Episode 10
“Still, couldn’t you let at least Seo Ijae leave work?”
Ijae scrunched up his face openly now, as if he were tired. Unbothered by Ijae’s expression, Goeun simply smiled brightly and looked up at him.
“There are set working hours, and it’s a schedule where we only leave after the next worker arrives. Even if you do this, Ms. Yi Goeun….”
“What’s this, Ijae? A friend came to hang out at the store?”
“Hello, Manager. Ms. Yi Goeun, you should head back now too.”
Startled by the manager’s sudden appearance, Ijae hurriedly told Goeun to go home, but she didn’t budge. The café manager looked back and forth between Ijae and Goeun and let out a soft chuckle, a faint smile forming on his face.
“Seeing you shy, she must be your girlfriend? Seo Ijae, you’ve grown up, all grown up. To think you know how to bring your girlfriend to the store.”
“She’s not my girlfriend….”
“I’ll let it slide today. The store happens to be slow, so I’ll let you take off early. What are you doing? Hurry up and go. Your girlfriend is waiting.”
“She’s not my girlf….”
“What are you doing, Seo Ijae? The manager is telling you to leave.”
As the manager kept insisting he leave, even nudging his back, Ijae finished changing out of his uniform and looked at Goeun with a dumbfounded expression.
“Looks like you’re leaving work, Seo Ijae.”
“Don’t follow me.”
“Are you going home now? Won’t you go somewhere nice with me?”
As if trying to shake Goeun off, Ijae began walking quickly with his long legs, taking large strides. Not to be outdone, Goeun nimbly trotted after him.
“No. I’m going to another part-time job.”
“You have another part-time job? On weekdays, the café job is the end, isn’t it?”
“Have you now resorted to investigating my background?”
Ijae snapped irritably at Goeun but didn’t stop walking. Thanks to working out hard all this time, Goeun fortunately didn’t lack stamina, but the problem was speed.
Perhaps because Ijae was around 190cm tall, his legs were long and lanky like a giraffe’s. His stride was roughly twice Goeun’s. Taking two or three steps for each of Ijae’s quick strides, Goeun was practically running to keep up.
“Well, it’s because I’m very interested in you, Seo Ijae.”
“Please refrain from making remarks that could be misunderstood. Earlier, the manager got a strange idea because of that….”
“You get to leave early, so it’s totally a gain. It’s not like your hourly wage will be cut. Then I’m the one who helped you earn money, Seo Ijae!”
“…Please.”
Eventually, caught by the crosswalk signal, Ijae stopped walking. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and scrunched up his face as if his head ached.
“How long do you plan on following me?”
“Hmm, until you say you’ll be my pair guide?”
“Are there so few Guides in Seongun?”
Ijae’s usually flat voice dropped lower than usual. He seemed to be the type whose voice sank instead of rose when angry.
“Even Yi Naeun… no, even my older sister couldn’t exceed a forty percent matching rate with me. But honestly, you know it too, Seo Ijae. Our matching rate is unprecedented. Given the situation, I really wish you would be my guide.”
In that moment, Goeun’s hair, tied up high, swayed in the wind. At her appearance, like a puppy wagging its tail, Ijae shook his head vigorously.
“I distinctly remember telling you that I don’t want to die.”
Right as the signal changed, Ijae stepped onto the crosswalk without looking back. Worried she might lose him, Goeun hurriedly chased close behind.
“Seo Ijae, what part-time job are you going to now?”
“Do I have to answer that?”
“It’d be nice if you told me. Then it wouldn’t be something I found out secretly, so you’d feel less annoyed.”
“Stop bothering me, please…!”
“Huh?”
“Watch out—!”
It was the moment Ijae was about to step onto the opposite crosswalk. Before Goeun had even finished crossing, a car making a right turn from the alley rapidly closed the distance.
At first, Ijae thought the car would slow down on its own since the driver had spotted a pedestrian. But contrary to his expectation, the car did not slow down. When the distance between the car and Goeun was less than a meter, his body moved first.
It happened in an instant. Ijae urgently grabbed Goeun’s arm and pulled her into his embrace. The car maintained its speed until Goeun was buried in Ijae’s chest, whizzing past the two of them.
Goeun, who had been walking while only looking at Ijae and failed to notice the car, quietly rolled her eyes about in confusion, wondering what exactly was going on.
“Wow.”
“What, did you get hit? Does it hurt anywhere?”
It was then that Ijae hurriedly tried to check on Goeun in his embrace.
“Seo Ijae, you’re seriously the best.”
“…What?”
“I feel so refreshed, like I slept deeply and woke up.”
Goeun’s eyes sparkled.
Could such a thing even be possible? This was the first time in her life Goeun had felt such refreshment. The moment she was in Ijae’s embrace, it felt as though her organs, which had been so sensitive they were nearly paralyzed, had returned to normal.
Goeun wanted to feel this sensation for a long time. So she stretched her arms out and wrapped them around Ijae’s waist. She could vividly feel his large frame flinch. Ijae’s body was stiffening up.
“Ms. Yi Goeun, what are you doing right now….”
“Seo Ijae… do you know? If an Esper goes too long without guiding, their stomach churns like they have motion sickness, a strange beeping sound rings in their ears, and their head keeps hurting? Even if you take medicine, the effects are really only temporary.”
“I’m not an Esper, so I don’t know. Nor do I want to know.”
“But just now, the moment you hugged me, all of that completely disappeared—”
“…It wasn’t a hug.”
“Huh?”
“It’s nothing.”
Having listened quietly to Goeun, Ijae eventually peeled away the small frame clinging tightly to him.
“Seo Ijae, I think you’re really gifted. You’re the first guide who’s ever soothed my insides like this.”
“No, there will be many others besides me.”
“Do you know how many guides I met during the special recruitment and still say such things?”
“I don’t know. Nor do I need to.”
Ijae sped up his walking. Desperately turning his head away to avoid Goeun, who kept trying to look at his face, he averted his gaze.
“Seo Ijae, you’re good at everything, but that in particular doesn’t seem good. You’re negative about everything.”
“Then find a guide who’s positive about everything.”
“Huh?”
“Then goodbye, Ms. Yi Goeun. When crossing the road, be sure to watch out for cars.”
Goeun, who had been following Ijae’s back without even knowing where he was going, suddenly stopped walking. Before her eyes, a door that she hadn’t noticed appear shut with a swish.
“He said he was going to work.”
Having only followed Ijae’s back, Goeun finally checked where she had arrived and shook her head.
The place Ijae had fled to avoid Goeun was none other than the school library. Once again, he made it obvious that he didn’t have a single friend.
* * *
“Ijae, your girlfriend’s here.”
“Seo Ijae!”
Today, as always, Goeun had shown up at the café as if clocking in for work. She smiled brightly and waved her hand toward Ijae. The moment he saw her, the space between Ijae’s brows narrowed ever so slightly.
“Goeun’s here?”
“Hello, Manager! The weather was so nice today—did you see the sky?”
Perhaps because she came so often, the manager had become quite close with Goeun. Goeun entered the store and naturally sat in the seat right in front of the counter, resting her chin on her hand and grinning.
“Of course I saw it. It was a shame I could only see it for a brief moment while coming to work.”
“Then shall I let you leave early today? I’ll just clear out the entire store!”
“What? Hey, Ijae. Look at what Goeun says. She really has guts.”
They had even developed to the point of exchanging jokes. Ijae looked at the two of them and let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded.
“Ijae must be happy. Having a rich and cute girlfriend.”
“She’s not my girlfriend…. Manager, may I step out for a moment to talk?”
The manager firmly believed Goeun was Ijae’s girlfriend, and Ijae was the only one actively trying to clear up that misunderstanding. Goeun didn’t particularly deny it, acting as though she didn’t mind being misunderstood.
“Yeah, you looked a bit tired, so rest for a bit and come back.”
“No. I’ll just talk for a moment and come back.”
“Ijae, you’re too diligent for your own good, really. Oh, and don’t tell your girlfriend not to come! Every time she visits, she buys so much. She’s a benefactor, this girl.”
“…Thank you.”
Moreover, since she filled the daily sales amount all by herself every time she came, the manager rather welcomed Goeun’s visits.
Ijae bowed deeply to the manager, took off his hat and apron, and jutted his chin to signal her to follow. Goeun got up from her seat and scurried over.
“Come to think of it, Seo Ijae, you don’t look well. Aren’t you overdoing it these days?”
Following the manager’s comment that he looked tired, she stealthily assessed Ijae’s face. Unlike a few days ago, his complexion was noticeably poor. It would be stranger if he weren’t tired, given that he was working several difficult part-time jobs at once.
“Ms. Yi Goeun.”
“Yes, Seo Ijae.”
“Isn’t it about time you stopped?”
But Ijae didn’t answer Goeun’s question. He simply wanted to sort out this situation quickly.
“It’s because you won’t even consider my conditions, Seo Ijae. I have no choice.”
“I believe I clearly conveyed my intentions then.”
The gaze Ijae directed at Goeun was cold.
“Ah, I know. Your feelings, Seo Ijae. I know them all too well. As if I wouldn’t know when I follow you around every day.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t know Ijae’s heart, but Goeun couldn’t help but be desperate. The shadow of death was rapidly approaching within two months, to the point where she would wake from sleep and retch.
“You coming to find me every day is very uncomfortable….”
“But these days, the stores where you work have their sales shooting up because of me, don’t the owners adore you?”
Goeun had visited not only the café but also the fried chicken restaurant where Ijae worked and the logistics center where he occasionally took shifts. She had boosted the chicken restaurant’s sales by several days’ worth, and every time she went to the logistics center, she brought armfuls of lunchboxes and snacks.
Thanks to that, quite a few people who knew Ijae thought Goeun was his girlfriend. Even if that weren’t the case, since he had an image of being taciturn and timid, everyone seemed to think he was simply being shy.
“Is this how rich people show off their money these days?”
“I don’t know about other rich people, but I do.”
Since the only thing she could use to show her charm to Seo Ijae was her wealth, what choice did she have? It was the best method for Goeun. And Yi Goeun’s looks didn’t seem to be Seo Ijae’s type, either. Then perhaps money was indeed the only thing with which one could lure someone in.
However, contrary to Goeun’s thoughts, Ijae scrunched up his face deeply and let out a heavy sigh as if the ground would cave in.
“If you want to show off your money, donate it to other needy neighbors instead of me. Don’t follow me around needlessly.”