as if we were strangers, and only engaged in work-related conversations. It felt like our relationship had become strictly that of a superior and subordinate, nothing more or less.
I was sitting alone in a corner of the break room, sipping coffee and fiddling with my tablet. Lost in thought, I realized it was almost time to leave. Just then, Han-gyeol glanced at the clock and suddenly spoke to me.
“Not leaving?”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
Startled by his sudden voice, I looked around before answering, still a bit dazed.
“I was just finishing up some things.”
The break room was quieter than usual because of the gate. The gate Yu-geon had entered today was a time-attack gate, where a new sub-gate would open at regular intervals, releasing more creatures. Only by defeating all the creatures could the boss creature appear, and once it was defeated, the gate would disappear.
But this time, the timing of the sub-gates opening was unpredictable. The last message I received from Yu-geon said they only had to repeat the process one more time, but six hours had passed without any new sub-gates appearing in the system.
Thankfully, the gate wasn’t of a high rank. It was classified as D-rank, which was considered low. There were many creatures, but they weren’t very strong.
I decided to head home since the dormitory was close to the center. If Yu-geon needed guiding when he returned, I could come back even if it was a hassle.
Han-gyeol seemed to be preparing to work late tonight, making an espresso with the coffee machine. It looked like he planned to stay at the center all night, as the team hadn’t returned yet.
“How’s Yu-geon’s graph looking?”
He pressed the espresso button on the coffee machine and approached me. I pulled up Yu-geon’s wavelength graph on my tablet.
“The wavelength has stabilized now. His compatibility with my wavelength is over 50%.”
When a Guide pairs with an Esper, the first priority is to stabilize the wavelength, and the next step is to increase compatibility. This is because injecting too much at once during guiding can cause guiding shock. In emergency situations like rampages, even if shock is inevitable, it’s crucial to prevent it by going through the adaptation process.
Once a Guide with high compatibility undergoes this process, they can perform strenuous guiding without causing shock. This is a major reason why Espers become so attached to their pairs.
“Looks like it. Even if his emotions become volatile, he won’t regress into instability, right?”
“Yes.”
“And even if he does, guiding can fix it, right?”
“Yes… well, yes, it can.”
The wavelengths of Espers are greatly influenced by their emotions. Unlike Guides, Espers can’t freely control their wavelengths, so they unknowingly emit them when they’re angry, surprised, or even happy.
The most stable state is when they maintain a detached attitude towards everything, but Espers are generally sensitive and emotional. Yu-geon, in particular, was emotional—quick to laugh, quick to sulk, and quick to get excited.
‘He didn’t even seem to care about controlling the wavelengths that leaked out.’
When Han-gyeol mentioned emotional fluctuations, I wondered if he was concerned about the frequent arguments between Yu-geon and me. As I answered, I naturally observed the changes in Han-gyeol’s expression. He was meticulously reviewing not just the graph but also the previous statistical data.
“I’m not that close with Baek Yu-geon.”
“Hmm?”
“I mean, we don’t fight to the point where it would affect our wavelengths.”
Han-gyeol lifted his gaze from the tablet and looked at me. A slight smile tugged at the corners of his mouth before he abruptly asked another question.
“What are you doing after work?”
“Pardon?”
“You’re heading back to the dormitory, right?”
“Yes….”
I responded awkwardly, taken aback by the sudden question.
Now that I think about it, he’s speaking informally today. Even though the break room is quieter than usual, there are still some people around.
“Then, how about having dinner with me?”
I was surprised again by his question. My eyes widened as I stared at him, and Han-gyeol, noticing my reaction, turned back to the coffee machine and poured the freshly made espresso down the sink.
“Do you have other plans?”
“No.”
“Then finish up and let’s go. I’ll make something delicious for you.”
“Sun- I mean, Captain.”
I grabbed the hem of Han-gyeol’s clothes as he was about to leave. In my haste, I almost called him “Sunbae” in front of everyone.
Han-gyeol stopped and looked back at me. His gaze lingered on my hand holding his clothes before he slightly curled the corners of his mouth when I let go.
“What is it?”
“Well… I mean….”
I glanced around the break room. Even though I hadn’t done anything particularly conspicuous, I could feel the eyes of others slowly gathering on us. I leaned in closer to Han-gyeol and whispered softly so only he could hear.
“You’re talking about the cafeteria… right?”
Since I joined the center, we hadn’t met outside of work except during the incident. Not even for a simple meal.
So, when he first suggested dinner, I naturally assumed he meant the cafeteria. But then he mentioned making something delicious for me, so it didn’t seem like he was talking about the cafeteria.
“No, I was talking about making something for you at my dorm.”
As expected, my intuition was right. Unlike me, who was trying to be discreet, Han-gyeol didn’t lower his voice at all. The Awakened at the next table glanced our way and whispered something to the person they were with.
“No, that’s a bit….”
In the end, I tilted my head slightly and mouthed the words to him, only visible to him.
‘Why are you suddenly doing this? People are watching.’
Han-gyeol chuckled at my expression. The more he smiled, the more my expression stiffened. As the murmurs around us grew louder, he suddenly grabbed my hand.
“I’m hungry. Let’s go quickly.”
“Wait, hold on!”
“Wouldn’t it be better to leave quietly? Otherwise, more people will stare.”
He leaned in close and whispered to me. My heart started pounding from the unexpected proximity.
As I froze, he continued holding my hand and led me out of the break room. Before I knew it, we were in the elevator and then inside Han-gyeol’s car. Everything happened so quickly.
“Sunbae, why are you doing this all of a sudden? Is this okay?”
“What?”
“I mean, is it okay for people to find out?”
“The way you say that makes it sound like we’re in some secret relationship.”
“Stop joking around!”
As Han-gyeol pressed the accelerator, the car glided smoothly. As we exited the parking lot, I could see some Awakened heading home. Even though his car windows were heavily tinted, I couldn’t help but nervously glance around. Han-gyeol watched me and then spoke.
“I’ve decided to stop hiding.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to have dinner with you.”
“You can still have dinner without revealing anything.”
I couldn’t understand why Han-gyeol suddenly wanted to stop hiding. He had been so meticulous about it until now, so why the sudden change?
“Does it make you uncomfortable if people find out we knew each other from before?”
“If anything, it would be uncomfortable for you, Sunbae.”
“I’m fine with it as long as you’re okay with it. Actually, I’d rather people know we’re close now.”
“Why?”
We hit a red light, and the car came to a stop. Han-gyeol rubbed his forehead, seemingly deep in thought. His hand then traced down his face, lightly resting on his chin. His narrowed eyes suggested he was carefully choosing his words.
I found the situation incredibly confusing. It was just a simple meal, but it didn’t feel simple at all.
The first thing that came to mind was Yu-geon. It felt wrong to secretly meet Han-gyeol while Yu-geon was away at the gate.
Even though there would be no guiding involved, Yu-geon still saw Han-gyeol as a threat. He hated the idea of us being close.
‘If he finds out, he’ll definitely have something to say.’
I checked my smartwatch to see if the sub-gate had appeared yet. It was still on standby.
“If I tell you everything now, it’ll ruin the fun. Let’s talk over dinner at my place. What do you want to eat?”
Han-gyeol eventually dodged the question, but the smile never left his face. It didn’t seem like a serious reason. I also had some questions I wanted to ask.
“Should I make tteokbokki?”
“Stop treating me like a kid.”
“How about pasta then?”
Maybe it wouldn’t be a big deal to go with him. As long as we finished before Yu-geon returned. And since things weren’t great between them lately, Han-gyeol probably wouldn’t say anything.
Then it struck me how much I had been worrying about Yu-geon. Since when did I start being so concerned about his reactions?
To be fair, the only thing Yu-geon had explicitly told me not to do was guiding. And although Yu-geon probably didn’t believe it, I was confident I could resist the urge to guide in front of Han-gyeol.
Yu-geon’s comments had been insulting, treating me like some wild Cremons that would bite anyone without hesitation. It had been uncomfortable dealing with his boundary-crossing behavior.
At first, I had gone along with it just to avoid confrontation, but now that we were paired, Yu-geon had grown used to me.
He wouldn’t be able to easily discard me as his Guide anymore. Plus, hadn’t he recently started showing possessive tendencies, preventing other Espers from approaching me?
I quickly brushed away the image of a whining Yu-geon from my mind, feeling a sense of relief.
“Anything is fine. Now that I’m thinking about it, I’m hungry too.”
“Alright, let’s go quickly.”
Han-gyeol smiled at my words and picked up the pace. I almost fell for Yu-geon’s innocent-looking face and endless whining. But now I realized that having a meal with Han-gyeol was perfectly fine.
