The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 29

“High attack power in espers means an equally heavy burden on the guide. No matter how talented Hyea is, even as an A-rank guide, it would be too much for her right now. Geumgang will be assigned another A-rank guide with extensive field experience. Fortunately, the two of you have been doing very well lately, so you’ll be fine.”

Nothing else registered.

Hyea wouldn’t be there.
They couldn’t be together.

Those words echoed over and over, and their emotions began to spiral wildly.

Obsession and loss twisted into rage, and the two of them lost control.

A section of the headquarters—built to withstand even an esper’s rampage—collapsed under the strain.

Pinned beneath the debris, they cried until they could barely breathe.

Blood streamed from their eyes, noses, ears, and mouths from excessive power usage, but the pain in their hearts hurt far more than their bodies.

Then Hyea came running.

“Dogyeong! Shinra!”

Approaching a berserk esper was extremely dangerous, yet Hyea didn’t hesitate. She grabbed both their hands.

It’s okay. It’s okay.
She whispered warmly, warmer than sunlight itself, crying with them.

They didn’t want to lose her.

They believed—without doubt—that Hyea felt the same.

After they were rescued and their vitals stabilized, Shinra spoke with a bright, excited face.

“Hyea-noona. The director said something weird. He said you and us are going to be assigned to different units!”

They expected it.
Surely Hyea would say, What nonsense is that?!—they were certain she would get angry.

But instead—

“Ah, I heard that too. It’s a relief. If a better guide than me comes, you won’t suddenly lose control like this anymore.”

Hyea said, “It’s a relief.”

They knew she was worried about their condition.

But it hurt—hearing her mention someone else so casually.

Their stability, their health—everything had only been possible because Hyea was beside them.

They couldn’t survive without Yoon Hyea.

But Yoon Hyea said she would be fine without them.

Something snapped.

After that, Dogyeong and Shinra regressed to how they were before meeting Hyea.

They became completely unable to receive guiding from anyone else and clung to her even more desperately.

Headquarters had no choice but to cancel their plan to reassign Hyea to another unit.

Even toward the Dogyeong and Shinra who obsessed over her, Hyea remained gentle.

“Shinra, Dogyeong. Nothing bothering you lately, right? You can tell me anything. I’ll listen whenever you’re struggling.”

Each time, the two of them gave the same answer.

“There’s nothing wrong. Guides and espers are supposed to be together.”

“I just want to stay with you forever, noona.”

“…I see.”

Pretending not to notice the emotions hidden behind Hyea’s smile.

Even so, they continued to keep in touch with Eunhwi.

┈┈┈┈
❮Yeon Dogyeong ⇢ Cha Eunhwi❯

↪ Eunhwi
↪ Nothing much going on. We’re doing well

┈┈┈┈
❮Lee Shinra ⇢ Cha Eunhwi❯

↪ Hyung, are you doing well?? We’re doing great and Hyea-noona’s doing great too!! She was kind and cute again today!

┈┈┈┈
❮Cha Eunhwi ⇢ Yeon Dogyeong, Lee Shinra❯

↪ I’m jealous. I want to be there too
↪ I miss all three of you
↪ Lately I’ve been trying to lower my matching rate like you guys
↪ But it’s not working… maybe I need to get mean like Dogyeong. Become someone people can’t get along with

┈┈┈┈
❮Yeon Dogyeong ⇢ Cha Eunhwi❯

↪ Yeah, don’t smile at everyone
↪ Act annoying
↪ Then the director won’t be able to handle you and might call you back

┈┈┈┈
❮Lee Shinra ⇢ Cha Eunhwi❯

↪ Hang in there, hyung!! You can do it!!

┈┈┈┈

They wanted to grow up quickly.

If they became adults, they wouldn’t be pushed around anymore. They could all stay together.

They believed—without question—that Hyea wanted the same.

Then one day, Hyea said—

“You know… even guides and espers don’t stay together like this all the time.”

At the time, the two of them didn’t realize how much she must have agonized, how much courage it took her to say that.

“Why not? Guides exist for espers. That’s what the books say.”

“Yeah. You’re ours.”

Faced with their whining—soaked in possessiveness and obsession—Hyea shook her head.

“That’s not true. Guides are awakened people too. Our abilities just happen to help espers. People can’t belong to someone else.”

They knew Hyea disliked espers who treated guides poorly.

And because they truly cherished her, they believed they were different from those people.

They believed Hyea would naturally understand that.

Normally, if Hyea said yes, it was yes; if she said no, it was no.

But this time, they couldn’t accept it.

If Hyea said she wasn’t theirs, they were afraid she would really leave.

The soft, cloudlike sweetness of their feelings slowly turned bitter.
Twisted affection began to take root.

From then on, seeing Hyea made their hearts ache even as they felt happy.

She was kind to everyone. She smiled at everyone.

They hated that—yet loved her all the same.

So they clung to her even harder.

Only look at us.
Only like us.
Only smile at us.

Then one day, Hyea shouted—

“Please, stop it already! If you keep this up, I won’t want to guide you anymore!”

That was the first time the always-gentle girl had ever raised her voice.

It became the trigger.

The moment the lid came completely off their warped affection.

And when news arrived that Geumgang Unit had been split in two because of Dogyeong and Shinra—and that Hyea would be assigned exclusively to them—

Hyea changed entirely.

“Now that this is an official unit, I’ll proceed according to protocol. Esper Yeon Dogyeong. Esper Lee Shinra.”

Her stiff tone. Her expression, like she was facing strangers.

Guiding that consisted of nothing more than holding hands.

Before, when they said they were struggling, she would hug them tightly and stroke their backs gently.

Now, she didn’t.

It wasn’t that her guiding was insufficient. Hyea’s ability was overwhelming.

They trained relentlessly.

If they became stronger espers—stronger than Hyea’s guiding—then holding hands alone wouldn’t be enough.

But the stronger they grew, the stronger Hyea became as well.

And with every step forward, the distance between them grew wider.

Her cold demeanor frightened them. It became hard to even speak to her.

Around that time, Dogyeong and Shinra discovered a new way to draw Hyea’s attention.

One day during training, they overheard another esper insulting her.

Running his mouth—mocking her for being arrogant and acting expensive—Dogyeong immediately drove a fire-wreathed fist into his face.

It was the first time he had ever deliberately used his ability against another person.

Every attack that came at Dogyeong was blocked by Shinra.

Their vision burned red with rage. Blood suddenly streamed from Dogyeong’s nose—a warning sign of rampage he knew all too well—but he couldn’t stop.

That was when it happened.

Yoon Hyea rushed over, shouting, “Dogyeong, stop!” and wrapped her arms around him.

This was it.
This was the answer.

Just like how their low matching rates with other guides kept Hyea by their side, they would deliberately cause trouble—create incidents.

As expected, whenever Dogyeong and Shinra caused problems, Hyea would look straight at them and let out a sigh.

But she only reacted in those moments, quickly returning to how she was before.

So they searched for yet another method.

They began deliberately saying things that hurt her.

Like little boys teasing a girl they liked.

They knew it was wrong.

But seeing even the slightest change in Hyea’s emotionless face—getting any reaction at all—made them happy.

And so, they kept doing it.