Chapter 68 – GOY 68

#68

After ​a ​week, ​I ​finally ​managed ​to escape the ​hospital ​room ​and ​return ​to the Esper Academy.

Was ​it ​because it had ​been a while? ​The ​students ​seemed ​to ​be ​staring at me ​particularly ​intently, ​but it was ​probably just my imagination, ​right?

Something felt ​off, but ​I didn’t ​let it ​show ​and ​kept walking straight ​ahead. That ​was when I spotted ​Ji-hee noona coming from ​the opposite direction. Her ​eyes widened ​the ​moment she saw me.

“Yeon-soo!”

“Noona….”

The moment I ​saw Ji-hee noona, the ​emotions ​I ​had ​been ​suppressing surged up ​within me.

Noona, ​Joo ​Seung-hyuk imprisoned me ​in ​a hospital room. He locked ​me in ​a ​VIP room for ​an ​entire ​week, ​and ​except for ​when ​I was ​sleeping or eating, he did that without ​a single break.

An ​indomitable obsessive yandere ​gave me a “petit ​imprisonment” and ​treated me like ​a ​beast…. Sometimes he ​wouldn’t even let ​me sleep ​properly, ​and we ​did ​all sorts ​of ​things like ​in ​an ​R-rated, high-explicit novel.

The ​kind ​of R-rated ​novel ​where ​nothing ​but [visit our site]that [unauthorized copy]unauthorized copyhappens for the entire book.

I wanted to pour out everything I had endured over the past week to her, but at the same time, I felt that I absolutely must not say a word.

In the end, I compressed everything I wanted to say into a two-syllable word.

“Noona….”

“Our Yeon-soo, your face has shrunk to half its size. Was it really that hard?”

“Yeah….”

It was truly, incredibly hard.

As the doctor advised, I didn’t use any mana for a week. However, I was so overworked that I felt Guiding would have been a hundred times better.

“You’re a kid who never says things are hard in his life; you must have had a rough time. Don’t worry. It’s over for both Aaron and Professor Oh.”

“Aaron and Professor Oh…?”

Why was she suddenly talking about them?

As I looked bewildered, a flustered expression crossed Ji-hee noona’s face.

“You don’t know?”

“Why? Did something happen to those two?”

“You really don’t know…. Have you not looked at the internet or TV for a week?”

“Ah, that’s…. Seung-hyuk told me to just rest and not watch anything.”

I figured saying I just blindly didn’t watch would be unnatural, so I made a moderate excuse.

Well, instead of watching TV, Joo Seung-hyuk suggested we do that, so it was about half-true.

“Ah, Seung-hyuk blocked it for you.”

“Blocked what?”

“A few things happened after you were hospitalized. Nothing too huge, and since it’s already settled, there’s nothing for you to worry about.”

Ji-hee noona spoke cautiously, gauging my reaction. For someone with her easygoing personality to be this cautious, it meant something significant had happened.

“What happened?”

When I asked, she answered with some hesitation.

Apparently, Aaron and Professor Oh had tried to lure me into a trap, but their lies were exposed instead. On top of that, their plan to establish a guild to smuggle Korea’s treasures abroad was uncovered.

She said that almost all the Ability Users—the students of the Academy, the KN guild, Hyuk-jin hyung, Chae-ah noona, and others—were on my side, and that Kim Joon and the hubaes had even fought with those talking nonsense for my sake.

She also mentioned that while a small number of strange people on the internet had criticized me a bit, that was no longer the case.

But….

“Hang in there, Yeon-soo.”

“Ah, yeah. Thanks.”

“I was on your side.”

“Thank you.”

“Yeon-soo sunbae, fighting!”

“Haha, fighting….”

Seeing the people who hurried over to cheer me on and then disappear, I could guess that the situation had been far more serious than noona’s words suggested. Usually, hardly anyone even spoke to me.

I searched for the problematic articles. The original article and video from a place called ‘ItsFact’ had disappeared, but since they had spread to so many other sites, I found them quickly.

The moment I saw the article, I was so speechless from the absurdity that no words came out. The edited video was just as appalling.

The article about Professor Oh was equally ridiculous.

The Madness Toward Lee Yeon-soo and the Bare Face of the Public

Since I make it a rule not to read comments for the sake of my mental health, I searched for and read a column about the incident instead.

The entire nation had condemned Lee Yeon-soo. It was madness.

Looking at the article, it seemed the whole country had cursed me. I couldn’t believe so many people were fooled by such an obvious, absurd lie.

However, it seemed the situation had completely reversed once the real video of the conversation between me and Aaron was released.

Furthermore, as the details of the deal between Professor Oh and Han Gun-cheol were exposed, the public’s anger shifted toward them.

According to the prosecution’s investigation, Dust Read on Read BL Novelswas unauthorized copyfound in Aaron’s luggage. And as if they had been waiting, American gossip magazines released photos of Aaron drinking a cocktail containing Dust. Aaron is [unauthorized copy]still denying the charges, but it seems no one believes him.

His family enjoyed being exposed in the media every other day, but they have kept their mouths shut since the contract containing the secret pact between Han Gun-cheol and Professor Oh leaked.

Still, they didn’t seem to have any intention of giving up on the youngest; they were using every means possible to bring Aaron back to the US, but this only fueled the public’s indignation.

Moreover, the South Korean government had no intention of simply letting Aaron go, as he had conspired to smuggle out treasures of a high security grade.

An S-Class Guide was someone to be protected at the government level, but surprisingly, the US government did not step in actively. They probably judged that an S-Class Guide who had taken Dust had lost their value.

Italy was the same.

National relations, which had deteriorated after the 1981 S-Class Awakened asylum incident, had barely recovered, and they didn’t seem willing to take a risk over a Dust Guide.

Unlike Aaron, Professor Oh confessed everything. Since all the evidence had come to light, he seemed to have decided to aim for a reduced sentence by showing remorse.

But no matter how much he repented, the public’s anger showed no sign of subsiding, and articles demanding severe punishment poured out. It was said that a petition opposing the establishment of guilds by foreigners had surpassed 500,000 signatures.

The government and members of the National Assembly repeatedly answered that the public didn’t need to worry, as they had already blocked it and had no intention of allowing it in the future.

I had guessed there was something between Aaron and Professor Oh, but I never imagined they were plotting something like this.

They were trash far beyond my expectations. Even I, who disliked Professor Oh, [unauthorized copy]was surprised; the public’s stolen contentsense of betrayal must be beyond imagination.

However, considering that the person they were cursing just a few days ago was me, it feels like they just need someone to curse at, regardless of the person or the act.

Now that everything has been revealed, I can read the articles with a peaceful mind, but if I had experienced the whole situation in real-time, I would have been under immense stress….

Of course, my waist was overworked for a week, but if I had encountered these articles and known that the people around me were being cursed because of me, my mental state would have collapsed.

Should I call this thanks to Joo Seung-hyuk….

Joo Seung-hyuk must have known everything. That’s probably why he said he would sue. But he didn’t say a single word to me.

Not only did he not let it show in front of me, but he must have been carrying out other plans as well.

The video of the conversation with Aaron in the hallway, the video of the Daejeon gate, the conversation Aaron had at the hotel, and even Professor Oh’s contract. Everything burst out simultaneously.

The only person capable of doing such a thing is Joo Seung-hyuk….

“Hyung.”

When I looked up, I saw the face of a handsome man that I couldn’t get used to, even after mixing bodies for an entire week.

“Seung-hyuk-ah….”

When I called his name, the sharp angle of his eyes softened into a gentle curve.

“What are you doing here?”

I was the one who wanted to ask. How did he know I was here and come to find me?

He always manages to find where I am. Of course, it’s within the limited space of the Esper Academy, and my range of activity isn’t particularly wide to begin with….

With this level of intelligence gathering, wouldn’t it be possible to bring down Aaron and Professor Oh…? Is it too much of a leap to think that?

“I looked up the news. A lot happened while you were in the hospital.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s already in the past.”

Joo Seung-hyuk bent his knees to meet my eyes. His gaze was tender.

“Yeah.”

“Why do you look so tired?”

“…….”

No, I take back the word ‘tender.’

It’s because you did this, that, and that until right before you left the hospital last night! You indomitable top!

Joo Seung-hyuk, with his innocent eyes sparkling as if he knew nothing, was detestable, but I didn’t dare oppose an obsessive madman.

I had been trapped in a VIP hospital room for a week. I’m not joking; it was truly a petit imprisonment. I hadn’t escaped Joo Seung-hyuk’s grasp for a single moment.

But no one knew that fact. At school, they thought I was hospitalized due to shock from mana depletion. Even the Guide Ethics class, which is strict about attendance, let it slide as an absence due to injury during training.

Not only the students of the Academy, but also my family and the citizens of South Korea were the same. They didn’t know I had been imprisoned.

Joo Seung-hyuk was a man who could lock me up whenever he wanted. I confirmed that fact once again.

“I’m a little sleepy.”

He sat down beside me and made me lie down with my head on his lap.

“Ah, no.”

“It’s okay, just lie down.”

Since this was a bench in front of the West Wing, there were many students around. Moreover, perhaps because it was my first day back after that incident, they were paying more attention to me than usual.

Having a lap pillow in a place like this was embarrassing, but since it hadn’t even been a day since I was released from imprisonment, I couldn’t resist. I had no choice but to follow his instructions.

However, because I was too embarrassed to lean my body fully and tried to hold myself up, Joo Seung-hyuk let out a low laugh.

“You still don’t know how to relax.”

“Huh…?”

He leaned his head down and whispered softly in my ear.

“Even after I did it like that….”

“Huh? Uh! That, that’s not it…!”

He’s not planning to do it again, saying he’ll teach me since I don’t know, right?

Startled, I pushed myself up to make an excuse, but Joo Seung-hyuk applied pressure and forced me to lie back down.

“Sleep. You must be sleepy.”

I wanted to sleep. But no matter how sleepy I was, I had to say this.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“About me telling you to do a matching rate test with Aaron…. I almost received Guiding from someone with Dust addiction.”

“You wouldn’t have received it anyway, so don’t worry about it. But you should reflect on the fact that you told me to do a matching rate test with another guy.”

“Mm-hmm….”

So that’s the part he’s more angry about….

“By the way, Seung-hyuk-ah, did you happen to know that Aaron used Dust?”

“Yes.”

As expected, he knew….