Chapter 12 – The Price of Misjudgment
‘Ah, a nosebleed.’
Of all places, why did it have to happen at a restaurant? Yoon Ki-hyun clicked his tongue and looked around for a napkin.
It had been a while since frequent nosebleeds became a part of his daily life.
Ever since arriving in this city, he no longer had to worry about guiding, but the aftermath of living recklessly after deciding on a date to die had manifested physically in his body.
From the alcohol he had poured down his throat as if it were water, to the pants that had become loose because he skipped meals—these were the changes that had occurred in just two weeks.
Since they usually stopped quickly if he blocked them properly, he was just pulling out a napkin when Jeong Si-jun’s bewildered face caught the corner of his eye.
Then again, anyone would make that face seeing someone suddenly spring a nosebleed while calmly eating hangover soup. It might have even killed his appetite.
“Sorry. This happened suddenly while we were eating. It’ll stop soon.”
When he said that out of politeness, Jeong Si-jun frowned as deeply as he could.
“Having a nosebleed isn’t something you need to apologize for. Are you really okay?”
“I think it’s just because of the change in seasons.”
“It’s not because of that illness you mentioned earlier?”
When Jeong Si-jun asked that, Yoon Ki-hyun couldn’t help but hesitate for a moment. In truth, he had never once had a nosebleed due to a change in seasons.
There was a high probability it was because of that illness with the complicated name. However, if he told the truth, Jeong Si-jun might change his mind right now and decide to call the whole thing off.
“That is…”
As Yoon Ki-hyun trailed off, discarding the blood-soaked napkin and pressing a new one firmly under his nose, the sound of a chair scraping echoed from across the table, and Jeong Si-jun disappeared somewhere with long strides.
‘What, where is he going?’
Was he suddenly reluctant to receive guiding from a sick Guide?
He thought Jeong Si-jun didn’t mind much since he had offered to make him a personal Guide even after knowing about the illness. But perhaps seeing him bleed out while eating changed his mind. Maybe it felt creepy to entrust his wavelength to someone like this.
‘Whatever, if he said he was buying, he should at least pay before leaving.’
As Yoon Ki-hyun closed his eyes tight and sighed, unable to handle his dizzy vision, Jeong Si-jun’s voice suddenly rang out.
“Wipe it.”
At the rustling sound, he peeked open his eyes to see Jeong Si-jun holding something out. It was clearly a commercial pack of wet wipes sold at convenience stores.
With a look of disbelief, Yoon Ki-hyun traced the words written on the packaging.
Moist and Soft Baby Wipes.
He burst into laughter instantly. He couldn’t believe Jeong Si-jun had gone all the way to a convenience store in the middle of a meal to buy those, and of all things, he had picked wipes in such an unfitting pastel tone.
“Don’t wipe it just yet… What, why are you suddenly laughing?”
Jeong Si-jun asked in a somewhat displeased tone, and Yoon Ki-hyun answered as he took the wipes.
“Just the whole situation is funny.”
It truly was the most absurd and ridiculous day of his life.
Yoon Ki-hyun laughed loudly, still clutching [stolen [[unauthorized copy]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">visit our site]content]his nose. For the first time, the smell of blood permeating his nasal cavity didn’t make him feel depressed.
Fortunately, the nosebleed stopped quickly. However, Yoon Ki-hyun stirred the remaining half of his hangover soup before eventually putting down his spoon. Perhaps because of the bleeding episode, he had lost his appetite.
Jeong Si-jun, who had returned to his seat to resume eating, also seemed to be barely touching his food.
After paying, Jeong Si-jun muttered begrudgingly as they stepped out of the restaurant.
“Let’s consider this one void, and I’ll buy you a meal at a proper place next time. It looks like you couldn’t eat properly because of the nosebleed.”
Yoon Ki-hyun glanced at him. He was curious about what a meal bought by a rich guy at a “proper place” would taste like.
“Sure. Then buy me a meal again next time.”
He expected the man to grumble about why he was still talking about food, but when Yoon Ki-hyun readily agreed, the corners of Jeong Si-jun’s mouth twitched slightly. This was the first time Yoon Ki-hyun had mentioned “next time” himself.
“By the way… how’s your nose? I was fucking panicked when Team Leader Yoon started bleeding.”
Jeong Si-jun’s concerned gaze lingered near Yoon Ki-hyun’s face. Fortunately, the bleeding had stopped. The messy bloodstains had also been dealt with using the baby wipes Jeong Si-jun had bought.
The few remaining wipes continued to announce their presence, rustling in Yoon Ki-hyun’s back pocket with every step.
“It’s all stopped.”
“Then that’s fine.”
“But like I said before, can we do something about the title? It’s been so long since I quit, why are you still calling me Team Leader Yoon?”
He knew that was the title Jeong Si-jun was used to. However, every time he was called that, the various absurdities he had experienced at the Awakener Center came back to him, making him unpleasant. No, “infuriated” was a more accurate expression than “unpleasant.”
Just thinking about the management director’s forced nitpicking or the Guide headquarters chief’s sarcasm and intimidating threats made something hot boil up inside him.
“Well, since we might be seeing each other often from now on, how class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">unauthorized copy]copy">unauthorized copyabout calling me Ki-hyun hyung to get closer?”
He had simply hoped for a different title, yet the man suggested one that was even less desirable. Yoon Ki-hyun’s expression turned sour.
‘Ugh, what do you mean, Ki-hyun hyung? I’m working for money; if we start acting like brothers, things won’t get done.’
He knew Jeong Si-jun was younger than him, but the moment the man offered to call him hyung, it felt strange.
Wasn’t the distance too extreme?
Yoon Ki-hyun usually guarded himself against people who tried to close the distance too rapidly. This was because he knew that decent people were rare among those who approached others that way.
Just chewing over the suggested title made him shudder. When working, it was better to maintain a proper distance and just do one’s job correctly. That had generally been his way when working at the Awakened Management Center.
Part of it was because his life was too tight to have the luxury of caring for those around him, but he had found that getting too close to colleagues usually just resulted in being dumped with their workload. Consequently, his professional preference had solidified this way.
“Something like Mr. Yoon Ki-hyun would be fine. No, just call me Mr. Yoon Ki-hyun.”
Yoon Ki-hyun quickly corrected the title. He feared that if he gave any room, the man would start calling him something overly friendly, like those guys who hit on him at bars.
Sure enough, Jeong Si-jun’s frustration exploded immediately.
“A person is trying their best to get close, would it kill you to just accept it a little?”
The man’s lips were pouting, his face deeply furrowed.
This bastard is acting up again. Yoon Ki-hyun clicked his tongue inwardly.
Looking at him like this, Jeong Si-jun looked like nothing more than an immature rookie in society, and it was simply mind-boggling that he was an indispensable existence at the Awakener Center.
No matter how much the Awakener Center only looked at the abilities and skills of Espers and Guides…
‘Wait, no. Thanks to that, I became a team leader early, so I’m not really in a position to talk.’
Yoon Ki-hyun replied while avoiding Jeong Si-jun’s glaring gaze.
“No, there’s such a thing as a middle ground.”
“What middle ground?”
“Yesterday, as soon as you saw me, you cursed at me to stop staring and just do the guiding, and now suddenly you’re like this just because we slept together once… it’s almost like a split personality.”
As he spoke, he realized how dizzying Jeong Si-jun’s emotional shifts were.
‘Was Team Leader Seo’s guiding that bad yesterday?’
As Yoon Ki-hyun’s eyes narrowed, Jeong Si-jun argued back, his lips twitching.
“Good grief, then what, should we slowly get to know each other like we’re visit our sitedating, huh? Should visit our site]aria-label="visit our site">visit our siteI suggest we change titles based on the mood?”
“I don’t know, but anyway, the hyung thing is a bit much.”
“Ah, yes. I’ll make sure to call you Mr. Yoon Ki-hyun every single time. Is that enough for you?”
“Yes. That’s great.”
As Yoon Ki-hyun nodded with satisfaction, Jeong Si-jun’s face contorted.
‘Wow, he’s a completely different person from the one I saw at the Center. His personality is seriously intense.’
He had treated him based on the image of Team Leader Yoon of Guide Team 2 at the Awakener Center, and as a result, he had suffered a losing streak.
After quitting, Yoon Ki-hyun’s speech and attitude were so unfamiliar that one could believe he was a different person entirely. Perhaps this was closer to the real Yoon Ki-hyun, who had been suppressed all this time.
Since he was so good at arguing, it was unimaginable how frustrated he must have been, unauthorized [stolen content]copyspeaking only when necessary and focusing solely on guiding at the Center.
‘Team Leader Yoon? He rarely shows up to company dinners and is quiet to begin with. You could say he doesn’t even engage in conversation unless it’s about work. Why, Team Leader Jeong, are you perhaps interested in Team Leader Yoon?’
‘The Team Leader of Team 2 is a good person. He explains things well when I ask about things I don’t know. But he has so much work that he doesn’t have time to talk and always looks tired.’
The way people at the Center evaluated Yoon Ki-hyun was as a workaholic Guide of few words.
While his skills were impeccable, the only talk behind his back was about his lack of sociability, leading people to vaguely assume he had a quiet personality. They were completely wrong.
The blunt way he spoke at the gate site, the bar, and the hotel was quite a shock to Jeong Si-jun.
Honestly, that made him more attracted. He even felt a shallow sense of superiority, knowing a side of Yoon Ki-hyun that the people at the Center still didn’t know.
If it weren’t for the fact that his guiding skills were absolutely superb, he wouldn’t be struggling this much in a city like this.
And his looks were so striking that in the ten minutes they walked aimlessly after leaving the restaurant, [stolen visit our sitecontent]three different men had glanced at Yoon Ki-hyun.
“Good grief. Do you know how many people are desperate to get close to me?”
Jeong Si-jun grumbled to the heartless prospective Guide who refused to open up. To this, Yoon Ki-hyun replied with a blunt expression.
“What use would knowing that be to me?”
He really was incredible at building a wall. Yoon Ki-hyun was truly not an easy man.
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