* * *
“Almost came just listening.”
“Geez, you scared me.”
The moment Haegum stepped out of the guiding room, Seo Munhyuk, who had been leaning against the wall, spoke up.
Judging by the noticeable bulge in his pants, it seemed his remark wasn’t just a joke. Haegum was at a loss for words.
Had the guiding room walls always been that thin?
Or was Seo Munhyuk’s heightened senses just that sharp?
Though Haegum didn’t know how much Seo Munhyuk had heard, the embarrassment of having his private moments exposed set his face aflame.
“Why are you looking at me like that? You’re glaring.”
“What are you doing lurking here?”
Haegum’s voice dropped as he furrowed his brow.
“Came to see my little brother.”
“Can’t we meet Esper Seo Munhyun later? This is a reserved guiding room.”
Haegum spoke in an intentionally brusque tone.
As he glanced down, he noticed that Seo Munhyuk’s chest was still tautly swollen.
“Isn’t Seo Munhyun a total weirdo? He kept going on about a baby, baby, but then… seriously…”
“It’s none of your business, Esper Seo Munhyuk.”
“Guide Yeon Haegum, when you talk to me, you sound like a different person. Can’t you address me a bit more kindly?”
Seo Munhyuk tilted his head and spoke playfully.
Haegum couldn’t disagree with his assessment—around him, he did feel different.
Esper Seo Munhyuk had a special ability.
He had the talent to steadily provoke Haegum, who was known for being calm, composed, and unusually cool-headed for his age.
“…Esper Seo Munhyuk.”
“Yes?”
“Why on earth did you come to Korea?”
Haegum crossed his arms and squinted as he asked.
The official reason for Seo Munhyuk’s return to Korea was the merger of the Esper Center and the Combat Division.
But that wasn’t the full story.
Haegum could sense it instinctively.
Even as they talked, Seo Munhyuk was hungrily scraping away at the leftover guiding energy he had, like a starving man.
“…Esper Seo Munhyuk, why did you come to Korea?”
In response to Haegum’s repeated question, Seo Munhyuk smirked.
“So, you’re finally showing some interest in me?”
“…..”
His over-the-top reaction, as if moved by his question, made Haegum glare at him.
Inside, he cursed him three times, calling him a “crazy bastard.”
“Why are you staring at me so intensely? You’re making my heart race.”
“I asked you why you came to Korea.”
As if refusing to let him avoid the question, Haegum repeated it.
Sensing the shift in his demeanor, Seo Munhyuk straightened up from where he had been leaning lazily against the wall.
“I told you a month ago. I joined the Integration Project between the Esper Center and the Combat Division.”
“But you got a recall order before finishing your overseas deployment, didn’t you?”
“……”
For a moment, Seo Munhyuk’s eyes flashed.
In front of his younger brother, Seo Munhyun, he always just smiled easily, but…
So, he knows how to play politics too?
The fact that Seo Munhyuk returned to Korea due to a recall order was a piece of information known only to the high-ranking officials of the combat division, including the commander.
Not even his brother, Seo Munhyun, knew.
Seo Munhyuk looked Haegum in the face.
It was amusing, but at the same time, he felt like teasing him.
“Do you want to know the real reason I came to Korea?”
“Yes.”
“Ask Seo Munhyun.”
“…..”
“Isn’t he… going somewhere this weekend?”
“It’s a family dinner, isn’t it?”
“Family dinner?” Seo Munhyuk echoed Haegum’s words, stepping forward.
Then, in a voice barely loud enough for his to hear, he added,
“Well, something like that.”
Six weeks ago.
Through the clear tent window, sand could be seen blowing outside.
Occasionally, the sound of fierce winds whistled by.
“Haah—seriously, are we not going again?”
The guide, who had been lying down completely naked, sat up and started putting on the shirt he had thrown off.
The tent was stifling hot after their recent affair.
“Aren’t you going to clean up that mess?”
Seo Munhyuk slapped the guide’s rear with a loud smack.
“Ugh. No one’s ever going to find out.”
Hearing the guide’s playful tone, Seo Munhyuk smirked.
“Got another stab coming your way or what?”
He replied in a cynical voice.
“I’m telling you, no one will find out.”
“Whatever. My side still aches when it rains because of that old stab wound.”
Seo Munhyuk lifted his T-shirt, showing a deep scar near his ribs.
He’d been stabbed for messing around with another esper’s personal guide.
Ever since that day, Seo Munhyuk made it a point not to mess with guides who were already paired—unless it was absolutely necessary.
As he explained, he absentmindedly rubbed the scar.
But the guide in front of him didn’t seem particularly interested.
Their gaze was fixed on Seo Munhyuk’s well-defined abs.
“You’re leaving soon anyway. Just run before you get stabbed again.”
“Watch your mouth. Espers who hold grudges are worse than monsters.”
Even though his tone was harsh, Seo Munhyuk gently ruffled the guide’s hair.
“Then why mess with a paired guide in the first place?”
“I was desperate, so I grabbed whatever was available.”
No matter how slowly the guide dressed, it didn’t seem like Seo Munhyuk was going to jump on him again.
Giving up hope, the guide started buttoning his shirt and asked,
“Why are you going back to Korea?”
“…Because it sucks.”
Seo Munhyuk sighed.
Displeasure.
This emotion always lingered at the bottom of his heart.
It never overflowed, but it never disappeared either.
This displeasure stemmed from a fatigue that had never been fully resolved.
Seo Munhyuk awakened as an esper at fifteen, along with his twin brother, Seo Munhyun.
After becoming adults, their paths diverged completely.
While Seo Munhyun, despite being an S-class esper, was more interested in analyzing forces or developing weapons than participating in actual battles…
The two brothers’ careers as espers couldn’t have been more opposite.
After joining the combat division, Seo Munhyuk was mostly involved in the toughest and most dangerous battles.
It was his instinct to push himself to the brink every time.
Whenever an overwhelming number of monsters appeared, or when a monstrous creature of record-breaking size emerged, Seo Munhyuk was always at the frontlines.
As a result, Seo Munhyuk had earned more medals than any other esper in South Korea’s history.
With each grueling battle, he gained more experience, but his overuse of abilities steadily increased his berserk levels.
After each battle, he would coldly review the combat, using his sharp analytical skills to think about ways to improve.
He believed that if he continued fighting this way, his future would be full of success and advancement.
That was until recently, when he almost went berserk in the middle of a desert.
Even now, it pissed him off.
Seo Munhyuk lit a cigarette and asked the guide, still lying down,
“Want one?”
“No, I hate how harsh the cigarettes are here.”
“Picky, aren’t you? Get dressed. I’ll drop you off.”
“Really?”
“I’ll drop you off at the back door, so don’t get caught.”
As he stepped out of the tent and lit his cigarette, Seo Munhyuk gazed out at the gently rolling sand dunes stretching endlessly before him.
It was hard to believe that, just a week ago, this peaceful place had been crawling with monsters, as numerous as grains of sand.
“Return.”
“I can’t.”
“Get some guiding, lower your berserk levels, and then head back out.”
“I can finish the mission.”
“If you go berserk, it’ll all be for nothing.”
Seo Munhyuk recalled the conversation he had with his commanding officer a few days ago.
The harsh smoke swirled in his mouth.
The monsters that appeared in low-population areas weren’t necessarily strong, but their numbers were overwhelming.
Dealing with hundreds or even thousands of lower-tier monsters in a desert that stretched to the horizon could exhaust even the highest-level espers.
The constant, grueling battles chipped away at his patience and blurred his judgment.
His memory was hazy, but he heard that it took three guides giving him intense guiding to bring him back to his senses.
After that came the recall order.
At a time when he should have been congratulated for his rank adjustment to SS-class and promotion, he instead received a recall order.
Seo Munhyuk exhaled a long stream of smoke that drifted away on the wind.
Ever since his awakening as an esper and the use of his abilities, Seo Munhyuk had suffered from chronic guiding deficiency.
The same was true for his twin brother, Seo Munhyun—it must have been genetic.
Things were a bit better when he was in Korea, but during his deployments, the guiding shortage became severe.
There simply weren’t enough guides for the espers stationed overseas.
Moreover, the ones they did send were of very low rank. High-ranking, valuable guides couldn’t be deployed abroad.
Even if the guides were of low rank, it wouldn’t have mattered if their compatibility was high, but Seo Munhyuk had never met a guide with more than 20% compatibility with him.
He thought he’d live like that for the rest of his life.
Up until recently…
* * *
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Thanks for update
Thanks for the updat