Chapter 16 – ​The ​Price ​of ​a ​Misjudgment

“Still, ​there ​must ​be ​some rumors or something ​you’ve ​heard.”

Yoon Ki-hyun asked ​in a much ​softer ​tone. ​It ​was ​a ​gentle, coaxing manner, ​almost ​like ​someone soothing a ​child.

He felt a bit ​of skepticism ​about whether ​he really ​had to ​treat ​Jeong ​Si-jun this way. ​However, changing ​his tone didn’t cost ​any money, and it ​was a price he ​was more ​than ​willing to pay to obtain the ​necessary information.

‘I can’t stop ​thinking ​about ​that ​old ​man.’

If he were ​registered at ​the ​Center as Jeong ​Si-jun’s ​personal Guide, the report would ​certainly reach ​the ​Head of the ​Guide ​Division. ​Since ​he ​wasn’t a ​Guide ​affiliated with ​the Center, the Head couldn’t openly issue ​retaliatory work orders ​like before, but ​it still bothered him.

Even ​if they ​were in different ​departments, ​the Center couldn’t ​function without the ​collaboration between ​Espers ​and Guides. ​Therefore, ​he figured ​Jeong ​Si-jun must ​have ​heard ​something.

“Lately, whenever there’s ​a ​meeting, they’re ​just ​busy ​fighting ​and [unauthorized copy]content" style="display:none;" aria-label="stolen [Read on Read BL Novels]content">stolen contentacting out with Ebon. Last week, the Head of the Guide Division looked like he was about to grab our Head by the collar…”

Was it a new thing for the Head of the Guide Division to fight with the Head of the Esper Division?

The Head of the Esper Division didn’t bother hiding his tendency to look down on the Head of the Guide Division. Part of it was likely because the two heads were aligned with different factions, but the Esper Head was what one would call a ‘kkondae’—a stubborn, old-fashioned authoritarian.

Generally, the fixed perception of Guides at the Center had started from the time the Esper Head was active in the field.

A typical old-school man who treated collaborating colleagues as subordinates and looked down on them. That was the current Head of the Esper Division at the Awakener Center.

This is definitely useless information. Just as Yoon Ki-hyun was thinking this,

Jeong Si-jun twitched an eyebrow with a disgruntled look on his face. To anyone, he looked slightly offended.

‘What? The first thing he asks upon seeing me is about the Head of the Guide Division’s current status? What the hell.’

Until a moment ago, Jeong Si-jun had been in the best mood. This was because he [Read Read on Read BL Novelson Read BL Novels]had unexpectedly run into Yoon Ki-hyun again near the Center.

Even after returning home after offering the personal Guide proposal, Yoon Ki-hyun’s face had lingered in his mind.

Yes, that face.

Whether he was at work at the Center or beating demonic beasts to death at a gate, that pretty face glaring at him bluntly had haunted him, making his life miserable.

Even now, he wanted to ask when he would get an answer to the proposal, but he was holding back.

He had already been shut down once when he tactlessly suggested he could arrange a meeting if Yoon Ki-hyun intended to return to the Center. He didn’t want to make the same mistake twice.

“When are you going to your family gathering?”

At Yoon Ki-hyun’s question, Jeong Si-jun hesitated for a moment.

Ah, the family gathering. It was true that he had taken Read on Read BL Novelsa day off, but stolen stolen contentcontentthe part about the family gathering was a lie.

To be precise, there was a gathering, but Jeong Si-jun had no intention of going. Going there would only result in nagging and a ruined mood; for the sake of his mental health, it was better to make an excuse and skip it.

“I still have time. But by any chance, have you heard anything from the Center?”

“Heard something?”

“Like, if there’s talk of them taking better care of you or calling you to a higher position, tell me. I’ll take better care of you than they will.”

Feeling inexplicably anxious and grumpy, Jeong Si-jun’s speech began to speed up. He was confident in his finances.

The Center operated on a limited budget, but he personally had quite a lot of assets he could manage. And if it was for Yoon Ki-hyun, he was willing to give as much as needed.

‘I can’t do anything about the rank. No, wait, he didn’t seem to have much desire for power…’

As Jeong Si-jun pouted, unable to hide his inner [unauthorized copy]our site" style="display:none;" aria-label="visit our site">visit our sitethoughts, a clinking sound came from across the table.

“No. It’s nothing like that.”

“Then why ask about the Head of the Guide Division?”

“Even if I work as a personal Guide, I technically have to register to get an access pass for the Center. I was just wondering because the Head of the Guide Division threw a fit before I resigned.”

Yoon Ki-hyun replied while sipping from a mug containing a tea bag. His tone was so plain it felt dry.

‘Ah, that was it? And here I thought…’

Jeong Si-jun felt an unconscious sense of relief, but he found himself staring at the beauty sitting before him as if possessed. The scene of him drinking tea under the sunset light filtering through the gaps of the tall buildings captured his gaze.

‘Wow, look at that face.’

He still wasn’t used to seeing Yoon Ki-hyun in casual clothes, something he never saw while he worked at the Center. Combined visit our sitestyle="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[stolen content]stolen contentcontent -->with the fact that his sharp tongue seemed to have softened—even if the words were still biting—the impact was doubled.

While immersed in that stunning face, a thought suddenly flashed through Jeong Si-jun’s mind, and the corners of his mouth twitched.

‘Wait a minute. If he’s talking about Center registration, does that mean he’ll be my personal Guide?’

He had been suffering from severe insomnia lately, worrying about what to do if he were rejected. But the atmosphere in Yoon Ki-hyun’s words felt extremely positive.

“What kind of fit did that old man throw?”

“Things like, ‘that’s not how you conduct yourself in professional life,’ and ‘don’t even think about working in the Guide industry in the future.’”

Yoon Ki-hyun’s expression was indifferent as he recited the words of the Head of the Guide Division.

At a glance, he seemed to find it ridiculous, but seeing as he asked about the Head’s current status, it was clear he cared quite a bit, even if he pretended not to.

Separate from wanting to gain Yoon Ki-hyun’s favor, Jeong Si-jun also disliked the [unauthorized copy]style="font-size:0;color:transparent;display:inline;">unauthorized copyHead of the Guide Division.

“He really pulled out all the stops in being a total kkondae.”

“Exactly.”

“Ah, come to think of it, some people were looking for someone who knew your contact info to try and bring you back…”

Jeong Si-jun trailed off while glancing at Yoon Ki-hyun, then shrugged his shoulders boastfully.

“I didn’t give it to them. Your number.”

Pride was written all over his curving lips. The expression Yoon Ki-hyun wore while watching this was strange.

He had thought a few times that the man was young, but once he recognized it, every action seemed to reflect that. Looking closely, he did seem a bit more youthful…

‘Ah, what am I thinking right now.’

Yoon Ki-hyun forcibly pushed aside the drifting random thoughts and replied half-heartedly.

“You’re more tight-lipped than I thought.”

“Hah, who do you think I am?”

Jeong Si-jun shrugged and acted pretentious, as if this were no big deal. Watching him, Yoon Ki-hyun let out a small laugh.

Around the time he decided to resign, he had thought Jeong Si-jun was the source of the rumors circulating at the Center. He had assumed he was the type who was loose-lipped and enjoyed talking about others, but unexpectedly, he might not be that kind of chatterbox.

“But what do you mean by the Head of the Guide Division trying to bring me back?”

“Did I not mention it? The Guides at the Center are a total mess right now, so the higher-ups are panicking.”

Yoon Ki-hyun narrowed his eyes at Jeong Si-jun’s blunt explanation.

‘What is this about now?’

This was certainly an interesting opening. When Yoon Ki-hyun signaled with his eyes for him to tell more, Jeong Si-jun leaned forward as if he had been waiting for the cue.

As if that wasn’t enough, he covered his mouth with his hand as if sharing a secret, prompting Yoon Ki-hyun to lean forward as well.

“Yesterday, one of the team leaders got into a fight with a deputy because he was dumping the guiding workload onto his team members. I heard a disciplinary committee is being convened soon.”

“Which team?”

“I wasn’t interested enough to hear the details… should I ask the kids now?”

Jeong Si-jun’s hand was already reaching for his phone as if he were about to call. Fearing it might look like he was prying, Yoon Ki-hyun immediately shook his head.

In any case, it was information he would naturally hear once he registered as a personal Guide and started visit unauthorized stolen contentcopyour sitefrequenting the headquarters building.

After checking the time for his pre-booked train ticket, he began planning to wrap up the conversation and head to the station.

“Anyway, since Team Leader Yoon resigned, the Guide side is a disaster. Thanks to that, things have gotten tougher on our end too…”

Jeong Si-jun grumbled strangely and leaned back against the sofa. Following suit, Yoon Ki-hyun naturally straightened his posture and quietly set down his nearly empty mug.

‘The Guide team is a mess… Hmm, when Team Leader Seo asked for help, I felt something was up, but is it worse than I thought?’

After changing his phone number, he had lost contact with all the Guides at the Center. Since he didn’t have personal social media, there was no way to contact them privately.

Because of that, the situation of the Guides as told by Jeong Si-jun was quite shocking.

He had thought the Center would run smoothly even if he wasn’t confident in the management chief’s ability to carry out childish professional retaliation after a week of trying to persuade him to stay.

Otherwise, why would a management chief, who was a master at squeezing Guides, resort to such [visit [visit our site]our site]childish and one-dimensional retaliation? But it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“By the way, if you don’t have any plans after this, do you want to grab a meal together?”

“You said you have a family gathering.”

“Ah, that. It’s just the kind of thing I don’t even have to go to.”

Jeong Si-jun muttered with a somewhat uncomfortable expression.

Is his relationship with his family worse than I thought? Yoon Ki-hyun replied while slightly averting his gaze.

“The timing doesn’t work. I think I should get going now.”

“…Then I’ll buy you a meal next time. I guess it can’t be helped if you’re busy.”

Jeong Si-jun didn’t cling further and simply shrugged. His way of promising a next time [Read on Read BL Novels]was very unauthorized copynatural now. The feeling of sarcasm or cynicism had almost vanished, leaving only a plain tone.

Yoon Ki-hyun gathered his coat and muffler from the seat beside him and glanced up. Jeong Si-jun was standing next to him with a grin.

Even though quite some time had passed while exchanging trivial conversation, he could still smell a faint scent of disinfectant coming from him.

Espers are people too, so it must hurt when they’re injured, right?

His mind had been troubled with many thoughts after visiting the hospital today. As he struggled to live again, he viewed the personal Guide proposal from Jeong Si-jun in a similar context.

Because there is only one end for an Esper who does not receive guiding.

“Team Leader Jeong.”

“Yeah?”

Yoon Ki-hyun glanced at Jeong Si-jun’s face, which didn’t seem Read on Read BL Novelsstyle="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[unauthorized copy]to expect much. He had made up his mind long ago, but it had taken longer than expected to say these words.

He had to protect his thin pride and needed time to compose himself. But now that he was sorted, he had to do what needed to be done.

“Can you bring the contract with you the next time we meet?”

When Yoon Ki-hyun asked that, Jeong Si-jun nodded with a bright smile.

Looking at him like this, he seemed closer to a pet dog than the ‘mad dog’ of the Awakener Center. As that thought suddenly crossed his mind, Yoon Ki-hyun slowly closed his eyes.

‘Ah, am I crazy? What the hell is this “pet dog” nonsense. Look how tall he is.’

While feeling disgusted with himself internally, he eventually laughed as he heard Jeong Si-jun’s eager breathing beside him.

He really is such a transparent guy. Today, too, his ill will toward Jeong Si-jun was slowly fading.