AAGULT Ch 6

Chapter 6

 

When their eyes met again, the man tilted his head slightly to the side and smiled faintly. Jaeha also gave a vague smile.

“It’s pretty cold out, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is……”

“With Christmas coming up, I thought there’d be more customers.”

[He’s an Esper… Why would an Esper be here?]

Just as Jaeha had sensed that the man was a Guide, the man had also detected Jaeha’s presence and wave, and his eyes narrowed. He was clearly suspicious of Jaeha and of this bar that had no customers despite the season. Why? Ah, the “signal”? It must’ve been from the illegal Guiding facility.

Half the Guides working downstairs were there to pay off debts. And because they were illegal Guides unaffiliated with the Association, the ones they had to guide were mostly unregistered Espers. Those who crawled in with nearly shredded waves because they hadn’t received proper Guiding—how gentle could their hands be?

Though the organization prohibited excessive contact during Guiding, just imagining what the Guides had to face sent chills down his spine. It was understandable that they secretly asked the Association for help. Honestly, Jaeha wanted to do the same.

But even though it had been nearly six years since he’d been caught infiltrating a rival organization within a day, he had no idea how to avoid the man’s suspicion now. Pretending not to understand the man’s words, he focused on cutting and muddling a fresh lime to make a gin and tonic. Just then, Harin chimed in beside him.

“Right? Please give it a try, and if you like it, could you help spread the word?”

“Haha, should I?”

“Our boss is just too modest, that’s the problem.”

Her light chatter mixed playfulness with flattery. The deep suspicion in the man’s heart had put Jaeha on edge, but now the tension began to ease.

“Haha… maybe it’s just bad luck. Plus, the bar’s a bit hidden, so that doesn’t help. Was it difficult to find?”

Picking up naturally from Harin’s words, he handed over the freshly made gin and tonic. With bright mint leaves on top, it looked quite decent.

The man smiled.

[His wave is weak—maybe around F-class. The one next to him’s a total civilian.]

“……I did find this place by chance.”

[I should check out other places too……]

“That makes it feel even more like a gift.”

Of course, Jaeha wasn’t an F-class Esper. Espers who could read thoughts were rare, and when the organization tested him last time, he scored around B or A class. His wave, fitting of a mental-type Esper, was quite bizarre.

There’s no way someone of that man’s level couldn’t sense his wave, so this had to be thanks to the ampoule he took just 20 minutes ago. It had unnaturally suppressed his wave to the point it barely registered. Since it was an illegal drug absorbed into his body, the Association Guide wouldn’t have encountered anything like it…….

Plus, with civilian Harin beside him, all of that together was probably what let him narrowly avoid suspicion. Cold sweat dripped down the back of his neck. Still, Jaeha loosened his expression and smiled cheerfully.

“That’s a relief. Please come again. I’ll make it delicious for you.”

No, please don’t come again. He smiled glibly while chanting a silent prayer inside.

After sipping the gin and tonic, the man responded.

“I’ll come often.”

Their eyes met again. The jet-black eyes, dark enough to seem almost bluish, resembled the boss’s. No light entered them, but they still struck Jaeha as beautiful. As they curved gently, his thick lashes quivered like bare winter branches.

Jaeha stared into those eyes, wondering if the man had truly dropped his suspicion. He needed to read his thoughts.

But Jaeha was caught off guard.

[Looking closely, he’s kinda cute.]

…What?

[I’m turned on.]

Jaeha immediately choked and had to turn his head, unable to suppress the cough that rose up.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the man only had one gin and tonic before leaving, but Jaeha’s mind was in full alert.

The bar had only recently opened. If he closed up so early, it would look suspicious, so pretending to take an urgent phone call, he left Harin in charge and slipped away.

He hurried to the basement. First, he had to find the Guide who had sent the signal. He also had to figure out why the signal had been cut midway. After that, he’d need to report to the manager or the boss that someone from the Association had come. He had been trained repeatedly on how to handle such situations, but this being his first real experience, his head was spinning.

“J-Jaeha……!”

But when he reached the basement, what greeted him was different from what he had expected. As soon as he opened the door after descending the stairs, a hand suddenly shot out from the side. Jaeha, who wasn’t a combat-type Esper and had never trained for this kind of situation, had his wrist caught with a snap.

“……!”

“Jaeha, please. Just this once……”

[If I get Guided, if I get Guided……]

The moment their eyes met, the thought rang out clearly and made Jaeha flinch. Just as he knew them well, they knew him. They knew how he was treated within the organization and that he suffered from being forbidden to receive Guiding. That was why they were trying to coax him, trying to Guide him.

Jaeha’s future flashed before his eyes like a reel of film. If he accepted the Guiding, the boss would eventually find out, and then he’d be punished again. A burn on the tongue from a cigarette would be the least of it. Surely, he would……

“N-no!”

Jaeha made a quick decision and yanked his hand away, panicked.

The Guiding had just barely seeped into his skin before it was cut off. That fleeting sensation was so comforting and dreamy that instead of pushing it away, he wanted to grab that hand and lie down before him. But he somehow held onto his sanity.

In the constant pain that wracked his body, the area touched by the Guide briefly felt relief before the pain returned. He hadn’t realized how much pain he was in until it eased, and when it came back, it hurt even more.

Groaning, Jaeha stepped back and leaned against the wall. He couldn’t let the Guide try Guiding him again.

“Jiwon, Jiwon. What are you doing?”

“L-like I said… I must’ve gone a little crazy for a moment. I wasn’t really trying to report anything.”

The one who had been rejected rubbed his own wrist and pleaded. Knowing that lying to Jaeha wouldn’t work, he seemed to have confessed right away. As the commotion stirred, a few Guides peeked out from other Guiding rooms to see what was going on. Caught in a bind, Jaeha furrowed his brows.

“Report… Ah, that was the reason.”

“It was a real mistake.”

Kim Jiwon, a Guide Jaeha knew.

If he remembered correctly, he’d ended up here because of his father’s debt. While Association Guides earned a stable salary, illegal Guiding paid much more despite being dangerous. Also, although unregistered Espers had severely damaged waves, they were far fewer in number than Association-affiliated Espers, so there weren’t many to Guide.

He had originally been affiliated with the Association but had faked an early retirement to come here, so it wasn’t surprising he knew how to report back to the Association.

He was a kind person. Hearing his desperate plea made Jaeha’s heart soften.

“……What happened?”

He figured he might as well listen. Since other Guides were peeking curiously, he led Jiwon to the common break room. Perhaps reassured, Jiwon hesitated before beginning to speak.

This is what he said: It was true that he started this job because of his father’s debt, but thanks to it, he was able to start paying it off little by little. But then, his younger sibling found out that he was Guiding for a villain organization. That caused conflict, and wanting to feel morally right in front of his sibling, he pressed the alert by mistake while struggling with the decision… Then, remembering that half the debt still remained, he hurried to turn off the transmitter.

“…….”

“J-Jaeha, you understand what I’m going through. Please, just this once, don’t report me to the boss……”

He couldn’t. Jiwon’s situation wasn’t incomprehensible. But Jaeha had his own problems.

Hearing his story helped him piece together the overall situation. He had a hunch who that strong Guide from earlier was. He was quite famous, after all.

Aiden. One of only thirteen S-class Guides in the entire world, known for his kindness and gentleness.

While information about Espers who fought on the frontlines against gates was widely known, Guides generally kept their identities more private. But Aiden was an exception. He didn’t make public appearances like Espers, but he was South Korea’s first and only S-class Guide. There was no way his existence wouldn’t be known.

And, he was… also the president of the Guide Human Rights Association.

So it wouldn’t be strange at all if he had come personally to take down an illegal Guiding facility operated by a villain group. An S-class Guide was virtually unkillable. What kind of Esper would kill an S-class Guide? And what kind of Esper would let them die? Even if they wanted to die, they couldn’t. Caught between reverence and obsession, high-ranking Guides lived long lives—whether they wanted to or not.

“I’ll secretly Guide you instead, without the boss knowing.”

“…….”

If he told the manager, the report would definitely reach the boss. Was it lucky he hadn’t called yet? Rationally, it was the right move to report this immediately and avoid the fallout. But……

He had always told himself, ‘Someday I’ll atone for my sins.’ So could he really report this now? Just to protect himself?

“No……”

He couldn’t.

After hesitating for a long time, Jaeha finally spoke. Even after all these years, his conscience hadn’t hardened. Pathetic and foolish as ever……

“Guiding… is okay. I just… I just can’t be Guided.”

“Jaeha… Jaeha……”

“……I won’t tell anyone. Just this once. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep it secret next time……”

“……Thank you, Jaeha.”

He had made a difficult decision.