Chapter 29 – The Price of a Misjudgment
Yoon Ki-hyun blinked a bit slower than usual.
White steam was rising from the mug. He stared blankly at the steam scattering in the midday sunlight pouring through a window on one side of the cafe, calmly composing himself.
“Why are you curious about that?”
“Oh, I don’t mean it in a bad way. I just wondered if I could be added to your list of options, Ki-hyun.”
Just as Yoon Ki-hyun had guessed, Seo Yi-kyung wanted to hire him as a personal Guide. That was why he had made this proposal now, while Jeong Si-jun was away.
Seo Yi-kyung’s offer was surely based on a high evaluation of Yoon Ki-hyun’s guiding skills, but the timing was poor.
It had been only a week since Yoon Ki-hyun had re-registered at the Center as [class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">unauthorized copy]Jeong Si-jun’s Guide.
Even if Seo Yi-kyung offered better terms than Jeong Si-jun, Yoon Ki-hyun’s reputation would likely be even more disastrous than it was now if he accepted. Yoon Ki-hyun hated that.
The stories he heard just by commuting to the Center as Jeong Si-jun’s personal Guide were already causing a subtle accumulation of stress. He had resolved to ignore it and not let it show, but the human heart does not move so easily.
Sometimes, he wanted to stand in the middle of the Center’s hallway and scream, What exactly did I do so wrong?
He wanted to lash out, asking if those whispering behind his back were going to take responsibility for his loans and medication costs, and why on earth they were so interested in someone else’s business.
But he simply didn’t. Because Yoon Ki-hyun knew better than anyone what would happen after that.
“As you know, Team Leader Jeong’s manner of speaking can be a bit… aggressive. I’m a little concerned, and I value your guiding just as much as Team Leader Jeong does—”
“Team Leader Seo Yi-kyung.”
Yoon Ki-hyun cut off the sophistry Seo Yi-kyung was laying out in his soft tone and met his eyes. Perhaps [visit our site]visit our site -->because the pigment was light, Seo Yi-kyung’s pupils looked a clear brown in the sunlight.
Looking only at his appearance, he was a man who fit the description of ‘gentle,’ but unlike his exterior, there was a murky side to his inner nature. He was definitely a different breed of person from Jeong Si-jun, whose inside and outside seemed to be the same.
“I understand what kind of proposal you’re making, but I have no intention of doing so.”
Yoon Ki-hyun politely declined Seo Yi-kyung’s offer. He didn’t even intend to hear the terms.
If he had to put it strictly, he wanted to maintain loyalty to the contract he had signed first with Jeong Si-jun. If it hadn’t been for Jeong Si-jun’s offer, he would have likely executed his suicide plan by now.
Regardless of the past, he was aware that it was thanks to Jeong Si-jun’s proposal that he had begun to dream of a future again and regained the will to live. Dealing with Jeong Si-jun was still awkward. Sometimes, he was even annoying.
But if asked whether he despised or hated him as much as before—to the point of wanting to void the contract less than a month after signing it… that wasn’t the case.
The fact that Jeong Si-jun acted however he pleased and his vulgar way of speaking played a part in why he hated him, but the biggest reason was that he had heard Jeong Si-jun was the first to coin the derogatory terms circulating around the Awakener Center.
However, after spending time with him and hearing his explanation, he unauthorized copyhad judged that there was a high probability the story had been distorted.
Moreover, considering the monthly salary he offered, the settlement money he deposited frequently, and the gradual improvement in his way of speaking, Jeong Si-jun might be awkward, but he wasn’t hateful.
Since he kept rambling like a brat, it felt like he had gained an immature younger brother. If he had to categorize it as like or dislike, that was it.
“You’re refusing without even hearing the terms?”
Seo Yi-kyung smiled awkwardly, as if Yoon Ki-hyun’s blunt refusal was unexpected.
Yoon Ki-hyun pondered for a moment. Aside from his intuition that the terms wouldn’t be better than Jeong Si-jun’s, he felt uneasy, as if listening would provide a clue that revealed his annual salary.
Seeing Yoon Ki-hyun’s reluctant expression, Seo Yi-kyung continued smoothly.
“I’m a bit curious just how good Team Leader Jeong’s terms are for you to be like this.”
Yoon Ki-hyun had absolutely no intention of blabbing the terms Jeong Si-jun had proposed. our site">visit our siteHe merely moistened his lips and looked down at the mug, which hadn’t decreased in volume at all. He had to choose his words carefully.
Whether he liked him or not, he would be seeing Seo Yi-kyung around the Center, so he didn’t want to create a situation that would cause friction. However, he couldn’t shake the impression that by making such a proposal, Seo Yi-kyung viewed him as someone easily swayed.
“That is a difficult part for me to disclose.”
“Ah, this isn’t easy. I’m just so eager to have you, Ki-hyun, that I’ve become impatient.”
Seo Yi-kyung stepped back obediently with a small laugh. However, Yoon Ki-hyun’s expression showed no sign of softening.
Ignoring a few glances directed toward them, he slowly leaned his upper body forward. It was then that the scent of Seo Yi-kyung’s perfume mixed with the faint aroma of chamomile.
“If Team Leader Jeong happens to act recklessly in the guiding room…”
Because he trailed off strangely, Yoon Ki-hyun stared at Seo Yi-kyung’s face.
Seo Yi-kyung still had a face that looked like a good person. Wasn’t [unauthorized copy]it an overly kind-looking face for someone who presumed to know the circumstances of another’s guiding room?
Due to that subtle and unpleasant discrepancy, Yoon Ki-hyun slowly spoke.
“Since when did you and I become the kind of relationship where we openly discuss such things?”
“….”
“From my perspective, I don’t think we ever were.”
“…Ah.”
“This conversation is unpleasant. I hope you won’t visit me for this kind of business in the future. I’ll be leaving now.”
Yoon Ki-hyun stood up immediately and bowed his head to Seo Yi-kyung, who was looking up at him with a bewildered expression.
“Thank you for the tea.”
At the polite greeting, Seo Yi-kyung let out a small laugh and watched the back of Yoon Ki-hyun’s head as he walked away without lingering.
Then, he turned his head to check the mug Yoon Ki-hyun’s hand had touched. Contrary to the words “thank you for the tea,” the drink was still full to the brim.
‘Ah, this actually makes me competitive.’
Seo Yi-kyung sank back into the sofa. Being clearly rejected had, ironically, made things clearer.
Yoon Ki-hyun was certainly a talent too precious to give up on. People who could replace his exceptional guiding ability and refined beauty would not be common.
Lost in thought with his arms crossed, he lightly tapped his forearm with his index finger, recalling Yoon Ki-hyun’s face as he looked up at him.
The gaze that had looked at him coldly provided an indescribable feeling. It felt as if he had received guiding just through a glance.
Does the Awakener Center give extra points to people who are rude or crazy? If not, how could Read on Read BL Novelsevery single person with a title have some kind of flaw like that?
Muttering his irritated thoughts, Yoon Ki-hyun headed toward the guiding room. He had some awkward time left before he had to go to the Chinese restaurant Jeong Si-jun had reserved.
He had expected the timing to work out if he finished his conversation with Seo Yi-kyung and then moved, but because he had flatly rejected the rude proposal and walked out, he had a gap in his schedule.
Deciding that he should calm his mind before eating to avoid getting sick, he caught the eyes of several people glancing at him while returning to the guiding room.
They didn’t have the courage to approach him openly and ask what he had talked about with Team Leader Seo Yi-kyung, but those sticky gazes—staring with faces that didn’t even try to hide their curiosity—were irritating.
‘What the hell is wrong with these bastards? Does the brain go a bit haywire when you awaken as an Esper?’
Even when he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, Seo Yi-kyung’s face slowly drifted up over the black void. That greasy face, grinning as if a screw were missing.
The more he chewed over the short conversation with Seo Yi-kyung, the more his mood sank into the mud.
It was because he couldn’t shake the feeling of [unauthorized copystyle="font-size:0;position:absolute;left:-9999px;">]being looked down upon. At most, he thought Seo Yi-kyung might be delivering a proposal on behalf of the Guiding Director to test his return to the Center.
But not only did he presume to know his circumstances under the guise of worrying about him, he went as far as to make a proposal that practically urged him to break his contract.
‘Just what does he take me for…’
Separate from the behavior of presuming the situation in the guiding room, Seo Yi-kyung gave off a chilling vibe. While he wasn’t the type to blindly trust his intuition, he felt an unknown omen from Seo Yi-kyung.
Although his years of service at the Awakened Management Center were relatively short, he prided himself on having experienced most of the sights—both good and bad. In particular, his intuition regarding Espers was generally not wrong.
That intuition was giving him a hint. Working with Seo Yi-kyung would not be a good choice.
‘What a headache.’
The headache that had been quiet for a few days was starting again. Just as Yoon Ki-hyun was taking a breath with his forearm covering his eyes, the guiding room door flew open. There was only one guy who would fling the door open like that.
“No, why aren’t you checking your messages?”
Yoon Ki-hyun glanced at Jeong Si-jun, who began badgering him the moment he entered, and slowly checked his phone.
He didn’t know what kind of grand message he had sent to make him make such a fuss. Upon unlocking the phone, he found a flurry of messages from Jeong Si-jun arriving at a few-minute interval.
One after finishing the gate raid, another when he was moving, and another asking if he had gone to the restaurant first.
In any case, the messages reporting and asking about every single situation felt noisy. It wasn’t even a voice message.
By the way, when had the messages arrived? He hadn’t turned on the notification sound, but the vibration must have gone off; perhaps he had fallen asleep for a moment so briefly that he didn’t feel it.
‘…Ah, maybe it’s because I just got stressed out because of that bastard Seo Yi-kyung.’
Yoon Ki-hyun decided to blame it on Seo Yi-kyung. Then, he suddenly stared intently at Jeong Si-jun’s face. The longer his gaze lingered on the face, the more Jeong Si-jun’s expression strangely twitched.
“Wha-what is it?”
The face, stuttering and flustered unlike his usual self, looked quite cute. It was the polar opposite reaction to that greasy, smiling face that was different on the inside and outside.
Same on the inside and outside, honest, and rude.
‘I’d rather guide this guy than guide Seo Yi-kyung.’
Thinking this, Yoon Ki-hyun looked a bit longer at Jeong Si-jun’s dazed face. Unlike before, when looking at him for too long would be annoying, strangely, a sense of peace seemed to find his heart right now.
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