* * *
…What is this?
“The Hanmyung CEO’s office?”
Is it the same one he knows?
Raon stared intently at the TV screen as the news played, his expression grave.
The news briefly showed an exterior shot of Hanmyung’s main building, then cut to footage of Myunghoon being carried out after his rescue.
His face was obscured by the crowd around him, but the captions and the reporter’s voice made it clear—it was definitely Myunghoon.
“Around 9 PM tonight, the Hanmyung CEO’s office suddenly began filling with water. CEO Han Myunghoon, who was alone in the office at the time, struggled as the water rose. Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, the water vanished…”
The dark CCTV footage was blurry, almost as if someone had intentionally tampered with it.
It was strange, considering it was the CEO’s office—they’d definitely have installed high-end security cameras.
[No sign of the suspect on CCTV]
[Believed to be the work of an Esper]
Large, bold captions flashed across the screen one after another.
Since Hanmyung was one of the top corporations in the country, the incident was still making headlines and receiving constant media coverage, even though some time had passed.
“……”
Without realizing it, Raon reached up and lightly touched his left cheek.
Thanks to the healing Esper, it had been perfectly treated—he didn’t feel even the slightest pain anymore.
“Yoon Siwoo, you little…”
Yoon Siwoo—the Esper with water-based powers.
And the CEO’s office filled with water.
Raon chuckled and murmured to himself.
“…What a cutie.”
So that’s where he disappeared to after the treatment?
Pulling off such an adorable stunt in secret.
Of course, if it had been an obvious act of revenge, it might’ve caused trouble.
But since there was no evidence, no one could suspect Siwoo based on water powers alone.
No one would ever connect it to him.
Raon burst out laughing at the TV screen.
“Ha ha!”
It felt so satisfying.
He had always thought that slippery old snake deserved a good slap in the face.
Serves him right.
After laughing for a good while, Raon finally collected himself and mumbled a different concern.
“What excuse should I give tomorrow…”
First, he reached over and turned off his personal phone.
Even though they were inside the center, as one of the CEO’s sons, he would no doubt be contacted soon.
But he didn’t want to be dragged to the hospital tonight, so he figured he’d just pretend the battery died and claim he hadn’t known.
He’d say he was tired and went to bed early.
Humming softly, Raon turned off the lights in his room.
He felt like he’d sleep very well tonight.
The next day, Raon ran into Siwoo in front of the cafeteria.
Until now, their mealtimes hadn’t quite aligned, so they hadn’t seen each other often.
At any rate, it was a pleasant surprise.
Raon approached him with a wide smile.
“Siwoo, did you sleep well?”
“Yes.”
Siwoo, ever the quiet one, nodded in response.
He glanced at Raon’s cheerful expression, then turned his head away.
Raon, still smiling, continued talking.
“So that’s where you disappeared to yesterday? To pull off that sneaky little prank?”
“…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Raon had lowered his voice so others wouldn’t hear, but Siwoo cleanly played dumb.
So he wasn’t going to brag.
Raon laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.
“Thanks. That felt really good.”
“I don’t know what you mean, but it wasn’t me.”
“Haha, sure, sure.”
“I’m serious. It really wasn’t me.”
Siwoo insisted to the end, but Raon wasn’t buying it.
He gave a half-hearted nod and looked at him fondly.
“Come on, let’s eat.”
“……”
Raon picked up a tray and handed it to Siwoo.
Silently, Siwoo took it.
“You’re really not big on vegetables, huh? You should eat a balanced meal.”
The cafeteria was set up as a buffet, where everyone picked what they wanted.
It had the upside of minimizing food waste, but people often just ate what they liked—bad news for improving anyone’s dietary habits.
Normally, Raon didn’t care how others ate.
If they suffered from nutritional imbalances later, that was their problem, not his.
But watching Siwoo selectively grab only meat, avoiding vegetables entirely, made it hard for him to stay silent.
“Meat is great and all, but you can’t just eat meat. Especially Espers like you—you need a balanced diet to keep your body functioning properly…”
Raon started rattling off facts he’d picked up somewhere in his life as Han Raon, lecturing Siwoo on eating vegetables.
As expected, Siwoo didn’t respond.
“……”
But near the end of the buffet line, Siwoo glanced at Raon, clearly gauging his reaction, and reluctantly added a small portion of stir-fried vegetables to his tray.
Just enough to be barely noticeable.
Raon almost burst out laughing again, barely holding it in.
He had thought Siwoo was ignoring him entirely, but seeing him grudgingly pick out even a smidge of vegetables—it was just too cute.
“Siwoo!”
Just as Raon finished loading his tray and was about to sit across from Siwoo, someone’s bright voice called out.
Raon turned his head.
It was Hamin, sparkling as always even in the morning.
He had spotted Siwoo first but blinked in surprise when he noticed Raon sitting there too.
“Oh! Raon, you’re here too. Good morning!”
“Morning.”
“Such a nice day, isn’t it?”
“…Sure.”
Having spent over five years compulsively playing a role, Raon’s expression stiffened noticeably in front of Hamin.
It wasn’t even something he did consciously.
The system had always demanded especially nuanced acting around the protagonist Dojin and Hamin.
Even though Raon didn’t actually dislike Dojin or hate Hamin, his body reacted automatically—his demeanor turned rigid.
He found it a bit easier to be himself around Dojin, but not Hamin.
Maybe it was because—even after regressing—he still carried the memory of tormenting Hamin for two years.
Being shameless around him was harder.
“Looks like I got lucky today, running into both of you.”
“Hmm…”
Maybe it was because Hamin thought they’d grown closer during yesterday’s training session, but he approached far more casually than before.
He used to tense up around Raon too, but that awkwardness had vanished.
“Mind if I sit here too? Siwoo, is it okay?”
“Go ahead.”
“Sure.”
Both Raon and Siwoo answered at the same time.
They briefly made eye contact.
“Raon, did you get your cheek treated?”
“Yes, I went to the infirmary right away yesterday.”
“That’s a relief. I’m sorry—I should’ve been more attentive…”
“It’s fine.”
Raon had been the one who coldly brushed off concern and told them not to get involved, so he truly meant it. But then—
“Next time, just tell him to go to the infirmary right away.”
“…!”
It was Siwoo, speaking in his usual flat tone, directing his words at Hamin.
Hamin’s eyes widened in surprise.
“O-oh. Yeah, okay. I will.”
Flustered, Hamin nodded quickly.
Siwoo, saying nothing more, continued eating.
“……”
To be honest, it had been the same even before the regression.
Siwoo, despite being labeled the “sub-top” in the novel, had never had much direct interaction with Hamin.
Part of it was because of his relatively young age.
And caught between the loud personalities of Dojin and Taegeon, the quiet Siwoo always ended up overlooked.
Raon used to think while reading the novel—maybe the author just really wanted to throw in a younger top, even if it didn’t make much narrative sense.
However, despite everything, being tormented between the cold and arrogant Dojin and the mad-dog-like Taegeon, Hamin seemed to feel a sense of stability when he was with Siwoo.
Because of that, Siwoo was quite well-received among readers.
Of course, he quietly exited the story with only faint praise, like “he was decent enough till the end.”
“Siwoo, you have class today too, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go together later.”
“Okay.”
Come to think of it, at this point in the story, both Hamin and Siwoo were still attending university.
For those who awakened their abilities early, it was usually difficult to continue on to college, but the two of them were able to attend school thanks to government support.
Though, it was only about twice a week.
They were also allowed to graduate early—cutting the usual four years down to two. It was basically an honorary graduation.
Since they were devoting themselves to the country that much, public opinion was generally positive.
Hamin was originally supposed to graduate last year, but due to some missing credits, he was attending for just another half semester.
Thankfully, the Black Gate incident didn’t occur until after he had graduated, but Siwoo was still in school when it happened.
Because of that, Siwoo never got to graduate by the time the novel ended.
If I remember right, after Han Raon died and Alpha Team 1 resolved the Gate crisis, the school recognized Siwoo’s contributions and granted him an honorary graduation as well, even though he had only attended for about a year.
While Raon was thinking about all this as he watched the two chatting quietly, they had already finished their meal.
The three of them picked up their trays and stood up.
“Well then, see you later, Raon.”
“Yes.”
Hamin said as he cleaned up his tray.
It looked like the two of them were planning to head straight to school.
“See you later, hyung.”
“…Yeah.”
Siwoo turned his body and began walking forward side by side with Hamin.
But why does my chest feel so tight all of a sudden?
Raon, puzzled by the feeling, tapped his chest lightly with his hand.
* * *
Jellyyy