Chapter 81 – The Price of Misjudgment
Can a fractured human relationship be mended?
Jeong Si-jun has been searching for the answer to this question lately. As the time for his appointment with Yoon Ki-hyun approached, he actually had a vague inkling.
‘I think I’m going to get rejected…’
No matter what he did, it felt insufficient to change Yoon Ki-hyun’s mind. He knew he had to pay the price for the things he had blurted out without thinking, yet he found it difficult to accept.
In truth, on the day he had appealed to Yoon Ki-hyun to use him, presenting materials that were utterly pathetic, he had secretly thought that Yoon Ki-hyun’s heart might waver.
Yoon Ki-hyun, suffering from a rare and incurable disease, needed money, and fortunately, Jeong Si-jun was a man who had nothing but money.
However, the vitality that used to return to Yoon Ki-hyun’s face did not reappear. Even though he was a person who used to light up whenever money was mentioned.
Now, even when shown a bank balance and told to use him, Yoon Ki-hyun remained as indifferent as someone who had just seen a promotional flyer forced into their hand on the street.
Though he continued to push his way in every day with a thick skin, he was anxious. To the point where, if he were rejected by Yoon Ki-hyun, he wouldn&#[[visit our site]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">visit our site]8217;t want to meet anyone else ever again.
“…Ah, fuck. Why is he calling again?”
Jeong Si-jun glared at his loudly ringing phone.
[Esper Director]
It was an unwelcome name. It was obvious that whoever answered would only hear useless talk, so should he pick up or not? He decided it would be better not to.
Jeong Si-jun repeatedly hit the end-call button. Just as the phone went silent, it rang again.
The caller was still the Esper Director.
“What a lunatic.”
No matter how he thought about it, this man was definitely a lunatic who didn’t understand the meaning of a vacation. Intending to snap at him, he answered the phone, only to hear the sound of someone gasping for breath on the other end.
-Hey, Team Leader Jeong! Why did you take so long to answer…!
“I’m on vacation, you know?”
At the blunt response, the sound of the Esper Director inhaling sharply echoed through the phone.
-I know, I know… But didn’t you see the disaster alert? It’s absolute chaos right now because an ‘unmeasurable’ rank has popped up.
“You have Team Leader Seo, whom you like so much,” Jeong Si-jun retorted sullenly.
It was true that the Esper Director’s favor leaned much more toward Seo Yi-kyung. It was only natural to take better care of someone generally obedient than someone like himself, who clashed with him whenever he was dissatisfied. He didn’t particularly mind. Jeong Si-jun also tended to pay more attention to team members who listened well.
-Team Leader Seo entered a Gyeonggi-do gate at dawn!
“So you called me, the one on vacation?”
Jeong Si-jun wedged the phone between his shoulder and ear and glanced at his wardrobe. Of all times, he was in the middle of picking out clothes. Moreover, it was the very day Yoon Ki-hyun was being discharged.
He wondered if gates ever considered a person’s circumstances before opening, but he couldn’t help the irritation.
‘Should I just quit this time?’
The massive Awakened Management Center wouldn’t collapse just because one person quit. In fact, if it were an organization that could fall because one unauthorized [unauthorized copy]Read on Read BL Novelscopyperson left, it might be better for it to collapse.
When Yoon Ki-hyun had collapsed in the guiding room and was taken to the hospital, his attending physician had estimated the hospitalization period to be around a week.
However, Yoon Ki-hyun stayed in the hospital longer than expected. This was because the recovery progress was slower than anticipated, and the results of additional tests were not good.
Perhaps because he now knew the name of the illness, every time he saw Yoon Ki-hyun limp and buried in the bed after tests, he felt like he was going crazy with guilt.
To think he had disparaged his life-saver in such a way—someone who had risked danger and come all the way to the isolation room to save him despite being ill.
Even if Yoon Ki-hyun could never forgive him, he had to accept that decision without complaint. He had been begging and pleading to avoid that outcome, but there wasn’t much time left.
He had barely managed to get permission to help with the discharge process by spouting sophistry to Yoon Ki-hyun, who had insisted there was no need for him to come. Why on earth would he crawl back into a gate? Especially during a golden vacation period he had fought tooth and nail to obtain.
-It opened near the hospital, so the Minister is calling and it’s a mess. Please, Team Leader Jeong, I’m begging you, okay? I just texted you the location. Just check the location.
“No…”
Reflexively checking the gate location sent by the Esper Director, Jeong Si-jun’s face twisted into a deep scowl. Of all places, it was near a familiar hospital.
To think a gate would open right in front of the hospital visit stolen contentour sitewhere Yoon Ki-hyun was admitted. How could things be this tangled?
After pondering for a moment, Jeong Si-jun let out a deep sigh.
“I’ll go after I take care of some business at lunch.”
-How can you say that now? I told you it’s at least a high-risk grade!
“I have a schedule too. It’s important, so I can’t cancel.”
-What could possibly be more important than an unmeasurable gate!
Eventually, the Esper Director screamed.
Various government agencies were in an uproar, yet the only person who could resolve the gate was stalling. The problem was that there was no substitute, meaning he couldn’t simply be crushed with authority.
An Esper’s awakening grade was something that could not be covered by effort or training. And as for bribing him with money, he was already born into a wealthy family and lacked nothing.
If there was a single weakness, it was the Guide he always kept by his side—though he wondered how he’d even managed to bring him along…
But even that Guide was no longer affiliated with the Center, [stolen content[unauthorized copy]style="font-size:0;position:absolute;left:-9999px;">]so the Director’s influence didn’t reach him.
“Ah, I don’t care, I’m hanging up. I’ll go after I do my business at lunch.”
Jeong Si-jun hung up without listening to the Esper Director’s trailing words.
He was contemplating what to wear to look good for Yoon Ki-hyun when his phone rang loudly again.
“This fucking… again… Hm?”
He naturally assumed it was the Esper Director calling back, but the caller was an unexpected person.
Quickly accepting the call, he spoke with a smirk.
“What’s this? What a surprise, Yoon Ki-hyun calling first.”
-Hey.
“Yes?”
-Can you come to the hospital today?
“Of course I can.”
He answered brightly, but in truth, he was a bit concerned. Yoon Ki-hyun would likely know about the gate’s appearance. After all, the gate had opened right in front of the hospital where he was staying.
-…I can see the gate right in front of the hospital.
“Ah, that.”
If it was visible from the hospital room, it must be closer than he thought. Then again, recalling the Esper Director’s words about the emergency alerts and breaking news, it would be stranger if Yoon Ki-hyun didn’t know.
-I know you’re on vacation, but I thought the Center might have contacted you.
“They’ve been contacting me since morning…”
Jeong Si-jun trailed off for a moment.
It felt like the right timing to say something cool, but he worried that saying the wrong thing might backfire.
Still, it’s better to appeal, right?
He decided to trust his intuition.
“To me, you’re more important than a gate, Hyung.”
There was silence from Yoon Ki-hyun on the other end.
‘Ah. Did I screw up?’
Even as he said it, he felt it was a bit much. It might sound like the words of a trashy Esper who prioritized personal greed over public safety.
‘No, but wasn’t he the type of person who hated Espers in the first place?’
While he was rolling his eyes, unsure of what the silence meant, a voice spoke.
-Is it okay if you don’t go?
Yoon Ki-hyun asked softly. His voice was filled with genuine doubt, as if wondering if it was truly alright.
‘Wait, should I have gone to the gate and then bragged about it?’
For a moment, Jeong Si-jun felt a pang of regret.
“…Do you want me to go?”
-It looks dangerous, so I didn’t think my discharge was the most important thing.
“The Esper Director said it’s an unmeasurable grade gate.”
-Yeah.
“If I go in there and get caught in something, it could take a few days…”
-…….
“If you say the time I spend in there doesn’t count, I’ll go.”
In truth, he didn’t want to enter the gate. No matter how crazy he was for fighting, jumping into a dangerous space where one could die at any moment wasn’t easy.
However, it was a job that had to be done, and since there was someone copy" style="display:none;" aria-label="unauthorized copy">unauthorized copyhe wanted to impress, he was the type to do it while grumbling.
-What counting… Ah.
Yoon Ki-hyun started to question him over the phone, then let out a small sound as if realizing something late.
-I’ll handle my own discharge and go home, so just go.
“Is that a promise? The time I spend in the gate is subtracted from the remaining period.”
-I said I got it.
“Ah, I wanted to drive you home today…”
Instead of the clothes he had been planning to wear, Jeong Si-jun reached for the wardrobe where his tedious combat suit hung. The custom combat suit, made of special fibers, was a depressing shade of pitch-black no matter when he looked at it.
“Send me a message when you get home after discharge. Even if you don’t want to contact me. Unless you want to see me come looking for your house because I’m curious if you got home safe after I exit the gate, then you don’t have to send it.”
-What the… Alright.
Yoon Ki-hyun laughed as if it were absurd and readily promised to send the message first. At that promise, Jeong Si-jun pulled out the combat suit with a reluctant hand.
“I’ll be back soon. See you when I’m out.”
After quickly finishing the gate conquest, he intended to barge into Yoon Ki-hyun’s cramped goshiwon, regardless of whether he received a confirmation message or not. His head already hurt thinking about what words he would use to coax him this time.
-Okay. I’m hanging up.
Jeong Si-jun looked down at the phone after the short reply and the call ended.
‘Seriously, that man is so cold.’
Shaking his head slightly, he donned the combat suit. Wearing it for the first time in several weeks felt strangely unfamiliar.
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