Chapter 7

　　My roommate for my entire high school career at SAA was Han Seonho, an A-Class guide with a friendly face, kind, downturned eyes, and handsome features. With a height and build that could rival most espers, he was, by all objective measures, a catch. Not only were his grades at the top of our class, but his social skills were so good that he’d been the class prezresentative for as long as I could remember.

　　Maybe it was because he had three younger sisters, but he was naturally good at taking care of people, and I’d come to rely on him for all sorts of things. Come to think of it, he was the one who had helped me up when I collapsed at the graduation ceremony before I regressed.

　　"So Geumi! What the hell happened to your face?" Seonho exclaimed, his cheerful demeanor vanishing the moment he got a good look at me. The shocked expression on his face was a new one. Was it really that bad? It was just a split lip and a few bruises… but since the injuries were so visible, I seemed to be worrying everyone.

　　"You’re back," I said, trying to sound casual. "You stayed for the whole break this time."

　　"My second sister wanted help picking out a laptop… Wait, that’s not the point. Is this really the time for casual greetings?" he shot back.

　　I flinched at his sharp tone. My encounter with Yoon Geonwoo had been a necessary act of guiding. I might have unintentionally pissed him off, but I had fulfilled my duty as a guide. Still, for some reason, I couldn’t meet my roommate’s scrutinizing gaze. I had no desire to rehash the incident, so I decided to play dumb.

　　"It’s nothing. I just fell."

　　"If you fall, you break your nose, not split your lip," Seonho retorted, his eyes fixed worriedly on my swollen, scabbing lip. As expected, my half-hearted excuse didn’t fool him.

　　"Does it hurt?"

　　"I told you, I’m fine."

　　"Fine? You don’t look fine at all."

　　It had been over seven years since I first met Seonho at SAA. We’d been stuck together for so long that he often treated me the same way he treated his little sisters.

　　"What’s this?"

　　Oops. In an instant, things got worse. He’d spotted the mark on my neck. I glanced up guiltily to see his usually smiling face twisted into an ugly scowl.

　　"…Ah, that’s—"

　　"Cut the crap. Let me see."

　　"Hey, where do you think you’re looking—ah." My attempt to lighten the mood with a joke fell completely flat. Before I could think, Seonho grabbed my chin, tilting my head this way and that to examine the bruise. He was so thorough, anyone would think he’d given birth to me. He peppered me with questions—Open your mouth. Did you go to the infirmary? What medicine did they give you?—and only after a hundred nagging remarks did he finally release me.

　　"Who was it?" he demanded. "Tell me the truth."

　　"What are you talking about?"

　　"Your neck and your lip. There has to be someone who did this to you." Seonho looked ready to storm out of the room that very second. I could understand his anger. As class prezresentative, he couldn’t stand injustice. He was deeply attached to his classmates and often took it upon himself to intervene when guides were treated unfairly.

　　While SAA’s systematic management kept such incidents to a minimum, some thoughtless espers still crossed the line, usually due to the chronic shortage of guides. With espers typically outnumbering guides two to one, it wasn’t uncommon for lower-priority C-Class espers to be left without a pair. Some of them would resort to forcibly demanding guiding, and whenever that happened, Seonho was the first to deliver merciless punishment.

　　But my situation with Yoon Geonwoo was the complete opposite. What could I possibly say? As I averted my gaze in silence, Seonho forcibly turned my head back to face him.

　　"So Geumi."

　　Despite his gentle features, his eyes were sharp. He’s pissed. It’s always the ones who are usually calm that are the scariest when they get angry. I wasn’t intimidated by his glare, not at all, but I couldn’t help but swallow nervously.

　　"Tell me. What shameless bastard laid a hand on you?"

　　"It’s not like that…"

　　"Forcing someone to guide is illegal. You know that, Geumi."

　　Sorry, but that shameless bastard is me. And did I just lay a hand on him? No, I went all the way and forced him into guiding. Seeing Seonho’s righteous fury, the lingering resentment I felt toward Yoon Geonwoo seemed to evaporate. Damn it.

　　"Ugh… It was my fault," I finally confessed. I had no choice but to tell him what happened over the break. If I kept quiet, I knew he’d pester me with the same questions all day long.

　　"Your fault?"

　　"I guided him first. He didn’t want it… I forced him."

　　Seonho’s face was a mask of confusion. Sorry, buddy. I know you’re looking at me with that ‘my sweet boy would never’ expression, but it already happened.

　　"I was assigned a temporary pair," I explained. "But… my pair esper’s contamination level was dangerously high, so I had no choice."

　　"What? A temporary pair?"

　　I cautiously broke the news. Seonho looked as if he’d been struck by lightning. I couldn’t blame him for being shocked. He comes back from a short, ten-day winter break to find that his roommate, whom he treats like family, has been assigned a temporary pair. While I hesitated, he fired off another round of questions.

　　"The semester hasn’t even started yet. The selection period begins tomorrow. Who in the world did you get paired with?"

　　He was right. For graduating students, the period for forming temporary pairs was during the new semester. With the break ending today and classes starting tomorrow, his confusion was understandable.

　　"I was stuck here the whole break, and the Vice Director called me in."

　　"That snake again?"

　　"Yeah. He said I was confirmed as a temporary pair with an esper who has a 94% matching rate."

　　Normally, even a high matching rate didn’t automatically result in a pairing. The decision was supposed to be mutual. Of course, with a rate over 90%, a pair was almost always formed, and if there was more than one candidate, the one with the higher rate was given priority. I knew this from my past life; after Geonwoo broke our pair, I received an official notice to decide on pairing with Jin Ian, who had the next highest rate.

　　"What the fuck… Ah, sorry. Geumi, what are you talking about?"

　　As expected, Seonho let out a curse, which was unlike him. But the Vice Director’s notice was so outrageously unconventional that anyone would react that way. Usually, if a match failed, you’d either find the next pair or remain unassigned and receive guiding from multiple sources. But Geonwoo and I had skipped all those steps and gone straight to a confirmed assignment.

　　It must be special treatment because it’s Yoon Geonwoo, I reasoned. It was obvious that both SAA and Central were desperate to find a guide for their precious S-Class esper. I looked up at Seonho, whose face was still clouded with confusion.

　　"Yoon Geonwoo."

　　As I said the name, I felt Seonho’s hand tighten on my shoulder. His gaze wavered noticeably, his eyes screaming a thousand curses. The reason was obvious. He was furious that I was paired with the high-ranking, notoriously psychotic esper that every guide avoided. But what could I do? It was already decided. I repeated the name, my voice firm.

　　"My pair esper is Yoon Geonwoo."

　　It took a very long time to persuade Seonho after that.

* * *

　　"Geumi. Are you really going to be okay?"

　　It was 7:30 AM, and that was the fourth time Seonho had asked me since we woke up. Not to mention the countless times he’d asked last night until my ears bled. I hadn’t expected him to keep pestering me all the way down here in the student cafeteria, a place famously known as one of SAA’s highlights.

　　"Han Seonho… just finish your food."

　　"I’ve already had two bowls."

　　"Have another one. Or eat mine."

　　"No way. I’ll get fat."

　　What was he talking about? He’d already eaten his fill. The guy was blessed with a metabolism that turned every bite into height and muscle. Lucky bastard. My appetite had vanished, so I just chugged the glass of cold water Seonho had gotten for me.

　　"Why aren’t you eating more?"

　　"I’m done."

　　The moment I put the glass down, Seonho handed me a tissue. If I hadn’t taken it, he probably would have wiped my mouth himself. It was a bit much, but I had to admit, being taken care of was pretty convenient. Have I gotten too spoiled?

　　I remembered being invited to his family’s home shortly after we first became roommates. I’d found his attentiveness a bit overwhelming back then, but after seeing him treat his younger sisters the exact same way, I just let him be. And now, here we were.

　　"Don’t worry. I wasn’t forced or threatened. I really do want to be temporary pairs with Yoon Geonwoo, so you can relax."

　　In truth, I had been both forced and threatened, and I had no particular desire to be paired with Geonwoo. But it was the only way to guide the person most likely to go on a rampage. And I can’t help but worry about him…

　　Remembering him suffering alone in his room, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy. It had been a while since then. I wondered if Geonwoo was okay. I hoped his contamination level hadn’t reached a dangerous point again. As I was mulling over my temporary pair’s condition, I felt a sharp gaze from not too far away. What’s that? It feels like someone is staring at me…

* * *