# Chapter 2
Seo Suhyun was confirmed as an S-class Esper in the ranking test conducted after his wavelength stabilized.
His matching rate with Jiwon was 89%. Because of this, Jiwon naturally thought he would become Suhyun’s dedicated Guide.
“You need to sign.”
Well… Jiwon’s premature assumption was about to become reality today. That is, if Suhyun signed the dedicated contract now.
The problem was that it had been two years since he had that sentimental thought, and the relationship between Suhyun and Jiwon wasn’t good enough to comfortably enter into a dedicated contract.
“You know it’s just a waste of time to resist… why are you being so stubborn?”
Jiwon urged Suhyun with his characteristic eye-smile.
“Are you busy? If so, we can do the contract another time.”
Suhyun replied without blinking an eye.
His tone was sharp and his gaze fierce enough to burn the contract, making it questionable whether he was the same person who had faintly smiled while saying everyone was safe.
“I’m busy, so we should finish today. Do you want to set up another meeting like this?”
“Well, the situation might change, don’t you think?”
“Unfortunately, the situation won’t change. If anything, the pressure will only get worse.”
“Why are you so sure?”
“Because…”
A cold battle of nerves passed between the two.
“Um, e-everyone…?”
The Association employee, who was sitting on pins and needles between them, finally managed to speak.
He was present at this meeting as the guarantor and supervisor of their contract.
“……”
The atmosphere softened somewhat at his troubled face. Suhyun, who had been looking at Jiwon with cold eyes, leaned back on the sofa and looked at the contract again.
Jiwon clicked his tongue inwardly and turned his head. He had already signed, so it would all be over if Suhyun just signed too. But here they were, wasting time because Suhyun kept resisting.
It seemed like he was still thinking of ways to avoid it, but if there had been any such way, Jiwon wouldn’t have been sitting here in the first place.
“Haah…”
A long sigh escaped from between Suhyun’s teeth, and in response, Jiwon twisted the corner of his mouth. He could feel the sharp gaze intensely.
In truth, this situation was Suhyun’s fault. It was Seo Suhyun who had matching rates of less than 30% with all other Guides.
Things had turned out this way because he only had a decent matching rate with Jiwon, so if anyone should be glaring, it should be Jiwon.
As befitting his title as an S-class Guide, Jiwon showed matching rates of over 60% with most Espers. That was enough for meaningful guiding.
If Suhyun had just one more Guide with a high matching rate, the two of them wouldn’t have had to enter into a dedicated contract. It was all because Suhyun was so picky.
“It seems Esper Suhyun has a lot of time today.”
Jiwon smiled as he spoke to the Association employee.
“Reading thoroughly what everyone already knows.”
“Can’t you shut up?”
“Both Gunwoo-ssi and I are busy people, but we’re wasting time meaninglessly, aren’t we?”
Jiwon shrugged as if to show off and gestured toward the Association employee.
“Ah, no. I’m fine.”
The employee seemed flustered when Jiwon dragged him into it. Suhyun glanced at him and picked up the pen, as if he didn’t want others to be put in an awkward position.
‘If you’d care about me half as much as you care about others, you wouldn’t be so hateful.’
Jiwon gave a bitter smile.
Actually, Jiwon should have been the one hesitating to sign the dedicated contract. After the contract, an Esper could receive guiding from other Guides, but a Guide could only guide their dedicated Esper.
Some might think it would be better to be responsible for just one person, but it was different for Jiwon, who did guiding at the Guiding Center located on the second floor of the Association.
Jiwon was the only worker and the person in charge of the Guiding Center. In other words, he was running the center according to his own preferences.
The center operated on a system where Jiwon had to accept an Esper’s reservation for it to be confirmed, which also meant he was free to refuse.
On top of that, his working hours and days off were entirely up to him. It was truly a dream workplace.
But if the contract went through, instead of Suhyun coming directly to the center as before, Jiwon would have to follow him around.
It was a contract where Jiwon was clearly at a disadvantage.
“How long are you going to keep reading? Until a Guide who hasn’t appeared for two years suddenly shows up like fate?”
But why was Seo Suhyun the one hesitating?
Jiwon asked sarcastically, finding it ridiculous.
“That would be nice.”
But the person in question didn’t care. Jiwon swallowed a sigh and crossed his arms. When someone acts like that, it’s human nature to want to be even more petty.
“Is there a problem with the contract?”
Jiwon picked up the contract again as he spoke. At this, the innocent Association employee flinched and began to look anxious. If there was a problem, it would be troublesome for the Association that provided the contract, and for him as its representative.
“There’s no need to implicate the Association.”
Suhyun coldly retorted, as if he disliked putting the Association employee in a difficult position.
Of course there wouldn’t be any problems. What Jiwon wanted was Suhyun’s reaction.
“I don’t know. It’s unsettling that the Esper is looking at it for so long.”
Jiwon didn’t back down.
“The, there’s no problem with the contract. It’s always the same…”
Thanks to them, only the Association employee was sweating nervously in the middle. Watching him fluster and fumble, Suhyun sighed.
“Fine.”
Then he finally scrawled his signature on the contract. It was the result Jiwon wanted, but he felt absolutely awful. He also felt like he’d become the bad guy who bullied an innocent person.
“Ah, thank you. Um… and congratulations. With this, the contract is complete. Um… as of now, the contents of the contract are in effect.”
The employee, who was awkwardly caught in the middle, stammered as soon as he received the contract. His increasingly rapid speech clearly revealed his desire to leave this place as soon as possible.
He cleared his throat and began to mechanically recite the manual.
“Within an hour, a call function will be added to the ability user watches you each have. As you probably know, let me explain that you can call each other anytime, and when you do, the caller’s detailed location is also transmitted. Even without calling, you can change the settings to always check each other’s locations…”
“Sounds good. Let’s set that up.”
“No. It’s not necessary.”
The employee stuttered at the contradictory responses that came simultaneously. Jiwon shrugged at the employee’s trembling eyes.
“That’s what he says.”
Since Jiwon wanted to irritate Suhyun, not really torment the employee, he immediately backed down.
“Ah, yes. I see…”
The employee looked nervously at both of them and began explaining again.
“Guide Jiwon, you will now be able to check Esper Suhyun’s wavelength status in real-time. This part cannot be changed to private, so… uh, I ask for your understanding.”
This time his words were much faster than before. Beads of cold sweat were even visible.
Maybe that’s why. Even though he would hate having his wavelength status visible, Suhyun remained silent.
‘Why is everyone acting like this, seriously.’
Kim Gunwoo, the Association employee, who couldn’t know that this was Suhyun’s own way of being considerate, was shivering with discomfort.
He hadn’t expected this atmosphere. He had come with a relaxed mind because it was a contract between Guide Moon Jiwon and Esper Seo Suhyun, but it seemed more uncomfortable than the contracts of other ability users.
‘I’m exhausted from their power struggle.’
What on earth had happened between these two?
Esper Seo Suhyun clearly seemed displeased with this contract. And he didn’t seem to have any intention of hiding it either.
On the other hand, Guide Moon Jiwon was smiling leisurely, so Gunwoo thought he might have pushed for this contract, but looking more carefully, he didn’t seem particularly happy about it either.
He just… seemed to want to torment Suhyun, who was openly showing his displeasure with the contract.
He had seen the opposite case many times. It was often said that a dedicated contract unfairly subordinated the Guide to the Esper.
So it was strange that Seo Suhyun, who had been without a dedicated Guide for two whole years, would be averse to Moon Jiwon. It wasn’t a contract where the Esper would lose out.
“Um, anyway…”
Is there something else going on?
Swallowing his suspicions, Kim Gunwoo took a deep breath. Regardless, his priority was to finish this job quickly and leave this place.
“From now on, we hope that you will participate in all dungeons with your dedicated Guide. This is mandatory, and if there are reasons why you cannot be together, you can submit the details in writing to the management department. Also, the residences of the contracted Esper and Guide must be within 3km of each other. Please report to the Association after deciding your residences. The deadline is one month.”
Kim Gunwoo took a deep breath as soon as he finished explaining according to the manual.
“Do you have any questions?”
He asked with the intention of standing up immediately if they said no, but—
“Instead of being within 3km, we could live together, right?”
Jiwon’s gentle question came back as if he had been waiting for it.
There was no way Jiwon, a Guide with 10 years of experience, wouldn’t know this answer. It seemed like a question just to grate on the other’s nerves, but… he couldn’t not answer it.
“Let’s not ask pointless questions. Because we won’t be living together.”
“I’m just asking. Does signing a contract mean you get to control what I say? That’s not in the contract terms.”
“Who would believe it’s ‘just asking’?”
“I think everyone except Esper Seo Suhyun would believe it?”
Jiwon taunted mockingly.
“Um… yes, the Association recommends combining residences. So of course it’s possible.”
Gunwoo barely managed to answer. It was just an answer to a question, but he broke out in a cold sweat. Sparks flew between the gazes of the two people facing each other, as if they didn’t care what he said.
‘I envy them… Esper Seo Suhyun and Guide Moon Jiwon. I wish I could go.’
He remembered another employee who had been expressing envy right before he left for this field assignment. He should have handed over this job back then…
Honestly, Gunwoo tended to avoid directly facing ability users. But this was not just anyone’s contract, but Seo Suhyun and Moon Jiwon’s.
Since it was a matter of interest to the entire nation, not just himself, he had greedily wanted to go in person.
Who could have predicted this?
Guide Moon Jiwon, who had awakened as a Guide 10 years ago. Although he was said to act a bit eccentric at times, he was generally kind and relaxed as long as others weren’t rude to him first.
Esper Seo Suhyun, who was somewhat taciturn and reticent, but polite, with a strong sense of responsibility and duty, and always honest.
Both S-class with a matching rate of 89%. A perfect combination of two notably handsome faces and tall builds.
‘Who would have thought that the reason they didn’t form a dedicated contract for two years despite having Guide Moon Jiwon was because they didn’t get along…’
But knowing the reality was disappointing. Even so. To spend two years in an unstable state just because they didn’t get along.
And it wasn’t even that the Guide disliked the Esper. Usually, even if an Esper dislikes a Guide, they try to hide their true feelings. Because a Guide is as good as an Esper’s lifeline.
But Suhyun seemed calm even in front of his lifeline. What if Jiwon decided not to guide him…
“If there are no more questions, we will conclude this meeting. I’ll take the original contract to submit to superiors, and you each keep a copy.”
Abandoning his unpleasant speculations, Gunwoo returned to his professional demeanor. It wasn’t an issue for him to comment on.
He began tidying up, thinking he would go back to the Association and gossip about this contract scene.
“I’ll leave first.”
But it was Suhyun who moved faster than Gunwoo. Gunwoo instinctively looked at Jiwon’s reaction.
“Goodbye.”
Fortunately, Jiwon acted as if it was nothing unusual. Rather, it seemed like he had expected it.
Suhyun didn’t even pretend to hear Jiwon’s farewell and disappeared in an instant.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Jiwon smiled and greeted Gunwoo, who had frozen in bewilderment at the sight of Suhyun’s hasty departure.
“Ah, no… what hard work…”
Gunwoo, who had belatedly come to his senses, waved his hands. Jiwon smiled more gently and said,
“You must have been very uncomfortable, right?”
“I’m, fine.”
He couldn’t possibly have been comfortable. Suhyun doesn’t act like this unless it’s in front of him. So it must have been confusing to see him so different from his usual image.
In such cases, most people check Jiwon’s reaction. Since Suhyun was openly showing his discomfort, they worry if Jiwon’s feelings were hurt.
This employee was probably the same.
“That’s good. I’m fine too.”
Jiwon said with a smile, but the other didn’t seem to believe him. The look of sympathy and concern in his eyes drew a hollow laugh from Jiwon.
Living long enough to receive such looks.
Thanks to Seo Suhyun, he was experiencing all sorts of things.
“Could you check this first?”
Well, it wasn’t a major issue. Jiwon handed the other an envelope he had taken out of his bag.
“What is… this?”
“Take a look.”
The employee was perplexed by this unexpected development. Only after Jiwon gestured for him to open it did he slowly grasp the envelope.
“I want to ask a favor, but I’m anxious to rely just on words, so I want to make sure.”
“……”
“It’s not a difficult favor. What I want is for you to keep silent about everything except the fact that the contract was formed, meaning all the private aspects such as what Esper Seo Suhyun and I said or did here today.”
A confidentiality agreement.
Kim Gunwoo swallowed dryly. He had been planning to gossip about how strange their relationship was as soon as he got back, but had Jiwon anticipated that? His face burned.
“The uncomfortable things, the strange things, the puzzling things, please don’t reveal any of it to anyone, including your personal opinions, Kim Gunwoo-ssi.”
“Ah….”
“Of course, I’m not asking this with empty hands.”
Jiwon smiled and pointed to the very bottom of the agreement. Gunwoo’s pupils shook greatly. The compensation for eliminating gossip material that could be chewed over when bored was so large it made his jaw drop.
Jiwon sat in the now-empty meeting room, alternately looking at the contract and the confidentiality agreement.
“This is tiring…”
Is signing one contract really such a difficult task? Anyway, he should be relieved since he succeeded.
“The one who benefits is someone else, why should I be relieved?”
Jiwon, who had been grumbling with dissatisfaction, chuckled. No matter how good a contract is, it’s meaningless if the party involved doesn’t think it’s beneficial.
Right now, Suhyun must be seething over the unwanted contract. How resentful he must be, having finally succumbed to pressure from above when he disliked even facing Jiwon so much that he tried not to receive guiding.
“Even so. He’s so careless.”
Jiwon muttered as he examined the confidentiality agreement signed by Gunwoo.
It wasn’t something to boast about to everyone that the reason an S-class Esper went without a dedicated Guide was because he didn’t get along with the Guide who had a high matching rate with him.
Everyone knew how dangerous an Esper’s rampage could be if they didn’t receive proper guiding. If it became known that danger was ignored for such a trivial reason, it would cause quite a stir.
It would also impact the image of himself, Seo Suhyun, and the Association. While image wasn’t a major concern, it would be better to prevent rumors if possible.
“Haah…”
Fatigue washed over him. He had just signed a contract with Suhyun, but somehow his future felt bleak.
