Jiwon’s head felt refreshed. As he was grinning to himself alone, Jisu grabbed his shoulders with both hands and shook him back and forth, asking if he was even listening to her properly.
“Ueoeoe, I’m dizzy, let me go~!”
“Where do you think you’re going! Your noona is talking and instead of listening carefully, you’re spacing out…?! Did I raise you like this?!”
“Wait a second~!”
Their parents just watched the noisy siblings they hadn’t seen in a long time with affectionate eyes.
“L-look at this! I made this!”
“What! Are you trying to change the subject?”
With his body still shaking, Jiwon barely managed to reach out and grab his phone, shoving the food photos he’d taken in front of Jisu’s eyes.
“What is it?”
Jisu’s eyes widened as she received the phone.
“Don’t tell me you made this?”
“I did! Ahem.”
Jiwon crossed his arms proudly.
“This? Really? Mom, look at this! You’re not lying, are you?”
The food photos looked too plausible to have been made by the youngest who had never cooked at home before, so Jisu sprang up with an expression of disbelief.
Their parents’ attention had been focused on their sick child, which could have made Jisu jealous, but she had doted on Jiwon, who had been as small and pretty as a fairy since childhood, even more than their parents had. It might have been because he was a late-born child with a seven-year age gap.
Jisu had been the one who, worried that her younger brother who couldn’t have the normal daily life of meeting friends his age at school would be lonely, would cancel plans with her own friends to visit the hospital on behalf of their busy working parents during weekdays, carrying packed lunch boxes to replace the boring hospital food and armfuls of comic books to take care of Jiwon.
Even when his body miraculously improved and he started attending school. She had kept her eyes peeled, checking if he might fall, if he might get blown away by the wind, if anyone was bullying him, if he was struggling to adapt to school life having to take classes with classmates a year younger due to his late enrollment.
Still, she had been somewhat relieved after he made a reliable friend named Hojun, but when her younger brother suddenly manifested as a Guide—something she’d never expected—and became independent from home, she was so worried she couldn’t focus on work.
On top of that, she was shocked to hear that not long after he started working at the Center, he had formed a pair with an S-rank Esper known to have a famous pair Guide, and her heart had pounded with surprise.
She had been worried sick, wondering what kind of strange bastard had lured away their innocent youngest.
Still, from what she heard from Jiwon, while she wasn’t completely at ease, the person seemed decent enough. There had been issues with the previous pair, but those had been resolved now, and it wasn’t Esper Seo Gangwoo’s fault.
Not only their parents but Jisu herself was endlessly soft when it came to Jiwon, so she had always gladly granted any request or anything he said he wanted to do, as long as circumstances allowed.
It was admirable enough that Jiwon, who had grown up among family members who cherished and indulged him, had grown up properly without rough edges, but seeing him already an adult who had left home and was adapting well made her feel both sad that he’d grown up completely and proud at the same time.
“Yeah. I did really well, right? Looks delicious, right? It was really delicious, right? I found my calling in cooking.”
Knowing better than anyone the hearts of his family who must have worried about his sudden independence, Jiwon spoke even more confidently, bragging about the successful cooking and saying he was living this well, telling them not to worry.
“Jiwon made food? Let me see too. As expected, he takes after me so he’s good at cooking too. My baby, ooh goo goo.”
“Ahem, I also make really fantastic ramyeon, you know that, right? Jiwon takes after me…”
“How is ramyeon cooking? Ramyeon doesn’t count as cooking!”
“That’s right! Dad, have some conscience!”
“Hey hey, ramyeon is so profound. Depending on what you add to it, it becomes so many different dishes, but you and Jisu don’t know that…!”
Leaving behind their parents who were expressing their cooking pride, each claiming Jiwon resembled them, Jisu stretched out the youngest Jiwon’s white, soft cheeks to soothe her inexplicably empty heart. Jiwon, who would normally have whined that it hurt and grumbled, obediently offered his cheeks.
Jiwon, who had come home after a long time, faithfully played the role of the beloved youngest. He also distributed the gifts he’d prepared for his family with his first paycheck, and they ate together while chatting warmly.
It was a time when his heart felt warm and full.
And two days later, he also met with his friend Hojun.
Jiwon treated him grandly at a buffet restaurant he’d reserved in advance.
“Wow, Kim Jiwon, I’ll eat well. You remembered that I said I wanted to come here last time?”
“Of course. Where else would you find a friend like this?”
“Mm. It’s delicious. As expected, you get what you pay for. But really, I never thought you’d become a working adult before me.”
“I didn’t know either. I thought we’d graduate school together, right? What will our Hojun do being so lonely without me? You’re not crying at night or anything, are you? Hehe.”
“Huh…! Why are you talking nonsense when you’re eating well?”
“Hey! Don’t be embarrassed, this hyung knows your heart all too well~.”
Hojun found Jiwon’s supposedly slick expression amusing.
“Guide Kim Jiwon-nim, who knows my heart all too well, how is life these days?”
“Life these days? Not bad, no, pretty good.”
“Pretty good?”
At Hojun’s question, Jiwon answered somewhat seriously while still smiling.
“Yeah. The work isn’t hard, the salary is good, I like my pair, and I’m just a tiny bit disappointed about not being able to have school life. But you know too. I chose business management without much thought because I didn’t particularly want to do anything. Since I manifested as a Guide, a diploma doesn’t mean much either. It’s a Guide position that others want to do but can’t.”
“That’s true, it’s not the unwavering number one dream job for nothing. But you never know about the actual person’s position, right? There are also Guides who can’t do what they want to do, or who find it burdensome to become protected subjects at the national level.”
At Hojun’s words, Jiwon thought carefully.
“Hmm. It’s not like that aspect doesn’t exist. I have to definitely submit an outing application if I leave a certain area from the Center, and the protection is excessive in many ways, but it’s not like I don’t understand why.”
“I see.”
“Yeah. But well, I’m not that sensitive, so it’s not to the point where I feel inconvenienced. I don’t know about later, but it’s okay so far.”
“True, just going with the flow is Kim Jiwon. I forgot because it’s been a while since I saw you. As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters.”
“Of course. Mountains are mountains. Waters are waters.”
Jiwon lowered his eyes and picked up a cup and fork, pretending to strike a wooden gong.
“Yes, yes, Monk Jiwon, please try this.”
And so Jiwon’s outing came to an end. With his narrow social circle, there was no one else he needed to meet.
There were classmates and people he knew, but after the fact that he’d manifested as a Guide became known, he received contact even from people he hadn’t been close with, and even people he’d been friendly with sent contact with obvious ulterior motives, so he didn’t particularly want to meet them.
What he did after that was get his driver’s license.
From before, Jiwon’s vague romantic notions about being an adult were two things.
Having a job where you wait for payday that comes every month, and driving your own car that allows you to move comfortably beyond public transportation.
Since he’d unintentionally achieved the salaryman’s dream, what remained now was driving.
Jiwon, who had diligently prepared for a month and breezily passed both the written and practical tests with perfect scores on the first try, became truly full of vigor.
Since he went around acting so cocky and making it obvious, everyone he met asked what happened, and Jiwon would spin tales of his pride and glory, his driver’s license passing story, starting with, “Well, it’s not a big deal, but…”
After that, it didn’t even take a day for everyone—not just acquaintances but everyone in the Center—to learn the news that Guide Kim Jiwon had passed the driver’s license exam with a perfect score.
Due to the Choi Hyerin incident, Center 1 was unknowingly going through a slump, whether Guides or Espers.
Issues about the safety of the S-rank Esper, the exposed corruption of the Ability User Headquarters, the reversal of the famous celeb Guide, the unprecedented punishment of a high-rank Guide, and news of related parties whose trials weren’t over yet…
If it weren’t for Jiwon appearing with good timing, the situation would have been more serious.
Although they’d handled the situation quickly, there was still a lot to deal with, and the headquarters audit team was walking around the Center constantly with fierce expressions, stirring things up. On top of that, the outside was still filled with endless related broadcasts and articles, so the unsettled atmosphere continued.
In the midst of all that, since the two actual parties involved were walking around the Center stuck together as if nothing had happened, the Center’s atmosphere unknowingly began to come back to life little by little.
To the point where it could be said to be more stable than before when Guide Choi Hyerin had been active.
Even though they belonged to the same Center, the combination of the S-rank Esper who radiated such coldness that it was hard to see even his shadow, let alone have a conversation with him, and the cute and chirpy new Guide who seemed like he’d cheep if you poked him—who hadn’t been manifested for long—matched quite well and looked good together.
Moreover, the affectionate attitude and atmosphere felt between the two when they were together was both surprising and fascinating.
So perhaps it was a natural reaction that even the small everyday matter of Jiwon’s perfect score on the driver’s license became a topic of conversation.
Some snorted that they were making a fuss over nothing, or sent envious glances while pretending not to care, but most of the ability users at Center 1 welcomed the change like a ray of light in the repetitive, boring daily life and gloomy Center.
