X
Join our Discord server and get release updates for every novel you follow.
Join the Server‘Did Yoon Geon-woo just… call my name?’
Frankly, I thought I was hallucinating. One might wonder why I was making such a fuss over a mere name, but the only times he had ever properly called my name were when I was on the brink of death. Even then, I’d immediately regressed, so strictly speaking, this was the very first time.
‘Surely, no sudden accident is about to happen.’
I had to scan my surroundings, wary that I might once again be facing a life-threatening situation. Perhaps a rampage accident, or the emergence of a magic beast. Or, even worse, a classmate might decide to taser someone.
Fortunately, nothing of the sort occurred. However, just as I was startled, Yoon Geon-woo, who had inadvertently called my name, seemed equally surprised by himself.
“Why did you call me?”
I stopped in my tracks and questioned him, but Yoon Geon-woo merely hesitated, his expression still a picture of confusion, offering no reply.
As the silence stretched, Han Seon-ho stepped forward to ask instead.
“Do you have something to say to Sogum?”
“And who are you?”
With Han Seon-ho blocking my path, Yoon Geon-woo seemed displeased by the situation. Not that he ever wore a cheerful expression, but his face was particularly grim now.
“What do you mean ‘who am I’? I’m Sogum’s roommate.”
“……”
“If it’s not urgent, we’re leaving first. I need to put this kid to sleep.”
Han Seon-ho tugged at my shoulder, which he had been embracing.
“Put me to sleep? What are you talking about? I sleep perfectly fine on my own.”
“I know, Sogum, that you sleep well. But let’s just go. You said you were tired.”
Perhaps because we hadn’t seen each other in a while, Han Seon-ho, with his ‘guardian mode’ activated, was unstoppable. He seemed ready to sing a lullaby if necessary.
Not wanting to prolong the argument, I simply agreed and turned to leave, when suddenly,
“Hey, that thing you said you wanted to do. Do it.”
Yoon Geon-woo abruptly spoke, as if trying to detain me.
‘What is ‘that’?’
How many people could possibly understand such a disjointed statement? Naturally, I couldn’t immediately grasp what Yoon Geon-woo was saying, so I asked, bewildered.
“What?”
“You… said you wanted to share a room with me. Go ahead and do it.”
Only yesterday he had refused, claiming he couldn’t live with anyone else. Now, in just a single day, Yoon Geon-woo had changed his mind, making me wonder what shift in his feelings had occurred.
‘Was the reduced contamination level really that beneficial?’
Taken aback by his unexpected proposal, I merely stared at him blankly. Yoon Geon-woo then firmly reiterated his point in a resolute tone.
“If you understand, pack your bags and move in soon.”
Becoming Yoon Geon-woo’s roommate wasn’t a particularly difficult prospect for me. Even with the prescribed medications, relying solely on them would surely have its limits. Therefore, it wasn’t an unusual arrangement for me, with my high matching rate, to share a room with him.
Moreover, considering I also needed to keep an eye on another Esper on campus who was prone to rampages, conducting sleep guiding in the same room was more efficient than carving out separate time.
Of course, it wasn’t as if I had no concerns at all….
‘Last time, it was because I’d ingested a healer.’
If I performed sleep guiding when the medication wasn’t active, there shouldn’t be any issues, and the likelihood of a recurrence of previous incidents seemed low.
So, with Yoon Geon-woo’s permission now granted, moving rooms wouldn’t be particularly difficult. However,
“Share a room?”
As Han Seon-ho began to press me, a headache started to throb.
“Uh, well, there’s a bit of… a story…”
“Did you really say that, Sogum? He’s not just mistaken, is he?”
It seemed as if a second chaotic scene, following the one in the car, was about to unfold.
While I was racking my brain, caught between Yoon Geon-woo and Han Seon-ho, Joo Yeo-rye, still bound by ropes, watched us from a slight distance, observing the whole chaotic spectacle.
“Oh, what a rare and magnificent sight.”
He wasn’t holding popcorn, but his eyes sparkled as if he were watching a movie.
“Quite thrilling, I must say.”
However, he was soon dragged away by someone who appeared to be an SAA official, disappearing somewhere. Although I never found out why he was in such a state, since we attended the same school, I presumed we would encounter each other again later.
“For now, let’s talk later. Both of you, let’s discuss this again later.”
I had to pull Han Seon-ho and Yoon Geon-woo apart, as they glared and snarled at each other.
“Can’t you see that Esper-nim can’t even leave because of us?”
The Tank Esper was already seated in his vehicle. However, as we continued to argue without leaving, I could sense him watching us intently, not departing immediately.
‘These guys… their expressions show they don’t care at all.’
Even bringing up the Tank Esper yielded no reaction from either of them. Left with no choice, I decided to use my last resort.
“And Seon-ho, I’m genuinely tired… I think I’m starting to feel a bit unwell. Let’s go in quickly.”
“You’re hurting? Where?”
“Maybe it’s the wind getting inside my coat… I’m feeling a bit chilly.”
“Should I take off my padded jacket for you? Put this on over your clothes and let’s go.”
Coaxing Han Seon-ho, with his ‘guardian mode’ activated, was relatively easy. Although he ended up putting his large padded jacket over me, leaving him in just a T-shirt, he was still busy checking on me.
‘It’s like we’re some kind of season-destroyers.’
One was in a thin medical gown, another in a short-sleeved T-shirt… and then there was me, bundled in a thick padded jacket between them, a truly absurd sight.
“Yoon Geon-woo, I’m going first. You must be tired too, so go rest.”
As Han Seon-ho led me away by the hand, I urged Yoon Geon-woo to go inside. He wore an expression that suggested he had much more to say, but soon, with a sharp turn, he disappeared into the Esper dormitory.
Somehow, we managed to get through that…
But the problems truly began afterward.
****
The day after we returned to school from the Central Center, when I asked Han Seon-ho how he had come to meet me, he said Dr. Nam had contacted him in advance.
“You’ve been in contact with Dr. Nam? How?”
“You called me, remember? I saved your number then.”
The day Dr. Nam’s phone was used to contact Han Seon-ho from the Ability Center, Han Seon-ho had apparently sent a separate text to introduce himself after the call ended. Hearing that he had continued to exchange messages with Dr. Nam ever since left me speechless.
“You went that far?”
“You weren’t responding, Sogum. What else was I supposed to do? And that Dr. Nam, he’s quite forthcoming; he told me all sorts of things even without me asking.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, nothing in particular…”
Seeing him trail off, it was clear he had no intention of elaborating further. Instead, Han Seon-ho shifted the topic, turning the question back to me.
“Anyway, Sogum, what did Yoon Geon-woo mean yesterday?”
“Yoon Geon-woo?”
“That you wanted to share a room with him. That’s not really true, is it?”
Han Seon-ho seemed eager to dismiss it as nonsense. However, this wasn’t a matter that could be vaguely brushed aside, so I immediately spoke.
“Ah, that… I was actually going to tell you about it sooner…”
Typically, roommates change after a year, but if there’s no disagreement between the students sharing a room, the period is extended for another year. Since I had no particular reason to proactively change roommates, I had naturally done so.
Though I felt sorry for Han Seon-ho, who had diligently looked after me, I had concluded overnight that it would be better to share a room with Yoon Geon-woo to monitor his condition closely.
Judging by his expression, Han Seon-ho seemed to have immediately grasped the meaning of my carefully chosen words.
“You were really going to change rooms? Not because the Vice Principal ordered it, but because *you* wanted to, Sogum?”
“I’m sorry, there’s a bit of a story behind this too, but it’s hard to explain right now.”
“What kind of story is it that you’re keeping it a secret even from me? Is it because of Yoon Geon-woo?”
“Not entirely… but, well, it’s not entirely unrelated.”
“What exactly is Yoon Geon-woo to you? And those marks all over your neck and lips, those were his doing, weren’t they?”
Just earlier, while washing and changing my bandages, Han Seon-ho had spotted the marks on my neck. When he had flared up, demanding to know who was responsible, I’d tried to pass it off as insect bites, but it seemed he hadn’t bought it in the slightest.
“Please… just pretend you didn’t see this. It was truly an unavoidable accident.”
The scope by which the future changed with alterations to the present, such as the repeated regressions I was experiencing and the impending ability rampage accident at the graduation ceremony, was simply too vast. There was a risk of unforeseen variables appearing, so I had secretly decided to keep it confidential from him.
‘If other people start changing the past too… I won’t be able to handle it alone.’
The mere fact that I had decided to guide Yoon Geon-woo had nearly led to a catastrophe during the practical training.
Thus, if at all possible, I intended to keep the fact that I was experiencing repeated regressions a secret from everyone.
Except, of course, for one person.
You think this chapter was thrilling? Wait until you read Looking For My Child's Father! Click here to discover the next big twist!
Read : Looking For My Child's Father
