IDSEGI Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Dragging his battered body out of training, an Esper with dark, cold eyes glared at Yeoul.

“Now you see, right? Esper Yoo Ihan is a demon. Please, Guide Han Yeoul, tell him to leave. He’s staying here for fifteen days, but we can’t survive even one.”

The Esper pleaded tearfully for Yeoul to send Ihan away, but Yeoul had no real way to do that. He couldn’t just tell Ihan to leave—he was here as part of a disciplinary order, after all.

“I can’t help it either. I’m sorry. And… I’m sure he has his kind moments.”

“You can still say that? After seeing this?”

The Esper shuddered in disgust. How could anyone attach the word “kind” to that guy?

“Let’s see if you can still say the same after hearing this.”

He took out his phone and played a recording.

—You bastards don’t get to rest until you can run 100 meters in under five seconds. Run.
—Huff, huff… C-can’t we rest just a little?
—Run.

It was a conversation secretly recorded during training. Even from a short snippet, Ihan’s voice carried not a single milliliter of kindness—it was cold, nothing more.

“Still think he’s kind?”

“……”

“Yeoul!”

Just then, sensing something was off, Ihan ran into the control room. The Esper who had been talking to Yeoul disappeared in the blink of an eye—probably thanks to all the “training.” Ihan gently cupped Yeoul’s cheek and glanced at the screen.

“What are you doing here? You didn’t see anything, did you?”

Luckily, the monitor was off. The Esper had been so thorough he’d even cut the power before leaving. Yeoul feigned ignorance.

“See what? What’s supposed to be here?”

He looked around with an innocent, puzzled expression. If he said, “I saw you beating the other Espers,” Ihan might not only beat them but bury them in a hole somewhere. With that answer, Yeoul had just saved many Espers’ lives.

“Why did you come here? Did that guy say something to you?”

“You came before I could hear anything from him.”

“Really? Wonder why he called you over all of a sudden. I’ll have to ask him later.”

It didn’t sound like Ihan would just ask with words. But defending that Esper here would only stoke Ihan’s jealousy, so Yeoul chose to play dumb. A few sacrifices were better than a larger one.

“Yeah, I’m not sure. He just dragged me here.”

“I’ll ask later, you don’t worry about it. Anyway, have you eaten? Is there something you want?”

Ihan stroked Yeoul’s hair and asked in a sweet voice—so sweet it could give someone diabetes. It was nothing like the voice from the recording earlier.

‘Still… he’s kind to me.’

It felt like he was being treated more specially than anyone else… and that was kind of nice.

Love was powerful. A little thing like this wasn’t enough to break Yeoul’s rose-colored glasses.

The Zone 1 Center Director was sweating bullets.

‘One day, Yoo Ihan, I really am going to smack you on the back of the head.’

Not out of betrayal or any grand intention—just literally, one solid smack. Because of this bastard, he was sure he wouldn’t live out his natural lifespan. Either he’d die early from high blood pressure, or live too long from stress—but either way, Ihan would be the cause.

Swallowing hard, the Director looked at Yoon Geon, who was glaring down at him with icy eyes. The stare was so sharp it made his skin tremble. With the chill practically blowing off Yoon Geon, the Director decided to use the same skill he’d used to calm Ihan before, speaking in a gentle tone.

“Well now. I’m sorry, Esper Yoon Geon. We didn’t know things would turn out like this.”

They had specifically called in an S-Class Esper from another zone to deal with a gate—only to now say they had handled it themselves. If it had been Ihan hearing this, he would have flipped the desk immediately.

When Yoon Geon dropped his hands from behind his back, the Director instinctively hugged his arms around his own chest.

He had raised his arms thinking Yoon Geon might throw the desk, but all Yoon Geon did was move his arm to check his watch.

Seeing him adjust the watch, the Center Director cleared his throat in embarrassment.

“Ahem. Since you’re already here, how about enjoying Zone 1 a bit before you leave? I’ve heard Zone 5 doesn’t have many good facilities.”

“I’m fine. I’ll return to Zone 5.”

“But shouldn’t we think about appearances? If we call such a valuable person here and send you right back, it doesn’t look good for me when I face the Zone 5 Director. Could you at least stay for a day?”

Truth be told, Yoon Geon had already been uneasy about leaving Yeoul, who had been acting strangely lately, to come here. And then to find out that they’d already taken care of the monsters themselves…

It was absurd and felt like a slight against him, but he didn’t openly show his displeasure. This was another zone, and the man in front of him still technically outranked him, so basic courtesy was necessary.

“Just one day.”

“Of course! Just one!”

The Zone 1 Director greeted his answer with unusual enthusiasm. Whatever he was plotting, Yoon Geon had no intention of wasting that day. He would find out why they had called him here.

* * *

However, after a full day of watching and investigating, there was nothing out of the ordinary. The only odd thing was that, despite being covered head to toe in bandages, the Zone 1 Espers seemed cheerful.

“Hahaha! Finally, we’re free!”

“What are you going to do during your time off?”

“Everything except training. I’m thinking of going to see a movie with my girlfriend for the first time in ages.”

“You have a girlfriend? When did that happen?”

“Nope. I’m going to get one now.”

That was the conversation in one ward.

“When did Yoo Ihan say he’d be here?”

“At least fifteen days.”

“Damn, don’t try to stop me. I’m hitting every club tonight.”

“Yeah, I won’t. Go drink some soju-beer for me.”

“It’s been so long since I had a drink! Just thinking about it makes me tear up.”

That was the conversation in another ward.

The rest weren’t much different. At first, Yoon Geon had suspected that the story about the gate being taken care of by themselves might have been a lie. But judging by the condition of the Zone 1 Espers, that didn’t seem likely. None of them were in one piece—there was no way that was fake.

Naturally, Yoon Geon assumed their injuries came from fighting monsters. Any Esper from another zone would think the same. No one would guess that some lunatic had beaten up his own comrades just to create an alibi.

The fact that Zone 1 had such a maniac wasn’t widely known.

After observing for a day, Yoon Geon began to think they really had called him because of the gate. After all, everyone seemed so happy. They were laughing so freely and innocently that it was hard to imagine they had any ill intent toward him.

“I’ll be heading back now.”