Chapter 26: Responsibility, Not Desire

He had his reasons for putting up a wall against him, but from Chaewon’s perspective, breaking down that wall as soon as possible and receiving proper guiding from Su-ha would have been far more beneficial.

Even so, the way Su-ha seemed to be trying to increase the distance between them only made Chaewon uneasy, especially when it overlapped with the image of him exchanging greetings with Ihyeon just moments ago.

When I-hyeon had said he would help, Su-ha hadn’t even offered a single polite refusal, a simple “you don’t have to.”

Of course, that was only natural.

From the very moment they met, Su-ha had made it clear, through his words and every one of his actions, that he did not want to be Chaewon’s guide.

There was no way he could be the same as Min I-hyeon, who treated Chaewon kindly from his gaze to his tone of voice.

Su-ha knew that too.

He had always known.

And yet, why did Chaewon’s attitude make his insides burn like this?

What kind of fickle emotion was this, something even he couldn’t understand himself?

Amid that whirlpool of discomfort and nameless feelings, Su-ha opened his mouth coldly.

“Didn’t you say you’d free me?”

“…?”

“You promised you’d get strong quickly, build up your power fast, so that I wouldn’t have to be responsible for you anymore.”

Chaewon blinked his large eyes and nodded.

It was a promise he himself had made.

Su-ha continued.

“If that’s the case, then you’ll need my guiding done properly. So don’t be stubborn over nothing and just accept it.”

It was a coercive tone.

One he had never used, not even once, on any esper he had guided before.

The look in I-hyeon’s eyes as he gazed gently at Chaewon, the smile-laced voice, the hand patting his shoulder, all of it kept surfacing and fading from Su-ha’s mind.

What Su-ha felt toward I-hyeon was nothing more than admiration, and yet he couldn’t understand why he was reacting as if there were some other, more personal emotion mixed in.

‘Could it be… that I’ve unknowingly developed romantic feelings for Min I-hyeon?’

As Su-ha bit down on his lip, uncertain even of his own emotions, Chaewon, who had already wiped away his flustered expression, nodded and replied.

“…Okay. I will.”

Everything Su-ha had said was selfish and riddled with shameless contradictions.

The reason Chaewon hadn’t been able to receive proper guiding until now was entirely because Su-ha had pushed him away, and yet now Su-ha was speaking as if it were Chaewon’s fault.

And still, Chaewon didn’t argue or get angry.

He accepted it calmly.

It almost felt as though the colder and harsher Su-ha became, the more naturally Chaewon took it.

Feeling things spiral further into the worst possible direction the more cutting his words grew, Su-ha let out something like a sigh.

“…I’ll approach this with more responsibility from now on as well. So you shouldn’t refuse either. Just follow.”

“Yes. I was mistaken. From now on, I’ll accept your guiding properly, just as you give it. I won’t let things disrupt training like they did today ever again.”

With every word, with every answer Chaewon gave without even a hint of resistance, Su-ha felt more strongly that this wasn’t what he had wanted.

But once spoken, words could not be taken back.

In the corridor where no one spoke any longer, only the heavy sound of their footsteps echoed.

****

“Wouldn’t I be more appropriate than Min I-hyeon?”

Just what was wrong with all these S-ranks all of a sudden?

After sending I-hyeon away from the training hall, Ye-seon now found himself with a headache because Joo Giyoon had barged into his office this time.

Since when had S-ranks taken such an interest in one another?

Ye-seon prided himself on having a decent grasp of most espers by now, yet lately, strange things kept happening one after another.

Somehow hearing that I-hyeon would be helping with Chaewon’s training, Giyoon had stormed into Ye-seon’s office, insisting that he should be the one doing it instead.

“Why do you think that?”

Swallowing a sigh, Ye-seon asked.

Giyoon lifted his chin with his usual arrogant expression and replied.

“You said you’re putting that Lee Chaewon guy into the Incident Response Team. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it make more sense for me, the captain of the Fourth Division, rather than the Special Ops Team?”

“Hmm.”

“Isn’t that right?”

Giyoon looked thoroughly pleased with himself, but Ye-seon merely shook his head.

Well, strictly speaking, it wasn’t complete nonsense.

As Giyoon said, once Chaewon became capable of operating in the field, he would be assigned to the Incident Response Team.

The higher-ups wanted Chaewon’s power to be visible to the general public, after all.

Seen that way, Giyoon’s argument could appear reasonable at a glance.

The problem was…

“Captain Joo. Let’s be honest. Since when did you ever care about things like that?”

The problem was that the person saying this had never given a damn about espers outside his own team.

Among those not under him, the ones who caught Giyoon’s interest could be counted on one hand.

For example-

“Isn’t this just because Min I-hyeon’s doing it, and you want to interfere?”

Someone like Captain Min I-hyeon.

Even at Ye-seon’s words, Giyoon merely shrugged, entirely unfazed.

“Don’t misunderstand me, Captain Woo. Sure, I do hate Min I-hyeon. He’s annoying. But this time, it really is because of Lee Chaewon.”

To be precise, what bothered him was that the person helping the ‘Lee Chaewon’ he’d taken an interest in happened to be the ‘Min I-hyeon’ he disliked the most, but wasn’t that essentially the same thing?

Ye-seon looked at Giyoon’s face suspiciously, unable to trust him.

Regardless, Giyoon sat there shamelessly thinking back to the esper named Lee Chaewon he’d met before.

Despite looking so fragile that he seemed like he’d crumble with a single punch, despite clearly being far weaker than Giyoon himself, he hadn’t tolerated his guide being insulted and had spoken up.

“Captain Joo. Why are you smiling like that? You’re making me nervous.”

“Huh?”

“Your expression’s really suspicious right now.”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Giyoon looked up to see Ye-seon narrowing his eyes at him.

It seemed he’d been smiling strangely without realizing it.

Giyoon quickly shook his head as if it were nothing and spoke again.

“So anyway. Are you switching it, or not?”

“The schedule with Captain Min is already finalized, so there’s no need to change it. But since similar training will need to be repeated, you can help out next time.”

“Huh. Still weird that Min I-hyeon would go out of his way to help train an esper.”

“Captain Min’s always been consistent about taking good care of junior espers.”

Hidden in Ye-seon’s reply was the thought, You think he’s some lone wolf like you?

Giyoon snorted and stood up.

“I’m a good captain to my own team too, you know. That’s exactly why I hate Min I-hyeon. He’s fake.”

“If that’s the kind of ‘fake’ you mean, I welcome it with open arms. If you’re done here, get going.”

“Yes, yes, got it. Next time, it better be me. Don’t forget, Captain Woo.”

“Just don’t change your story when the time comes.”

Giyoon left the office without another word.

Having had to deal with two S-rank espers in succession, Ye-seon let out a habitual sigh and sank back onto the sofa.

Something about the way things were unfolding felt deeply unsettling.

S-ranks subtly checking and competing with one another had always been the norm, so that in itself wasn’t strange.

But this kind of blatant interest was rare.

Two S-ranks volunteering to help train another S-rank esper?

It was laughable.

“Lee Chaewon…”

Ye-seon quietly repeated the name that had recently become a small gust of wind within the otherwise peaceful center.

He wondered whether the trivial breeze stirred up by this esper, who had been anything but ordinary from the very start, would die down as nothing more than that, or grow into a violent storm.

While the beginning of change was already so clear in his eyes, the image of one foolish guide stubbornly burying his head in the dirt and denying it surfaced in his mind.

Ye-seon sighed once more and rubbed his stiff neck, worn down by fatigue.

People should really avoid accumulating bad karma, but there were always those in the world who never realized it.

****

“I’ll lie down here.”

Back in his quarters with Su-ha, Chaewon said this as he dragged a stool over beside the sofa.

“Yes.”

There was still a chill in Su-ha’s short reply.

Even so, Chaewon tried not to dwell on the atmosphere and quietly lay down on the sofa.

He already knew why Su-ha’s mood had sunk so low, so there was no need to panic.

Despite all the reasons this situation could feel unpleasant, Chaewon believed that Su-ha was still making an effort for his sake.

Eunho often voiced subtle complaints, saying that Su-ha was too cold and rude toward Chaewon, but Chaewon didn’t want to think of it that way.

Even today, Su-ha had suggested increasing their contact area without Chaewon even asking, and more than anything, he had waited through Chaewon’s slow, sluggish training and stayed with him the entire time.