IMPRINT 18

I released the restraints that had been hanging from the corner of the bed. In their place, I fastened bracelet-type supernatural power control devices onto both of his hands. I felt it was an excessive measure, but within the Medical Bureau, the protocol dictates the immediate execution of any rampaging Esper to prevent damage, so it couldn’t be helped.

Fortunately, Kang Juha submissively offered his wrists without any signs of rejection.

I was used to leaving the Special Treatment Room alone, leaving Kang Juha behind, so it felt strange to open this damnably heavy, large door and walk out with him.

If permission was going to be granted this easily, I found myself thinking I should have just handed him over to the Medical Bureau sooner. Then again, it was obvious as seeing a fire how much they would have badmouthed me behind my back if they knew that the ego of the Kang Juha I had handled was stuck at seven years old, so this was better.

Still, I felt a sense of skepticism that Kim Kunwoo, who was merely a senior researcher at the institute, possessed this level of authority.

Kim Kunwoo and I were peers from the Esper Military Academy and had once shared the same rice at the Medical Bureau.

Naturally, we were not on good terms. Although Kim Kunwoo was in my year, he was older than me, and because of me—the top student—he had been the runner-up throughout our entire time from enrollment to graduation.

I didn’t even have to rummage through my head to know how much he had badmouthed me. That was just his personality. He loved hanging around in groups, acting big and mighty while being called “hyung-nim” within the circle.

Since he was the first person I’d seen who staked his life on such things, I had simply found it fascinating…

I didn’t realize the hostility or inferiority complex he harbored toward me was that great. Nor did I know it would persist until now, long after I had voluntarily left the Medical Bureau.

The Special Treatment Room was in the basement of the Medical Wing, but it wasn’t directly connected to the main Medical Wing building, so we had to step outside before entering again through the main entrance. Of course, since Kang Juha’s return is still classified, we couldn’t enter through the front door like others and had to use the VIP passage.

Taking the private elevator, we arrived at the third floor where the examination rooms were located in no time. Naturally, we didn’t encounter a single person during the trip.

Only after exiting the passage and entering the hallway did I see the medical staff waiting for us—or rather, for Kang Juha. Seeing the white gowns they wore, my own appearance from those days suddenly flashed through my mind.

Actually, most of those memories were faint. I have a habit of not remembering things that aren’t important.

Director Shin told me that everyday details are precious and that I shouldn’t live letting them all slip away, but so far, there were no memories I didn’t want to lose.

Furthermore, after manifesting as an Esper, I developed a habit of tearing away memories as if biting my fingernails, to the point where very few memories remained intact.

Because of that, most of the jokes or banter I’d shared with Juyoung didn’t remain in my memory. Juyoung was sometimes hurt by this, but I didn’t want to overload my mind, which already required more capacity than others. Even without those things taking up space, my head was already far too complicated.

“Teacher, Teacher?”

“…Yes?”

I hadn’t realized Kang Juha was calling me because I was lost in thought for a moment. Kim Kunwoo, who had walked ahead and stood in front of the blood collection room, already had a look of annoyance on his face.

“Are you hurting somewhere?”

To think I’m hearing a patient ask if I’m in pain.

“No. I’m not. Let’s go in.”

Even though it was a familiar space, it felt as if I had visited a place where I shouldn’t be.

Since leaving this place, I hadn’t visited even when I sustained injuries. How many years has it been already.

Whenever a question arose during every exam, Kang Juha asked me instead of Kim Kunwoo. Since I was once part of the Medical Bureau, I could answer without difficulty, but I belatedly realized my actions were irritating Kim Kunwoo.

While Kang Juha went into the changing room to switch into examination clothes, Kim Kunwoo lunged at me and snapped, as if he had been waiting for this exact moment.

“Seong Yihyeon, why don’t you stop crossing the line?”

“…What are you talking about?”

“Exactly what I said. I was going to let it slide for the sake of our time as old colleagues, but whether you’re genuinely clueless or just pretending to be… you’re still as good as ever at making a person feel like crap, aren’t you? I guess the Medical Bureau still looks like a joke to you? Then again, you were always a bastard who lived for the taste of your own greatness…”

To pick a fight this openly?

In a hallway with many eyes watching, he was interrogating me in informal speech, throwing away any honorifics toward me—who belonged to a different bureau—and the fact that no one was stopping him was “business as usual,” if anything.

“So. You must have already heard from the Center Director why we’re getting involved, so you should just stay quiet and mind your own business. Why do you keep acting out? You’re just a traitor who left on your own feet because you hated it here.”

I never dreamed he would think of my departure from this place as a betrayal. I thought he would just think a localized ache was gone, or that a piece of trash that offended his eyes had been cleared away.

Betrayal… betrayal, huh.

“Is it a crime to answer a patient’s question?”

“What?”

The moment Kim Kunwoo snorted as if it were absurd, Kang Juha, who had finished changing and come out just in time, asked.

“What are you talking about?”

Kim Kunwoo was glaring with a face that was visibly enraged, and since I thought arguing with him was a sight I shouldn’t show in front of Kang Juha, I put on a fabricated smile.

“It’s nothing. Please go inside the examination room. Mr. Kim Kunwoo, please proceed with the exam.”

“It’s not Researcher Kim Kunwoo, it’s Senior Researcher Kim Kunwoo.”

“Ah, yes.”

Whatever the case, I didn’t want to get involved with him through words or work.

While the exam was being conducted inside the room, I stepped out into the hallway and spotted a few familiar faces. Unsurprisingly, they saw me and began to whisper openly.

I’d thought about this before—do they do that knowing I’m an S-Class Esper? Or do they do it because they overlook that fact?

Actually, I already knew the answer. It’s likely because neither matters to them. It doesn’t matter to them whether I hear their stories or not.

The more they acted like that, the more I felt certain about my choice to work under Director Shin, so I was merely grateful. If they had shown a different side than before, I would have been angrier.

“Why did you go out first? I was surprised because I thought you’d disappeared.”

I don’t know when he finished all the exams, but Kang Juha, who had changed back into his clothes, made a crying face while looking at me. To think it suits a fully grown adult male to make such an expression.

“Are you done with the exams?”

“Yes. Please praise me and say I did well.”

“You did well.”

Ever since he heard praise once before, he demanded it from me like a habit. Whether he ate well, took his guiding injection well, or even after reading a single fairy tale book, he urged for praise.

I wondered a bit if praise was something that was supposed to be extorted like this, but well, for now, Kang Juha liked it, so isn’t that enough? It doesn’t cost money to give a little praise.

The moment Kang Juha appeared, the surroundings became eerily quiet. The gazes of the medical staff who had come out to the hallway pretending to have work were clearly fixed on me and Kang Juha.

It didn’t matter to me whether they cursed me behind my back or not, but that didn’t mean I wanted to continue staying in the same space as them.

To be perfectly honest, sharing the same air itself was unpleasant.

“Teacher. There’s one thing I’m curious about.”

“…What is it?”

“It seems like everyone here is an Esper belonging to the Medical Bureau.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“But why are they staring at us like we’re a spectacle?”

Kang Juha asked with a smile, but I couldn’t smile along with him. It was because it was completely different from the innocent smile he usually showed me.

Turning his head, he scanned the people standing in the hallway with his eyes. Looking at that chilling profile, the thought occurred to me that the original Kang Juha I didn’t know must have been closer to that image.

Feeling a sense of déjà vu from that sharp gaze, I rummaged through my memory and recalled a moment at an event where I happened to lock eyes with him. That face, which wore an unpleasant expression upon seeing me, somehow didn’t seem much different from the face looking at them now.

When all this treatment is over and Kang Juha becomes the original Kang Juha, will he look at me with that kind of expression?

Then I could just curse him in my head for being rude, just like back then. So why does my heart ache.

“It’s probably not because of Esper Kang Juha. It’s probably because of me.”

Since there was nothing to gain by provoking Kang Juha’s temper, I turned all the arrows toward myself.

In reality, it was likely true that they were spectating both me and Kang Juha.

“Because of Teacher? Why? Are they staring because you’re too handsome?”

“Pardon? No. What are you… of course not.”

To think he could say such a thing even after seeing those hostile glares. Is Kang Juha… a bit clueless? I had heard some talk about him lacking social skills, though.

“I used to work at the Medical Bureau before moving to the National Security Bureau, so my relationship with the people here isn’t very good.”

This should be enough. I delivered exactly the core point without unnecessary information.

Kang Juha seemed more curious about my story, but he didn’t press for answers here.

“It’s not easy to dislike a person like Teacher; they’re strange people.”

I’m not so sure. I think there are more people who dislike me than like me in this center. I swallowed the thought without letting it out. Instead, I confessed one more truth.

“It’s because I’m an S-Class mental-type Esper. People always find mental-type Espers uncomfortable.”

“Why?”

How should I answer such an innocent question?

It’s a bit bitter to let these words out of my own mouth, but…

“The person who hurt Esper Kang Juha was also a mental-type Esper, wasn’t it?”

“By that logic, the one treating me is also a mental-type Esper.”

I couldn’t say anything to that completely unexpected answer.

In the meantime, Kim Kunwoo appeared holding the test results, and Kang Juha flipped through his results with an indifferent face, as if looking at someone else’s.

“If we’re done, we can go, right? I don’t really want to stay here for long.”

Having said that, Kang Juha grabbed my arm and led me away.