PARADOX 10

“Hmm?”

Gu Jeyi opened his mouth as he stared at the man.

“A man who became a Guide two days ago just happened to be working as a cleaner at the Center. For now, let’s call that a coincidence.”

“…”

“But in a dangerous situation where everyone else was evacuating, you went out of your way to find the place where I was and guided me while I was on the verge of a rampage… and you were a civilian until two days ago. Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”

Pyo Myeongho who had opened his mouth as if to offer an excuse on the man’s behalf, ultimately chose silence. He seemed to think Gu Jeyi’s words had merit.

Simply saying it was good luck wasn’t enough. Everything had played out far too perfectly—as if it had been planned from the very beginning.

“What is your name?”

“Yeo, Hanseo.”

“Mister Yeo Hanseo. Even veteran Guides with decades of experience feel terror in front of an Esper on the brink of a rampage. Furthermore, Guide training includes instructions to cease guiding and flee if an Esper begins to go berserk. I don’t know if you’ve learned that far yet. Nevertheless, you went out of your way to attempt guiding me.”

The man, who had been frozen as if terrified, suddenly retorted.

“Bu—but, Esper Gu Jeyi wasn’t in a state of rampage. You were in a standby state just before the rampage.”

“Even if that were true, it isn’t something someone who has only been a Guide for two days should attempt. In the first place, what do you think the probability is for a novice Guide to succeed in guiding an Esper who is seconds away from losing control?”

“It is possible if the matching rate is over 90%.”

“…”

“No, uh… I’m just saying it’s a thing.”

The one who answered was Pyo Myeong-ho. It seemed he had answered reflexively because the topic was something he knew. When Gu Jeyi looked at him with cold eyes, Pyo Myeong-ho averted his gaze as if he had never opened his mouth.

Gu Jeyi turned his attention back to the man.

“Then there are two possibilities. Either we are those ‘fated partners’ that appear once in a million, or you aren’t a novice Guide who awakened only two days ago.”

“What?”

“I believe there is a high probability that Mister Yeo Hanseo is an unregistered Guide. And that you took the job as a Center cleaner to target me from the start. Since everyone who counts knows I’ve been struggling with guiding issues, you likely thought you could grab my weakness and pull my strings.”

“That… that’s impossible.”

The man shook his head, turning pale, but Gu Jeyi continued to press him.

“Then explain it in a way I can understand. When the alarm went off, why did you look for me instead of running away like everyone else? And how did a Guide who has only been awakened for two days manage to guide an Esper on the verge of a rampage?”

“I—I didn’t run away because I was worried about Esper Gu Jeyi. And as for the second thing, uh, I’m not really sure how that happened either…”

“Ah, you were worried about me.”

If he had said it was due to a sense of duty as a Guide or devotion to the country, like Pyo Myeong-ho had suggested, Gu Jeyi might have laughed, even if it was out of derision.

But to say he did it because he was worried about an S-rank Esper who could sink an entire island with his own strength? It was so absurd that he couldn’t even manage a sneer.

“You risked your life for a reason like that. Am I supposed to believe that?”

Gu Jeyi looked down at the man with a frigid expression.

Having possessed so much since he was a child, Gu Jeyi had encountered many swindlers trying to rip him off. And he had never let such bastards go easily. He loathed being deceived or betrayed by anyone.

However, this man looked frail, and since he had only just woken up after fainting, Gu Jeyi was simply treating him with words rather than physical pressure.

But if the man continued to insist on such ridiculous lies, Gu Jeyi was more than willing to use other measures.

“Whatever your intentions were, the result is that I did receive help from Mister Yeo Hanseo, so I will give you a chance to speak honestly. But if you keep lying, I’ll have no choice but to use a different method.”

Gu Jeyi intentionally let a bit of his energy leak out to pressure the man.

The man’s long eyelashes trembled faintly.

“I… I really just wanted Esper Gu Jeyi to be safe.”

“Do you intend to keep telling that ridiculous lie?”

If he knew it wasn’t working, it would be better to come up with a different excuse.

Looking at the shivering man, Gu Jeyi felt unpleasant, as if he were persecuting someone weak.

“This is your last chance. Speak honestly. What were you hoping for when you did that?”

“I really went there because I was worried about you. Because…”

“Ha, continuing to lie—”

“I lo—love you, Esper Gu Jeyi!”

…

The taut tension snapped like a thread.

Gu Jeyi blinked blankly.

“What…?”

“Ah! I remember now!”

At that moment, Pyo Myeong-ho shouted.

“I knew I’d seen you somewhere. The Heukyeong-dong Gate incident! Right?”

“Ah, yes.”

The man, whose eyes had been wide, nodded awkwardly.

Gu Jeyi frowned.

“Heukyeong-dong Gate? What about it?”

“Didn’t you see the news? Ah, I guess you wouldn’t have. You don’t have a TV.”

Gu Jeyi didn’t keep a TV at home. It was because he didn’t want to endure noise even in his own house. Even if he had one, he wouldn’t have watched it. His condition hadn’t left him with enough leeway to pay attention to anything other than Gate Clears.

“Then it’s natural you wouldn’t know. A little while ago, the news was buzzing about a missing person from the Heukyeong-dong Gate returning after 7 years. Here, look.”

Pyo Myeong-ho searched for the Heukyeong-dong Gate incident on his phone and handed it to Gu Jeyi. He then continued to chatter toward the man.

“I’m usually good at remembering faces, so I was puzzled. I was sure I’d seen you somewhere but I couldn’t recall where. Wow, seeing you now, I get it. You look exactly like the photo. Honestly, I wondered if the photo just came out really well, but it wasn’t that.”

“Ah, some people recognize me because of that photo. Even though it was taken down in a day.”

“Aigoo, thinking about it, that must have been uncomfortable for you, Hanseo. That wasn’t a photo you wanted to be taken, was it?”

“I think one of the reporters took it and posted it without permission. Fortunately, they took action quickly and it was taken down. Though there are still people who recognize me every now and then.”

“You’ve been through a lot. Being handsome is a sin, a sin.”

Listening to the conversation between the two, Gu Jeyi slowly scrolled down.

Just as Pyo Myeong-ho said, the internet was full of articles about the missing person from the Heukyeong-dong Gate returning.

Gu Jeyi’s eyes scanned the content and reached the comments.

—He went missing as an elementary schooler and came back as a 20-year-old ㅠㅠ This is so heartbreaking.

—It’s a relief he’s back now at least, but thinking about the lost years… I hope he lives happily with his family from now on.

└ You didn’t read the article; they said he’s the only one of the family who returned.

—I hope nothing like this ever happens again. If the Espers had just cleared the Gate faster, everyone would have come back safely.

└ The article says it was 7 years ago, so there was no Gate generation location prediction system.

└ People blame Espers for everything smh. Even when they save people, they’re just punching bags.

└└ Well, they earn that much money, don’t they?

—Looking at his baby photo, he grew up exactly the same ㅠㅠ Please debut in the entertainment industry.

└ ?? Is there a current photo besides the childhood one? It’s not in the article.

└ (This comment has been deleted)

└ Oh, thank you.

└ Wow crazy, he’s freaking handsome. Debut right now.

└ Eh, is this handsome? He just looks like a gigolo.

└└ Mister, look in a mirror before you talk.

└ Everyone’s losing their minds. Don’t rate a civilian’s looks. What are you doing to a victim who went through something horrible?

└ I didn’t see it, where can I find the photo? It won’t come up even if I search ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Gu Jeyi handed the phone back to Pyo Myeong-ho.

As the man shut his mouth, conscious of Gu Jeyi’s gaze, an awkward silence hung in the air.

“…So, you were missing for 7 years and then returned.”

“Yes.”

“Then you must have taken the Esper-Guide test recently.”

“Yes, the test results came out two days ago.”

“…”

If this was true, this man could not be an illegal unregistered Guide as Gu Jeyi had suspected. He would have been inside a Gate until just about a month ago.

Gu Jeyi had suspected this man for two reasons.

‘When the alarm went off, why did you look for me instead of running away like everyone else?’

Gu Jeyi had thought the man was an unregistered Guide who intentionally approached him knowing his weakness. He thought the man must have risked his life because he was after something.

But just now, his assumption lost its strength.

‘I—I love you! Esper Gu Jeyi.’

…Let’s set aside that answer for now.

Even so, the second question remained.

‘How did a Guide who has only been awakened for two days manage to guide an Esper on the verge of a rampage?’

The answer to that second question came the next day.

“Esper Gu Jeyi, the matching rate results with Mister Yeo Hanseo are in. But…”

There was no need to hear the words that followed.

Because Gu Jeyi had just checked the matching rate recorded in the documents.

It was the answer to the second question.