When he raised his gaze, he saw Yoon Jihyuk, who had approached without him knowing when. His gaze was fixed on the phone screen Gu Baekyoung was holding.
“If you’re that worried, why don’t you go see him yourself? You can just disguise yourself.”
Onyul thought he was good at disguising himself, but in fact, that was an Esper’s ability.
An ability called ‘Disturbance,’ which made it so most ability users couldn’t identify Gu Baekyoung.
But for some reason, Onyul recognized him right away every time. Gu Baekyoung firmly believed it was because he was his destiny.
“You never know. Someone might recognize me.”
The Disturbance ability wasn’t almighty. Especially, the Management Bureau Director who was watching him was the most concerning.
He was pretending not to intervene, but in truth, he was probably paying more attention to this matter than anyone else.
He too, like Park Hanil, was someone obsessed with scouting talent and recruiting them into the Management Bureau.
Gu Baekyoung had also become the Management Bureau Director’s adopted son for that reason.
And it wasn’t just Gu Baekyoung.
Management Bureau Director Gu Hyeonseok made ability users with excellent abilities into his adopted children by any means necessary, creating a thoroughly calculated family.
Gu Baekyoung bit his dry lips. The message he’d received from Gu Hyeonseok a while ago suddenly came to mind.
[Stop by soon.]
The content was simple, but Gu Hyeonseok’s true intentions probably weren’t simple. Like Park Hanil, his curiosity about the S-rank guide he’d claimed as his lover would be great.
He’d also be pondering how to pull him into the Management Bureau…… It was stranger that such a person was being so quiet instead.
The calm before the storm, perhaps.
Hopefully, nothing big would happen. Even though Gu Hyeonseok was a bit eccentric, he wanted to believe he wasn’t such a villain as to harm people and would draw the line.
“Most people won’t be able to recognize you, though?”
Yoon Jihyuk, who didn’t know Gu Baekyoung’s circumstances, said carefreely.
“I don’t want to trouble my honey.”
When the answer came back quite sincerely, Yoon Jihyuk momentarily lost his words. Because even giving advice to a sincere opponent became cautious.
The one who continued the conversation was Gu Baekyoung.
“I think this much about it, but my honey doesn’t tell me anything.”
“Tell you what?”
“That someone bothered him, that it’s hard…… that someone’s hitting on him…… He doesn’t say anything, so I feel like I’m going crazy. That’s why I’m looking at this crap.”
“Isn’t it something that could be resolved by asking directly?”
Yoon Jihyuk looked at Gu Baekyoung strangely. Even though he was the type to charge in headfirst, he absolutely didn’t act when it came to matters related to the manager.
“……He told me to only do things he’d like.”
“Huh?”
“If I don’t do things he’d like, he’ll hate me. What if my questions are burdensome and annoying, and he ends up hating me too?”
Gu Baekyoung still remembered what Onyul had said. That advice to do things that person would like if he wanted to get closer.
In fact, there wasn’t a single thing Onyul had said that he’d forgotten. Even now, he recalled and thought about their conversations again and again.
“This is why being a no-dating loser won’t do.”
“……What?”
Come to think of it, I need to dunk this guy sometime.
Gu Baekyoung looked at the swaggering Yoon Jihyuk with an absurd gaze.
“Listen well, Gu Baekwon. You can ask that much. The other person won’t dislike it either.”
“Really? What if they do?”
“If you ask gently, they won’t dislike it.”
Yoon Jihyuk reached out and pulled up the corners of Gu Baekyoung’s mouth.
“Smile prettily and ask nicely, ‘Have you had any hard times lately?'”
“……”
“Your face is a bit scary though.”
Gu Baekyoung’s brow furrowed slightly.
“The smile you sometimes make when you’re with the manager is quite decent though.”
“……Really?”
“Fake.”
Gu Baekyoung’s face, which had suddenly brightened, darkened again. He rose to his feet with the momentum to tear Yoon Jihyuk apart right then and there.
“No kidding. Ask quickly. My words are probably true?”
Gu Baekyoung’s form, which had been looking at Yoon Jihyuk with suspicious eyes, disappeared in the blink of an eye.
He’d moved instantly by pushing space with his main ability, telekinesis.
“Phew, as if I’d joke when I’m scared.”
Though he spoke as if resentful, in truth Yoon Jihyuk was pleased with Gu Baekyoung’s rapidly changing facial expressions.
Because he thought it was much better to show emotions than to be expressionless every time.
This way, he seemed to be seen as a person rather than an S-rank Esper.
As soon as Gu Baekyoung disappeared, Na Geonwoo, who had just finished meeting with the Esper Center Director, entered the team member room.
“……We need to have a meeting now, where did Baekyoung go?”
“To see his lover.”
When Yoon Jihyuk answered brightly, Na Geonwoo let out a sigh.
“Haah.”
“Since it’s come to this, can I also go buy chocolate milk after a long time?”
Yoon Jihyuk didn’t know there was an afternoon part-timer now. He was looking forward to meeting the manager. His curly hair puffed up like well-baked bread.
“Do as you please.”
Na Geonwoo, speaking as if giving up, sat on the sofa.
In his hand were documents related to Gate Disturbance that had been discovered at the Anti-Management Bureau branch the previous day.
***
Tearing the scroll to clock out to Gu Baekyoung’s house had become natural. As soon as Onyul returned home, he changed into comfortable clothes.
They were clothes Gu Baekyoung had bought one by one recently. Couple knits, couple pajamas, couple tees…… Looking closely, it seemed like Gu Baekyoung was a person desperate to reveal they were a couple.
Onyul found the couple items he was trying for the first time unfamiliar, but he didn’t tell him to return them. Because Kang Ian had so few clothes.
Kang Ian had almost no clothes to wear, having saved money so desperately. It was about a gray hoodie, a white short-sleeved tee, and two pairs of pants.
He didn’t have proper clothes to change into, so Gu Baekyoung buying clothes on his own was quite helpful.
The tee and pants he was wearing right now were also things Gu Baekyoung had bought.
At first, he felt burdened because they were high-end brand clothes he hadn’t even worn in his past life, but the feel against his skin was so soft that he was now wearing them casually.
Onyul also ate dinner by taking out the side dishes Gu Baekyoung had prepared. Gu Baekyoung had told him not to wait and to eat first when he came home.
Those foods even suited Onyul’s taste perfectly.
After moving residences, he’d eaten so well that there hadn’t been a single time recently when his stomach was stuck to his back.
After eating only instant convenience store food right before disposal every time, and then eating food made with care, he seemed to have gained a bit of weight too. Since he’d originally been so thin, gaining a little weight looked good though……
When he was working at the convenience store, Gu Baekyoung’s food would sometimes come to mind, which was troublesome.
The thought of wanting to change into the clothes he bought, eat the food he made, and rest at his house grew more and more frequent.
……Is this what it means to be tamed?
Onyul thought he was training Gu Baekyoung, but in truth, it seemed like he was also being tamed by Gu Baekyoung. It felt like being tempted with good clothes, a comfortable environment, and delicious food.
These things seemed to work much better on Onyul than Ji Sanghyeon’s cloying flirting.
After filling his stomach, he remembered the homework he’d put off for a while.
‘But how do I win the bid at the tender?’
Naturally, there was no competition in terms of scale. Onyul’s convenience store was very small.
Then, he needed to create something that other places couldn’t imitate.
What came to mind then was the Therapy ability, not guiding.
‘Come to think of it, there was a time like that.’
Onyul recalled an anecdote from his past life. An anecdote where he’d used his Therapy ability faintly to make people feel better.
Should he succeed in winning the bid this time using that method too?
If he won the bid and participated in the Management Bureau event as a convenience store owner, would he be able to see Gu Baekyoung become MVP again?
Speak of the tiger and it comes—Gu Baekyoung opened the front door and entered.
“Honey, I’m home.”
Gu Baekyoung, speaking like a husband coming home from work, walked briskly over and lightly hugged Onyul who had been lying on the sofa.
“You missed me.”
The series of actions was so natural that Onyul unknowingly patted Gu Baekyoung’s back.
“I was thinking about you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, the Gate Response Training is coming up soon. When I thought about that event, I naturally thought of you too.”
“How do you know about that event, honey?”
“It’s an event the entire nation enjoys, so why wouldn’t I know? I’ve seen you being selected as MVP too.”
“I was cool, right?”
Onyul nodded without much thought. Gu Baekyoung was cool normally, but he was coolest when performing at Gates.
They say people who do their work well look cool, and Gu Baekyoung was exactly that kind of person.
“But why did you suddenly think about that event? Could you…… tell me the reason?”
Gu Baekyoung’s expression as he asked was stiff. He forcibly pulled up the corners of his mouth, making a face like he was smiling.
……It was a somewhat creepy face.
