Chapter 9 – The Price of Misjudgment
Jeong Si-jun’s chest heaved. Seeing him panting as if he were the one being wronged, Yoon Ki-hyun felt a strange sense of trust, which was ironically amusing.
It was an intuition bordering on certainty that, at the very least, the man wasn’t lying. This was because Yoon Ki-hyun knew a fair amount about Jeong Si-jun, albeit in fragments.
Jeong Si-jun. Twenty-five years old.
A combat-type S-class Esper who reigned over the Awakener Center headquarters almost like a tyrant, he was a legendary figure who had attained the rank of team leader at a young age.
Ki-hyun recalled that at the time, there were hushed voices of concern internally due to his youth and arrogant personality. However, once Jeong Si-jun produced results that silenced such noise in one fell swoop, the dissatisfaction quickly turned into praise bordering on worship.
Since he was one of the few S-class Espers in the country, he had proven that his team leader position wasn’t just a convenient title given to him, but a rank earned through overwhelming skill that left no room for argument.
‘If we’re talking purely about ability, he is an impressive bastard.’
Whenever Yoon Ki-hyun happened to run into Jeong Si-jun at the Center, the man always wore an insufferably triumphant expression.
In reality, there probably weren’t many situations where Jeong Si-jun had to feel intimidated or beg for favors.
Born into a wealthy family with nothing to envy and possessing top-tier skills, this utterly arrogant Esper was acting strange today, as if he’d eaten something wrong.
One moment he was offering to bring water in an uncharacteristically sweet voice, and the next, he was throwing a fit, stubbornly demanding that Ki-hyun take responsibility.
It was a fresh experience, but that was all. How many people would actually enjoy someone acting like this while completely naked?
“I told you I did that while drunk. I regret that part too… but it’s a bit ridiculous to tell me to take responsibility for Team Leader Jeong.”
As Yoon Ki-hyun replied in a listless voice, Jeong Si-jun’s intensity died down a bit.
“You were smiling so softly yesterday, like you were trying to seduce me, and now that you’re sober, you’re saying you don’t remember? Is that it?”
Jeong Si-jun grumbled, his brow furrowed as if he still felt wronged.
No, rather than grumbling, his tone was closer to whining. He was as stubborn as they come.
‘Did this bastard really eat something wrong… why is he suddenly acting out?’
Yoon Ki-hyun’s eyes widened as he chewed over Jeong Si-jun’s words.
“Wait. I was smiling softly at you?”
He couldn’t believe it. He could imagine himself cursing at or vomiting on Jeong Si-jun, but smiling softly?
No matter how blackout drunk he had been, the evaluation of someone deeply embedded in a person’s psyche wouldn’t easily flip.
Even as the alcohol continued to fade, Yoon Ki-hyun still hated Jeong Si-jun. His impression of the man hadn’t changed, to the point where it felt distasteful that such a thing had happened before he died.
‘Is he crazy? Did a ghost possess my body for a moment yesterday? Otherwise, what reason would I have to giggle while looking at that bastard?’
He couldn’t even guess how his drunken self had behaved yesterday to make the other man act this way.
“Forget it. I shouldn’t even talk to you. Ha… so now I’m the only asshole here? I’ve become the world’s biggest jerk who just jumped and ate Team Leader Yoon because he flirted a bit while wasted and doesn’t remember. This is unbelievable.”
Jeong Si-jun let out a long sigh and brushed back his hair. Every movement was steeped in irritation and frustration.
Yoon Ki-hyun sank into thought, rubbing his face with a lukewarm expression.
Judging by Jeong Si-jun’s demand for responsibility and his longing expression, it seemed the man had feelings for him. It felt like narcissism, but it [visit [Read on Read BL Novels]our site]was a behavior that was hard to explain otherwise.
‘I mean, if there had been some signals normally, I wouldn’t say anything. But what is he doing, suddenly acting like this?’
His mind was deeply troubled.
Still, since he had apparently stripped the man’s pants off while drunk, claiming he would show him what’s what, he was the one who had provided the cause.
Since he didn’t want to keep watching the man whine, he figured he might be able to shake him off if he just pretended to soothe him with some empty words.
“Just think of it as two drunk people enjoying themselves. We’re not children; demanding responsibility over a one-night stand is a bit much, don’t you think?”
“Wow…”
When Yoon Ki-hyun responded in a tone slightly softer than before, Jeong Si-jun clicked his tongue in disbelief.
He looked down at the pale beauty perched on the edge of the bed.
The more he looked, the more impressive this man was. Yesterday, he had driven him crazy with longing beneath him, and as soon as he woke up, he was driving him crazy in a different way.
“And how long has it been since you left the stolen contentCenter, yet you’re still calling me Team Leader?”
While Jeong Si-jun was bewildered, Yoon Ki-hyun muttered bluntly and glanced around the room. He was checking where the clothes he wore yesterday were.
Being completely naked was starting to get cold, and he had no desire to continue this pointless conversation with Jeong Si-jun while stripped bare.
“It’s just a habit, what do you want me to do? Should I just call you Yoon Ki-hyun-ssi, like yesterday?”
“No. It would be best if we just didn’t meet again so you’d have no reason to call me anything.”
“Seriously, what is with this person?”
“Enough. Where are my clothes?”
Unable to find them by sight, Yoon Ki-hyun asked, and Jeong Si-jun clicked his tongue and gestured with his chin toward the clothes hanging on a rack in the corner. Yoon Ki-hyun gave a small nod and immediately stood up from the bed.
“Ugh…”
The moment his feet touched the floor, his entire body throbbed as if screaming in pain.
He felt distressed, not knowing if this pain was due to the rare incurable disease that cost him twenty million won in [visit our site]medication per month, or the aftermath [stolen content]of rolling around with Jeong Si-jun while blackout drunk last night.
It was while he was slowly putting on his underwear and clothes and tidying his appearance. He felt Jeong Si-jun approaching from behind.
“What now?”
Yoon Ki-hyun only turned his head to the side. Jeong Si-jun, now dressed neatly, was standing there with his weight shifted to one leg.
“I want to ask you one thing.”
“I don’t want to.”
“What is the real reason you quit the Center?”
“Why do you want to know? Why on earth are you curious about that?”
“I told you yesterday. Team Leader Yoon—no, Yoon Ki-hyun-ssi’s guiding was the best. If you have complaints about the Center, I’ll see if I can arrange something.”
He must have really liked the guiding. Jeong Si-jun was strangely clinging to him.
That’s why it was funny. After contributing so much to the proliferation of that shitty nickname Read Read on Read BL Novelson Read BL Novelsfor him, now that he felt the loss, he was clinging like this.
Ki-hyun was almost curious to see how far the nonsense would go, but the mere thought of engaging in a pointless argument drained his energy. Today, too, there were expenses waiting to be spent so that he wouldn’t cling to life.
To end the tedious conversation with Jeong Si-jun, he just blurted out whatever came to mind.
“Actually, I’m sick.”
“…What kind of illness?”
“A shitty disease that costs twenty million won a month just for medicine.”
Yoon Ki-hyun’s face was impassive as he spoke the truth.
The truth slid off his tongue as calmly as if he were lying by borrowing someone else’s story.
Perhaps it was because he had already decided on the end that he could now look at his own life from a step back. Once he firmly resolved to die, his own life felt like someone else’s.
“Then, taking a leave of absence to receive treatment would be…”
“Didn’t I tell you yesterday? You tell me why I should work there while being called a -->stolen content216;public good’.”
“That’s…”
“Please, let’s just stop. I’m tired too. It’s already fucking absurd, funny, and ridiculous that I’ve run into someone from a company I resigned from.”
Jeong Si-jun fell silent. Yoon Ki-hyun’s complexion wasn’t just poor; he was pale.
He seemed to have had fair skin to begin with, but the blood had vanished further from his face in the time they hadn’t seen each other. And what about that powerless voice and the thin frame that looked as if he could be held in a single embrace?
Meeting Yoon Ki-hyun by chance in another city after he left the Center, he exuded a precarious atmosphere, as if he might collapse at any moment.
Jeong Si-jun realized instinctively. He had a feeling that if he parted with Yoon Ki-hyun here, it wouldn’t be easy to meet him again.
‘This person’s guiding was the best…’
Jeong Si-jun knew well that the shortage of Guides at the Center was not a new problem. Since no S-class Guide had appeared yet, the few A-class Guides were overworked.
The Esper headquarters chief said things would get easier once the training of the newly recruited Guides was finished, but Jeong Si-jun wanted to receive guiding from the Guide who understood his wavelength best. And that was Yoon Ki-hyun, standing before him.
“To be honest…”
“No, don’t be honest. Just forget it.”
Yoon Ki-hyun shook his head, shuddering. He was already afraid of what kind of bullshit was coming after such an introduction.
“Listen. I know I’m being fucking pathetic, but would you have any interest in becoming my personal Guide?”
“What?”
“Since you seem to loathe the Center, I can’t ask you to rejoin, so the only thing left is personal employment.”
Yoon Ki-hyun clicked his tongue and frowned.
It was only that he hadn’t had the mental leeway to care, but if he sat still, he could see exactly how the Center members viewed him.
The Espers tended to treat him like a piece of Center equipment that provided guiding whenever the time was right, and the Guides’ evaluations were a bit more complex.
The biggest contributor to the Espers’ evaluation was that wretched ‘public good’ nickname, and to think the man who coined it was saying this.
“The person who knew that was the one calling me a public good? You’re a truly hilarious person.”
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