Episode 13.
Seoyul was flustered, but the hand raised from across the table kept waving, urging him to eat. So he carefully put the steak back in his mouth.
‘Delicious……’
His mind filled completely with steak as meat juices spread abundantly inside his mouth. He had no idea how to express this ecstatic texture and taste.
Moreover, knowing that he was being guided as a Hidden Guide set his mind at ease, making it taste even better.
‘The more deliciously I eat, the more it helps the Esper-nim.’
With such cute thoughts, Seoyul continued his meal deliciously. Doun carefully observed this Seoyul.
‘Is this what they mean when they say just watching someone eat makes you full?’
He felt full merely by watching. Perhaps it was because he was receiving satisfying guiding for the first time in his life.
“You should try it too, Esper-nim. It’s really delicious!”
Seoyul brightly smiled and recommended the food. At that moment, guiding energy bubbled up and poured out again.
He gulped.
“Is it that delicious?”
“Yes!”
The sight of him smiling broadly and ferrying meat into his mouth was cute. Stuffing his small cheeks full of meat and chewing away also made him look like a hamster.
‘Should I try it too?’
Doun carefully picked up his knife and fork and cut a small piece of meat. Then he slowly put it into his mouth to taste.
“It’s delicious, right? Right?”
The Guide’s eyes sparkled, hoping for affirmation. Seeing that look, the flavor of the meat suddenly burst forth.
“……?”
It wasn’t his first time eating it, yet the taste was so different. How on earth was he supposed to express this?
Looking at those eyes brimming with anticipation, he realized there was only one thing he could say.
“It’s delicious.”
“What a relief.”
Seeing that clear, relieved smile, he gulped again.
* * *
After that day.
The two excitedly searched for famous restaurants. Whether this method was correct or not, Seoyul happily bubbled over with guiding energy.
Thanks to that, Doun’s condition gradually began to improve. His tinnitus also started to decrease, and his headaches gradually disappeared.
“What do you want to eat today?”
“How about here?”
Now Seoyul could actively offer his opinions too. At first he had been hesitant and passive, but he seemed to have changed after realizing that eating deliciously helped more.
“Good. Let’s go there today.”
It was the same for Doun. He had never been interested in food, but while going around with Seoyul, he learned the taste of food.
Seonjeong said. He wondered if his lost sense of taste was returning as his body recovered.
‘Bastards. So you’ve been living every day tasting flavors like this?’
To think such a wonderful world existed. Every time he ate with Seoyul, Doun cursed the Espers.
He had lived twenty-six years, but only these past few weeks felt like a proper life. That was how immense the greatness of “food” in “clothing, food, and shelter” was.
“Wow! This place is delicious too.”
Seoyul ate truly deliciously with a face that looked truly happy. When he stuffed both cheeks full of food and chewed, Doun felt the urge to poke those soft cheeks.
Seeing him eat so deliciously made buying it for him feel quite rewarding.
“Eat a lot.”
“Yes!”
His reply was so crisp and firm. Without realizing it, Doun watched him fondly before continuing his own meal.
As such days continued, rumors spread at a frightening speed. The rumor-ridden Guide came outside, and people’s gazes clung to him.
At first they were careful not to catch Doun’s eye, but realizing that the two paid no attention, the people also began to grow bold.
“Did you see?”
“Wow. I never thought I’d see the day Cha Doun smiled like that in my life.”
“It’s scary…….”
“It sure is…….”
The Espers couldn’t close their mouths at Cha Doun’s antics. They had thought he was someone who only knew how to sneer, but seeing him smile so normally was terrifying—far too terrifying.
“The Guide is quite the beauty.”
“Yeah. Cute.”
“Guiding…… I wonder what it feels like?”
“Seeing Cha Doun so smitten, it must be amazing, right?”
He was none other than Cha Doun’s Guide. They weren’t a Pair yet, so anyone could receive guiding, but no one could put it into action.
That was because even stealing glances like this was risky enough.
“Huh? Looks like they’re done eating. Let’s get out of here quick.”
The Espers quickly inhaled their food and rose from their seats. This was one of the reasons the rumors had been able to spread without being noticed all this time.
“You’ve become quite famous, haven’t you?”
Munjin, having heard the rumors, summoned his son after a long time. Doun scrunched his face as if asking what nonsense he was talking about, but still.
“I was already famous.”
He was an S-Rank Esper, no less. Receiving attention was as natural to him as breathing. Perhaps that was why he still seemed unaware.
“Hurry up and say what you need. I’m busy.”
Doun sat crookedly and urged him on. But not wanting to miss this good opportunity, Munjin opened his mouth with a sly smile.
“Busy with a date?”
“Hah?”
A date? This Cha Doun, on a date?
Only then did Doun viciously frown at the sly old man. The look was quite fierce, but Munjin brushed it off familiarly and continued.
“I heard you’re busy dating because you’re completely smitten with your Guide?”
“Who said that?!”
“Everyone is saying it.”
These bastards.
Only then did Doun grasp the situation. That just as he drew attention, Seoyul, as a Guide, inevitably became an object of interest as well.
When he hadn’t known, it hadn’t mattered at all, but now that he suddenly realized it, it bothered him to the point of madness.
‘Annoying.’
What exactly was he annoyed about? His head was tangled in a complicated mess, unable to continue a proper thought.
“Look at this punk’s expression. At this rate you’ll kill your father. You’ll kill me.”
Munjin still teased Doun with a grin. Doun frowned even more fiercely, but it had no effect.
“Stop glaring and hurry up and form a Pair with your Guide.”
“Pair?”
For a moment he wondered what he meant before soon realizing.
Seoyul was the only S-Rank Guide in Korea, albeit unofficially. Not only that, but a Hidden Guide, of which there were only three in the world.
The repercussions when that fact became known would clearly be enormous. Not to mention the spotlight that would pour down; as he became famous, his danger level would rise too.
For the same reason, the personal information of S-Rank Guides was thoroughly protected worldwide.
“First, we’ll hide the fact that he’s a Hidden Guide as much as possible. If support requests come in from other guilds, it’ll become a headache.”
Currently, the Center had no justification to refuse support requests from other guilds. That was because the Center’s only S-Rank Esper was not being deployed on dangerous missions.
So if a support request came, they had no choice but to send Seoyul. The problem was the S-Rank Espers he would have to guide.
‘They’ll probably be desperate to take him.’
Among them were several with violent personalities. Already, Seoyul was in a state of being greatly intimidated due to past memories.
“You know too, right? Given Guide Seo’s personality, there’s a high risk he’ll be taken advantage of.”
“……Hard to deny.”
Given Seoyul’s personality, if someone pushed unreasonable demands, he was at risk of being pushed around.
It was right to postpone it at least until he could properly control his guiding.
“So form a Pair quickly and focus on recovering your condition.”
He was right. To properly protect him, the most effective method was having the strongest Esper stick by his side.
“Besides, no matter if he’s C-Rank, if you don’t form a Pair, it’ll cause unnecessary talk. Right now they’re staying still because of your situation, but rumors start in an instant. You know?”
“……Shit. Everyone’s just full of greed.”
Doun cursed with a frown.
If the fact that he was S-Rank were revealed, that would be one thing, but right now Seoyul was officially just a C-Rank Guide. And yet people were talking about him monopolizing just one C-Rank Guide! He was the only one who needed that C-Rank Guide; the rest didn’t need him.
“A Pair.”
Doun fell into thought for a moment. If they became a Pair, there would inevitably be many situations where they became deeply entangled, so he wasn’t very keen on it.
“Yeah. I know you’re not keen, but still…….”
But…….
“I’ll do it.”
“You need to form one to avoid trouble…… Huh? You’ll do it?”
Munjin’s eyes went wide when affirmation immediately came out of his mouth.
“Didn’t you hate that?”
“That was when I couldn’t receive guiding.”
Right. How long ago was he bringing that up?
His past self simply hadn’t known. The reason why Espers made such a fuss to form Pairs with Guides.
‘And share that with other guys?’
He’d rather die. He understood why Espers clung to Guides so desperately. He wanted to monopolize that ecstatic guiding; he wanted Seoyul to guide only for him.
Just imagining Seoyul guiding another Esper twisted his stomach. If even C-Rank guiding was like that, there was even more to say about S-Rank guiding.
‘I should raise my contribution points first.’
If he raised his contribution points, no one would be able to say anything even if he monopolized an S-Rank Guide.
That must be why Munjin was telling him to form a Pair quickly and focus on recovery. In his current state, he couldn’t undertake high-rank missions.
“Now that I know how to activate it, there’s no problem. I’ll recover quickly and take care of any annoying bastards on my own.”
Doun volunteered to quietly become the Guide’s shield. The sight was truly unfamiliar.
‘He must really like his Guide, huh?’
It was a newly discovered side of his son. Munjin reined in his surprised expression and opened his mouth.
“You’re an Esper through and through too, huh? Is it that good?”
“…….”
Maybe he shouldn’t have said he understood…….
Doun frowned at him snickering.
‘Damn it.’
But he had no intention of taking back his words. Just thinking about Seoyul officially becoming his Guide made his blood boil.
He even regretted the time wasted, wondering why he hadn’t thought of it sooner.
“Is that all you have to say? Then I’m going?”
“Yeah. Treat Guide Seo well. Well…… I’m sure you’ll treat him well anyway.”
“…….”
His mood nosedived thanks to the old man waving his hand lightly. Doun glared fiercely at Munjin before leaving the Center Director’s office.
But the sly face kept hovering before his eyes, so his mood didn’t improve.
‘Damn it.’
He was fiercely scrunching up his face when he saw Seoyul in the distance. It seemed he had heard the news that Doun was called to the Center Director’s office.
‘Does he not know what my relationship with Cha Munjin is?’
Officially he was his father, but it wasn’t a fact widely known to the public. Perhaps because of that, worry was plastered all over his face.
‘Cute.’
Doun’s mood suddenly skyrocketed.