By Zephyria 
I had no intention of letting useful powers rot.
Especially if I expected more clashes with X.
“I should contact the Management Bureau employee tomorrow.”
The contact information I received back then was safely stored in my phone.
What I needed was time. Time to take a break from the grueling practice and meet with the Management Bureau employee to access the Database.
Without realizing it, I casually asked Jae-ha.
“Jae-ha.”
“Yeah?”
“Do any of the colleagues you have can mimic the appearance of others?”
Jae-ha was silent for a while before shaking his head. He seemed to be reviewing his colleagues’ abilities.
“Sorry. No one.”
“Damn it….”
“X had it, though.”
This is driving me crazy.
I had to hurry and make contact before X appeared to the Management Bureau employee in my form.
When the story was over, Jae-ha hugged me and took me to the dorm.
I was glad that I didn’t have to go through the troublesome process of going through the dorm entrance, thanks to coming out through the window.
‘If I go in through the entrance when I never left, the young Esper might look at me strangely.’
I didn’t want to break the peace I had barely gained with the members.
It would make it harder to move around.
As soon as I landed back on my bed after climbing through the window, I warned Jae-ha.
“This time it was urgent, but don’t do this next time.”
“Do what?”
Jae-ha blinked at me blankly. I sighed.
“What else? Suddenly barging into the dorm without any notice.”
“I did contact you. I asked you if anything was wrong in a text.”
“Is that a notice that you’re coming? Don’t push it too far.”
“I’m not pushing it.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Can’t you cut me some slack?”
“No.”
The old Jae-ha was mature, reliable, and kind, a true pillar of support.
The Jae-ha I saw again was different from before. He would act childish like now, and say things that aroused subtle emotions.
Has too much time passed?
Or is Jae-ha too stressed and wants to lean on me?
Either way, it was sad.
I had completed the Guiding, and now I had to leave, but I pushed away Jae-ha, who kept clinging to me, and said.
“Follow the rules, Hyeon Jae-ha. You know you have to be careful.”
“I know, but I don’t want to part so easily. I don’t know when you’ll call me again.”
Jae-ha, who was clinging to the window like a leech, looked gloomy.
I wasn’t fooled by that face.
“Don’t pretend to cry. You were resilient even when we were grilling sewer rat together.”
I was so impressed by how tough he was back then.
Hyeon Jae-ha, who was the most mentally strong person I knew, was acting like a withering, sickly child, so it felt awkward and strange.
Jae-ha, knowing that he was pretending to be weak, was still brazen.
“That was a long time ago. And I had no choice back then. I had to consume something to survive, but the damn government temporarily suspended supplies, so there was nothing to eat.”
“Still, urging me to eat it quickly because it was delicious was something you couldn’t do without real venom. You admit that, right?”
“…I had no choice. The current me needs more delicacy.”
“I don’t know. When I first met you in this form, you even brought nails and ropes with delicacy, and if necessary, you were going to torture me, so I think you already have a lethal dose of delicacy.”
I shot back with facts and barely managed to push Jae-ha, who was wriggling like a larva, out of the window.
I locked the window tightly so he couldn’t come in, and Jae-ha became depressed.
“When will I see you again if I leave now?”
“I told you I’d contact you when I can see the Management Bureau Database, right?”
“Even if it’s not that, you have to contact me unconditionally if you’re in danger. Got it?”
“I got it. How many times have you said that? I’ve heard it so much that I’m sick of it, so please go, go!”
“Okay.”
Only after persistently getting my confirmation did Jae-ha return to his hideout.
Throughout the flight with telekinesis, Jae-ha looked back every few seconds. He was probably worried that X would come to me after he left.
‘Tsk.’
What should I do with this friend who suffers from separation anxiety?
I wanted to take Jae-ha to a hospital dedicated to Ability User for mental healing right away. But I knew it was an impossible wish right now.
‘Honestly, I only said that X might follow Jae-ha to make him aware of the danger.’
Unless he was a daring guy with his liver outside his stomach, it would be difficult to take such a risk.
X fears Jae-ha. That much must be true. Even I wouldn’t be able to gather my bones if I turned that guy into an enemy.
For X, who ran away frantically, to chase after Jae-ha meant that he had to be prepared to die if he got caught.
So X wouldn’t come directly. Even if he used Brainwashing or some other stolen mental ability to attach someone to find Jae-ha’s weaknesses… He wouldn’t rashly step forward himself.
‘It’s obvious when he even had other researchers extract abilities from my corpse.’
That guy seems to have a hobby of hiding in a safe place, not getting his hands dirty, and only taking the core.
I don’t know whose child he is, but his taste is disgustingly sophisticated.
I also watched Jae-ha until he became a dot, cursing X madly.
‘Jae-ha seemed to want to deal with that guy himself….’
As I said before, that guy was my prey. Even if I took revenge, I planned to cut off his life myself. I will kill X. It was an iron rule I set from the moment I woke up as Yeon Yujin.
Potato seemed to read my troubled mind and sighed deeply.
[I think you need to show it with actions rather than words.]
“I can do it on my own even if you don’t rush me. I have to make time somehow. If not, I’ll tell the Management Bureau employee to bring the Database to me.”
[The Management Bureau, which is sensitive to information management, would never do that.]
“Who doesn’t know that? I’m saying I’ll take that out as a last resort.”
In the midst of our bickering, Potato’s sprout fluttered and stood upright.
[……!]
Potato jumped up and hurriedly ran to the window.
Potato, standing in front of the window, glared around with anxious eyes. Like a prey who has a natural enemy nearby.
“What’s wrong? What is it?”
Surprised by Potato’s sudden behavior, I also approached the window and looked around, but I didn’t see anything unusual.
“Did Jae-ha come close again?”
In response to my question, Potato shook his head with a serious expression.
[No. I didn’t feel Hyeon Jae-ha’s energy or waves. That guy is a good Esper who listens to you, so he’s already disappeared far away.]
“Then why….”
[I think I sensed suspicious energy and waves.]
“Whose is it….”
[Who else could it be? Of course, it’s that X that you and Hyeon Jae-ha are chasing with bloodshot eyes!]
When Potato raised his voice, I felt the muscles in my face stiffen this time.
“Are you sure? That it’s that guy?”
[How can I be confused? I can’t forget that disgusting flow of energy, like a bunch of different colored yarns all twisted together.]
As soon as Potato finished speaking, I drew the curtains on the window, hugged Potato, wrapped myself in a blanket on the bed, and holed up.
Of course, I acted as naturally as possible so as not to look rushed, but sweat was dripping down my back.
I judged that even if X was crazy, he couldn’t cause a disturbance in a residential area. There are many people, so it would be difficult to find me right away here.
Potato showed a surprising reaction to my actions.
[I thought someone as hot-tempered as you would open the window right away and look for who X is.]
‘I want to! But lying low is the best policy right now.’
I haven’t even accessed the Management Bureau Database yet, so moving hastily will only cause trouble.
‘Let’s hope it passes quietly. I wish you were mistaken, if possible.’
Potato tried to say something more, but closed his mouth after hearing my words.
Several minutes, like eons, passed in the darkness.
Potato whispered to me.
[He’s getting closer to this area….]
Did that guy come to me because he had something to do?
Did he already see Jae-ha and me together and approach?
Should I contact Jae-ha right away?
Or should I wake up even the young Esper and ask them to fight?
As I was thinking all sorts of things, Potato continued.
[…Uh. He’s passing by. He’s getting farther away. The waves of energy are getting fainter.]
“Phew.”
So, was it a coincidence that he was passing by this area?
‘I have to wake up and contact the Management Bureau employee quickly….’