The problem was that Seo Gangwoo had no interest in sponsorships or specific brands.
It was clear that if he just appeared in photos it would be a huge hit, but since he wouldn’t do it, many brands and companies stomped their feet in regret.
At least knowing that he paid attention to the vehicles he traveled in, various automobile companies sent cars. He received dozens of vehicles alone, but Seo Gangwoo only kept a few appropriate ones to make into artifacts and returned the other vehicles.
If it became known that Jiwon was driving around in one of the unused vehicles, those companies would be very pleased.
While talking about this and that, the two quickly arrived at the Center.
“Stay in the dedicated room and I’ll contact you when the examination is over.”
“No. Let’s go together.”
Jiwon shook his head, held Seo Gangwoo’s hand, and walked to the research building.
“The examination will take quite a while.”
“Then I’ll watch the examination start before I go. Originally, a guardian should go together for things like this.”
When Jiwon met his eyes saying I’m your guardian now, aren’t I, and pulled their clasped hands to walk forward, Seo Gangwoo quietly followed.
Even very young Espers or those who had just manifested didn’t have guardians following them around inside the Center. Maybe if they were Guides, but most usually examined alone, but Jiwon put forth the pretext of being Seo Gangwoo’s guardian.
Though it wasn’t a big deal, Jiwon wanted to go together. It wasn’t a long distance to the research building anyway.
During his long hospitalization, his family tried to spend as much time with him as possible, but they also had lives to continue, and they had to work to afford Jiwon’s hospital bills. Because of that, there was quite a bit of time young Jiwon had to be alone.
Jiwon knew it couldn’t be helped, so examining and receiving treatment alone was nothing to him. But occasionally when he encountered patients with their guardians, even though he’d been doing well bravely on his own, he’d become sad. Though he understood with his head, he couldn’t help feeling lonely.
Entering the examination room, Researcher Han Hyewon, who had examined Jiwon when he first manifested, and another assistant researcher were waiting. Perhaps having already heard about the pair contract, they showed no surprise at seeing Jiwon together with Seo Gangwoo.
While Seo Gangwoo went to change into examination clothes, Jiwon exchanged warm greetings with Researcher Han Hyewon. Seo Gangwoo, who returned quickly, signed the consent forms for each examination item.
“How long will the examination take?”
Jiwon asked Researcher Han Hyewon.
“A thorough examination takes a bit over an hour as standard, but it varies slightly depending on the person. In Esper Seo Gangwoo’s case now, since his waves are complex, it’ll take over 3 hours.”
“I’ll contact you when the examination is over.”
Watching Jiwon nod at Researcher Han Hyewon’s words, Seo Gangwoo spoke.
“Yes. I’ll come down to the lobby when you contact me. Have a good examination!”
Jiwon, who confirmed Seo Gangwoo entering the examination room, greeted the researchers and came out.
While walking to Building A, Jiwon enjoyed the sunny weather and hummed a little song. Somehow it felt like it had been a long time.
He passed through the lobby, took the elevator, and arrived at the office where Team Leader Lee Juyeon, whom he’d contacted in advance, was located.
“Guide Kim Jiwon!”
Team Leader Lee Juyeon, who had been sitting at her desk working, discovered Jiwon opening the door and coming in, smiled gently, and stood up from her seat to welcome him.
“Have you been well?”
“Yes. You haven’t had any troubles either, right, Team Leader-nim?”
At Team Leader Lee Juyeon’s appearance today as well, naturally exuding a mature adult demeanor, Jiwon became defenseless automatically. Finding such Jiwon cute, Team Leader Lee Juyeon took out a strawberry shake she’d prepared in advance from the refrigerator and held it out.
“Ah! This is from Ellin, right?”
“That’s right. You chose the strawberry shake last time. I bought it in advance while getting mine.”
“I’ll enjoy it well. Thank you!”
He pulled off the plastic covering the straw tip and took a sip. Melting away from the sweetness and coldness, Jiwon beamed on the sofa.
“Hehe… Guide Kim Jiwon, you can’t follow someone just because they give you something delicious. That would be terrible!”
“Of course. I’m not like that.”
While exchanging greetings and asking if there were any inconveniences living with Seo Gangwoo, and whether the house they were living in together was okay, Team Leader Lee Juyeon felt a bit relieved that Jiwon seemed to be adapting well.
“Here, take these.”
Then she brought from her desk what appeared to be a new tablet and a box.
“This is an external work tablet, and this is the pair watch you applied for.”
The work tablet wasn’t much different so he set it down right away and opened the box. The white leather band with silver accents in the watch design was perfectly to Jiwon’s liking.
There were various designs, but he’d liked this one the most. Jiwon took it out of the box and tried it on his left wrist.
Unlike Espers, it didn’t have a function to check his own biometric data, but it could sync directly with the paired Esper’s watch screen to check the gauge.
Also, it was possible to send simple messages or check work, and if desired, a function to track each other’s locations could be added.
Though it looked like an ordinary regular watch, it was processed from monster hide so it was sturdy, and it had basic attribute resistance and an automatic defense function. The additional functions were something Seo Gangwoo had ordered separately after seeing the watch Jiwon had chosen.
Even if there was a pair watch, in the case of Guides it wasn’t mandatory to wear, so many Guides didn’t wear them. But Jiwon applied right away upon learning there was a pair Guide watch. He thought it was an essential item since he could check Seo Gangwoo’s gauge status immediately.
“It came out pretty.”
In Team Leader Lee Juyeon’s view, it suited Jiwon quite well too.
“There’s still a long way until Esper Seo Gangwoo’s examination finishes, right?”
Team Leader Lee Juyeon asked Jiwon, who was checking the watch while turning his wrist this way and that.
“They said it’ll take longer because his waves are complex. I’m planning to wait while doing work in the dedicated room for the first time in a while.”
“Guiding Esper Seo Gangwoo must consume a lot of energy, so just rest before you go. Don’t do work.”
At Team Leader Lee Juyeon’s words worrying about him, Jiwon answered with a bright smile.
“It’s okay. I originally had fast recovery time, but maybe because I’ve gotten used to using a lot of guiding energy lately, my recovery time has decreased even more.”
“Oh my, really? Maybe it’s because Guide Kim Jiwon isn’t just A-rank but A+-rank…. But you still can’t forget to always pay attention to your remaining guiding energy.”
“Yes. I absolutely won’t overdo it either. I’ll rest to match the time the examination finishes. Don’t worry.”
“Alright. See you again, Guide Kim Jiwon.”
Jiwon came down to the lower floor holding the strawberry shake he hadn’t finished drinking yet in one hand, and in the other hand the newly received external work tablet. Since it was only one floor down, Jiwon, who came down the emergency stairs instead of using the elevator, scanned his fingerprint and entered the dedicated room.
“Oh! My dedicated room.”
Since it was his own work space created at his first workplace, even though he hadn’t used it for long, he was already attached to it and glad to see it.
Having applied for cleaning before leaving, Jiwon examined this and that at the clean dedicated room’s appearance and made a satisfied expression.
He sucked once more on the strawberry shake in his hand, then set down the items he was holding on the work desk, pulled open the inner curtain wide, sat at the work desk, and turned on the monitor and tablet.
Since he’d come to the Center anyway, he planned to work for about an hour before leaving.
“Whew…”
As expected, the long waiting list still appeared.
Jiwon approved an Esper with a long wait time and high gauge. A moment later, Esper Lee Gayeon, who had a height close to 180 and elastic muscles, entered. The Esper was in a high gauge state of 75%, but Jiwon quickly grasped and calmed the waves.
“Wow. Guide-nim, why is your guiding so fast?”
Esper Lee Gayeon, surprised at the guiding speed she’d never experienced before, gaped.
“Uh…”
Actually, Jiwon was just as surprised. Having guided Seo Gangwoo’s waves, which were the highest difficulty level, other Espers’ guiding felt too easy.
Seo Gangwoo’s waves were truly, literally, a combination of old waves hardened while twisted like a maze and fierce waves like bombs that could explode at any time.
Compared to that, even though Esper Lee Gayeon’s gauge was high, the weight of her waves felt light. For an A-rank Esper at this level of gauge, though there were differences depending on matching rate, it usually took a good 30 minutes, but now it had dropped to 39% in an instant without even filling 10 minutes yet.
After the gauge dropped to 15%, Jiwon removed his hands.
“Thank you. Guide-nim, you’re really the best. Please approve me again next time if there’s a chance.”
“I will. Take care, Esper Lee Gayeon-nim.”
The Espers he guided after that were the same. The Espers were surprised at the rapidly dropping gauge, and Jiwon was surprised too. The experiences of guiding Seo Gangwoo’s waves seemed to have forcibly skyrocketed Jiwon’s guiding skills.
“Ah, whatever. Good things are good things~!”
Jiwon happily accepted the skill increase he hadn’t expected.
While examining the list like that, Jiwon discovered spatial-type A-rank Esper Lee Minhyeok, whom he’d guided for the first time, and pressed approve.
“Hello.”
Lee Minhyeok, whom he was seeing after several days, had a pale face but still smiled slightly upon seeing Jiwon. Jiwon also smiled and welcomed him.
Since spatial-types were needed in many places and used their abilities frequently, it seemed difficult.
