DB Vol 1 Part 11

The questions came at the same time. Yoo Geon-young was right in front of him, so that made sense, but how did Nani know? Won-woo was amazed again and tried to erase his smile. Don’t smile. Even if the other person was as insignificant as an insect that could be easily crushed, now was not the time to put on airs. Because Yoo Geon-young didn’t know that he was a weak insect. Won-woo finally calmed down and explained dryly.

“Killing just me won’t solve anything. Since you’re interested in the Alpha seed anyway, it would be better to keep me alive. You could use me as a spy to extract information from my family. It’s more beneficial for you to keep me alive, feed me, and coax me.”

Geon-young’s expression was still not good, but Won-woo was confident his words would work. The Alpha seed always worked. Throughout the long war with the Espers, the Alpha seed had never failed to work, and this time was no different. Geon-young frowned, but the hostility that had flared up in his eyes like fire suddenly subsided.

“Don’t be ridiculous. What would your family tell you when you’re no better than an abandoned child?”

“It doesn’t matter. Even if they don’t tell me, I can find out on my own.”

“You… Hah, shit. Why am I even listening to this bastard?”

“Because you have nothing to lose.”

Geon-young stared into space for a moment as if calculating the benefits, then asked.

“So you’re saying you’ll be a spy for me?”

“Of course not. I’m just curious about the Alpha seed and want to find out more. If I learn anything, I’ll share the information with you.”

An incredulous smile spread across Geon-young’s face. He looked Won-woo up and down as if seeing him for the first time.

“Hey, are you really Ji Won-woo? They said you lost your memory, but did you lose your personality too? You’ve become a completely different person.”

“I nearly died.”

“Ha, you call that an excuse…”

“Is there a stronger motivation for change than death?”

Won-woo’s calm voice was low. That was all, but for some inexplicable reason, Geon-young held his breath, feeling an unidentifiable pressure. Even as he wondered why he was acting this way, he couldn’t take his eyes off Won-woo. As he was lost in thought for a moment, Won-woo’s long bangs fell down enough to cover his eyes on his expressionless face.

It wasn’t just the bangs. The carelessly cut side hair was long enough to cover his ears too. While unkempt long hair could look messy, it suited Ji Won-woo as if it were his own style. Especially with that slightly downcast eyes mood right now. When he raised his head, Geon-young finally came to his senses and hardened his expression. What was he thinking about that trash?

“Oh, and leave out the part about me seeming like a ‘different person’ in the report you submit to my family.”

Geon-young’s eyebrows twitched. He really had been sending reports about Won-woo to his family for the past two years. How does this bastard know that?

“Who are you to have reports sent to your family?”

“I’m a test subject of sorts, so my family would be curious, wouldn’t they?”

It was common knowledge that Ji Won-woo had been tested with the Alpha seed. In fact, Geon-young had suspected that this might be why Ji’s family kept requesting information about Ji Won-woo. Until now, there had been nothing to write in the reports. It was always the same. An incompetent D-rank Guide. But now, after nearly dying, he had to write that he had become disrespectful too.

“And hold off on the long-term leave request. If you really can’t stand to see my face, just transfer me to a different department.”

Won-woo looked straight into Geon-young’s eyes and slowly formed a smile.

“It’s not a threat, so don’t misunderstand.”

It was clearly something to be upset about, but Geon-young couldn’t utter any curses. For a moment, he couldn’t take his eyes off that smile. Had Ji Won-woo… always been someone who smiled like this?

***

“Esper Hong Seung-wook, I will begin the guiding.”

The speaker’s expression and eyes sparkled with laughter, contradicting their businesslike tone. Seung-wook, who had just sat down on the sofa, reached out towards his Guide but stopped and chuckled. As if knowing the other was trying to tease him and willing to play along, he leaned back leisurely on the sofa.

“Guide Lee Idan. How do you plan to Guide me?”

“Well, how are you feeling today? Is guiding through hand contact okay?”

Not at all. Seung-wook reached out again and quickly grabbed Idan’s wrist as he tried to back away. Idan’s thin body was easily pulled in, landing abruptly on Seung-wook’s lap. Seung-wook tightly embraced Idan, who was trying to escape, and buried his face in the crook of Idan’s neck.

“Ah, are we guiding now? Why is just your scent so damn amazing?”

Undisguised joy showed on Idan’s face. He tried not to express it too much in front of Seung-wook, but when the other clung to him like this, his heart swelled.

Seung-wook was someone Idan had been in love with for a long time. Well, who wouldn’t like him? Not only did he come from a good family background, but his outstanding abilities made him incredibly popular. Enough to become a national star when he awakened as an A-rank.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Idan’s school days were filled entirely with thoughts of Seung-wook. The first thing he looked up after manifesting as a Guide was his matching rate with Seung-wook. Although it was barely over 50%, it was enough to Guide him. Becoming Seung-wook’s Guide was the sole goal of his life. So he joined the Center right after graduation, but ended up working at a branch Center.

Still, with the help of an acquaintance, he was transferred to the main headquarters a month ago. It still felt like a dream. He had heard that Seung-wook had met many Guides here, so he tried not to feel too secure about their relationship yet, but it only made him more greedy. He hoped that among all his Guides, he would be Seung-wook’s true love. And Idan was confident he could make it happen.

“You didn’t have a monster elimination mission today, right? I heard from Geon-young hyung. It was just a routine check-up.”

“You met with Geon-young? I’m hurt. You won’t even meet me at the Center except during guiding sessions.”

Seung-wook’s hand slowly stroked Idan’s back, gradually moving lower. As his fingers slipped inside Idan’s pants, Idan arched his back and clung to Seung-wook’s shoulders.

“I had something to ask him over the phone. Geon-young hyung seemed busy. He said one of the Guides in the team wasn’t listening?”

Seung-wook’s hand, which had reached Idan’s buttocks, stopped.

“Which Guide in the team?”

“Ji Won-woo.”

“…How is he not listening?”

“He said there was a health issue… Oh, he hit his head and has some memory problems. But apparently, he still insists on coming to the office to work.”

After explaining, Idan slightly pulled away from Seung-wook’s shoulder, gripping it. He wanted to see Seung-wook’s face, but Seung-wook grabbed the back of Idan’s head and crashed their lips together. Hot, moist breath enveloped Idan’s skin. Idan naturally parted his lips, letting out an expectant sigh.

Although they had kissed hundreds of times since they started dating, Idan’s heart still raced uncontrollably at the fact that it was Seung-wook. Tilting his head to accept the persistently clinging lips, Idan began guiding. When skin directly touched like this, the Esper’s power felt three-dimensional.

The energy within him that needed guiding surged like waves. The Guide continuously calmed these incoming waves by counteracting them with waves of the same shape. Naturally, for it to be effective, the Guide needed to have abilities similar to those of the Esper. Although Idan was an A-rank Guide, Seung-wook’s abilities were even more outstanding, so it was sometimes overwhelming. That’s why he always focused with all his might during guiding. So he didn’t pay much attention to Seung-wook’s question whispered without separating their lips.

“He came to the office today?”

Who? Idan thought for a moment, barely recalling their previous conversation, and murmured a ‘yes’ inside his mouth. But soon his voice turned into a low laugh. Seung-wook moved his hips, rubbing his hard erection against Idan. Seeing his excitement as proof of affection towards himself, a smile spread across Idan’s face again.

“Hyung, why are you already excited?”

Seung-wook deeply inserted his hand into Idan’s pants, firmly grasping his buttocks. Seung-wook’s lips moved to Idan’s neck, deeply sucking on the skin as he whispered huskily.

“I’ve always been like this whenever I see you.”

***

Won-woo had one ability he prided himself on being useful in real life after enduring many long battles. He was excellent at memorizing and finding routes. He could find destinations even with childlike crude maps, so if he had a floor plan, he could navigate a place with his eyes closed.

That’s why he could now confidently head to the “Tower 2 Decontamination Room” as instructed. The decontamination room was a large outdoor facility like a giant car wash, used to remove contamination from equipment after monster extermination operations.

‘They say Guide Ji Won-woo’s black backpack is being kept there. They want you to go get it right away.’

The team Guide who relayed this message disappeared quickly as if fleeing after delivering just those words. Although it looked suspiciously like advertising to anyone watching, Won-woo headed there without hesitation. He wanted to take a look around the East Center anyway. Meanwhile, Nani kept him company with conversation.

[Why did you smile?]

“When?”

[When the team leader threatened ‘You’re going to die soon.’]

Ah, that time. Yoo Geon-young had also asked why he smiled at the same time. It was hard to answer in front of Geon-young so he just let it pass, but Nani still remembered that. Won-woo made a mental note that Nani would persist in getting answers to questions, when he heard a mumble that sounded like someone talking to themselves.

[You’re smiling again.]

The flat, indifferent voice suddenly sent a chill down his spine. Why did it sound so human this time?

“How did you even know I was Smliing?”

[I heard the sound.]

What sound? I didn’t even realize I was laughing. But since an AI wouldn’t lie, Won-woo could only marvel again at the performance of the communicator’s microphone. This really deserved a Nobel Prize.

“If you can hear that well, you must hear even my breathing and it must be really noisy.”

[Yes.]

“I’m… sorry?”

[Never mind that, why did you smile?]

So persistent. As expected of a machine, it keeps repeating the question if it doesn’t get the set value properly.

“Because the threat wasn’t scary at all.”

[You’re not scared of an Esper?]

Won-woo barely suppressed another laugh.

“Espers are people too.”

[That person could kill you with just a twitch of their finger.]

“Nani.”

[Yes?]

“Talk to you later.”

Won-woo immediately turned off the communicator and put it in its case, letting the suppressed smile show on his face. If asked again why he was smiling, he wasn’t confident he could avoid answering this time. Instead, he quickened his pace and entered the decontamination room entrance. From the start, there was a wide area like a parking lot with cars lined up.

Opposite was a long warehouse-like building made of steel frames. The building had a full-width dock structure that was open, revealing the interior where several cars could be seen on lifting equipment.

There were no people. But Won-woo could tell where to go. From the moment he entered, one Esper had been emitting a faint power. When he reached the very end of the decontamination building, he saw the owner of that power. Three Espers from the same team turned to look at Won-woo simultaneously.

Yes, as expected, these guys were the ones who called him here. It was really strange. This was clearly a different world, yet he was entangled with the same people as in the original world. And all as teammates no less. Is fate similar in any world? Won-woo looked at the three. Nani’s question from earlier came to mind.

‘Aren’t you scared of Espers?’

How could he be scared? They’ve all died by his hand once already.

Ji Won-woo. Sang-cheon studied the name and photo on the laptop screen for a long time. The face was definitely that of the Guide who had come to his office yesterday on the verge of tears. But why did it feel different even though it was the same face? Was it just the difference between a photo and real life?

Sang-cheon sighed and scrolled down with the mouse. The face that had been about to cry at the statement that he wasn’t unhappy kept lingering in his mind. For some reason, those words seemed to have made Ji Won-woo happy. Why would a complete stranger be happy about his happiness? This question that came up dozens of times couldn’t be answered even after examining Ji Won-woo’s information.

The Ji family was uniquely famous for having Guides inherited through bloodline, as was the prominent Esper family. However, they hadn’t accumulated wealth like Esper families, but from 9 years ago, their fortunes seemed to turn as they flourished, and now most people from the Ji family were famous enough to have paparazzi following them.

So he thought there would be a lot of information on Ji Won-woo, but surprisingly, it was hard to even find a picture of Ji Won-woo. He managed to find one photo someone had uploaded on an East Center related community. Other than that, there was astonishingly little information. He also searched through anonymous boards on the Center community, but it was all malicious rumors.

They say he stalked a famous Esper. Perhaps due to the Esper’s popularity, Ji Won-woo was being criticized one-sidedly to the point it seemed unfair. How could they let malicious rumors spread about someone from the Ji family? This is why people say he’s the abandoned child of the Ji family.

Yet the brute wants to use him as a spy. Well, considering the feud between that family and the Ji family, it’s not incomprehensible that they need information on Guides. No matter how much money one has, they needs to know who the Guides are to spend it.

The guide information for the matching wavelength was tightly controlled by Guide One, the Ji family. So the brute’s family couldn’t use their power properly even though they were espers. In particular, that family had difficulty finding guides due to their unique wavelength for generations, and many people died from rampages. It’s no wonder people said they were cursed.