The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 6

Here we go again…

Before we were a guide and espers in the same unit, Yeon Do-gyeong, Lee Shin-ra, and I were what you might call childhood friends.

Of course, the period when our relationship was actually good was so short that it felt almost dishonest to use that term.

Anyway, my point is this: Shin-ra aside, Yeon Do-gyeong’s tendency to be extremely selective about people was something he’d been born with.

He especially hates the type that gets close without respecting boundaries—like Jung Ha-ram.

Despite the sharp edge in Yeon Do-gyeong’s voice, Jung Ha-ram didn’t look even remotely uncomfortable.

He simply lowered his gaze and murmured, sounding almost gloomy,

“Do-gyeong is always angry. I was just happy to see you after so long and wanted to say hi. We’re going to be one family soon anyway. Let’s get along.”

And then he smiled brightly again.

This time, though, even my expression hardened. The way he spoke as if the unit merger were already decided was unsettling.

This is bad. Like, really bad.

A shiver of unease ran through me.

“That’s never going to happen, so get lost.”

Twisting his body to block Jung Ha-ram’s line of sight toward me, Yeon Do-gyeong added coldly.

I could feel the emotions that had settled after my guiding starting to surge again.

Perhaps because his offensive abilities were so overwhelming, Yeon Do-gyeong’s emotional threshold was frighteningly low.

Honestly, I wanted Jung Ha-ram gone too—but causing an actual incident would be a disaster.

I immediately laced my fingers with Yeon Do-gyeong’s hand and started guiding him again.

He visibly flinched, then looked down at me with an annoyed expression, lips twisting.

He clearly didn’t like it, but the way his face flushed and he didn’t know what to do with himself was painfully honest.

Still, his irritation didn’t completely fade. With a crooked grin, he muttered,

“Our Yoon Hyeya was whining about being tired earlier, but now you’re guiding me just fine.”

You little—why are you complaining even when I help?!

Swallowing the curse, I tucked my loose hair behind my ear and focused on rebuilding my guiding imagery.

That was when Jung Ha-ram laughed lightly and cut in,

“Seeing how bad things still are between you two, maybe it’s not so impossible after all.”

The moment he said that, Yeon Do-gyeong’s emotions—just barely calmed—flared up again like a stormy sea.

Mine flipped over too.

This is driving me insane.

This was exactly why the idea of merging with Geumgang First Unit made my head hurt.

Objectively speaking—and subjectively too—Yeon Do-gyeong and I did not get along.

Not just bad. Horrendously bad.

That was an undeniable fact, yet the moment someone pointed it out, Yeon Do-gyeong reacted with raw irritation, just like now.

I didn’t know why. I didn’t want to know either.

You can’t understand a lunatic’s thought process with a sane mind.

Anyway, because Yeon Do-gyeong’s temper was absolute garbage, most people avoided even talking to him—but Geumgang First Unit didn’t.

We were so incompatible that “mortal enemies” felt like the perfect description.

As I nervously darted my eyes around, the air began to heat up.

Ah, seriously…

This always happens.

Yeon Do-gyeong was a fire-type esper.

When his emotions escalated, his surroundings reacted—and even now, heat was slowly seeping out.

There was no way Jung Ha-ram hadn’t noticed, yet he tilted his head and smiled shamelessly.

“Seeing how Do-gyeong isn’t snapping back right away today, I guess you heard something, huh? Right, Shin-ra?”

“…I already told the Director this, but Noona struggles just guiding the three of us, and we’re not even satisfied as it is. There have to be other suitable candidates out there. Don’t stir things up over something that isn’t even decided yet.”

“Stir things up? You, me, Do-gyeong, and Eden hyung have the highest compatibility with Hyeya. And Eun-hwi, Do-jun, and Jae hyung are all above eighty percent too. Obviously, Hyeya’s the only suitable choice.”

After alternating his gaze between Shin-ra and Do-gyeong, Jung Ha-ram finally looked at me and smiled with his eyes.

Watching how this was unfolding, I genuinely felt like I needed to run.

I hated saying this myself, but from an efficiency standpoint, he wasn’t wrong.

From the very beginning, a guide’s opinion is never considered when forming units.

Which meant, simply put, I had no choice but to comply.

Still, to me, Geumgang First Unit and Second Unit were like choosing between a field of shit and a pit of shit.

If we end up in the same unit, we’ll be fighting like this every single day. How am I supposed to endure that…

Just imagining it was bleak.

Cha Eun-hwi got along decently with others, but the remaining three of us didn’t.

Yeon Do-gyeong, who showed hostility to everyone and never spoke without sarcasm. Lee Shin-ra, who had severe stranger anxiety and outright ignored people he didn’t know. And me—too busy dreaming of escape to even manage myself properly.

Geumgang Second Unit was practically a textbook example of dysfunctional communication.

In contrast, First Unit—led by Baek Eden and made up of Jung Ha-ram, Kwon Do-jun, and Kang Jae—was full of people just like Jung Ha-ram.

Meaning: regardless of whether the other person liked them or hated them, they charged forward aggressively, acting friendly.

The one I found most difficult to deal with was Kang Jae.

He looked normal enough, but every time he saw me, he’d run over shouting “Honey!” like we were lovers.

I genuinely wanted to sew his mouth shut.

And that wasn’t even the worst part.

Everyone in Geumgang First Unit was a hardcore battle junkie. They didn’t clear Gates once a day—sometimes twice, sometimes three times.

If I had to follow them around and guide them, just holding hands wouldn’t be enough.

I made up my mind.

If the units really merged, I’d jump off the rooftop immediately.

And in my next life, I’d pray to be born into a world without guides or espers…

No matter how positively I tried to think, my future felt like it was heading toward an open-ended tragedy.

While I was sinking into gloom, my guiding—something I could normally do more naturally than breathing—wavered slightly.

Yeon Do-gyeong’s energy sharpened as his eyes turned red, heat surging outward.

It felt like thousands of tiny needles stabbing into my skin, a delicate but lethal killing intent creeping over me.

It was a familiar sensation.

Exactly like when he used offensive abilities inside a Gate.

…Offensive abilities?

You crazy bastard!

Picking a fight outside is one thing, but not inside headquarters!

If espers cause internal conflicts, it’s salary deductions and three months of nonstop dirty, thankless assignments.

If Yeon Do-gyeong alone got punished, that’d be one thing—but collective responsibility was very much a thing.

When someone who naturally leaks killing intent actually decides to flare up, it’s impossible not to notice.

Almost at the same moment the Director glanced over while speaking with the unit leaders, I grabbed Yeon Do-gyeong’s arm and hugged it tightly.

“Do-gyeong. Calm down. There are a lot of people watching.”

I called his name softly—just like back when we were still friends.

“….”

The red tint in his eyes vanished instantly, returning to their original color.

Clinging to his arm even tighter, I flicked my gaze toward where the Director stood and made an anxious expression.

Please, for the love of God, rein in that temper.

Ever since Cha Eun-hwi became unit leader, Yeon Do-gyeong had mellowed out a lot—but habits die hard, and he still picked fights with other espers at the drop of a hat.

Actually, to be precise, it was more like he started the fights. He’d snarl the moment someone spoke to him, making civil conversation impossible.

Anyway, contact-based guiding worked better the larger the area of contact—and I could feel the strength draining rapidly from Yeon Do-gyeong’s body.

Honestly, whether I guided by holding hands or hugging didn’t make much difference to me.

It’s just that positions with more contact look way too intimate—and that’s what makes them uncomfortable.