* * *
THUD! THUD!
The Association President looked like he was barely putting any effort into it, just lightly tapping the table, but the bed shook along with a deafening noise.
Suhyeon felt like his head was ringing in sync with the bed.
“Knock it off.”
Suhyeon eventually grimaced, and Hajin, who had been sticking close behind him, caught the sign and growled.
Only then did the President stop moving, his boisterous eyes blinking.
“Ah, sorry. It’s a habit of mine to tap on things while I talk.”
‘That’s not tapping; that’s smashing,’ Suhyeon thought blankly as the President grinned.
“Ahem, anyway. Chae Suhyeon?”
“Do you think Suhyeon-si is your student? It seems your sense of honorifics and etiquette is being thrown out the window more and more every day.”
Suhyeon didn’t particularly mind, but Hajin growled again, clearly hating the fact that the President was even in the room.
Yihan seemed to agree, nodding his head. Both of their expressions were so fierce that it was hard to believe they were actually employees of the Association.
The situation was becoming a mess.
Just as Suhyeon’s mind was starting to drift away from the chaos, the President cleared his throat a few times and spoke again with an embarrassed look.
“Ah, uh, ahem. Sorry, Suhyeon-si. Everyone here knows each other so well that it felt too natural. Is it okay if I speak casually?”
“If you’re going to do that—”
Hajin started to rev up again, but this time Suhyeon beat him to it by nodding his head.
He had heard the word “choice” earlier, and if things kept going like this, the night would pass before he even found out what that meant.
“Hahaha! I like how cool-headed you are! Good, let’s get straight to it! Suhyeon, you have two choices!”
The President laughed heartily and, just like he had with the ID card, thrust something in front of Suhyeon.
This time, it was two sets of documents.
“Become a Guide belonging to the Association and perform mandatory Guiding for many people, or sign a dedicated contract with a high-ranking Esper!”
‘What is he talking about now?’
Suhyeon’s effort to hold onto his fading consciousness went down the drain.
He went blank again.
His light brown eyes trembled as he looked at the documents.
Both seemed to be contracts, listing all sorts of “Alpha and Beta” clauses.
“Uh, ahem. Suhyeon, did you say you’ve lived as an ordinary person until now?”
The President seemed to realize late that Suhyeon hadn’t followed the situation at all, and he looked awkward.
“Ahem, let me explain again. I was being too unkind. Suhyeon, you have been measured as an S-class—the highest rank among Guides. Do you understand?”
Suhyeon still didn’t have a sense of reality or a full grasp of what had happened, but he nodded for now.
The letter ‘S’ on his ID card felt like it was flashing.
“All high-ranking Ability Users of A-class or higher, whether they are Guides or Espers, are required to sign a contract with an organization designated by the state. In Korea, that is the Association.”
Suhyeon blinked.
“For your information, this is based on international laws regarding Ability Users,” Yihan added, letting out a deep sigh as he listened to the conversation.
Hajin just frowned and toyed with Suhyeon’s hand, while Yihan clicked his tongue, muttering about what a headache this was.
It was essentially a confirmation that the President’s words were true.
And it was likely a matter that couldn’t be avoided.
Suhyeon looked down at the documents again.
‘Be an Association Guide, or sign a dedicated contract.’
“Well, just in case, I’ll tell you the difference. An Association Guide meets various Espers during the contract period and fills a set number of mandatory Guiding sessions. A dedicated Guide, literally, follows one specific Esper and handles their Guiding.”
Suhyeon bit his lip.
He didn’t even like this world of Ability Users to begin with, and now he was being thrown these two limited choices.
Moreover, hearing the words “dedicated Guide” made him think of Lee Jaeram and Do Yejun again.
An unpleasant feeling flickered in a corner of his mind, clashing with Suhyeon’s natural tendency to avoid overcomplicating things.
The two emotions collided in his chest.
“You don’t have to think about it too fast! I just came to deliver the message.”
Sensing that Suhyeon was lost in thought, the President laughed boisterously again.
“Still, I’d like you to decide as soon as possible! Remember that the Association can accommodate you as much as possible, Suhyeon. I’ll be going now! If you make up your mind, contact me through any of these three! I’m busy, so goodbye!!”
BANG!!
In the blink of an eye, the muscular President vanished, and the hospital door slammed shut with the same roar it had when he entered.
Silence fell over the room after the President swept through like a storm.
One problem after another; more complexity was being piled onto his already messy head.
His head throbbed with fatigue, and Suhyeon pressed his fingers against his temples.
He felt a little exhausted.
When he opened his eyes again, it was dark night.
Moonlight seeped into the room through a thin, partially closed curtain.
‘When did I fall asleep?’
Suhyeon blinked his light brown eyes repeatedly.
His hazy mind gradually became clear.
—I’m sorry, Suhyeon. I should have told you in advance……
—Hah. This is really…… You must be flustered because this happened so suddenly. Get some rest.
Yihan had apologized repeatedly before being dragged away by the man named Pi Hancheol, and Yihan had looked at Suhyeon with pitying eyes before leaving the room to let him rest.
Suhyeon had stayed leaning against Hajin, who remained in the room, staring at the documents with a brain that wouldn’t function…… and he had no memories after that.
He must have fallen into a deep sleep without realizing it.
Hajin, who had been with him before he slept, was no longer in the darkened room.
Perhaps it was because he had started to rely on him quite a bit, but Suhyeon instinctively wished Hajin were there.
There was a coat on the chair next to the bed, likely Hajin’s, suggesting he had only stepped out for a moment.
Suhyeon moved his weak body bit by bit to pull the coat toward him.
Hajin’s unique scent remained on the fabric.
Maybe it was because he had just woken up, or maybe because he had escaped the situation where bombs were exploding in his head one after another.
His mind felt clearer than it had right before he fell asleep.
Suhyeon buried his cheek in the cool coat and let out a breath.
His thin white eyelids lowered, and his dense light brown eyelashes trailed smoothly downward.
Suhyeon quietly reached out his arm and looked at his palm.
In his chest, where he had felt nothing for twenty-three years, he felt a small flickering sensation, like a spark.
‘Is this the Guiding wavelength?’
The sensation he thought he felt vanished in an instant.
Suhyeon, who had been closing his eyes trying to find that feeling again, gave up after a short while.
He looked at the documents lying beside him.
He read through them slowly, finding quite a few terms he didn’t know.
However, it wasn’t so difficult that he couldn’t understand the essence.
Suhyeon skimmed down the papers and paused at the “Down Payment” section.
Even for a “base amount,” there was a parade of zeros that made his eyes go round.
……It seemed being S-class was truly a big deal.
After reading everything, Suhyeon slumped back against the bed.
If he had to pick based on likes or dislikes, he hated both.
An Association Guide had to perform contact Guiding with many people as a duty, and while a dedicated Guide only had to Guide one person, it was a role that vividly reminded him of Do Yejun and Lee Jaeram.
Suhyeon let out a sigh.
He wanted to clear all these complicated thoughts out of his head and return to his daily life.
Since he didn’t want to become a lawbreaker, he had to choose quickly.
—He can’t receive Guiding.
Then, Suhyeon suddenly thought of Hajin, the owner of the coat softly wrapped against his cheek.
They said he couldn’t receive contact Guiding.
Maybe that was why he didn’t seem to have a dedicated Guide.
‘Dedicated Guide.’
Suhyeon glanced at the papers he had tossed aside.
Unlike the other document, which went on and on about Association Guides, the one explaining dedicated Guides was short.
It said it was because the Association simply mediated a direct contract with a specific Esper.
……Should I ask Hajin?
If he absolutely had to be a dedicated Guide, wouldn’t it be okay if that person were Hajin?
Of course, that was assuming Hajin would accept.
Both Do Yejun and Lee Jaeram, who had given him such a bad impression of Ability Users, and all the memories associated with them—it felt like he could bury all of that if he were with Hajin.
They were in a relationship, after all.
These days, they pressed their lips together almost every day.
Suhyeon, who had zero basic knowledge about Guiding, vaguely imagined blowing this flickering energy into Hajin.
—……Suhyeon, haa.
Hajin, who got more and more skillful every time they kissed…….
He was supposed to be thinking about serious things, but Suhyeon ended up blushing as he recalled the things he and Hajin did every day.
Then he quickly snapped out of it.
‘That’s not what’s important right now. No matter how easygoing I am, imagining things like that in this situation—’
‘Slide—’
Suhyeon flinched and turned his head at the sound of the door opening.
It seemed Hajin was back.
Ignoring the heat rising in his cheeks from his own thoughts, Suhyeon resolved to ask him carefully and turned his head.
“Suhyeon.”
But the person who entered was not Hajin.
Incredibly, Suhyeon froze stiff at the presence of Do Yejun, who had appeared before him once again.
‘Why, again? How?’
* * *
