"Think he left? Do you think Shinyul actually left? If he can't explain himself to Headquarters, we'll be writing incident reports first thing tomorrow morning."
"Assistant Manager, you've worked with Shinyul for years and you still don't know him? I'll bet my left arm he didn't leave."
"God, Shinyul, please just go. Think I can type an incident report faster with three arms?"
"Assistant Manager... have you seriously lost it?"
As people whispered and bickered, Huiyeong's long eyelashes trembled faintly.
Blink.
Blink.
He slowly opened his eyes.
"Haa...."
Unable to hide his discomfort from the pain in his wound, Huiyeong frowned and looked around.
It was dark outside the still-open hospital window.
Apparently, it was already night.
The moment they noticed he was awake, the employees immediately jumped to their feet and hurried over.
"You're awake? How are you feeling?"
Huiyeong stared at the friendly employees.
With a complicated expression, he let out another long sigh before unsteadily sitting up.
"W-Wait, you shouldn't be moving!"
The employees looked on the verge of tears.
Suppressing his irritation, Huiyeong answered in a calmer tone.
Now that he'd accepted how absurd the situation was, even his rough dialect had mellowed somewhat.
"The doctor said I could walk. Told me it'd be good exercise."
"B-But earlier..."
"Yeah. He didn't tell me to run like a maniac."
"I just ran because I wanted to see a mirror."
"Got startled."
As Huiyeong staggered to his feet, the employees hurried after him, supporting him on both sides as carefully as though escorting an elderly man.
Accepting their help naturally, he slowly made his way toward the bathroom.
True to a luxury hospital room, the bathroom even had a spacious shower booth.
Covering one entire wall...
Was a huge mirror.
And reflected inside it...
Was that painfully young man once again.
"Haa...."
"What the hell am I supposed to do with this...?"
Huiyeong stared silently at the young man in the mirror.
A pale face.
Gentle eyes completely lacking the viciousness and charisma he'd spent decades cultivating.
Thin arms and legs that looked as though they'd snap if someone flicked them.
Why the hell is he so short too...?
No...
More importantly...
Who the hell is this kid?
Unable to believe he'd woken up inside the body of a young man he'd never seen before in his life, Huiyeong rubbed his eyelids hard with one hand.
The bandage wrapped around his left hand where he'd ripped out the IV needle scratched against his skin.
Only then did everything click.
Everyone had kept calling him by another name.
It wasn't because they'd mistaken him.
It was this young man's name.
...Damn.
I ended up taking it out on an innocent guy.
After calmly organizing his thoughts, Huiyeong slowly turned around again.
The employees immediately rushed over and supported him once more with utmost sincerity.
You youngsters are pretty considerate.
He silently praised them.
The employees merely laughed awkwardly.
You're literally the youngest person here....
Returning to the hospital bed, Huiyeong lay back down before looking at them.
"Alright."
"Tell me that stuff again."
"H-Huh?"
"You know."
"That superpower thing."
"And Guides or whatever."
The dark circles beneath the employees' eyes had grown noticeably deeper after being forced to stay at work until late at night.
Yet the moment Huiyeong asked them to explain everything again, both of them brightened instantly.
"Yes!"
They eagerly launched into another explanation.
Careful not to overwhelm him.
Choosing the simplest words possible.
Explaining everything as though talking to a kindergartener.
Only after Huiyeong finally began nodding and replying with quiet "I see..."s did they visibly relax and continue.
Outwardly, Huiyeong listened calmly.
Inside...
His mind raced.
Everyone accepted this ridiculous nonsense as perfectly normal.
Didn't seem like anyone was pulling a prank.
His eyes sharpened.
He'd suddenly awakened in an unfamiliar body.
In an unfamiliar world.
A world where people possessed bizarre supernatural abilities.
Then wasn't it entirely possible...
That whatever had happened to him had also been caused by one of these people?
"So among those Esper-whatever people..."
"Is there anyone who can do something like moving souls?"
"Huh?"
"N-No...."
"Why not?"
"You said there are all kinds of powers."
"People shooting fire."
"Flying through the sky."
"Stuff like that."
"Well..."
"So far, no abilities involving souls have ever been recorded...."
"Oh, come on."
"You think just because nobody in this tiny little country has it, nobody else does?"
"I'm talking about other countries."
The employees looked troubled.
"As we explained earlier..."
"National strength nowadays depends heavily on how many Espers and Guides a country possesses."
"If such a rare ability existed..."
"There's a high chance the government would keep it classified."
"So..."
"It could exist?"
"...It also might not."
"Alright, alright."
Huiyeong nodded.
Just knowing it was possible was already a major breakthrough.
"And..."
"If you want access to that kind of information..."
"You'll have to work at the Center."
The employees spoke cautiously.
Here they go again.
Trying to recruit me as some damn civil servant.
Huiyeong instinctively started to lose his temper—
Then stopped himself.
This wasn't the world he'd lived in.
If he wanted answers...
Information came first.
Without realizing it, he'd clenched his fist tightly.
His knuckles trembled as he slowly forced them open again.
The employees stared nervously at the frighteningly tight fist opening and closing.
"...Really?"
"Y-Yes!"
"Information about Esper abilities isn't released to the general public."
"And as you mentioned..."
"Foreign Espers are classified at the highest level."
"Even inside the Center, accessing that information can be difficult."
"...Well."
"I'm fucked."
"No..."
"More importantly."
"Does this kid have any money?"
"What about a house?"
Looking at that baby-faced reflection...
No way the kid had money.
Or a house.
He'd be lucky if he'd ever held a job.
The employees froze.
Huiyeong was casually asking about his own finances.
The doctor had specifically instructed them to continue treating him as though the separate identity he insisted upon was real until proper treatment could begin.
He'd also warned them not to reveal too much personal information.
It could worsen his identity confusion.
Hey.
What do we do?
How should I know...?
The two of them began silently mouthing words at each other again like goldfish.
Seeing that, Huiyeong waved them off.
His pale, slender hand fluttered lazily through the air.
"Forget it."
"What would you two know anyway...."
Actually...
We know everything.
We've even read your elementary and high school records.
Within the Center, especially in the Esper-Guide Matching Department...
People jokingly called their work matchmaking.
Matching rates were naturally the highest priority.
But nowadays, with the ratio of Espers to Guides stabilizing around six to four...
Finding matches above the seventy-five percent threshold had become fairly common.
As a result...
Personality.
Disposition.
Lifestyle.
Those mattered even more.
It was common knowledge that the Center thoroughly investigated every aspect of both people's lives.
Fortunately...
Huiyeong had no idea.
The two employees nearly opened their mouths before barely stopping themselves.
They simply let out exhausted sighs.
Seeing Huiyeong's pale face sink into despair, Assistant Manager Shin quietly muttered,
"Um..."
"Let's just say..."
"It's... not great."
"What?"
"...No."
"You're fucking kidding me."
Apparently he'd still been holding onto a tiny shred of hope.
The hesitant answer made Huiyeong's face twist in despair.
"Life really is fucking brutal...."
His beautiful face instantly filled with hopelessness.
He released another long sigh.
His clear, bright eyes brimmed with worry.
So I traded my money for youth?
I'd rather have my own age...
And my own damn money.
"If you work at the Center..."
"As we mentioned earlier..."
"You'll serve as the dedicated Guide for your matched S-rank Esper."
"You'll receive a generous maintenance allowance from your very first day."
"So you won't need to worry about money."
"We'll also arrange special housing for you."
"And the Center will cover all your medical expenses."
"So please focus on recovering."
"...Not much choice for a penniless bastard."
"Fine."
"I'm not even the real owner of this body."
"Who knows how long it'll take before I get back?"
"I'm not about to waste some kid's hard-earned money."
"I'll have to earn my own."
"I've already failed my own parents."
"Wouldn't feel right mooching off someone else's."
The employees knew Huiyeong's family history.
Hearing him mention "parents" so casually made both of them stiffen.
They continued taking notes on every word about mistaken identities and different bodies while pretending not to notice.
"Oh."
"And the Esper matched with you..."
"...is Han Shinyul."
"Twenty-six years old."
"Male."
"S-rank telekinetic Esper."
"The assignment has already been officially completed by the Center."
"...Fuck."
"It's a guy?"
"Can't you switch him for a woman?"
"You said I'd have to touch him."
"How the hell am I supposed to touch another man?"
"...Well..."
"Matching prioritizes compatibility above all else."
"Han Shinyul has a ninety-five percent Matching rate with you."
"It's extremely difficult to replace him with another Esper."
"Please understand."
Assistant Manager Seong looked genuinely apologetic.
Huiyeong sighed again.
Fuck.
Nothing ever goes my way.
"So basically..."
"I babysit one brat."
"And you pay me."
"...Babysit..."
"Well... yes."
"And basic Guiding generally involves holding hands..."
"Hugging..."
"And light kissing...."
Huiyeong's eyes immediately widened.
...What?
The fuck did this guy just say?
"What?"
"Kissing?"
"You said he's a man!"
"Earlier you told me all I had to do was touch him!"
"Now you're telling me men have to touch each other and kiss?"
"If both parties agree..."
"More intimate physical contact is also possible."
"The more direct the mucosal contact..."
"The more effective the Guiding."
"So if your relationship develops well..."
"We generally recommend progressing in that direction."
"...Hold on."
"Stop."
"In unavoidable situations..."
"For example, if your assigned Esper enters Berserk..."
"The Center may request that you perform sexual Guiding—"
"FUCK!"
"HEY!"
Huiyeong roared.
The employee, who had stubbornly forced himself to continue explaining, immediately snapped his mouth shut.
"Listen, you two."
"...Are you people seriously out of your fucking minds?"