DM Chapter 11

He glanced toward the researchers to hurry them along before turning his attention to Yoon Min. His gaze traveled over her ragged clothing and her wide, clear eyes that stared back at him.

“Young,” he commented briefly.

“She may look it, but she’s twenty,” Na Tae-young interjected, his usual insolent tone softened with a hint of respect. This shift in Na Tae-young’s demeanor helped Yoon Min identify the man before her: Jin Dong-han, a second-generation Esper and the Director of the Esper Center. The voice she had heard countless times on the radio was, in person, far more ordinary than she had imagined.

Once, Yoon Min had pictured him with an extra horn on his head or imagined him twice as large as an average person. Children in the slums would say Jin Dong-han was a monster that had evolved into a human, or that he was a divine being sent by the heavens to aid humanity. Both were, of course, ridiculous rumors.

Now that she saw him, Jin Dong-han was just a man. Unsurprisingly so.

“Awakening at nineteen, huh? It seems we need to broaden the scope of Guide searches. Up until now, we’ve focused on those under fifteen.”

Jin Dong-han loosened his tie as he approached Chu Jin-ho. His mood seemed good.

“Looks like it’s time to fill the ranks with another basket of slaves.”

Sae-hee’s sarcastic remark poured cold water on his mood, but Jin Dong-han only chuckled, not scolding her.

He took his place at one of the four corners, and as he did, a machine rose from the floor and stood ready before him. At his signal, Park Se-hyung, who had been standing quietly, moved slowly into position, while Na Tae-young practically flew to his designated spot.

“Please step up, Ms. Yoon Min. Just as I explained earlier.”

Jin Myung-do urged her forward, breaking her reverie. Feeling oddly detached, Yoon Min slowly walked to the center of the circle. All eyes were on her.

As she took her place in the middle, a softly glowing device rose silently from beneath her feet. It emitted occasional beeps, displaying only a single screen on its column.

“Lee Hyun.”

Jin Dong-han’s voice called out, and Yoon Min realized that Lee Hyun was still by the window. She turned to look at him and their eyes met. He wore that same unreadable expression—a mix of reluctance and something like annoyance.

“Hurry and take your position.”

Dong-han’s stern voice echoed.

“I’ve heard about you hiding this Guide,” he continued as Lee Hyun walked slowly over, his expression unchanging.

‘Was Lee Hyun really hiding me?’

Yoon Min was confused. Lee Hyun had simply thrown her a few coins and exchanged occasional words, like it was just happenstance. He’d rescued her from a mercenary, exchanged her coins, even given her a squashed cake. Then he’d offered to take her to Sector 41. The more she thought about it, the harder it was to understand Lee Hyun’s motives. Had he known she was a Guide from the start? And if so, why had he promised to take her to Sector 41? Was he planning to hide her away and monopolize her Guiding, as others seemed to think?

But she didn’t even know what Guiding entailed.

“Ms. Yoon Min, place your hand on the screen.”

Jin Myung-do’s voice pulled her from her thoughts. Yoon Min blankly looked at the screen and slowly placed her hand on it. A faint tingling sensation spread across her palm as the screen glowed with a soft light.

Looking around, she saw that the four men had also placed their hands on their respective screens. Time seemed to slow, with nothing more happening for the moment.

Yoon Min grew bored quickly. Unlike the others who were intensely focused, she found the whole situation increasingly absurd. She was hungry, and she worried about Dung-gae, the stray dog she’d never been apart from for so long.

“All done.”

Just as she reached the limits of her patience, Jin Myung-do spoke.

At his words, Jin Dong-han lifted his hand from the screen, studying it intently. The other men followed suit, and Yoon Min did the same. Her screen displayed nothing, only a soft, blue glow.

‘What is this?’

Before she could ask, she witnessed something strange. Above each of the four men’s devices, holographic text appeared in glowing light.

[Jin Dong-han / S / 25%]
[Na Tae-young / S / 40%]
[Park Se-hyung / S / 45%]

It seemed likely those percentages represented the matching rates. She felt a strange sense of disappointment, like a student getting low test scores. The percentages seemed low.

‘Isn’t a lower score bad?’

Holding onto her last bit of hope, she turned slowly toward Lee Hyun. Since he was behind her, she had to twist fully to see his hologram. Everyone in the lab had their eyes fixed on his display. Yoon Min stared at the words floating in bright blue:

[Lee Hyun / S / 100%]

She blinked, staring at the stark “100” on his display. The entire examination room fell into a thick silence. If “100” was a good score, then it seemed she’d done well. Carefully, she observed the reactions of those around her. They all wore slightly stunned, almost comical expressions.

“I don’t accept this!”

Na Tae-young’s harsh shout shattered the silence.

“100%? That’s theoretically impossible. There’s definitely some margin of error here.”

“There is no error in the machine,” Chu Jin-ho replied coolly. Jin Dong-han stood thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.

“If the test is over, please assign her accommodations. Make her primary Guide, and notify me if secondary Guiding is required.”

For the first time, Lee Hyun, who had been silent until now, spoke up, looking calmer than he had initially.

“Hah, an S-grade, no less! Are you saying you’ll monopolize this S-grade Guide? Don’t talk nonsense!” Na Tae-young shouted, his face twisted in frustration.

“But if I share her with someone who only has a 40% match like you, the efficiency will drop significantly,” Lee Hyun explained, his voice calm and composed, though the tone had a hint of mockery that even Yoon Min found irritating.

“Shut up! I deserve an S-grade too. My match with Choo Sae-hee is pathetic. You expect me to settle for A-grades again?”

Na Tae-young’s aura intensified, and the air in the examination room grew heavier. It looked as if he might lunge at Lee Hyun at any moment. Lee Hyun, however, only returned his gaze with a calm, sharp-eyed stare.

The tension thickened with each passing second, a volatile atmosphere ready to explode with the slightest provocation.

“Enough.”

Jin Dong-han’s quiet voice sliced through the tension, breaking the standoff.

“Rules are rules.”

“Director!” Na Tae-young’s voice was a desperate plea, but Jin Dong-han had clearly taken Lee Hyun’s side.

“Take the Guide to her quarters. Assign her as Lee Hyun’s primary Guide and ensure she starts training tomorrow,” Jin Dong-han directed Chu Jin-ho, who nodded and moved toward Yoon Min.

Caught in the chaos of the room, Yoon Min looked at Lee Hyun, feeling dazed. 100 percent—the reactions around her made it clear that this was a shocking match rate.

Yet, Lee Hyun still didn’t look at her.

* * *

“100%—that’s incredible. Has there ever been a 100% match in Korea before?”

“I heard the first recorded 100% match was between the Rosa couple in the U.S.”

“There were rumors China has one too, but since they don’t release information, it could be just hearsay.”

“Regardless, a 100% in Korea! This is going to be the talk of the Center for a while.”

“A surprising day indeed.”

Chu Jin-ho and Yoo Jin-ah spoke excitedly, their voices buzzing with curiosity and intrigue. Meanwhile, the main subjects of this revelation, Lee Hyun and Yoon Min, remained silent as they walked toward the reception area. Since Lee Hyun didn’t initiate conversation, Yoon Min had nothing to say either.

She busied herself looking around, captivated by the towering pillars and each floor’s layout in the central hall. Suddenly, her profile appeared on a hologram display, and a “Guide Matching Percentage: 100” number slowly flashed beside it. Following hers, Lee Hyun’s profile also appeared.

Dumbfounded, Yoon Min stared at Lee Hyun’s profile picture. The stiff, emotionless photo gave him a cold and detached look, so different from his actual appearance.

“Looks like Jin Myung-do is in quite a frenzy right now.”

“He’s quick. Really quick,” commented Chu Jin-ho and Yoo Jin-ah, shaking their heads as if they’d seen it all before, unfazed by the spectacle.

Yoon Min chuckled awkwardly. She hadn’t expected her picture to be displayed prominently in the hall. A researcher passing by looked between her and Lee Hyun with obvious fascination, making her feel even more self-conscious.

“I feel like a zoo animal on display,” she muttered.

“It’ll only get worse,” Lee Hyun replied, addressing her for the first time.

Startled, Yoon Min looked up at him, noting his calm gaze fixed on her.

“I thought you weren’t too pleased,” she teased slightly.

“I wasn’t,” he admitted openly.

“Why not?”

But Lee Hyun fell silent, not answering her question. Was he unhappy because she had become his designated Guide? Trying to guess his thoughts made her feel a little downhearted.

Their group moved out of the hall and through a wide corridor, eventually arriving at the [Guide Registration Center] where she’d first been processed. Upon seeing the water dispenser in the waiting area, Yoon Min realized she was desperately thirsty. She rushed to it and poured herself a cup, savoring the clean, cool water. She hesitated, then eyed the dispenser. Was it okay to have another?

Water had always been precious—something to ration and never waste. As she gingerly filled a second cup, she overheard Chu Jin-ho and Lee Hyun talking behind her.

“I’ll take her from here. Just hand me the access card.”

“You know guiding isn’t allowed until after training, right?”

“…Sigh.”

Lee Hyun sighed, sounding exasperated, while Chu Jin-ho scratched his nose awkwardly before handing him a card key. In his arms, Yoo Jin-ah had placed a box filled with new clothes and various items meant for Yoon Min.

As she finished her water, Yoon Min tiptoed over to peek into the box. Her worries were confirmed: it contained several of the plain white, single-piece dresses she’d seen others wearing around the Center.

‘So these were Guide clothes.’

Yoon Min couldn’t understand why Espers received impressive combat suits while Guides were given something akin to patient gowns. Still, it wasn’t as if she had many clothes to begin with.

‘Be grateful,’ she reminded herself, and reluctantly accepted the reality, fiddling with the fabric of the Guide uniform.

Lee Hyun turned away to start walking, and as she followed him, Chu Jin-ho called out once more.

“No Guiding before training!”

* * *