Jiwon, who had been waiting for news, quickly grabbed his phone.
“Ohhh!”
After checking the message, excited Jiwon flushed his cheeks red and raised his phone high with both hands.
“Finally, my first paycheck—!!!”
The reason Jiwon had been in such high spirits since morning.
It had already been a month since he manifested and started his Guide work, and it was payday.
Overcome with emotion, Jiwon covered his mouth with his hand and shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it.
But that was only for a moment.
“Oh yeah~!”
Unable to contain his joy, he hopped around and ran out to the living room, then came back to the kitchen doing a two-step dance. After expressing his excitement with his whole body, Jiwon came to his senses and checked his account.
“Huh?”
Surprised by an amount larger than he expected, Jiwon went into his email and examined his pay statement.
Until now, he had only gone to the Center twice a week to do guiding work on the days Seo Gangwoo had detailed examinations.
Though there weren’t many work days, becoming a pair with Seo Gangwoo, an S-rank Esper, meant his mandatory performance requirements disappeared, and all those work hours had transferred to additional performance credits.
On top of that, 20% from his pair Seo Gangwoo’s salary had come in. He’d expected there would be no pair allowance since they were taking a break from raids due to his unstable energy, but whether it came from the Esper’s basic salary, that amount was also not small.
“My goodness. Is it okay to receive this much?”
He was already happy just to receive his first paycheck, but the amount was more than satisfactory.
Just then, he heard the sound of the front door clicking open. It was Seo Gangwoo returning after checking his ability.
A few days ago, Researcher Han Hyewon, who had seen the results of the detailed examination done at the Center, had asked about Seo Gangwoo’s usual condition with surprised eyes. Then she said that since his unstable condition had improved a lot, he could now use his ability even if not extensively.
In addition, she suggested checking the progress of his physical condition after using his ability, so he’d been out doing that. Though the Center had Seo Gangwoo’s dedicated training room, if it was just about using his power and checking, it was sufficiently possible to inspect in the spacious backyard.
Jiwon checked Seo Gangwoo’s gauge with the Guide watch on his wrist. It was 67%, as if he’d used an appropriate amount of power. Taking his eyes off the watch, Jiwon scurried over to greet Seo Gangwoo.
“My first paycheck came in!”
“Ah… Congratulations.”
Even at Seo Gangwoo’s plain congratulations, Jiwon just smiled happily, then grabbed his large hand and naturally began guiding.
“Hehe, thank you.”
It felt like he hadn’t even worked that much, but it was a tremendous amount for a new member of society to receive.
Of course, the reality was that he was continuously guiding Seo Gangwoo without rest, so it was practically like working overtime with no real work hours, but Jiwon hadn’t gone to work much and it didn’t feel difficult, so he didn’t really feel like he was working.
Still, in any case, it was his first paycheck in his life, and he just felt proud and pleased with himself.
“It’s my first paycheck, so I’m thinking about what to do. Buy gifts for my family, treat Hojun to celebrate my first paycheck, buy snacks for Coco….”
Jiwon wanted to commemorate his first paycheck and share his joy. Wanting to somehow show off that he’d received his paycheck, Jiwon came up with all sorts of plans.
“Is there anything you want, Esper Seo Gangwoo?”
As Jiwon made various plans, so happy about his first paycheck, and even took care of him, Seo Gangwoo tried to recall what he’d done when he received his first paycheck, but he had no memory of doing anything special.
There wasn’t really anyone around to give gifts to, and he’d just been busy managing his sensitive nerves that had become irritable from not receiving proper guiding.
“I’m fine.”
“Aw, but I want to give you a gift….”
Jiwon pondered what would be good as a gift. Then he realized that choosing a gift for Seo Gangwoo had quite a high difficulty level.
A watch wouldn’t work since he wore a watch, perfume would be bad for a sensitive Esper so pass, and when he thought about it that way, all accessories had to be ruled out. What remained were things like books or clothes, but nothing appealed to him.
“Ah!”
Jiwon, who had been agonizing while groaning, opened his eyes wide.
Among the cooking videos he’d watched recently, he recalled a plausible yet easy-to-follow dish uploaded by a three-star restaurant chef. While watching the video, he’d thought, I think I could do this too, right? Shouldn’t it work if I practice following the recipe exactly?
“Then I’ll make you a wonderful dinner. Not today, but after practicing a bit!”
Jiwon, who clenched his fist full of motivation and steeled his resolve, somehow looked joyful. Though it would be a difficult dish for a beginner, he was filled with groundless confidence.
Finding such a Jiwon cute, Seo Gangwoo let out a chuckle and lightly placed his hand on Jiwon’s head with a pat.
Lately, Seo Gangwoo had been smiling more.
“I’ll look forward to it.”
“Yes! Look forward to it~!”
Light though it was, Seo Gangwoo’s rare and precious smile made Jiwon’s motivation burn even more.
“For now, let’s eat breakfast. I was making toast.”
Seo Gangwoo was led by Jiwon’s hand to the kitchen where he simply washed his hands, finished the incomplete toast by adding sliced ham and cheese, then ate together.
“It’s delicious, right?”
Just watching Jiwon eat deliciously was enough to fill Seo Gangwoo’s stomach.
“Yes. It’s delicious.”
Answering Jiwon’s question, Seo Gangwoo gently brushed away the breadcrumbs on Jiwon’s lips with his thumb.
After finishing the meal, Seo Gangwoo took charge of cleaning up.
Jiwon, who had helped but then ran out of things to do, opened the front door and basked in the sunlight.
Stretching his body as he yawned, Jiwon looked around at the deck installed in front of the house. It was installed surrounding the building, so the space was spacious and nice.
All this time, Jiwon had been pondering how to decorate this large and desolate house to make it look like people lived there. He’d already obtained Seo Gangwoo’s consent.
Though it was a house that had been bewildering with nothing but the building standing alone, that’s why he thought it would be fun to decorate.
Seo Gangwoo had told him to buy necessary things with the card registered on the tablet, but Jiwon had only been waiting for his payday.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know about the wealth of an S-rank Esper. It’s just that since he wanted to buy these things himself, he didn’t feel like using Seo Gangwoo’s money.
Besides, he was already paying for all the basic supplies and groceries with Seo Gangwoo’s card.
On top of that, since 20% of what his pair Esper earned came into his paycheck anyway, though it was called his salary, he thought it also contained Seo Gangwoo’s money.
Jiwon was excited about spending money.
I’ll completely transform the inside of this cold house that doesn’t look like people live in it!
Though there was plenty of time and nothing was urgent, since it would be bothersome to look for everything one by one, he planned to select from sample photos of interior design companies that he liked, then only change the detailed parts to his taste.
And he planned to work on the front deck too.
A beige sunshade, a tea table, a small flower bed. Later, on the opposite side, a wide table and bench where they could have barbecues too.
It was Jiwon’s dream, so to speak. Just imagining it was nice, so after spending a while figuring out various positions, he went inside the house.
* * *
In Room 705, the private room, after finishing his guiding work and coming to the research building, Jiwon waited for Seo Gangwoo who was still being examined in the examination room.
Through the glass window where he could see inside the examination room, Seo Gangwoo lying on the examination machine was visible.
Researcher Han Hyewon, who had been analyzing the data coming in real-time, discovered Jiwon and opened the very last drawer of the desk next to her, taking out a bunch of snacks. Though it seemed like the snacks’ owner wasn’t her, her hand taking out the snacks was unhesitant.
“Welcome. Esper Seo Gangwoo still has a bit left. Eat this while you wait.”
“Thank you.”
Jiwon didn’t refuse and readily received them, placed them to one side, then tore open a cookie studded with round chocolate chips and popped it into his mouth in one bite.
Researcher Han Hyewon watched Jiwon eating the snacks deliciously with crunching sounds, then spoke.
“Looking at the wavelength test results, his condition has improved considerably compared to before. The sudden instability has also disappeared, and he’s being maintained relatively stably even after using his ability. It seems he’s safely passed the dangerous stage now. In fact, at this level, he could even participate in simple raids.”
“Really? Is he okay now?”
At the words that Seo Gangwoo’s physical condition had improved, Jiwon showed his happiness.
“Yes. He stabilized faster than even I expected. Considering Esper Seo Gangwoo’s condition when he had his first detailed examination after the explosive risk, I thought it would take at least several months to get better. It’s probably the result of Guide Kim Jiwon paying a lot of attention to guiding.”
Even Researcher Han Hyewon really hadn’t expected results like this. Even though the two had a high matching rate, given Seo Gangwoo’s condition, finding stability this quickly wasn’t easy. It was impossible unless nearly all time was devoted to guiding.
She’d been worried when she heard that Jiwon, who hadn’t been long since receiving his Guide manifestation test, had become a pair with Seo Gangwoo. An S-rank Esper’s energy wasn’t easy to guide, and moreover, Seo Gangwoo was a dangerous Esper who could explode at any moment.
But since such results had come out, it seemed she’d worried for nothing.
Finding Jiwon, who took good care of his pair Esper, somehow admirable, Researcher Han Hyewon smiled warmly, then seeing Jiwon tearing open and eating snacks in succession, she opened the drawer of the desk next to her again and emptied out all the remaining snacks.
