“I told you to stop fooling around.”
“I’m not fooling around.”
Yujin had spoken in a stern tone, but it was no use. No matter how hard he tried, the interlocked fingers wouldn’t come apart. After struggling for a while, Yujin finally gave up and let out a deep sigh.
“Does it matter how you Guide me? It’s all physical contact Guiding either way.”
“Huu……”
Yujin had been making a consistent effort all this time not to get personally close to any Espers. When he’d been transmigrated into the novel, his role had been that of the villain, and his relationships with the Espers had already been at rock bottom. So even while Guiding the Espers for quests, he had never gone beyond contact Guiding. He had deliberately kept his distance from them because he didn’t want to go against the original story.
That habit had stayed with him until now. He didn’t feel any particular need to get close to Espers who despised him because of what Yujin Langford had done. Besides, he was confident he could reliably lower their Contamination levels even without high-intensity Guiding.
“Fine, as long as it’s contact Guiding.”
Either way, Min Jaeha was only doing this to enjoy seeing him flustered. There couldn’t be any other reason. Yujin gave up trying to pull free and instead gripped Min Jaeha’s hand firmly. Then he started Guiding right then and there.
“Ugh….”
Yujin held nothing back. He could feel an amount of Guiding energy flooding through the point where their palms met — even by his own estimation, it was more than Min Jaeha could comfortably absorb. A twinge of conscience pricked at him when a strained groan escaped Min Jaeha’s lips.
Well, who told him to mess around? But Yujin steadied his wavering resolve and kept pouring in the Guiding energy. It was Min Jaeha himself who had asked to receive more Guiding than the other Espers in the first place. Yujin was simply honoring the terms of their contract.
“Ha — okay, this is no joke.”
Min Jaeha said it through a sheen of sweat. It was plain to see he was struggling to handle the torrent of Guiding energy pouring into him.
The other Espers usually let go first when they couldn’t bear it anymore — he was holding up rather well. Yujin was feeling almost generous, and decided to push the output even higher.
“Ah — you’re not actually trying to kill me, are you?”
“Of course not.”
Min Jaeha’s palm was starting to grow damp. His ability was water. The flood of Guiding energy was clearly making it difficult for him to keep his power under control as well.
“Aren’t you going to control your ability?”
“Okay, okay, I get it.”
With that, Yujin had no choice but to dial the speed back a little. Min Jaeha exhaled like he could finally breathe again. His palm had already dried back to normal without him noticing.
“Wow, I feel sharp as a knife.”
“Hmph.”
Having been put through the wringer, maybe he’d pull back on the antics a bit now. Yujin kept Guiding to the very end, then shook his hand.
“Let go now.”
“……”
“I said let go.”
Yujin was also drained after Guiding two S-rank Espers back to back. Yet even after the Guiding was fully finished, Min Jaeha still didn’t unclasp their hands. His stubbornness was something else.
“It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long.”
“You’ve had plenty of Guiding. You dropped fifteen percent.”
“Really?”
Baek Dohun, who had just been Guided before him, hadn’t even dropped ten percent. Baek Dohun’s Contamination level was higher than Min Jaeha’s, and yet Yujin had pushed the Guiding intensity higher for Min Jaeha than for him. So as far as he was concerned, he’d more than fulfilled the terms of their contract.
“But the intensity was high — it’s not like you Guided me for that long.”
“Are you going to keep playing word games with me?”
“I want to hold on for as long as Team Leader Baek Dohun held on.”
“……”
Why does he keep acting like a little kid?
Yujin couldn’t figure out why Min Jaeha was pushing this far. Calling it purely an attempt to make things difficult for him felt inadequate — there was something more to the stubbornness and fixation than that.
He hadn’t known Min Jaeha long enough to read his intentions clearly. Growing tired of it, Yujin eventually relented and loosened his grip.
“Ha, fine. Do what you want.”
“Hehe.”
It wasn’t like they were Guiding anymore — what was even the point of holding hands at this point? That was what Yujin thought, but Min Jaeha looked so genuinely pleased that he kept his mouth shut.
Honestly. What an utterly incomprehensible guy.
The next day, Yujin came into the office alone. A high-level Gate had opened in the early hours of the morning, and Min Jaeha and the other Espers had been dispatched there. Having had his Guiding energy sucked dry by Min Jaeha the previous day like he was being drained by a mosquito, Yujin felt oddly light.
“Morning.”
“T-Team Leader! You’re here!”
“What’s wrong?”
The moment he stepped into the office, Hayeong — who had been standing rigidly at attention — rushed over to him in a fluster. Yujin looked at him with puzzled eyes, and Hayeong bent close to whisper in his ear.
“S-someone from HR is here for an audit.”
“That’s today?”
“Yes! And not just anyone——”
Before Hayeong could finish, someone appeared without warning. A man who had let himself in through the door walked steadily forward, his dress shoes clicking against the floor. Yujin simply watched the pale-faced man in silence.
“Long time no see, Team Leader Kwon.”
“Ah, yes……”
The man held out his hand with a composed, chilly expression. Yujin took it on reflex. But he couldn’t bring himself to say anything more just yet — he had no idea who this man was.
“That’s Team Leader Seo Yunbeom. The HR Ghost Team Leader!”
“Ah……”
He glanced sideways at Hayeong for help, and Hayeong leaned in to whisper it quietly in his ear. Yujin gave a small nod at the explanation.
“Long time no see, Team Leader Seo.”
He answered smoothly, as though nothing were amiss. Seo Yunbeom wasn’t an Esper, so he wouldn’t have caught the whisper — but he couldn’t possibly not know that Yujin had forgotten his name and needed Hayeong to fill him in. Even so, he didn’t seem particularly bothered by it.
Yujin quickly scanned Seo Yunbeom’s face. The overall pallor and cool composure suited the thin silver-framed glasses with uncanny precision. At a glance, he gave off an exacting, irritable impression. No wonder he was called the HR Ghost Team Leader. He had clearly come today in a thoroughly prepared, ready-to-dig state.
“Sorry to drop by without much notice, Team Leader Kwon.”
“Not at all. That’s what HR is here for.”
Yujin answered pleasantly and took a seat first. Without being told, Hayeong moved quickly and brought out coffee. Seo Yunbeom took a leisurely sip before getting to the point.
“Good coffee.”
“Is it.”
“I heard Team Leader Kwon prefers black tea over coffee.”
“……”
The Center Director he’d run into right after returning had also offered him a nice black tea, Yujin recalled. Forcing himself to maintain a smile, he filed the memory away.
Calling himself an HR Team Leader and yet knowing every little detail like this. He wondered if Yujin Langford had already been marked by this man. It was entirely plausible — but he didn’t want to accept it as a certainty just yet. Yujin bit down on his back teeth and opened his mouth again.
“I’ve had it so much I’ve gotten a little sick of it lately.”
“Hmm, is that so.”
Seo Yunbeom responded without much reaction and set down his coffee cup. He looked up with sharp eyes and continued.
“First, I’d like to review the report from last quarter.”
“Of course.”
He had known this was coming. As soon as Seo Yunbeom said it, Hayeong produced the report he’d prepared in advance. It was a compiled summary of the team’s activities and expenditure records for the period.
“Hmm — as always, the report is flawless.”
“Ha ha……”
Of course it was — Yujin himself hadn’t touched it once. It was something Hayeong, the Deputy Team Leader, had put together with meticulous care. Yujin glanced over and gave Hayeong a look that said, well done.
“Shall we get to the real matter, then.”
“……”
There’s something else. Yujin tensed and swallowed quietly. Seo Yunbeom reached into his jacket and produced a pad. He then turned it to show Yujin what was on the screen.
“What is this?”
The white screen was packed densely with black text. Yujin lifted the pad and read. The contents were anything but ordinary.
“These are the workplace harassment complaints filed against Team Leader Kwon at the Guide Center. A total of thirty-six cases have been submitted to HR up to the present.”
“……”
Cold sweat ran down his spine.
Workplace harassment. It was entirely plausible that such complaints would have been filed. A person with a character as rotten as Yujin Langford’s would have belittled and tormented the people around him. Verbal abuse at the very least — and at worst, physical violence. He was the kind of person who treated those around him like insects. Yujin pressed his lips tightly together.
“Among them, there are also consultations relating to sexual harassment and sexual violence. We consider these reports to be fairly credible.”
“Wh-what?”
But he had only ever anticipated insults or intimidation — nothing else had crossed his mind. Yujin Langford was a Guide. He could imagine it from an Esper, but it had never occurred to him that Langford would vent his impulses on fellow Guides as well.
This crazy piece of trash!
But the situation here was different from the original story’s world. The S-rank Espers that fit his tastes hadn’t been easy to bend to his will, and there was no shortage of attractive Guides all around him. Using his position as Team Leader, he could have exerted a certain degree of coercion over them.
Even so — he’d go as far as targeting fellow Guides? Yujin Langford was genuinely a worse piece of work than he’d given him credit for. Without realizing it, Yujin’s hand had balled into a fist.
“Th-there’s no way! Our Team Leader might be trash but he’s not that bad!”
“……”
Just then, Hayeong beside him burst out in an agitated shout. Yujin looked at him quietly. He was half-wondering if this guy was taking a shot at him right now.
