AAGULT Ch 27

Chapter 27

 

“If Baek Beomwoo’s side has a way to identify espers before manifestation, then this could be quite a headache……”

“I don’t think it’s anything like that.”

“……Really?”

Despite being rudely cut off mid-sentence, the association president snapped his head up to look at Aiden. Strange as he was, he was still competent, so he held a sliver of hope.

“He’s a pervert.”

“……”

The president’s gaze dulled. He looked as if he wanted to say, “You’re one to talk.” Aiden, reading his mind, still wore a shameless smile like a steel mask.

Only then did he lower the legs he had rested on the desk and got up to walk toward the table in the center. The tall and slender man, though not an esper, moved with agility.

He picked up the suppressant that the guide who had infiltrated Baek Beomwoo’s organization had barely managed to retrieve. Spinning gracefully like a dance, he hummed lightly.

“……”

He lifted it slightly and held it up to the fluorescent light. The transparent, bluish liquid was clearly an artificially created color—sickly to look at.

Aiden, who had been lazily examining the ampoule from various angles, tore it open.

And then, he lightly drank it. Since there was only a small amount to begin with, the contents vanished in one gulp. It was a drug that had been meant to be examined before being sent to the lab.

“……!”

“Guide-nim! You can’t just drink that!”

The secretary, having witnessed the act, gasped with her mouth open, and the president shouted in alarm. Of course, as always, Aiden didn’t acknowledge them. He casually tossed the now-empty ampoule behind him. The flustered secretary, who had thrown her tablet aside, rushed to catch the falling vial with her hands.

Fortunately, a few drops precariously remained inside.

Aiden, who had given the two a scare, calmly closed his eyes.

“Mmm.”

The liquid slid down his throat, and he silently waited for the effects. As Aiden grew quiet, the other two tensed up in silence as well.

“……”

“……”

Before long, Aiden opened his eyes wide. His eyes, curved like a sly fox’s, gleamed menacingly. The corners of his lips stretched up.

Then he burst into laughter. It was clear and refreshing.

“Ah, Baek Beomwoo. That creepy bastard……”

“Guide-nim, are you sure you’re okay? Shouldn’t we run some tests—”

“—This is the suppressant that was supposed to go to Song Jaeha, right? That guide.”

“……So I heard.”

Unfazed even after recklessly ingesting an unknown drug that could have serious side effects, the man casually tapped the tablet he had thrown on the desk earlier.

“It’s not in distribution.”

“……You’re sure?”

“I think they’re giving something different only to Song Jaeha. Let me know after you analyze it.”

“Understood.”

Aiden, who had infiltrated District B-3 but somehow ended up flowing into District A-5, confirmed the guide’s profile through his tablet and rolled his eyes.

“If anything happens near A-5, or if a major gate opens, let me know.”

“……You intend to participate?”

With his business concluded, Aiden walked toward the door. He turned back after grabbing the handle. Tilting his head to the side and resting it against the door, he smiled shyly. To an outsider, it might have looked like a pretty man acting coy, but knowing his personality, the president and secretary felt a chill down their spines.

“I got dumped. Isn’t that pitiful?”

“……So?”

“I want to try to win him back.”

“……”

His flushed whispering face looked more like someone who had been confessed to than someone who’d been rejected. The president found himself full of questions—what that had to do with gates, whether he truly wanted a relationship with that illegal esper, what on earth he was planning to do…

But before he could ask any of them, the man was already out the door. The office fell into silence, like after a storm had passed.

“……”

“……Anyway, go on. It’s Christmas. You should go home early too.”

“Yes, sir……”

The president leaned back on the sofa and let out a deep sigh. Then, he groaned in frustration.

“Why the hell is that lunatic an S-rank……”

His lament was swallowed by the stillness.

“Did I miscount……?”

Jaeha tilted his head, confused as he counted the remaining ampoules. While organizing the box he had received via the manager, the numbers seemed off, and he bit his lip.

Then he remembered taking a handful of them all at once when the boss had visited. He must’ve miscounted then.

“Jaeha-nim!”

“Yes.”

Christmas and the weekend had passed in the blink of an eye. It had already been a few days since he stood him up and broke things off via text. The weekend ended, and the weekday routine resumed.

Harin, now back at work, called him, and he quickly stepped out of the storage room, poking his head out. Her cheeks were flushed, probably from just arriving, and she gave a cheerful smile. Jaeha smiled faintly in return.

“Did you have a nice Christmas?”

“Of course. You too, Harin?”

“Yes. Thanks to you, I got to have dinner with my sister for the first time in a while.”

Her warm and playful greeting helped lift Jaeha’s spirits, which had been gloomily gray for days.

Wiping his hands on his tidy black apron, he stepped out of the storage room. Harin, unloading goods, widened her eyes in surprise when she saw him.

“You sure you had a good one? Your face is so pale.”

“Oh, you know. I’ve got insomnia.”

He gave a sheepish smile as she came closer, looking concerned. A lot had happened in a short time. Perhaps due to excessive suppressant use, his wavelength had deteriorated rapidly despite having received guiding beforehand. It had almost reverted to how things were before he met Aiden, making it feel like that meeting was just a dream.

“But still……”

If she pried any further, it would be troublesome, but even so, Jaeha appreciated her concern. Even if he was scolded for being immature, he didn’t mind.

As he took off his jacket and put on the bartender’s black apron, Harin continued to glance at him, and he found comfort in her gaze.

[…]

Perhaps due to his recent weakness, or maybe from mental exhaustion, even though their eyes met, he couldn’t hear her thoughts. Jaeha had never trained to control his ability and saw it as a relief. Even if he could understand Harin’s constant need to read the room beneath her friendly exterior, he felt it might be a little sad to confirm it right now.

Ding.

“Huh.”

The phone on the bar table rang. Since it wasn’t facedown, the message was clearly visible.

Jaeha-ssi, I’ll be waiting for your reply.

“Gasp.”

Harin, whose gaze had followed naturally, gasped and shyly covered her mouth. Then she gave him a playful look, likely misinterpreting the situation romantically.

“……It’s not like that.”

“Oh please. It’s that guy from before, right? The pretty one.”

“……How did you know?”

Startled by her spot-on guess, Jaeha reacted defensively as he hurried to flip his phone over and pretend he hadn’t seen the message. Harin giggled, lightly tapping his arm as she responded teasingly.

“How could I not? Didn’t you see how his eyes sparkled when he looked at you? I bet he was totally into you.”

“……”

She mimicked wide eyes and pointed at her own as she grinned mischievously.

Well, he was into something… He’d said he wanted to XX his XX or maybe XXX his XXXX. Still a weirdo, even in hindsight.

“……Anyway, it’s not like that.”

“If you say so……”

Though she didn’t seem convinced, Harin pretended to accept it and began cleaning the shop floor. Trying to suppress his complicated feelings, Jaeha turned back to organizing the ingredients but kept glancing toward his flipped-over phone.

“……”

Even while scrubbing with lemon, baking soda, and vinegar, he kept glancing at his phone. Eventually, when Harin stepped out to throw away the trash, he couldn’t resist and opened the phone.

“……”

Did something happen?

I’ll wait.

It was from the 25th, the day of.

He really was such a fool and so dense. For someone who was an S-rank guide—so kind, gentle, and beautiful—someone like him probably meant nothing. That’s why he thought a single curt breakup message would suffice. He figured the guy would say, “Really? Oh well,” and move on.

Maybe he should’ve at least ended things face-to-face.

No, he knew he couldn’t. Jaeha understood himself well. If he saw that face again, he’d be swayed by his words or his looks and catch feelings he had no right to hold.

Did I do something wrong?

I want to talk in person.

Please…

Face-to-face? Just replying would be enough to drag him back in. God, what a spineless idiot… He clenched his eyes shut and then opened them again.

In the end, he turned the screen off once more. Trying to squash his lingering feelings, he tucked the scarf away in a drawer in his upstairs room.

It was pointless, though. If Aiden came to the bar in person, it would all unravel. But for some reason, he didn’t show up again. It had only been a few days, so it wasn’t strange. Still, the thought that he might show up suddenly brought both anxiety and a strange sense of anticipation.

Ding-a-ling.

As if to cut through his wandering thoughts, the bar’s door opened.