Episode 15.
Doun and Seoyul headed to a famous amusement park the very next day. Fortunately, the park wasn’t crowded. It seemed people weren’t crowding in, probably because the grand event was starting next week and it was a weekday to boot.
“Wow! There are so many people!”
But to Seoyul, this apparently felt like quite a lot. The amusement park was filled with an excited atmosphere emanating from families, lovers, and what looked like friends.
Seoyul, too, was soon swept up in the atmosphere, looking every which way and losing himself in the sights.
‘Guess this was the right call after all.’
Seeing how he looked like he’d cast all worries far away, Doun let out a small smile.
“Esper-nim. Esper-nim!”
Just then, Seoyul seemed to have spotted something, grabbing Doun’s sleeve with an excited face.
“What?”
“Over there… over there!”
The guide, having caught the excitement of those around him, pointed precisely at one spot with a bright face.
“Let’s do that too!”
“…….”
In Doun’s eyes, it was an infinitely childish animal headband.
“Everyone must buy them when they come!”
Looking around, everyone was wearing those headbands. Doun felt his spirits sink and couldn’t bring himself to speak.
To think there would be such a dazzlingly childish headband in Cha Doun’s life. It would clearly become something he’d be mocked for for the rest of his life.
But if he shook his head, he could clearly picture the guide’s disappointed, crestfallen figure.
‘Sigh. Damn it.’
The answer was set in stone.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
“Really?!”
Seoyul was visibly overjoyed. Now that they were here, it was so much better than expected.
The surroundings were filled with the uniquely cheerful atmosphere of an amusement park, and thanks to the quaint buildings, it felt like stepping into a fairy tale.
Everyone was smiling brightly, seemingly happy, so Seoyul, too, was swept up in the atmosphere, his face full of smiles.
“I’ll take this one.”
After much deliberation, Seoyul chose a penguin headband. The penguin standing tall at the center of the headband was cute.
‘Of course he’d pick something exactly like him…’
The innocent-looking eyes resembled Seoyul exactly. Doun watched him carefully putting on the headband while looking in the mirror, then reminded himself of the reality he was in.
“Esper-nim! How do I look?”
Seoyul was smiling brightly, seemingly quite satisfied. It suited him… quite well.
“Not bad.”
“I picked it because it’s cute, but it’s a shame I can’t see it.”
Seoyul truly lamented, touching the penguin on top of his head. Doun decided to be generous once more since things had come to this.
“Then you pick mine too.”
“Really?”
What could be wrong with that? To Doun’s eyes, everything displayed here looked more or less the same. It was his way of saying nothing would suit him like it did Seoyul.
“Then I’ll pick one that suits you well.”
He really agonized over it, carefully selecting a headband. But perhaps unable to decide easily, he groaned before speaking.
“Esper-nim…”
“What?”
“Um…”
Seoyul hesitated, gauging his reaction, then held out a headband.
“C-could you try this on to see if it suits you?”
“…….”
What he held out was a cute panda headband. Before Doun’s eyes were the wide-eyed panda and penguin, and Seoyul looking at him.
‘Sigh… why am I…’
A wave of self-loathing crashed over him, but he’d already said he would, so there was no helping it. Besides, this wasn’t even the Center.
He’d even put on a mask just in case, so no one would know who he was.
“Hand it over.”
Feigning indifference, he snatched the headband and put it on, and Seoyul’s face brightened drastically.
“It suits you so well!”
…As if.
Doun thought his guide’s aesthetic standards were severely skewed, and then some. But Seoyul didn’t stop there.
Since Doun wordlessly humored him, Seoyul got excited and asked to try this and that. His smiling face looked so bright.
His body was already forfeit… Doun humored his requests until he was satisfied.
“As expected, I think the panda suits you best.”
He tried several on Doun’s head, then smiled in satisfaction, saying the first one was the best after all.
At that moment, pleasant energy began bubbling and seeping out from Seoyul’s body.
It was the guiding of an S-rank guide.
‘Huh? Why…’
Doun opened his eyes wide in surprise. He’d been certain food was the trigger condition, but all Seoyul held in his hand now was a headband.
‘What is this?’
Realizing the condition was wrong, he sank into confusion.
“Esper-nim?”
Just then, Seoyul’s puzzled voice reached him. At that moment, the guiding also cut off abruptly.
“…It’s nothing. Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
Doun naturally took Seoyul’s hand and led him.
‘Let’s observe for now.’
As he moved along with that thought, Seoyul stole glances at Doun and smiled softly.
‘So cute.’
He’d been swept away by the atmosphere, but when he came to his senses, it was amazing that Doun was wearing a cute headband.
‘Esper-nim is looking out for me.’
It was only to Seoyul’s tastes; Doun clearly looked like he had absolutely no interest. Yet he’d stepped up willingly.
That warmth made his heart beat happily. The hand he held was so warm and good that the smile wouldn’t leave his face.
“Esper-nim. Let’s go over there.”
From afar came people’s joyous screams. There was definitely something fun there. Seoyul pulled him with an excited expression.
The large body followed easily even with a small tug. It was fun, like walking a big puppy.
Meanwhile, Doun was thinking the same thing. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was walking an excited puppy.
‘He’s really excited.’
His emotions were plain on his face, so Doun had no choice but to follow along obediently. Moreover, there was another reason he had to follow obediently.
‘Guiding keeps leaking out.’
Every time he looked at Doun and smiled, guiding energy bubbled out.
‘Why?’
So he followed along obediently and observed Seoyul. To find out what was causing the guiding.
But that thought didn’t last long. He kept getting intoxicated by the guiding, his mind going blank.
“Esper-nim. Let’s go ride that.”
“Esper-nim. Look at that.”
“Esper-nim. Esper-nim.”
Seoyul darted about all day without seeming to tire, enjoying the amusement park. Doun had been nonchalant at first, but swept up by the guiding and the atmosphere, he ended up enjoying himself to the fullest as well.
‘The day is…’
This short?
Under the dark sky, colorful fireworks were bursting.
“Wow. It’s so pretty.”
Seoyul murmured, unable to take his eyes away. From his body, guiding energy still bubbled out restlessly.
Doun watched that quietly, falling into thought once more about what the current situation and the restaurant had in common.
But he still couldn’t figure it out. So this time, he decided to ask directly.
“How are you feeling now?”
“Right now?”
Round eyes turned toward Doun. Like the popping fireworks, Seoyul’s eyes sparkled.
“Yeah.”
For some reason, tension hung in the air. But Seoyul didn’t notice and smiled brightly.
“It was so good. It’s a truly happy day.”
—Pow!
‘Ah…’
Feeling the tremendous energy exploding from Seoyul, Doun realized.
Korea’s only S-rank hidden guide.
His trigger condition was, in fact, ‘happiness’.
“…That’s good. Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
Seoyul answered energetically and moved his feet. In the sky, countless fireworks burst as if to signal this was truly the last.
On the way back.
‘Have I ever had this much fun?’
It was a first in Seoyul’s memory. He had always lived buried in worries and things he had to do.
‘That I could change like this…’
A past that had only been dark came to mind. But he quickly shook his head and looked at Doun. The cute panda was still on his head.
‘I guess he forgot.’
At first he seemed conscious of what was on his head, but now he looked completely unbothered.
Seoyul considered telling him but quietly kept his mouth shut, wanting to savor this feeling a bit longer. But on the way back, he ended up falling asleep and forgot about the headbands himself.
In the end, the moment the two realized the headbands’ existence was when they entered their lodging and saw the mirror.
“Ah…!”
“…….”
Seoyul was flustered, and Doun scrunched his face in blank despair, thinking:
‘Damn it.’
The future was bleak, wondering what on earth he’d hear tomorrow.
* * *
“Puahaha!!”
As expected, rumors had spread through the Center like wildfire. That Cha Doun had walked around the Center wearing a headband that only little kids would wear.
Only a few people working overtime had seen it, but a shocked employee took a photo with her phone, causing it to spread completely.
“Wow. Did you really walk around all day like this?”
“Shut up.”
Doun hadn’t wanted to come here for this very reason, but he’d had no choice since he needed to discuss what happened yesterday with Seonjeong.
“Wow. You must have really liked it. Why aren’t you wearing it today? Wear it today too.”
Seeing her burst into outright laughter made a vein throb on his forehead. If only the photo hadn’t been taken, it would have been buried and forgotten. But of all things, a photo had been taken.
“Delete it right now. Isn’t this a violation of my portrait rights?!”
Doun frowned and snapped. At that, Seonjeong wiped away tears and said:
“I already took care of it. What would happen to your image if something like this spread? Not just yours, I was afraid the Center’s prestige would plummet, so I deleted them all.”
“Manager Lee, you delete it right now too!”
“This? Say noona. Say noona, and I’ll delete it.”
“…….”
Doun scrunched his face up at Seonjeong, who had no intention of deleting it whatsoever.
He’d known her for a long time, like an older sister and younger brother, but her smug demeanor he saw every day made words fail him.
“Ah, forget it. Look at it alone or don’t.”
She said she’d prevented it from spreading anyway, so she’d be the only one looking at it. He’d be teased for a while, but if he didn’t react, she’d soon get bored.
“More importantly, about Seoyul.”
“Pfft. What about Yul?”
Seonjeong asked, still chuckling as she looked at the photo.
“I think I found out the trigger condition.”
“Hmm….”
Seonjeong looked doubtful. But Doun was certain.
“It’s happiness.”