Chapter 50 – The Price of Misjudgment
Jung Si-taek decided to spend his time further grating on his younger brother’s nerves.
After all, there wasn’t much guardians could do until the medical staff called them.
They could cling to each other and cry, pray to a god—if such a thing even existed—or suppress their anxiety by spouting trivial nonsense.
“Ah, so that’s why you’ve been acting out so much lately. Your love life isn’t going your way.”
“Shut up.”
“The brat’s personality is fucking awful. Have you tried throwing money at them?”
“Do you think I haven’t?”
“They said no?”
“Yeah. They said they don’t want anything except my salary now. At first, I thought they were accepting some, but then they said they hated it, so I bought them gifts, and they hated those too.”
The way he trembled his legs out of nervousness made him look exactly like a child. Despite that, he was a man whose face and body could hold their own anywhere. The fact that his romantic pursuits weren’t going smoothly suggested that the other party was equally formidable.
‘He didn’t seem like much. Aside from his looks.’
Jung Si-taek recalled the personal details of the man who was said to be Jeong Si-jun’s personal Guide. Despite his demeanor, he cared for the youngest of the family, who was well-loved.
Hearing that Si-jun was putting in a lot of effort just to hire a certain Guide, Si-taek had done a simple background check, but there were no notable anomalies. He had a fair amount of bank loans, but how many people these days didn’t have debt?
“He has loans, so why does he hate money?”
“How the fuck should I know that?”
“Anyway, people who say they hate money are always a pain. It’s not like that useless pride of theirs puts food on the table.”
As Jung Si-taek clicked his tongue, Jeong Si-jun’s eyes flared, clearly displeased by something again.
“What, you brat?”
“What do you even know that you’re acting like an expert?”
“He’s three years older than you. He looks decent, too. Those types usually have ridiculously high pride. Their temperaments are fucking awful. I don’t know if he’s just acting entitled because of his face or what… Try tempting him by saying you’ll pay off his loans, you brat.”
Jeong Si-jun bolted upright at the fragmented pieces of information about Yoon Ki-hyun spilling from Jung Si-taek’s mouth.
“Fuck, wait. Yoon Ki-hyun actually has loans? Hyung, did you do a background check on my Guide?”
“Why? You think that’s all I know?”
“Ah, Hyung!”
He glared with eyes bloodshot with red veins, but Jung Si-taek didn’t budge an inch. In his eyes, Jeong Si-jun looked just like the younger brother who used to cling to his thigh and throw tantrums, begging to play more when they were children.
“Want some advice from your brother? If you fall for those types, there’s fucking no way out. You’re screwed.”
“Get lost. Don’t interfere in my business. Tell Si-ho hyung and Father too.”
Jeong Si-jun shouted, glaring with all his might. Jung Si-taek merely shrugged and played dumb.
“Well, tell me if you need your brother’s help. I’ll lend you some people.”
“Do you think I’m like you? You’re going to deploy people to catch a runaway lover? Fuck, lover my ass. He gets those rotten pollack eyes whenever he sees me.”
“Oh my. I’m so sad I could cry. To think the great Jeong Si-jun would end up like this… How pitiful and wretched.”
At the blatant mockery, Jeong Si-jun squeezed his eyes shut. After having a row with his brother over something so trivial, his anxiety subsided to some extent.
Exhaling a long breath, he shoved his hands into his pockets and stood by the window. After staring blankly out the window at the city landscape that had grown dark, Jeong Si-jun suddenly spoke.
“…Hyung.”
“What, kid.”
“Mom will be okay, right?”
Jung Si-taek read the youngest’s agitation in the slight tremor at the end of his words.
“If I knew that, would I be acting like a thug? I would’ve set up a shrine and made money reading fortunes. Still…”
“…Still?”
“You crossed the line just now by mentioning your lover to your brother.”
Jung Si-taek couldn’t bring himself to say that their mother would wake up, as she always had. Because perhaps, this year, the whole family truly wouldn’t be able to gather for her birthday.
“What. Did yours really run away again this time?”
Jeong Si-jun’s head snapped around. He was well aware of Jung Si-taek’s tumultuous love life.
“…I’m planning to catch them properly this time.”
His brother’s answer was unusual. Jeong Si-jun frowned.
The second brother, Jung Si-taek’s, love life was chaotic. In most cases, the lovers were the ones to run away first. Occasionally, if he liked someone, he would coax them or drag them back, but this time felt different.
He didn’t understand what it meant to “catch them properly.”
“Did they run off with your money or something?”
“They ran off with something far more expensive than that.”
“What is it?”
What could be more expensive than money? Did they steal gold bars or watches?
Just how much did they steal for Jung Si-taek to talk about catching them? Just as Jeong Si-jun blinked, unable to make head or tail of it…
“My heart.”
At the bullshit delivered with a serious face, Jeong Si-jun rolled his eyes. This level of nonsense was practically an art form.
“Fuck off with that bullshit. I’m going out. I feel like I’m catching it just by being around you.”
“Catching what?”
“Just… things that are useless in life.”
“What?”
Leaving behind Jung Si-taek, who let out a bewildered laugh, Jeong Si-jun walked out the door. Walking [visit our site][unauthorized copy]through the hospital corridors he still couldn’t get used to, Jeong Si-jun scratched the back of his head vigorously.
‘Crazy bastard. What? Stole his heart and ran away? Blegh.’
While washing his hands at the restroom sink for no reason, Jeong Si-jun forced himself to dwell on the nonsense his brother had spouted. However, it wasn’t enough to ignore the lingering anxiety.
What if the doctors were right this time?
What if something truly happened to his mother?
Jeong Si-jun wept silently at the empty restroom sink. For a very long time, until Jung Si-taek, having received word from the medical staff, came to find him.
After calming Jeong Si-jun down and sending him back to the hospital, Yoon Ki-hyun left the guiding room.
To justify Jeong Si-jun’s absence, he needed to submit a request for a half-day leave. For that, he needed the help of Kim Cha-min, the deputy team leader of Special Team 2.
He wasn’t particularly keen on going to the annex used only by Espers, but he had no choice. He didn’t have Kim Cha-min’s contact information, and as a personal Guide, he had no account or device to access the Center’s computer system.
Since it was impossible to contact him via the messenger used by Center members, he had no choice but to go in person.
‘Maybe I should have told him to submit the half-day copy">unauthorized copyleave request over the phone earlier…’
A better plan had occurred to him, but Jeong Si-jun had already left. At that moment, he didn’t want to hold back a man who was distraught over news of his mother with such a trivial matter.
Though he did feel the need to calm him down for a moment, as he seemed excessively spaced out.
Anyway, he knew that Jeong Si-jun wouldn’t be disciplined for such an unauthorized outing. Any other Esper would have been severely disciplined, but for him, it was a different story.
It was a special position riddled with benefits and exceptions. It seemed unfair, but that was what an S-class Esper was in Korea.
Nevertheless, Yoon Ki-hyun volunteered to handle the aftermath because he had been with him when the call came. It was an unexpected situation that occurred during work hours, and he had an obligation to work as much as he was paid by Jeong Si-jun.
Even if the scope of work specified in the contract was limited to guiding, he thought this was something he could handle. Of course, it was actually simple, as he was merely conveying the request for Kim Cha-min to submit the approval on his behalf.
While heading toward the annex, Yoon Ki-hyun encountered people whose names were starting to become fuzzy. He exchanged nods, and in some cases, stopped to ask about their well-being and exchanged a few words.
“This way leads to the annex. What brings you here?”
Among them was Seo Yi-kyung.
“Team Leader Seo.”
“Are you looking for Team Leader Jeong?”
Whether he still disliked Jeong Si-jun, the tone of the question was quite sharp. Yoon Ki-hyun shook his head and replied.
“No. Deputy Team Leader Kim Cha-min.”
“Hmm?”
Seo Yi-kyung’s eyes narrowed. He was inwardly flustered by the unexpected name.
‘Why is Yoon Ki-hyun looking for Kim Cha-min? And he came all the way here for it.’
Because Jeong Si-jun would fly into a rage and interfere in every single detail regarding Yoon Ki-hyun, mentioning Yoon Ki-hyun’s name in the Awakened Management Center annex, where Espers gathered, was practically forbidden.
‘Interesting.’
Did this beauty, who seemed indifferent to everything yet occasionally appeared sharper than anyone else, know how he was treated in the Center’s annex?
He probably didn’t, which is why he had entered here alone. Even if he did content -->stolen contentknow, he got the feeling that he wouldn’t care much.
‘Actually, it’s a big deal if you mention Ki-hyun’s name in the annex.’
‘Why?’
‘Because Team Leader Jeong made it that way.’
‘Ah, is that so? By the way, could you tell me which way the Special Team 2 lounge is?’
The Yoon Ki-hyun in Seo Yi-kyung’s imagination would definitely have responded like that.
Seo Yi-kyung had Kim Cha-min’s contact information. It was common to save the contact details of team leaders and deputy team leaders from other teams as a basic emergency contact network.
However, he did not take out his phone, even with Yoon Ki-hyun—who had business with Kim Cha-min—standing right beside him.
It was clearly a matter that could be resolved with a single phone call.
Since he finally had a chance to talk with Yoon Ki-hyun, he couldn’t possibly step forward and shorten that precious time. After all, wasn’t he someone who usually stayed holed up in the guiding room and rarely came out?
“He’s probably in the lounge. The Special Team 2 lounge is [unauthorized copyclass="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">visit our site]on the 4th floor; I’ll take you there.”
Seo Yi-kyung smiled softly.
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