Episode 8
“Yes, but what about it?”
“Then is it because you’re an Esper that you didn’t receive any special education?”
“No, it’s not exactly that….”
Goeun pressed her lips tightly shut with an “Ah,” as if she had only just remembered. She had the original’s memories. The “marking” spoken of in the Guideverse’s worldview. The setting she had forgotten for a moment because she’d been out of it after possession had finally come back to her.
“Marking” was a type of contract formed between an Esper and a Guide. However, this contract was not a simple process of stamping a signature or seal with a bang on a piece of paper. It was mixing energy with the other party. This process was commonly called guiding, and marking was the highest level of physical contact among them.
“Ah, I didn’t say that with any other meaning.”
Feeling as though she had inadvertently committed sexual harassment, a flustered Goeun quickly explained herself.
Waking up in the middle of the night was a common occurrence, given the feeling of living with a time bomb inside her body. She was always dizzy and nauseous, and even in daily life, her nerves were on edge; it felt like she was suffering from chronic fatigue. But all this fatigue had subsided the moment she met Seo Ijae.
Of course, it hadn’t settled completely. Her energy waves were still unstable, but since she was not yet officially manifested, merely being near him made her feel much better.
Seo Ijae wouldn’t know. No, those who weren’t Espers wouldn’t know even if they died and came back to life. How tormenting this was. Every moment, her heart alternated between heaven and hell. The thought that she might be better off dead had always dominated her mind.
“I misspoke. It’s not that I can’t see straight because of the medicine… Rather, I apologize for suddenly blurting out marking… or whatever upon first meeting.”
“I do understand, seeing as your waves are far from ordinary, but….”
Ijae glanced at Goeun. He noticed her cheeks, flushed for reasons different from his own, and the beads of sweat on her forehead. Not to mention her breathing, which grew rougher as time passed.
Ijae recalled what Goeun had said to him at the café. Hadn’t she said she wasn’t a formal Esper yet because she was pre-awakening? She’d said she was S-rank, but that too was only a prediction since she was pre-manifestation.
But even F-rank Ijae could tell. Goeun’s energy waves were so unstable and dangerous that they reached even him.
“Then please, just hold my hand once.”
“I refuse.”
“I really don’t have any other feelings for you, Mr. Seo Ijae, I’m doing this because….”
At her persistent clinging, Ijae turned his head. Sparks flew from Goeun’s eyes as she glared at the back of his head.
‘T-that guy, not an ounce of empathy. It’s not like I’m doing this because I like him!’
A man with such shaggy hair wearing a checkered button-up wasn’t even Goeun’s type to begin with.
Merely to calm her churning stomach, Goeun continued to persuade Ijae with the sole determination of somehow holding that hand just once, but she failed every time. Ijae’s iron wall was too high—far too high.
‘Mr. Seo Ijae, don’t be like this….’
“Now I know why you have no friends.”
“Huh? What did you just say….”
Having stared too hard at the back of Ijae’s head, her thoughts and the words that came out got switched.
“…10,000 won!”
“10,000 won?”
“If you hold my hand, 10,000 won per 10 minutes!”
It was something she’d blurted out to fix the situation in a hurry, but his large body flinched for an instant. Goeun didn’t miss that fleeting movement.
“Driver, how much longer until the company?”
“We’ll arrive in 20 minutes.”
“Then that’s 20,000 won total, right?”
She could see Ijae’s pupils trembling beyond the thick lenses.
In some neighborhoods, there were guys who’d kiss you for just 5,000 won; wasn’t holding hands for 10,000 won practically a steal?
Goeun barely suppressed the urge to shout at Ijae and forced a bright grin. It was just a hand. Not a hug, not a kiss, just holding hands. She was even offering money; could he really not do even this much? Goeun was desperate.
“The 1 million won you’re already giving me is sufficient. More than that would be burdensome.”
‘If we’re going by that logic, shouldn’t you feel burdened by the 1 million won too, Seo Ijae?’
What on earth was the difference between 1 million won and 1.02 million won? Goeun simply couldn’t understand Seo Ijae.
Was it because the money was truly sufficient, or did he hate skinship that much?
In the end, Goeun couldn’t even touch the tips of Seo Ijae’s fingers until they arrived at the company.
* * *
Goeun doubted her perfectly fine eyes. This body was small overall and so skinny it fluttered like a paper doll, but there was nothing wrong with its eyesight. Her body before possession hadn’t had good vision, but “I Goeun” had recorded 2.0 in both eyes. So she had taken pride in her eyesight alone, but now she wondered if those examination results had been wrong.
“The matching rate….”
97 percent.
It was the moment colorful fireworks exploded in Goeun’s mind.
And Ijae, who had checked the figure with Goeun, opened his eyes wide as if he couldn’t believe it and stared at the matching machine’s gauge for a long while.
Before taking the matching test, Seo Ijae had been re-examined with a Guide rank determiner made by Seongun Group. As expected, there was no change in Ijae’s rank. It was the same as the rank written on his resume. The lowest rank, F, virtually no different from an ordinary person. That was Seo Ijae’s Guide rank.
Nevertheless, there had been many cases where the matching rate came out quite high if their wavelengths matched, regardless of rank. Goeun had pinned her hopes on that. And the jackpot had hit.
“D-did you see? Did you see? The perfect matching rate?”
Goeun’s face was filled with joy. Looking up at Seo Ijae, who was still in a daze, she beamed.
She had finally found him. The savior who would save I Goeun’s life.
It had been roughly three months since she started looking for a pair guide. To think she would find him so miraculously when only three months remained until “I Goeun’s” death.
Unable to believe that something she had desperately wished for had become reality, Goeun’s eyes grew quite moist. If Yeorye and Naeun had been here, they would have rejoiced too.
“Mr. Seo Ijae!”
Goeun called Ijae’s name powerfully. But Ijae merely looked at Goeun without answering. Whether it was because of his shaggy bangs or the thick lenses in those thick black frames, Ijae’s face looked truly expressionless.
“Mr. Seo Ijae, let’s be pair guides.”
Working part-time every day, splitting 24 hours without missing a day, this would be a groundbreaking proposal for Seo Ijae. He had two younger siblings. The money needed to care for all his siblings without parents would be enormous, so wouldn’t Seo Ijae jump at this offer?
It was right when Goeun was thinking she needed to contact Yeorye and Naeun in America as soon as possible.
“I refuse.”
“…What? Why?”
Seo Ijae had refused Goeun’s proposal. The surprised Goeun asked again.
“Because we agreed to do ‘only’ the matching test. You promised me 1 million won under that condition.”
“H-hey. Look, Mr. Seo Ijae. Please hear me out a little longer.”
How could he refuse so coldly, in one breath?
Goeun could hardly believe this reality.
“Didn’t I tell you at the café earlier? That I’m the chairman of Seongun Group’s granddaughter?”
“You did.”
“What, you heard that and you’re still like this? If you become my guide, you’ll be joining Seongun Group. Don’t you know the annual salary of a Seongun Group guide?”
Any human living in the world of *Sugayeon* wouldn’t be unaware of it. Even I Goeun, who had lived outside the novel, knew it; there was no way Seo Ijae, called the engineering part-time king, wouldn’t know.
Rather than working ten part-time jobs, becoming Goeun’s pair guide would be far more profitable. Goeun simply couldn’t understand why Ijae refused this proposal.
“I have no intention of becoming a guide. I don’t have time for that either.”
“Why wouldn’t you want to be a guide! You’re so busy working part-time that you’re called the engineering part-time king! Isn’t all that to earn money?”
If he were a pair guide belonging to Seongun Group and the chairman’s granddaughter, even the starting salary would be several times that of an ordinary office worker at a large corporation. Goeun was frustrated that Seo Ijae was letting such a golden opportunity slip away so futilely. How could he be a college student and be so bad at calculating? Wasn’t Seo Ijae even an engineering student?
As Goeun gradually began to throw an unreasonable tantrum, Ijae’s brow furrowed deeply.
“Ms. I Goeun, you seem excited right now; please calm down for a moment.”
“Do I look like I can calm down right now?”
I could die at any moment.
Rather than calming down, Goeun grew even more agitated at Ijae’s words and raised her voice.
“Think about it logically. How could an F-rank guide like me possibly guide an S-rank Esper?”
Ijae glanced at the gauge once more. On the matching test machine gauge, the words [Seo Ijae: Guide / Rank: F] and [I Goeun: Esper / Rank: S(Predicted)] were displayed.
“Why can’t you! The matching rate is 97 percent! With numbers like this, it’s perfect! Great! An excellent matching rate! A connection ordained by heaven!”
Goeun could barely suppress her emotions. With a matching rate like this, it wouldn’t be strange to say it was a connection continuing from a previous life.
She had never even seen 79 percent, which was 97 reversed. It was fortunate if it surpassed 50 percent. At 70 percent, they were best friends; at 80 percent, they were lifelong partner guides, called a blessing from heaven.
And yet it was 97. A number merely 3 short of 100. Yet the person who would become her lifelong partner guide kept saying he had no intention of being pair guides. It was enough to make her go crazy and jump up and down.
“My guiding wouldn’t be able to handle you. You may be predicted, but the rank difference is too great. What if I die while guiding?”
Of course, Ijae’s words were true to some extent. Though Goeun’s rank was predicted, it was a foregone conclusion that she was S-rank. It was a rank where even a B-rank could collapse while guiding.
But of all things, Ijae’s rank was F. Although the matching rate was high, he seemed to have gotten scared because the rank difference was so stark.
But this was no problem at all for Goeun. Couldn’t one simply raise their rank? Besides, this was Seongun Group. A company possessing unrivaled technology in guide development management. In a company like this, raising a guide’s rank was entirely possible.
“You can just raise your rank. This is Seongun Group; what on earth can’t be done here—?!”
“That’s what I’m saying—I can’t.”
“Huh?”
Seo Ijae truly had many things he couldn’t do.
That’s what Goeun thought. He couldn’t hold hands. He couldn’t be a guide. He couldn’t raise his rank. How could a person be so negative?
‘No wonder he doesn’t have a single friend.’