The Main Character Killed The Villain

#043

As soon as Shin Haejun, who had made an appointment to meet with Hyun Dowoon, entered the Awakened Management Center, he ignored all the people trying to greet him and went straight to the top floor.

When he entered the Center Director’s office, he saw a gaunt Hyun Dowoon sitting on the sofa, waiting for him. His neat suit and tightly knotted tie were the same as usual, but his face was clearly worse for wear. His complexion was pale, the whites of his eyes were bloodshot, and his demeanor was combative.

Shin Haejun anticipated that the conversation with Hyun Dowoon would likely turn quite intense.

“Your face looks quite different from usual, much worse.”

Shin Haejun greeted him in a nonchalant voice, contrasting with the seemingly concerned content. Hyun Dowoon gestured to the sofa with a cold expression.

“Please sit.”

As Shin Haejun sat on the sofa, Hyun Dowoon leaned back and asked,

“What’s your business?”

“Ah, it’s convenient to get straight to the point.”

Shin Haejun smirked and placed a document on the table.

“Please approve this.”

It was a document titled ‘Pair Contract Termination’, with the names Esper Hyun Dowoon and Guide Lee Jaeha written on it.

Hyun Dowoon glared at the document, then slowly raised his gaze to stare at Shin Haejun’s smiling face.

“What’s your relationship with Jaeha?”

The question was merely a confirmation of what he already knew. Shin Haejun answered, feeling a sense of superiority.

“We like each other.”

After declaring this, he felt like his insides were about to burst. With reddened ears, Shin Haejun exuded the unique happy energy of someone newly in love as he looked at Hyun Dowoon.

“I had a vague idea when I heard you were the one who took him to the hospital… but this makes me feel even worse.”

“Wow, I didn’t think the Center Director would use such vulgar language.”

Shin Haejun said mockingly, clapping his hands.

“Well, I don’t know the details, but thanks to your blundering, we ended up getting closer. I’m very grateful?”

Shin Haejun had been carefully observing Jaeha since throwing away the yuzu marmalade.

Although he didn’t want to admit it, he knew that Jaeha had been paying attention to Hyun Dowoon for a while. If something hadn’t happened to change Jaeha’s heart now, the two of them might have become happy lovers and pairs, pushing Shin Haejun aside.

As soon as Shin Haejun mockingly expressed his gratitude, Hyun Dowoon clenched his fist.

“How long do you think it will last?”

“Are you trying to curse us?”

Shin Haejun tilted his head and asked in response to Hyun Dowoon’s words, which came out stiffly as if through gritted teeth.

“As long as Jaeha remains F-class, Esper Shin Haejun won’t become his pair, right?”

Is that so? Shin Haejun pondered for a moment.

It wasn’t entirely wrong. He had cheered at the high matching rate and considered becoming Jaeha’s pair, but he was also slightly disappointed when Jaeha turned out to be F-class again. He had a strange certainty that Jaeha wouldn’t be F-class…

No matter how high the matching rate, it was clear that an F-class couldn’t handle an S-class like Shin Haejun. If an S-class Esper goes berserk, it’s a catastrophe. No matter how much he loved Jaeha, he couldn’t throw them both into such uncertainty.

Fortunately, Jaeha didn’t ask to form a pair. Honestly, receiving guidance from Kim Sehyun as a pair was very unpleasant, but there were clearly no other alternatives.

He could feel the energy inside his body becoming more twisted, and it felt very anxious that it couldn’t be resolved… Shin Haejun had no choice but to leave Kim Sehyun alone. Even S-class Kim Sehyun couldn’t fully resolve it, and without even that, it would be a real problem.

“Why do you think so?”

However, regardless of what Shin Haejun thought, he had no intention of backing down to Hyun Dowoon. That’s why he deliberately asked back, and Hyun Dowoon let out a scornful laugh.

“Esper Shin Haejun’s past… it may be largely forgotten now, but it was quite famous at one time. So I’m certain you will never form a pair with Jaeha.”

Shin Haejun’s face hardened at Hyun Dowoon’s words. Veins stood out on his neck. It was because Hyun Dowoon had blatantly touched on a sore spot.

The ‘past’ was the biggest wound in Shin Haejun’s life. He never let anyone who touched on it go unscathed. The fact that it’s largely forgotten now is because it was perfectly buried, as if erased at the family level.

“Just as I’m wronging Jaeha due to my circumstances, aren’t you doing the same?”

“Let’s not… touch on each other’s past.”

“Well, would Esper Shin Haejun have done that?”

Hyun Dowoon asked with a sneer. Shin Haejun couldn’t deny it.

If it wasn’t his own issue, he would have attacked immediately. He wouldn’t have cared whether Hyun Dowoon got hurt or not.

“There are Awakened who keep their pair and lover separately. Though it doesn’t last long. Can you guarantee Jaeha won’t do the same?”

Hyun Dowoon asked, looking at Shin Haejun with sharp eyes.

The reason Awakened relationships don’t last long was clear. It was because of physical contact.

Inevitably, guiding involves physical contact. Holding hands, hugging, kissing, even sex. The larger the area of contact, the more bodily fluids mixed, the higher the guiding efficiency. No one would be comfortable seeing their lover have physical contact with others.

So in the end, it comes down to choosing between giving up the pair or giving up oneself. It was even more so if the partner was a ordinary person. If they were both Awakened, they could at least understand that guiding was necessary, but if they were ordinary, even if they understood intellectually, they couldn’t accept it emotionally.

Awakened also struggled with the same dilemma. No matter how much they loved their partner, if they didn’t receive guiding, the twisted energy inside their body would accumulate and lead to a rampage. Guides didn’t have the risk of going berserk, but they still had to do the minimum amount of work set by government regulations.

In the end, relationships tended to end tragically in similar ways.

“…Even so, Jaeha won’t go to you.”

Shin Haejun said, staring at Hyun Dowoon with cold eyes, recalling something he had been trying to forget.

“How to turn Jaeha’s heart is my job.”

Hyun Dowoon could accept Jaeha’s low efficiency. As the Center Director, he had significantly fewer dungeon entries than ordinary Awakened, so he rarely needed to use energy. Therefore, the twisted energy that remains like residue after using energy accumulates much less. This was one of the reasons why he had been fine without receiving much guiding until now.

Above all, thanks to having an L-class constellation, Hyun Dowoon could use energy much more efficiently than ordinary Espers. There was less chance of excess energy becoming twisted, and the risk of going berserk was significantly lower.

The fact that Jaeha’s guiding felt so good that it was hard to believe it was only a 1.9% matching rate was another reason he couldn’t let go.

“…”

Shin Haejun and Hyun Dowoon glared at each other silently. Silence fell for a while.

Hyun Dowoon was the one who ended the standoff.

“Since Jaeha is adamant, I’ll approve this. Although I’ll try to change Jaeha’s mind and form a pair again later.”

Hyun Dowoon said as he picked up the document and stood up, moving towards the desk. His turned back clearly said, “Get out now.”

‘I clearly got what I wanted.’

He had definitely achieved the purpose of coming to the Center Director’s office – to end the pair contract. But for some reason, it didn’t feel like he had won. It seemed to be because his sore spot had been poked after a long time.

Shin Haejun stood up, feeling unsettled.

***

It was a dungeon expedition after a long time. The Esper team had gone to hunt monsters, and the guides were resting in their tents as usual.

It was a hot terrain, and because I wanted to see Shin Haejun as soon as he returned, I had deliberately set up a tent with a terrace and was resting leaning against a bench. But someone interrupted my rest.

“Have you… been well?”

It was Shin Serim, a guide from Team 1. I tilted my head, finding it strange that she had approached the terrace railing to ask me this.

‘Didn’t she dislike me?’

It was puzzling, but I had to answer anyway. I nodded and replied briefly, “Yes.”

“That’s… good. Actually, Team 1 was quite worried about Guide Lee Jaeha.”

“Team 1 was worried about me?”

I asked back at this unexpected statement, and Shin Serim nodded emphatically.

“Well… honestly, it’s not like we particularly liked Lee Jaeha, but everyone acted like they were going to bury a person alive. Still, we had been in dungeons together, so we were worried.”

It was an unexpected response. Not knowing what to say, I fidgeted with my fingers as I answered.

“Thank you for your concern.”

“Honestly… it didn’t seem like a one-sided pair relationship. The Center Director took really good care of you.”

Serim’s words suddenly made me feel conflicted. It was true that Hyun Dowoon had treated me well. He had acted sweetly at every moment…

‘It’s just that I couldn’t believe how much of it was sincere.’

Anyway, there was no need to think about it further since we had terminated the pair contract.

I carefully chose my words and answered Shin Serim.

“He’s fair to everyone… so it wasn’t like he took extra special care of me. Anyway, we’ve terminated the contract now. It seemed like we might keep being misunderstood and talked about…”

“Hmm… is that so? I thought you two were dating.”

“No, I have a separate lover.”

I won’t say who it is, but I guess it’s okay to say this much. Shin Haejun would have been overjoyed if he heard this. Imagining his reaction made me smile a little.

“By the way, terminating the contract… well, it’s a shame, but it’s good.”

“Is it?”

“Honestly, I did look down on you a bit for being F-class. But thinking beyond the grade, I don’t feel like you’re incapable. But it’s not right to keep being misunderstood just because you’re the Center Director’s pair.”

Shin Serim comforted me, saying it’s not bad to work without a pair like her, and then disappeared, telling me to rest well.

‘Why did she come?’

I still don’t understand why she came to me. As I was tilting my head in confusion, another person came.

“Um… please have this.”

This time, it was Kang Sodam, who approached hesitantly with a chocolate bar in her hand and held it out to me.

“Why are you giving me this?”

I asked as I accepted the gift suddenly offered by the fifteen-year-old. Kang Sodam’s face turned bright red.