TTOA Chapter 67

#67

“Jae-jin, I’m still young. There are still four years left…”

“I know. That you’re young. Not even four years, it’s only been four months.”

“You said I smelled green.”

“That’s right. So? Won’t you do it?”

“No?”

“……”

“No. I will.”

“……”

“Date me. Date me.”

“Then… Seo Eui-woo should ask me out too. That’s how it’s supposed to start.”

“Ah, is that how it is. Yes, Jae-jin.”

Seo Eui-woo spoke so docilely, unlike his usual self.

It wasn’t like the Seo Eui-woo who always did whatever he wanted.

“Will you date Eui-woo?”

So, I laughed a little.

*

Eventually, I ended up dating Seo Eui-woo…

Both in the first and second playthroughs.

In just four months, not four years.

However, even so, there were still unresolved problems everywhere, making it hard to be immersed in a romantic game and enjoy it.

Feelings are important, but so is reality.

Kwon Jae-jin realized this painfully today.

“Seo Eui-woo. Now is not the time to be spacing out. Let’s clean up this house and move right away.”

He had been sitting in the hallway for a long time after the teleportation, and he had wasted time in the bathroom for various reasons. But if you think about it calmly, this wasn’t the time to be doing this.

This house is too close to the scene of the incident. Besides, the security system is broken. It means it’s a dangerous situation where the Special Task Force could burst in at any time.

We had to pack up and leave as soon as possible.

So, the two of them came out of the bathroom and started moving busily.

To be exact, only Seo Eui-woo was busy, and Kwon Jae-jin took on the role of a supervisor to reassure Seo Eui-woo. Like some babysitter, geez.

While Seo Eui-woo was standing in the middle of the living room and turning the creature’s corpse into dust with his ability, Kwon Jae-jin was safely floating in the air so that his feet wouldn’t get hurt by the glass shards again, watching him.

“Um, I’m not sure about anything related to Esper abilities, but is Ma Tae-o for sure alive?”

Jae-jin, who was lost in thought and contemplating what to do, asked Seo Eui-woo casually.

Seo Eui-woo nodded with a cold smile. The answer to the question sounded quite unpleasant.

“…Yes, that bastard is an A-rank Defense Type, so he’s probably alive. He’ll probably have a Healing Factor too.”

Ah, come to think of it, Major Ma’s ability was to use a shield. I guess he’s definitely alive, no need to worry.

“What happens now?”

“They’ll report to the higher-ups. About the existence of an S-rank Mutant Guide. Jae-jin, were you scanned too?”

“Ah, yes. They said they would immediately upon discovery because I didn’t have an Identification Tag…”

“Ha, I thought so, tsk. Then your face, name, and detailed personal information will all be reported.”

Seo Eui-woo, who had completely turned the creature’s corpse into dust and erased its existence, coldly frowned and added in an extremely displeased tone.

“It’s annoying. That all sorts of bastards will know about my Jae-jin.”

“…Still, fortunately, no one will have seen Seo Eui-woo.”

It wasn’t intentional, but thanks to Seo Eui-woo appearing with an absurdly intense ability, only a light as bright as the sun was visible. None of the 7th Special Task Force members could open their eyes properly, so it’s safe to say there were no witnesses.

“The scene was also swept away, so there won’t be any physical evidence left.”

Thinking about it again, it’s really amazing. Seo Eui-woo blew away all the terrain in that place. Even if they tried to find evidence, they wouldn’t be able to.

At that time, it wasn’t like a power caused by a person, but like some kind of natural disaster. Like a meteorite falling, or natural gas exploding.

Above all, what’s fortunate is that the Center officials don’t know about the existence of the power suppressed deep within Seo Eui-woo.

No one in the world except for Seo Eui-woo and Kwon Jae-jin knows whether Seo Eui-woo, even though he’s an S-rank Esper, can express such a strong ability, or what the original power hidden in his depths is.

The S-rank Mutant Guide is missing. The case is closed as is. Seo Eui-woo won’t even be on the suspect list.

So, from now on, all we have to do is move to a new residence and hide well.

Like we’ve been doing so far. It’s another life of confinement and escape.

“That’s true, but what’s the point. They’ve all seen Jae-jin…”

Seo Eui-woo strongly gnashed his teeth as he used telekinesis to lift the shell casings and broken glass shards from the floor and lump them together. He turned around to look at Kwon Jae-jin and meticulously scrutinized every part of his face with his darkly sunken gray eyes.

He observed his deep and clear black eyes, his straight nose, and his difficult and picky lips that didn’t smile easily, then deeply frowned at the bridge of his nose.

Suddenly, the thought that Major Ma had touched Kwon Jae-jin’s lips flashed through his mind, and murderous intent arose.

“Thinking about Jae-jin’s story going around from mouth to mouth in the Center makes my stomach boil. I feel like my eyes are going to turn over.”

Seo Eui-woo instantly turned the evidence such as glass and shell casings into dust. He even swept up and got rid of the rugs and carpets stained with the creature’s black blood.

He’s furiously venting his anger by spewing out his ability with blazing eyes.

“What’s even more infuriating is that I have to pretend I don’t know, pretend I’m not, pretend I’m not involved, even while listening to Jae-jin’s story.”

“There’s no other choice. If Seo Eui-woo shows any sign, you’ll get caught. Seo Eui-woo has to act as usual, like you’ve been doing so far. Go to work, go on missions.”

“I know. I know, but… I don’t think I can bear it no matter how much I think about it.”

He can’t stand the thought of leaving Kwon Jae-jin alone at home, he’s so anxious and afraid, but even worse, he has to go outside and pretend that he doesn’t care about all the miscellaneous bastards talking about Kwon Jae-jin…

He feels like he wants to shout it out loud.

That Kwon Jae-jin is Seo Eui-woo’s, that Kwon Jae-jin is Seo Eui-woo’s Guide, that Kwon Jae-jin is Seo Eui-woo’s lover.

He wants to reveal his possessiveness to the whole world so that no one doesn’t know, but the fact that he can never do that is more unpleasant and unsatisfactory than he imagined.

“Ha, if we were both Espers, this wouldn’t have happened. As an S-rank Esper and an S-rank Guide, we would have been singularly matched to each other, and we would have lived firmly so that no bastard could dare to interfere…”

“Why are you saying that now?”

“No, rather, if we were both ordinary people, this wouldn’t have happened. We would have done what ordinary people do, dating, going out, and so on. Firmly.”

At those words, Kwon Jae-jin burst into a ridiculous laugh.

“Huh, Seo Eui-woo, do you even know what dating is?”

“I know. Dating.”

“Tell me what it is, then.”

“That’s…”

Kwon Jae-jin narrowed his eyes and stared intently at Seo Eui-woo’s sensual lips.

Jae-jin already knew what would come out of those lips.

“The pre-marriage stage.”

As expected.

“You’re wrong.”

“What do you mean, I’m right. Ordinary people look for a partner to mix genes through dating activities, and reproduce and raise children through the marriage system.”

“…I said you’re wrong.”

Seo Eui-woo tilted his head with an expression that he couldn’t understand at all. He was like a scientist who had been denied the fact that the earth rotates.

“Espers fight creatures for the safety and development of mankind, and ordinary people give birth to and raise offspring in safe areas for posterity and prosperity. Isn’t that the current way of human survival?”

“……”

Jae-jin, who had his mouth tightly shut, raised his left hand and pressed his temple.

‘How am I supposed to date someone like this?’

He already knew that Seo Eui-woo was completely ignorant of dating, but facing it again in reality made him laugh in vain.

‘When am I going to teach him all that… ha, I don’t know.’

He impulsively decided to date, but he realized anew that he needed to reconcile Seo Eui-woo’s common sense and Kwon Jae-jin’s common sense, and he felt at a loss. It feels like all the energy has drained from his body.

“That’s enough. Let’s talk about it later.”

Kwon Jae-jin quickly made a decision and postponed the complicated headache to the next time. After all, moving the residence and ensuring safety were the priorities right now.

“More than that, Seo Eui-woo, I have a few requests if we move.”

“Yeah. What is it? Tell me anything.”

“I hope there’s a way for us to contact each other in case of an emergency. It was frustrating not being able to contact you when I was in a hurry.”

“Ah… that’s right, Jae-jin doesn’t have a personal line.”

Seo Eui-woo, who had neatly cleaned up all the traces left in the house, used telekinesis this time. Moving boxes were neatly packed everywhere. Folded clothes were stacked neatly, and weapons were lined up.

“Voice is difficult, but I think text messages are probably possible, would that be okay? If you use the security system notification message window, you can exchange short texts.”

“That’s enough. It doesn’t matter as long as we can contact each other.”

“That’s a relief. Ah, wait… then can I talk to Jae-jin even after I go to work now? Wow. I never even thought of that.”

“No, you only send them in case of an emergency. What are you going to do if someone notices?”

“Don’t worry about that. It’s designed so that it doesn’t get noticed.”

“Huh? Designed to… Anyway, well. That’s beside the point. I have other requests too.”