Chapter 18

‘I don’t recognize him. A guide in my family.’

That’s how Jae-chan’s father lashed out at his mother. She had to give birth to Seon Jae-chan in order to have Esper’s children in better condition than his first son Eun-soo. He mistakenly believed it was a pillar to support the family, but it was a rotten pillar. He never stopped turning his back on his son. Seon Jae-chan’s sensitive mother became neurotic as a result.

‘I’m sorry, Jae-chan. When I see you… My head hurts so much.’

His mother, who had done everything for him as if he were the best thing in the world until recently, didn’t even look at Seon Jae-chan for a while. It was later discovered that his father had even performed a paternity test.

The 11-year-old boy, who had nothing to fear except his father and older brother, was demoted overnight.

‘I’ll go into the center.’

After all, it was the year he turned fourteen.

Leaving the house voluntarily was a natural next step. He was tired of seeing his parents without making eye contact, and he didn’t want to put up with his older brother Seon Eun-soo, who was an A-class Esper. The reason why Seon Jae-chan got a guide test at the age of only 11 was because of Seon Eun-soo’s obsessive abnormal behavior.

Life at the center wasn’t bad. Since the family pretended to care for Seon Jae-chan outside, so he was able to live on the admiration of others rather than at home.

However, he was not devoid of the desire to gain attention from his parents. Seon Jae-chan worked hard from the age of fourteen to nineteen. He was determined to participate in the guide training program while reducing his sleeping time, occupying the top rank, and rising to the top tier among A-class Guides.

He expected his parents to praise him when he excelled, just as he had when he was a child. Seon Jae-chan, like Go Woo-jin, adorned himself with external achievements in order to be recognized by his parents.

Then one day.

Did the heavens consider the efforts admirable? The golden moment has arrived.

It was the spring when he turned nineteen. When he skipped grades and passed the national Guide selection exam one year earlier than others, and had only just begun his duties as a trainee Guide. He discovered his transparent fingertips while washing his face in the morning after staying up all night in the office alone.

He awakened as an Esper.

The joy and surprise of that time couldn’t be said in words.

He was already running home he came to his sense. He talked to his mother excitedly over the phone first. The voice on the other end of the line was trembling. Jae-chan’s head was like a field of flowers that bloomed like spring flowers outside the car window the entire taxi ride home.

The big 11-year-old child still stomped triumphantly inside him. His mother’s headaches would be gone, and his father would be sorry for treating him so coldly all this time.

‘At least I will be recognized as a family.’

Seon Jae-chan made his fingertips transparent and smiled. He entered the mansion like a general who returned home with a victory report. And soon he realized what a fool he was.

When he saw his father waiting without going to work, his heart swelled for a while. He was dragged into the mansion without saying anything. It was with the Esper Lab team, by his father’s side. His mother, who was following looked nervous.

They eventually arrived at a laboratory with the same equipment as the Esper Bureau. He installed the device without pausing to express his brief delight. He was immediately rated as an Esper.

The result was ‘E-class.’

At the very least, the researcher carefully explained that it was determined to be E-class due to the unique concealment sequence and that it was no different in terms of energy from F-class. Seon Jae-chan’s father, who received the predicted grade, remained expressionless. Only his mother, who chewed on her lips, faded like the moon in the daytime.

Seon Jae-chan was terrified, overshadowing the excitement so far. The nightmare of being judged as a Guide when he was a child seemed to resurface. The father, who conducted a paternity test because he was not convinced that his real son was a Guide, was also skeptical of his son’s Esper class.

‘There’s no need to report to the center.’

After sending the researcher first, the decision was made by his father like a cool-headed judge.

Jae-chan was told to live as an unregistered person.

His mother shook her head as if she had another headache, and quickly left. Jae-chan, who was left alone, was unable to respond in front of his father’s gaze. He shouldn’t have come running. He should not have told his parents the news as if it were breaking news. He was frozen to death by the thought.

He forced a smile, but his face flushed and his heart pounded. His father walked out of the lab as if he had nothing else to see. Seon Jae-chan couldn’t even follow his parents out of shame. He just ran away from home as if he was kicked out of intense shame.

After that, he lived unregistered. Until he died in Black Swan’s underground base at the age of twenty-seven.

His father was right. His Esper powers were really weak despite the plausible name of ‘concealment.’ A duration of only a few minutes a day did not save his life. It was at least the maximum output of that ability.

But now.

Shouldn’t that maximum output value be updated and recorded?

Today, he saved two lives as an Esper.

“Did you report it?”

Seon Jae-chan returned to reality at the urging of his roommate. He made eye contact with his shaky eyes and suddenly took his cell phone out of his pocket.

“… Hey! Hey, what are you doing!”

“Sorry.”

Replying in a tone that was not apologetic at all, Seon Jae-chan snapped pictures of the scene outside the window with his roommate.

“You’ve discovered a corporate secret, but there would always be a person to believe it. What if you report me as an Esper?”

When his roommate asked if the threat to leak the crime scene photos as the crime victim was serious, Jae-chan added,

“Don’t worry. I told you last time. If you don’t touch me, I won’t touch you either.”

Well. Even if his roommate reported it to the Guide Bureau, he just had to pretend that he was aware of his Esper powers in an emergency. Or the father, who didn’t want his son to be discovered as an E-class Esper, could have bribed the authorities to stop reporting.

“You wicked bastard.”

He was prepared to confront him, but his roommate merely clicked his tongue. He locked his gaze on the unusually calm man. Is he upset about what happened? Jae-chan suspected he had become discouraged.

“What is your name?”

Seon Jae-chan asked suddenly. He was thinking about the past.

Based on the video taken by Kim Geun-won’s handycam that fell at the scene, the roommate was rescued the next day. Following that, an investigation into Kim Geun-won’s death was conducted, but the investigation into the abduction was said to be hazy. Because the victim claimed it was a simple affair.

‘Did he cover it up on purpose?’

He only saw a few situations, but no matter how he look at it, it wasn’t an affair. He was not in a position to judge the guy’s choices in the past… Sigh. He shook his head, but his roommate crossed his arms.

“Huh. Don’t you even know my name?”

“How about you. Do you know my name?”

“Ah, seriously!”

He seemed to know his name based on his usual temper. Seon Jae-chan examined his roommate’s exotic appearance, which included light freckles. It had to be a foreign name. Is it Liam Roy? No. Roy was the name of the President of Gyeongjeon Stone’s nephew.

“Noah. Jeong Noah!”

His roommate said as he cut through the slightly stuffy air inside the patrol car. The roommate murmured awkwardly while kneading his bound arms and legs with his large hands as if he were still uncomfortable.

“If hearing my name makes you think of Noah Airy, that’s it. My parents named me after her. But you know what? Noah Airy’s real name is Ainoa Airy. Noah is just her nickname. I’m just ‘Noah’.”

According to the nonsense talk, his roommate, no, Jeong Noah, was still unstable. Jae-chan pretended to listen in order to provide stability to the crime victim. He thought that the name Noah goes very well with his bright curly hair.

Jae-chan checked his phone while hearing his roommate’s voice. The screen suddenly becomes bright.

[Jae-chan-ssi, where are you?]

He got a text message from team leader Lim Jeong-wook.

He checked out the window. He could see the typhoon team’s Espers and team leader Lim Jeong-wook approaching the mountain road as they had just arrived. He also noticed Kim Geun-won, who had just gotten off the back car.

He is still alive.

Seon Jae-chan looked curiously at Kim Geun-won, who was alive and looked like a bandit but paused for a moment. Following Kim Geun-won, a large shadow got out of the car with his long legs stretched out. It was Go Woo-jin.

The officer pointed his finger in the direction of the group that was approaching them. Go Woo-jin’s eyes followed him and then turned around quickly. Go Woo-jin’s sharp eyes, stained with pure worry like a young boy, immediately found Jae-chan.

“…”

Jae-chan stood still for a moment.

He must have seen it wrong since the patrol car’s lights were so bright. Or maybe he inhaled hallucinogens while in the warehouse.