***
Kihyun stood in the living room of his lodging and quietly looked around the place. Though there was still some time left on the contract, he had no intention of staying longer.
If he paid a cleaning fee, he didn’t have to tidy up, but he didn’t want to increase useless expenses. He wanted to settle his debts as soon as possible and take proper care of his health.
While organizing the trash, Kihyun picked up the cash envelope he’d left near the dining table. He’d written a short message on the envelope in case of emergency, but looking at it now, it was a bit embarrassing.
Even though it was only a few words, the self-pity deeply soaked into them was a bit too much, he supposed. Anyway, it was.
After finishing the recycling and cleaning, he stood at the entrance holding a suitcase that had become heavier with slightly more luggage than when he’d arrived.
He still remembered when he first entered this place.
The taxi driver’s reckless driving combined with his ruined condition had made him feel like he’d die at any moment, but now he could manage to endure.
‘I’ll need to take medicine one more time on the train.’
The medicine that only felt absurdly expensive still hadn’t properly earned its price. Kihyun still frequently got nosebleeds, felt nauseous, and sometimes his vision would turn pitch black.
He was belatedly taking care of his body, but the progress was slow. However, Kihyun decided not to be impatient.
If anything was hopeful, it was that the frequency of headaches that felt like his scalp was shrinking had decreased a little.
‘I’ll get better if I take it one step at a time.’
He knew it wasn’t a disease that would dramatically improve just because he’d taken a few light blue pills. The grandiose and brutal title of rare incurable disease wasn’t given to just any illness.
Only after searching, looking up, and asking enough to memorize the answers could Kihyun properly face his disease.
Other Restrictive Awakened Body Abnormality Syndrome.
It was a shitty disease with a low 5-year survival rate after diagnosis, but still, he wouldn’t regret it when closing his eyes if he tried everything he could.
He didn’t want to die with regrets. That’s why he’d struggled to cover his father’s hospital bills.
Even if just for the sake of not wasting that, Kihyun planned to do his best.
Whatever he could do.
***
His first night at the goshiwon was more comfortable than expected.
The moment he opened his eyes in the 2.5-pyeong room where light seeped through because he deliberately didn’t hang blackout curtains, Kihyun made an appointment to meet with Sijun.
However, surprisingly, Sijun’s situation wasn’t favorable. It was because an abnormally large number of special Gates had appeared, enough that even if Sijun had ten bodies, they’d all need to be thrown into Gates.
Jung Sijun Sorry but I don’t think today or tomorrow will work I’m fucking busy right now on my way to a Gate
Sijun sent a message from inside a helicopter hurriedly heading to a Gate. He even attached a selfie taken in combat uniform with the helicopter interior clearly visible.
He hadn’t even doubted him, but he liked the sincere explanation. Kihyun roughly scrolled past the photo of Sijun dressed all in black with only his eyes visible and sent a reply.
Got it. It’s not urgent so contact me when you have time. Be careful
He’d debated whether or not to add the words “be careful,” but just sent it as is.
Wouldn’t it be troublesome if something big happened to the employer who would give him the monthly salary that would protect his credit score and life?
He’d finally regained his will to live, so he wasn’t yet inclined to contemplate dying again.
Jung Sijun It’s not not urgent it’s fucking urgent but I have to go down now I’ll contact you later
He could feel the urgency in the message where spacing had disappeared. Even though he wasn’t a lover nagging about replying late, he wondered why Sijun would go this far, but then remembered the comment that the Center’s guides were a mess.
Just how bad must the guiding be for him to act like this? Kihyun roughly guessed at the work environment of the guides still remaining at the Center.
Around when the tip of his nose felt cold, rookie guides who’d just finished basic training would be assigned to headquarters.
It wasn’t strange to get evaluations of being chaotic and a mess during this busy period with many things to worry about, like teaching practical work and helping with adaptation.
‘Well, I’ll know when I go there later.’
Kihyun, who’d put his charging phone aside, closed his eyes again. His body felt languid, so he planned to sleep a bit more. After sleeping a bit more and waking up, he needed to eat a proper meal.
He wanted to follow the nurse’s advice as much as possible not to take medicine on an empty stomach since it was quite strong. Eating meals to take medicine still felt awkward, but it was something he needed to adapt to from now on.
Kihyun thought it would be a bit reassuring if there was a message sent in Sijun’s whining tone when he woke up.
Since they hadn’t signed the contract yet, it would be troublesome if Sijun changed his mind. He’d just barely regained his will to live, so he couldn’t guarantee what would happen to himself if things went wrong.
Ah, whatever. Let’s just sleep for now.
Leaving complex thoughts behind, he soon fell asleep.
***
He met Sijun again at a private café that operated until dawn.
Sijun’s words about being busy going in and out of Gates could be sufficiently confirmed through things like internet breaking news and safety disaster text messages.
Actually, he’d thought they wouldn’t be able to meet today, but Sijun sent a message saying he wanted to meet if Kihyun was okay with it.
“Ah, I came right after washing up but I’m still a bit late. Sorry.”
Sijun opened the café door and walked straight to where Kihyun was sitting, offering an apology first. As if there hadn’t been time to dry his hair, water droplets were beaded at the ends of Sijun’s jet-black hair.
‘Why did he come out like that when I never bitched about him being late?’
Even if it wasn’t yet the season for snow, it was a time when you could see your breath once the sun set.
There was still quite a while until the closing time he’d asked the staff about when ordering his drink. He’d conveyed that to Sijun too, so there was absolutely no need to rush out like this.
Nevertheless, Sijun appeared in that state as if he hadn’t wanted to make Kihyun wait even a little. It felt exactly like a subtle signal asking him to understand his desperation.
If only he’d been like this when I worked at the Center. Kihyun inwardly pouted as he answered.
“Don’t Espers catch colds?”
Kihyun glanced at Sijun’s thin outfit and subtly pushed over the yujacha he’d ordered in advance.
He naturally didn’t know Sijun’s taste. Perhaps because it was a small private café, there weren’t many types of drinks without caffeine and without strong preferences.
“I don’t catch colds easily. Ah, is that for me to drink?”
Sijun looked down at the light brown mug that had come before him. White steam was rising from the liquid with yuzu slices floating in it.
At the fresh and sweet scent, his fingertips strangely tingled.
“I think you said you don’t drink coffee much, so I ordered one. If you don’t like it, you can order something else.”
“No. I fucking love this.”
Sijun grinned mischievously and lifted the mug Kihyun had given him. Actually, Sijun didn’t like yujacha. It was sour and the aftertaste was oddly bitter, so he didn’t drink it often.
But the drink Kihyun gave him might be a bit different. When he took a sip, it was sweet and delicious. It seemed to be because Kihyun had given it to him.
Of course, it was probably made by the staff member looking at their phone with a tired face at the counter, but anyway.
“Ah, and this is the contract I told you to bring then.”
Sijun placed a document envelope on the table.
“I got personal consultation, but just in case, I also asked the Center’s legal team to take a look.”
“Oh.”
Kihyun blinked as if a bit surprised. Personal consultation could happen when preparing a contract, but it was somewhat unexpected that he’d asked the legal team to review it.
“I asked them to mainly check if there was anything unfavorable to the guide, and they said there didn’t seem to be any problems. Take a look.”
Sijun leaned his back against the sofa while happily sipping the yujacha.
Kihyun took the contract out of the document envelope and checked it slowly. As he’d said, no poisonous or unfavorable clauses were visible. Rather, it was so simple that he thought it might be troublesome if problems arose later.
Without much deliberation, he filled in the blanks on the contract with the pen that was in the envelope together. When he immediately handed it over telling him to review it, Sijun seemed a bit surprised.
“Why?”
“No, I thought you’d look at the contract more, but since you signed right away, it seemed kinda manly?”
Sijun’s stunned face was strangely flushed. Thinking it must be the warmth heating up the café, Kihyun gestured at the contract with his chin. Since they each needed to take one copy of the signed contract, Sijun’s signature was needed.
The ballpoint pen held in his large hand with small scars left on it went back and forth over the contract a few times, and the contract was anticlimactically finished.
After neatly returning Kihyun’s copy of the contract in the document envelope, Sijun touched his phone a few times and then suddenly brought this up out of nowhere.
“Check your account.”
Wondering what account all of a sudden, he checked his phone and there was a deposit record under Sijun’s name. It was a much larger amount than a monthly salary.
“What’s this?”
When Kihyun asked while looking at him as if asking for an explanation, Sijun’s eyes wavered slightly in a way unlike him. Then he said something strange, hemming and hawing.
“Just… a kind of settlement payment?”
In that moment, Kihyun began to seriously think with a slightly dazed face about when he’d ever sued Sijun.
