Chapter 10 – ​The ​Price ​of ​Misjudgment

“I’m ​sorry ​about ​that. ​But ​you know how guys ​are ​when they’re together—they ​like to act ​tough. ​Besides, ​I ​wasn’t ​the ​one who came ​up ​with ​that nickname, so ​why are you taking ​it out ​on—”

What? Jeong ​Si-jun wasn’t ​the one ​who ​gave ​him that nickname?

Yoon ​Ki-hyun felt ​a flicker of curiosity ​at the story being ​slightly different from what ​he’d heard, ​but ​he quickly shook his head. The ​mere thought of guiding ​was ​enough ​to ​make ​him feel sick ​to his ​stomach.

Furthermore, ​even if Jeong ​Si-jun ​hired him personally, he didn’t ​think he’d ​be ​paid any more ​than ​the ​salary ​he ​received from ​the ​Center. Just ​as Yoon Ki-hyun was about to leave ​the room in ​disgust, it happened.

“Salary. ​Would you still refuse ​if I ​paid you significantly ​more ​than the cost ​of the medication ​you have ​to ​take every ​month?”

Jeong ​Si-jun tossed ​out ​a staggering ​proposal. ​In ​that instant, Yoon ​Ki-hyun’s ​pupils trembled.

‘Significantly… ​more. ​Exactly ​how ​much is that?’

He wanted to ignore it, but he found himself Read on Read BL [unauthorized copy]Novelsdesperately curious about the specific amount of the salary Jeong Si-jun was offering.

With his Center salary barely covering his monthly loan payments, the added burden of massive medical bills had led him to the conclusion that he should just die.

That was why he had decided to end it. However, if he could secure an income sufficient to solve that problem, the future might not be a predetermined end in the near distance, but might have a tiny bit of room for change.

Noticing Yoon Ki-hyun’s internal conflict, Jeong Si-jun caught his gaze—those complex-looking black eyes—and subtly raised his fingers.

“If the monthly salary is roughly around this much, would you consider being my personal Guide?”

Tracing the fingers with old scars and prominent knuckles with his eyes, Yoon Ki-hyun unconsciously fell silent.

In the quiet hotel room, only the sound of Yoon Ki-hyun swallowing hard echoed faintly.

“Not an annual salary?”

The question was almost subconscious.

It wasn’t just that he had received an unexpected offer from someone he never [visit our site]would have considered; it was because the amount Jeong Si-jun had indicated with his hand was absolutely shocking.

“I said monthly salary. You said your medication alone costs twenty million won a month. Looking at the state of those meds, it seems like a disease not covered by insurance. How do you plan to handle that?”

I wasn’t planning to handle it; I was just planning to drop dead.

Yoon Ki-hyun hesitated and chose silence over responding.

He had admitted to having the illness in a fit of pique, but he didn’t want to say that instead of seeking treatment because he lacked the money, he had intended to die.

Especially not to someone like Jeong Si-jun.

Telling a pathetic, messy story wouldn’t change anything. At best, he’d only receive pity or sorrowful looks.

Such things were of no help to Yoon Ki-hyun.

The only thing that could save Yoon Ki-hyun from the greatest crisis he faced was a massive sum of money—an amount he might not earn in a lifetime of working.

“I know because I have someone around me fighting a disease. stolen [Read on Read BL Novels]contentThere are so many expenses besides medication, stolen contentlike test fees and whatnot. If you’re asking a sick person to work, you have to pay at least this much to be considered a decent human being.”

“…….”

“Of course, today I happen to be a total piece of shit who fucked someone while wasted on alcohol and is now acting like he’s taking responsibility.”

Yoon Ki-hyun stared blankly at Jeong Si-jun, who was laughing self-deprecatingly, and unconsciously nodded.

For some reason, he thought, this guy is actually talking sense.

‘I guess even a broken clock is right twice a day.’

It was certainly too much money to turn down.

It would have been nice if he could have ignored it with indifference, but in a remote corner of Yoon Ki-hyun’s heart, a lingering attachment to living still remained.

The lottery tickets he couldn’t bring himself to pass up, the keywords like “insurance benefit systems” left in his internet search history—messy attachments were plastered all over them.

‘I’d be an idiot to let this go. Who cares how obnoxious that bastard is? With that money, stolen Read on Read BL NovelscontentI can pay off my debts, treat my illness, and still have plenty left. I haven’t even decided how to die yet, so I can just close my eyes and say I’ll do it.’

The emotion he had tried so hard to shake off felt as if it were whispering secretly in his ear.

While Yoon Ki-hyun was shaking helplessly in a storm of fierce conflict, Jeong Si-jun’s voice descended from above.

“Well? I think this is a proposal that earns me the right to be treated as a human being rather than a son of a bitch. What do you think, Mr. Yoon Ki-hyun?”

Jeong Si-jun asked in his usual manner. It was a sarcastic tone that never produced a pleasant sound, no matter how many times he heard it. It was the kind of speech pattern that definitely made the listener feel unpleasant.

‘No, I don’t know about anything else, but can something be done about that tone? Why does he always talk as if he’s picking a fight?’

Within the proposal and words Jeong Si-jun had just offered, there was a clear sense of concern.

He could tell that the reason for the enormous monthly sum was a consideration for the medication costs, and the nuance suggested an admission of the “bedroom accident” that occurred yesterday.

Even the gaze, which felt a bit greasy, added to it. Judging comprehensively, it almost seemed as if Jeong Si-jun was worried about him.

However, because the tone was like that, no matter what the hidden meaning [unauthorized copyclass="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">Read on Read BL Novels]was, it sounded to the listener like he was provoking or sneering.

‘If talking like that is a talent, then it’s certainly a talent…’

Yoon Ki-hyun gave up on trying to understand Jeong Si-jun’s twisted way of speaking. Letting out a small breath, he scratched his head.

It wasn’t that his desire to die had completely vanished. In fact, wasn’t he shuddering in disgust just moments ago at the sight of the man’s face?

Yet, it felt a bit embarrassing to suddenly snap up a proposal involving a huge sum of money.

Whenever he drank alcohol like water to forget the pain, he had fantasized a few times that if he could die and be reborn, it would be nice to be born into a wealthy family.

Facing someone who lived the kind of life others had to pray for in their next life made him feel a twinge of jealousy.

He also wondered just how much money the man had to boast about paying a personally hired Guide such a salary.

Because Yoon Ki-hyun’s complicated thoughts remained unorganized, the silence stretched on. Consequently, Jeong Si-jun’s mouth began to go dry.

In truth, despite pretending to be composed, he stolen unauthorized copycontentwas desperate for Yoon Ki-hyun’s guiding. He knew it was pathetic, but he had no better options.

‘Team Leader Jeong knows well that the Center hired a large number of Guides this time. I even used some influence to bring a Guide who was almost assigned to a regional center to the headquarters, so things will stabilize for the Guides soon. Let’s just suffer a bit more until then, okay?’

Naturally, Jeong Si-jun did not believe the vague future predictions sputtered by the Esper Headquarters Director with a gentle, soothing face.

Among the new Guides assigned to duty, there might certainly be someone with decent qualities, or perhaps an S-class Guide might appear.

But it was certain that there was currently no Guide who could replace Yoon Ki-hyun.

This was because he knew well that if such a Guide existed, the Esper Center Director would not be acting so subserviently toward him.

‘I didn’t realize the void would be this obvious.’

Jeong Si-jun didn’t want to wait for a Guide who might appear at any time.

Why should he do that when the right person was right in front of his eyes? Waiting was not his forte, and he felt no need for it to be any other Guide.

‘Is it because the salary is too low?’

Jeong Si-jun fell into agony. Anyway, money was deposited into his account every month in amounts he couldn’t even spend entirely.

He was financially wealthy to the point that he had never once worried about money in his life, but when it came to guiding, he was inevitably in a state of deprivation.

Living as an S-class Esper meant that while he earned money that made the salaries of conglomerate executives seem trivial, he suffered from a constant lack of guiding, making a dull pain and unpleasant sensation that gnawed at his nerves a part of daily life.

It was also fucking annoying how Guides would tremble just by holding his hand, always nervous because they didn’t know how to shift the wavelength. No matter how much he thought about it, Yoon Ki-hyun was the only one whose guiding had been satisfying enough to occupy a corner of his mind even after his resignation.

At first, he hadn’t felt the void much, but as time passed, he realized. The one who missed Yoon Ki-hyun more than anyone else was none other than himself.

“By any chance, are you paying me that money to make me do something weird…”

When Yoon Ki-hyun cautiously tested the waters, breaking the deep silence, Jeong Si-jun unconsciously covered his mouth with his hand. It was because he felt a laugh coming on.

The fact that a rebuke telling him to get lost or a statement of disinterest didn’t come first meant there was room for consideration, so the start was decent enough.

Though he wasn’t entirely sure, Jeong Si-jun realized that Yoon Ki-hyun harbored [Read on Read BL Novels[stolen content]wm: stolen content -->style="font-size:0;position:absolute;left:-9999px;">]negative feelings toward him.

He thought Yoon Ki-hyun didn’t care about the nicknames circulating in the Center, but since that wasn’t the case, it was only natural that his feelings toward Espers wouldn’t be good.

Anyway, what did he mean by “doing something weird”?

Covering his twitching lips, he asked back.

“What do you mean by ‘weird’? For example?”

“Like calling me at any time like a slave and making me do weird things…”

As he spoke, Yoon Ki-hyun’s voice trailed off, sounding awkward. Jeong Si-jun looked down at Yoon Ki-hyun’s reddish lips and spoke.

“I’m asking what exactly those ‘weird things’ are. Explain it specifically. I’ll tell you if you’re right or wrong.”

Even at the request to be specific, Yoon Ki-hyun kept his lips tightly shut and couldn’t bring himself to continue. Judging by the nuance of his speech, he was clearly imagining something strange.

“Are you worried that I’ll use guiding as an excuse to fuck you, Mr. Yoon Ki-hyun?”

It was the moment today when Jeong Si-jun’s twisted, broken clock was perfectly right.