Chapter 33 – The Price of Misjudgment
“Ah, you scared me.”
Yoon Ki-hyun flinched, turning around to look at Jeong Si-jun. The man, who had been clinging closely to Ki-hyun’s back with his head lowered, gave a smirk.
“Were you surprised?”
“Of course I was. You suddenly started talking from behind me.”
“I didn’t think you’d be this surprised, sorry. By the way, what were you two talking about?”
Just as Ki-hyun was about to answer that it was nothing important, the elevator arrived in the lobby. The people who had been paying full attention to them couldn’t postpone their start to the workday forever, so they sluggishly headed toward the elevator.
Seo Yi-kyung did the same. Perhaps not wanting a long conversation with Jeong Si-jun, he merely shrugged his shoulders even when their eyes met.
As if he hadn’t expected an answer from Seo Yi-kyung [visit our site]anyway, Jeong Si-jun stepped closer and stood right next to Yoon Ki-hyun. However, his unauthorized copyeyes remained fixed on Seo Yi-kyung in a glare, as if he couldn’t let his guard down for a second.
The moment they arrived at the guiding room, Jeong Si-jun began to chatter.
“Did you talk to Team Leader Seo Yi-kyung for a long time?”
“No. He just said he was sorry for offering to scout me. I didn’t exactly respond with the kindest words back then, so we ended it reasonably well.”
“What’s this about the Guide Director?”
Jeong Si-jun pressed further as he took off his coat. Although he hadn’t heard the entire conversation, he must have been nearby when the Guide Director was mentioned.
“Just what you heard. He just asked me to send his regards. Apparently, he had dinner with Team Leader Seo yesterday.”
The Guide Director. Jeong Si-jun’s eyes narrowed.
That man was someone who was constantly lurking, waiting for any opportunity to get Yoon Ki-hyun reinstated at the Center.
Every time they met at a meeting, he would spout nonsense—asking [Read [Read on Read BL Novels]on Read BL Novels]for Ki-hyun’s phone number or suggesting they arrange a meal—leaving Si-jun busy suppressing the urge to throw a punch.
Since those attempts didn’t seem to work on him, he might have suggested that Seo Yi-kyung try poking around instead.
“Do you want to commute together from now on?”
Yoon Ki-hyun blinked at Jeong Si-jun’s proposal.
How did he mean commute together? Did he mean carpooling?
“There might be more guys hitting on you in the lobby than you think. It’ll be less of that if you’re with me.”
“Well… would it really be that bad?”
Actually, he did frequently hear whispering in the lobby. But that was only for the first day or two. Since he heard similar things every time, it had become boring. It felt like listening to an infinite loop playlist with a fixed pattern.
“If it gets bad, tell me. I’ll stick right by your side and stand guard.”
Was there any guarantee that the people whispering wouldn’t do so just because [class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">visit our site]Jeong Si-jun was standing there?
Yoon Ki-hyun lost himself in thought as he poured hot water into his citron tea.
It did seem that the buzzing voices had decreased quite a bit the moment Jeong Si-jun arrived today. Was it because they were walking on eggshells around him?
Then again, since he was a guy who lived however he pleased without caring about the high-ranking officials of the Center, having him standing there might actually be effective. Still, it wasn’t to the point where he wanted to commute together every day.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Don’t just ‘think about it’ every time. From where I stand, you think too much, Yoon Ki-hyun.”
His grumbling was quite blatant, showing just how much he disliked Seo Yi-kyung.
To think the relationship between the only two S-class Espers in the headquarters was like that. It seemed the Center managed to function only because the two of them miraculously didn’t end up beating each other up.
Mulling over the short conversation he had with Seo Yi-kyung, Yoon Ki-hyun recalled the face of the man who had readily admitted his fault.
He hadn’t expected Seo Yi-kyung to apologize to him. No, to be honest, he hadn’t even hoped for an [visit our site]apology. Their [stolen content]conversation had ended with both parties being somewhat impolite to each other.
Despite that, it was unexpected that the other had offered an apology first.
It felt refreshing that an S-class Esper—who was practically the ‘alpha’ within the Awakened Management Center—would do such a thing. Though it still felt a bit unsettling not knowing his true intentions.
“But Team Leader Seo was more unexpected than I thought.”
“Unexpected?”
As Yoon Ki-hyun murmured, removing the spoon he had been using to stir the citron tea, Jeong Si-jun’s eyes widened.
“It’s not common for someone to cleanly admit they made a mistake.”
When you’re a rookie, you live with ‘I’m sorry’ attached to the end of every sentence like a fixed template, but isn’t that a phrase that gradually disappears once you reach a certain rank and seniority?
Moreover, it was even harder to get an admission of fault or an apology from Espers, who possessed a strong sense of privilege. It wasn’t for nothing that Yoon Ki-hyun had let it slide when he was given strange nicknames while working at the Center.
At the time, he didn’t have the energy for [Read on Read BL Novels]Read on Read BL Novels -->it, but he had also given up because he knew the inner workings of the Awakened Management Center.
There was a clear hierarchy between Espers and Guides.
Espers are destined to eventually die if they do not receive guiding from a Guide. Nevertheless, they stand above Guides. This is because only Espers can conquer gates.
An Esper might die eventually without guiding, but they wouldn’t die immediately. However, if an Esper didn’t conquer a gate, non-awakened people, including Guides, would die right then and there.
Whether the Espers’ personalities were ruined or not, it was a situation where people would die one way or another if they didn’t risk their lives to enter the gates.
Since the number of people dying differed by such a vast margin, it was only natural that Espers were treated better than Guides.
He thought it would have been better if the treatment of Guides had improved slightly, but…
‘It’s not something I can do alone.’
Regardless, he couldn’t deny that Seo Yi-kyung seemed like a decent person just by the fact that he had plainly admitted his mistake.
Furthermore, he had learned through the man in front of him that one [visit our site]style="font-size:0;color:transparent;display:inline;">Read on Read BL Novelscannot judge a person by just a few short words. Even if he was still a guy with a foul mouth who lived recklessly.
“Eh, not common? I’m right here. Did I not admit it cleanly? Huh?”
Because Jeong Si-jun strode forward and shoved his face close, Yoon Ki-hyun instinctively stepped back.
“You can just say it with words, why do you have to shove your face in?”
“Because you keep acting like you’re looking elsewhere! You promised me. That you’d keep your loyalty if possible.”
“Anyone would think I said I was going to Team Leader Seo Yi-kyung. We just exchanged a few words, why are you being like this?”
It wasn’t the first time Jeong Si-jun acted this way, but he was being exceptionally fussy today. At this rate, he might actually demand to receive guiding outside.
‘Meeting outside is a bit…’
Since he was a guy who spent every waking moment plotting how to get closer to him, there was a possibility that a guiding schedule would devolve into a date if they met outside.
As soon as Yoon Ki-hyun sat on the sofa, Jeong Si-jun quickly snatched the seat next to him and began to whine in earnest.
“It’s because I’m anxious. That Guide Director middle-aged man is walking around with his eyes wide open like this, trying to take you back to the Center.”
Jeong Si-jun narrowed his eyes and distorted his face as if imitating someone. He looked strangely like the Guide Director, which made a chuckle escape Ki-hyun’s lips.
“Why would I go back to the Center when I can make a living just by guiding Team Leader Jeong?”
“Exactly! If you only take responsibility for me, I’ll give you plenty of money and feed you well. Huh? I’ll treat you well, but the Guide Director doesn’t think that way, so how can I not be pissed off?”
The constant chattering beside him felt like it was triggering a headache again. When Yoon Ki-hyun pressed his temple firmly and looked at him as if to tell him to stop, only then did Jeong Si-jun’s voice subside.
“…But besides the Guide Director, that bastard Seo Yi-kyung is also a bit suspicious. I feel like he’ll be persistent.”
Just when he thought the Guide Director was finished, it was Seo Yi-kyung again. It seemed he planned to keep them both in check, alternating between the two like a round song.
When Yoon Ki-hyun showed no particular interest, an anxious Jeong Si-jun continued to grumble.
“No, really. Listen to me. There are almost no cases where both Seo Yi-kyung /span>and I are absent from the Center at the same time.”
Jeong Si-jun’s logic was as follows.
According to the operating principles of the Awakened Management Center, it is common for one S-class Esper or an equivalent team to be on standby at the Center to prepare for the possible occurrence of a high-grade gate.
The fact that Special Team 1, led by Seo Yi-kyung, and Special Team 2, led by Jeong Si-jun, were rarely both absent for gate conquests.
Therefore, whenever he was away, there was a possibility that Seo Yi-kyung would frequently pull stunts similar to the previous one. It sounded plausible enough, but Yoon Ki-hyun was skeptical.
“…I appreciate that you think so highly of my abilities, Team Leader Jeong. I do, but Team Leader Seo didn’t seem that interested in me.”
At Yoon Ki-hyun’s indifferent response, Jeong Si-jun let out deep sighs.
‘Ugh, this is driving me crazy.’
Yoon Ki-hyun, who had a stunning face and excellent guiding, tended to undervalue his own worth far too much. Perhaps it was because he had been overworked at the Center and lived with the dog-like nickname of being ‘public property.’
“No. Think about it logically. You’ve been my personal Guide for less than a month, yet he went to a stolen content]our site">visit our siteperson like that and asked to be put on the list of options. And you’re saying that doesn’t look like interest?”
“What I mean is, he doesn’t seem interested enough to make another offer after being rejected once.”
“Ah! That’s because you don’t know what kind of bastards Espers are!”
If it wasn’t, it wasn’t; was this something to get so angry about?
‘There’s no reason for Team Leader Seo Yi-kyung to do that.’
He wasn’t someone with a finicky wavelength like Jeong Si-jun, and since he was also an S-class Esper, he would receive guiding better than other Espers, so why bother?
There was no reason to spend his own money to hire a Guide. It was obvious he had just made the offer out of curiosity, poking around once. After all, it’s inevitable that interest naturally arises when someone is frequently talked about.
No matter how he thought about it, Jeong Si-jun’s claim lacked evidence.
Regardless of how Jeong Si-jun’s expression grew more menacing, Yoon Ki-hyun quietly turned his head away. Unaware that he would soon have to admit that Jeong Si-jun’s prediction was accurate.
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