Chapter 66 – ​The ​Price ​of ​Misjudgment

Seo ​Yi-kyung

Sa-on ​mentioned ​Ki-hyun ​a ​lot. When I told ​him ​you used to ​work as a ​team ​leader, ​he ​said ​he ​wanted to learn ​from ​your ​team.

Yoon Ki-hyun stared ​blankly at the message ​from Seo ​Yi-kyung, who ​had contacted ​him for ​the ​first ​time in a ​while.

Rather than ​being flustered by the ​sudden content, Jeong Si-jun’s ​voice—insisting that he had ​clearly switched ​to ​the new S-class Guide—continued to echo ​in his head.

‘Why is ​he ​suddenly ​contacting ​me ​to talk about ​Kim Sa-on?’

Feeling ​uneasy ​because he couldn’t ​discern ​Seo Yi-kyung’s intentions, Yoon Ki-hyun ​sent a ​reply ​anyway.

I only helped ​him ​get ​away ​from ​a Read on Read BL unauthorized copyNovelscult ​once, ​so I’m ​grateful he thinks so highly of me.

Just ​as Jeong Si-jun ​had said, Seo ​Yi-kyung came out to ​greet Kim ​Sa-on every morning. ​By ​chance, their commute ​times were similar, ​so he ​frequently ​witnessed the ​two ​of them ​chatting ​amiably.

Since Seo ​Yi-kyung ​was ​surprisingly good at ​recognizing ​his face ​from ​a ​distance ​and greeting him first, they had become acquaintances who shared light small talk. Beyond that, they were distant, with virtually no other points of contact.

‘Kim Sa-on…’

His impression of Kim Sa-on was still vague. He was worried about the boy’s unexpectedly youthful face and innocent personality, but that was all.

One would need to spend a certain amount of time together to either like or dislike someone; there was simply too little information to judge a person based on a bit of morning small talk.

Seo Yi-kyung

If he’s asking if he can’t get training from his personal Guide, you must have left a really great impression haha. How exactly did you help him get away from the cult?

Reading the trivial message, Yoon Ki-hyun narrowed his eyes.

‘Ah, is that why Yang Jae-min was so irritable with me?’

He felt as though he had found a slight clue in Seo Yi-kyung’s message.

According to information occasionally brought to him by Hyun Ju-ho, Yang Jae-min seemed to have a bit of a complex about being a B-class Guide, and he had become arrogant now that an S-class Guide was assigned to his team.

The title of being the direct superior to an S-class Guide, whom the Head of the Guide Bureau and the Management Deputy cherished, seemed to offset his inferiority complex to some extent.

However, when Kim Sa-on—the very person filling Yang Jae-min’s sense of self-worth—mentioned wanting to receive training from someone working as a personal Guide instead of his own team leader, it might have set him off.

‘He seemed like the type with a strong ego.’

It was merely a guess, but it didn’t feel like a stretch. While he had been wondering about the motive behind Yang Jae-min picking a fight with him that morning, he felt somewhat relieved to have found a clue that allowed for a plausible theory.

While he was grateful that Kim Sa-on thought well of him despite Read on Read BL Novelshaving [visit our site]only spoken a few words, he honestly had no idea how to respond to that message.

As he let time drift by aimlessly, Yoon Ki-hyun looked up at the strange silence. Even though it was past the start of work hours, the guiding room remained quiet.

Jeong Si-jun, who seemed to have taken a great liking to the words he snapped at Yang Jae-min in the lobby and now tacked the phrase ‘Yoon Ki-hyun’s dedicated Esper’ onto every sentence, had not yet arrived.

‘Is he running late today?’

He hadn’t shown any signs of it before leaving work yesterday, so perhaps he had overslept. Just as he was staring intently at the door, a message arrived on his phone.

[Obituary Notice]

We pray for the repose of the deceased.

We inform you that the mother of Mr. Jeong Si-jun, the late Ms. Kang Ji-yeon, passed away today due to a prolonged illness.

Deceased: Kang Ji-yeon, aged 65

Funeral Hall: …

It was the news of Jeong Si-jun’s mother’s passing—something that even Yoon Ki-hyun, whose head was always cluttered with various thoughts, had never once considered.

For a moment, his mind went blank.

Not knowing what to do immediately, Yoon Ki-hyun hesitated. This wasn’t his first time attending a funeral. Moreover, he knew that Jeong Si-jun’s mother had been unwell.

But news like this always leaves one flustered.

Why does an obituary always arrive so abruptly? Without any regard for the circumstances of those left behind.

‘Should I go pay my respects first? Or would it be better to go as a group with Team Leader Jeong’s team members? Since it’s a visit on behalf of the company, that might seem more formal… though I’m not a team member…’

Yoon Ki-hyun lost himself in thought while [stolen content]stolen content stolen content-->checking his attire. He had never liked colored suits and always wore black; it was surprising that this habit was proving so helpful.

Leaving now wouldn’t be a major problem. He was thinking it might be better to visit quietly alone rather than joining Jeong Si-jun’s team when his phone rang. The caller was Jeong Si-jun.

“Yes, Team Leader. I… saw the text.”

Just as Yoon Ki-hyun was about to offer his condolences, Jeong Si-jun forced out his first words. The sound of a small intake of breath was clearly audible over the phone.

[…You don’t need to come.]

The deeply sunken voice seemed to pierce straight into his ears.

“Is it a private family funeral?”

[No, it’s not that… I was out of it and answered haphazardly, and the funeral service company just sent the message to my phone.]

“Ah…”

[It’ll just be tiring if you come, so why bother? Anyway, let’s just see each other at the center next week. Got it?]

The voice was dry and cracked, devoid of life. Hearing that suppressed sound, a certain scene suddenly flashed through his mind.

The pale, ghostly face of Jeong Si-jun, looking lost and flustered under the harsh fluorescent lights of the guiding room.

Why on earth did that face come to mind right now?

Unable to bring himself to agree, Yoon Ki-hyun could only mutter the conventional expressions he should have said upon receiving such a call. Nothing else seemed appropriate for Jeong Si-jun.

“…I pray for the repose of the deceased.”

[…Thank you. I’ll hang up now.]

After Jeong Si-jun’s brief voice, the call ended. Looking at the screen [stolen contentstolen contentstyle="font-size:0;position:absolute;left:-9999px;">]indicating the call had terminated, Yoon Ki-hyun finally let out a long breath.

‘Since he told me not to come, is it right not to go?’

He had absolutely no sense of what to do in situations like this. Even after arriving home, his mind remained cluttered with thoughts of paying his respects.

Regardless of what he said, it was only proper to give condolence money. There was a reason for the saying that while you may miss out on celebrations, you should never miss a funeral.

It was still relatively early. Yoon Ki-hyun decided to stop by the funeral hall in the afternoon.

Setting up the funeral hall took longer than expected. In the past, he had only memorized etiquette conceptually, but having experienced it once, he could understand why such customs had become solidified. There was a reason why this kind of etiquette existed.

Preparing an envelope with condolence money and checking the time, Yoon Ki-hyun stood up. In the backseat of the taxi heading to the funeral hall, he struggled intensely with whether going now was truly the right thing to do.

Jeong Si-jun probably had his reasons for telling him not to come. Perhaps he was being selfish because he wanted to be the only one standing tall.

‘Should I just leave the envelope [stolen content]secretly? But [stolen content]then again, that feels like a breach of etiquette too…’

Before Yoon Ki-hyun could reach an answer to the turmoil in his head, the taxi driver murmured softly.

“We’re here.”

The first thing that caught his eye were the condolence wreaths lined up long outside the funeral hall. He felt overwhelmed by the wave of wreaths filled with white chrysanthemums.

Yoon Ki-hyun checked the obituary text that the funeral service company had sent out on its own. The address was correct.

‘…’

Overwhelmed by the sight he was seeing for the first time, Yoon Ki-hyun entered the entrance of the funeral hall. At the condolence money reception desk on the side, there was a panel with the printed phrase: [Per the deceased’s will, condolence money is politely declined.]

The envelope containing cash felt strangely heavy against his chest.

‘Is this why he told me not to come?’

Just as a sudden wave of belated regret surged, he locked eyes with someone standing near the reception desk. Recognizing Yoon Ki-hyun, the man slowly approached him.

“I told you not to come…”

Jeong Si-jun’s face, greeting Yoon Ki-hyun, was severely worn down. Even for someone with the recovery power to heal broken limbs in half a day, he was not free from the mental shock stemming from grief.

His face was smooth and without a single scratch, but it seemed his extraordinary healing power could do nothing for an expression stained with pain. His eyes were strangely reddish, as if he had cried a great deal.

“Not that you’ve ever listened to me before, but…”

As if he lacked the energy to finish the sentence, his dry, parched voice crumbled.

That voice sounded so unfamiliar that Yoon Ki-hyun swallowed hard. He felt a sudden sense of shame for standing here, having ignored the request not to come just to make himself feel better.

“…Still, I kept thinking that coming was the right thing to do.”

As Yoon Ki-hyun muttered an excuse that was nothing more than self-justification, Jeong Si-jun slowly took his hand. His hand was colder than usual. It was as he grasped the rough hand that held no warmth.

“…Thank you. Since you’re here, go see my mom. My mom likes beautiful people, so she’ll really like you.”

Jeong Si-jun smiled, barely lifting the corners of his mouth. It was a smile that didn’t resemble a smile at all.