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“I heard that from late teens to late twenties is the period when the second power is awakened the most. You’re at that age right now. Do you want to be a Multi-Guide?”
“Yes. A little, um, funny, right?”
The youngest member of Team 5 messed with her long hair shyly. Vroom. Not far away, the soft sound of car fumes could be heard. She spoke softly against the background of the soothing noise.
“Honestly, if I can become something by working hard, I want to become it right away. The salary and hazard benefits are incomparably higher… It’s quiet in the center, but statistically, the death rate is much lower in Esper. And. This is the most important thing. Aren’t Espers basically ignored less?”
The youngest member of Team 5 sighed. Jae-chan recalled at first glance the image of her running around in the barracks because she was the youngest.
“So… Wouldn’t everyone besides me want to become an Esper if they could?”
The youngest member of Team 5’s face turned red again after she finished speaking. She assumed she’d said a lot for nothing, in the presence of a gold spoon guide who will not go through any difficult situations. What are you doing now? She should have only asked about Team Leader 1. She then added defensively.
“Of course, a guide who only guides people like Go Woo-jin Esper will not understand. I did.”
And there was silence for a while.
“…”
Oh, she shouldn’t have added it. It was time for the team 5 guide to get frustrated.
“No. I understand.”
A subdued voice was heard. The youngest, who had been fiddling with her fingernails, looked up in bewilderment.
“I really understand. I once wished I was an Esper.”
Seriously. Seon Jae-chan’s face is slightly pale as he murmured. A very cold wind blew in an instant. It was when the youngest attempted to ask as to the reason because his face, exposed to the emptiness, appeared as self-deprecating as his own.
“…Sunbae? Where are you going?”
Jae-chan, who had been paying close attention to Kim Geun-won throughout the conversation, suddenly whispered.
Go Woo-jin left his seat about 5 minutes ago. There was only one expected caller when he saw him hurriedly taking out his ringing cell phone. Woo-jin cared for only one person on the phone. His stepmother.
For that reason, Kim Geun-won, who was alone, stood up. He frowned as he turned off the tablet PC that was leaking light and looked straight ahead outside the alley.
“Sunbae. What’s wrong with you?”
Jae-chan approached and lowered his voice. He stopped walking and stood next to Kim Geun-won. Staring at the same angle.
An alleyway where things were cluttered. A car stood in the dark. It was on the other side of the narrow two-lane road where Jae-chan and Kim Geunwon had walked arm in arm. Jae-chan remembered hearing the sound of a car while talking with the youngest member.
An old off-white range rover. With the headlights turned off, only the exhaust sound can be heard. Kim Geun-won whispered.
“There’s a man… inside it.”
It was a very tense voice. As if it was wrong that there were people in there.
“Of course, it can be, isn’t it?”
“Shh.”
“Shh!”
In order, they were the youngest members of Team 5, Seon Jae-chan, and Kim Geun-won. The youngest frowned, wondering why these people were doing this.
On the other hand, Seon Jae-chan did not have the energy to satisfy the youngest’s curiosity. After all, Kim Geun-won dashed to the Handycam, picked it up, and attempted to run to the alley.
“Where are you going?”
He whispered and grabbed Kim Geun-won. A silent but fierce fight ensued between the two.
“Let go of this. Let go of me, you punk.”
“Don’t go. It’s dangerous.”
“There’s no danger.”
“It’s a vehicle that even turned off the headlights that appeared in the no-go area. It’s dangerous with or without anyone inside.”
Because it was a typhoon-damaged area, barricades and LED safety lights were constructed all along the access road. Due to a lack of manpower, there was no one guarding it, but most people do not dare to crawl into the dangerous area to see it.
“I saw a hand inside. It was a white hand… Knocked on the rear window, fell down!”
“You mean someone seems to have asked for help. -The youngest of Team 5.”
Seon Jae-chan called the youngest while still holding Kim Geun-won. She swallowed a nervous breath as she listened to their conversation with her mouth wide open.
“Go tell your team—no. Don’t go anywhere. It’s dangerous if they’re bad people. Send a text from the shady spot over there. Contact an Esper. Solicit assistance from your team members. That there’s a dangerous situation. Hurry.”
The youngest turned on the phone in a blind spot outside the alley. He was grateful that they could communicate much better than he thought. The problem was that the person who was supposed to be able to communicate well was still running wild.
“Calm down. Just wait for someone to come. Should I call Go Woo-jin?”
Knowing that he would never answer if he was on the phone with his stepmother, Seon Jae-chan just said it like that.
“Don’t take it easy, you punk! If a real person has been kidnapped, it is an emergency!!”
You’re talking nonsense. Seon Jae-chan said sarcastically inside. The real emergency is Kim Geun-won. It was a love affair, and the kidnapped person will come back intact tomorrow. In this case, Kim Geun-won was the only one who was not fine. For a brief moment, Seon Jae-chan stared at Kim Geun-won, who was frantically jumping around in his firm grip.
He was alive.
Now, this person, he is very alive.
Jae-chan felt his senses, which had been buried as if he hadn’t known them all day, open up like a floodgate. The strangeness of talking to an already dead person. Unfamiliarity. Or the fear that this person will die again…
A rage-filled voice. The sensation of hot skin on his hand’s palm. Warm breath. The brows and wrinkles around the eyes were distorted like a rakshasa. Even the band-aid he’d wrapped around his chin to treat himself.
This man is alive.
I don’t want to let him die again.
“He may be having some terrible time while you’re holding me back! At least you should let them know that they’re not alone!”
“Then what if you die?”
Jae-chan asked without loosening his grip and wrists, which seemed to fall because of pain.
“People don’t die that easily! How dare you give me a leap, you despicable bastard! You’re always like this. Frightened in advance, give up! That’s why you’re always playing tricks on the back there rather than going to the front to face it with confidence!”
Fortunately, Kim Geun-won never screamed even in the most dire of circumstances. It was funny to whisper and fight, but the situation was not. The youngest, who had contacted help, also looked at them anxiously.
“Are you saying you’re going alone?”
“Let go! Let me go! I’ll peel you with my feet.”
Kim Geun-won was so angry that he couldn’t even pronounce it properly. It looked like he wanted to knock him down right away. Seon Jae-chan thought about plans 1 and 2 for the last time.
1. Knock out Kim Geun-won.
2. Held Kim Geun-won to the end.
“There is a reason why Go Woo-jin hates you, you cold-hearted punk! What, the youngest? That’s right, it’s you don’t even have the heart to ask for our youngest name!”
“Ah. Old man, you’re really, really, really annoying.”
The angry Jae-chan recited it as if he had chewed him out. The voice calling him an old man comes out without remorse. The reason for the outpouring of rage was that Kim Geun-won eventually forced him to carry out plan 3. It was a plan he had made just in case.
He was so stubborn anyway. Jae-chan abruptly pulled the hands that were holding Kim Geun-won. At the same time, he kicked Kim Geun-stomach won’s with his knee. It was a well controlled power. Just to the point that Kim Geun-won couldn’t move for a few minutes.
Ugh. Kim Geun-won took a deep breath and bent like cooked shrimp. Jae-chan received the handycam that was about to fall and handed it over to the surprised youngest member of Team 5. Plan 3. The risk is about 20% higher than in plans 1 and 2, but there is no other option.
3. Made Kim Geun-won behave when he became noisy.
Jae-chan passed through the crowded alley while Kim Geun-won, who had been hit by a vital point, was quivering on the ground. The moon even crossed the cloud-covered two-lane road. Vroom, he approached the car that only made engine noises.
A station range rover model that was discontinued 15 years ago, with a dark gray angular body and old-style headlights. The windows are gray and hazy, and there are scratches all over. Dust acts as a natural tan.
He noticed that the trunk was slightly open at first. He was hesitant to touch it, so he checked only the back window, where Kim Geun-won had seen a white hand.
Of course, the door was shut. He couldn’t see anything because it was dark inside the car. Knock, knock, knock. He knocked on the dirty window just in case, but there was no response.
While looking at both sides of the dark road, Jae-chan took out his phone. Fearing that the light would be too bright, he turned on the flashlight by holding the point where the flash fired with the tip of his index finger.
It seemed that he could hear footsteps in his ears.