Ordinary Person A

#12

Sea Trench

Good morning~ Pa pa pa~

Ho-woo barely managed to lift his heavy eyelids at the familiar alarm sound. His head felt like it was about to split, and his whole body felt as heavy as lead. With his body feeling unusually weak and limp for just a hangover, Ho-woo barely managed to turn off the alarm and blankly looked around the empty house.

There was no trace of the two men who had been bristling and engaging in a battle of wills. Rather, the neatly tidied house showed no signs of yesterday’s events.

Do-hyun wouldn’t have cleaned up, so was it Oh-yul?

Feeling guilty for making a sick person clean up after him, Ho-woo buried his head deep in the blanket. However, as if urging that brief moment of reflection, the alarm set at 5-minute intervals rang again throughout the house.

It was a fairly decent Monday morning, except for the hangover-induced headache and lack of energy. Of course, it was also a day to worry about how to apologize to the kind neighbor next door.

Guessing that the atmosphere probably wasn’t good since both Do-hyun and Oh-yul seemed to be in a bad mood after he had passed out drunk first, Ho-woo got up from bed and dragged his heavy feet.

After showering to erase the lingering smell of alcohol, Ho-woo muttered, “I don’t want to go to work,” as he got dressed. As he left the house, he called Do-hyun. Perhaps busy with morning preparations for work, the phone rang for quite a while before Do-hyun answered with a somewhat puzzled voice.

“Why are you calling so early in the morning?”

“No, I just wanted to check if you got home safely yesterday. Nothing happened, right?”

It was a question to roughly gauge the situation after he had fallen asleep, since the atmosphere had been bad. Ho-woo, who had expected to hear something negative, frowned slightly at the unexpected response.

“Nothing happened. After talking yesterday, I found out he’s not a bad person.”

“…Really?”

Do-hyun’s voice wasn’t frightened or intimidated. It was as cheerful and slightly playful as usual.

“I called because I was worried. The atmosphere was really bad yesterday.”

“We talked about various things after you fell asleep. I had told you not to think of Espers as dating material, remember?”

“Right.”

Understanding why Do-hyun had said that, Ho-woo nodded slightly as he walked towards the subway.

“But I think he might be okay.”

“…?”

Ho-woo briefly took the phone away from his ear to check if he was really talking to Kim Do-hyun. It was definitely Kim Do-hyun’s number and voice.

“Did you eat something wrong yesterday? Didn’t we eat the same thing?”

“We just had a man-to-man talk. Anyway, he’s not a bad person.”

“Oh-yul is a good person.”

Knowing for sure that he was a good person, Ho-woo felt strange about Do-hyun’s reaction and rubbed the back of his neck. He was also curious about what had happened while he was drunk and out of it.

“I have to drive now, so I’ll hang up. We’ll talk on messenger later.”

“Okay.”

Even after the call ended abruptly, Ho-woo remained dazed as he went down the stairs to take the subway and passed through the turnstiles. Do-hyun was usually quite hostile towards Espers and Guides, so was it possible for that to change completely in one night? The question wasn’t easily resolved, but unless Ho-woo had the ability to read other people’s minds, it was difficult to know.

Ho-woo, who had been lost in thought even until he arrived at the company on the crowded morning subway, was the same when he started work. He was so out of it that he was embarrassed when he couldn’t immediately answer Seong-jo’s work-related question from beside him.

Already busy on a Monday, Ho-woo made several mistakes due to his lack of concentration. It wasn’t until quitting time that he checked his phone, which he had carelessly thrown on his desk.

[Hey, Lee Ho-woo. You’re in the news.]

[Did you see the news? Even with your face blurred, I could tell it was you.]

[https://www.ggirasi.com]

[This is you, right?]

There were several messages from Do-hyun. Wondering what it meant that he was in the news, Ho-woo clicked on the link Do-hyun had sent and was shocked.

[S-class Esper’s secret private life, who’s the man in his arms? In-depth analysis]

The title reeked of third-rate gossip news from the start. The photos seemed to be taken in front of the subway station on the day Oh-yul had gone home with Ho-woo.

The two facing each other in front of the subway station, Oh-yul holding Ho-woo’s hand, and finally Oh-yul hugging Ho-woo and jumping up – the photos were taken in a way that would make anyone mistake them for a loving couple.

“Huh.”

He had thought photos might be taken because there were many people around. But he didn’t expect it to be reported as news, and in such a trashy tabloid form. The content was even worse.

Suggesting that S-class Esper Oh-yul was enjoying a thrilling romance with an ordinary person, it listed anecdotes of Espers dating ordinary people, implying that they all ended in breakups.

Feeling dejected at having his breakup predicted before even starting or attempting a relationship, Ho-woo closed the link with a complicated expression.

[It is me. But it wasn’t a situation where such an article should have been written.]

[That’s how reporters are. They need to report sensationally first for people to pay attention. Don’t read the comments.]

[Okay.]

Knowing that Do-hyun might be mischievous but wouldn’t play malicious pranks, Ho-woo completely deleted the link Do-hyun had sent.

Having blocked it entirely before curiosity could arise, Ho-woo once again left the company, swept up in the wave of people.

Perhaps due to the hangover, his body still felt heavy, and he wanted to quickly go home, wash in hot water, and lie down in bed. As he was heading towards the subway, turning his stiff neck this way and that, Ho-woo suddenly realized that there were no other people around him and looked around in surprise.

“Uh…”

Just like when Espers walked by, there was a circular empty space between him and other people. People were glancing at that subtle space, focusing their gazes on Ho-woo and behind him.

Unaccustomed to receiving so many people’s attention at once, Ho-woo stepped back hesitantly and slowly raised his head as he felt a solid body behind him.

His heart was beating so fast from surprise that he could feel it pulsing in his fingertips. If it had been Oh-yul, his startled feelings might have calmed down, but the person standing behind Ho-woo was an unfamiliar man.

Wearing the same Esper uniform as Oh-yul and smiling with his eyes curved upwards, the man’s two pupils were slightly tinged with a reddish color, unlike Oh-yul’s.

“The captain told me, but you really don’t avoid us. It feels strange.”

The man looked Ho-woo up and down curiously, then smiled broadly, showing his white teeth. It was a refreshing smile.

“Nice to meet you, Lee Ho-woo. I’m Han Seong-won, deputy captain of Esper Team 1, temporarily dispatched as your special protection detail.”

It seemed like he had said something important, but Ho-woo looked up at him blankly, unable to properly process the words. Where did this man suddenly appear from, and what was he saying? Seong-won chuckled at Ho-woo’s face, which clearly showed his thoughts.

“You saw the news, right? Oh, have you not seen it yet?”

At the word “news,” something flashed through Ho-woo’s mind.

Is he talking about that gossip?

Ho-woo rolled his eyes. His face was blurred anyway, and only people who knew him, like Do-hyun, could recognize him. Was that such a big problem for them?

“I did see it. But… wasn’t my face blurred? This will draw more attention instead…”

At Ho-woo’s trailing words, Han Seong-won shrugged. He seemed to agree with Ho-woo’s words but indicated that he couldn’t do anything about it.

“That’s true. I think so too, but when the boss orders something, we just do as we’re told. Haha!”

An office worker. There was an Esper office worker B here too.

Ho-woo looked at Seong-won with pitying eyes for a moment, then frowned at the gradually gathering stares and faint clicking sounds.

“Then, excuse me for a moment.”

Seong-won took off his long uniform coat and draped it over Ho-woo’s head.

“This is even stranger…”

“Come on, we’re passing through. Make way, please.”

Speaking playfully, Seong-won took a step forward, and people hesitantly stepped back. Walking through that space, Ho-woo lowered his head as much as possible under the coat. What’s done is done; struggling here would only make him look stranger, so he quietly gave up.

This is how criminals walk when they’re being escorted.

Being led by Seong-won’s hand gave him a strange feeling. It felt like he should confess to a non-existent crime even though he hadn’t committed any.

Eventually, in that state, Seong-won surprisingly boarded the subway crowded with people going home from work without hesitation. When Ho-woo quietly asked if it was okay, Seong-won casually replied, asking what wouldn’t be okay about it.

However, Ho-woo could swear that the glares he received on the subway were the most hostile looks he’d receive in his lifetime.

The pitiful struggles of people trying to distance themselves from Han Seong-won in the already cramped space, along with the unfriendly gazes reaching him, were not pleasant at all.

After five stops like this, Seong-won carefully led Ho-woo again. Under the drooping coat, Ho-woo passed through an entrance surrounded by high walls and was left sitting alone in an unfamiliar office.