AAGULT Ch 11

Chapter 11

 

“I see… Thank you for telling me, Jaeha.”

“Yes. Please be careful.”

“…Once again, I’m sorry, Jaeha.”

“It’s okay.”

In truth, Jaeha had no intention of blaming Jiwon for this. But upon waking up and coming to his senses, the realization of the current situation overwhelmed him with an inescapable sense of doom and fear. Still, he didn’t have the courage to confess that he had secretly received something resembling a guiding from an agent of the Association after the fact.

So, the only thing Jaeha could do was to pathetically go to Jiwon, ask him again to keep quiet, and silently pray that this incident wouldn’t be found out by anyone.

Jaeha stood up with a faint smile to reassure him. Jiwon, who also stood, bowed his head once. Just before hurrying upstairs to catch up on the bar opening preparations delayed by an unplanned nap, Jaeha remembered a call with Manager Kang.

“Oh, right… There’s a reservation today, the guest that Jiwon was supposed to take.”

“Oh, Taehyuk?”

Jiwon’s face slightly scrunched. That alone told Jaeha the kind of personality the reserved guest had. Jaeha had seen the esper named Taehyuk a few times in passing. But unlike Jiwon, he hadn’t spent time face-to-face with him, so he didn’t really know what kind of person he was.

Doesn’t seem like a nice person. Maybe that’s good news for Jiwon.

“There was a situation, so the reservation got canceled. Get some good rest.”

“Oh…”

He responded with a vague sound, looking confused, then nodded. The slight frown that had appeared at the mention of an esper relaxed. He looked relieved.

“Well then…”

He bowed his head once more in farewell. Just as he was about to open the break room door and step out—

“Ah.”

He flinched in surprise upon running into someone.

“…Sorry. Did I scare you?”

It was someone Jaeha knew. You know, the guy who had been guiding the boss for the past few months…

“Dowon? Were you about to come into the break room?”

It was Seong Dowon, a guide who always stirred an odd discomfort in Jaeha whenever he saw him due to their vague resemblance.

Short, neatly cut black hair, slightly thick eyebrows, an overall likable and masculine vibe. Unlike Jaeha’s teal eyes, the man had pale green ones. It wasn’t enough to say they looked alike, but not enough to say they didn’t. If he had to describe it, he’d say they looked like distant cousins, not siblings.

…Of course, they weren’t family or anything. Just people who happened to look alike.

“No… I just wanted to talk to you for a moment, Jaeha.”

“…With me?”

It was really out of the blue. Why would this guy want to talk to him? The two of them only vaguely knew each other’s faces. Jaeha figured Dowon must’ve felt the same unease he did, which made it even harder to start a conversation. But Dowon nodded sincerely.

“Yeah… So, uh, Jiwon, could we use the break room for a bit, just the two of us?”

“Oh, sure.”

Jaeha turned back from following Jiwon out. Upon his polite request, Jiwon nodded, then bowed once to both Jaeha and Dowon before leaving.

Thud.

The door closed.

“Um, Dowon… Would you like something to drink?”

Unable to bear the awkward silence that immediately followed the door closing, Jaeha was the first to speak. He turned his head, reaching out to offer a seat on the sofa when—

“…!”

Tap. Dowon suddenly stepped in and grabbed Jaeha’s arm, startling him. Why are people grabbing me out of nowhere these days?

“U-Uh, Dowon?”

Is he trying to guide me like Jiwon did? Alarmed, Jaeha quickly pulled his arm away. From where Dowon had touched, a guiding sensation slowly seeped in. It was a familiar feeling. It wasn’t strange, given that he was the one who had guided the boss two months ago. Jaeha remembered when the boss had soothed his erratic energy by smearing the leftover guiding all over his own face.

But unlike then, he didn’t feel any urge to kneel in front of him or beg, which felt very strange.

“Jaeha. Quiet.”

Even though Jaeha had pulled away, Dowon approached again with determined steps, his brows furrowed. Is he crazy? That pressure made Jaeha back away like a prey animal until he was pressed flat against the wall.

“Y-Yes?”

“Your energy…”

“…”

Jaeha’s complexion turned pale.

Had he read his energy already? No, wait. Some guides, especially those with sharp senses, could detect the state of an esper’s energy without any physical contact. What would he think of the energy that had suddenly improved in a single day?

Not to mention, he was the boss’s guide. Jaeha didn’t know the details of their relationship, but depending on the situation, it was only a matter of time before word reached the boss.

In that case…

In that case, he was…

As good as dead to the boss.

As that thought reached its conclusion, Jaeha’s face twisted.

I’m screwed…

Who knew how much time had passed. Jaeha hurried up the stairs and carefully shut the door.

“Haa…”

He let out a sigh of relief and leaned against the secret door. He still couldn’t believe how he managed to get out of there. But in some sense, it was a small blessing.

‘Um, Dowon, so… the boss—’

‘Did you meet with the boss?’

‘…What?’

Just like the last time he had read the boss’s thoughts, Dowon was simply a kind person.

‘Your energy seems slightly different. I was worried.’

‘W-Worried?’

He furrowed his brow lightly. Something about his face was oddly familiar, like looking into a crooked mirror, but the expression he wore, the thoughts behind it, were so mature and profound, he felt like a completely different person.

Strangely, Jaeha envied that.

‘Jaeha. What’s happening to you right now is, frankly, abuse.’

He envied that he could say something like that too. The truth was, every time Jaeha looked at him, it wasn’t worry but jealousy he felt.

He knew how difficult it must be to keep guiding the boss for months. But childishly, Jaeha had wanted to be a guide instead of an esper. Not because he harbored any lustful thoughts about the boss. What kind of scumbag would think that way about their savior? He simply would’ve rather endured physical hardship if it meant he could be of help to the boss.

…Instead of dying like this, shriveling up.

He had turned down the man who offered to guide him even if it meant being caught by the boss. What had he said again?

“Jaeha!”

“Oh, Harin.”

He snapped out of it at the sound of her voice. She stood in front of the secret door in the storage room, holding a first aid kit with a distressed face.

She had screamed earlier upon seeing Jaeha’s bruised face when she came into work. After he reassured her and said he was organizing the storage, he had come back up, only to be greeted with that expression and awkwardly laughed.

“Come here. I’ll put some ointment on you.”

“Okay…”

He didn’t feel like rejecting her warm gesture, so he scratched his head sheepishly and sat down on the bar stool she pulled out.

“Geez, how badly did you fall?”

“Haha, I tumbled down the stairs pretty hard.”

“You should be more careful!”

She grumbled, but her hands applying ointment and patching him up were full of care. The kind of care Jaeha had always longed for since his days in the orphanage.

After she diligently applied the ointment and stuck several band-aids on him, his face felt itchy. When their eyes met, Harin gave a sheepish smile.

[This is your chance. You need to make a good impression.]

“Jaeha…”

“Yeah?”

“…Thanks for the advance payment back then.”

“I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve thanked me now.”

Of course, Jaeha knew there was a reason Harin cared for him so earnestly. If her life circumstances hadn’t been what they were, she wouldn’t have been working at this small, hidden bar with barely any customers. But still, despite her cheerful and sociable appearance, she was painfully aware of her lower status and constantly read his mood. Reading that part of her was bittersweet.

“As long as you work hard in return, it’s fine. Let’s start the opening prep, shall we?”

“Yeah. Oh, we’re out of lemons—should I go get some?”

“That would be great. Here’s the money.”

He fished some cash out of his pocket and handed it to her. Harin accepted it with a smile.

“Buy yourself a snack if there’s any change.”

“Yes!”

He could at least do that much for a twenty-year-old who gave up on college to support her younger sibling by working four part-time jobs. Even if he wasn’t in a position to be sticking his nose into others’ business, this much made him feel like he was still living as a human being.

After sending her out of the store, he resumed the opening preparations. He swept and wiped, prepared ingredients, checked the ice, and polished the glasses.

Thanks to being mentally dazed after receiving guiding yesterday, he hadn’t taken out the trash properly. As the last step of opening prep, he carried a big garbage bag and stepped out of the bar. It was cold and made him shiver. He lugged the bag over to the large garbage bin in the damp alleyway and heaved it in.

“You bastard, are you done talking?”

“Who knows…”

Someone was fighting. It was getting close to evening, and since it was winter, the sky had darkened a bit, making it hard to make out who the two figures were. But fights in hidden alleys like this weren’t uncommon. After all, wasn’t he working in an illegal guiding facility himself?

Normally, he would’ve quickly held his breath and rushed back inside to avoid getting caught up in anything.

Though Jaeha was an esper, he was a mental-type. While mental-types were considered rare and powerful, the reality was the opposite. Their energy waves were so erratic that most guides couldn’t even attempt to guide them, and physically they were weaker than other types. He’d heard they were the most useless esper type inside a gate. There was a reason even a normal person like Manager Kang could beat him up and leave him groaning in pain.

He had perfected the art of being cautious and watching others’ moods. But for some reason, today, his feet wouldn’t move.

And the reason why became clear very soon.