During the time Kang Seojun spent resting at home, Hyunwoo regularly sent messages to check up on him, all of which were surprisingly short. It wasn't until the day he was scheduled to be back did he find out Hyunwoo was sent on a job as private security for a few weeks overseas. So that meant returning to the company, it felt unfamiliar. He felt lonely. Just the thought of it made him laugh a little, feeling lonely because a guy you met less than a month ago wasn't there.
That aside, at least he was called in for something that'd take his mind off any distractions; training. The system used is tailored to the user in active training, but the only way it can be personalised is if it collects enough data, so each member of Roses is required to go through an induction stage for it to do so.
The good news was that although the induction program required multiple uses of psychometry, Kang Seojun was able to complete it in just a few days without suffering from overuse. Over the next few days he progressed through the personalised stages and felt a sense of accomplishment over being able to use his ability so much.
It feels nice to finally have a use for it.
As a message confirming the completion of the 18th stage showed up on a floating blue screen, a female robotic voice called into the room.
"Training stage 18 complete. Would you like to see the current leaderboard?"
"..Yes."
"Very well."
-
The moment the elevator door to the top floor opened, the sound of footsteps stomping against the marble floor became increasing loud the closer it got to the head office followed by an impatient knock before the door was opened from the outside.
Before a well done for his job could be uttered, Hyunwoo rushed over to Kei who was lounging on the couch and throwing a tennis ball in the air.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked in a low voice, grabbing him up by his collar as the green ball rolled onto the floor.
"Hold on! It was her idea!" Kei quickly pointed to Haneul.
Without even raising her head from the computer, Haneul shook her head in disappointment, "wow… throw me under the bus right away, why don't you?"
Realising his anger was misdirected, Hyunwoo quickly loosened his grasp and turned to the girl instead. "Mun Haneul."
Her eyes quickly looked up and jumped as she saw Hyunwoo's face, uh oh.. Haneul held up her hands to surrender as he sped up to her, abruptly getting up from her chair and taking a few steps back, "no, no, hear me out first!"
"What excuse could you possibly have?"
"Well.. none.."
"…"
"But! If you think about it, isn't it better you figured it out yourself? It just means you two are destined to meet again! Ahaha.. haha…" the sarcastic laugh trailed off as she felt a little bad, "sorry… I just thought it would be fun.."
Hyunwoo sighed as he brushed his hair back, feeling his facial muscles loosen, "are you a kid or something.."
She shook her head a little then noticed something, "oh."
During their little argument, it seemed Kei had slipped off.
-
A large bright display lit up in front of him, it was the leaderboard for the top 3 users, all on a translucent electric blue background in the air.
L E A D E R B O A R D :
1. Akabane Kei -
ability: perfusion alter
last stage completed: 251
2. Kim Hyunwoo -
ability: capillary perception
last stage completed: 224
3. Miyazaki Mii -
ability: ergokinesis
last stage competed: 201
Your rank: calculating…
He stared at the second ranking as a small circle spun at the bottom of the screen. Shortly after, a loud noise played from the speakers as red texts showed up in front of him.
ERROR #211
[not enough information]
"We are unfortunately unable to assess your current position. Please try again later."
Surprisingly, another option came up as Seojun tapped the message.
"Would you like to view the full leaderboard?"
His eyebrows raised in curiosity, without hesitation, he quickly tapped on yes and scrolled to his name. As expected…it said calculating but this rank…
His hand moved to click the exit button but paused as the bottom of the screen caught his eyes
Hm?
Realising he wasn't last, he scrolled all the way down.
?. Mun Haneul -
ability: [CLASSIFIED]
last stage completed: [CLASSIFIED]
synchronisation level: 81% [STABLE]
In a secluded room, a small crystal glowed, floating in a wide floor to ceiling tube. It was a colourful yet clear object with a distinctive shape, not exactly blinding to the human eye but bright enough to light up every corner of the dark room all on its own.
Despite its dainty appearance however, this was Roses' most prized weapon, the reason they'll inevitably rise to the top one day.
But with every prize, soon there will come a cost.
Seojun quickly turned around as he heard the door click open, his hand unconsciously hurrying to exit the leaderboard tab.
"Oh." Kei muttered as they made eye contact. He awkwardly shuffled into the room and closed the door behind him. "How was it?"
Although he was surprised at his attempt to make conversation, Seojun replied half heartedly, "it was alright. I'm a bit surprised this is a thing."
"Really?"
He nodded. "I always thought people just get better at using their abilities through real life situations."
"That's a naive way of thinking." His reply wasn't meant as an insult though as he carried on. "How often do you use psychometry?"
Even without him asking, Seojun understood the point he was trying to get across, still, it would be rude to shut the conversation down this early so he entertained him. "Not very, there isn't much use for it in everyday life."
"Right."
The unavoidable awkward silence fell onto them. Seojun took the glasses off and placed them back onto the table, ready to leave when Kei said something unexpected.
"You know, I was against you joining."
"Huh?" He turned to him. It wasn't as if he was offended or anything but just curious, besides, he knew Kei wasn't saying that to try to rile him up, it felt more like he wanted to confess something.
The other gave a small smile as he continued, "yeah, but he really wanted to see you again."
Seojun furrowed his brows, "see me again? What do you mean?"
"Didn't you know? Hyunwoo met you before."
"What?"
"Said he bumped into you at the airport. We didn't tell him it was you but he's already figured it out," he chuckled. "Oh but there's something he keeps bothering me about, how come you didn't shake his hand?"
"Huh?" He could feel his head start to spin from the sudden change in topic whilst he was still trying to decode what Kei had just said but that went by unnoticed.
"You shook mine, and Yuu's apparently, so how come you only left Hyunwoo hanging?" There was a hint of mischief in his tone.
"Oh that… He smelled of smoke," Seojun mumbled.
Kei blinked as if taken back by the reasoning, then surprisingly laughed, hard enough his body trembled slightly, "that's… pfft! ..You should tell him that.."
"Tell me what?" A serious voice joined in the conversation without either realising.
"Oh fuck," Kei gulped as he turned around, "how did you find me so quickly?"
"I wasn't looking for you, I was looking for Seojun," Hyunwoo casually strolled over to him, picking up the pair of glasses that had just been set down and carefully put them back on him, grinning, "it suits you."
"So am I safe?" Kei asked, feeling completely like a third wheel.
"No. I'll deal with you later."
"Hyunwoo come on, you said you'd forgive us," Haneul said, peeking her head around the slightly opened door.
Hyunwoo shook his head, "I didn't say that."
Before she could even get another word in, he had already pulled up the leaderboard by pressing a button on the glasses frames and was having a one-sided conversation with Seojun, his mood completely contrast to how it was just a mere minute ago.
"Did you see?" He pointed at his name.
"What?"
"My ability."
Seojun nodded absent-mindedly, staring at him blankly as Hyunwoo scrolled through the stages he'd done.
"Hm.. your's looks more fun than mine."
Suddenly he turned to him, "should we do one together?" Startled by his face so close to his, Seojun quickly turned his head away and backed up a step.
"Why were you hiding here?"
"I wasn't hiding, I was playing cupid," Kei grinned proudly.
"Hm.." Haneul glanced over at the other two. "Are you sure you didn't mess things up?"
For some reason, there seemed to have appeared a barrier between them like never before. Regardless, it wasn't her place to say or do anything. Though, she couldn't resist if one of them brought her into it, right?
Unexpectedly, she heard her name in their conversation.
"Ah, Haneul said that's my limit for the day.."
It was Kang Seojun.
Did I say such a thing?
He was running away.
She grinned. "Hyunwoo come on, you've got work to do."
"Huh?" He turned to her, almost surprised, "but I just got back."
Seojun took them having a small argument as an opportunity to leave, but just as he was about to open the door wide enough to slip out, he got caught.
"Kang Seojun."
A hand held onto the door. Maybe his senses were heightened because he was feeling confused but Kang Seojun could feel the body heat behind radiating onto him as his heartbeat sped up.
"Where are you going?"
Hyunwoo's voice reached his ears almost too intimately, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand obediently. He kept his body still and replied in a calm demeanour, "home."
"...Alright," Hyunwoo sighed. "Get home safe," he patted his head before straightening up and letting him go. Staring at the back of Seojun's head that got smaller as the distance between them increased until it eventually disappeared behind the door on the other end of the room, he spoke with a frown, "hey."
"Yeah?"
"Since when did we have a limit?"
"We don't."
He turned to Haneul, "...Is this what you were planning when you asked me to stay for another two weeks?"
She smiled, "I knew you wouldn't want to quit if he was here."