Pretending to Be the Lover of an Esper C12

Chapter 12

“My first partner Guide…”
I let the unfamiliar phrase roll off my tongue as if tracing it with the tip.
My stomach churned as though I might be seasick. It felt like thick waves crashing inside me. Perhaps it was pressure—or maybe some other, more negative emotion.
Had I felt something similar when I had just become a Guide and was paired with my first partner? I couldn’t remember.
Did Lee Taeon realize his current condition? Did he know what he had done? How long would that state of his last?
The image of him during training came to mind—excited all throughout, experimenting with techniques he ordinarily wouldn’t dare try, savoring the heightened sensitivity that came along with it. Even when he failed, he seemed only mildly disappointed, already planning for next time. And when everything had ended…

〈Yes. Truly… remarkable.〉
〈…Yes. I’m disappointed. More than when a ‘test’ fails.〉
〈I don’t think so.〉

My chest tightened unbearably.
The cold look and harsh tone he’d shown when I had first arrived at the dorm flashed through my mind. It hadn’t even been a fortnight since that day.
We still kept our distance, avoided one another, and never spoke unless it was work-related.
Even in the dorms, we confirmed each other’s presence by sound, not sight.

I had never seen Taeon so utterly relaxed and languid before. It was probably a side he would never have wanted me to witness. The feeling was strangely awkward.
Was it discomfort? I wasn’t sure.
“Stifling.”

I rubbed my throat for no reason. The comfortable training shirt I wore was loose enough to barely cover my collarbone. My hand glided down the smooth skin of my neck without catching on anything. Instead, I lightly pounded my chest twice, and, in rhythm with that, my pace quickened.
An emotion I couldn’t name tangled within me like a huge ball of yarn, swelling until it felt ready to burst.

When I met Taeon again in the guiding room, all traces of his earlier demeanor were gone. He looked even colder and more rigid than usual.
We barely spoke. As always, we just measured the basic values—guiding load rate, resonance response, wave stability, and so forth.
A few times, Taeon opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but each time he ended up frowning deeply and falling silent.

That was just as well. Partly because I had a rough idea of what topic he wanted to bring up, and partly because I wasn’t sure how to face him if he did.

“Today’s data doesn’t differ much from last week’s. My guiding load rate hasn’t gone up either. Your overload risk remains low.”
Though his psychic waves fluctuated slightly, it was still within normal range. I switched off the scanner and said to him,
“Mr. Lee Taeon, I’ve uploaded the record. I’ll review the training data later.”

Honestly, being in the same room with him felt excruciatingly awkward. Considering what I had seen just hours ago, it was only natural. I could almost guarantee that Taeon found this strained atmosphere just as uncomfortable.
“I’ll be heading out first.”

Gathering my belongings, I rose from the recliner. Even as I turned my back, Taeon said nothing.
It wasn’t unusual, but maybe today the reason was a little different.

Right before stepping out, I glanced back. The recliners we had sat in faced the front glass wall, so I could only catch the back of him.
He had his head buried in his hands.

“You can’t even hold out for this long?”
“No, it’s just—ugh! I really can’t—nhh!”
“Stop making weird noises and focus properly. Keep your back straight.”
“That’s—not—something—I—ugh!—can—control!”

The weight pressing down on me was unbearable. My arms, which had been holding me up, trembled helplessly before collapsing again with a dull thud.
My jaw quivered. Sweat soaked through my neck and down my back. Again, I tried to push myself up using the strength in my palms, but it was futile. My lower back throbbed in pain.
“Mr. Lee Taeon, Esper…”

Heat flooded my whole body. My arms were on fire. I wanted desperately to pry off the hand pressing against my back. I really, truly couldn’t take it anymore. A strained groan escaped me on its own. Even clenching my teeth failed to stifle the sound trembling up from my throat.
“I—I can’t—”

Facing the clear disparity in strength, my pride crumbled. There was no choice but to yield to him. It infuriated me. So much that I was shaking.
And then, above me, a sharp laugh burst forth.
“So much for that claim about having good stamina, huh?”
“I—it’s not—ugh—just that you’re absurdly strong—! You don’t even know what restraint—ugh!”

Before I could finish, Taeon moved his hand. It was a simple, brief motion, yet the rush of liberation coursed up from my limbs with almost electric intensity.
“Ngh!”

The sensation was overwhelmingly pleasant. I collapsed fully onto the floor, gasping for breath. My body, freed from restraint, suddenly felt much lighter.
Taeon had released the bands that connected my waist and legs to the support poles. With a faint ping, the bands snapped back to their original position against the metal beam, having stretched to their limit.

“You say I don’t know restraint. So what—you think I’m showing off because I’m an Esper, Mr. Ji Yunseong, Guide?”
“When—huff—did I—huff—say—that—?”

His ability to distort my words was downright impressive. It was as though there were an invisible, twisted little tunnel inside his ear that every word had to pass through to reach him.
“Four. You couldn’t even make it to ten.”
Lying flat on my back, I could feel his disdainful stare prick at me. Oh, come on.

“I can handle pulling the bands myself. But doing push-ups while you’re sitting on top of me? You honestly don’t think that’s hard enough already? How many could you do in my place, then?”
“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”
“…”

…Of course I knew. For an Esper, this sort of thing was easier than eating porridge. Lifting my head just enough, I glared up at him as fiercely as I could.
My earlier assumption—that this week’s physical training would be manageable—had been completely wrong. Taeon had managed to screw me over with an infuriatingly imaginative method. Still within the bounds of legality and not violating the contract we had signed, but precise enough to be cruel.

Last week’s physical training had been conducted separately—Espers with Espers, Guides with Guides. That’s why I had let my guard down.
“Mr. Lee Taeon. We’re training outdoors tomorrow, so let’s wrap up for the day.”

Forcing myself up, I grabbed the towel left in the corner and wiped my face. Honestly, it would’ve been reckless to push any further. My hands were still trembling.
If I kept overexerting myself just to build endurance, I’d end up collapsing from exhaustion instead, and my guiding load rate would spike. Exercise works only when it’s done in moderation.
“Five laps left on the track.”
“If I die spitting blood, I’ll make sure to list you, Mr. Lee Taeon, as the cause. Should be quite the spectacle.”
“You cough up blood after just five laps? So now that your claims of strong stamina don’t hold, you’re switching tactics to play the frail weakling?”
“Wow, not a bad idea. Then you can carry your sickly partner around like a treasured relic, right, Mr. Lee? Please handle me with care.”

Not a single word of mine went unanswered. The same went for me. We both narrowed our eyes, staring each other down. It was childish, no doubt, but neither of us wanted to look away first.
“Fine. What am I expecting anyway? Be in the guiding room in an hour.”

In the end, it was Taeon who relented. Apparently, he hadn’t truly intended to make me keep going past my limits.
Good. Then I’ll just rest a bit, take a quick shower, and…

〈Mr. Ji Yunseong. I’ll be reviewing the records, so go ahead and rest first. We’ll check the data later—wash up and meet in the guiding room in thirty minutes.〉

The moment Taeon’s departing figure crossed my mind, a chill ran down my back. That had been just two days ago.
No, you shouldn’t be popping up here. Why am I suddenly remembering that now?

“Are you insane?”

Startled and flustered, I gulped down cold water straight from the bottle.
He’d said that phrase countless times before—he’d even said it after yesterday’s mock battle indoors. It shouldn’t mean anything at all.
It hadn’t bothered me then, so why now? Why suddenly…

“Forget it. Just forget it.”

There was nobody around, but I still waved my hand at empty air, embarrassed by my own reaction. I must be so tired that my thoughts were running wild.

I found an empty guiding room and tapped my ID card against the sensor. Beep-beep. With a clear click, the lock released, and my affiliation and name appeared on the side panel. I immediately texted Taeon the room number before stepping inside.
Since he usually arrived exactly on time, that meant I had about twenty-five minutes of rest before he got here.

The first thing that greeted me was the faint aroma of herbs. Artificial though it was, the scent was so soft and subtle that it gently lifted my mood.
The rectangular room, roughly twenty-five square meters, was designed with smooth, minimal decor straight out of an interior magazine, the kind that practically screamed its true intent—to create an ideal space for rest and thus maximize guiding efficiency.

Honestly, that intent had always been one I rather liked.