Chapter 75 – ​The ​Price ​of ​Misjudgment

After ​spending ​a ​few ​unexpected ​days off, Yoon Ki-hyun ​returned ​to the center. ​Kim Sa-on, whom ​he ​met ​in ​the ​lobby, ​approached him with ​that ​same ​burdensome gaze and ​began to chatter.

“Sunbae!”

He wished ​the guy ​would stop ​with the ​’sunbae’ talk. ​Even ​as ​he thought this, ​Yoon Ki-hyun ​gave a small smile, ​seeing Kim Sa-on be ​the first to speak ​to him.

“Mr. ​Sa-on.”

He ​didn’t want to be grumpy toward ​a rookie who had ​just ​entered ​the ​center ​and was busy ​adjusting, unlike ​those ​creepy Espers.

Moreover, it ​didn’t ​seem like Kim Sa-on was ​approaching him ​with ​any ill intent. ​Though ​he ​did ​seem ​a bit ​clueless…

“Where ​is Team ​Leader Seo?”

The sly Esper, who used to ​come out to ​the main building ​lobby every morning to ​greet the ​precious S-class Guide, ​was ​nowhere to be ​seen. Wondering if ​he had ​left ​for an ​urgent ​gate raid, ​Ki-hyun ​asked, and ​Kim ​Sa-on ​beamed.

“Ah, he went ​to ​buy coffee ​for ​a ​moment. ​I told him I’m somewhat familiar with the center’s layout now and that he doesn’t need to come greet me, but he said greeting me has become his routine. I heard that for some Espers, if their routine is broken, it can even affect their combat performance…”

Yoon Ki-hyun stared blankly at Kim Sa-on’s face. During his time working at the center, he had engaged Read on Read BL Novelsvisit unauthorized copyour site-->in trivial small talk with every Esper, but he had never heard such a thing about a ‘routine.’

However, Espers shared many similarities with athletes. For instance, he had heard stories about them being excessively obsessed with jinxes or that the internal hierarchy among Espers wasn’t much different from the sports world.

So, the claim that a disrupted routine could affect combat sounded plausible enough. It would have been more convincing if the person weren’t Team Leader Seo Yi-kyung.

‘From where I stand, it looks like Team Leader Seo Yi-kyung is just playing games.’

Yoon Ki-hyun narrowed his eyes. He didn’t know why Jeong Si-jun’s voice, insisting that Team Leader Seo Yi-kyung had definitely switched over to Kim Sa-on, suddenly came to mind.

“So, as long as Team Leader Yi-kyung isn’t uncomfortable, we decided to keep doing this for my commute. He says he likes seeing me every morning. Doesn’t he seem like such a kind person?”

“Aha.”

“I didn’t know, but apparently, it’s not common for someone else to come greet you every day… I just thought it was some kind of rookie mentoring system supported by the headquarters.”

As if a hopeless, malicious center like this would ever provide such a mentoring system for a rookie.

Above all, where in the world is there a colleague who greets you every single morning? Especially someone from a different job category who is a team leader.

To think he only realized it now. His intuition was surprising in many ways. However, instead of scolding Kim Sa-on, whose purity was almost worrying to the brain, Yoon Ki-hyun simply nodded.

“I see.”

Muttering a noncommittal response, he stepped into the elevator that had just arrived. When he looked at Kim Sa-on as if asking if he was coming along, the rookie said he would wait for Seo Yi-kyung, who had gone to buy coffee.

Yoon Ki-hyun gave Kim Sa-on a brief nod of acknowledgment, telling him to go ahead.

‘How did he get caught by someone like Seo Yi-kyung.’

The fact that behavior which anyone could see as playing games appeared ‘kind’ meant that his heart was already halfway won over. Just looking at his face, which turned strangely reddish whenever Seo Yi-kyung was mentioned, suggested he had feelings.

It’s not a good thing for colleagues to get emotionally involved, especially when romantic feelings are mixed in. As Yoon Ki-hyun thought of Jeong Si-jun’s face, he suddenly recalled the sensation of the man’s arm wrapping around his waist on the bed that day.

‘…Bullshit.’

As he stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway, he needlessly straightened the hem of his jacket. As if trying to force himself to forget the touch of Jeong Si-jun that still lingered on his body.

[Guiding Room] Central Building A, Room 3-G110.

Jeong Si-jun stood silently in front of the guiding room, arriving with a familiarity as if his body remembered the way. The familiar sign next to the firmly closed door felt strange today.

In truth, he had been imagining a scenario where Yoon Ki-hyun wasn’t in the guiding room. Even though he had double-checked the reply Yoon Ki-hyun sent saying he would come after Si-jun messaged him asking if he could work today, he was still anxious.

‘Come to think of it, what if he decided not to come because he felt like shit?’

After hesitating for a long while, he opened the door. Contrary to his worries, Yoon Ki-hyun was sitting neatly in his usual spot. With that same dry and indifferent expression, as if the events of that day had never happened.

‘…But if I keep apologizing, maybe he’ll accept it like he did before.’

Jeong Si-jun wanted to be optimistic. He didn’t want to believe that his plan was absurdly unrealistic.

Even in the past, when Yoon Ki-hyun had numerous misunderstandings about him, hadn’t he accepted him once he explained honestly and apologized?

Although some money had changed hands in the process, Yoon Ki-hyun was a real man who had eventually cut that off and decided to bury the past. Therefore, there was no way this slip of the tongue couldn’t be fixed. It had to be.

“I’m here.”

Jeong Si-jun gave his usual greeting and sat down next to Yoon Ki-hyun, glancing at him tentatively. Seeing Yoon Ki-hyun nod back in greeting, it seemed he didn’t intend to shut him out completely.

“How is your body feeling?”

“I’m fine after resting for a few days.”

“Nothing hurts anywhere?”

Just the fact that the conversation was flowing smoothly made him feel like he could breathe again. Jeong Si-jun kept [stolen [unauthorized copy]wm: unauthorized copy -->content]stealing glances at Yoon Ki-hyun’s delicately pretty face.

‘I need to tell him that I might have undergone one-sided imprinting…’

After reviewing the test results, the center’s doctor suggested the possibility that Jeong Si-jun might have one-sidedly imprinted on someone. He knew the concept of imprinting through training, but since it was such a rare phenomenon, he had never imagined it would happen to him.

‘To be precise, you should be tested together with the Guide you most recently received guiding from. Team Leader Jeong, you mentioned you’ve been receiving guiding from a personal Guide recently, right?’

Because Jeong Si-jun’s wavelength was such an irregular and anomalous exception, the doctor did not confirm the one-sided imprinting. This was because the doctor feared the repercussions a premature diagnosis might cause for both Jeong Si-jun and the entire center.

“I’ll check your wavelength.”

Yoon Ki-hyun habitually ignored Jeong Si-jun’s intense gaze and held out his hand. Jeong Si-jun, who looked like he had something to say, merely parted his lips and obediently took the hand.

As the warm body heat was felt through the palm, Yoon Ki-hyun slowly closed his eyes. It was because the sensation of this hand caressing every corner of his body suddenly flashed through his mind.

‘Focus only on checking the wavelength.’

He didn’t want to dwell on the slip of the tongue Jeong Si-jun had made that day. Ruminating on it would only be his own loss.

Fortunately, Jeong Si-jun’s wavelength wasn’t much different from usual. He could still feel the irregular fluctuations that could jump anywhere, but he was confident he could easily control this level.

“Shall we start the guiding?”

Yoon Ki-hyun asked tentatively. He judged that guiding wasn’t strictly necessary, but since the employer was ultimately Jeong Si-jun, he had an obligation to follow his instructions.

“…Yes.”

After hesitating for a moment, Jeong Si-jun answered softly and nodded. Yoon Ki-hyun replied that he understood and immediately began pulling the wavelength.

While feeling the sensation of the wavelength being sucked through their familiar joined palms, Jeong Si-jun parted his lips several times, choosing his words.

Perhaps because he knew his apology might not reach Yoon Ki-hyun, the words ‘I’m sorry’ felt stuck in his throat and wouldn’t come out. It felt as if the emotion of conscience, which had begun to manifest late, was sealing his lips shut.

The wavelength, which had been constantly irritating his blood vessels and nerves, became quiet as if nothing had happened once it returned through Yoon Ki-hyun. It felt refreshing and comfortable, like a gentle breeze blowing through his body, but something was different from before.

‘…What is this?’

Trying to find the cause of this strange sense of dissonance, Jeong Si-jun needlessly gripped Yoon Ki-hyun’s hand tightly.

“Don’t suddenly grip me so hard. My hand is going numb.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Yoon Ki-hyun pointed out the mistake without opening his eyes. Though he apologized readily, there was stolen contentno response. Throughout the guiding process, Jeong Si-jun struggled to find the revisit our siterent;display:inline;">unauthorized copyason for this unpleasant dissonance he was feeling.

Why did his guiding—which was always so precise, skilled, and even fast that it was breathtaking—feel particularly alien today…?

He no longer felt that sense of embrace, as if it were perfectly fine for the wavelength to flow into him. Now, it was merely a sequence of actions that felt like an obligation to process the wavelength in a set order.

He would have felt more at ease if Yoon Ki-hyun had just yelled or gotten angry at him…

Since the moment Yoon Ki-hyun firmly drew the line saying an apology wasn’t necessary, he had been sitting here guiding him as if nothing had happened. To fulfill the obligations written in the contract.

When he handed over the wavelength that was still stirring up his body, a gentle wavelength returned to him. However, the guiding—now devoid of goodwill and affection, reduced to a mere duty—felt more like a punishment than a cure.

“Ki-hyun.”

Jeong Si-jun called Yoon Ki-hyun’s name softly.

“Yes.”

“Ki-hyun hyung.”

Clinging to a sliver of hope that he might be forgiven, he once again used the familiar term of endearment. However, the only response was Yoon Ki-hyun’s dry reply, without even looking at him because he was concentrating on the guiding.

“Yes.”

At a response that didn’t deviate by a single inch from the previous one, Jeong Si-jun finally realized. That perhaps he could never return to the relationship he once had with Yoon Ki-hyun.