Chapter 25 – GOY 25

#25

Chapter ​3

From ​a ​certain ​day, ​I ​began to see ​things ​that ​others ​could ​not.

Something black, red, and ​pure ​white started shimmering ​before my eyes, ​surrounding ​people.

My ​parents ​took ​me ​to the hospital, ​and ​the ​doctor recommended that ​I undergo an ability ​Awakening test.

To ​be honest, ​I was ​skeptical when ​the ​doctor ​suggested that I ​might be ​an Ability User.

I had ​heard that superpowers and ​traits are influenced by ​bloodline. In ​my ​family, including all relatives, there wasn’t ​a single F-Rank Ability ​User. ​There ​wasn’t ​a ​single person with ​an Alpha ​or ​Omega trait, either.

Therefore, ​I ​believed there was almost no ​possibility that ​I ​would awaken.

When I ​went ​to ​the ​center ​with my ​mother ​to take ​the Awakening test, the staff reacted with ​indifference.

“No Ability Users ​in the family, ​and everyone’s trait is ​Beta?”

“Yes.”

“I see. ​Let’s proceed with ​the ​test for now.”

However, ​the moment I ​placed my ​hand ​on the ​mana ​measurement device, ​the ​staff’s expressions ​shifted ​instantly.

“Get ​the Head of ​Section—no, ​bring the ​Center ​Director ​here!”

The ​surroundings became chaotic, and a group of high-ranking officials rushed down.

I was flustered and frightened by the sudden situation.

They led me to the basement with a polite demeanor. I measured my mana again using the precision equipment there and was judged to be an S-Class Guide.

My life changed that day.

People were thrilled by the appearance of the first S-Class Guide in over ten years.

Before I knew it, I was giving interviews in front of swarming reporters, and my face appeared in newspapers, news broadcasts, and even famous foreign magazines.

Countless people visited every day, requesting that I sign a contract with them.

Nothing about the offers—from the signing bonuses to the contract terms—was realistic.

All the conditions were excessively generous, but none could compete with the Seong Han Group. Moreover, unlike other places, I liked the condition that I only had to provide Guiding to one person: a man named ‘Joo Seung-hyuk.’

It wasn’t because he was a third-generation chaebol.

Joo Seung-hyuk was one year younger than me. Since he was a boy of a similar age, I thought we could become friends quickly.

I decided to sign with the Seong Han Group. My parents respected my choice.

I took a car provided by the group and headed to the ‘Seong Han Ability User Specialized Hospital.’

This was to perform a 1-on-1 matching rate test with Joo Seung-hyuk before finalizing the contract.

Thanks to the lack of traffic, I arrived 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled time. However, when the appointment time came and 30 minutes passed, Joo Seung-hyuk still hadn’t arrived.

Then, Secretary Ahn, the secretary to Chairman Joo, asked for my understanding with a troubled expression.

“Yeon-soo, I’m sorry. It seems there is a lot of traffic. Why don’t you have lunch first?”

“Okay.”

I naturally assumed we would go to a cafeteria. However, Secretary Ahn guided me to a patient room.

If it weren’t for the pure white hospital bed placed on one side, the facilities were so good that I would have mistaken it for a reception room rather than a hospital room.

It was likely a VIP-exclusive room.

Secretary Ahn asked me what menu I wanted. Thinking I should eat something simple, I said ‘hamburger,’ and about 20 minutes later, a handmade burger on a tray was brought in.

The hamburger on the white plate was wrapped in paper, and a fork and knife were placed in front of it.

I sat on the black leather sofa and stared at the handmade burger.

Just then, the door opened and a child walked in.

For a moment, I forgot what to say as I looked at the child dressed in a full suit.

He was a very beautiful child, like a doll. In particular, his black eyes, which looked like embedded obsidian, were stunning.

“Hi.”

I gave a small wave.

“What are you doing?”

Instead of a greeting, the boy asked in a voice full of irritation. It seemed something unpleasant had happened.

“I was thinking.”

“Thinking about what?”

“Whether I should pick up the hamburger with my hands or cut it with a knife. That’s what I was thinking about.”

“Ha… are you an idiot?”

Contrary to his pretty face, the boy had a foul mouth.

“Do I seem like an idiot?”

“Yeah. Fucking stupid. Why would you even worry about that?”

“It’s my first time eating a handmade burger. I want to eat it properly if possible.”

“Are you a beggar?”

“No. I’m just eating a handmade burger for the first time.”

“That’s why you’re a beggar.”

My family wasn’t wealthy, but we weren’t so poor that we couldn’t afford a handmade burger. It was just that I had never eaten one because I thought it would be better to eat other foods with that amount of money.

Instead of explaining that in detail, I gazed into the boy’s eyes.

“You shouldn’t talk to people like that. Apologize.”

“A beggar who’s here to sell his body because he has no money is acting all high and mighty.”

“Sell my body?”

“You’re like Shim Cheong.”

Shim Cheong? Was he saying I was like Shim Cheong, who threw herself into the Indangsu Sea after receiving three hundred sacks of rice?

If so, he knew I was a Guide.

“You must be Joo Seung-hyuk.”

I had guessed as much from the moment a child entered the VIP room so freely, and it seemed I was correct.

“Yeah.”

Joo Seung-hyuk lifted his head proudly.

“You’re late. I guess there was a lot of traffic.”

“No. I just held out because I didn’t want to come.”

“Why?”

“Because I hate you. I don’t need a beggar who sells his body for money.”

I stood up from the sofa. As I approached, Joo Seung-hyuk flinched and stepped back. Since he was a year younger than me, he should have been in 6th grade, and his frame was quite small.

I bent my knees to meet Joo Seung-hyuk’s eyes.

“Seung-hyuk-ah, I’m not Shim Cheong. I didn’t come as a sacrifice, but to become your Guide.”

“…My Guide?”

“Yes. Your Guide. And I’m in 7th grade. I’m one year older than you, Seung-hyuk. So you should call me ‘Hyung’ instead of ‘you’.”

Instead of answering, Joo Seung-hyuk glared at me. It seemed he didn’t like me.

“Don’t call my name so casually.”

“Alright. Seung-hyuk-ah.”

“I told you not to call me!”

“Do you hate having your name called? We’ll be together from now on, so we should get along.”

“……”

I smiled brightly and took Joo Seung-hyuk’s hand. Even though he was a child who only said mean things, for some reason, I didn’t hate him.

The child who kept his guard up and spat out the harshest words he could actually felt pitiful.

It was almost like looking at my Woong-i…

Min-woong was like that too. Min-woong had been at an abandoned dog shelter, and perhaps because he was visit our sitea so-called country mutt, no one took him, [Read on Read BL Novels]and he was just waiting for the date of his euthanasia.

My family brought Min-woong home without a second thought. However, as soon as Min-woong arrived, he barked fiercely. He clearly liked us, but he curled up his wounded body and kept his guard up. He was afraid of being abandoned again.

Now he’s become a little puppy who wags his tail wildly whenever he sees me, but it took a long time for him to open his heart.

“If you had kept insisting on not coming, I wouldn’t have been able to eat. Seung-hyuk-ah, come here and let’s eat together.”

I led him toward the sofa. Joo Seung-hyuk followed me with his mouth tightly shut.

“Here, pick one. Do you want to eat with your hands? Or should we use a knife?”

“I’m not eating!”

“Huh?”

“I said I’m not eating! You eat it all! Idiot!”

Joo Seung-hyuk shook off my hand and walked out, closing the door.

The sound of the ‘thud’ echoed through the entire hospital room.

---

“Ugh.”

When I opened my eyes, a pure white ceiling came into view. This was the VIP room at Seong Han Hospital.

Joo Seung-hyuk had left, saying he didn’t want to eat the hamburger, and I had been left alone. But why am I lying down? My thoughts moved slowly. As I blinked to organize the situation, someone grabbed my hand.

“Hyung!”

When I turned my head, I saw Joo Seung-hyuk.

He grew up suddenly.

He was small and pretty when he was young, but in an instant, he had become a handsome young man.

No, Joo Seung-hyuk didn’t suddenly grow. That earlier part was a dream. I had dreamed about the first time I met Joo Seung-hyuk.

Joo Seung-hyuk hated me intensely from the start. At the time, I rationalized it by thinking he just had a shy personality.

However, the next time we met, the original story immediately came to mind.

I realized that Joo Seung-hyuk wasn’t just grumbling for no reason, but that he genuinely loathed me…

So, I immediately gave up on the Exclusive Guide Contract and went home.

Yes, that’s how it was. Joo Seung-hyuk had told me not to call his name.

But why now…

A sense of unfairness washed over me, and reality gradually returned.

I slept with Joo Seung-hyuk, and he started calling me Hyung… But why am I lying in the same hospital room as seven years ago?

Ah, right. Rampage.

Joo Seung-hyuk almost went into a Rampage during the mock battle training. Recalling the last memory before collapsing, I asked urgently.

“Seung-hyuk-ah, are you okay?”

“Is this the time to be worrying about me?”

“You… you almost had a serious accident.”

“Who is saying that to whom right now!”

Joo Seung-hyuk shouted loudly, but [stolen content]I wasn’t scared. Rather, I was bewildered. It was because stolen contenttears were dripping from his eyes.

“Seung-hyuk-ah…”

“Lee Yeon-soo, you woke up after fifteen days! You almost died!”

It seems I went into shock due to mana depletion.

Because I felt my mana reaching its limit while Guiding Joo Seung-hyuk just before his Rampage, I had expected that shock would occur. Still, fifteen days is truly dangerous…

“I see.”

“Is that all? Is this something to just brush off with an ‘I see’? Why did you do that? It’s not like Lee Yeon-soo is a rookie; you knew better than anyone how dangerous it was, so why did you do it! Why didn’t you just run away instead of Guiding! Do you not know how dangerous a Rampaging Esper is!”

“If I had, you would have died.”

If I hadn’t taken action then, Joo Seung-hyuk would have lost his life due to a mana explosion.

Even if his life had been barely saved, he would have been in a vegetative state.

I was lucky enough to be born as an S-Class Guide and had the ability to save him. That’s why I didn’t hesitate to attempt Guiding Joo Seung-hyuk.

Every second was critical, and I was [unauthorized copy]the [Read on Read BL Novels]only S-Class Guide nearby. [unauthorized copy]It was something I had to do anyway.

Moreover, I was confident I wouldn’t die. I was relatively rational.

I thought that even if a problem occurred, it would only be shock from a lack of mana. I didn’t know it would take fifteen days to wake up from the shock, but in any case, my prediction was correct.

“Seung-hyuk-ah, are you really okay?”

“…Ha, fuck.”

Joo Seung-hyuk suddenly cursed. Was it because his eyes were filled with tears?

Even though he cursed fiercely, it didn’t feel very scary.

“I don’t understand the human known as Lee Yeon-soo.”

“Does something hurt?”

Seeing him change the subject without answering made me worry.