Chapter 36 – The Price of a Misjudgment

Seo Yi-kyung

The weather is crazy. It’s cold today, so dress warmly when you come out.

Somehow, the number of people who knew Yoon Ki-hyun was sick had increased to two.

Jeong Si-jun and Seo Yi-kyung.

It was unsettling, especially since the two of them didn’t get along.

Judging by the fact that people he encountered on his commute weren’t whispering about him, Seo Yi-kyung seemed to be relatively tight-lipped. Though he couldn’t guarantee how long that would last.

After Seo Yi-kyung had confessed—unprompted—on the rooftop that he disliked Jeong Si-jun, the two of them occasionally exchanged messages.

To be precise, Yoon Ki-hyun gave him his number and replied moderately just to prevent Seo Yi-kyung, who claimed he wanted to get closer, from becoming too bothersome.

Their relationship was limited to brief small talk whenever they happened to meet in the lobby. Even so, Jeong Si-jun seemed displeased by it and grumbled frequently.

He only quieted down after Yoon Ki-hyun firmly told him a couple of times that [stolen content]he had absolutely no intention of switching his personal Guide.

‘I really hope Jeong Si-jun talks a bit less today.’

Hoping his employer’s chatter would subside, Yoon Ki-hyun arrived at the center and met someone he was glad to see in the lobby.

“Team Leader…!”

It was a member of Guide Team 2, where Yoon Ki-hyun had served as the team leader. This person had also attended the modest farewell party on Yoon Ki-hyun’s last day at the center.

Yoon Ki-hyun couldn’t help but smile as the man rushed toward him upon making eye contact.

Having awakened as a Guide and joined the center immediately after becoming an adult, he was still relatively naive to the ways of the world. It had been so long since he quit, yet he was still calling him “Team Leader.”

“I’ve already resigned, so why are you calling me Team Leader?”

Seeing Yoon Ki-hyun point this out before even saying a proper greeting, Hyun Ju-ho, a member of the Awakened Management Center’s Guide Team 2, shook his head.

Despite his words, Ju-ho knew that Yoon Ki-hyun was a person with a warm heart. He was the type to secretly take care of people behind their backs without showing it openly, which was why many didn’t realize it.

“Ah, your personality really hasn’t changed.”

“Have you been doing well, Ju-ho?”

“Don’t even get me started. It feels like I’m dying now that you’re gone, Team Leader.”

Hyun Ju-ho wailed. He wasn’t just flattering him; it truly felt like hell without Yoon Ki-hyun.

The new team leader was negligent, and the accumulated fatigue from the increased workload was indescribable. However, the beauty standing before him only gave a faint smile, assuming the words were merely lip service.

“Is Assistant Manager Jeong-ae doing well?”

“Ah.”

As Hyun Ju-ho’s expression darkened, Yoon Ki-hyun’s voice dropped.

“Did something happen?”

“Well…”

Seeing him hesitate and glance around, it was clear that something had indeed occurred.

Claiming it would only take a moment, Hyun Ju-ho led Yoon Ki-hyun to a cafe outside the Awakened Management Center. Yoon Ki-hyun stopped Ju-ho from insisting on buying the coffee and handed over his own card instead, then looked at his former team member sitting opposite him.

“…I’m sorry for taking your time when you must be busy, Team Leader.”

“I told you, I quit a long time ago, so stop—”

At Yoon Ki-hyun’s correction, the young man, who still had a hint of baby fuzz on his face, shut his mouth tight.

Whenever he looked at Hyun Ju-ho, who would be twenty-one next year, Yoon Ki-hyun couldn’t help but see his younger self. A version of himself that was clumsy, ignorant, and completely intimidated after making constant mistakes.

“What happened with Assistant Manager Park?”

He had run into former team members a few times while visiting the center. However, those encounters were limited to exchanging nods from a distance or exchanging cliché greetings about being glad they seemed to be doing well. In the first place, Yoon Ki-hyun wasn’t the type to proactively be affectionate with his team members.

“Actually…”

Hesitating as he began, Hyun Ju-ho glanced around once more and whispered in a low voice.

“The atmosphere in our team has become really bad since the new team leader took over.”

“For example?”

“He keeps giving us absurd guiding schedules and tells us to clear them all by the end of the day, or he rejects our requests to decline guiding…”

The situation at the center was far more chaotic than he had imagined.

Management rejecting a Guide’s refusal to provide guiding? He couldn’t fathom what they were thinking.

“That’s why Assistant Manager Park has been on sick leave since last week. Team Leader Yang tried to refuse the approval, and they had a huge fight over it…”

At the mention that the sick leave had almost been denied, Yoon Ki-hyun blinked slowly.

“You’re saying Team Leader Yang Jae-min did that?”

“…Yes.”

The person who had taken over Guide Team 2 as Yoon Ki-hyun’s successor was Yang Jae-min, a B-class Guide with five years of experience.

Though not an A-class Guide, he was considered a veteran who had grown within the center and was evaluated as having decent leadership skills. Honestly, Yoon Ki-hyun’s impression of him from the short period they spent together during the handover was vague.

“I’m sorry. I know you’ve already resigned, but I was so happy to see you and I had nowhere else to vent…”

“You don’t need to apologize to me.”

Seeing the clumsy way he fretted and looked around, Yoon Ki-hyun gave a small, reassuring smile. As the tension broke, a smile spread across Hyun Ju-ho’s youthful face.

“Being with you like this reminds me of the old days. Like when I made a mistake during [stolen content]guiding and got grabbed by the collar, and you protested on my behalf and bought me coffee here.”

“I did?”

“Don’t you remember?”

“…Hmm.”

Yoon Ki-hyun responded with an awkward smile. His memory was hazy. Since Hyun Ju-ho wasn’t the type to make things up, he assumed it must have happened, but if asked if he clearly remembered it, the answer was that he didn’t.

“You probably helped so many people that you don’t remember. Ah, I think I have to go back in now.”

Checking the time, Hyun Ju-ho hurriedly stood up. Perhaps feeling it would be a waste of the coffee Yoon Ki-hyun had bought, his expression as he downed the drink in one go looked almost solemn.

After saying he hoped to see him again, Hyun Ju-ho ran back toward the center. Watching his retreating figure, Yoon Ki-hyun fidgeted with his fingertips.

Assistant Manager Park Jeong-ae’s sick leave weighed on his mind, but as someone who had resigned, there was nothing he could do to help even if he cared. The affairs of Guide Team 2 had to be resolved within Guide Team 2.

‘By the way, when was Hyun Ju-ho grabbed by the collar?’

It was uncommon for a Guide to be grabbed by the collar by an Esper. In fact, to be honest, if such a thing had happened, it would have been a legendary incident talked about for a long time.

No matter how much Espers [stolen [Read on Read BL Novels]content]looked down on Guides, grabbing them by the collar was beyond common sense.

And yet, he remembered nothing at all. No matter how much he searched his memory, it was a story he was hearing for the first time. It was just like that day when he remembered nothing the next morning after drinking too much.

‘…Could there be more things I don’t remember?’

Yoon Ki-hyun remained in his seat for a while after that.

He felt an unpleasant sensation, as if something didn’t fit, crawling across his skin.

After he began to suspect there might be a problem with his memory, he suffered a string of nightmares.

The content was similar, but they were all dreams related to his father’s columbarium. One day, there was a crack in his father’s urn; another time, the urn was filled with water. He felt unsettled whenever he woke up.

His father had managed to leave his only son buried in debt due to hospital bills, and he thought that should have been the end of it, but the man apparently had a talent for continuing to disturb him in his dreams in the form of an urn.

[Seo Yi-kyung]

The weather is crazy. It’s cold today, so dress warmly when you come out.

Yoon Ki-hyun gave a brief reply to Seo Yi-kyung’s morning message, which had almost become a daily routine, and arrived at the guiding room, pushing the disturbing dreams aside.

As he sat on the sofa to catch his breath, Jeong Si-jun unauthorized copyRead on Read BL Novels -->END: unauthorized copy -->burst through the door of the guiding room again, carrying something strange.

“Take this.”

“What is it?”

“I asked around, and it turns out the amount that can be brushed off as a settlement fee is smaller than I thought. They said it could be a problem if I transfer more than that amount.”

Since the paper bag was being shoved in front of his face, Yoon Ki-hyun had no choice but to take it.

Based on the tone, it sounded like he had just bought some snacks from a nearby convenience store, but the luxury watch brand logo embossed on the paper bag caught his eye.

He couldn’t be carrying bundles of cash in here, could he?

Peeking inside the bag, he saw a luxurious box. The logo visible on it was from the same brand as the bag.

“It’s nothing much. I just went to the store and bought one because I thought it would look good on you.”

“What are you sorry for this time?”

When he turned to look, Jeong Si-jun immediately averted his gaze the moment their eyes met and mumbled.

“Just, you know. Overall…?”

Good grief. Before, there were at least formal excuses, like saying he had spoken harshly or had said a few unkind words behind his back.

But now, there wasn’t even that. It seemed that for Jeong Si-jun, “settlement fees” had become nothing more than an excuse for unilateral gift-giving.

“But we’ve been working together for almost a month now, right?”

Yoon Ki-hyun slowly tilted his head, feeling an ominous vibe from the introduction.

“So, I was thinking… can I just speak comfortably with you, Yoon Ki-hyun?”

Jeong Si-jun’s gaze remained fixed near the sofa of the guiding room. The guy, who usually stared intently at his face except when guiding, suddenly couldn’t meet his eyes.

“By ‘speak comfortably,’ do you mean…?”

When Yoon Ki-hyun asked back, Jeong Si-jun replied grumpily.

“Ah, what. I mean I’ll call you ‘Hyung.’ It’s not like the guiding efficiency drops just because I call you Hyung.”

Jeong Si-jun was still obsessed with titles.

Was he not tired of that ‘Hyung’ nonsense? Yoon Ki-hyun looked up at Jeong Si-jun[unauthorized unauthorized copycopy]217;s face in disbelief.

As their eyes met, the guy’s face began to turn red again. It was simply absurd.