TGIC Ch 13

Chapter 13

My heart felt unsettled.

Since that day, I hadn’t touched my smartphone or the internet at all. I simply lay in my room, staring blankly at the ceiling. I must have forgotten what kind of person Vasily was because of how normal he’d acted since I came back to the past. So much so that even the hatred I once harbored toward him had temporarily dulled.

Vasily was far from normal. He was a cruel human being, no different from a monster inside a Gate. Just as I had said, he would never be able to understand the behavior or mindset of ordinary people. He was born that way and would continue living that way.

I knew how much pain an Esper suffered without a Guide. They endured headaches so excruciating it felt like their heads were splitting open, and without the ability to control their powers, they ended up devouring their own bodies.

Yet I couldn’t even feel pity for Vasily. When I closed my eyes, the faces of countless victims he had killed appeared vividly. He needed to suffer without a Guide, if only to atone for the sins he had committed.

Vasily would no longer try to approach me. After all, he’d been rejected by a mere C-rank Guide, and that alone would have upset him enough to twist his mood entirely.

Yes, this is how it should end. I made up my mind to live quietly, out of Vasily’s sight, and returned to work.

A normal commute, normal weather, a normal day.

From now on, my life would be normal too. I would live an uneventful life—commuting to work and receiving a salary like everyone else.

I did consider returning as an S-rank Guide to look for another Esper once Vasily found a Guide of his own. But I also felt that just getting rid of the illegal suppression chip and continuing to live as a temporary Guide wasn’t such a bad idea. At least that way, I wouldn’t have to suffer from another strange Esper.

I truly believed that this kind of peaceful daily life would continue from now on…

“…What the…?”

—Sorry.

As soon as I arrived at work, I froze in confusion upon seeing the extravagant bouquet placed on my desk along with the message card nestled within it. Vivid red roses. It looked like a hundred of them, enough to take up the entire desk…

I didn’t even need to check the sender to know who it was.

With a heavy sigh, I was still looking at the bouquet when Jo Woo-yeon approached and asked,

“Gidam, what’s with the bouquet?”

“Haha… yeah, really…”

I stared at the elegant handwriting on the card, overwhelmed with confusion.

And it wasn’t just that day. The next day, and the day after that—every single day, a bouquet was placed on my desk. No matter how early I arrived, there was always a bouquet already waiting for me.

At this point, people would whisper when I walked by. I started getting headaches worrying that weird rumors might spread. Just entering the office in the morning, the overwhelming floral scent made me nauseous.

I ruffled my hair in frustration and muttered curses under my breath. I searched online to see what Vasily was up to these days, but nothing came up, which only irritated me more. I wanted to ask him to stop sending the flowers, but my pride wouldn’t allow me to be the one to go to him first.

I simply couldn’t understand Vasily’s way of thinking. After being rejected that strongly, wouldn’t most people take the hint and stay away? Why was he doing this to me?

And so, once again, my daily routine began with throwing away a bouquet.

When I tried to throw them out in the office, people would make remarks like “Why are you throwing flowers away?” So instead, I headed to a less-frequented floor. The bouquet was so ridiculously large that it didn’t even fit in the trash can all at once. I had to separate it and dispose of it in parts—just the kind of annoying detail Vasily would have meticulously planned. Only Vasily would find such a novel way to mess with someone.

As I began my rounds to the second-floor trash bin, I heard voices whispering from a crowd gathered in the hallway.

“Did you hear? Esper Vasily came to the Esper Association today.”

“Oh! So that’s why it was so noisy this morning? No wonder there were so many people across the road…”

Vasily showed up at the Esper Association? The bouquet in my hand and Vasily’s name sprang to mind one after another, and a surge of anger boiled up inside me.

I’ve been wasting my energy explaining these stupid bouquets to everyone, and he’s just breezing into work?

With a grim look, I left the Guide Association building, still holding the bouquet. It must have looked strange—a grown man carrying a massive bouquet of red roses. Everyone I passed turned to look and whisper.

I didn’t care and kept walking. I stormed across the street to the Esper Association and marched straight to the room where I guessed Vasily would be.

“Vasily!”

I flung open the door and burst in with dramatic flair…

Only to be met with countless eyes fixed on me.

“…”

The solemn members of the Association and Vasily, who had turned his head away, covering his mouth. Judging by the way his shoulders trembled, he was definitely laughing.

“I’m sorry. I must have the wrong room.”

“No, you’re exactly where you need to be, Guide Kwon Gidam.”

“No, sorry for disturbing you.”

“Didn’t you come to see me? Looks like you even brought flowers.”

Damn it. This bouquet is nothing but trouble.

I belatedly tried to hide it behind my back, but it was too big to conceal. I forced a stiff smile and began backing away awkwardly.

“Haha… well, I’ll just be going…”

“Where are you going?”

As I tried to close the door and leave, Vasily suddenly appeared behind me and grabbed my shoulder.

I quickly whispered to him in a low voice,

“Aren’t you in the middle of a meeting? Let go of me.”

“No.”

“Are you really going to cause a scene with me in front of everyone? Let’s talk later.”

“Are the people making you uncomfortable? Then I’ll kick them out—come inside.”

“N-no, that’s not what I meant…!”

I tried to leave, but his overwhelming strength pulled me back inside against my will.

Then Vasily turned to the staff and said,

“Out.”

It was a curt, disrespectful command, but the Association members quietly stood up and left. The fact that no one protested told me they knew the real Vasily.

They were clearly high-ranking members. I subtly lowered my head in a gesture that looked like a bow, trying to hide my employee badge around my neck.

“…”

Once everyone had left, the room fell silent. Looking at the hand Vasily still had on me, I spoke.

“Let go of me now, please.”

“I’ll let go if you promise not to run.”

“…”

What kind of logic is that? Of course I’ll run the moment you let go.

When I stayed silent for a long time, Vasily chuckled as if amused, then finally released me with an entertained expression.

He should’ve just done that from the start. I shook off the hand he had grabbed and shoved the bouquet roughly into his arms.

“This is the first time I’ve ever been proposed to by a man.”

“What nonsense are you spouting? Stop sending these things.”

I shot him a cold glare as he muttered nonsense like it was nothing and turned to leave. But then…

Click.

The doorknob wouldn’t turn.

Click, click.

No matter how many times I tried, it didn’t budge. Now that I looked closely, the doorknob felt icy. When I looked down, I saw the lock was completely frozen over.

“…Ha.”

I let out a deep, furious sigh and turned around. Vasily was still there, grinning obnoxiously as he sniffed the flowers.

“…What are you doing?”

“You brought this bouquet all the way here just to give it to me?”

“Aren’t you the one who sent it?!”

“How did you even know which room was mine…? Did you look it up online? Well, since you’re here, why not sit for a while?”

There was no reasoning with him. Feeling a headache building, I half gave up and sank into the sofa.

While I was burning up inside, the atmosphere here was completely peaceful. It was a quiet time of day, and the sky beyond the large windows was a clear, brilliant blue.

Vasily sat sipping coffee with elegance. The extravagant bouquet and his handsome face suited each other absurdly well… No, wait. That’s not the point.

Seeing him now, I realized why I had let my guard down. He looked noticeably different from the sharp-edged man I would come to know six years later. Of course, he was still strange even now, but things had only worsened as time went on.

As I glared at him openly, Vasily asked,

“Are you not afraid of me anymore?”

“…Excuse me?”

“When we first met, you couldn’t even look me in the face.”

“Oh…”

Now that I thought about it, ever since I returned to the past, I’d always been on edge around Vasily. I tried to act nonchalant, but he must have noticed. And even knowing that, he still sought me out and bothered me—his personality really was problematic.

“I’m sorry.”

Vasily suddenly apologized.

“I thought about why you got so angry.”

“…”

“If I had killed that Esper on the spot, you would’ve been in trouble, right?”

What the…? My eyes widened at his seemingly sincere remorse.

“I should’ve broken his hand first instead of freezing his head.”

…Of course.

There’s no way Vasily would ever feel guilty. The small flicker of hope that had briefly lit up inside me was extinguished instantly.