“Pull yourself together. This isn’t a dream.”
Na Geonwoo, who came to his senses faster than Onyul, trudged over to the front of the register.
“This is okay… right?”
The voices of reporters who belatedly came to their senses asking questions to Gu Baekyoung, who was descending from the platform, could be heard in succession.
[“Please tell us more about your lover!”
“Is Esper Gu Baekyoung’s lover a Guide? Please answer!”]
Gu Baekyoung left that place, leaving behind the endlessly bursting flashes and intersecting questions.
As if he had said everything he needed to say and there was no need to deal with them anymore.
“I came in person because I thought it wouldn’t be okay.”
Na Geonwoo, who answered, turned off the phone screen clutched in Onyul’s hand.
“Do you have a moment?”
“Ah… I’d like to talk with Team Leader too, but the store owner can’t leave the convenience store.”
“I will accept the matters you mentioned regarding our contract.”
What he meant was that he would accept the condition Onyul had requested to adjust the period of caring for Gu Baekyoung to one year in the contract Na Geonwoo had proposed.
If he stayed by Gu Baekyoung’s side for just one year, he’d get 100 million won.
Even though it was a good thing, he didn’t feel happy. It was because Gu Baekyoung’s shocking statement was spinning in his head.
What suddenly came to mind then was the declaration Gu Baekyoung had left.
<Don’t worry. I just need to clearly prove that the cat helmet isn’t part of the Anti-Management Bureau forces.>
The anxiety he felt after hearing those words had become reality. Damn it!
“And if you sign today, as I mentioned before, I will immediately advance 50 million won.”
What? He’ll deposit it right now?
Even amidst the confusion, the amount of 50 million won stuck precisely in his ears.
Right, let’s at least hear him out. Onyul smiled with his eyes as if he had never been out of it.
“Customer, there’s a private and clean cafe nearby, shall we go there?”
***
Na Geonwoo still didn’t believe in reincarnation.
Moreover, it had only been 6 months since Kang Onyul died.
In such circumstances, the probability that Kang Ian, a convenience store manager, suddenly became Kang Onyul one day was close to zero.
However.
Strangely, the brazen person sitting in front of him felt like Kang Onyul. It was what his intuition rather than reason was saying.
“Ooh, the contract has finally become perfect. I’m signing now, okay? No take-backs.”
“…”
Looking at the man giggling at the contract changed according to his suggestions, the Kang Onyul from before, with whom he had been quite close, came to mind.
<Oh my, Team Leader. How could a rookie Esper like me belong to Alpha Team? Hehe. I’ll yield that position to a more skilled Esper.>
He had tried to recruit Onyul, who had stabilized the minds and bodies of various Espers with his Therapy ability, to Alpha Team several times, but Onyul had refused several times with brazen words.
Even when he said he wouldn’t take him inside the Gate since he was a non-combat type Esper, Onyul’s decision didn’t change.
<Ehei, that won’t do! I’m not even a Guide, and I can’t wait for team members outside the Gate every time. I’ll work in Gates that match my rank. So I can’t join Alpha Team.>
The way he spoke brazenly was really similar.
Even the fact that Gu Baekyoung sincerely followed him well was similar, so much so that one might suspect the two were related if you looked into it.
But just one thing. One important thing was different.
“Hahaha, so Team Leader. When will the 50 million won be deposited…?”
The strange obsession with money was different.
The late Kang Onyul wasn’t obsessed with money.
If he had been someone swayed by money, he should have transferred to Alpha Team when they offered a large annual salary.
‘He must be a different person after all.’
But there was a fact that Na Geonwoo, who thought as if making it definite, didn’t know.
The fact that the Kang Onyul of that time had affluent pockets even without joining Alpha Team, and the current Onyul was in a beggar’s situation without a single penny.
Anyway, Na Geonwoo thought it curious that the man was so similar except for just one thing.
It was already curious enough, but the man had even calmed down Gu Baekyoung who was on the verge of rampaging. That point was also too strange.
Only after watching that scene right before his eyes did he finally think there was a high possibility that Kang Ian was a Guide. Otherwise, it was something that couldn’t be explained.
An unregistered Guide.
Na Geonwoo, who furrowed his brow finely, tapped his phone several times. Before long, an exclamation was heard.
“I-it’s deposited!”
He checked the deposit text that appeared on his phone several times.
The way he opened his mouth wide as if drooling looked truly greedy.
‘…If it were the Onyul I know, he would never make such a worldly expression.’
Na Geonwoo, who repeatedly denied his identity, shook his head slightly.
“Ahem, thank you for the quick transaction, customer.”
Onyul, who belatedly came to his senses, withdrew the smile hanging on his lips.
“First, I’ve blocked the sound of our conversation with my ability, so our conversation won’t leak out.”
Na Geonwoo put up a thin barrier with magic and began to have a proper conversation with Onyul.
“I apologize for not being able to stop Baekyoung when he said he would hold a press conference. As the leader of Alpha Team, I should have prevented my team member from causing trouble… I failed to hold back Baekyoung who went out saying he’d resolve it himself.”
“Yes…”
“I didn’t expect him to handle the situation that way either.”
“I understand completely. Who would call reporters and declare they have a lover? And of all people, that Gu Baekyoung whom all citizens of the Republic of Korea know… aaaah.”
“That’s right. Our Baekyoung, all citizens of the Republic of Korea know him.”
“Are you bragging about your team member right now?”
“No, I mean that he receives that much trust and love from the people. Such a remarkable person declared that the suspicious helmet is his lover so don’t worry, and I will also vouch for Manager’s identity, so you won’t be misunderstood as a suspicious person for a while.”
That was something Onyul agreed with too. Should he say it was a fortunate fact among them?
“Of course, the publicity will grow even larger.”
Of course that was also true.
“Separate from the contract, I’m saying I’ll make efforts to ensure no harm comes to Manager.”
As far as Onyul knew, Na Geonwoo didn’t bestow goodwill for no reason.
He was a realistic type who calculated gains and losses precisely. When he spoke like that, some condition was sure to follow.
Sure enough. Na Geonwoo continued his next words without hesitation.
“Before that, there’s something I need to make certain.”
“What is it?”
“Manager Kang Ian… are you really an unregistered Guide with no connection to the Anti-Management Bureau?”
Onyul, just in case, quickly went through Kang Ian’s memories again.
In case the owner of this body was actually connected to the Anti-Management Bureau.
If he answered wrong now and things went wrong…
‘I could really be fucked.’
Unlike with Gu Baekyoung, if he got caught wrong by Na Geonwoo, big trouble would occur.
Moreover, Onyul would also shudder if it was the Anti-Management Bureau. He didn’t want to be entangled with those kinds of people even a little.
Very fortunately, in ‘Kang Ian’s’ memories, there didn’t seem to be even the slightest possibility that he was connected to the Anti-Management Bureau.
Of course, Kang Ian’s childhood memories still didn’t come to mind, so that point was a bit unsettling.
No way the reason I don’t have those memories is because of the Anti-Management Bureau.
Onyul thought that could absolutely not be the case, and opened his lips with relief.
“I can say for certain that I’m not affiliated with the Anti-Management Bureau. I’m just an ordinary citizen and a store manager with nothing but a convenience store.”
“Yes.”
“As for being a Guide… of course I should get properly tested, but right now I’m probably thinking it’s correct.”
Onyul clearly recognized the warm energy leaking from near his heart. After doing Radiant Guiding, he couldn’t hide it anymore.
Of course, the fact that he could even use his past life’s Esper ability was something he absolutely couldn’t tell.
“I don’t know what the matching rate will be so I can’t say for certain, but I definitely feel like my mind and body are stabilized when I’m with Manager. I thought Radiant Guiding was happening.”
Onyul nodded and called him.
“Team Leader.”
After Gu Baekyoung, the ability user he trusted was Na Geonwoo.
What’s more, he was helping while keeping secrets, so Onyul felt he should tell him why he was hiding his identity. The reason he had appeared at the scene wearing the cat helmet.
“Yes?”
“I’ve already become a Guide, but I don’t want to become a Guide.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean I don’t want to become a Guide registered with the Management Bureau and worry about and be responsible for various people’s lives and deaths.”
“Of course it’s not that I don’t understand what you’re saying, but you’ll gain much more wealth and honor than operating a convenience store.”
It was a statement that implied, you like money, don’t you?
Na Geonwoo… was unexpectedly perceptive.
