AAGULT Ch 10

Chapter 10

 

“…What the hell, a Guide?”

That innocent bartender over at the bar probably didn’t know, but this street was not a good place to be.

A man who looked like a criminal from a mile away approached from the opposite side, swaggering with his hands tucked insolently in his pockets, but Aiden paid him no mind. Nor did he change his walking direction.

“Hey, you got time?”

“…….”

“You smell amazing, just one guiding—”

Aiden rolled his eyes, which held not a single glint of light, and looked at the man blocking his path. And then,

“Uh…?”

“Chairman, it’s done.”

—Ah, okay… Yes, Guide.

That was all. Without any physical contact, Ye Aiden could suppress the man with a violent guiding. At first, the man was flustered by the overwhelming guiding, then began panting and enjoying it, then suddenly scratched his neck violently before finally collapsing.

If guiding is like drinking water when you’re thirsty—sure, water is good. Water is necessary for survival. But ironically, humans were a species capable of drowning.

Ye Aiden had simply given water to a thirsty man.

It was just that he gave too much.

Aiden stopped for a moment and silently looked at the man who was gasping as if he couldn’t breathe.

“Ugh, haah, huff, gah…”

Already in a foul mood, Aiden kicked the collapsed man’s abdomen violently as if to vent his anger. Crack, snap! The sound of something breaking was unmistakably ominous. Anyone would think he was an Esper, given his monstrous strength, and Aiden himself was well aware of it. It was an intentional act.

Each time he kicked, the man flopped like a fish out of water.

“Keugh…!”

He struck him a few more times with emotion, thud, thud, before stopping. It felt too disgusting, too much of a waste, for his foot to even touch the man, if only briefly.

Letting out an annoyed sigh, Ye Aiden swept his hair back.

“I’m never going to guide that damn Esper.”

—…Yes, Guide, but reconsider… That Esper is one of the rare mental-types, his wavelength is extremely toxic… You know how few Guides there are who can handle such a wave. He’s not even a low-ranked Esper.

“Rank or whatever.”

Ye Aiden clicked his tongue. He then left the unconscious man behind and continued walking. The Chairman was great and all, but sometimes he acted too stupid.

“My mood is fucking shit.”

Aiden replied cheerfully. It wasn’t the kind of thing a kid barely out of his teens should be saying to the Chairman. But in the end, it was the Chairman who yielded first.

—…Alright.

It didn’t take the Chairman long to weigh between the Esper and Ye Aiden. With a regretful sigh, he gave his answer. Having gotten what he wanted, Aiden smirked faintly.

—…If this is too much, just say so. I’ll send in another Guide…

“No, it’s fine.”

—…

The Chairman was speechless, unable to keep up with Ye Aiden’s fickle mood. Aiden noticed, but he didn’t care, and simply smiled. It was the first time he smiled during the dreary conversation.

His thick eyelashes fluttered like those of a lovely deer. He blushed and smiled happily. His lips curled up in a soft grin. Aiden lightly touched his lips with his fingertips. Haa, a satisfied sigh escaped.

“He was beautiful.”

—…Was he…?

The way he shyly offered a drink was so damn attractive. And that kiss—how was that? Closing his eyes tightly, trembling all over, entranced by the thoughts Aiden showed him, and scared—he was incredibly cute. Like a pitiful dog abandoned on the street in the rain.

All Aiden had to do was pick up that dog and make it his. He was confident he’d be a better owner than Baek Beomwoo.

He let out a refreshingly pleasant laugh for the first time in a while.

So he replied without hesitation.

“Yes.”

With that answer, Ye Aiden ended the call without waiting for a response.

He had to seriously start thinking about how to seduce that man properly.

“An S-rank Guide really is something else…”

Jaeha mumbled to himself, clutching the blanket after waking from sleep. One of the side effects of guiding deficiency and suppressants was insomnia. He’d suffered from it chronically, so the fact that he’d slept soundly after just a single kiss, without a proper guiding, was ridiculous.

He didn’t get up right away but tossed and turned slightly. Today, the pillow felt especially soft.

He should’ve been in pain. He was supposed to lie awake all night and barely fall asleep at dawn, then wake up sore and groaning, clutching his body that had been beaten black and blue by Manager Kang the day before.

“…….”

Jaeha slowly raised a hand and touched his face. The swelling had gone down a lot. It felt like a lie that he had once started his day with a desperate whisper—“I want a guiding”—and repeated it until he fell asleep. His mind was clear. That meant he was at peace.

Jaeha’s bar opened at 6 p.m. and closed at 2 a.m. After closing and cleaning up, he usually lay in bed around 4 a.m. Even then, due to insomnia, he barely got any sleep and would wake up by 8 a.m., but now that he checked the time, it was already noon.

“Let’s get up…”

With a big yawn, he slowly got out of bed.

Jaeha lived in the small house attached to the bar. The short commute was a plus, but the clear downside—

Ding-dong.

[Manager Kang]

“…….”

—was that it made separating work and personal life difficult.

Not that he was in any position to expect such things anyway. He reluctantly reached out and answered the call.

“Hello?”

—Hey. You know we’ve got a reservation today, right?

Manager Kang’s voice hit him in the brain as soon as he answered. He tried to recall.

“Yeah…”

Having a reserved guest wasn’t unusual. In fact, unregistered illegal Espers showing up without a reservation was rarer. Those who desperately needed guiding usually made reservations to ensure they wouldn’t be turned away. Being illegal, they were cautious in everything.

This area was classified as Zone A-5 within the territories divided by the organization. A-5 was one of the smaller zones, so Jaeha didn’t see many guests. Still, it wasn’t like he was so inexperienced that Manager Kang would call just for that. Naturally, he was puzzled.

But that confusion vanished with the next words.

—Someone went missing near there last night.

“…What?”

—Be careful today.

There was no way Manager Kang was worried about him personally. He meant to avoid exposing the bar’s true nature.

Unease crept over Jaeha’s face.

“Was it… the Association?”

—You don’t need to know.

“Okay…”

In truth, he didn’t really want to know. If he learned too much about the inner workings or the organization’s plans, he wouldn’t be able to hide his reactions and would probably agonize over it again in guilt.

“…….”

Then he suddenly remembered.

Right, I met someone from the Association yesterday… But he’s a Guide. There’s no way a Guide could overpower and abduct an Esper. He shouldn’t have the ability to subdue one like that.

—If you’re caught, you die. Got it?

“Of course.”

He hoped his voice sounded natural as he replied. The call ended with a click.

“…….”

He put the phone down and scratched his messy, tangled hair. Then he sank back into the soft bedding.

“Aiden-ssi’s still suspicious of me, huh…”

Considering why Ye Aiden showed up at this bar in the first place, it wasn’t strange. An SOS signal from an illegal guiding facility had been triggered and then abruptly cut off. Whether he had come to take down the organization that Jaeha’s boss ran, or simply to locate illegal facilities—or maybe just to rescue a Guide in danger—the fact that South Korea’s only S-rank Guide was dispatched meant the Association recognized the threat.

‘The signal cut off somewhere around here… Where could it be?’

‘I’ll have to check other locations too…’

He recalled Aiden’s thoughts from that day. Their location hadn’t been fully exposed. But since the general vicinity had been compromised, it was likely the Association had increased patrols or surveillance. If one of their reserved guests—an unregistered Esper—was captured during that sweep…

“Wow.”

There was only one conclusion.

“If I get caught, I’m actually dead…”

Jaeha blinked as he muttered his thoughts aloud.

When did I get so reckless? I really need to talk to Ji-won downstairs today and make sure they keep their mouth shut.

He suddenly thought of the boss.

When did the boss say they’d be back? Last he heard, it was six months, so about four months should be left now? He had survived about a month alone, and about a month had passed since Ye Aiden suddenly appeared. Just one dose of guiding from him, and Jaeha didn’t feel desperate anymore. Before that, he’d begged and prayed every day for the boss to return.

“So sleepy…”

Of course, that didn’t mean he wasn’t grateful or didn’t miss him. But he wasn’t the only one anymore.

Like someone on the brink of starving who finally got one bowl of porridge—of course you’d feel full afterward. It was natural to get sleepy. Despite having already slept a lot, his eyelids felt heavy again. He needed to get up, go down to the guiding facility, see Ji-won, prep for opening… He had a ton to do, but he was just too sleepy and wanted to nap a little more.

Eventually, Jaeha dozed off again, bobbing his head vacantly.

It was a peaceful, sweet sleep.