“Our youngest, your Center life hasn’t been great lately, huh?”
“Why are you running your mouth again today? Things must be really going badly lately.”
“If you get fired from the Center, you can just rest at home. You’re still pretty even so.”
The noonas were busy talking among themselves, completely unconcerned whether Ilkyung made a sulky face or not. Ilkyung looked down at the meat he was cutting and sighed.
“Right, since you noonas are Espers, you’ll never get fired from the Center, is that it?”
“Why are you thinking like that again? You know very well I didn’t mean it that way.”
The noonas, who had been busy chattering among themselves about Ilkyung, all perked up their antennae at Ilkyung’s single comment. Ilkyung didn’t like this family atmosphere where they became overly cautious of him the moment he mentioned ‘Esper.’
“Why is the meat so tough today?”
“Why are you taking it out on the meat again? Switch with Noona’s.”
Yunkyung, the eldest noona, said as she switched her plate with Ilkyung’s plate.
Now he lived thinking he couldn’t help being the only ordinary person, but when he was young, Ilkyung had secretly hoped too. When will I manifest? What will I manifest as? Esper? Or Guide?
“So what happened?”
Eunkyung, the second noona, asked carefully.
Ilkyung and his noonas gathered just the siblings once a month for a meal. Since the two noonas were married and living in the provinces, it was a gathering that originated from not being able to meet as often as before.
“No, Noona. I’m really curious about this…”
The bleak future had already become reality for well over half a year. Ilkyung stuck out his lips and looked at his noonas. Then he finally put down his knife and fork and moistened his lips with wine.
Since this wasn’t the first or second time this had happened, the noonas just smiled and nodded. It meant they’d hear him out.
“What is our youngest so curious about?”
“They needed someone to guide an S-rank Esper, so I connected Director Ha-nim. But is that such a wrong thing to do?”
Ilkyung moistened his lips with wine as if he was getting heated up again just thinking about it.
“Ilkyung-ah, stop with the wine. You’ll fall over again at this rate.”
Ilkyung liked alcohol but his tolerance wasn’t on the strong side. So when he drank too much, he often tripped over his own feet and fell. His fair body was covered in bruises, so the noonas were always worried. They couldn’t watch over their younger sibling every moment.
“I haven’t had much yet.”
“You always say you haven’t had much like that and then go splat and collapse.”
Ilkyung pretended not to hear and popped meat into his mouth and chewed.
“Anyway, Noonas, answer me quickly. Did I do something that wrong?”
The fact that Ilkyung particularly didn’t get along with Director Ha Daehoon was something all the noonas knew.
“Little brother, of course for S-rank Esper guiding, an S-rank Guide is more efficient and can proceed faster, so pairing them is correct.”
“Right, Noona? But why did they make such a fuss?”
At the second noona’s words, Ilkyung’s eyes sparkled with an ‘I knew it’ expression. This is why you need family. Look how they immediately take your side.
“But Ilkyung-ah.”
“…What ‘but’?”
When the eldest noona started with “but,” Ilkyung immediately narrowed his brow.
“Ilkyung-ah, the thing about Esper and Guide pairs is kind of…”
“Kind of what?”
When Ilkyung frowned even more, the noonas just moved their lips.
“I’m asking what it is.”
Ilkyung asked again.
“Anyway, it’s kind of like that.”
The noonas knew that Ilkyung was sensitive when this topic came up. They still vividly remembered. When Ilkyung cried asking why he didn’t manifest as an ability user, asking if he was adopted. Several years had passed since then, but the noonas were still cautious around their youngest.
“After all, guiding involves skinship.”
“So?”
“So because of that, if you do it with this person and that person, what should I say, yeah, reality hits you?”
Ilkyung didn’t understand what they meant.
“No, it’s work.”
The noonas wanted to say “Ilkyung-ah, it seems you don’t know because you’re not an ability user,” but that was like a taboo phrase in the Woo household. The moment those words came out, all hell broke loose. So everyone just hushed it up.
“Leaving that aside, Ilkyung-ah. Social life can be kind of hard to understand and all. But what can you do? If they tell you to do it, you have to. That’s social life.”
At the eldest noona’s words, Ilkyung gulped down wine again.
“I keep telling you not to drink wine like that. Who drinks wine like they’re drinking beer?”
“Sipping little by little is frustrating.”
“Then don’t order wine from the start and order something else.”
Ilkyung didn’t even pretend to listen and gulped down wine again.
“No, and I’m on the on-site support team, so what good does looking good to Director Ha-nim do for me? He’s not even my direct supervisor. He doesn’t hold my personnel rights either.”
At those words, the second noona chuckled and gently patted Ilkyung’s head.
“Director Ha-nim is an executive. An executive investing money in the Center.”
“Haah.”
At those words, Ilkyung sighed and took another sip of wine. Right, that damn Director, he’s an executive, that’s right.
The meal had long since become a drinking session, and the four had already emptied several bottles of wine.
“But Noona, did you hear that rumor?”
Ilkyung, with slightly reddened cheeks, whispered softly toward his youngest noona. Minkyung brought her ear close to Ilkyung’s side and asked.
“What rumor?”
“Recently, Director Ha-nim broke his pair again. With Esper Yoon Bomi.”
“Yeah, I know about that.”
Esper Yoon Bomi was quite famous. Tall, looking thin but with a firm body, a small white face, and facial features so gorgeous that celebrities would be put to shame. Of course men liked her, and women envied her too.
When people heard that Esper Yoon Bomi and Director Ha Daehoon became a pair, on one hand they were envious, but on the other hand they got excited saying a handsome man and beautiful woman had met, and wouldn’t this lead to dating and even marriage?
Actually, Ilkyung was envious too. The Woo family had faces that resembled dogs rather than cats. Both Ilkyung and Minkyung had slightly drooping eye corners, giving them gentle impressions. Because of that, their eyes naturally went to people who looked completely different from them.
Ilkyung tended to prefer glamorous beauties, and as a result, he only picked partners who were so-called “face-worthy,” ending up hurt before even properly dating. However, Director Ha Daehoon was so amazing in everything except personality that even he as a man understood people’s feelings. But before long, the pair broke up again.
“Why does Director Ha keep breaking his pairs?”
“Who knows.”
Ilkyung was so, so curious. With those kinds of visuals, why did he keep breaking pairs? Did he treat women as rudely as he treated him?
“He’s really handsome, but doesn’t his personality suck? Is that why the Espers break their pairs with him? If you’re paired, you spend more time together than anyone else, so maybe they can’t stand that terrible personality?”
Ilkyung tilted his head with a languid, tipsy expression. He’d definitely been fine just a moment ago, but suddenly the alcohol seemed to hit him all at once.
“Noona, don’t the Espers talk amongst themselves?”
Being paired didn’t necessarily mean dating. However, due to the nature of how guiding worked, it wasn’t uncommon for people who started as pairs to become lovers and even go as far as imprinting.
Because of this, there was a strong perception among people that forming a pair was essentially dating. If anyone dated within the company, rumors would spread quickly and every move would be passed around through the company messenger—but strangely enough, while there were plenty of rumors about Director Ha, there were no proper stories. Everything was hearsay. There were no stories that started with “The Esper who was paired with him said this…”
“What would they talk about? You know there’s no one who really knows Director Ha well enough to talk about him.”
“Tsk. But the rumors are crazy.”
The two noonas who’d been drinking wine looked at Ilkyung. Having really gotten it this time, he’d been complaining nonstop throughout the meal, and Director Ha was still on the chopping block. They had to listen to this or else he’d grumble endlessly, so the noonas just let it be.
“What do the rumors say?”
The eldest noona and second noona, who were at provincial Centers and didn’t know much about what happened at the central Center, asked. Ilkyung opened his mouth like a fish that found water.
“You know, noona. I really think it’s fortunate that our youngest noona didn’t go to that matchmaking meeting back then.”
“Why?”
