TTOA Chapter 24

“Is it because of the nightmare you had yesterday? Do you still remember it?”

“……”

“You don’t even look at me anymore… You don’t answer.”

Seo Eui-woo, with magazines stored in his combat uniform top, strode towards Kwon Jae-jin, who was standing in the corner of the kitchen. He offered a glass of water for him to drink, but Jae-jin didn’t take it.

“I really don’t understand Jae-jin’s feelings at all. I wish you’d tell me.”

Seo Eui-woo curved his long eyes into a smile. His clear and innocent face was beautiful.

“Did I do something wrong again? If I did something wrong, tell me. I’ll fix it.”

Seo Eui-woo, giving up, placed the glass of water on the table and clung to Kwon Jae-jin. He covered Kwon Jae-jin, who was standing in a secluded spot, pressing his arms against the wall as if to overwhelm him from behind, and buried his lips in the defenseless nape of his neck.

He seemed to be kissing lightly, but then he bared his teeth and gently gnawed.

“…Get your front teeth out of here. I’m not in the mood for that right now.”

Kwon Jae-jin pushed Seo Eui-woo’s stomach with his elbow. But Seo Eui-woo only hugged Jae-jin and clung to him tightly.

“See? You’re angry after all.”

“I’m not.”

“Then why are you like this? Jae-jin, you don’t seem to realize it, but you’ve been frowning since the day before yesterday. I’ve called you, and you’ve ignored me two out of five times.”

“…Don’t you ever think that Seo Eui-woo calls me too much unnecessarily in the first place? Jae-jin, Jae-jin all the time… My name will wear out.”

“Really? Was I annoying? Is that why you’re feeling down? If it’s not that, I can’t think of any other reason… Ah, wait.”

Seo Eui-woo, who was sliding his hand inside Kwon Jae-jin’s t-shirt, quietly stopped talking. He lowered his gray eyes, a thought having occurred to him, and examined Kwon Jae-jin’s complexion. He scanned him thoroughly with bleak eyes.

“This time again… were you thinking about that person again? The person you were dating?”

At those words, Kwon Jae-jin furrowed his brow. If he had known he would be having this conversation over and over again, he would have kept his mouth shut that night, even if it meant losing consciousness while being pounded.

“Enough. It’s not like that.”

“Don’t tell me you’re misunderstanding that you broke up with that person because of me? I think I’d be angry if that were the case.”

“I said enough! Stop talking, Seo Eui-woo. I don’t misunderstand you.”

As Kwon Jae-jin drew a line as if to rebuke him, Seo Eui-woo’s eyes clouded slightly.

“It’s no one’s fault that I had my mutant/late-blooming Esper awakening. I know it can’t be helped, and I know it’s not Seo Eui-woo’s fault either. I know all of that, but it’s just that my head is a little complicated.”

Originally, the mutant/late-blooming Kwon Jae-jin was destined to be killed. Seo Eui-woo appeared one step ahead and took him away, saving his life. Of course, he was only acting according to his instincts, but if you exclude the motivation and look only at the result, Seo Eui-woo was Kwon Jae-jin’s savior.

He has no intention of misunderstanding or resenting him. He used up all those feelings in his first life. But now, Kwon Jae-jin just needed time.

“Ah… Is that so? Then what is it? You know it’s not my fault, but you’re venting your anger on me?”

“……”

“Jae-jin, don’t ignore me. You know how hard I’ve tried to make you like me, so why are you doing this? You could at least tell me in a way I can understand.”

Seo Eui-woo’s face was as hard as white marble.

His unwavering eyes also did not show any signs of impulse or anxiety. Unlike when he was desperately craving Guiding because he couldn’t control himself, he was unrecognizably neat and tidy.

“If you just answer ‘enough’ or ‘no’ no matter what I ask, how am I supposed to know? I just don’t know, even though I want to know.”

The hand that had slipped inside his T-shirt gradually gained strength. Seo Eui-woo, who was clutching Jae-jin’s waist tightly, trembled his forearms. It hurt. Kwon Jae-jin twisted his body and turned around.

He wanted to escape from the confined position.

No, he wanted to get away from Seo Eui-woo.

Even though he knew it was a futile effort.

“What is it, where are you going?”

Seo Eui-woo muttered fiercely. He snatched his arm, grabbed it, and pressed Jae-jin back against the marble wall.

“Don’t you have anything to say?”

A piercing, sharp gaze dug into Kwon Jae-jin. The seething eyes could only be described as savage. He felt like he was being crushed by a beast.

As his gray eyes clearly twisted and went awry, Kwon Jae-jin’s heart, contradictorily, felt relieved.

If he clashed with Seo Eui-woo, argued, and hurt each other… maybe this Seo Eui-woo would become even a little closer to the Seo Eui-woo of the past. Maybe, this time too, they would reach each other after going through all sorts of emotional valleys.

It was just a vain expectation with no certainty.

“…What words do you want to hear from me, Seo Eui-woo?”

A sunken voice, as if soaked in a rainstorm, came from Jae-jin’s mouth. He didn’t intend to fall into such pessimism, but it was an unavoidable force.

“If you’re not like this because of me, tell me why.”

At the ouroboros-like question, Kwon Jae-jin swallowed a hollow laugh.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Is it because of the Seo Eui-woo from the first life, or the Seo Eui-woo from the second life…?

“Yes, well… it must be because of the person I was seeing. Whether it’s an ex-lover or a current lover… Whether I should consider us broken up or not… Something like that.”

“You’ve been fine until now, and suddenly in the past few days?”

“That’s what I’m saying. It’s sudden. That’s why it’s even more overwhelming.”

“……”

“If your curiosity is satisfied, why don’t you let me go now? I need some time alone. Seo Eui-woo, you should go to work.”

Kwon Jae-jin pushed Seo Eui-woo away again.

But Seo Eui-woo didn’t even budge. He just held Jae-jin still, staring at his expressionless face. Without even blinking, he shone his vivid gray eyes completely.

Kwon Jae-jin’s black eyes, the plain eyes without unnecessary frills, the stiff nose and cheeks, the lips firmly closed as if suppressing emotions. Seo Eui-woo, who had examined each and every feature as if dissecting them, gritted his teeth.

The veins on his neck stood out, and his eyes trembled coldly.

Seo Eui-woo, who had been lost in thought for a long time, slowly opened his mouth. A sunken voice, like scratching the floor with his claws, resounded.

“…I was wondering whether I should say it or not. I can help you, Jae-jin.”

Help him?

There was no way.

“No, this is my personal matter. Don’t worry about it.”

“I want to help you. You also Guide me and help me. I want to be helpful too.”

Jae-jin’s eyes narrowed. He was freshly reminded that rejecting Seo Eui-woo was the most difficult thing in the world.

“Ha… Did you not understand what I said? I said it’s a personal matter. It’s not a matter for Seo Eui-woo to interfere with.”

“No. You’re the one who doesn’t understand what I’m saying, Kwon Jae-jin. You don’t know. Just leave it to me.”

“So, what the hell are you keep on…!”

Unable to bear it any longer, Kwon Jae-jin lifted his eyes. Seo Eui-woo’s wavering eyes met his in the air. They intertwined intensely, drawing each other in and reaching a fever pitch together.

“If it’s me, I can neatly carve out only that person from Jae-jin’s head.”

Kwon Jae-jin was angry, and so was Seo Eui-woo.

“I’ll erase them as if you never met them in the first place. I’ll dig out the very roots of the other person’s existence and eliminate them.”

Seo Eui-woo slowly curled up his lips and smiled. The voice he heard was strangely kind, and it was chilling. It was as if he was suppressing his rising anger and calmly explaining to a child who didn’t know anything.

“…Seo Eui-woo. What… what do you mean by what you just said?”

Carve out from his head?

Eliminate the other person’s existence?

“Mental-type ability/Psychic Ability. I can interfere with the brainwaves of living things. Skilled users can manipulate an individual’s thoughts, actions, senses, and memories. Of course, reading or erasing memories is also possible.”

“……Huh.”

“You need to get permission to use it and there are many restrictions, but hiding Jae-jin is already an illegal act, so tampering with some memories can’t make things any worse than they already are, right?”

Seo Eui-woo. 20 years old. The first S-rank Esper.

An unprecedentedly powerful multi-ability user beyond compare.

“By now, Jae-jin will have been processed as missing and presumed dead in the 6th Residential District, and that lover will also think Jae-jin is dead. Victims who are suddenly attacked by creatures and whose bodies can’t even be found are pouring out every year.”

Why had he overlooked Seo Eui-woo’s omnipotence?

He thought he knew enough about his transcendental power, but that too was arrogance.

Kwon Jae-jin still didn’t know Seo Eui-woo.

He didn’t even know that Seo Eui-woo could use Mental-type ability/Psychic Ability, let alone that such an ability existed in the world. It meant that Espers could control ordinary people as they pleased if they just got permission, but if that fact were known to the world, it would cause a great uproar.

“Wallowing in regret like this all alone is a waste of time and a waste of emotions. Trust me. I’ll gently touch Jae-jin’s memories and erase everything.”

“……”

“You’ll feel comfortable. Your distracting thoughts will disappear and you’ll be able to focus only on the greater cause. And that will make us even stronger.”

“……”

“Kwon Jae-jin as Seo Eui-woo’s Guide, Seo Eui-woo as Kwon Jae-jin’s Esper.”