Still, everyone seemed safe, so he let out a sigh of relief and sent a reply.
Even when he briefly went out to wake up, the Center was quiet so he thought nothing had happened, but outside the Center it was chaos with gates…
Probably everyone inside the Center was busy in their respective positions too, but the new Guide didn’t notice any signs. Just in case, when he entered the tablet’s announcements, as expected, a gate occurrence notice was posted.
Since he’d turned off the alarm to concentrate during guiding, he unintentionally missed the notice. I should not turn off the alarm from now on, Jiwon resolved as he turned on the alarm and carefully examined the notice content.
It seemed the morning shift Guides who had left work yesterday were also called and returned to the Center. He didn’t know because he was already inside the Center so no separate call came. Jiwon’s brown eyes rolled around.
Um… but I diligently guided the most dangerous Esper, so anyway it’s not slacking off!
Yeah! That’s right.
His hair of the same color swayed gently with his nodding.
* * *
Room 701.
A-rank Guide Choi Hyerin was currently dumbfounded.
She’d been called to the Center due to the gate situation. In the past, because she was an S-rank Esper’s pair, she would have just ignored the Center call, but now, since the pair was terminated, she had to respond to the call.
Actually, even that would have been ignored if it weren’t for Esper Seo Gangwoo’s matter. When the Center sent a guiding request for Seo Gangwoo, she’d snickered thinking “as expected.”
It was a private room inside the Center she’d never come to even once since the mandatory performance requirements that needed to be filled disappeared after the pair contract with Seo Gangwoo.
Choi Hyerin made a cup of coffee. Though it was a space abandoned by its owner for 5 years, the Center had been managing it well.
It had already been two months since she terminated the pair contract with Seo Gangwoo. It was taking longer than expected.
Choi Hyerin, sitting on the leather sofa with her legs crossed, took a sip of coffee and thought of Seo Gangwoo.
S-rank Espers, of which there are only two in the country, are beings not easily encountered.
Esper Seo Gangwoo wasn’t a personality who enjoyed interaction with people, and he rarely came out of his house due to lack of guiding. The other S-rank Esper was also famous for disliking social gatherings or external activities. On top of that, with a fiery and self-willed personality, he operated in the contaminated zone frontlines of Districts 30-32 and rarely came to the central area.
So using guiding as an excuse, she occasionally called Seo Gangwoo out to gatherings she attended.
When Seo Gangwoo appeared at those gatherings, she could show people that she was in a position where she could call out an S-rank Esper if she felt like it.
Being able to call an S-rank Esper was something not just anyone could do. Except for herself, his pair Guide.
Even if the matching rate with Seo Gangwoo wasn’t high, it was fine. Seo Gangwoo, who couldn’t get a suitable matching rate even after matching tests with Guides worldwide, had only one Guide he could form a pair with—herself.
Choi Hyerin, the pair Guide who could make an S-rank Esper—hard to see no matter how good one’s wealth or how high one’s power—come out with just one contact, attracted attention wherever she went.
Though she was also a daughter of a good family, it was Choi Hyerin’s own special quality that was different from children of similar families.
People would send looks of envy, amazement, jealousy, envy, and admiration at Guide Choi Hyerin’s specialness. Whenever that happened, her shoulders would automatically rise and her nose would lift.
Though Seo Gangwoo came out and didn’t even greet people properly, besides the fact that he was an S-rank Esper, his amazing appearance and physique aroused great interest in people.
Besides that, Seo Gangwoo gave Choi Hyerin various good advantages. When Guides get a pair, their mandatory Guide performance requirements decrease according to the Esper’s rank, and S-rank pairs are freed from all mandatory performances and calls. Thanks to that, for the 5 years of being paired, Choi Hyerin could avoid coming to the Center even once.
Even without doing anything, salary came in, and 20% of the profit earned by the S-rank Esper as a pair went to Choi Hyerin.
Though she grew up in a wealthy family and didn’t lack for allowance, it wasn’t enough to be satisfying. Moreover, her grandfather, a high-ranking official at the Ability User Management Headquarters, disapproved of excessive luxury beyond what was necessary, so she occasionally had to be mindful when spending money.
But becoming an S-rank pair Guide with abundant money coming in, there was nothing to be mindful of. She could freely buy jewelry and luxury goods she liked, became a VIP frequently using top-class hotel suites, and held lavish parties herself, receiving everyone’s attention as the host—it was nothing but enjoyable.
All things she couldn’t enjoy if she hadn’t become Seo Gangwoo’s pair Guide. She just had to give appropriate hand guiding as compensation whenever she called him out.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t been interested in Seo Gangwoo at first.
Personally, in terms of appearance and ability, he matched her taste. The fact that she was the only Guide with matching compatibility so she could hold the leash also felt attractive.
However, Seo Gangwoo always had an expression full of coldness and was nothing but taciturn, a personality she couldn’t feel affection for. So she deliberately didn’t guide him properly. It was partly to raise her value to Seo Gangwoo, and because she wanted him to be more desperate and cling to her.
Time passed, but Seo Gangwoo’s attitude toward her didn’t change. Rather, he even had sensitive aspects due to lack of guiding, so her interest in him as a romantic partner was severed.
Choi Hyerin liked men who whispered pleasant words praising her, prioritized her, and were obedient.
When she went to gatherings, there were plenty of ordinary people and Espers trying to look good to Choi Hyerin. There was no reason to give attention to the stiff and boring Seo Gangwoo. She just needed the title of S-rank Esper that raised her honor and helped her comfortable lifestyle.
The problem started from when they were in their 4th year as a pair.
She had attended a gathering of political and business children that met once a month. It was one of the gatherings that Choi Hyerin, who liked gatherings, attended without fail.
That day was the first day in a long time that a new member came in. While talking with other people, he heard talk about an S-rank Esper and asked excitedly if he could really see an S-rank Esper at the gathering. At that, people egged Choi Hyerin on, and smiling gently, Choi Hyerin called Seo Gangwoo as if it was natural.
Thanks to that, the new member making a fuss about whether they’d get to meet an S-rank Esper directly, and existing members who hadn’t seen him many times because she deliberately didn’t call him out often, couldn’t hide their expectations.
But even as time kept passing, with Seo Gangwoo not coming, people’s expectations faded and eventually they focused on other interesting conversations.
People casually passed it off thinking a gate must have occurred so he couldn’t come, but Choi Hyerin wasn’t like that. Though outwardly she pretended to be fine and laughed, inside she was twisted and her eyes stiffened.
In the end, Seo Gangwoo didn’t appear until the gathering ended.
‘He’s really not coming?!’
As soon as Choi Hyerin got in the car after the gathering dispersed, she threw away the clutch she was holding.
It wasn’t that there hadn’t been times when Seo Gangwoo was inside a dungeon gate when she contacted him to call him out. There were times he couldn’t come because all communication equipment couldn’t be used inside a dungeon.
But this time was a bit different. Despite there being an indication that he’d checked her message, Seo Gangwoo didn’t appear at the gathering.
She might not know if he hadn’t seen it, but if he’d checked her message, she thought it was natural for him to come.
How dare you ignore my contact after seeing it? If you can’t come, at least write back saying you can’t!!
She couldn’t show people her ability, her specialness.
Perhaps because of this incident, they might be laughing at her inside. They were humans who would bite if they saw even the slightest gap. She herself had been like that too.
Even after returning home, Choi Hyerin couldn’t fall asleep due to the humiliation she experienced at the gathering.
The next day, Choi Hyerin had her personal secretary find out Seo Gangwoo’s whereabouts from yesterday. Upon checking, she confirmed that Seo Gangwoo had conquered a gate in the morning but didn’t deploy during the time when the gathering was held.
At that time, Seo Gangwoo couldn’t move from home to calm down the rampaging energy from the side effects of ability use. But such circumstances of Seo Gangwoo’s weren’t important to Choi Hyerin.
The only important fact was that he didn’t come to her call.
Choi Hyerin stopped the rare guiding she did, out of revenge.
For a whole three months.
Since she already knew the fact that Seo Gangwoo often turned off his watch, she made false reports to the Center that she was guiding properly, just as she’d done until now.
Of course, since Espers undergo monthly checkups, there were recommendations from the Center side to actively guide after directly checking the gauge, but she ignored them. The matching rate was also low, so it was easy to make excuses.
However, when requests from people wanting to meet an S-rank Esper at gatherings piled up, Choi Hyerin inevitably called Seo Gangwoo out again, and seeing him who came to the gathering, she sneered with one corner of her mouth raised, thinking that after all, even if he’s called an S-rank Esper, he can’t do anything without a Guide.
Choi Hyerin, who became triumphant again, held up her wine glass and enjoyed people’s amazed reactions. Every time envious gazes were directed at her it was thrilling, but she acted as if this level of thing was nothing.
After that, she thought now when she called him out he would come promptly, but after that, Seo Gangwoo only came about once if she called him out 3-4 times.
