OMH Chapter 23

Oh My Hero – Episode 23

23. The S-Grades I Ended Up Raising (4)

After conducting tests enough to establish a certain level for the curriculum, two hours had flown by, and it was almost lunchtime.

I needed to send the kids to eat and submit the report, so we all left Room 172.

Research Center Building A, where the ‘Special Education for High-Risk Espers’ took place, was also called the ‘Central Research Center,’ the main building of the Research Center.

It was the main building because it housed the most important facilities. Therefore, the laboratories and dormitories of the S-grade Espers, whom the Association cherished, were all attached to Building A.

The S-grade Espers lived almost entirely in Building A, solving their accommodation and food needs there.

And honestly, I hadn’t been to Building A much.

One way or another, I was still a B-grade Esper, so my ability experiments were mainly conducted in Building B. General Esper research was conducted in Building B, so in fact, Building B was where the most people gathered.

Anyway, I hadn’t visited Research Center Building A often, but it seemed I would be coming here every day now.

I decided to eat lunch with the three S-grade Espers, with whom I would be seeing a lot of from now on, at the cafeteria in Research Center Building A. I could finish the report after eating.

But suddenly, while walking down the hallway, Jo Yong saw a window and exclaimed loudly, “Oh?! That’s Jang Hana transformed!”

Only the tops of people’s heads were visible through the window Jo Yong was pointing at.

Being 192 centimeters tall, Jo Yong had a higher eye level than others. Perhaps that’s why he could see not just the tops of their heads, but their faces as well.

‘But if it’s Jang Hana transformed, it’s Cha Woojin?!’

I quickly moved to the window to check the people inside.

Guide trainees were sitting on chairs, receiving training beyond the window.

Among those trainees, in the back row on the right. The black hair sitting near the window…

‘It really is Cha Woojin?!’

I was so happy to see Cha Woojin by chance that I almost screamed.

As I stood at the window, fidgeting, Wooreen said she wanted to see too, so I picked her up to show her.

Next to Wooreen, who was happy to see her brother, the other kids also crowded around to find Cha Woojin.

“Wow, he’s really handsome. Looking at him like this, he shines all by himself. I kind of understand why the senior is head over heels for him. Let’s ask him to have lunch with us!”

‘Oh, would that be okay?’

I was tempted by what Jang Hana said while excitedly pounding on my shoulder with her palm.

“But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Guide in the cafeteria while living in the Association. Is that even allowed?”

As I pondered with a blank expression, the kids urged me, saying it was fine.

According to them, Guides mainly used the cafeteria inside their facility, but the Association didn’t enforce it.

The kids said that Guides often ate at the Building A cafeteria attached to the Guide facility, treating me like an idiot for not knowing that.

“Oh, is that so? I didn’t know because I don’t visit Research Center Building A often.”

“But how do you two know each other? A Guide trainee and a field mission Esper wouldn’t have a reason to meet. If you were Espers in the Research Center like us, you might run into each other. But… you’re always out on missions.”

Soyoung, who was usually shy, was curious about the relationship between Woojin and me.

Indeed, as she said, Guide trainees didn’t come out of Building A Research Center and outside the facility, so she must have been curious.

‘Hmm… where do I start explaining this? Should I start with how I rescued Woojin? But that’s a bit gruesome to explain to them. They were all rescued by the Association, so they probably hate monster stories…’

While I was wondering where to start, the Guide training seemed to have ended, and people began to come out of the door.

Among the people pouring out into the hallway, we immediately found Woojin, who was tall and had a sculpted face.

Just as I was cautiously about to call out to Woojin, Wooreen called out to her brother loudly first.

Woojin, who was moving towards the facility among the people, saw us.

Woojin came straight over and took Wooreen, who was in my arms.

No, he tried to pick her up, but he almost collapsed from exhaustion, so I supported him.

I quickly smiled at Woojin to prevent him from feeling embarrassed and spoke to him.

“Cha Woojin, are you okay? Ahaha, it’s been a while.”

“Why didn’t you answer my calls, Oppa!”

I was about to exchange greetings with Woojin after a long time, but Wooreen interrupted me.

Woojin, who was about to return my greeting, ended up apologizing to Wooreen for being busy and not answering, so the timing for the greeting was cut off.

Thanks to that, I silently helped put Wooreen down, feeling awkward, when Jo Yong opened his mouth.

“So, this is ‘Gang Hana’s Man.'”

Oh, I was so surprised I almost choked.

I hoped Woojin wouldn’t have heard it because he was so focused on Wooreen, but unfortunately, he seemed to have heard it clearly.

Woojin looked at Jo Yong with a bewildered expression.

‘How do I make up for this? Jo Yong, why can’t you just be quiet? Why are you saying useless things so loudly?’

“But you’re really handsome! How do you know Senior Gang?”

Jang Hana’s timely interruption diverted Woojin’s attention. Woojin was a little flustered but gave Jang Hana an answer.

“We… well, Hana rescued me, so that’s how we met.”

“So, you used the fact that the senior saved you as an excuse to flirt.”

“If the person I saved was a beauty, I’d chase after her too.”

“But is it okay to hit on the person who rescued you?”

‘Can’t you all just keep those useless mutterings to yourselves?’

Because the kids were still young, they didn’t seem to know what to say and what not to say, and were just making a fuss, so I offered a sincere apology to Woojin.

But the nonsense of the growing teenagers didn’t stop.

“Woojin, I’m sorry. They’re still 18-year-old teenagers, that’s why. Even Jo Yong, who’s taller than you, who’s already tall, is still a teenager.”

I put all my effort into speaking gently so that Woojin wouldn’t be embarrassed by my words.

While apologizing to Woojin for the kids’ annoying nonsense, we arrived at the cafeteria.

The S-grades didn’t have to pay for food because the Association supported everything for them. The S-grade’s meal was free when the S-grade themselves paid for it. And that meant that I, a B-grade, and Woojin and Wooreen, had to pay for our meals.

I left the kids to pay on their own since it was free for them, and I decided to buy Woojin and Wooreen’s meals.

Woojin had just entered the facility yesterday, so he probably didn’t have any money and couldn’t buy anything outside the facility.

I lifted Wooreen up so she could choose her menu directly on the kiosk.

After Wooreen chose her menu, I was about to step aside so Woojin could use the kiosk, but Woojin was staring blankly at the kiosk.

“Woojin? What’s wrong?”

“It’s just, it’s been so long since I’ve seen a facility like this. I didn’t know there were still cafeterias that used kiosks for ordering.”

Woojin said wistfully while looking at the kiosk.

‘Come to think of it, Woojin had been hospitalized until last night and hadn’t used the Association cafeteria yet.’

He’s acting like this just from seeing a kiosk that’s in every cafeteria, he’ll be completely surprised if he sees Downtown.

I thought about taking Woojin to Downtown someday and received the smartwatch from Wooreen, who was still holding it.

Woojin ordered yukhoe (beef tartare), today’s most expensive menu item. If he’d been wandering around in a ruined world for so long, he probably hadn’t been able to eat fresh food. I understood Woojin’s choice of yukhoe in this winter.

Wooreen didn’t seem to know what anything was even when looking at the menu pictures, but she just chose omurice because it looked appealing. This was also a special menu. I… I’ll just have to eat a set menu with extra side dishes from the free meal plan.

As I chose the cheapest menu after the free one, Woojin looked at me hesitantly.

“It’s okay, Woojin. I’m not trying to save money, it’s just that I can’t think of any menu I want to eat.”

I earnestly made excuses to Woojin and paid for three servings with my smartwatch.

After getting the number from the kiosk and sitting down, the atmosphere around us was a bit strange.

I mean, the people around us, not us. Everyone seemed to be glancing at Woojin.

‘What is it? Why are they staring?’

It wasn’t just me, Jang Hana seemed to have noticed the stares as well. Jang Hana glanced around and said, “They must be curious because a trainee Guide is outside the facility. Everyone’s staring a lot.”

“Oh, they’re staring because he’s wearing a trainee uniform. I was wondering why they were staring.”

Thanks to Jang Hana’s words, the unpleasantness I felt from the gazes disappeared completely.

They were curious because a trainee with no money was buying food outside the facility!

‘Indeed, everyone knows that newcomers don’t have money, so it might seem strange. And they make sure to wear uniforms, so they’re easy to distinguish.’

The Association took a long time to train each member. And during that long training period, they made sure to mark the still-unlearned members to protect them.

One of those marks was the newcomer uniform.

Newcomer Espers and Guides who had just joined the Association wore trainee-only uniforms for three months of intensive training.

Of course, just as the Esper uniform and Guide uniform were different, the newcomer uniforms also had separate versions for Espers and Guides.

Regardless of whether they were newcomers, they were given basic uniforms after the three-month intensive training period.

Even after receiving the basic uniform, during the regular training period of three to five years, they wore trainee badges to distinguish themselves from existing Espers.

And because there were no missions during this training period unless it was a training-related dispatch, Association members during the training period were poor.

‘They can’t even dream of being outside the facility during that time.’

So, it might seem strange that someone who had been in the Association for less than three months was freely using other Association facilities.

Usually, newcomers were too busy just following the Association’s training curriculum.

‘Still, stop staring at Woojin, you jerks. You’ll wear out Woojin’s face.’

The people around us were staring so openly that it was unpleasant, but Woojin didn’t seem to mind the attention.

Rather, Woojin was busy looking around at the number and the cafeteria.

Still, it felt a bit strange that Woojin had been inside the Association for a month and was only now being amazed by the cafeteria. Should I feel sorry for him? He probably hadn’t been anywhere because he’d been sick.

‘Then it’s understandable that it feels new.’

I decided to understand Woojin.

※ The rights to this work are reserved by the copyright holder. Copying, reproducing, modifying, or distributing this work may result in criminal and civil penalties.