Episode 8
From the moment he entered the annex, Yeohyeon sensed something strange.
Everything surrounding that person felt completely unfamiliar.
By the time he finished wondering why he was being seized by that feeling, he was already on Basement Level 4.
His body had been completely drained to its limit, and had only recovered enough for him to sit and breathe. Even continuing a simple train of thought was difficult.
He was truly exhausted.
So whoever that person was, he decided not to think about it anymore. The right thing to do was simply to pass by without getting involved. If the AI had allowed them into the annex, then at least they could not be a threat to security.
That was Yeohyeon’s slow, tired conclusion.
But the moment that person’s grayish-brown hair entered his field of vision, he forgot his decision and had no choice but to keep thinking.
A guide.
He did not know why, but he recognized it immediately.
Before he even looked at the logo on their clothes.
Before his brain could properly analyze and judge the information his senses had picked up, his body had recognized it first.
She’s a guide.
Beep. Beep. Click.
He parked his car far away from her.
By the time he unfastened his seat belt, he had noticed even more.
A dark navy oversized short padded jacket with the Center’s logo on the arm.
Black training clothes that were obviously also provided by the Center.
A light, short haircut that revealed her neck.
There was something strangely cool about her appearance.
She had a modern, city-like vibe, but there was nothing sharp or aggressive about it.
The colors that made up her appearance were faint. If you looked closely, they were not exactly bright colors, but that was the first impression they gave.
The exact opposite of someone whose vivid presence completely took over the space around them.
A chill slowly crawled down his spine, pressing against each vertebra one by one.
Her pale, youthful face turned toward him.
Even the color of her eyes was light. Her round, jewel-like irises had an even stronger gray tint than her hair.
A guide behind the glass.
The woman beyond the transparent wall opened her lips and called out to him. Even if it was quiet, the vibrations of her voice still reached him.
Esper Kim Yeohyeon.
That was what she called him.
His name.
A strange voice.
A voice that did not exist anywhere in his memories.
His stomach churned.
So when Yeohyeon got out of his car, he did not look back.
He did not want to add another unexpected coincidence to this life.
Right now, even the things he had been told he would inevitably have to deal with were already more than enough.
“Esper Kim Yeohyeon!”
But the owner of that voice followed after him.
Unlike her faint appearance, her voice had the same vivid presence she did.
It was somewhat low, yet still clear and bright, and it gradually came closer.
When it came to ridiculously low matching rates, there was no legend greater than Kim Yeohyeon.
There were seven guides in Korea alone with matching rates below 10%.
Even if the range was limited to Korea, there were too many people with rates in the 20% range to count easily.
Even among A-rank Espers, there were only around twenty people with matching rates in the 20% range.
That S-rank kid will go berserk and die within a year.
The researchers were certain.
The only thing we can do is build a bunker deep underground as quickly as possible, so we can lock that kid inside it and minimize the damage when he eventually goes berserk.
He’s not even a Fantasy type. He’s a Physical-type.
He’s basically a weapon of mass destruction.
So the government immediately began digging tunnels at the very edge of Gangwon Province and poured concrete into them like crazy.
They were trying to bury the power of nine-year-old Kim Yeohyeon somewhere no one could reach.
They were being even more careful and thorough than when burying nuclear waste.
Under the name of national security, all information about the boy Kim Yeohyeon and the true purpose of the project in Gangwon Province was kept completely secret.
Forget about one year.
Most experts predicted he would go berserk within a month.
Some even predicted it would happen within a week.
But Kim Yeohyeon survived.
Thanks to his monstrous self-recovery ability and a talent that could only be explained by saying that God had chosen him.
Self-recovery.
It was the speed at which an Esper could refill their power vessel on their own without Guiding.
Kim Yeohyeon had an unbelievably low matching rate, but at the same time, he possessed an unprecedented self-recovery ability.
If both were placed on a normal distribution graph, they would both reach equally extreme ends.
In simple terms, it was like receiving guidance from a B-rank guide twenty-four hours a day.
Of course, even that was only like a tiny stream constantly flowing into an enormous dam, considering how much larger his power vessel was.
For someone like Kim Yeohyeon, the existence of a guide had always been like cruel false hope.
A mirage he could never reach.
A terrible guide who could only exchange pain with him until the very end.
“Esper!”
Even when Yeowon called out to him, Yeohyeon simply kept walking away.
“Wait… just a second!”
The Basement Level 4 parking lot was enormous.
In the end, Yeowon had no choice but to run after him.
His legs… Why are his legs so freaking long?
They said his designated parking area was over there! Why did he park somewhere else?!
At the same time, as she desperately sprinted at full speed, Yeowon realized something.
“…Esper Hyun!”
The landlord was deliberately ignoring every single call coming from her side.
But she could not give up and walk away.
Plan adjustments. Sadly, I need to adjust the plan.
Thankfully, even though the AI had recognized that Yeowon was violating security regulations, it had not immediately activated the security wall.
“Yeohyeon… Hah. Esper Kim Yeohyeon!”
Her breathing became heavier and heavier.
Tap.
A concrete wall that she could never enter beyond unless the AI permitted her.
Only when she reached it did Yeowon finally manage to block Yeohyeon’s path.
“Haa. Hah.”
Thud.
More accurately, she had not really blocked him.
She had barely managed to squeeze herself between him and the heavy metal door in the wall.
“…Es… per!”
Bang.
Yeowon pushed the metal door Yeohyeon had been about to open shut again and leaned against it.
“I… huff. Haa…”
“Huu… Hah.”
Since she did not want their first face-to-face meeting to involve her looking completely wrecked from being out of breath, Yeowon lowered her head for a moment and caught her breath.
All he could see was the crown and the back of her head, her hair messed up by the wind.
Haa, haa.
All Yeowon could see were his long legs.
They were so long that they had caused her quite a bit of suffering just moments ago.
And then Yeowon suddenly realized something.
The distance between them was much closer than she had expected.
She kept her head lowered and spent even longer catching her breath.
Okay… I think I’m better now.
After checking with the back of her hand that the heat had finally gone down from her face, Yeowon parted her lips.
“I’m sorry for coming without warning, but…”
She called his name and raised her head.
“Esper Kim Yeohyeon.”
One uncovered eye was looking down at Yeowon.
From up high.
And from extremely close.
Yeowon blinked twice, then immediately lowered her gaze.
Even in the middle of a freezing cold wave, he was dressed so lightly that it seemed he had not even considered the possibility of being exposed to the outside air.
Black slacks.
A black hidden-button shirt.
A dark navy cardigan.
A black mask.
Among all those deeply saturated colors, the darkest thing was his eyes.
A quiet silence settled between them.
He looked somewhat thinner than he did in photographs.
Beep.
Behind Yeowon’s head, the AI sensor on the metal door activated.
Yeohyeon silently moved his hand and operated something.
His neat, beautiful hand floated in the air for a moment before lowering again.
At the same time, he took one step backward.
Only then did Yeowon raise her head again.
His slow movements.
The path his arm and hand had followed as they rose and lowered.
The slight angle at which his head tilted to the side while looking at Yeowon.
All of it was…
Seriously sluggish.
He looked exhausted.
He was extremely tired.
There was no way to hide it.
Yeowon stood still and met his gaze.
His single visible eye slowly scanned her from head to toe.
Yeowon’s back stiffened as she endured his gaze.
What the…
She was nervous.
Incredibly, unbelievably nervous.
This was not an atmosphere a man in his early twenties should have been able to create.
What is this? He’s dangerously attractive…
He had an intensely decadent vibe.
If he had become a model and made use of his height and bone structure, wouldn’t he have completely dominated the runway with that decadent, heroin-chic look?
Then he spoke.
At a completely unexpected moment.
“Yes.”
Just one syllable.
“I… um, my name is Sim Yeowon.”
She had prepared what she was going to say.
“I don’t know if you’ve heard of me, but I’m the sixteenth person to awaken in South Korea recently… I’m an unselected guide.”
She had prepared those words hoping to catch his interest.
She had written and deleted the sentences over and over, carefully polishing them.
“You need a dedicated guide, right?”
There was no need for a long introduction.
They both knew what they wanted.
So all she had to do was briefly explain the main point.
But her mouth had gone completely dry.
“I think I can help…”
Flash. Click.
Huh?
Click. Flash. Click.
A camera flash went off in the distance.
Yeowon was not the only one who noticed it.
Yeohyeon spoke.
“Guide.”
“If you have something to say, summarize it in one sentence instead of talking at length.”
The only thought Yeowon could manage after receiving that sudden request from Yeohyeon was…
…His voice is insane.
…Seriously insane.
It was like a fastball that would hit the strike zone of her eardrums at the speed of light even if she listened to it while standing on her head and walking backward.
Click. Click.
Then people came running over.
Judging from the things dangling around their necks that looked like special press passes for the annex, they were definitely reporters.
“Excuse me.”
“…Yes?”
Yeowon did not immediately understand what Yeohyeon was about to do.
She was simply pulled along by his hand.
Huh…
His huge hand grabbed Yeowon’s arm, which was wrapped in her padded jacket, and her back was pulled away from the metal door.
“Esper Kim Yeohyeon! An interview! Just for a moment!”
The metal door opened.
Bang.
The metal door closed.
Yeowon was left outside.
What…
Yeowon’s expression became even more blank than the reporters’.
She was completely bewildered.
“What is your relationship?”
“Is that a logo from the Center? Are you a Center guide?”
“What’s your name?”
“Guide, what is your relationship with Esper Kim Yeohyeon?”
“What were you talking about?”
Yeowon felt completely dazed.
She had been thrown into confusion by an action she never could have expected.
So all she could do was apologize to the reporters.
By that point, perhaps the reporters realized there was nothing they could get out of her.
They followed behind her for a while, but eventually sighed and let her go.
Yeowon slowly walked over to the elevator and pressed the button.
Then she turned around.
Far away, she could see the black car that its owner was no longer sitting in.
Even though it was colorless, it was strangely flashy, and its structure looked extremely solid.
It reminded her of him.
And so Yeowon left the annex in a daze, as if she had been bewitched.
She stepped into the cold air and came face-to-face with the park in the center of headquarters.
Behind it, a mountain floated in midair.
It was a fantastic landscape painted with surreal and unreal elements.
And compared to even that, Kim Yeohyeon somehow seemed even farther removed from reality.
Yeowon stood frozen like a statue for a long time.
His voice.
His actions.
The difference in their eye levels.
They came back to her one after another.
The afterimage of everything continued circling in her head.
A voice that needed no explanation.
A body that moved slowly.
A gaze that was far too cold.
And the story she already knew even before meeting him, a story filled with enough circumstances to tangle both reason and emotion together.
Thinking about Kim Yeohyeon naturally reminded Yeowon of Sim Yeowon’s past.
Dangerous.
…He’s dangerous.
To me.
That was the first impression Kim Yeohyeon left on Yeowon.
