# Chapter 20
‘Please help me until I get used to guiding.’
He thought it would be a short time, a month at most. He had complacently decided to help one naive S-class Guide who hadn’t properly adjusted to headquarters yet.
After their first lunch together, it was only natural that Dohyuk occasionally bought Junseo meals. It was just an insignificant meal cost, and since Seungmin had left for a dungeon conquest, leaving his seat empty, Dohyuk, who was eating alone, had no particular reason to refuse.
That’s how Junseo, who had been getting free lunches, said he wanted to repay the delicious lunches and smoothly arranged dinner plans. Dohyuk, who had accepted with a light heart, was utterly shocked. The place Junseo took him to, saying they would eat simply today, was a reservation-only fine dining restaurant where prices weren’t even written on the menu.
‘Junseo. This seems to cost at least thirty times what I spent on your lunches.’
The lunch menu Dohyuk had bought was just bulgogi and rice. It was a hidden gem that only office workers near Jongak Station knew about, but it was just 7,000 won. To Dohyuk’s gloomily sunken words, Junseo innocently smiled and answered.
‘This isn’t an expensive place. I don’t like places that are too burdensome either. And hyung, I earn a lot.’
‘I know. But Espers earn more than Guides. We have additional allowances too. Usually, the one who earns more pays more.’
Dohyuk felt like he was taking candy from a baby, making the delicious food taste uncomfortably unsettling. Seungmin called him gullible, but to Dohyuk, Junseo seemed like the gullible one, making him increasingly bitter. That innocent guy was said to not have many friends, and it seemed true, as he would gently smile at Dohyuk and try to give him something more. It was surprising what made him extend only goodwill.
In truth, even when Dohyuk first saw Junseo’s car, which cost well over 200 million won, he didn’t think much of it. He just thought, like a child, he must have a desire for cars. Ability users earned considerable income, so if one was interested, they could easily drive a luxury foreign car. Even Dohyuk, who had little interest in dungeon byproduct income, easily earned tens of millions of won in supplementary income each month.
It’s just that Dohyuk had no desire for cars and was ignorant about financial technology. He wasn’t one to enjoy luxury or waste. There were no insurance companies that accepted Espers ranked C-class or higher, but anyway, he had no interest in insurance and used cash instead of credit cards.
Most Espers live only for the present. Dohyuk was one of those Espers. The underlying thought was that it wouldn’t be strange to die at any time doing this job. Of course, not all Espers lived like that. Seungmin found credit cards convenient, drove a nice car, and consistently contributed to savings accounts.
Anyway, to summarize, Dohyuk wasn’t much interested in earnings or consumption, but he wasn’t financially destitute enough to have to freeload off Junseo. Dohyuk straightened his shoulders and advised maturely.
‘Save your money. Don’t spend indiscriminately when you’re young, save some too.’
‘By the way, hyung. I think we’re destined.’
‘Hmm?’
‘I never imagined you’d be living in my building.’
‘What did you say?’
…Until having this conversation with Junseo, who was dropping him off at his officetel, he had thought he wasn’t financially destitute.
‘If you need anything, just tell me right away. I don’t know much either, but I’ll ask the building manager to handle it quickly. I’m so happy to discover another connection with you.’
He thought it was a bad joke, but when he returned home and took out the lease contract, the building owner’s name was indeed Yu Junseo. He had conducted the contract with a legally authorized representative, and since the representative was in charge of overall management, he had forgotten the name he never had a proper chance to see.
To think that the main source of ‘I earn a lot’ was the occupation of building owner, not Guide. He realized that Junseo’s tastes, which he had thought were just childlike preferences for expensive things, were actually all childishly modest. Junseo’s expensive car? This was like a regular office worker commuting on a children’s kick scooter. It was extremely frugal.
Only after experiencing that incident did Dohyuk belatedly learn, more than anyone else, that Junseo was Yu Minhwan’s son. When he subtly probed Seungmin about whether he knew this surprising fact, he only earned criticism, being told not to just work but to please look around and use the internet more.
Dohyuk was stunned when Junseo started spending money as if he had been unsealed. Why had he said that the one who earns more should spend more? His mouth was his enemy. Was it not a coincidence but Junseo’s meticulous plan to reveal his occupation as a building owner to Dohyuk? When asked if he really hadn’t known his tenant’s information, Junseo innocently replied that’s why he hired a manager, but it wasn’t believable.
As Dohyuk blankly stared at Junseo, the round eyes smiled. His strangely tilted face was tinged with a reddish flush, perhaps due to the hot internal warmth. The appearance was like color applied to an elegant ink painting, capturing the eye.
“Eat a lot. You said when you worked in Busan, you were often deployed without properly eating meat.”
He seemed to have mentioned it in passing. It was something he had vaguely added as a joke because the silence was awkward, but Junseo must have taken it to heart.
“I eat well these days.”
“With me?”
It was a statement he couldn’t refute, so he simply nodded. Dohyuk had just now learned that there was even a Korean beef omakase. Indeed, someone who has spent money knows better how to spend it. All he had to do was pick up and eat the meat perfectly grilled by the staff at the temperature suitable for each cut. He marveled at the luxury of eating freshly grated whole truffles over well-grilled Korean beef. The mixture of meat juices and truffle aroma spreading throughout his mouth made his tongue root sweetish.
“I thought omakase was only done at sushi restaurants, it’s interesting. I’ll pay for this one.”
“Why?”
“I’ve only been freeloading until now.”
Although Dohyuk was ignorant about fine dining, he had enough discernment to think that this place must cost at least 400,000 won per person. The food expenses Junseo had paid so far seemed to amount to at least 2 million won a week. Originally, the closer the relationship, the more meticulous one should be about financial matters. Seungmin and Dohyuk were like that. When treating, they would spend generously, but the basic was Dutch pay. This was because human relationships could be hurt by trivial matters. But Junseo’s thoughts seemed different, as he frowned as if hurt by Dohyuk’s words. His docile expression immediately froze sensitively with that small change.
“As a Guide, I should support Espers. If my Esper who I guide collapses somewhere, my heart would ache.”
Dohyuk began to worry about this naive kid. No matter how much money he had, Dohyuk’s mouth turned bitter at the thought of Junseo being taken advantage of somewhere. There were many strange people in the world who took kindness for granted. Junseo must be living without knowing that fear because he hadn’t been out in society for long. Moreover, Junseo was the type that all sorts of bad guys would go crazy over and cling to. They say people’s eyes grow clouded as they mature, but it was surprising how Junseo’s eyes remained clear like a child’s. Should he say they were eyes that stimulated a dark desire to watch him get distorted when touched even while standing still?
As wicked thoughts rose, Dohyuk rubbed his temples.
“Junseo. People need to be moderately calculating in relationships. You don’t seem to know well because you lack social experience…”
“Have you heard this saying? There’s no free beef. Pure hearts only get as far as pork.”
Whether aware of his concern or not, Junseo just smiled brightly with his fine hands supporting his cheeks.
“But you buy for me without expecting anything in return.”
“Not at all. I’m buying it with sinister intentions.”
The words he boldly spat out with his soft face made Dohyuk, who had been suppressing his own sinister thoughts, burst into a small laugh.
“Oh my. Is there something you want? Tell me.”
The one who had suddenly raised his head in delight momentarily forgot what to say and stared at Junseo as if enchanted. Why did he only look white even under the yellowish indoor lighting? The reflected light reddishly flickered over his jet-black hair. The light, which had settled from his hair to his eyelashes, flowed down to his smooth cheeks. Dohyuk was so focused on watching how that light dripped and slid onto the table that he almost missed Junseo’s words.
“Tomorrow, can we do proper guiding? Holding hands.”
He raised his gaze. A shy expression, as if pouring out a sweet confession, was soaked in light and sparkled.
“It’s okay after work if you’re busy.”
Looking into those eyes full of expectation, he thought no one could exist who could refuse him.
In fact, the brief guiding sessions he had conducted with Junseo so far, except for the first time, were done with Junseo holding his arm, as Dohyuk had insisted. Of course, Junseo’s resistance was fierce, but Dohyuk was the victor.
The biggest reason Dohyuk gritted his teeth and stubbornly insisted, pretending not to see Junseo’s dejected face, wasn’t so much the aversion to being touched by others, but rather due to Junseo himself.
More precisely, Junseo’s guiding habits were the problem.
He seemed to have a habit of inserting his straight fingers between the Esper’s fingers and conducting guiding with their fingers firmly interlocked, and when he concentrated, he would unconsciously rub his palm or scratch Dohyuk’s palm with his thumb. The sensation, which wasn’t painful, kept stimulating his body, driving Dohyuk crazy. Even with just Junseo’s guiding, Dohyuk had to constantly chew the inside of his mouth.
