Chapter 16 – GOY 16
#16
After parting ways with noona, I was about to enter the locker room to change out of my uniform when I was stopped by Senior Moon Seon-woo, an A-Class Esper.
“Student Yeon-soo, could you give me some guiding?”
“Right now?”
“Yeah. I rushed back for a lecture after a Gate Raid, so I haven’t been able to get any guiding.”
Moon Seon-woo was an Esper from the KN Group, the second-largest conglomerate after the Seong Han Group.
Compared to the Seong Han Group, which was strictly meritocratic, the KN Group had an image of being harmonious and affectionate. They likely cherished their affiliated Espers and ensured they received thorough guiding.
“Why did you come back in such a rush?”
“My next class was Esper Ethics.”
“Ah….”
“If I don’t pass this this semester, I won’t be able to graduate, Hyung.”
Just as Guide Ethics was a major requirement, so was Esper Ethics. Moreover, it was a subject graded solely on attendance without an exam.
Major requirements passed simply through attendance were the subjects High-ranking Ability Users feared most. Low grades didn’t matter, but failing to graduate meant being tied to the Academy for at least another six months.
“I understand. Let’s go to the Guiding Room right now.”
“Thanks. You’re the only one I can count on.”
We entered the Guiding Room located next to the training hall.
It was simple for a Guide to guide an Esper of a lower rank, but conversely, guiding an Esper of a higher rank was more difficult and less efficient.
To guide an A-Class Esper, one needed either an A-Class Guide of the same rank, an S-Class, or two to three B-Class Guides with very high matching rates.
However, there were already fewer Guides than Espers to begin with, and as the rank increased, it became harder to find a stolen contentpartner with a high matching rate.
The high-rank Espers of the Academy shared the same struggle.
As an S-Class, I frequently handled the guiding for A-Class seniors, and Moon Seon-woo was one of them.
Moon Seon-woo sank into a black leather chair as if collapsing. He must have been exhausted. When I reached out my hand, he lightly grasped it.
Since we had a lot of experience guiding each other, we knew each other’s styles perfectly.
Furthermore, he was particularly well-mannered among Espers. He never flirted, demanded intense skinship, or harassed me.
“I’ll begin now.”
“Please do.”
As the guiding started, a smile spread across Moon Seon-woo’s face.
“Ah, I feel like I can breathe again.”
“Tell me if anything feels uncomfortable.”
“Nothing.”
He immediately shook his head.
“Yeon-soo, I hated it when I first entered the Academy. Honestly, I didn’t learn anything here; it was a waste of time.”
Any Ability User of C-Class or higher with Korean citizenship was required to enroll in the Esper Academy.
Except for truly exceptional cases, no excuses were accepted, and those who refused admission could be legally punished.
Complaints about “forced conscription” were constant among high-ranking Ability Users, but there was absolutely no chance of this system changing.
“But it’s been great since you arrived. If it weren’t for your guiding, I might have dropped out.”
“You can’t drop out of the Academy.”
“I just mean that’s how much I hated it. I’d get excited thinking I’d graduate if I just endured this year, but then I’d get depressed thinking I wouldn’t be able to receive your guiding anymore.”
“The KN Guild has plenty of wonderful Guides.”
“They do. But it doesn’t feel like this. It’s hard to describe, but it’s as if my entire body is being purified….”
A languid sense of excitement was evident in his expression. This was a natural phenomenon that occurred during guiding. Most people couldn’t suppress their rationality at this point and would grip the hand tightly or demand closer contact.
But he didn’t budge. He really was a well-mannered person.
“Yeon-soo, how about coming to our company after you graduate? There are many Guides, so the burden is low, and the protection facilities and treatment for Guides are excellent. Honestly, I also have a personal desire to keep receiving guiding from you.”
Although the Seong Han Group was the top company in the country, everything revolved around the Espers, leading to many evaluations that the Guide’s workload was excessive and they were relatively neglected.
Therefore, Guides preferred the KN Group, and I had also been considering them.
“I heard the Espers at KN Group are well-mannered. Is that true?”
“Well. It’s hard to compare with other companies, but they’re certainly better than I am.”
Senior Seon-woo is already great; if they’re even better than him, just how good are they?
Maybe going to the KN Group is the better unauthorized copychoice. A company [unauthorized copy]unauthorized copyrepresentative visited me last month, and the contract terms were quite good.
“I’ll think about it.”
However, a definitive answer was forbidden.
The original plot is getting wildly twisted. I don’t know how the situation will change a year from now. I must be careful until the story of the original work completely ends.
“It’s an honor that Lee Yeon-soo is even considering it. Yeon-soo, about this mock training….”
He laughed lightly and changed the subject. He was being considerate, fearing that I might feel pressured if he spoke more about it.
He really was a good person.
After finishing the guiding and changing out of the uncomfortable uniform, I stepped out of the locker room to find someone unexpected—or rather, someone now entirely predictable—standing there.
“Hyung.”
The only person in the Esper Academy who called me Hyung. It was Joo Seung-hyuk.
“What are you doing here?”
Until now, he had only visited when my classes were over. He had never come in the middle of the day like this.
“What do you mean, ‘what am I doing here’? I’m happy to see Hyung, are you not happy to see me?”
His lips were smiling, but his eyes were cold. To a casual listener, it sounded like a normal pout, but having read the original work, I knew this bastard was revving his engine for the sake of his obsession. I had to handle my words carefully here.
“Of course I’m happy to see you. I was just curious since you came to the training center without even wearing your uniform.”
“Because I missed Hyung.”
“I see.”
It was certain that Joo Seung-hyuk knew my schedule perfectly.
“But what have you been doing until now? I thought your lecture ended a while ago.”
The coldness in his eyes didn’t fade. Moreover, he had an attitude of testing me even though he already knew….
I realized why Joo Seung-hyuk had suddenly visited. He knew I had guided someone else.
‘It pisses me off that some other bastard is touching you, so don’t do any more guiding or whatever from now on.’
Joo Seung-hyuk’s voice echoed in my mind.
This wasn’t my business, but for a reason, the word ‘Madman’ was attached to ‘Obsessive Madman.’ This guy wasn’t the type of human to consider such things.
What should I do? What do I do?
I recalled the incidents in the original work where Kim Joon was briefly imprisoned after guiding a sub-seme.
After some deliberation, I spoke.
“Ah, I had shooting practice today. Since it was the first time, it ended early and I was about to leave when I ran into Ji-hee noona.”
“Senior Park?”
“Yeah. I was about to leave after talking with her, but Senior Moon Seon-woo requested guiding. He said he couldn’t get any because he rushed back from a Gate Raid due to a major requirement course.”
I explained everything that happened today in great detail.
Kim Joon was a taciturn character. Strangely, he didn’t speak much, and that silence invited misunderstandings and obsession.
Furthermore, even after being imprisoned, he kept his mouth shut, and the moment he finally decided to speak, he was gagged and ended up suffering terribly.
Throughout reading The Swamp of the Guide, while I felt sorry for him, I kept thinking, ‘Why does he act like that when he could just speak?’
Even though the keywords were ‘frustrating uke’ and ‘oblivious uke,’ it was enough to make me scream, ‘Isn’t this too much?’
So, taking the original’s impressions as a lesson, I decided to do the opposite of the main uke and reveal everything to the obsessive yandere.
“He’s not usually the type to make personal requests like this, but he seemed to be in a very urgent situation, so I guided him in the Guiding Room.”
“Is that so?”
Joo Seung-hyuk’s thick eyebrows twitched. I couldn’t guess what that meant.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“I know you hate it when I guide others.”
“Do you even remember what I said?”
The nuance of the word ‘even’ in that sentence was strangely eerie.
“Of course I do. Who do you think said it?”
How could a mere villainous sub-uke forget the words of the obsessive yandere?
“It’s unavoidable during training, but I should have been careful in other situations. I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”
No matter how I thought about it, I hadn’t done anything wrong, but I apologized unconditionally while reading his mood.
However, the sharp gaze of the obsessive yandere still didn’t soften. What more should I do? Should I kneel and beg?
While I was worrying about what to do, a sharp voice pierced my ear.
“Are you planning to guide some other bastard during training too?”
Of course, you crazy bastard.
“Yes. It’s a school rule.”
The Esper Academy was positioned somewhere between the military and a university. If one refused guiding without reason during training, they could be disciplined.
“Maybe I should just blow it up.”
Joo Seung-hyuk stared blankly up at the training grounds. He’s not actually planning to blow it up, right?
“If you blow it up, we’ll just train somewhere else. If we do it directly in a Gate, I’ll have to guide more often.”
“That won’t do.”
Joo Seung-hyuk grabbed my hand.
“Did you guide with this hand?”
“Yeah, I just held hands. Very lightly. I usually only do it with my hands.”
He pressed down on my right hand with his thumb. His touch seemed full of dissatisfaction.
“I washed my hands after guiding. I used hand sanitizer too.”
“Good boy.”
“Seung-hyuk-ah, do you want me to do it for you too?”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Ah, if you don’t want to, then don’t.”
I blurted out words to soothe Joo Seung-hyuk’s mood and then immediately backstepped.
Joo Seung-hyuk was an S-Class. Even if guiding an A-Class Esper was difficult, an S-Class was on a completely different level.
Furthermore, although we were both S-Class, our matching rate was low.
In the original work, Joo Seung-hyuk hated Lee Yeon-soo’s guiding to a disgusting degree. [unauthorized copy]However, his father, Chairman Joo, forced Lee Yeon-soo to guide him simply because they were both S-Class.
But the more he was forced to receive guiding, the further the relationship between the two drifted.
If I guided him now, I might receive Joo Seung-hyuk’s contempt just like in the original. While that was actually welcome, I didn’t want to gamble while facing the risk of imprisonment.
“I don’t hate it. There’s no way I’d hate it. But since it’s precious, I’ll save it.”
“Okay.”
“Instead, kiss me.”
“He-here?”
“Yes.”
His eyes were still cold. He wasn’t over his anger yet. I looked around. There was no one nearby.
What should I do….
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