‘Ah, a nosebleed.’
Of all places, it had to happen at a restaurant. Yoon Kihyun clicked his tongue and looked around for a napkin.
Frequent nosebleeds had become part of his daily life for a while now.
Since arriving in this city, he didn’t have to worry about guiding anymore, but the aftermath of living recklessly with a death date set in his mind was manifesting entirely in his body.
The alcohol he’d poured in like water instead of actual water, and the pants that had become loose from skipping meals. All changes that happened in just two weeks.
It usually stopped quickly if he blocked it moderately, so he was reaching for a napkin when Jung Sijun’s dumbfounded face caught at the edge of his vision.
Well, anyone would make that expression if they saw someone eating hangover soup perfectly fine one moment and then having a nosebleed burst out the next. His appetite probably dropped completely too.
“Sorry. For this happening so suddenly while eating. It’ll stop soon.”
When he said that out of courtesy, Jung Sijun frowned as much as he could.
“A nosebleed isn’t something to apologize for. Are you really okay?”
“I think it’s just because of the changing seasons.”
“It’s not because of that illness you mentioned earlier?”
When Jung Sijun asked that, Yoon Kihyun couldn’t help but hesitate for a moment. Truthfully, he’d never had a nosebleed because of changing seasons before.
It was probably because of that illness with the complicated name. But if he said that honestly, Jung Sijun might change his mind right now and say to forget the whole thing.
“That’s…”
Yoon Kihyun trailed off for a moment, throwing away the blood-soaked napkin and pressing a new napkin firmly under his nose, when the sound of a chair scraping came from in front of him and Jung Sijun disappeared somewhere with long strides.
‘What, where’s he going?’
Did he perhaps feel reluctant about receiving guiding from a guide with an illness?
Even though he knew about the illness, he’d made the personal guide offer, so Kihyun thought he didn’t really care. But now that he’d actually seen him spill a nosebleed while eating right before his eyes, maybe his thoughts had changed. He might have found it distasteful to entrust his wavelength to someone like this.
‘I don’t know, if you said you’d buy food then at least pay the bill before leaving.’
Yoon Kihyun couldn’t handle his dizzy vision and was letting out a sigh with his eyes squeezed shut when Jung Sijun’s voice suddenly came.
“Wipe it.”
At the rustling sound, he opened his eyes slightly to see Jung Sijun holding out something in his hand. It was clearly mass-produced wet wipes sold at convenience stores.
Yoon Kihyun traced the words written on the wet wipe packaging with his eyes with an expression of disbelief.
Moist and Soft Baby Wipes.
He burst out laughing for a moment. He couldn’t believe Jung Sijun had gone all the way to a convenience store to buy that in the middle of eating, and of all things, he’d picked up pastel-toned wet wipes that didn’t suit him at all.
“Don’t wipe it right away… What, why are you suddenly laughing?”
Jung Sijun asked in a somewhat displeased tone, and Yoon Kihyun answered as he received the wet wipes Jung Sijun had bought.
“I just find this whole situation funny.”
It was truly the first time in his life he’d had such an absurd and ridiculous day.
Yoon Kihyun laughed loudly while still blocking his nose. It was the first time he hadn’t felt depressed by the smell of blood seeping into his nasal passages.
***
Fortunately, the nosebleed stopped quickly. But Yoon Kihyun stirred the half-remaining hangover soup before soon putting down his spoon. Maybe because he’d just had a nosebleed, he had no appetite.
Jung Sijun, who had resumed eating after sitting back down, also seemed to be eating half-heartedly.
After finishing the payment, Jung Sijun muttered sullenly as he came out of the restaurant.
“Let’s count this as void and I’ll properly buy you a meal at a proper place next time. It looks like you couldn’t eat properly because of the nosebleed.”
Yoon Kihyun glanced at Jung Sijun sideways. He was curious what kind of taste the meal would be when this rich guy bought it at a “proper place.”
“Sure. Then. Buy me a meal again next time.”
He’d expected him to scold him asking what meal, but when Yoon Kihyun readily agreed, Jung Sijun’s lips twitched slightly. This was the first time Yoon Kihyun himself had mentioned “next time.”
“That aside… how’s the nosebleed? I was fucking panicked earlier when you had that nosebleed, Team Leader Yoon.”
Jung Sijun’s worried gaze lingered around Yoon Kihyun’s face. Fortunately, the nosebleed had stopped quickly. The places that had been uncomfortable from being stained with blood had also been well taken care of with the baby wipes Jung Sijun had bought.
The few remaining wet wipes were rustling in Yoon Kihyun’s back pocket, making their presence known with each step.
“It’s all stopped.”
“Then that’s good.”
“But like I said earlier, can’t you do something about the way you address me? It’s been ages since I quit, and you’re still calling me Team Leader Yoon?”
He knew that was the title Jung Sijun was used to saying. But every time he was called that, all sorts of unreasonable things he’d experienced at the Awakened Center came to mind, making him uncomfortable. No, more than uncomfortable, pissed off was the accurate expression.
The Deputy Director of Management’s unreasonable nitpicking, the Guide Headquarters Director’s full-on sneering and threatening warnings—just chewing over those things still made something hot boil inside him.
“Then since we might be seeing each other often from now on, how about I call you Kihyun-hyung to get closer?”
He’d just wanted to be called by a different title, but to suggest an even less appealing one. Yoon Kihyun’s expression became sullen.
‘Ugh, what Kihyun-hyung. If we’re getting paid to work together and act like hyung and dongsaeng, things that should work won’t work.’
He knew Jung Sijun was younger than him, but when he actually said he’d call him hyung, it felt strange.
Wasn’t there too little middle ground in the distance?
Yoon Kihyun usually was wary of people who tried to close the distance rapidly. It was because he knew that among guys who approached like that, decent people were rare.
Just mulling over the title Jung Sijun suggested made him shudder. When working, it was better to keep an appropriate distance and just do your own work properly. It was generally like that when he worked at the Awakened Management Center too.
Part of it was because life was tight and he didn’t have the luxury to look after others, but getting too close to work colleagues only meant getting tasks dumped on you. As a result, his work preferences naturally solidified this way.
“Something like Yoon Kihyun-ssi would be fine. No, just call me Yoon Kihyun-ssi.”
Yoon Kihyun quickly corrected the title. He did it in case giving any leeway would make him call him familiarly on his own like those guys who got clingy at bars.
Sure enough, Jung Sijun’s dissatisfaction immediately exploded.
“I’m trying to get a little closer here, would it kill you to accept it?”
The guy’s lips were sticking out as far as they could go, his face all scrunched up.
This bastard’s throwing a fit again. Yoon Kihyun clicked his tongue inwardly.
Just looking at this side of him, Jung Sijun looked exactly like an immature rookie in society, but the fact that he was an indispensable existence at the Awakened Center was just amazing.
No matter how much the Awakened Center was a place that only looked at the abilities and skills of Espers and Guides…
‘No, wait. Thanks to that, I got Team Leader early too, so I shouldn’t be the one to talk.’
Yoon Kihyun avoided Jung Sijun’s glaring gaze and answered.
“No, there’s something called middle ground.”
“What middle ground?”
“Yesterday you saw me and cursed at me to do guiding instead of watching, and just because we slept together once, suddenly acting like this… It’s not like you have split personality or something.”
Saying it out loud, Jung Sijun’s emotional changes were bewildering.
‘Was Team Leader Seo’s guiding that bad yesterday?’
As Yoon Kihyun’s eyes narrowed, Jung Sijun pursed his lips and demanded.
“Geez, then what, should we slowly get to know each other like we’re dating, huh? And change how we address each other tactfully?”
“I don’t know, anyway hyung is just not it.”
“Ah, yes. I’ll dutifully call you Yoon Kihyun-ssi from now on. Is that good enough?”
“Yes. That’s good.”
When Yoon Kihyun nodded with a satisfied look, Jung Sijun’s face twisted up.
‘Wow, he’s a completely different person from what I saw at the Center. His personality is fucking intense, seriously.’
He’d only thought about Guide Team 2 Team Leader Yoon Kihyun who worked at the Awakened Center and treated him as he always had, but it was defeat after defeat.
After quitting, Yoon Kihyun had such unfamiliar speech and unfamiliar attitude that you’d believe he was a completely different person. Perhaps this was closer to Yoon Kihyun’s true self that had been suppressed all along.
He was this good at arguing, but at the Center he’d only said what was necessary and only did guiding, so he couldn’t even imagine how frustrated he must have been.
‘Team Leader Yoon? He doesn’t come to company dinners much and he’s not talkative to begin with. Should I say he doesn’t talk to people at all unless it’s about work? Why, are you interested in Team Leader Yoon, Team Leader Jung?’
‘Team 2’s Team Leader is a good person. If you ask about things you don’t know, he teaches you well. But he has so much work assigned to him, there’s no time to talk and he looks tired.’
The Yoon Kihyun that Center people evaluated was a workaholic guide who didn’t talk much.
His skills were flawless, but a few words came up behind his back about his unsociable personality, so Sijun had vaguely thought he had a gentle personality, but it wasn’t like that at all.
The unrestrained way of speaking he’d shown at the Gate site, the bar, and the hotel was quite shocking to Jung Sijun.
Honestly, that’s why he was more attracted. He even felt a shallow sense of superiority knowing a completely different side of Yoon Kihyun that the Center guys still didn’t know about.
If he weren’t so damn good at guiding, he wouldn’t be struggling like this in a city like this.
And how ridiculously good-looking he was—just in the ten minutes of aimlessly walking after leaving the hangover soup restaurant, there were already three people glancing at Yoon Kihyun.
“Geez. Do you know how many people are dying to get close to me?”
Jung Sijun grumbled to the heartless prospective guide who wouldn’t open up to him. Then Yoon Kihyun retorted with a blank expression.
“What use is it to me to know that?”
Anyway, he puts up an amazing iron wall. Yoon Kihyun was really not an easy man.
