Chapter 12 : Your Aura, My Problem

Perched cross-legged on the sofa with his chin propped on his hand, the man lifted one corner of his mouth crookedly.

Sekyeom, having found himself in Jihan’s body after leaving his own splendid physique, was equally bewildered by the situation.

No, being the one directly involved, he was the most distraught.

It just wasn’t overly apparent.

“Who is your uncle?”

“Why am I his uncle!”

“My nephew is him!”

Shin Jinho, persistently denying reality, pointed his finger at the man opposite him.

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

It was Jihan, now in Sekyeom’s body.

“I am 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 enraged moments ago, slumped his shoulders as if drained of energy and covered his eyes with his hand.

He sank weakly onto the sofa, appearing 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 subtly grating way of speaking was undoubtedly Sekyeom’s.

Only his one and only nephew would dare speak to the Taepyeong Guild Leader in such a manner.

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.”

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?”

Jihan, brought back to his senses by Shin Jinho’s question, rubbed the still aching area near his chest and subtly shifted his eyes.

Truthfully, it wasn’t like he had absolutely no clue.

The guiding he had performed on Sekyeom immediately came to mind.

However, he couldn’t bring himself to say he had performed guiding inside the monster’s stomach.

Pretending to search his memory, Jihan glanced furtively at Sekyeom without Shin Jinho noticing.

Fortunately, Sekyeom also appeared lost in thought, seemingly uninterested.

“Then what is it?”

“Sekyeom, did you perhaps rampage while using your powers in there?”

“I was wondering if things got messily complicated because it was an S-rank rampage.”

Shin Jinho asked Sekyeom, finding the idea quite plausible and nodding in understanding.

To date, there had been no recorded instances worldwide of an S-rank Esper rampaging.

Not only were their numbers extremely small, but they were also precious assets who received intensive care.

Usually, even if their EC value just slightly worsened, the state would intervene quickly, guaranteeing priority matching with the Guide the S-rank Esper desired.

Consequently, there was no known information about S-rank rampages.

Shin Jinho’s query was quite reasonable in that respect.

However, the problem was that it wasn’t due to a rampage.

Sekyeom, who had been listening quietly, firmly shook his head.

“That’s not it.”

“How can you be so sure?”

At Shin Jinho’s question, Sekyeom’s gaze turned towards Jihan.

In that instant, Jihan realized what Sekyeom was about to say and covered his face with his hands.

Seeing the tips of Jihan’s ears turn bright red through the gaps between his fingers, Sekyeom kept his eyes fixed there and opened his mouth.

“Because I never rampaged.”

“Does that make sense?”

“Your value has been so precarious lately.”

“You might not know, but that monster wasn’t Code Green, it was Code Blue.”

“That’s why even we, who responded to the scene, were struggling.”

“Thankfully, because you helped from the inside, we were able to deal with it.”

“You managed to draw out your peak strength for once.”

“If so, then naturally…”

“I received guiding.”

The ongoing words abruptly stopped.

Shin Jinho, frozen as if someone had pressed pause, stared intently at Sekyeom’s face.

His eyes questioned whether he had heard correctly.

“…What?”

“I used my ability while receiving guiding, so there’s no way I could have rampaged.”

“What are you talking about?”

“What guiding did you receive?”

“Who guided you?”

Hearing such nonsense, Shin Jinho almost scoffed.

However, the serious face of his nephew looking back at him felt unfamiliar.

No, according to his own claim that their bodies had swapped, it was indeed the face of a stranger he was seeing for the first time.

Nevertheless, sensing an unusual undercurrent, Shin Jinho couldn’t continue speaking and tried to sort out his jumbled thoughts.

His nephew didn’t have a high matching rate with any Guide, leading him to suffer various side effects whenever he received guiding.

This, in turn, subtly led to a refusal of guiding, causing him to live in a constant state of guiding deficiency.

And yet, such a Sekyeom received guiding?

That meant there were no side effects despite receiving guiding, which implied that someone with a high matching rate with him had finally

appeared.

And at that time, there was only one Guide who could have performed guiding.

Because, inconveniently, the location was inside a monster’s stomach.

Shin Jinho’s gaze naturally shifted towards Jihan.

Jihan, covering his face and unable to say anything, sensed the Taepyeong Guild Leader looking at him with the heightened senses of an

Esper.

This made him even less willing to lower his hands.

Because… it was too embarrassing.

“Yoon Jihan-gun?”

Shin Jinho, finally managing to speak, suddenly changed the form of address.

Jihan, having regained his name from ‘sister-in-law’s friend’s son,’ peeked at Shin Jinho through the gaps between his fingers.

The moment their eyes met, Shin Jinho darted forward like lightning and snatched Jihan’s hand with the speed of a hunting hawk.

“Ugh, wha-what are you doing!”

“Jihan-gun, have you considered joining our guild?”

“Yes?”

“Just say you’ll join, and I’ll bring you in under the best preferential conditions!”

This was the first time he’d received such a guild transfer offer.

Stunned by this, Jihan could only blink blankly, unable to utter a word.

Just then, a calm voice tinged with amusement echoed through the hospital room.

“Who do you think you’re talking to, Uncle?”

Shin Jinho, still holding Jihan’s hand, turned his head towards the sound.

A flicker of annoyance, as if looking at a meddler, crossed his eyes.

Despite his uncle’s attitude, Sekyeom smiled nonchalantly.

Leaning back against the sofa with both arms draped over the backrest, Sekyeom looked like someone who had an ace up his sleeve.

“Think carefully.”

“He’s already an ‘Esper’ belonging to the Taepyeong Guild.”

Was it just his imagination, or was there extra emphasis when pronouncing the word ‘Esper’?

As Jihan tilted his head slightly, wondering what that meant, Shin Jinho, realizing something, abruptly let go of Jihan’s hand.

As if the moment he held it preciously never happened.

“That’s right!”

“Exactly.”

“Currently, the Guide belonging to the Yangmyeong Guild is me.”

“So, whether I go to the Taepyeong Guild or not depends on my decision.”

“This brat…”

“Well done, my nephew!”

As if a sudden surge of family affection had sprung up, Shin Jinho beamed proudly and threw an arm around Sekyeom’s shoulder.

Jihan stared blankly at Sekyeom pushing his uncle’s face away with annoyance, completely lost by their incomprehensible conversation.

In this absurd situation, it felt like he was the only one taking things seriously.

Sensing something strange, Jihan’s expression slowly began to crumble.

In response to his mood, objects once again floated into the air.

Startled, Shin Jinho and Sekyeom quickly tried to soothe Jihan’s mood, but he wasn’t easily placated.

That’s how many problems arose from swapping bodies.

Problems far more troublesome than initially thought.

A chilly, battle-like tension still lingered in the luxurious hospital room.

Jihan, leaning against the bed feigning illness, glared daggers at Sekyeom.

Sekyeom, sitting cross-legged in the guardian’s chair, subtly averted his gaze while pretending to cross his arms.

Smirking as if confirming Sekyeom knew he’d done wrong, Jihan sneered with a crooked mouth.

“You looked pretty thrilled earlier, didn’t you?”

“So happy to become a Guide?”

“Still, you shouldn’t just change someone else’s job without permission.”

“It pisses off the owner of the body listening.”

“…Sorry.”

“My bad.”

Jihan had sent the excited Shin Jinho away, using the excuse that he wasn’t feeling well.

Shin Jinho, who had been fussing excitedly along with Sekyeom, promised before leaving the room that he would secretly investigate if

similar cases had occurred before.

He also said he would prepare a guild membership contract for Sekyeom—or rather, Sekyeom in Jihan’s body—and left with jaunty steps.

Angry about who gave permission to transfer guilds, Jihan finally softened his tone after hearing the apology.

“I don’t know if this situation will be resolved short-term or long-term, but I think we need some kind of agreement between us.”

“What do you think?”

At the request for his opinion, Sekyeom straightened his tilted head and met Jihan’s gaze.

“What kind of agreement?”

“Like rules we need to follow while our bodies are swapped.”

“Rules…”

Sekyeom once again examined Jihan’s face closely.

Then, he readily nodded.

“Okay, do whatever you want.”

Although he had proposed it first, Jihan was surprised by how readily Sekyeom agreed.

He wondered why Sekyeom was suddenly being so obedient.

But thinking back, when they were on good terms, Sekyeom tended to follow Jihan’s words almost excessively.

There were many times Jihan felt frustrated because Sekyeom rarely offered his own opinions.

Feeling a strange sense of returning to the past, Jihan awkwardly cleared his throat.

“Ahem, first, regarding each other’s personal matters, I’d appreciate it if we consulted and followed the other person’s opinion as much as possible.”

“Meaning, something like today should never happen again.”

“Got it.”

“Let’s agree to cooperate so that no problems arise in our daily lives, and it should be natural to take care of the body so it doesn’t get hurt or sick.”

“Okay.”

Sekyeom nodded as if it were obvious.

However, finding the other party too compliant made Jihan even more anxious, prompting him to confirm again.

“Did you understand properly?”

“If anything happens to me, I won’t let you off, really?”

“Don’t forget you have more to lose.”

Despite Jihan’s threatening demand, Sekyeom just burst into laughter, reacting as if it were no big deal.

“I said I got it.”

“Don’t worry.”

“I won’t let a single scratch appear on your body.”

“Can I trust you?”

“Yes.”

“So, can I state my opinion now?”

“…Go ahead.”

Jihan, who had narrowed his eyes suspiciously, let out a long sigh as if having overcome a hurdle.

Relaxing his previously straightened back, he leaned against the bed with a serene expression, waiting for Sekyeom’s demands.

A serenity that shattered less than three seconds after Sekyeom began speaking.

“First, about the guild membership offer, that wasn’t just a joke.”

“What do you think about transferring to our guild?”