PARADOX 34

The next day, the training ground of the living quarters was filled with the sound of a screeching scream from early morning.

“Argh! Stop! Let’s stop!”

Drenched in sweat, Seong Semin sprawled on the floor like a flat-pressed frog. His face was covered in small scratches here and there, and his clothes were a mess. His resentful eyes glared at the opponent who had tormented him.

“I can’t do any more! This is it! I don’t have the strength left to move a single fingertip!”

“Your stamina is a mess.”

“Is that something a person who tormented me from yesterday evening until the next day should say? Truly, please, even Espers have to sleep. When on earth do you sleep, Captain?”

“Usually, you sleep better after breaking a sweat.”

“I usually sleep just fine, okay? I finally got a break after being ground down by a workaholic boss, and I don’t know why you’re tormenting me like this. Anyway, other people need to know that the Captain is this kind of person. What are you looking at? If you’re a married man, just go home!”

Gu Jeyi, who had been listening to the criticism with a blank expression the whole time, flinched at the last remark. Seong Semin chuckled, as if he found his own words ridiculous.

“Pfft, a married man. Gu Jeyi is… Kahaha! A married man!”

“Seeing as you have the energy left to laugh, it seems you’re still fine.”

Only after hearing the chilling voice did Seong Semin abruptly stop laughing as if cutting it off. Gu Jeyi did not miss that gap and immediately continued.

“How many times have I told you to fix that habit of your body jumping out first? If you have a head, use it to think. If I were a monster, you would have died about three times by now.”

“If an S-rank monster appears, I should just die, I guess.”

“Don’t let it go in one ear and out the other; fix it. Don’t regret it later.”

“The person who is usually silent sure has a lot to say when nagging.”

Seong Semin grumbled as he picked himself up.

“It seems it’s been decided that Team 3 will enter the Miudong Gate. But will they be okay without Park Jintae? It’s a big loss if an A-rank Esper is missing.”

“They’ll handle it.”

“Rumor has it that Park Jintae is already fully healed, but he’s not coming out because he’s embarrassed about getting beaten up. Some say he’s going to another branch. Honestly, for an A-rank Esper, unless their limbs are cut off, they heal quickly. It makes no sense that he can’t return yet because he’s in pain. It must be because he’s too embarrassed to see the face of the person who hit him, right?”

Seong Semin did not like Park Jintae. It was absurd that the guy tried to keep Gu Jeyi in check just because their abilities overlapped, and above all, he was a silver-spoon elite who the higher-ups at the Center coddled.

Having been born in the slums, Seong Semin did not like the so-called ‘people who have everything,’ and he nearly hated ‘people who have everything but are jerks.’ Park Jintae was clearly the latter, so they had even gotten into a few fights.

However, Gu Jeyi’s reaction was indifferent as always.

“Focus on training instead of paying attention to rumors.”

“I wanted to give that bastard Park Jintae a beating too, but I wonder which kind soul did the work for me. If I meet them later, I’ll have to buy them a meal.”

Gu Jeyi checked his watch without much comment.

“Even if you look at it like that, nothing is coming. Director Pyo has really made up his mind.”

“I was checking the time.”

“Why the time? You’re not going into a Gate, so do you happen to have an appointment? There’s no way. You don’t have friends, Captain.”

Gu Jeyi’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Seong Semin, who was showing interest. Seong Semin was clearly exaggerating his pain. To say he didn’t have the strength to move a single fingertip, his mouth was flapping far too much.

As if sensing the meaning of that gaze, Seong Semin quickly took a step back.

“Ah, I’m not faking it. Anyway, where are you going?”

Gu Jeyi remained silent for a moment as if contemplating whether to answer or not, before opening his mouth as he leaned toward the former.

“Home.”

“Liar. Why would you check the time to go home? It’s not like someone is waiting…”

Seong Semin’s words slowly trailed off. Gu Jeyi now had someone waiting for him at home.

Recalling the face of the man he had seen at the wedding, Seong Semin eventually let out a sigh.

“Captain, you didn’t really marry that guy because you like him, right?”

“…”

“I’ve roughly caught on, so don’t lie. A Guide with a 98% matching rate with the Captain is someone the Center would drool over and pounce on, so you probably made the first move. Though I think the method being marriage was the absolute worst. No, thinking about it again, it’s just absurd. Still, how can you marry a fellow guy?”

Seong Semin made a face as if he felt nauseous just thinking about it. In fact, at the wedding, when Gu Jeyi tried to kiss that man, he felt so sick he couldn’t even look properly.

Of course, it was true that the man was objectively quite good-looking. But no matter how good his appearance was, wasn’t he a fellow guy with the same parts? Even though it was a world where same-sex marriage was legalized, Seong Semin found it hard to accept.

Gu Jeyi did not give a particular answer to Seong Semin’s words, but his lack of denial was as good as an answer. Seong Semin’s eyes narrowed.

“I didn’t have a chance to talk at the Gate, so I’m asking now—is it okay with him to be married to a man? Or, well, did he ask for money or something?”

“He said he was okay with it.”

Gu Jeyi had also agreed to give him money, but he didn’t say that. It was because Seong Semin already had a serious expression on his face.

“He said he was okay with a man? Wow, this is a total disaster.”

“What’s a disaster?”

“If he likes men, isn’t he going to pounce on the Captain with everything he’s got? How easy is it to approach using guiding as an excuse? Since there have been many such people until now, you wouldn’t be unaware of it either, Captain.”

In fact, even before he became an adult, Gu Jeyi had been tempted by numerous Guides regardless of gender or age. They would start by calling it guiding, then private contact would become frequent, and they would try to attempt contact guiding. Most of the things they said at those times were similar.

‘I can save you.’

However, due to Gu Jeyi’s human-related mysophobia, only two people had succeeded in contact guiding until now. One of them almost killed Gu Jeyi by causing him to rampage, and the other was…

“You’ve avoided it well so far, but that human eventually made it all the way to marriage. I can only imagine how triumphant he is right now. Since the situation has turned out like this, be careful because he might mistakenly think the Captain could like him.”

Seong Semin lowered his voice and gave a serious warning. Perhaps because the habit of acting like a “big brother” in the back alleys remained, Seong Semin occasionally wanted to act like Gu Jeyi’s older brother, as he was doing now.

“Most of those people are perverts. Maybe if you go home now, he’ll be wearing nothing but an apron and saying, ‘Honey~ what do you want to have first? Dinner? Or… me?’”

Of course, Gu Jeyi did not take Seong Semin’s words, which were full of ridiculous prejudices, to heart. The Yeo Hanseo he had seen so far did not seem like a person strange enough to do such a thing.

Still, one thing out of the many things Seong Semin blathered was worth remembering.

‘Be careful because he might mistakenly think the Captain could like him.’

Gu Jeyi was already being careful enough. Wasn’t he acting coldly toward Yeo Hanseo to prevent him from falling into futile delusions?

However, now that he was forced to follow Yeo Hanseo’s words due to Pyo Myeongho’s scheme, Gu Jeyi felt the need to draw a line even more clearly.

Thinking about this and that made him tired. Would he be able to sleep today? The newly prescribed medicine had no effect on his insomnia, so he chose to overwork his body instead. However, while his body was tired, his mind showed no sign of falling asleep.

Gu Jeyi stood in front of the ‘newlywed home’ with a sunken mood.

Opening the door, he smelled the scent of food filling the whole house.

“…?”

Gu Jeyi stood dazed in front of the entrance for a moment. It was because he was flustered by a smell that didn’t usually occur in his house. He entered the house slowly, as if searching it, like a person who had suddenly dropped into an unfamiliar place.

Soon, Yeo Hanseo, who was placing spoons on the dining table, looked up.

“Hyung, you’re here?”

For some reason, Gu Jeyi was at a loss for words and could not answer immediately. Fortunately, Yeo Hanseo was not naked, and he was not wearing an apron.

He soon noticed containers from a side-dish shop piled up on one side. Since Yeo Hanseo was still in a state where his hand was injured, it would have been difficult for him to cook. Yeo Hanseo pointed to a seat with a glance.

“Please, sit down.”

Gu Jeyi slowly approached the dining table. His excessively sensitive senses made even the smell of food feel nauseating. However, Gu Jeyi sat down without showing it, as always.

His eyes met Yeo Hanseo’s, and Gu Jeyi spoke.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because I didn’t think you would actually come.”

Gu Jeyi answered as he picked up a spoon.

“Wasn’t that the rule? Having one meal a day together.”

The previous day, Gu Jeyi and Yeo Hanseo had established several rules for the purpose of ‘making Gu Jeyi’s wavelength fall below 50%.’

Those rules were things like:

‘Have one meal a day together,’ ‘Talk for 30 minutes every day,’ ‘Greet each other while coming and going,’ ‘Compliment each other once a day’…