Chapter 19: The S-Rank Who Didn’t Flinch

At that moment, Eunho glanced toward Giyoon as if checking the mood, then tilted his head slightly toward Chaewon and whispered.

“Chaewon-ssi, if you’re okay with it, would you like to at least exchange a brief greeting?”

Since his assigned team had not yet been decided, Chaewon hadn’t formally greeted any other awakened individuals, aside from Su-ha and Ihyeon, whom he had briefly encountered before.

Even though they were all government-affiliated, most operated strictly within their own teams, so unless they were teammates or members of the management staff, they rarely crossed paths.

Contrary to Eunho’s concern that Chaewon might feel flustered or pressured by the sudden situation, Chaewon replied with a rather pleased expression.

“Would that be alright? I’d like that.”

“Hmm, then come this way. I’ll introduce you.”

Judging by his appearance alone, he looked timid, like someone who couldn’t do anything on his own, yet Chaewon possessed more resolve than expected.

When one considered that he had lived as the head of his household for a long time, it was easy to imagine just how many hardships he must have faced alone.

It was already a late lunch hour, and with many teams dispatched outside today, the cafeteria was noticeably quieter than usual.

Giyoon’s presence was somewhat concerning, but since he wasn’t the type to grab just anyone and harass them outright, a simple greeting shouldn’t pose much of a problem.

Leading Chaewon between the tables where the awakened were eating, Eunho spoke.

“Since everyone seems curious, let’s keep it brief. You’ve probably already heard, this is Lee Chaewon, the newly arrived esper.”

Chaewon stepped forward, bowed slightly, and greeted them.

“Hello, I’m Lee Chaewon. I still have a lot to learn, but… I look forward to working with you.”

Some responded with awkward expressions, while those more sociable returned his greeting with casual remarks like, “Let’s get along.”

Eunho shot a dissatisfied glance at Su-ha, who remained seated at a distance as if Chaewon were a stranger, then lightly shook his head and spoke to Chaewon.

“Everyone’s in the middle of eating, so let’s leave it at that for now. You can greet people individually later.”

“Yes. That sounds good.”

Answering obediently, Chaewon started toward the food counter, then paused and smiled at those who were still openly watching him.

“Enjoy your meal, and if I greet you later when we pass by, please don’t pretend you don’t know me.”

It was the kind of polite friendliness one might expect from a new employee.

Though the encounter was brief, Chaewon sensed that the emotions in their gazes leaned more toward goodwill than hostility. In moments like these, it was better to be bright and approachable, an instinctive skill he had honed over time.

“…”

As Chaewon resumed walking, his eyes met Su-ha’s at that very moment.

Only then did Su-ha realize that he had been watching Chaewon the entire time.

Chaewon didn’t say anything, merely acknowledging him with a subtle glance.

It was different from the cheerful greeting he had offered everyone else. From Chaewon’s perspective, acting overly familiar would only make Su-ha more uncomfortable, but strangely, Su-ha felt an inexplicable irritation at that restrained reaction.

“No matter what, isn’t this a bit too distant? With your own esper, I mean.”

Jeong Jin whispered incredulously to Su-ha, having witnessed the awkward tension flowing between the two at close range.

Jeong Jin was one of the people who had seen, closer than most, how hard Su-ha had worked to become Ihyeon’s guide.

He understood Su-ha’s resentment toward Chaewon to a certain extent. But at this point, it was already irreversible, and Su-ha had been guiding Chaewon all this time, yet he wouldn’t even acknowledge him properly.

“Just eat your food.”

Consciously restraining his gaze from drifting back toward Chaewon, Su-ha replied flatly.

While Jeong Jin stared in surprise, wondering if Su-ha had always been like this, Chaewon followed Eunho and took a seat far away from Su-ha after getting his meal.

“That doesn’t look S-rank at all… I heard the side effects are brutal, though?”

From a nearby table, Giyoon spoke up loudly once more, directing his words at Chaewon.

“There he goes again, zero tact.”

Jeong Jin muttered under his breath.

A tense air quickly spread through the cafeteria.

****

Chaewon turned to look at Giyoon.

Eunho, seated across from him, instinctively tensed as well.

Strictly speaking, Jeong Jin was wrong.

Giyoon wasn’t someone who lacked tact, he was someone who simply didn’t bother using it.

As an S-rank esper, he possessed power that surpassed most others, even if it didn’t quite reach Min Ihyeon’s level.

If Ihyeon was the leader of the Special Response Team, then Giyoon stood at the forefront of the Incident Response Team. He had no need to concern himself with others’ feelings, and many espers actually admired that arrogance.

Still, in Eunho’s opinion, Giyoon was clearly not a good person for Chaewon, who hadn’t yet fully adapted to this life, to be engaging with.

As Eunho briefly considered how to step in and separate Chaewon without making things awkward, Giyoon continued, unable to hold back.

“They said you were terminally ill before awakening, right? Is that why?”

Even Giyoon’s own teammates, who were accustomed to his manner of speaking, exchanged uneasy glances.

No matter how little Chaewon seemed like an S-rank on the surface, there was always a reason behind such a rare classification.

Clashes between S-ranks could result in catastrophic losses, which was why the center was particularly cautious about them.

With pride soaring sky-high and little inclination to bend, they were prone to conflict whenever they met, prompting the management team to go to great lengths to prevent them from crossing paths in the first place.

Eunho’s complexion turned even paler.

S-ranks rarely ate here, so he had brought Chaewon without much thought, now that things had escalated, Eunho felt a heavy sense of responsibility.

Just as Eunho hurriedly opened his mouth to cut things off, Chaewon answered a fraction of a second faster.

“I’m not entirely sure, but I think that might be the case. They said we’d need more tests to know for certain, though…”

“…”

“Before I awakened, I was practically on the brink of death. So I imagine it must have had some effect.”

At Chaewon’s voice, everyone present froze.

It wasn’t simply because he had accepted it so readily.

What unsettled them was the fact that his tone carried not even the slightest trace of dissatisfaction.

It was possible to endure humiliation and answer while suppressing anger and shame.

Though both were S-ranks, there was an undeniable gap between Giyoon, who had led his team for years, and Chaewon, who had only just awakened and couldn’t yet fully wield his power.

That was precisely why no one dared to point out Giyoon’s rudeness or criticize him for speaking informally to Chaewon, a stranger he had just met.

Under those circumstances, it would be difficult for anyone to openly express anger or displeasure toward Giyoon.

Yet Chaewon’s response was different.

The calmness of his voice.

The stillness of his gaze and expression as he looked at Giyoon.

Could the word “calm” even fully capture that quiet?

Chaewon truly looked, truly felt, as though he was completely unaffected.

He didn’t seem insulted.

He didn’t seem ashamed.

There wasn’t even a hint of suppressed anger or wounded pride.

As if exchanging a casual greeting with someone he held at a moderate distance, Chaewon looked at Giyoon with unmoving, black eyes and spoke evenly.

The one who wavered was Giyoon.

It wasn’t that he had intended to be cruel.

Frankly, Chaewon wasn’t someone worth deliberately trying to intimidate or engage in a battle of pride with.

But Giyoon was fully aware of the reactions his habitual way of speaking usually provoked.

He wasn’t ignorant, he simply chose not to change, because he had never needed to.

That was why he had expected Chaewon to react in one of two ways: either bristling defensively like a typical rookie esper, or shrinking back and lowering himself excessively under pressure.

Being an S-rank, Chaewon might have lashed out more aggressively, but lacking full control over his abilities, the latter seemed more likely.

At least, that had been Giyoon’s casual prediction.

Yet Chaewon met none of those expectations.

He neither grew agitated nor became cowed, responding without the slightest rise or fall in tone.

As Giyoon stared at him with a rare look of surprise, Chaewon spoke again.

“However… I’m afraid I don’t yet know who you are…”

Someone seated beside Giyoon let out a short, stunned sound.

Chaewon didn’t even know that Giyoon was an S-rank esper.

And without knowing that, he had brushed off the rude remarks directed at him so evenly.