Chapter 22 – ​The ​Price ​of ​a ​Misjudgment

Jeong ​Si-jun ​and ​Kang Hae-mun, the leader ​of ​Special Team 4, ​did not get ​along. ​That ​was ​likely ​why ​those bastards had ​been ​so ​blatant about bringing ​him up.

The atmosphere of ​a team ​tended to ​be dictated ​by its ​leader. ​However, ​being caught by ​the very ​subject of their gossip ​was a separate matter ​entirely.

“…….”

The Esper, who had ​spoken too ​freely ​only to be discovered by the ​man himself, felt his ​heart ​hammering ​wildly ​in ​his chest.

When he ​stole a ​glance ​upward to gauge ​the ​mood, he had the misfortune ​of locking ​eyes ​with Jeong Si-jun, ​who ​slowly ​curled ​his ​lips into ​a ​smile as ​if to put on a show.

‘Fuck.’

Since the ​man looked like ​a model, the ​smile might have seemed ​plausible to ​some, but this ​was ​a smile he ​felt he would ​never forget ​for ​the rest ​of ​his life. ​It ​would probably ​haunt ​his ​dreams for a ​while.

Everyone ​who had ​entered ​a ​gate ​with [visit our site]aria-label="stolen content">stolen contentJeong Si-jun said the same thing: that it was chilling when he smiled.

Since there weren’t many opportunities to enter a gate with a leader from another team, he hadn’t fully understood what that meant.

He had figured that no matter how Jeong Si-jun smiled, a smile was just a smile. He thought people were just overreacting. But now, he understood exactly what those words meant.

“Team Leader, we just… I’m sorry. Truly, I’m sorry.”

He sprang up from his seat and bowed his head deeply. It would be great if it ended here, but it didn’t seem like it would be settled so easily. The wavelength floating in the air was still hostile.

A sense of crisis born from primal instinct tightened his throat, making him feel as if the man would pounce on him instead of a Kaiju at any moment.

“Why the fuck is my Guide still being called a ‘public good’ by you pieces of shit?”

Jeong Si-jun gave his shin a light kick with the toe of his combat boot.

It looked like a light tap without much force, but the Espers lurched forward as if they had been hit by a hammer.

“Ugh… I’m truly sorry!”

“And what the fuck is ‘public good’ when referring to a person? Huh? You sons of bitches.”

“We made a mistake.”

“Because you casually slap on some dog-shit nickname, it reaches my ears and I end up using it without realizing. What the hell are the kids supposed to learn from that, huh?”

Jeong Si-jun began to properly berate the Espers from the other team.

If it were anyone else, this behavior—targeting members of a different team—could have escalated into a major issue. However, the problem was that the person doing it was someone who didn’t give a damn about such things.

The Espers working at the Awakener Center were a melting pot of various cultures.

Some described it as being like a gang of mob lackeys, while others said it was no different from the military or an athletic dormitory.

In other words, while the rank system took the form of a company, this level of berating and physical discipline happened routinely and calmly.

“Ugh.”

“We will correct it.”

Without a properly established hierarchy and a toughened mindset, one could never survive inside a gate.

In the past, there was a time when regulations and the atmosphere had loosened significantly following criticisms that the Esper system was too irrational. However, most of the Espers from that era had died inside the gates.

The rules applied to the Center’s Espers were an order written in the blood of the dead by those who survived the gates. The standards of civilians were logic applicable only to ordinary companies.

In a gate where Kaijus, whose patterns were not yet fully understood, poured out from all directions, there was nothing to be achieved by taking Espers who had trained in a friendly, harmonious environment. Perhaps if it were child’s play.

“……Park Chang-jin, Seo Won-mo.”

The voice reciting their names—having somehow spotted the name tags on their chests—was terrifying.

The two Espers shifted their eyes frantically. What happened to the guys who got on Jeong Si-jun’s bad side? They recalled them rolling in the dirt and desperately requesting transfers to regional centers.

“When a person calls you, huh? You should fucking answer.”

“I’m sorry!”

“……Even if I had ten mouths, I would have nothing to say!”

“How the fuck does a person get ten mouths, you brat? Stop saying things that don’t even make sense. Do I look like I have enough free time to play word games with you?”

If he weren’t free, why would he barge into another team’s breakroom to discipline them?

Even if they thought that internally, they were the ones who had made a massive blunder, so they had no ground to complain. All they could do was stay low and beg for forgiveness.

“I’m sorry!”

“Is it right to call someone else’s Guide that kind of name?”

“I’m sorry, Team Leader!”

“Do you have nothing else to say besides ‘I’m sorry’?”

“…….”

“This fucking Center always comes up with dog-shit nicknames. What the hell is ‘public good’ when talking about a person, huh?”

While silently enduring Jeong Si-jun’s berating, the Special Team 4 Espers felt a sense of injustice.

The guy himself had called Yoon Ki-hyun that. It was like the classic “when I do it, it’s a romance; when others do it, it’s an affair.” Fuck.

They wondered why they had to be berated like this by a younger man just because of rank. However, no one present showed any sign of that sentiment.

If they hated it, they could just clash with him and leave the Center. The reasons they couldn’t do that varied, but one thing was clear: they were screwed.

Because the leader of Special Team 4 was walking into the wide-open breakroom with a face like he’d chewed on shit.

“Hey, why are you guys… Team Leader Jeong, why are you doing this here?”

Jeong Si-jun whipped his head around. That [unauthorized [visit our site]stolen contentwm: visit our site -->copy]chilling smile was still plastered on his otherwise handsome face.

Kang Hae-mun, the leader of Special Team 4, instinctively frowned. Whenever that bastard smiled like that, something always went wrong.

“You’ve come at the perfect time, Team Leader Kang.”

“What on earth is going on?”

“I happened to hear something truly fucking disgusting while passing by, so how about you draft these two today?”

Jeong Si-jun pointed with his chin toward the two Espers who had been trembling moments ago. Kang Hae-mun shifted his gaze, gesturing with his eyes for his team members to explain the situation.

Everyone vaguely avoided his gaze. Not a single person uttered a word, as if their lips were glued shut. If it had been a forced accusation, their lips would have been flapping long ago.

“I don’t know what you heard, Team Leader Jeong, but…”

It was just as Kang Hae-mun cautiously began to speak that Jeong Si-jun muttered with wide, manic eyes.

“These bastards were calling Team Leader Yoon Ki-hyun a ‘public good.’ He’s already resigned and is no longer [stolen content]part of the Center, visit our siteand he’s someone who will soon be my personal Guide.”

“…….”

“I wonder how this is any different from treating me like a piece of shit?”

“……Team Leader Jeong.”

“The more I talk, the more foul my mood becomes. So, what do you say? Will they be drafted?”

His tone was almost a threat. Kang Hae-mun looked at his team members in silence.

Their eyes were wavering. He could almost hear their silent screams begging him to cover for them.

However, since this was his team members’ fault, there was nothing he could do. If they were going to gossip, they should have at least closed the door. He had no choice but to nod silently.

He felt like shit.

After securing the promise that two members of Special Team 4 would [Read on Read BL Novels]style="position:absolute;left:-9999px;font-size:0;">[visit our site]be drafted, Jeong Si-jun walked down the Center corridor. His expression was so menacing that people avoided him, and not a single person dared to speak to him.

Public good. The more he chewed on it, the more foul and vulgar the nuance felt.

Of course, he had called Yoon Ki-hyun that himself, but hearing it from other people’s mouths made him feel like garbage.

He had apologized to the man and paid a settlement, but those people hadn’t.

‘No, fuck. This whole Center is dog-shit; it was rotten from the start.’

Jeong Si-jun gnashed his teeth and rolled his eyes. He felt a suffocating pressure in his chest, as if a giant boulder were resting on it.

He had attended a meeting called for some trivial subject, only to spend the time listening to the nonsense of sluggish old men until it ended.

When the Guide Bureau Chief, whose face had turned a bit sallow, approached him and whispered, he had to struggle to resist the urge to just beat the man up.

‘Team Leader Jeong, how did you manage to meet and talk with Mr. Yoon Ki-hyun? I heard you applied for an access pass as his personal Guide.’

‘And?’

‘Now, now. Don’t look at me with such scary eyes. By any chance, did he show any sign of wanting to return to the Center?’

To think the man could casually ask such a question when he had already heard the truth from Yoon Ki-hyun.

Hearing the Guide Bureau Chief’s brazen question left him speechless. If this was what “experience” or “social grace” looked like, he never wanted to acquire such things in his life.

‘Why should I tell you that?’

Jeong Si-jun smirked, recalling the cold gaze Yoon Ki-hyun had used when snapping at him. He had tried imitating it clumsily, and it seemed to work better than expected.

Still thinking of Yoon Ki-hyun, he rummaged through his pants pocket to find his phone.

Are you busy?

Jeong Si-jun typed a message into the chat window he had pinned to the top of his messaging app. After a long while, a reply arrived.

Mr. Yoon Ki-hyun

Did your access pass come out?

Instead of answering whether he was busy, Yoon Ki-hyun asked back only the essential business. Most of their conversations were like this. He seemed to be a pragmatist who hated long-windedness and loathed unnecessary details.

As he exchanged messages with Yoon Ki-hyun, Jeong Si-jun felt his terrible mood gradually improving. Answering Yoon Ki-hyun’s question, he added a thought that had occurred to him in a fit of impulse.

They say it’ll be out this evening. Also, is it okay if I send more settlement money?