S-Class Small Business Owner

“There are many downsides too, aren’t there? Even though they’re both Awakened Ones, unlike Espers, Guides have no power to protect themselves.”

“But I heard Guides are the only ones who can hold and control an Esper’s leash? Unlike Guides who can live without Espers, Espers can’t survive without Guides.”

I shook my head firmly.

“Leash? Guides can’t completely block their Guiding ability. Guiding happens involuntarily through mere physical contact. Sure, Guides can control the concentration and amount to some extent, but calling them the dominant party isn’t accurate.”

“But once Awakened Ones complete their service period, they can live on pension for life! Isn’t that great?

“How much do you think that pension is? Besides, the service period is three years—who knows what could happen during that time?”

“Um… unnie, do you dislike Awakened Ones?”

After my negative comments, the female part-timer watched me cautiously. The male part-timer blinked, sensing something odd.

“Noona, you seem to know a lot about Awakened Ones, more than I expected. You always seemed uninterested, so I thought you didn’t know much. Did you research this?”

“Ah, well, I have a friend who works at the Center…”

“I never knew Guides couldn’t completely block their Guiding. So that means you can definitely tell if someone’s a Guide when they touch an Esper?”

“Well, not exactly. While complete blocking is impossible, they can usually lower it enough that it’s unnoticeable.”

“Really? How do you know that? I’ve never heard this before.”

How do I know?

Of course I knew. 

Because I was that Guide.

Since Han Se-young and Yang Hyun-woo belonged to the Center, it was easy to access information about Awakened Ones.

About 8 months ago, I was spending the day squeezed between them.

As usual, while half-listening to their Awakened One talk, I thought about what a curse it all was.

Whether it’s Espers whose lives are in danger without Guiding, or Guides who are forced to hold others’ lifelines…

While many maintained purely professional relationships based on necessity, since Guiding required physical contact, it wasn’t uncommon for pairs to develop romantic relationships.

Perhaps that’s why the matching rate between Espers and Guides was often compared to the red thread of fate.

In a way, it wasn’t wrong. Just that instead of being some romantic destiny, it was closer to a thread dyed red with blood.

None of this mattered to me anyway. According to the mandatory screening results, I was classified as a non-Awakened.

Actually, after returning to this world, what surprised me most wasn’t whether I was Awakened or not, but the absence of my previous ability.

When I was Amelia, I had fought in wars as a healer who could absorb and release life force, but after returning to being Kim Yoo-jung, I could no longer use it.

The loss itself was fine.

It was Amelia’s ability to begin with, so it made sense that Kim Yoo-jung couldn’t use it. I understood that.

The problem was that while the healing ability was gone, the sensation of using it remained.

That day too, thinking about this, I lightly cut my fingertip with the fruit knife.

I tried using my ability on my bleeding finger, but while I could feel the gathering sensation, the wound wouldn’t heal.

It was like trying to write with a pen but only feeling the motion while nothing appeared on paper.

“Yoo-jung-ssi! Why are you self-harming…!”

Yang Hyun-woo, who had been talking with Han Se-young, hastily grabbed my arm. Clang—the knife fell to the floor.

“Look! Are you hurt badly?”

“No, I just made a mistake while cutting fruit.”

I glanced at Yang Hyun-woo. Since he called it self-harm, he must have seen what I did, but surely he wouldn’t report it directly to Han Se-young.

If he did, there would be a whole mess with calls to my parents and whatnot.

While thinking how troublesome that would be, I kept watching Yang Hyun-woo, and saw shock fill his eyes. His trembling pupils moved from my arm to my face.

“…Yoo-jung-ssi, you were a Guide?”

And that’s how I learned something I never wanted to know.

That I had become an Awakened One—specifically, a Guide.

That day, I realized that my healing ability from when I was Amelia had been replaced with Guiding.

Since it was already revealed, I experimented with Yang Hyun-woo, an Esper, and discovered that our matching rate was quite high and that I might be classified as a high-ranking Guide.

“This is crazy…”

“That’s amazing, Yoo-jung!”

…Surely I couldn’t be C-rank or higher?

The possibility of a high rank wasn’t good news at all. C-rank or higher Awakened Ones were required to serve for three years, barring exceptional circumstances.

How could I be happy about potentially being dragged back into service after just a year’s break?

During my 7 years in that romance-fantasy world, I learned one thing: it’s best to live peacefully doing what you want at your own pace, rather than being extraordinary.

I’d had enough of being treated as someone special for seven years. I also learned the valuable lesson that the more skills you have, the more tiresome life becomes.

With the most serious expression I could muster, I grabbed Yang Hyun-woo’s shoulders and met his eyes.

“Hyun-woo-ssi, please keep my being an Awakened One a secret. You too, Se-young.”

“What? But if you take the test, you’ll get support from the government…”

If only that support came without strings attached.

“Please! You absolutely must keep this secret! Nod if you understand.”

The kind-hearted Yang Hyun-woo looked confused about why anyone would want to hide being an Awakened One when they were so celebrated, but seeing my desperation, he promised to keep the secret.

Han Se-young made the same promise, and they’ve both kept it well until now.

Awakened Ones weren’t common to begin with, and unless you went to specific areas, you wouldn’t encounter them much in daily life.

It also helped maintain peace that I, experienced in controlling abilities, kept my Guide wavelength low at all times.

Based on our experiments, even D-rank Esper Yang Hyun-woo said he couldn’t tell I was a Guide when I did this.

I snapped out of my thoughts and got back to moving busily. The café was getting crowded as lunchtime approached.

“Unnie, I missed an order—could you please take this heated basil pesto panini out?”

“Which table?”

“Number 8!”

This café uniquely had bells at each table.

For anything besides takeout, we had to bring menus to seated customers, take their orders, and serve them personally.

“Number 8… ah.”

While scanning the area with the food-laden tray, I spotted table 8 and slightly furrowed my brow.

That notorious man was there.

“…Excuse me. Your order is ready.”

The man just slightly nodded while staring at his phone.

Up close, his face indeed seemed to exist in a different dimension from others—no wonder people made such a fuss about him.

Thinking this, I set down the plate with the panini. As I was arranging the utensils and picking up the tray, I noticed a fork precariously balanced on the edge of the table.

‘That’s going to fall.’

Thinking it might drop, I reached for the fork.

However, right then, the man, still focused on his phone, grabbed the fork, and I accidentally ended up placing my hand on top of his.

‘…Huh?’

For a few seconds, my brain malfunctioned.

There was something warm under my palm—why? Why was the fork warm? Unlike his refined appearance, his hand was firm with thick knuckles.

This… isn’t the fork? The moment this thought crossed my mind, I came to my senses and quickly pulled my hand away.

“I’m sorry. I had no other intention, I was just trying to grab the fork and accidentally grabbed… something else. The fork looked like it was about to fall off the table, so I was trying to catch it before it fell, but I accidentally grabbed something else instead…”

I hurriedly explained myself. People occasionally tried to get this man’s number or flirt with him at the café, and I definitely didn’t want to be mistaken for one of them.

But thinking about it, making such a detailed explanation probably made things even more suspicious.

“…Haha, well, enjoy your meal.”

As I hurriedly tried to leave, a hand firmly grabbed mine. When I nervously turned my head, I saw that same large hand now enveloping mine.

The man had even lifted his gaze from his phone and was staring intently at our joined hands. While I briefly thought how his long eyelashes casting faint shadows on his cheeks looked like some work of art, my mind quickly turned ice cold.

Whatever the reason, the moment this gets noticed, I’ll become the subject of gossip.

Snap

I yanked my hand away forcefully and immediately checked our surroundings.

Fortunately, the café was so busy that no one seemed to have noticed our interaction.

Still, given how much attention he typically attracted, I couldn’t completely relax. Trying to salvage the situation, I asked as casually as possible:

“Is there something on my hand?”

People don’t usually grab strangers’ hands because something’s on them, but I hoped he’d say that was the reason.

“Ah, I must have had something between my fingers.”

“…”

However, he just stared at my now-distant hand without saying anything more.