FETCH 2

Murmurs spread through the surroundings. Most of the people whispering as they watched the electronic billboard were praising Han Kang’s achievements and glorifying his appearance.

Passing over the drifting voices with indifference, Jaechan stood and watched the billboard for a long time.

The Han Kang on the screen didn’t seem like the person he knew. Dressed in a sophisticated combat uniform and equipped with all sorts of protective gear, he was skillfully carrying out a battle. After the combat footage played for a certain amount of time, a scene followed where he surrendered his body to a Guide and received Guiding.

Han Kang was wearing a T-shirt, and the Guide slid a hand inside the clothes of the man who had collapsed with a thud. The Guide, who likely had a hand placed on his flat back, was saying something to Han Kang, and Han Kang merely nodded his head, looking exhausted.

Jaechan only gripped the innocent phone in his pocket tightly. His own body showed no reaction no matter how much he touched it, so it displeased him that Han Kang was surrendering his body so casually, as if a Guide’s touch were a familiar thing.

Look at that, just look at that.

He says he hates Guiding so much, yet he wears the most comfortable expression in the world when he’s actually receiving it. Seriously, what exactly does he hate about Guiding?

This is why I have no choice but to misunderstand. I wonder if he’s just pretending to hate Guiding because he doesn’t want me to get the wrong idea.

Perhaps because he was already annoyed, Jaechan felt a sense of being isolated like a loner amidst the fluidly pouring reactions. He felt a sense of self-loathing at his inability to assimilate with them. Jaechan shot an undeserving spark of resentment toward Han Kang.

“…Unpleasant jerk.”

He forced his eyes away from the billboard. Just then, the news ended, and a commercial featuring Han Kang as a model began to play.

The Han Kang on the billboard was beyond magnificent. Now, Han Kang’s name was something heard everywhere you went. News about Han Kang could easily be found on the main pages of portal sites, and every interview he granted quickly became a hot topic and a subject of public conversation.

He’s a full-blown celebrity now, Jaechan thought, swallowing his bitterness. Unknown emotions repeatedly reared their heads inside his chest.

He was anxious, and he was restless. At the same time, a sense of patheticness toward himself, for being unable to purely congratulate his friend’s success, coexisted within him.

Somewhere in there was also support for him, who had overcome difficulties and finally started on a trajectory of success. And the final definition of all those tangled emotions was the feeling of liking him.

“Jeon Jaechan likes Han Kang…”

Chewing over his long-held feelings, Jaechan finally withdrew his gaze and looked straight ahead.

He was already used to the cycle of being played by the riot of his emotions before snapping back to his senses.

Jeon Jaechan likes Han Kang.

That premise might be a mark he was born with. Before he could even perceive a distinct moment it began, Jaechan dismissed that feeling, which had seeped into him, as an unfortunate fate and an inevitability he had no choice but to accept.

[Kang:

Honey, I got permission to stay out.

Is Jaechan not mad anymore?]

He grimaced deeply at the thoughtlessly sent message.

[Fuck, I said that’s not why I’m mad.]

There was no other reason for Jaechan to be this angry.

It was Han Kang’s attitude of saying he hates Guiding while dutifully receiving it at the Center. At the same time, it was that lukewarm attitude of stopping abruptly once they reached a certain line whenever they engaged in skinship.

It felt as if he were saying I couldn’t cross that set line because I’m not a Guide, and that was just so annoying.

.✦ ݁˖

He didn’t know how the day had passed. It wasn’t a store with many customers, but today of all days, it was packed with people; by the time he finished serving and taking orders in a daze, it was already time to clock out.

Stacking chairs on the tables for closing and scrubbing the floor with a mop, Jaechan had a soul-less expression. About twice a month, customers would swarm in as if he’d hit the lottery, which was always welcome but also truly hated at the same time.

When the sun was shining brightly, he wondered if people came just to eat pork cutlets because the weather was so good. When it rained, it was because it rained; when it snowed, it was because it snowed—the reason just kept changing.

Even so, seeing the owner jumping around saying they’d hit a money jackpot usually made him feel better, but not today. It would be different if he were going straight home, but today he had to go to the Center to pick up Han Kang.

Perhaps because of that, the phone tucked in his back pocket had been whining for a while, and the messages he previewed on his watch were full of Han Kang’s urgings asking when he was coming.

Jaechan was currently ignoring all those contacts, using his part-time job as an excuse. On a day with so many people, he might make a mistake if he let his guard down for a second, and a single mistake usually triggered countless chain reactions.

Only now, with the closing finished, could he finally catch his breath.

It was just as Jaechan, unfastening the apron tied around his waist, let out a deep sigh.

“Jaechan, I heard Kang is going to the Olympics?”

His mind had been noisy enough all day, but at the question asked without knowing his true feelings, Jaechan pressed his lips into a tight line. He even rolled his lips inward before turning around to see the owner, Park Minjun, leaning on a mop and grinning.

“I know, right. I don’t know what kind of luck that brat was born with.”

“Hey, that’s not luck.”

“Is it not.”

“It’s just talent, talent. Kang is really popular, man. Even my daughter knows Han Kang. She says all the kids in her class like him because he’s handsome.”

“He is handsome…”

Jaechan agreed listlessly and pressed the cabinet shut.

Meanwhile, Park Minjun was continuously beaming, saying he had bragged to his only daughter about being his “childhood friend” and had shared a huge amount about his connections with Han Kang. He also grew up in the same apartment complex as them and was well-acquainted with Han Kang.

Right, it’s normal to be that excited when a friend is doing well. Jaechan was very annoyed with himself for being unable to laugh lightheartedly.

“But Kang has a good personality too, doesn’t he? …Actually, is his personality not that great?”

“His personality is whatever. It’s just that the kid knows how to act cute.”

“Yeah, yeah, he’s clever.”

“Didn’t you once say he was crafty?”

“That was then.”

Park Minjun laughed embarrassedly and stood up, gripping the mop. At the comment that it didn’t matter since his cleverness was at least acknowledged, Jaechan ended up letting out a small chuckle in return.

Even while they shared a casual, trivial conversation, the watch whined incessantly. It was obvious without looking. They were messages from Han Kang, who had finished training early, urging him and saying he was waiting; Jaechan felt it was about time to give him an answer.

The screen he looked into was full of Han Kang’s whining, bordering on a hundred messages.

[Kang:

Honey, when are you coming? ㅠㅠ??

I want to go out.

This isn’t a zoo and I’m not a baby monkey, why keep a person locked up?

I was just going to go.

But they said they won’t let me out if there’s no one to take custody of me.

When does your part-time job end?

Should I call Minjun hyung?

When are you coming? ㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ

You’re finishing late today of all days.]

A deep sigh leaked out at the messages that were clearly full of anxiety. He figured it must be an ordeal to be stuck in the dormitory just waiting for a reply.

Unlike other ordinary Espers, many things were restricted for Espers belonging to the Center. First, out of concern for doping, all medications were prohibited, and Guide placement was made mandatory.

And they had to wear watches that collected location information at all times to prepare for threats that might come from anywhere at any time. Furthermore, they needed the Center’s permission to go outside, and on a day like today when staying out overnight, the signature of a person taking custody was required.

Not only that, a difficult rule was added that the person taking custody also had to wear a watch provided by the Center.

The reasoning was that since the skills of the Espers selected as national representatives were as good as guaranteed, they would thoroughly collect information to prevent forces trying to harm them from attacking anywhere at any time.

At first, people suspected that the collected information might actually be used against them by the Center. But at the same time, they stopped because there was no institution as trustworthy as the Center.

After all, it was the most competent existing institution for managing Espers and Guides, providing training systems befitting them, and treating them accordingly.

The Center didn’t just manage athletes. Even now, with monsters gone, it was required to hire one or more Espers and Guides in dangerous areas or areas needing security across various locations, including national institutions.

Their work was mainly security, and the main mission of Espers and Guides dispatched externally was to prevent various acts of terrorism that could be caused by other hostile countries or unidentified underground forces, even if they weren’t monsters.

But all of that was limited to high-skilled Espers; the reality was that Espers with minimal abilities just lived among ordinary people. And when Han Kang first manifested as an Esper, Jaechan hoped he would just live like an ordinary person.

By his side, together for a long time.

But why did he have to manifest with such a high rank…

“I’m leaving.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

Leaving the store with a light farewell, Jaechan finally called Han Kang.