The Espers Who Regretted Losing Me Chapter 99

Seung-gwon came closer and looked back and forth between me and the Director.

“Did you finish talking?”

“Mm. Hyeya looks very tired, so she’s going to rest for a while. Could you tell Sooyoung and take her to Room 310?”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

“Sorry, Hyeya. I’d like to go with you, but going up and down the stairs is a bit difficult for me.”

“It’s okay. Don’t push yourself, Mister. Then… we’ll talk again later.”

After saying a short goodbye, I stepped outside and let out a long sigh.

I was holding my throbbing forehead when I heard a quiet, suppressed crying sound from behind the closed door.

Thank goodness… thank goodness…

It sounded like the Director was saying something like that.

“Are you okay?”

Seung-gwon carefully spoke to me as I stood there blankly.

“…I want to say I’m okay, but honestly I’m not. What I just heard was too shocking.”

“I understand. You said you were trapped in a gate during the Gate Rampage, right? The world has changed so much. Of course it would be shocking.”

“Um… instead of calling me ‘Esper,’ could you call me by my name? I’m Yoon Hyeya.”

“Oh, yes. My name is Lee Seung-gwon. People think I’m older because I look older, but I turned twenty this year. Um… Esper— I mean, can I call you Hyeya noona? You are older than me, right?”

“Yes. If we go by birth year, I’m twenty-five…”

“Wow, noona, you look really young.”

I gave an awkward smile at his easygoing compliment.

My real age was still twenty-one, but explaining that would be complicated. It was easier to just say twenty-five. And if he was twenty, he was younger than me anyway.

“Can I speak casually to you?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks. You can talk casually too.”

“I’m more comfortable speaking politely. It’s not because I’m trying to keep distance. It’s just how I talk, so please don’t worry about it.”

He has a personality like Lee Shinra, I thought.

If he was comfortable that way, I didn’t mind.

When I nodded, Seung-gwon glanced once at the closed door and then asked quietly,

“By the way… may I ask what your relationship with the Director is? You seem pretty close. It feels a little different from how he treated the Espers who were here before.”

“He used to be my legal guardian.”

“Legal guardian…? So like a relative or adoptive father?!”

“It wasn’t that kind of close relationship. There were just… certain circumstances.”

“If it’s something personal, you don’t have to explain. Sooyoung noona—the woman we met briefly on the first floor—she’s very wary of outsiders. I just wanted to know what your relationship with the Director is.”

“Outsider… Actually, from my point of view, you are the outsiders.”

Since the disaster happened three years ago, people like Seung-gwon had lived here for at most three years.

But I had lived here eight years.

It wasn’t exactly a hometown I missed or felt attached to, but the situation still felt strangely tiring.

Seung-gwon quickly waved his hands in embarrassment.

“Oh, that’s not what I meant! It’s just that… a lot happened during these three years. I don’t know if the Director told you, but everyone living in this building—including me—came here as evacuees.”

“…I haven’t heard that part yet. Evacuees? You mean you came here to escape monsters and gates?”

Seung-gwon paused and smiled bitterly.

His expression strangely reminded me of the Director earlier.

“That too… but actually, we were running away from people.”

I frowned.

“People?”

“Yes. When the world fell into chaos… everyone was struggling. Because of that, riots started happening.”

“….”

“Extortion, threats, stealing, violence… things like that suddenly became very common. Not only here, but in other countries too. I heard places where guns are legal were even worse.”

“Didn’t the government stop it?”

“They tried. The Association sent Espers to control the situation too. But… some of the people committing those crimes were Espers themselves.”

Several unpleasant Esper faces flashed through my mind.

Seung-gwon added awkwardly,

“Anyway, when things get like that, children, the elderly, and women are in more danger. When I first met Sooyoung noona, she had blood running down her head. She got hit with a rock while trying to help someone who was being robbed.”

“…Does she have any lasting injury?”

“No. Thankfully she escaped to headquarters and received proper treatment. At first there were several Espers here, so we could protect the building from outsiders. But after they left headquarters, it became much harder. Some people stayed here with us, but others tried to steal supplies or even take over the building…”

“So everyone naturally became more cautious. I understand. But Seung-gwon… you’re not an Esper, right?”

Even now I could feel the unique energy that Espers had.

But everything I had seen and experienced told me that Seung-gwon was not an Esper.

He gave a shy laugh and answered exactly what I expected.

“Yeah… unfortunately not. I’ve often thought how nice it would be if I were an Esper.”

That meant the other people here probably weren’t Espers either.

That was strange.

Did the Director know about this?

I didn’t ask anything for now.

I’ll definitely ask the Director later.

Seung-gwon opened the emergency stair door.

I thought we were going up to the third floor, but instead he started going down.

“Aren’t we going to Room 310?”

“Oh, the third floor is used only by women. I’m not allowed to go in there freely. That’s why the Director told me to ask Sooyoung noona. And the same rule applies the other way around, so please be careful not to walk around the second floor alone.”

Since unrelated people were living together here, it seemed they had rules to respect each other.

Considering everything that had happened outside, the rule made sense.

Seung-gwon added apologetically,

“I’m sorry I can’t guide you there right away.”

“No, it’s okay. Walking actually helps clear my head.”

I wasn’t just saying that.

When I had been standing still earlier, I only wanted to lie down and sleep. But now that I was moving, my mind felt like it was starting to work again.

When we reached the first floor, the lobby was still empty.

“Looks like Sooyoung noona is in the infirmary.”

“Because of those injured people earlier?”

“Yes. The infirmary is on the first floor. I—”

“I’ll go with you. I’m an outsider, so I know you’d feel uneasy leaving me alone.”

Before he could say something awkward, I spoke first.

Seung-gwon smiled brightly.

“Yes!”

The infirmary used to be the building’s management office.

There was a convenience store next to it, so the space inside was quite large.

Unnecessary furniture had been removed and replaced with beds and medical equipment.

But the cabinets and shelves were almost empty. I couldn’t see any medicine or supplies.

Well… that’s normal in a world like this.

Inside the room, three people were lying on beds, and the woman from earlier—Sooyoung—stood nearby with a dark expression.

When she saw us, her face became even more serious.

Not only her expression, but the energy around her clearly showed strong suspicion.

She didn’t even try to hide it.

Seung-gwon obviously noticed too.

Just as she walked quickly toward us to say something—

“The Director’s guest is real,” Seung-gwon said quickly. “The Director used to be her legal guardian. He was really—really happy to see her.”

“…Is that true?”

“Yes. The Director even asked me to tell you to let her rest in Room 310.”

When the Director was mentioned, the hostility on her face softened a little.

It seemed that not only did she trust Seung-gwon, but she also respected the Director a lot.

Honestly, if I didn’t know the situation, I might have reacted the same way she did.

But because of my own childhood experiences, I had once hated all Espers.

Even if the reasons were different, I knew that bad memories could shape someone’s actions.

So I kept my calm and spoke first.