This S-Class Esper is Not an Obsessive Maniac

9.

It was chaotic from the morning. The first sign of the ensuing mayhem was Ryu Ho-yeon, who usually slept soundly until Choi Jae-won came to wake him up, with his unfinished novel and game console strewn messily on the bed, getting up before dawn.

“H-hyung! That’s sugar, not salt!!”

Normally, Ryu Ho-yeon would eat the clumsily prepared breakfast without major incidents, even with his eyes half-closed from sleepiness. But today, he was particularly strange, trying to put sugar in his perfectly fine soup and making chopstick motions in the air with empty hands.

“Hyung! That’s foam cleanser, not toothpaste!!”

Things continued to be strange. While his expressionless face seemed normal, his trembling hands tried to squeeze foam cleanser onto his toothbrush, and he attempted to scrub his face with body wash, thinking anything that foamed would do. Choi Jae-won had no choice but to anxiously follow Ryu Ho-yeon around.

Eventually, Ryu Ho-yeon’s hands were shaking so much that he couldn’t even button his shirt properly. Choi Jae-won had to dress him from shirt to socks to shoes, as if taking care of him. While it was satisfying to see Ryu Ho-yeon obediently accepting his help, nervously swallowing, the cause of this chaos wasn’t entirely pleasing.

Today was the day they were meeting Lee Han-seo, who had become the Guide for Park Woo-jun, the S-class nature Esper in charge of combat training for the Ryu Ho-yeon and Choi Jae-won pair.

“Shall we go now, hyung?”

“…Yeah.”

* * *

“Ah, hello, Ho-yeon. It’s, it’s, it’s been a while.”

“Y-y-yeah… Han-seo, you look the same…”

“Mmm…”

“…”

The sound of two people nervously swallowing filled the silent conference room. Ryu Ho-yeon’s usually calm demeanor was visibly shaken. The cause was clear: Lee Han-seo, sitting across from him, equally awkward and not knowing what to do with himself.

Both of their faces alternated between blushing bright red and turning pale white, enough to make observers dizzy. Watching this, Choi Jae-won felt his teeth grinding strangely. It was because the composed Ryu Ho-yeon from his first day at the Center was so different from the trembling Ryu Ho-yeon now.

The only consolation was that he wasn’t the only one whose stomach was churning at this nostalgic and innocent atmosphere. Park Woo-jun, the S-class Esper whom he had met before in the guiding room where Lee Han-seo was working, also looked displeased. He kept trying to get Lee Han-seo’s attention by leaning his head on his shoulder or tugging at his clothes.

“Ah, why are you like this? Stay still.”

But even this had little effect on Lee Han-seo, who was already excited about the long-awaited official reunion. What further fueled Choi Jae-won’s anger was Ryu Ho-yeon’s next words.

“Yeah, stay still, Park Woo-jun.”

Ryu Ho-yeon snapped with a hint of showing off, his delicate, doll-like features perfectly matching his prim expression. It was a lively voice that Choi Jae-won had never heard or imagined in the month since his official admission and living together.

But what could he do? While Park Woo-jun, who was openly criticized, was not only Lee Han-seo’s pair but also his proper ‘lover’, Choi Jae-won wasn’t even in a position to voice his complaints so freely. In fact, in the thirty minutes since entering the conference room, Choi Jae-won’s first and last words were just a “Hello” greeting.

Never had the poker face he naturally developed while growing up under public attention as a third-generation chaebol been so appreciated. Unaware of the frustration bubbling under Choi Jae-won’s polite smile, Ryu Ho-yeon and Lee Han-seo were tentatively breaking the ice in their conversation.

How long has it been since we met? It’s been over a year, except for that brief encounter at Jung-hyuk hyung’s birthday. As they chatted, even their gazes were filled with affection for each other. But this was short-lived; having been apart for so long and with unresolved guilt towards each other, silence soon swept over the conference room again.

Choi Jae-won keenly observed everyone. Ryu Ho-yeon and Lee Han-seo were still busy stealing glances at each other, while Park Woo-jun seemed quite pleased that the conversation had abruptly stopped. …This won’t do. It was frustrating, but since they met for official business, wouldn’t they have to keep Ryu Ho-yeon and Lee Han-seo together if there was no progress in the conversation? The first priority was to somehow change the atmosphere.

“This won’t do. I’ll go buy some drinks, so let’s talk while having something to drink. What does everyone want?”

The intention was to help ease this suffocating awkwardness by giving them something to drink, but unfortunately, Choi Jae-won’s words became the starting point of another conflict, contrary to the speaker’s intention.

It was because Park Woo-jun and Ryu Ho-yeon each confidently, or predictively, stated different drinks that Lee Han-seo would like.

“Han-seo likes lemonade…”

“Han-seo will drink watermelon juice…”

They even spoke at the same time, as if rehearsed.

“You’ve been with him for so long and don’t even know Han-seo’s tastes properly? Han-seo always drinks something carbonated in the afternoon because he likes something refreshing.”

“That’s ridiculous. When was the last time he had lemonade? These days, our Han-seo won’t touch anything but watermelon juice.”

It was the first time Choi Jae-won realized Ryu Ho-yeon’s voice could be this loud. Filled with an indescribable sense of defeat and jealousy, Choi Jae-won bit his lip. How could he remember all this despite having little contact for five long years after their provisional pair was broken? (Choi Jae-won was confident that Ryu Ho-yeon knew nothing about his tastes or preferences despite living closely together for a month, and sadly, this confidence was exactly in line with reality.)

It was Lee Han-seo who put an end to the meaningless argument between the two Espers. Glancing at his more approachable pair Esper, Lee Han-seo restrained him and quickly left the conference room, taking only Choi Jae-won with him, using the excuse of buying drinks.

“Sorry. It must have been chaotic.”

“It’s okay. But it seems you and Ho-yeon hyung were closer than I thought?”

Choi Jae-won asked in the most neutral tone he could manage. He didn’t want to seem inferior in front of Lee Han-seo, if no one else.

If he had realized his vague longing and desire to monopolize Ryu Ho-yeon around the age of ten, it was around fifteen, during puberty, that these persistent feelings turned into definite affection. More precisely, it was from the moment he heard that Lee Han-seo, after meeting Park Woo-jun, had completely terminated his provisional pair relationship with Ryu Ho-yeon.

At fifteen, Choi Jae-won suddenly realized: he should be the only person on this earth to fill the vacant position of Ryu Ho-yeon’s dedicated Guide that Lee Han-seo had left behind. Instead of hiring people to collect mere traces of someone he couldn’t even meet properly, obtaining a few paparazzi shots that left him thirsty for more no matter how much he looked at them, he needed to directly occupy the spot next to the living, breathing Ryu Ho-yeon to be satisfied.

The Center’s security was truly thorough, and approaching Ryu Ho-yeon, whose existence wasn’t officially revealed even within the Center, was much more difficult.

For years, Choi Jae-won had consistently poured in amounts several times the salary of an average office worker for Ryu Ho-yeon’s paparazzi shots, which at most yielded only a couple of photos a month.

It was a luxurious one-sided love. If his own pockets hadn’t been so deep, he wouldn’t have been able to freely see Ryu Ho-yeon’s face.

“Of course. Neither of us had any friends except each other.”

Lee Han-seo answered as he guided the way to the cafe in the center of the main building lobby. For a moment, Choi Jae-won’s mind flashed to how the usually impassive Ryu Ho-yeon had been acting out of character since morning just because today was the day to meet Lee Han-seo, and how he had been pale and trembling until the moment they opened the conference room door.

While he knew through regular investigations and reports that they had been quite close friends, Choi Jae-won was surprised in many ways to see them together like this, not realizing their relationship was so ‘affectionate’. Even knowing he had no right to feel angry, he felt a surge of resentment. He wanted to reproach Lee Han-seo for leaving Ryu Ho-yeon when they only had each other as friends.

Despite the fact that it was because Lee Han-seo had left Ryu Ho-yeon that he could barely manage to hover around him. Despite this, his one-sided love made his heart ache and feel resentful. Seeing Ryu Ho-yeon, who seemed like he wouldn’t care about anyone else in the world, being mindful of Lee Han-seo, envying Park Woo-jun, and feeling intimidated. If he was like this even after several years, how much must he have suffered alone when Lee Han-seo first left his side? The thought made him feel upset for no particular reason.