The S-class Awakening

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The cafeteria buzzed with the midday rush, but Jonghyun barely noticed. His tray sat untouched, the food cooling as he scrolled through his tablet. The headline dominating every feed made his thumb pause.

[S-Class Esper Kim Seojin Saves Child During Dungeon Break]

[Kim Seojin: Hero or Time Bomb? Public Divided on Legion's Mysterious Guildmaster]

Jonghyun's lips pressed into a line. Kim Seojin.

His chest tightened as a memory flashed—a fleeting moment, a sharp gaze catching his from across the pavement. The man from that day—cold eyes, but something restless beneath them.

The same man who was all over the news now.

Jonghyun's thumb hovered over the comment section, curiosity burning:

> SkyHigh123: Saved a kid, but only 'cause he was about to erupt.

NovaWave: He's a beast. Probably didn't even care about the kid.

GuideLife: Heard he hates guiding. Always refuses to interact with lower-level espers.

A sharp clatter broke his focus as a tray landed across from him. "Yo, Jonghyun!"

Jonghyun looked up to see Kim Taewoo, his colleague. Taewoo was tall, with a sturdy build that suggested he spent more time lifting weights than his colleagues. His brown hair was common, slightly tousled, while his brown eyes, typical of most Koreans, held a gleam of casual amusement. He wore a relaxed expression, his common facial features framed by a rounder face, a stark contrast to Jonghyun's sharper look. Taewoo sat down, grinning wide. "What's with that face? You reading mission reports again?"

Jonghyun locked the screen. "No. Just... news."

Taewoo's eyes gleamed with curiosity. "Oh! About that S-class eruption near Han River?" He leaned in with a grin. "Man, that was insane. Monster broke containment, and the kid would've been toast if Kim Seojin hadn't stepped in."

Jonghyun's throat tightened.

"Yeah. Took the thing down in seconds." Taewoo's voice lowered conspiratorially. "But you know what everyone's saying? He didn't do it out of kindness."

Jonghyun's brows knitted. "What are they saying?"

Taewoo gave a smirk. "They say he only saved the kid because he was about to erupt. If he hadn't taken down the monster, his powers would've gone wild."

Jonghyun's stomach knotted. Eruption. His mind flashed again—those cold, burning eyes that had locked with his. It was just for a second, but he felt it. Raw, unstable power simmering beneath that icy exterior.

He exhaled, voice tight. "That's… ridiculous."

Taewoo blinked, surprised by his tone. "Huh?"

Jonghyun's jaw clenched. "He saved a kid. What does it matter why?"

Taewoo raised a brow. "You're really defending him?"

Jonghyun shot back, "I'm just saying, people always find reasons to tear someone down. Maybe he acted because he wanted to. Did anyone ask the kid what they think?"

Taewoo leaned back, his grin fading slightly as he looked at Jonghyun with a more serious expression. "Look, guys like him," Taewoo said slowly, "they're not like us. They're S-class. They're far beyond our league. They don't care about lower-level guides like us. Hell, they probably won't even glance our way unless they have to."

Jonghyun blinked, taken aback by the bluntness of Taewoo's words. "What are you trying to say?"

Taewoo shrugged. "I'm just saying—guys like him, they don't look at us. He's on a whole different level. We—we're guides, sure. But we're not S-class, and we're not the ones getting the kind of attention a guy like him gets. It's just the way it is."

Jonghyun felt a prickling sensation at the back of his neck, the weight of Taewoo's words settling in. Was that why Seojin hadn't acknowledged him before? Was that why their brief moment had felt so distant—because he was nothing more than a low-level guide to someone like Seojin?

Taewoo chuckled softly, as if reading his thoughts. "Don't take it too personally. It's just how it works. You can't blame him for it."

Jonghyun stayed silent, staring at his tray, his mind buzzing with questions. The conversation had drifted, but he couldn't shake the feeling that this had been the closest he'd gotten to understanding Seojin. It wasn't about kindness or duty—it was about power, and what came with it.

Taewoo leaned in again, this time with a more curious expression. "You know, I've heard some things about Kim Seojin. Like, how he can control space and all that. I've even heard rumors about him getting a little too close to some of the lower-level espers, but... never with guides. Never with us."

Jonghyun stiffened. He'd heard the rumors too. The ones about Seojin never associating with lower-level guides, always keeping his distance, especially from those in the government's lower ranks. The thought stung more than he expected.

"Doesn't matter," Taewoo continued, oblivious to Jonghyun's change in mood. "Guys like him? They're on another level. There's a reason they stay with their own. They can't afford to be distracted by lower-tier missions, or… people like us."

The words hit harder than Jonghyun wanted to admit. He swallowed hard, fighting the urge to speak up, to argue against the reality Taewoo was painting. But Taewoo was right in his own way. S-class. A term that seemed to separate them from everyone else. There was no place for someone like him in Seojin's world. Even their shared experience of a monster breaking out, the chaos that followed, felt like it belonged in different realms. And yet, Seojin had stepped in, had acted—saving the kid, his powers lashing out in the process.

"Yeah," Jonghyun muttered, "guess you're right."

Taewoo paused, then shrugged again, still oblivious to the deeper shift in Jonghyun's thoughts. "Hey, don't let it get to you. It's not like he's gonna remember you or anything. To him, we're just... another face in the crowd, man."

The words should have stung more. But Jonghyun felt an odd emptiness at the thought. Was that all he was to Seojin? Just another face?

Jonghyun's hand clenched the edge of his tray as his gaze lingered on his screen once more, the comments about Seojin's cold demeanor continuing to flash by. Those eyes. The way Seojin had looked at him. For just a moment, Jonghyun could have sworn there was something more there, something deeper than the cold indifference of an S-class esper.

"Maybe..." Jonghyun whispered to himself, so softly even Taewoo couldn't hear. "Maybe there's more to him than just power."

Taewoo was already halfway through his meal, oblivious to the internal storm brewing inside Jonghyun. Jonghyun sat in silence for a while longer, staring at his half-eaten lunch, lost in thought. Seojin had power. True, raw, untamable power. But did that mean he was truly unreachable? Did that mean he would forever remain a distant figure, a force of nature that couldn't care for someone like him?

The thought haunted him for the rest of the lunch.

End of Chapter 4

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