This S-Class Esper is Not an Obsessive Maniac

7.

Regardless of Choi Jae-won’s not-so-positive feelings towards Lee Han-seo, every word that came out of his mouth was true. No matter how much times had improved, the Center wasn’t a place one would voluntarily enter.

While Guides were treated much better than Espers in terms of treatment and conditions, to the point where some people mistakenly thought of a Guide classification as a free pass to a government job in the increasingly difficult job market, the situation was different for children from families who didn’t have to worry about lifelong employment. This was true for both Lee Han-seo, who was classified as an S-class Guide, and Choi Jae-won, who was classified as a B-class Guide.

Just as Lee Han-seo had been classified as a Guide during the physical examination before entering elementary school, Choi Jae-won had also been classified as a B-class Guide during the same age-range test.

The shock to Chairman Choi, who was about to hand over two of his precious grandchildren to the state, was indescribable.

The official admission of underage ability users was, in principle, only after becoming an adult unless voluntarily chosen. Thus, Lee Han-seo, who was twelve at the time, was already diligently preparing for admission as Ryu Ho-yeon’s prospective pair, visiting the Center once a month like clockwork. Young Choi Jae-won, who closely observed his cousin’s activities, was simply excited, unaware of his grandparents’ and parents’ distress.

Will I also go to the Center once a month like Han-seo? Since I’m also a Guide, maybe I’ll meet that handsome guy again…

Perhaps because it was a memorable event that one rarely experiences twice in life – kidnapping by criminals and a dramatic rescue – while other details were fuzzy, Choi Jae-won clearly remembered the angelic boy who came to rescue him, or more precisely, his Guide Lee Han-seo. He couldn’t forget the small voice that patted his crying cousin’s shoulder, saying, “It’s okay, don’t cry,” and apologizing for being late.

He wanted to see him again. He wanted to thank him for the rescue. At that young age, too young to consider love or affection, that was all there was to it.

So Choi Jae-won persistently begged his parents. Buy me that pretty guy, I want to have him, he said. I want him to be friends with just me, not Han-seo. While the motivation for his emotions was pure, even then, Choi Jae-won was already a spoiled young master.

His parents gently reasoned with their son who was puffing his cheeks and being stubborn. They told him that the boy who came for Lee Han-seo that day was Lee Han-seo’s Esper, so he wouldn’t meet him again. They promised to make a hefty donation to the Center when it was officially announced later so he could meet him again, asking him to be patient for a while.

Believing those words, Choi Jae-won waited diligently. Of course, this development was very different from the adults’ assumption that their son’s tantrums had decreased and he had forgotten everything.

Having received the Guide classification while counting down the days, how excited must the now seven-year-old Choi Jae-won have been? In that young child’s mind, a clear blueprint was already printed of him becoming closer to that pretty guy than Lee Han-seo and happily playing together.

However, things didn’t go as Choi Jae-won had expected. Chairman Choi and the other adults, who couldn’t bear to lose Choi Jae-won – not just a grandson but the designated successor – to the state again, skillfully handled the situation “naturally.”

They brought forward Lee Han-seo’s official admission as an S-class Guide by 5 years, which should have happened only after becoming an adult, and in exchange for increasing the annual corporate donation to the Center, Choi Jae-won’s name was permanently deleted from the Guide list. It happened all too easily.

For the state, it wasn’t a bad deal at all to give up just one B-class Guide in exchange for advancing an S-class Guide’s official admission by several years.

His aunt, Lee Han-seo’s mother, visited his grandfather and raised her voice in protest several times, but Chairman Choi’s firm decision never changed. His father hid his young son behind his back with a stern face, turning a blind eye to his sister’s heart-wrenching tears as she was suddenly separated from her young child.

“I don’t want this,” “I want to enter the Center like Han-seo,” “I’m a Guide too, why can’t I enter?”… Young Choi Jae-won, unaware of the complicated adult circumstances, asked these questions repeatedly, and each time he was severely scolded. Whether it was his grandfather or parents, whenever they scolded Choi Jae-won, they always ended with a stern warning never to reveal to anyone that he was a Guide.

And so he turned eight, nine, ten years old.

Choi Jae-won, not as a B-class Guide but as a civilian, grew up enjoying freedom without the ironclad security and monitoring that was practically surveillance, which Lee Han-seo had to endure.

At the school sports day held when he was ten, he felt strangely empty. The blue autumn sky was high, and the well-maintained grass field was refreshing just to look at. It was a very peaceful sports day without any signs of kidnapping. However, until he fell asleep that night, Choi Jae-won couldn’t shake off the intense desire to be kidnapped by someone, just like Lee Han-seo had been before. He desperately wanted to meet that nameless handsome guy he had met just once, even if it meant going through that.

Not long after, Lee Han-seo, in his school uniform, stood defenseless in front of numerous cameras with a face swollen from tears, declaring his “voluntary admission,” and in a corner of the press conference screen held at the Center’s main entrance, Choi Jae-won was able to spot that unforgettable guy once again after a full 5 years.

He thought again that he must have him. It was an intense desire, almost like an epiphany.

“Hmm, I have some snacks stashed away somewhere here…”

Watching Lee Han-seo, whose fresh face didn’t seem much different now at twenty than it did then, rummaging for snacks to hand over, Choi Jae-won still felt strange.

He had many questions he wanted to ask Lee Han-seo. Were he and Ryu Ho-yeon really just friends? How could he abandon Ryu Ho-yeon so easily when he had acted like he couldn’t live without him? Did he know that Ryu Ho-yeon still… missed Lee Han-seo a lot, and was he the only one feeling at ease?

“Ah! Found it, found it. Here, take it.”

Lee Han-seo seemed just happy and excited to meet his cousin after a long time. His hand, offering a chocolate-coated energy bar still in its wrapper, was purely cheerful. Choi Jae-won felt somewhat pathetic for not having prepared himself to meet all this time, and the whole situation felt anticlimactic. He halfheartedly waved his hand.

“It’s fine. You eat it, hyung. Do you think I’m still a kid who craves snacks?”

The somewhat informal speech seemed to run in the family. Perhaps mistaking Choi Jae-won’s deflated tone as disrespect, Lee Han-seo immediately raised his voice, saying, “What, you brat?!” No sooner had he done so than the door of the guiding room burst open with a loud bang.

“Han-seo!!”

The face of the large figure that rushed in to stand in front of Lee Han-seo was familiar. Anyone living in South Korea would recognize him, as he appeared in breaking news every other day.

It was Park Woo-jun, the head of the Esper General Team, who had replaced Ryu Ho-yeon as Lee Han-seo’s pair.

“…? Hyung, who’s this person?”

Although Park Woo-jun’s replacement of Ryu Ho-yeon had created a butterfly effect opportunity for Choi Jae-won, separately, he had also caused heartache for “Hoyeon hyung” whom Choi Jae-won loved so much. So, pretending not to recognize him, Choi Jae-won even jerked his chin as he asked. However, Lee Han-seo was indeed Choi Jae-won’s blood-related cousin. Without even looking at Choi Jae-won, he only said to Park Woo-jun, “This is him, my cousin who was admitted, the one I told you about.”

“I know. I could hear everything you were saying from over there.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. But why is he being so rude to you when you say he’s your brother? Is it okay to act like that just because he’s your brother?”

“He’s originally an ill-tempered kid. Just ignore him.”

“Ah, I see.”

Watching the couple chattering among themselves in front of him as they pleased, Choi Jae-won felt utterly speechless. He had come to ask more about Ryu Ho-yeon, but at this rate… It was a pointless visit.

* * *

Meanwhile, although Choi Jae-won might not believe it, Ryu Ho-yeon was also resolving to be nice to his suddenly acquired Guide, who was after all his close friend’s cousin. The problem was that this was Ryu Ho-yeon’s version of “being nice,” which might not feel like “being nice” to others.

“Hyung.”

“Oh, Ho-yeon. It’s been a while. How are you doing? Getting along well with your Guide?”

“I have something to ask you.”

“…Okay, go ahead.”

No matter how customary a greeting might be, it’s never easy to get used to someone ignoring the question you’ve just asked and blurting out what they want to say first.

What kind of unconventional question would surprise people this time? Lee Jung-hyuk, the Guide paired with Kim Jun-young, another S-class Esper sitting opposite Ryu Ho-yeon, adjusted his posture and listened carefully.

“As you know, hyung, I don’t trust Jun-young hyung much. So I came to you, and I’d appreciate it if you could be honest.”

“What is it?”

“When you were first paired, just how much of a trash person was Kim Jun-young?”

“Pfft…!”

As expected, no amount of mental preparation could cover this range. Lee Jung-hyuk ended up spitting out the water he was drinking.