Of course, he’d been willing to help her with the backlash if she cooperated.
The problem was her attitude—demanding it as a condition.
“We don’t need you that badly.
If necessary, we can provide official guiding from a headquarters Guide, but anything more…”
“You do need me.”
Whatever decision she’d reached overnight had solidified her resolve.
His bluff wasn’t going to work.
He tried to keep his expression composed, but he was thrown by her unexpected proposal.
“And you saw it yourself, didn’t you?
What happened with the headquarters Guide.”
The offer tempted him because it appealed to a base, primal part of himself he hadn’t known existed.
Any contact with her gave him a level of pleasure he’d never experienced before.
At the same time, it was an area he couldn’t control, and he felt estranged from himself, disgusted by his surrender to that pleasure.
Yet he couldn’t refuse it.
The pleasure she gave him was that incomparable.
A Guide’s sexual sensitivity was forcibly heightened during guiding; their own will had nothing to do with it.
The pleasure they felt came solely from the Esper.
Espers instinctively heightened sensitivity, not pain, to maximize the efficiency of the energy transfer.
Having lived as an ordinary man until yesterday, it was only natural that Seunghyun couldn’t simply accept such pleasure.
And now, Yeonsu was telling him to endure that unpleasant act and provide guiding for her.
Exclusively for her.
Was she telling him to service her whenever she needed it?
He felt like he was selling himself.
“Ms.
Cha.
If necessary, I can help you from time to time.
But this is…”
Yeonsu cut him off.
“Detective Tae Seunghyun.
Are you taking the deal or not?
Just answer the question.”
Seunghyun remained silent.
“I’ll give you time.
This time, I hope you’re the one who has to come up with something more to say.”
Having said her piece, Yeonsu rose from her seat and walked past him toward the door.
Without a single glance in his direction, she strode away without hesitation and opened it.
Just then, a shadow fell over her from behind, and the door slammed shut.
Seunghyun’s large hand was pressed against the door, right in front of her face.
“…Fine.”
His breathing, rough with emotion, brushed the nape of her neck.
His voice followed, raw and forced from deep within.
‘How does it feel to be forced into something you don’t want, Detective?’
After the interrogation yesterday, Yeonsu had thought all night.
When he’d deliberately threatened Seokjoong’s safety, she knew he wanted something from her.
If she could secure Seokjoong’s safety, of course she would cooperate.
If she could protect him by offering them her ability, she would.
But the thought of being dragged along helplessly had hardened her resolve.
She wanted to turn around right then and see the expression on his face.
She hoped his face—the one that had looked down on her with such contempt—would be just as shattered as hers had been.
She wanted to see a crack form in his lofty pride, in the paltry sense of justice that allowed him to condemn her so righteously.
“Sit back down.
Let’s lay out the terms.”
Just from his voice, she could picture his expression.
Yeonsu smiled to herself.
The next day, Mun-gyeong called Seunghyun and the rest of Team 1 into the office.
Even detectives on fieldwork had been summoned, packing a room usually dotted with empty desks.
And among them was one person who was not a detective.
Mun-gyeong glanced at the woman standing beside him and began to speak.
“This is Esper, Cha Yeonsu.
She will be assisting our team’s investigation.”
The office buzzed for a moment.
The looks the detectives gave Yeonsu were far from friendly.
Yeonsu was used to the wary, prejudiced stares people gave Espers, but that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable.
Still, she held her head high, refusing to bow.
Her gaze, fixed straight ahead, began to blur.
The only other Esper on the team, a physical-type named Heechan, watched her with open curiosity, seemingly pleased to see another of his kind.
The detectives, who were not known for their sensitivity, made no effort to hide their discomfort.
They were all big, rough men who dealt with brutal cases, and physical stamina was essential for investigations.
Just looking at her, they figured they’d have to handle her with kid gloves.
The small, slender woman looked like she’d snap if someone so much as poked her.
What kind of ability could she possibly have that would be useful to an investigation?
“Ms.
Cha is a mental-type Esper.
Her ability is psychometry.
She can read memories through contact.
People and objects.”
The detectives sucked in a collective breath.
Their gazes changed instantly.
It wasn’t the warmth one showed a person, but the appraisal one gave a useful tool.
Their eyes gleamed as they immediately began calculating how best to make use of her.
It was the same everywhere.
People either tried to use her or hated her.
Here, both types were gathered in one place.
One of the detectives raised his hand.
“When necessary, can we bring her—uh, Ms.
Cha—along with us?”
“In that case, be careful about physical contact unless you want your dirty laundry aired in public.
And you’re responsible for maintaining case confidentiality.”
Glancing at her, Mun-gyeong added, “Don’t tell her anything she doesn’t absolutely need to know.”
The way he said it, as if he were explaining the handling instructions for a new piece of equipment, made Yeonsu bite her lower lip.
‘It’s fine.
You knew it would be like this.’
She repeated it to herself over and over.
Mun-gyeong’s explanation continued, most of it warnings about the conditions under which her ability would activate.
“Ms.
Cha will be wearing a tracking device, but even so, try to avoid taking her out on fieldwork unless necessary.
The related investigation isn’t completely finished yet.
Oh, and…”
Just then, Seunghyun opened the door and walked into the office with a small box in his hand.
“If anyone does go out on fieldwork with Ms.
Cha, Seunghyun will accompany you.”
Standing beside her, he spoke.
“As the Captain said, any contact with Ms.
Cha has to go through me.”
His tone was as cold as ever, as if he wanted to make it clear he wasn’t happy about any of this.
That had been Mun-gyeong’s condition, added to the one Yeonsu had set: that Seunghyun would “purify her backlash whenever she needed it.” Someone had to keep an eye on her anyway, and if she needed guiding on a regular basis, then in his judgment, Seunghyun was the perfect person for the job.
“That’s all for the announcements.
Dismissed.
Get to work.
Seunghyun, stay back a minute.
I want a word.”
With that, the detectives got up in twos and threes and drifted away.
Seunghyun stepped away from her side to follow Mun-gyeong.
Left standing in the middle of the room, Yeonsu hovered awkwardly.
‘What am I supposed to do now?
Just stand here?’
At that moment, Heechan approached her.
Despite his large frame, his face had a simple, good-natured look as he bowed.
“H-Hello!”
Startled, she bowed back, her expression dazed.
She stared at him with open curiosity, surprised that he had been the one to approach her first.
Up close, Heechan’s face flushed, and he began to babble.
“Uh, I—I’m an Esper too.
If, um, later on, if you ever feel uncomfortable or anything…”
Under her steady gaze, his eyes glazed over and his voice lost its strength.
‘He’d thought all Espers were like him, but apparently, they could be this pretty…’
“…You can just, uh, tell me…”
“Kang Heechan.”
He jumped at the firm sound of his name and turned his head.
“Y-Yes, sir!
Sunbae!”
Apparently finished talking with Mun-gyeong, Seunghyun was coming out of the captain’s office.
Without so much as a glance at her, he looked at Heechan and spoke in a flat voice.
“Stay out of it.
She’s not someone you need to be doing favors for.”
“Uh, ah…”
Heechan couldn’t think of a response to that cold remark.
It reminded him of when he had first been assigned to Team 1.
Back then, they’d treated him like he was invisible most of the time, only acknowledging him when a case required his ability.
At least he had already been working as a patrol officer, so it had been easier for him to blend in.
Yeonsu, on the other hand, would clearly be used as nothing more than an Esper from start to finish.
He’d approached her out of a sense of solidarity, but now he worried he’d only made things worse for her.
Awkwardly, he snuck a sideways glance at her.
“…Thank you for the offer.
I’m fine.”
“Uh, yes.
I’ll, uh, get going then!”
Looking relieved, Heechan bowed to both of them and hurried out of the office.
Once the room had quieted down, only Seunghyun and Yeonsu remained.
“Everything goes through me.
Have you forgotten?”
Turning toward her, he spoke in a scolding tone.
She didn’t look at him.
“Does that mean I’m not even allowed to talk to anyone?”
An inexplicable irritation flared in him.
“That’s exactly what it means.
You need to be very clear about your position here, as I’ve said before.”
“I know.
That I’m still a suspect and someone who has broken the law.”
With a dry expression, she looked him straight in the eye.
The eyes that had once been like polished black beads were now clouded and dull, as if scratched all over.
“I’m fully aware.”