The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 28

Yeon Dogyeong was a child who was never loved by his parents.

After their business failed and they were buried under debt, his parents constantly abused their only son.

They could not accept that their lives had fallen apart because of their own choices.

In their search for someone to blame, their eyes landed on the closest and weakest target—their son.

“If you hadn’t been born, we wouldn’t be living like this!”

“Useless and stupid. How old are you, and you still can’t even read Korean?”

They didn’t even bother sending him to school properly.

Because of that, their son—slow to learn but gentle by nature—became the receptacle for all their resentment.

If only you hadn’t been born, we wouldn’t be reduced to this.

Even so, Dogyeong desperately sought their affection. He didn’t want to be abandoned.

His ability manifested when he witnessed loan sharks threatening and beating his parents.

Young Dogyeong simply wanted to protect them.

“M-Monster! It’s a monster!”

“Take the money and get that thing out of here right now!”

But after the loan sharks left, his parents—trembling in fear—called their own son a monster and sold him off to the Association.

 

 

***

 

 

 

Unlike Dogyeong, Lee Shinra was the youngest child in a loving, ordinary family.

At first, like Cha Eunhwi, Shinra stayed at home at his family’s request.

Barrier abilities were far less dangerous than other powers.

However, Shinra’s barrier grew at an alarming rate after awakening, often forcefully pushing away people around him.

Hating himself for it, Shinra begged every day to be sent to headquarters.

“I just want to go to HQ. Please send me.”

“No, Shinra. Let’s stay together until you can control your power better.”

“But it’s always because of me—!”

“It’s okay, Shinra.”

His family always said it was okay.

So Shinra truly believed it was.

But the day when Shinra could stop pushing others away came far too slowly.

He skipped school more often than he attended. Even at home, his power affected neighbors—they moved countless times.

As the waiting dragged on, an invisible wall formed between Shinra and his family.

At some point, they began to look at him as if they were hoping for something. The way they gazed at him—like a burden—made his chest ache.

Shinra believed it was all his fault.

When he said again that he would leave home, this time everyone smiled brightly.

Shinra was only ten years old.

When Shinra began living at headquarters, his parents, sister, and brother promised they would visit often.

But whenever Shinra spoke of returning home once his power stabilized, his family looked uncomfortable.

Before long, they stopped coming altogether.

Yoon Hyea was the only light that appeared before those boys, who suffered from profound deprivation.

She didn’t just provide guiding.

“If you’re struggling, tell me anytime. I’ll fix everything. We’re bound by fate, remember!”

Smiling brightly, Hyea broke through their sharp defenses and settled beside them in an instant.

They loved how she hugged and comforted them with a radiant smile, no matter how troublesome they were.

They loved how she secretly brought her pillow at night when they couldn’t sleep from nightmares, patting their backs until they fell asleep.

They loved how she fed them herself when they couldn’t lift a spoon, how she cleaned them without a trace of disgust when they vomited, soothing them gently.

They loved how she said that just as they needed her, she needed them too.

They loved her so much that they wanted to stay together forever.

But just as the three of them began to stabilize noticeably, Cha Eunhwi was sent away.

At the time, Eunhwi was a child who willingly yielded everything to Dogyeong and Shinra.

Partly because Dogyeong and Shinra had reached the point where they could no longer receive guiding from anyone other than Hyea.

I’m fine. But Dogyeong and Shinra aren’t. We’re like family, so I need to take better care of them.

Leaving Hyea wasn’t hard.

But he felt like he would cry if he saw her, so he left after saying goodbye only to Dogyeong and Shinra.

Not realizing that Hyea might feel hurt by it.

He vowed that the next time he stood before her, he would be more mature—someone she could rely on.

After that, Dogyeong and Shinra stabilized so much that they soon became capable of daily life.

Headquarters then attempted to begin their formal esper training.

Normally, esper and guide training were conducted separately.

However, the two boys refused education because they didn’t want to be separated from Hyea even for a moment, clinging to her side.

Considering the unique situation of young espers who suffered seizures if separated from their guide, headquarters reluctantly allowed Hyea to attend Dogyeong and Shinra’s training as an exception.

From then on, Hyea became the standard by which Shinra and Dogyeong judged everything.

“Why are there so many gates…? I think it’ll be easier if we memorize the last pages first.”

“Yeah! That’s good!”

“Sounds good!”

When Hyea studied only the last few pages, saying there were too many gates to memorize, they did the same.

“We’re not going to be mathematicians. Do we really need to study that hard? Calculators exist!”

“Yeah! That’s fine!”

“That’s fine!”

When Hyea tossed aside homework, saying the basics were enough, they did the same.

“Come to think of it, we can’t even travel abroad. Learning foreign history feels pointless.”

“Yeah! Pointless!”

“Pointless!”

When Hyea skipped class saying world history didn’t matter, they skipped too.

“Guys, hurry! Today’s snack is tteokbokki! I’m going to destroy it!”

“Yeah! Destroy it!”

“Destroy it!”

Every moment and every choice Shinra and Dogyeong made revolved around Hyea.

If Hyea did it, they did it.
If she didn’t, they didn’t.
If she liked something, they liked it.
If she hated it, they hated it.

Then one day, during a dull lecture, they heard something that pierced their hearts.

‘A guide is a gift sent down by God for espers.’

Dogyeong and Shinra loved those words.

Of course—Hyea was a gift sent by God just for them.

A gift meant only for them.

The boys wanted to stay with Hyea forever. She was their gift, and she had said she would stay with them.

They believed without doubt that it would always be that way.

“That’s not how it works. Guides have to rotate between espers with high matching rates. If you want to stay together forever, a guide and esper need to imprint—but HQ doesn’t allow that. Eventually, you’ll have to separate.”

Until another esper said that.

Dogyeong and Shinra immediately looked up what imprinting was.

The boys were willing to do anything to stay with Hyea—but learning that a single guide could not imprint with multiple espers at once crushed them.

Still, they couldn’t receive guiding from anyone but Hyea anyway.

So they vaguely believed it would be fine.

Until one day, Director Jeong Sigyeom summoned them and said—

“You’ll be assigned to a unit composed of the most offensively powerful espers at headquarters. The unit’s name is Geumgang. There will be six espers total—”

“Six? Other than me, Shinra, and Eunhwi, there are three more?”

“Eunhwi won’t be joining Geumgang. It’s not that he lacks ability—he’s capable of leading anywhere. We need to balance things.”

“…What? Then what about Hyea? Is she becoming Geumgang’s dedicated guide?”

The words that followed were shocking.

“Ah. Hyea won’t be assigned to Geumgang. She’ll be sent to a different unit.”