I returned to the office and started filling out the pair cancellation form. Since it had to be handwritten, I printed it out and began scribbling at my desk. But soon, I felt multiple eyes on me from behind.
“Sa-weol, are you really canceling your pair with Yu-geon?”
It was Hanna, an Alpha Team Esper. Her question drew others over, and soon enough, a small crowd had gathered.
“Is Sa-weol really canceling the pair?”
“I knew it wouldn’t last.”
“They stopped talking after that fight, and now this is the result.”
They all chimed in with their opinions, as if they had been waiting for this moment. I was already feeling unsettled, and their comments only made me more frazzled.
I tried to ignore them, continuing to slowly fill out the form. But when I reached the section for the reason for cancellation, my pen hesitated.
“Just write that you found another Esper.”
Hanna suggested casually from behind me.
“Are you crazy?”
“Why not? It’s true, isn’t it? You’re canceling with Yu-geon so you can pair with the Captain, right?”
Hanna didn’t mince her words. She was never one to hold back.
As the other team members tried to shush her, I realized that they all knew about my visits to Han-gyeol’s quarters.
“I’m not pairing with the Captain.”
“Why not?”
Experience had taught me that if I didn’t nip this in the bud, the rumors would only grow. So I cut her off firmly.
“I’ve known Captain Han-gyeol since I was a kid, and I went to his quarters because we had something to discuss. There won’t be any more of that. So don’t start any weird rumors about me and the Captain.”
It was true that Han-gyeol had confessed his feelings, so the rumors were half-right, but I had no intention of pursuing a relationship with him. And my decision to cancel the pair with Yu-geon had nothing to do with Han-gyeol.
“Then why did you keep it a secret?”
“Because I knew this is how people would react. It’s obvious.”
They exchanged glances, then slowly returned to their desks with sheepish smiles.
Hanna still seemed suspicious but didn’t press the issue further.
I turned my attention back to the cancellation form. Reason for cancellation. What should I write…?
Naturally, my mind wandered back to the argument I had with Yu-geon that day.
“I’m tired of being at your mercy. I never should have gotten involved with you in the first place.”
Because he had a hold on me, I had no choice but to follow his lead whenever he pushed his way.
“No, I’m just sick of your behavior. I can’t stand it anymore. I hate how you invade my life without a second thought.”
Yes, it was true that I was annoyed. He had crossed too many lines and invaded my privacy.
“I can’t tell if you’re an Esper or a clingy lover. You’ve been a pain since day one. I must have been out of my mind.”
I had tried to be understanding since he was new to being an Esper and we hadn’t been paired for long. But if he hadn’t had that leverage over me, would I have put up with this? If it had been any other Esper, this would have been grounds for immediate cancellation.
“Don’t act so righteous, Baek Yu-geon. I never asked for your help. When someone butts in without being asked, that’s just meddling.”
His claim that he just wanted to be nice to me couldn’t be purely out of goodwill. If it made the other person uncomfortable, it was nothing more than pressure and obligation.
As I listed these reasons, it became clear that there were too many valid reasons to cancel the pair. So many that I wasn’t sure which one to write down. I just needed to pick one, but my pen refused to move.
‘Why does this feel so unsettling…?’
I definitely disliked Yu-geon. That much was clear. But the words he had said kept echoing in my mind.
“…I just wanted to be good to you. Is that so hard to believe?”
For me, yes, it was that hard. Trusting someone at face value was nearly impossible. Maybe this was his last chance to share his secrets with me.
More than anything, he hadn’t pushed me away even after hearing about my terrible past. That alone made me hesitate.
And then, there was what he said in the capsule earlier—offering his blood but refusing to accept guiding. Even though his initial approach had been all about guiding. What was he thinking…?
“Hey, Yu-geon! I heard you’re canceling the pair with Sa-weol!”
As I was deep in thought, Yu-geon walked into the office, and some team members immediately approached him. He was sweating, probably from just finishing training.
“Yeah.”
He responded flatly, prompting the others to let out exaggerated exclamations of “Ooooh!” Yu-geon gave them a puzzled look before walking over to me.
“Did you finish?”
“Almost.”
I quickly covered the form, not wanting him to see that I was stuck on the reason section.
“Alright. Give it to me when you’re done.”
“Okay.”
Yu-geon glanced at me with a puzzled expression before sitting down. I could hear the clicking of his keyboard through the partition, and then he walked over to the printer. It seemed like he wanted to fill out his portion of the cancellation form before I handed mine in, so he could submit it immediately. He was clearly in a hurry to get the pair canceled.
Trying to steady my chaotic thoughts, I hurriedly filled out the other sections of the form as quickly as he seemed to want to finalize this.
When I reached the reason for cancellation, I hesitated again. The more I thought about it, the more confused I became, so I ended up writing something impulsive: “Because Baek Yu-geon is annoying,” “Because he invades my privacy,” “Because he’s immature,” and as I started to write the final reason, my grip on the pen loosened involuntarily. I ended up scribbling everything out and hastily wrote “personality differences” instead before handing the form over to Yu-geon.
“Here you go.”
He took the paper, and I could hear the sound of his pen scratching against the paper as he quickly filled it out.
It was only 3 PM, and there was still a long time before the end of the workday. I wondered if he might suggest submitting the form before then, but as that thought crossed my mind, Yu-geon got up from his seat.
“Are you going?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
I followed him. It wasn’t a big deal. In hindsight, I’d probably be glad we canceled the pair. I tried to convince myself that my unease was just irrational and ignored the anxious thoughts swirling in my mind.
But just before stepping into the elevator, he turned to me, looking confused.
“Where are you going?”
“Aren’t we going to submit the cancellation form?”
“No.”
He held up his smartwatch so I could see the screen.
[C13 Zone, D-Class Gate Detected. Alpha Team Espers Available for Deployment.]
It was a gate alert. I realized that I had received the same alert on my own watch.
“Oh. Be safe.”
Feeling awkward, I returned to the office. The gate mission took longer than expected, and Yu-geon didn’t return before the end of the workday.
I spent the rest of the day in a state of tension, but in the end, we didn’t submit the cancellation form. However, since the document was already prepared, I wasn’t too worried—I could just do it the next day. But Yu-geon wasn’t in the office the next day. Or the day after that. Or the day after that.
Just as I started to think something was wrong, I finally ran into Yu-geon. I had gone to a café on the outskirts of the building since the main cafeteria was crowded, and there he was, sitting in a corner.
“Baek Yu-geon. Why didn’t you go to the training center?”
I had been heading to the counter to order, but I changed direction and walked over to him. I had just checked the training center for him and confirmed he wasn’t there.
On his table were sandwich wrappers of various kinds, most of them empty.
‘Why is he eating sandwiches instead of a proper meal? He hasn’t been in the cafeteria lately either. Is he on a diet? But that’s too much food for a diet…’
As I pondered this, Yu-geon began gathering up the trash with both hands.
He then stood up and tried to walk past me as if nothing had happened, but I grabbed his arm.
“Hey. Didn’t you hear me?”
“I finished training.”
“Don’t lie. I was just there. I heard you’ve been skipping training lately.”
“…”
“We need to submit the cancellation form. Since we ran into each other, let’s grab your copy from your desk. You’re not busy right now, are you?”
He said nothing, and his arm didn’t budge. He took another step forward, his arm stretching back as I held onto it.
“You’re not canceling the pair?”
I asked in an annoyed tone, which made him stop again. The mellow jazz playing softly in the café added to the atmosphere.
The longer his silence stretched, the more I felt a sense of dread creeping in, and I instinctively tightened my grip on his arm. At that moment, one of the pieces of trash he was holding slipped out of his hand and fell to the floor. It seemed like he couldn’t pick it up because I was holding him.
I bent down to pick it up for him, but before I could reach it, he suddenly yanked his arm free with surprising force.
Thud. Rattle-rattle.
“Hey, Baek Yu—”
Jingle.
It all happened in an instant. He had exited the café in a flash, leaving me standing there, stunned. The doorbell jingled loudly as it swung open and shut behind him.
As the sound faded, I fully grasped what was happening.
‘That bastard, Baek Yu-geon…’
Through the café’s large glass windows, I could see him running away without looking back. He was so fast, it was almost like he had enhanced his body like a physical Esper.
‘He’s bolting.’
There were only five days left in the revision period. If he could avoid me for five more days, we’d be stuck in this pair for two years, and that’s exactly what he was trying to do. I had been a fool to trust him. I should have been suspicious when a guiding-obsessed guy like him agreed to cancel so easily.
He had never intended to cancel the pair.
“So this is how you’re playing it, huh?”
* * *
Four days had passed since Yu-geon started avoiding Sa-weol.
She had been searching every possible place he might be. Since he usually split his time between the training center, the gate, and the cafeteria while they were paired, narrowing down his location hadn’t been too difficult.
In the beginning, she had managed to catch him a few times, forcing him to make a hasty retreat, and eventually, he realized that it was better to avoid the center altogether.
After that, Yu-geon volunteered for every gate mission. He ate his meals in the field and did his training with simple exercise equipment in his room.
Yesterday, he even saw her standing in front of his place, so he ended up spending the night at another Esper’s quarters.
“What a mess.”
He muttered to himself as he checked his phone upon waking up. Today, there were no gate alerts. That meant he had no choice but to head to the center.
