Chapter 11 : Mismatch

The man sitting cross-legged on the sofa, chin resting on his hand, quirked one corner of his mouth upwards.

Sekyeom, who had also ended up in Jihan’s body, leaving his own magnificent physique behind, found this situation equally bewildering.

No, as the person directly involved, he was probably the most distraught.

It just wasn’t overly apparent.

“Who’s your uncle?”

“Why am I your uncle!”

“My nephew is him!”

Shin Jinho, stubbornly denying reality to the end, pointed a finger at the man opposite him.

The man indicated by the finger awkwardly raised the corners of his mouth and scratched his cheek, looking sheepish.

It was Jihan, now in Sekyeom’s body.

“I’m not the Guild Leader’s nephew.”

“It might be hard to believe, but it’s the truth.”

“I’m really going crazy.”

Shin Jinho, who had been furious moments ago, let his shoulders slump as if drained of energy and covered his eyes with his hand.

He sank weakly onto the sofa, looking like someone too flabbergasted to even muster the energy to be angry.

Of course, this didn’t mean Sekyeom’s attitude softened.

“Don’t waste time, just accept what needs accepting.”

“Denying it won’t change the situation anyway.”

“…Judging by that cheeky tone, he does seem like my nephew…”

The voice was different, but that way of subtly grating on people’s nerves was undoubtedly Sekyeom’s.

Only his one and only nephew would dare speak to the Taepyeong Guild Leader like that.

More importantly, the problem was that he couldn’t easily follow the rational advice to face reality.

When something impossible in reality had occurred, what good would facing it do?

As someone with ordinary common sense, he simply couldn’t comprehend this situation.

“Does it make sense?”

“It’s not a movie, people’s bodies switching in real life.”

“Surviving after being inside a monster’s stomach is already pretty movie-like reality, isn’t it?”

“If you’re just going to say things like that, don’t even open your mouth!”

“You tell me instead.”

“Are you really not our Sekyeom?”

Shin Jinho snapped at Sekyeom, who was only spewing irritating remarks, and then suddenly pointed at Jihan.

The stray sparks landed on Jihan, who had just been watching the fire from across the river.

Startled, Jihan looked at Sekyeom as if seeking help.

The face, crumpled as if about to cry any second, was definitely his own.

Displeased that his own face was making such an expression, Sekyeom clicked his tongue softly.

He also didn’t like the fact that Jihan inside was frightened enough to hunch his shoulders.

“Why are you picking on him?”

“Talk to me, me.”

“…Haaah.”

Talk about what.

Shin Jinho rubbed his forehead as if dealing with a headache.

Sekyeom wasn’t the type to play pranks like this in the first place.

How could someone constantly on edge due to guiding deficiency possibly play a prank?

Therefore, he couldn’t deny it any longer.

The fact that something had gone seriously wrong with his nephew.

“…Why on earth did your bodies switch?”

“How should I know?”

“I told you, I woke up and it was like this.”

However, it was also true that maintaining rationality became harder the more he talked to Sekyeom.

Shin Jinho scowled fiercely at the infuriating way Sekyeom spoke, glaring at him.

But seeing the unfamiliar face, he lost even the energy to be angry.

The dissonance between the Sekyeom-like tone and the completely unknown face refused to diminish.

“Think carefully.”

“There must have been some reason for something this absurd to happen.”

“If I had any clue, would I be sitting here talking to you, Uncle?”

“Stop just flapping your lips and try to think properly!”

“Do you think this is some ordinary situation?!”

Shin Jinho flared up again.

At the loud shout, like a train whistle boiled in water, Jihan covered his ears with his hands.

Sekyeom’s body, with its heightened senses, had been tormenting Jihan in various ways since earlier.

His five senses were overly developed, making him jump and startle at the slightest sign.

On top of that, Shin Jinho’s repeated yelling made his ears ache.

Seeing Jihan wince in pain, Sekyeom removed the hand propping up his tilted chin and glared fiercely at his uncle.

“I can hear you just fine without the shouting, so lower your voice.”

“Can’t you see he’s struggling?”

“He’s already scared stiff, being naturally timid, show some consideration, will you?”

Sekyeom’s face was grim as he warned through clenched teeth.

However, Shin Jinho was seeing his nephew get angry out of consideration for someone else for the first time in his life.

Looking somewhat stunned, Shin Jinho glanced back and forth between Sekyeom and Jihan, then pointed at them both and asked.

“What’s the relationship between you two?”

“Did you know each other before?”

At the suspicious question, Sekyeom, who had been about to speak, closed his mouth.

He turned his head as if he had nothing more to say, glancing towards where Jihan sat.

As if yielding the answer to that question.

Jihan, understanding the intention, let out a small sigh.

He found the pretense of consideration now exasperating, but he accepted the offer for the time being.

Partly because he didn’t want to be mistaken for being close.

“Just a former classmate I knew a bit.”

“Classmate?”

“So you’re friends?”

“I said classmate, I didn’t say friend…”

Jihan offered his own form of timid resistance.

Sekyeom, sitting opposite, turned his head away as if it had nothing to do with him, indicating no intention to get involved.

Finding Sekyeom’s attitude annoying, Jihan narrowed his eyes in a glare.

Truthfully, from Jihan’s perspective, this whole incident felt like a bolt from the blue.

If they had been close, perhaps they could have relied on each other.

But after three years of being less than strangers, they had barely started talking again, only to wake up and find their bodies suddenly swapped.

At this point, he suspected they might have been bitter enemies with deep grudges in a past life.

“You said classmate?”

“Then you’re friends.”

“I said we’re not friends.”

“Good grief, so stubborn…”

“Ah, then are you the son of my sister-in-law’s friend?”

“The one who supposedly manifested as a Guide?”

What was this about a sister-in-law’s friend’s son?

Jihan, who had been known throughout high school as ‘the one close to Shin Sekyeom,’ frowned in displeasure.

The wrinkled brow made his already sharp features look even fiercer.

Sekyeom already had an unapproachable aura, but now he looked like someone even street preachers would give up on and turn away from.

From Jihan’s perspective, he was just making his usual annoyed face.

That’s why Shin Jinho’s actions, trying to calm him down with a deeply flustered face, felt strange.

“Th-The sister-in-law’s friend’s son?”

“Maybe you should try to rein in your energy a bit?”

“I’m just worried it might be dangerous if something like that drops.”

“Energy?”

“What energy am I supposed to rein in…”

Shin Jinho pointed to the right, slightly away from Jihan, and flinched back.

To Shin Jinho, an A-rank Guide, the fierce energy of an S-rank Esper was menacing enough to make him shudder.

It was even more so because the two had a low matching rate.

Just then, Jihan turned his head in the direction Shin Jinho pointed and screamed in surprise at the sight of the humidifier floating in mid-air.

“Whoa!”

“Why is that thing doing that!”

And simultaneously with Jihan’s scream, the levitating humidifier plummeted to the floor.

“…What a mess.”

The humidifier, which had floated up on its own, shattered into pieces, littering the floor.

Jihan, witnessing the unbelievable situation, glared reproachfully at Sekyeom, who, even amidst this, had delivered a scathing assessment.

Sekyeom raised an eyebrow slantwise with an expression of injustice.

“Why look at me?”

“You did it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“How could I make that float?”

“If anyone did, it would be you, the Esper.”

“…Get a grip, Yoon Jihan.”

“You’re the Esper now.”

“I’m the Guide.”

“What kind of bullsh…”

Jihan’s face, about to scoff ‘What kind of bullshit is that,’ turned deathly pale right then and there.

Just lifting that small object caused his temperature to spike instantly, accompanied by a crushing pain in his chest.

Gasping as if several tons were pressing down on his chest, Jihan gripped the armrest of the sofa, taking rapid, shallow breaths.

Crack.

The armrest, made of solid wood, broke far too easily.

Staring blankly at the splinters left in his palm, Jihan looked at Shin Jinho and Sekyeom as if asking why this was happening.

“Ha, so your bodies really swapped?”

“Is this even possible?”

Only after witnessing the entire situation did Shin Jinho accept reality.

Shin Sekyeom, unable to control his strength like a rookie Esper fresh out of training camp.

This was absolutely not behavior his arrogant nephew, whose pride could pierce the heavens, would ever display.

“You only realize that now?”

“Your mouth isn’t helpful, so be quiet!”

“Does it even make sense for an Esper to have his body stolen in the first place?!”

“If you put it that way, does the existence of Espers make sense?”

“I told you to be quiet!”

Shin Jinho snapped at the utterly uncooperative Sekyeom, rubbed his tired eyes, and let out a long sigh.

Forcibly suppressing his anger, he directed his question to Jihan, who still hadn’t fully grasped the situation.

“Right, you’re Jihan-gun?”

“Do you have any inkling?”

“Anything suspicious that happened before your bodies switched?”

“Just…”

“I woke up, and it was like this?”