34 – TDG 34

“Ah. ​Team ​leader, ​you’re ​here? Then look ​at ​this! ​Seriously, ​this ​quarter’s newsletter is no ​joke.”

As ​the booklet was ​thrust toward him, ​a ​sophisticatedly ​polished ​photo ​of ​Han Ji-hyuk immediately ​caught ​the ​eye.

Lee Seo-ah perched ​precariously on a nearby ​desk and ​shrugged.

“Isn’t it ​funny? Until ​now, they ​just ​churned ​them out like ​crude public ​notices, so why the ​sudden change? What’s with ​that mysterious vibe and ​decadent beauty? ​For ​a second, I thought it was ​Arena or GQ.”

“So, are ​you ​saying ​you ​hate ​it?”

Heo Jo-yoon teased, ​pushing up ​his ​sliding sunglasses, causing ​her ​to arch an eyebrow.

“Who said ​I hate ​it? ​I’m saying they ​should ​keep ​producing ​them ​in such ​a ​desirable manner ​from now on.”

Park Je-geon gave a dignified ​snort.

“Is there anyone ​else [unauthorized copy]with looks ​like that? visit our siteUnless [unauthorized copy]Han ​Ji-hyuk keeps ​modeling, that is.”

“Why, ​our ​Team leader is ​handsome too. He’s ​been the ​cover ​model for ​Esper24 ​five times!”

“The ​vibe ​is too ​different! ​The ​vibe! Don’t put ​the ​sweat-smelling athletic ​type ​and ​the ​musk-scented aesthetic type in the same category!”

Lee Seo-ah growled, slamming her hand on the desk.

Heo Jo-yoon, clutching his stomach and giggling, wiped the corners of his eyes and changed the subject.

“Han Ji-hyuk is one thing, but you absolutely have to see this two-shot he took with his Guide.”

Park Je-geon frowned slightly and asked.

“What was his name again?”

“Seo Joo-won. I was a bit surprised when I first saw him. His face is so tiny and his eyes are so big… He’s kind of like a baby rabbit, so every time I see him, I just want to pet him once.”

Lee Seo-ah grumbled, repeatedly stroking her own hair as if to soothe her empty heart.

“What can we do when Han [unauthorized copy]Ji-hyuk won’t even [unauthorized copy]let anyone near stolen contenthim? Guide Seo Joo-won seems like a very shy and gentle person.”

“But if they’re so crazy about each other that he keeps him tucked under his arm everywhere, why hasn’t he made him his dedicated assignment?”

“Who knows the circumstances. I’m sure he will soon.”

“Ah~. The Espers next door were all making a fuss about calling him next, but I can already hear the sound of cold water being thrown on their hopes.”

While everyone chimed in, Song Hyun-ho remained silent, staring intently at the photo on the open page.

“The Team leader seems to like this photo too. He can’t take his eyes off it. He came out really pretty, didn’t he?”

In the photo, Han Ji-hyuk and Seo Joo-won were holding hands, gazing at each other with warm eyes. Song Hyun-ho had just seen Seo Joo-won smiling exactly like that on Minister Seo Hyung-shik’s phone.

It was undoubtedly a smile reserved only for the person he loved. As if possessed, Song Hyun-ho stared at the photo and murmured in a voice no one could hear.

“Yeah… he is pretty.”

Before I possessed this body, Seo Joo-won was a frail boy.

He was good at studying and had a rich sensibility—enough to frequently win prizes in writing visit our sitecontests—but he was so timid [stolen content]that he didn’t speak much and had a very narrow circle of friends. Perhaps visit our sitethat’s why building plastic models, which requires persistence and meticulousness, was an inevitable hobby.

The beginning of his misfortune was when he caught the eye of Kwon Cheon-beom, known as the ‘Mad Dog,’ on the day of his high school entrance ceremony.

Kwon Cheon-beom’s grandfather was the chairman of a famous media company that everyone knew. Having grown up wielding absolute power even before he reached maturity, Kwon Cheon-beom feared nothing in the world.

Thanks to that, even when school violence scandals broke out, the media rushed to pour out articles protecting him, and fake news was plastered everywhere, weaving unrelated corruption into his father’s life as if they were connected. Literally, they were just suspicions with no supporting evidence, but the suspicion-filled articles, poured out to the point of brainwashing, were enough to strangle my father’s neck.

Later, they used anonymity to leak my grades, friendships, and student records, and distorted interviews to fabricate lies. If it had been just him, my father would have endured somehow, but as rumors spread—claiming that ‘the son of a high-ranking official was arrogant’ and ‘he acted insolently in class, relying on his father’s background’—public opinion turned against us, with people saying things like ‘serves him right,’ ‘satisfying,’ and ‘he got what he deserved.’ Consequently, my father had no choice but to reach a settlement and withdraw the lawsuit.

Because rather than spending money and time on the uncertain punishment of the perpetrators, it was more important to protect his son, who could no longer sleep without medication and wailed every night.

Seo Joo-won suffered from panic disorder and attempted habitual self-harm. Thanks to psychiatric treatment, he gradually regained stability the following year, but he still didn’t dare to step foot outside the house.

‘That’s why my father nearly fell over in shock when I said I wanted to be a Guide.’

Even if I’m just an extra, I should have paid more attention to the character’s background, but it’s not like there was anyone else to ask.

At that time, all of Seo Joo-won’s human relationships had been severed, leaving his father as the only person he could communicate with.

The bastards who ruined a kid who lived kindly [Read on Read BL Novels]and did nothing wrong… [stolen content]what? They remembered me? I’ve never seen stolen contentsuch pieces of filth in my life. What did they do to deserve shoving their disgusting faces in front of me?

My insides boiled, and the hand gripping the coffee cup tightened.

There’s no way these idiots studied, so the fact that they’re in Building B means they’ve awakened as Espers? Heaven is truly heartless. To grant superhuman abilities to trash like this.

“Oho. Look at that. He actually knows how to glare now? Though it’s not threatening in the slightest.”

“If you’re a Guide, do you come when we call? Is this a reenactment of that ‘come-back’ service?”

I looked back and forth at the guys who were cackling and laughing, and then I threw my coffee.

“…Ack!”

As the hot liquid splashed across his chest, Kwon Cheon-beom stopped laughing and recoiled in horror.

“Stop overreacting, you son of a bitch.”

If they’re entering the Center, it means they’re at least B-Rank. This wouldn’t even peel off a layer of skin.

As I spat out the words with a visit our sitetwisted lip, the guy grimaced as if visit our sitesomeone had smacked him in the back of the head.

“…What did you just say?”

Why? Didn’t you hear me? Then let me pour more on you. I was loading insults under my tongue and bracing my core when, just then, familiar faces appeared in a crowd around the corner of the hallway.

“Oh my, Joo-won!”

It was Senior Yoon Soo-jeong. Along with Senior Seon Jae-young and Senior Kim Ho-jin, who were holding coffee holders.

I instantly wiped the toxicity from my face and smiled brightly.

“Seniors!”

As I trotted over to greet them, Senior Soo-jeong cooed over me while simultaneously glancing toward the ‘Land-Sea-Air’ trio. In the meantime, those bastards were retreating down the opposite end of the hallway with their backs turned. Those scoundrels, their intuition is like a ghost’s.

“Do you know them?”

“No. Someone just spilled coffee…”

“Oh, you. You don’t visit our sitehave to clean up [Read on Read BL Novels]things like that. A cleaning robot will [stolen content]be here to wipe it up soon.”

Saying there was something more important than that, she rummaged through her bag and pulled something out.

“Ta-da! Guess what this is! It’s Esper24! You have no idea how hard it was to get. Ticketing for an idol concert would have been easier than this!”

She winked energetically at me, waving it proudly like a trophy.

“Right now, no matter which department you go to, they don’t have it. Sold out? A shortage crisis? How should I describe this phenomenon?”

“I met the kids from Guide Team 4 earlier, and they were practically tearing each other apart to get one.”

At Senior Kim Ho-jin’s sigh mixed with a hollow laugh, Senior Seon Jae-young, who was absorbed in a mobile game, agreed without even looking up.

“Did you see your photo in here, Joo-won?”

“No…”

Honestly, I didn’t want to…

Senior Soo-jeong looked horrified, like a stolen contentsalaried [Read on Read BL Novels]worker who just heard there would be no year-end bonus, and immediately grabbed my hand.

“What? How can the protagonist not see it! Hurry, let’s go to the office and look together!”

Unable to even dare refuse, I was dragged along. Feeling a prickle on the back of my neck, I looked back to see Kwon Cheon-beom, who I thought had disappeared, waving and smiling through a window in the room across from us.

‘Crazy bastard.’

A leopard can’t change its spots; that nuclear waste of a human still seems to think this is the high school where he reigned as king.

No doubt he lived arrogantly relying on his grandfather’s background, got lucky enough to awaken, and is now being called ‘Esper-nim.’

I absentmindedly touched the corner of my right eye.

The bastard who ruined Seo Joo-won’s eyes and life purely for fun.

I don’t know what his motive is for approaching me, but it seems I need to be on guard. It certainly won’t be for a good purpose.

It’s truly absurd.

Why are there three copies of the supposedly rare Esper24 in our office?

“Joo-won, look at this. Why do you keep avoiding it? I’m telling you, you came out really pretty!”

Ugh.

Even though I rolled my eyes away as fast as possible, it was hard to be faster than the speed at which the booklet was being thrust at me.

Malice-free mental attacks were raining down in succession. No matter how strong I am, this is… hard to endure. Please stop… everyone, just look at Han Ji-hyuk… not me…

Suppressing the urge to snatch it and throw it away, I declined politely—as politely as possible.

“Um… I’ve already seen it three times, Senior…”

Whether she interpreted my answer differently or not, Senior Soo-jeong’s eyes narrowed mischievously.

“Hmph, so you’re shy? It’s okay! I checked the internal atmosphere this morning, and everyone was buzzing about who you are. Not just Esper Han Ji-hyuk, but the praise for you is beyond imagination.”

“Which means you’ll never run out of work from now on. Well, that might not necessarily be a good thing.”

As Senior Jae-young, who had filled a cup visit our siteof [unauthorized copy]water from the dispenser, muttered while gulping it down, Senior Soo-jeong glared at him with triangular eyes and swung her fist.

“This guy is a pro at raining on people’s parades. Instead of being happy that the youngest is doing well.”

Quickly dodging the fist, Senior Jae-young frowned and protested.

“Whoa. I am happy. Who said I wasn’t?”

“Is that a happy face? A face that’s stayed up three nights at a funeral would look more lively than that!”

“You don’t get it. You don’t just need people to be excited; you also need a senior who can evaluate the situation coldly and give advice, right?”

“What a load of bullshit, seriously. Just worry about yourself.”

Leaving the two of them to bicker, Senior Kim Ho-jin rubbed my hair as if messing it up, with a look of genuine amazement on his face.

“First, you take a day off and suddenly bring back an S-Class Exclusive Assignment, and now you’re the center of attention in the newsletter. Who would believe that you’re the same kid who worried us by just staying in the office because you couldn’t even get a call when you first joined? Is this what they call a strong finish? Was being quiet at the start just momentum to soar higher?”

At the light teasing filled with laughter, I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head awkwardly.