Episode 11.
From that day on, the two put their heads together and brooded. They searched through materials and attempted guiding several times.
But there was nothing worth salvaging in the materials, and the guiding remained exactly that of a C-rank’s.
“Ah, what the hell! What on earth is the activation condition!”
“I’m sorry….”
Seoyul looked like a sinner. Even when he tried to guide just as he had back then, it didn’t go well. And no wonder—to a Guide, guiding was not a process but a result.
The clean state of a guided Esper. The cleanly produced guiding medicine. That alone was enough to judge whether he had done well or not.
So no matter how hard he tried to recall the sensation from back then, there was no way it would work. From Seoyul’s perspective, he had been guiding exactly the same way then and now.
“Sigh. Is there really nothing that comes to mind?”
“Mmm….”
“Anything, even something trivial. Whether it was noisy that day, or quiet, or if there was a smell—seriously, just tell me anything.”
Seoyul racked his brains again. But no matter how much he thought about it, it was the same. There was nothing different from that day. The place was the same, and the situation was the same. Even the time was the same.
“Ah!”
Then, something sparked.
“There is! There is one thing, Esper-nim!”
“There is?! What is it?!”
Doun shouted, equally pleased. Seoyul immediately opened his mouth.
“I think I was hungry that day!”
“…Hungry?”
Doun couldn’t hide his bewildered, disgruntled expression. But Seoyul confidently continued his explanation.
“Actually, I ate very little for lunch back then. So I think I was just a little bit hungry. Perhaps the activation condition is being hungry?”
“….”
Doun didn’t know how to reply to those words brimming with confidence. Right before his eyes was a face with sparkling eyes, insisting he was certain.
It looked exactly like a squirrel overjoyed at finding a hidden acorn.
‘But that doesn’t mean I can starve the kid….’
He had gained weight since they first met, but in Doun’s eyes he still looked small and frail. There had been more than once or twice that Doun was startled, thinking he would fly away if tapped.
But the activation condition is skipping meals?
He couldn’t believe it, nor did he want to. But since the person himself said so, there was nothing to be done.
“…Then for now… let’s try skipping one meal.”
“Yes!”
Doun thought that Seoyul was probably the only person happy to skip a meal.
* * *
The next day.
Just in case, Seoyul skipped both breakfast and lunch before meeting Doun. Having gone without the two meals he ate every day, he felt like his stomach was stuck to his back.
But the excitement of wondering whether it would work this time was greater.
“Esper-nim. Then I’ll try.”
“Yeah. Hurry up and try.”
Doun swallowed dryly, tense as well. Seoyul showed more focus than ever as he began guiding.
The still-soft energy was transmitted through his fingertips. Doun felt the energy with his eyes closed, then slowly opened them.
“….”
“….”
“….”
“…Uh, how is it?”
Seoyul asked, trembling with anxiety.
To Doun, Seoyul’s guiding was an oasis itself. A being like a ray of light that appeared when he was parched and on the verge of death from thirst. Put simply, it was just incredibly good.
How could it not be? It was the first guiding he had ever received in his life.
But deep down, there was a part of him clamoring to be allowed to savor it more.
‘I was truly blessed.’
To think he had made such a fuss saying even that much was good enough at first, yet now he was hooked after a single taste and whining about wanting more.
“…Let’s just eat.”
Doun let out a heavy sigh. At that reaction, Seoyul’s shoulders drooped sullenly.
‘What was the problem…?’
Was skipping breakfast the problem? Had he been slightly hungry rather than completely starving? Whatever the problem, the most painful thing for Seoyul was seeing Doun disappointed.
“I’m sorry. Esper-nim….”
Seeing Seoyul slumped over like a rain-drenched squirrel, Doun’s brow furrowed.
‘…’
His runaway conscience had returned.
Seoyul was a Guide with a softer heart than anyone else. Just by looking at his eyebrows drooping downward, Doun could immediately tell he was more disappointed than Doun himself.
‘Get a grip.’
He was already doing well enough. Simply being able to guide him made him the best Guide. To think he had forgotten that and sighed.
Feeling sorry, Doun grabbed his hand and said.
“Forget it. I’ll buy you something delicious, so let’s go.”
“Something delicious?”
At the sudden suggestion, Seoyul tilted his head. But he soon realized it was Doun-style consolation.
‘As expected, Esper-nim is kind.’
Seoyul followed where Doun led, looking up at the back of his kind head. The person having the hardest time right now must be Doun, who couldn’t receive guiding, yet he was comforting him like this.
‘That’s right! I can’t give up here. Tomorrow I’ll eat breakfast and try again!’
With renewed resolve, Seoyul walked with firm eyes. Seeing that easy-to-read reaction, Doun unknowingly let out a snicker.
Because it had truly come out without his knowledge, the people around him who witnessed the expression were, needless to say, shocked.
‘So that rumor was true?’
An Esper who had spotted the two by chance couldn’t take his eyes off them with a shocked face.
And no wonder—it was Cha Doun. Cha Doun, infamous among the Center’s Espers for being the most unruly and ill-tempered. Esper Cha Doun, who was sensitive as a ticking time bomb because he couldn’t receive guiding.
To think such a person would not only hold hands with a Guide and go outside but even smile. It was blatantly obvious how much he treasured the Guide.
Of course, the two were not thinking anything of the sort, but to the eyes of onlookers, that was the only way it could be seen.
But regardless, the two walked diligently and arrived in front of a small restaurant.
Creak.
“Wow.”
As soon as they stepped inside, Seoyul exclaimed in admiration. A neat hanok had revealed itself between the buildings of the city center.
The sound of a waterwheel turning in a small pond in the well-manicured garden could be heard, and when he looked up, a deep blue sky was visible.
It felt exactly as if they had arrived in another world.
“It’s so beautiful!”
Seoyul shouted with a bright smile. Then, along with a sensation of white flowers blooming, a ticklish feeling came to his fingertips.
‘Huh…?’
Doun flinched his ticklish hand and quietly looked down at Seoyul.
“Esper-nim?”
Perhaps because that appearance was strange, he saw Seoyul tilting his head. Then, that feeling suddenly vanished.
‘What was that?’
Doun furrowed his brow silently. He was engulfed in a subtle, indescribable emotion. But they couldn’t stay here forever, so he went inside.
Seoyul, who had no way of knowing what was going on, simply tilted his head before letting out another great exclamation.
“Wow!”
Upon entering the room, another scene unfolded. Along with the neat interior of the hanok, a stone wall was visible beyond the large open window. Beyond that, a well-tended garden welcomed them as well.
His heart fluttered at the feeling of passing into a new space from within a new space.
“It’s so beautiful!”
Seoyul fussed about, repeating “beautiful” and “amazing” as if he had learned no other words. Seeing that, Doun let out a snicker, then immediately hardened his expression when he saw food being brought in.
“Wow!”
Seoyul opened his mouth wide in surprise once again. Dozens of dishes kept coming out onto the large table. Having never been to such a restaurant before, nor having seen such a sight, his eyes were wide and sparkling.
‘Is it okay for there to be this much food for two people?’
Doun didn’t know if he ate a lot because he was an Esper. Seoyul, seeing a proper full-course Korean meal for the first time, thought ‘As expected of Esper-nim!’ and sparkled once more.
“I come here often when I have no appetite. Even when my condition is bad, I can eat the food here.”
Doun said those sorrowful words nonchalantly. Seeing that, Seoyul recalled his own past. Because he too had memories of losing his appetite and being unable to eat properly. The memory of forcefully chewing food, thinking he would really be in trouble otherwise, was still vivid.
Perhaps he too was going through a similar experience.
Seoyul had completely regained his appetite now thanks to living regularly without forcefully making guiding medicine. But Doun was still in the present continuous.
‘As expected, I must try even harder.’
Seoyul clenched his fist tightly again.
Meanwhile, seeing him suddenly tear up then firmly close his mouth while his eyes shone, Doun swallowed a hollow laugh. It was so obvious what he was thinking that Doun didn’t know whether to correct him or not.
To him, food was nothing more, nothing less than a means of replenishing nutrients. These days, Esper nutritional supplements were well-developed, so honestly, he could get by on those alone.
Yet there was one reason he ate food. It was because Munjin and Seonjeong nagged that a person had to eat to live. ‘If I don’t eat, they bother me just as much as if I did eat, so I might as well force myself.’ It was better for his mental health to endure and eat. But Seoyul didn’t know the circumstances, which was why he wore such a combative expression.
Well… in a not-so-bad mood, Doun urged him to hurry up and eat.
“Then I will eat well.”
Seoyul politely greeted and picked up his chopsticks. Not knowing what to eat first, his chopsticks wandered about. Then he picked up the bright red, appetizing deodeok muchim and carefully put it in his mouth.
‘W-wow!’
The bright red seasoning melted smoothly in his mouth. He had worried it might be spicy because of the color, but it wasn’t spicy at all—it was sweet. The crunchy texture as he chewed along with the seasoning was excellent.
“I-it’s delicious, Esper-nim!”
Seoyul shouted, moved. His sparkling eyes could be seen excitedly scanning the side dishes. From then on, Seoyul busily moved his chopsticks, putting food in his mouth and exclaiming in admiration. He lavished one exclamation per side dish, so happy he didn’t know what to do with himself. Doun blankly took in that sight.
‘….’
Every time Seoyul carried side dishes into his mouth, bubbly energy spewed out around him. It spread like soap bubbles, filling the room, and when it touched the body, it popped and was absorbed. It felt as if he could hear a ‘pong-pong-pong’ sound by his ear. That energy slowly absorbed into Doun’s body and began to gently unravel the sticky, tangled energy residue.
‘N-no way….’
Doun flushed red and immediately dropped his head.
It was the radiation guiding of an S-rank Hidden Guide.