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“But why am I being lumped in here? Please don’t include me in your trio.”

Director Shin let out a deep sigh as she stared at the table laden with all sorts of food as if it were a memorial service offering.

“It is because we are all in the same boat.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I never boarded anything like that.”

“Why are you being like this, Captain?”

When I shot back playfully without even blinking, Director Shin let out a horrified shriek.

Haha, this is my joy. Where do you think you’re going alone? You are definitely not dying alone.

“But why are Secretary Park’s hands shaking so much? Do you have a tremor?”

“Pardon? M—m—me?”

“Why are you st—st—stuttering so much?”

“…N—no way. I am perfectly fine, fine right now.”

“You don’t look fine, fine.”

The corners of Juyoung’s mouth, which was forced into a smile, twitched with a spasm. His usual playful demeanor was nowhere to be found; Juyoung set a bowl down in front of Kang Juha with the rigid movements of a fresh military recruit.

Kang Juha was observing every single one of Juyoung’s movements with an expressionless face.

Looking at him like this, Kang Juha really does have a rather fierce impression.

“Pl—please eat.”

He offered his hands to Kang Juha with a level of extreme politeness he never shows me, and I could only let out a hollow laugh of disbelief.

“Eat. I don’t know if it will suit your taste, but.”

I added a formal greeting, but in truth, the meal laid out now was composed of best-selling items from the top three restaurants based on a database of food I had diligently ordered over the past three years.

A full set of bulgogi with side dishes from a traditional Korean eatery, a Margherita pizza from a wood-fired pizza shop, and xiaolongbao made by a dim sum specialist. Director Shin, who was surveying the table alongside Kang Juha, let out a scoff.

“What’s with this menu? It’s completely random with no consistency. You’ve gathered nothing but things with strong individual characters. Who eats xiaolongbao with pizza?”

Since I selected them based on my rankings, a lack of consistency in the menu was unavoidable.

“They’re delicious, though.”

Because they are delicious regardless.

As Director Shin’s face contorted, Kang Juha picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a xiaolongbao, and put it in his mouth. Juyoung watched in horror as he chewed and swallowed the steaming hot dumpling—which was practically billowing with vapor—without even looking as though it were hot.

“Are an S-class Esper’s mouths made of steel too?”

“…You think?”

What on earth has he thought of S-class Espers as since last time?

I gave him a pathetic look, then picked up a xiaolongbao myself, placed it on a spoon, and poked it with a chopstick to let the broth drain out.

Kang Juha watched what I was doing intently, then followed suit by placing one more on his spoon and poking it with a chopstick. Like a baby bird mimicking a mother bird, he tasted the broth first and then popped the xiaolongbao into his mouth in one bite, mirroring me exactly.

Fearing he might mimic me throughout the entire meal, I piled a heap of bulgogi onto his rice.

“Eat your rice.”

He should be able to eat a bulgogi set on his own without being taught how.

Kang Juha stared at his rice, then took a large spoonful along with the meat and ate. Usually, he ate as if merely refilling necessary calories, but now the speed of his spoon-work had picked up significantly.

As expected. It was because the Center food tasted bad.

Feeling a surge of pity, I picked up all the remaining xiaolongbao and placed them in front of Kang Juha; Juyoung looked at me with the face of a beaver whose house had collapsed.

“Team Leader, what are you doing…? I haven’t even had a single bite yet?”

“You eat a lot normally. No, whenever we order, you eat three whole boxes by yourself.”

“…”

Since it was the truth, Juyoung seemed to lose his words and began munching on the pizza while sniffing his nose. Even in the midst of this, half the pizza had already vanished before I knew it.

I quickly pulled away two slices of pizza and placed them in front of Kang Juha.

“Team Leader…!”

When Juyoung called out to me in a whining voice, this time Kang Juha looked at him with a sharp gaze.

“…I am always thinking with gratitude! Yes! Thanks to the Team Leader, I am eating such a delicious meal! Yes! Wow! Truly the best Team Leader. The coolest boss in this world! Wow!”

Juyoung, who was pouring out robotic praise while holding two thumbs up, subtly turned his body away to eat with his back to Kang Juha. Only Director Shin, who was suddenly forced to eat facing Juyoung, looked at him with an absurd expression.

“I really can’t tell if this kid has a lot of fear or no fear at all.”

Juyoung flared up at those words.

“I have no fear! I’m on the side of having absolutely none! Even during combat simulations back at the academy, I was a top student.”

“And?”

“…”

“And what are you now?”

Director Shin gestured with her chin toward Kang Juha. Juyoung then spoke in a shrunken voice.

“I just have a high survival rate. I was never once ruled as deceased in a simulation.”

“Ah, so you have no fear, but you’re on the cowardly side? I understand.”

“The words ‘I understand’ are even more annoying.”

Juyoung pouted his lips grumpily, but he did not deny Director Shin’s words.

Listening quietly to the conversation, I nodded and spoke.

“Well, there’s no one to appreciate it even if you burn your own life away, so it’s wise. Who fights with self-sacrifice these days?”

I wasn’t particularly trying to take sides, but I personally valued Juyoung’s bat-like judgment highly. He knew exactly where to step, and his social skills—seeming quick-witted yet acting slyly—were virtues that helped in professional life.

I spoke as if mumbling while chewing on the seasoned spinach that came as a side dish.

Wait, why is it so quiet?

Sensing something strange, I raised my head to find Director Shin and Juyoung staring at me. And with very flustered expressions at that.

“Why?”

At my question, the two people’s eyes slid, sliding, somewhere. The destination was none other than Kang Juha, who was faithfully inhaling xiaolongbao right in front of me using the method I had taught him.

Why Kang Juha? He’s eating just fine…

I thought about it.

“Ah.”

I realized belatedly that Kang Juha was a person who had participated in the Sonora operation by national order and had even been processed as deceased due to his disappearance.

He was right here. A person who fights with self-sacrifice in a world like this.

“…”

Fortunately, Kang Juha didn’t seem to mind my words at all, as he was merely staring intently at the broth leaking out after poking a hole in a xiaolongbao with his chopsticks.

“I—I think people who protect the country by putting their lives on the line are truly cool!”

“Mmhmm, that’s right, that’s right.”

Juyoung suddenly raised his voice and began shouting praises into the air. Director Shin also nodded deeply in agreement.

As if feeling my intent gaze, Kang Juha, who was munching on a xiaolongbao, looked at me. It felt as if a question mark were floating on his face.

Looking at him at times like this, the word combat seemed far removed from Kang Juha. No, I suppose that isn’t wrong. Combat-type Espers probably weren’t combat-type Espers from the moment they were born. They were raised that way.

Thinking of that, I recalled the Kang Juha who begged for his life, the Kang Juha who asked to be killed instead, and the young Kang Juha who begged because he had done wrong.

All those memories were contained within the life of one person.

“Mr. Kang Juha. Since I’ve gone to the trouble of saving you, let’s make one promise.”

“Yes, Teacher.”

I hadn’t even mentioned the content of the promise yet, but Kang Juha already answered that he would.

I chose my words for a moment, wondering how best to phrase it, and eventually gave up on speaking indirectly.

“Don’t die.”

Setting aside the question of whether this falls into a category that can be kept as a promise, the uncertainty of the timeframe for how long it must be kept, and the doubt over whether it was actually effective.

“Yes.”

Kang Juha answered once again that he would. And I decided to believe those words.

Kang Juha’s identity was restored. The Center Director and I acted as notaries to fill out the resurrection report.

I never thought I would live to be a witness to someone’s resurrection. Being at the Center makes one experience all sorts of things…

Funny enough, even though it was just a scrap of paper, only now did I feel that Kang Juha was like a living person. When he was in the special treatment room, it wouldn’t have been strange if he had died at any moment. As they say the place makes the person, seeing him standing under the sunlight made me feel strangely sentimental for no reason.

His mind hadn’t completely recovered yet, but well. At least his body was healthy, which was something.

As soon as the fact of Kang Juha’s return was revealed, the Center naturally turned upside down as if heaven and earth were splitting, becoming noisy. Speculations about what happened to Kang Juha in the meantime were rampant, and stories about the Alpha Team that had been deployed with him were also on everyone’s lips.

He became the first case in the Republic of Korea to return alive after going missing in a Gate.

As the national hero, who was thought to be dead, succeeded in his return, everyone’s morale seemed to rise, and a strangely excited atmosphere continued within the Center.

Requests flooded in from the Esper Academy and the training centers asking if he could visit just once. They said that if Kang Juha showed his face, it would be a great inspiration to the Esper cadets and trainees.

Everywhere I went, it was all talk about Kang Juha. Even the slogan “Heroes do not die” became popular.

And that great hero had been parasitizing my office sofa for several days. Thanks to that, Juyoung couldn’t even enter my office. He said it felt like a tiger had taken up residence inside.

When I asked him in disbelief what that made him, he said he was a deer. What a load of nonsense. In terms of looks, Kang Juha looks more like a deer.

Kang Juha seemed uncomfortable with the fact that people were interested in him and watching him. Well, I would probably hate it too.

Furthermore, because he was currently being disciplined, he was in a state where he had to wear a special ability control gear on his neck. Because it was a belt-style control gear made of black special plastic, I couldn’t shake the thought every time I saw it that it looked like a dog. Of course, in two senses.

Kang Juha was eerily good at hiding his own presence. Did they say assassination was originally his specialty? I hadn’t seen him training, but I could imagine it.

While I worked, Kang Juha read and reread the fairy tale books he brought from the special treatment room. Seeing him look at things he had already seen, I wondered if he read them because they were fun. But when I actually asked, “Is it fun?” he would quietly shake his head.

“Then why do you keep looking at that? I said I’d buy you books.”

“Just because. I like this.”

He was a man I really couldn’t figure out.

We were holding a return announcement ceremony for Kang Juha, and strangely, it was I, not he, who became busy. Considering his unstable mental state, I had to write the script he would proclaim at the ceremony in his place. Other minor things were also all my responsibility. To be precise, they were Juyoung’s responsibility.

“Is there anything you want to say at the return ceremony?”

It was just a formality anyway, so I planned to finish it with a brief briefing on the circumstances, but I thought I should consult the party’s opinion since writing it purely from my perspective felt a bit wrong.

“I want to ask why the Center does not allow pairing or imprinting between Espers and Espers.”

I think it’s better not to consult him after all.

“I heard you well, but that was something you shouldn’t say.”

Partner connections and imprinting between Espers and Espers? What nonsense. How much more chaos were you trying to create in an already noisy Center?

“Let’s agree that you won’t do any small talk outside of the script I wrote at the return announcement ceremony. If by any chance Mr. Kang Juha says something useless of your own accord…”

What should I do? What kind of warning should I give so that Kang Juha won’t cause an accident?

After agonizing for a moment, I brought out words that I thought were very irrational and nonsensical as a threat, but felt would somehow work on Kang Juha.

“I will replace the person-in-charge.”

“…”

Kang Juha’s face froze stiffly in an instant. Then he bit his lower lip hard and squinted his eyes; it was an expression that looked like he was dying of hurt. It was a face that looked as though he might say the line, “How could you say such a thing?” at any moment.

Thinking about the scale of the accident Kang Juha caused this time, I felt I had to make a clear point. So I added in a voice that was intentionally more stern and resolute.

“And I will never see Esper Kang Juha again. Forever.”

“I won’t do it. I’ll only read the script.”

The answer came back immediately without a shred of hesitation.

“Good thinking.”

I don’t know why this works, but for now, I was very satisfied that I had a means to control Kang Juha, who I never knew which way he might bounce.