SOG Ch 192

“Hello, Esper-nim. I’m Nam Hae-seol…”

When he first met Nam Hae-seol, who was smiling with hands reddened from holding onto him for a long time, saying it was fortunate his wavelength had stabilized, Go Woo-jin was so surprised his heart nearly sank.

It was because she resembled his mother so closely.

Woo-jin’s mind raced quickly. He simultaneously recalled Yoon Seo-mi, who would be less affected due to Gyeong Hye-in’s disappearance, and Jae-chan’s voice saying, “You can’t do without me.”

“Will you form a contract with me?”

In the end, Woo-jin made the proposal to Nam Hae-sol.

Woo-jin was certain that Nam Hae-sol would be useful not only for guiding but also for keeping Go Young-chang and Yoon Seo-mi in check. Nam Hae-sol’s appearance, similar to his mother in the photo, would surely make him appear as a vulnerable boy still clinging to maternal affection.

Afterwards, Woo-jin gradually reduced the number of times he received guiding from Jae-chan. As soon as the new year began, he contacted Nam Hae-sol, who had been assigned to District 1, to receive guiding.

However, Woo-jin was careful not to make even light contact like holding hands with her. He had always been averse to contact guiding, except with Jae-chan.

Jae-chan was the first Guide with whom he maintained a long-term pair relationship. When receiving guiding from Jae-chan, they often held hands or hugged, but Woo-jin thought that such small skinship evoked unnecessary emotions towards the Guide.

Even if it was unavoidable with Jae-chan since they had started skinship without knowing at first, he didn’t want to create another such tiresome existence. Woo-jin was preemptively blocking the possibility itself, thinking that going through the same process with other Guides would lead to troublesome situations.

Instead, since Guide Nam Hae-sol resembled his mother so much, he decided to think of her as a younger sister. Nam Hae-sol chose to respect his feelings of treating her like a younger sister. Thus, their cooperative relationship was very smooth.

If there was a problem, it was only Jae-chan, who was trying his best to bother Nam Hae-sol again.

“Is that guy not bothering you again?”

About a year into their stable contract relationship, Woo-jin asked while receiving radiation guiding from Nam Hae-sol that day.

“It’s okay.”

Nam Hae-sol answered with an awkward smile. Others might think Nam Hae-sol was being harmed by Jae-chan, but Nam Hae-sol, who always stood her ground and talked back firmly, wasn’t very stressed. Moreover…

‘Why is that person so nice to my father?’

Her father, who was employed as a gardener at Jae-chan’s family mansion through his introduction, quite liked Jae-chan. Despite employing her father to blackmail, he seemed to treat him quite well, chatting casually and giving small gifts when coming and going. It didn’t seem to benefit Jae-chan at all, no matter how she looked at it.

Perhaps because Nam Hae-sol’s expression was peculiar, Go Woo-jin asked her what was wrong. Nam Hae-sol shook her head lightly and then asked, “By the way, what brings you to the Guide Bureau?” In fact, the two had met by chance in the lobby of the Guide Building’s first floor.

“…”

Woo-jin didn’t answer. It seems this person also has circumstances he can’t talk about. Nam Hae-sol didn’t ask further and headed outside where rain was falling steadily for the Team Guide 5’s field mission.

Meanwhile, Woo-jin, left alone, was fiddling with a chocolate bar in his pocket. Jae-chan, who rarely exercised, tended to get sick and struggle particularly when it rained continuously.

Usually, he would occasionally give snacks when they met under the pretext of guiding, but now that they rarely met, he couldn’t hand over the sweet foods. Of course, it absolutely wasn’t that he cared about Jae-chan. He had only given chocolates or yakgwa a couple of times a year, so how could that be considered caring behavior?

So for several years, Woo-jin would leave chocolates when no one was in the Team Guide 2’s office. Sometimes he’d leave it on Jae-chan’s desk as if by mistake, or place it in the center of the office to avoid suspicion. This continued for several years, until Jae-chan transferred to the Intelligence Bureau. Just twice a year as he had decided, only on days when it rained heavily.

And it was probably the last day Woo-jin visited Team Guide 2’s office.

“Uh… what’s this?”

Perhaps Team Guide 2’s work schedule must have changed unexpectedly because a returning team member caught him in the act. Woo-jin had sensed someone approaching the office but decided not to flee like a thief through the window. Instead, he calmly placed the chocolate on Jae-chan’s desk and began to leave.

Kang Eun-ho, was it? Woo-jin gave a slight bow to the Guide with expressive features and left the office.

Just in case, he was waiting for the elevator in a less-used corner when it happened. Through the gap of an open emergency exit, he could hear the voices of the Team Guide 2. “What’s this chocolate bonbon?” At the same time, he heard Jae-chan’s voice for the first time in a while. Ding, the elevator arrived, but Woo-jin didn’t get in and listened for a moment. Soon he heard the reply, “Oh… I bought it! I was thinking of you, sunbae!” It was Kang Eun-ho’s voice.

Woo-jin, momentarily at a loss for words, concluded that it was strange of him to feel resentful about such a thing.

It didn’t matter who gave it; as long as Jae-chan ate the chocolate and struggled less, the goal was achieved. Woo-jin quietly closed the door and pressed the elevator button again, which had been waiting. He resolutely left that place.

*

In the year 582, an unprecedented t3rr0rist organization called Black Swan emerged.

The President, focused only on downplaying the situation, missed the timing to suppress it. The American Union, as if they had made some deal with Black Swan, often ignored requests for support. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of people were injured or killed. It seemed the world could never return to how it was before, as each day was an extension of terror and tragedy.

Their cruelty reached its peak during the Ross Clinic incident. In that incident, Go Woo-jin lost an eye instead of saving the people helplessly trapped in the pediatric ward.

It was around that time that he heard about Seon Jae-chan’s changed reputation.

After a year of training, the guy who transferred to the Intelligence Agency raced up the promotion ladder faster than anyone in an era of despair. The youngest team leader, Human Amplifier – these were the words describing him. Some criticized him as a snake-like character blinded by success, but in Woo-jin’s view, no one worked harder than Jae-chan.

And truthfully, Go Woo-jin wasn’t happy about it.

His competence as a team leader, his unprecedented guiding skills – he wished Jae-chan would put all that aside and just live selfishly like before. Not guiding anyone, avoiding field work. He had lived well preserving his safety in peacetime, so why was he putting himself on the frontlines at this most dangerous time?

Woo-jin’s thoughts on this peaked when Jae-chan finally got injured.

“What happened?”

So shocked by the news of Jae-chan’s severe injury, Woo-jin went directly to the Intelligence Agency and confronted him for the first time in years. He later learned that Jae-chan had endured for hours until the terrorists retreated, due to an unexpected clash with Black Swan members. Of course, he had obtained the targeted confidential data.

“I said, what happened?”

In the hallway connected to the office, Woo-jin asked pressingly upon discovering a large scar covering half of Jae-chan’s cheek under his disheveled hair.

He was unaware of how forceful he appeared. After his prosthetic eye implant surgery, Woo-jin’s use of facial muscles had become awkward, and his face, further stiffened by the sight of Jae-chan’s injury, looked utterly expressionless. So much so that passersby were startled and took detours.

And to Jae-chan, who was feeling resignation and even guilt towards Woo-jin by then, that expression seemed even more unfamiliar.

“…It’s nothing.”

Jae-chan muttered without even making eye contact. His thin wrist slipped out of Woo-jin’s grasp as if escaping.

He hadn’t meant to grip so tightly. Seeing the faint marks left on the skin in that brief moment, Woo-jin ran his hand through his hair and suddenly remembered that those hands had once held him without hesitation.

“…”

He was immersed in a strange sentiment. At a time that could obviously never be returned to, somehow, deep in his chest, there was a stinging sensation.

“Thank you.”

An unexpected statement was heard.

Woo-jin raised his quiet gaze. As their eyes met, a pair of slightly embarrassed eyes quickly dropped downward. The wound on the pitifully reddish cheek also flinched.

“During the Ross Clinic incident… my aunt was there too.”

Saying “thank you” and lowering his gaze, Jae-chan spoke with difficulty a couple of times before leaving.

*

As time passed, Jae-chan’s wound changed from a dark scab to raw flesh, and finally remained as a crescent-shaped scar. Go Woo-jin, who had been subtly keeping an eye on Jae-chan since the day they talked, only then realized that the mole on his cheek that had strangely drawn his attention had completely disappeared. Just like the habit of the guy who used to hold his hand without hesitation.

Woo-jin was driven mad by that scar that looked particularly large on an already smaller face. He didn’t even think about his own prosthetic eye.

Perhaps it was because he had been silently keeping an eye on Jae-chan from a distance.

In the winter of 583, Go Woo-jin witnessed a strange scene. The sight of Seon Jae-chan seemingly avoiding Seon Eun-soo.

He started following the brothers, whose relationship didn’t seem the same as before, perhaps due to their parents’ divorce, because Seon Eun-soo had used his mental abilities. Until Eun-soo took Jae-chan to a secluded place, Woo-jin couldn’t decide whether to intervene or not. The long-standing reputation of them being “fairly close brothers” was holding back his patience.

However, his thoughts changed completely the moment Seon Eun-soo started saying strange things in the deserted area behind the building they arrived at. 

“Mom…” 

Seon Eun-soo kept repeating the word “Mom” in a low, eerie voice, staring at his puppet-like brother before him. All while constantly touching Jae-chan’s thin, long neck.

Just as Woo-jin was furrowing his thick eyebrows in instinctive aversion, Seon Eun-soo released his mental control.

“…Get lost.”

As if regaining consciousness, Jae-chan immediately pushed his brother away. Seon Eun-soo approached even closer than before, grinning.

“Hyung is just worried about you.”

Gripping Jae-chan’s shoulder as if playing with a small animal in his hand, Seon Eun-soo hummed in a relaxed voice, “I hear you’ve been going to hotels with Espers?”