Now that they’d stamped the documents, they needed to settle the musty past and make a fresh start. Though it was a bit much to call it musty when it had happened so recently.
“Be cold and sharp in refusing other bastards like you did with me.”
“Of course I’ll only guide Team Leader Jung. And back then…”
Yoon Kihyun tried to make a gesture of reconciliation first for the sake of an amicable contractual relationship. But Jung Sijun was quick to cut him off.
“It’s fine. I also threw a fit demanding guiding back then. Let’s call it even. If we tally up all the fits I’ve thrown, I did more, so I’m making a profit. Honestly.”
Jung Sijun coolly brushed off Yoon Kihyun’s apology. The matter of that day was settled before he could even begin saying he was sorry.
Looking at things like this, his personality was refreshing too. Like depositing a large sum all at once as absurd and unilateral settlement money, he also seemed to not think much of Yoon Kihyun’s sharp tone.
Yoon Kihyun naturally recalled the money deposited in his account under the name of settlement money. While it was welcome as unexpected income, there was still an uncomfortable feeling in one corner of his heart.
But with that money, he planned to repay at least some of the loan principal. Having a large sum of money gave peace of mind and made him feel secure, but he felt like he might unknowingly become a spendthrift or have other thoughts.
“But looking at the contract, the place you wrote in the address field, is it somewhere like a goshiwon?”
Why bother looking at such things in detail? The goshiwon Yoon Kihyun had contracted was the type that didn’t hide being a goshiwon from its building name.
But so what if it’s a goshiwon? Not everyone can live in luxury apartments. If there are people living in such places, there are people living in goshiwons or even worse places.
Instead of making excuses, Yoon Kihyun nodded and answered briefly.
“Yes.”
“Isn’t it uncomfortable to live there?”
“Not at all.”
The answer came out short. It was inevitable given the subject. Yoon Kihyun had a faint inferiority complex about his financial situation.
“If Yoon Kihyun-ssi is okay with it, there’s an empty room in my place. Of course, I won’t charge monthly rent.”
“No. It’s fine. I can manage my condition on my own so it won’t be a problem for guiding.”
Jung Sijun’s offer wasn’t appealing at all. Rather, it felt like his pride was hurt and he was irritated.
Feeling that Yoon Kihyun’s answer had become shorter and his tone stiffer, Jung Sijun asked cautiously.
“By any chance… were you hit by jeonse fraud or voice phishing?”
It would have been better if there was a scammer he could openly resent like that.
Yoon Kihyun recalled the portrait of his father who had now become a handful of ashes and chuckled. It was self-mockery stemming from being pathetic for not being able to resent his father refreshingly until the end.
“Team Leader Jung.”
“…Yes.”
“I appreciate you worrying about me. But I don’t think I have an obligation to tell you such private things.”
Only now did the defensive, even sharp attitude enter Jung Sijun’s eyes.
He’d crossed the line. He acknowledged that.
But he had his circumstances too. Was Yoon Kihyun an ordinary person?
If he registered again as his personal guide, attention would naturally be focused on him, and gossip was absolutely disgusting. It wasn’t like he lacked money, and he couldn’t just watch his personal guide live in a place like that.
“Now that Yoon Kihyun-ssi has become my guide, if the Center people find out you’re commuting from a place like that, what on earth would they think of me?”
Jung Sijun showed no signs of yielding at all. He knew he was a willful rich young master, but to be this immature and clueless…
“That’s not my concern.”
“Ah, then I’ll just get a place for you instead, so live there. We can cancel that room…”
The moment he heard those words, something in Yoon Kihyun’s head felt like it snapped.
“Sijun-ssi.”
“…”
“Even if I live wretchedly, I have something like pride too. Do you think I want to get paid by a kid three years younger and speak formally to him dutifully?”
The inner feelings spewed out in anger became wretched from the moment they were uttered.
It was an emotion that would have remained his alone if he’d just kept it inside. He instinctively knew it was ruined from the moment he impulsively spat out words he didn’t need to say.
But what could he do? Since he’d already said it, he had no choice but to salvage it now.
“…I’ll assume you understood what I meant and won’t say more. I’ll use the settlement money well. Contact me when you register at the Center and get the access pass.”
“…”
“And… I was too harsh just now. I apologize. Then I’ll leave first.”
Before Jung Sijun could respond, Yoon Kihyun picked up his scarf and coat and stood up from his seat.
With a face so pale that Jung Sijun couldn’t even hold him back.
***
On the way back to the goshiwon after snapping at Jung Sijun like that, Yoon Kihyun roughly ran his hands through his hair.
The cold night wind brushed his cheeks, but it was far from enough to cool the anger originating from inside his body.
“I feel like shit.”
Not long after leaving the cafe, a few messages came from Jung Sijun, but he hadn’t checked them yet.
Because he didn’t feel like it. He felt like just reading them would ruin his mood. Whether it was content of Jung Sijun apologizing first and yielding or not.
Returning to the goshiwon where he still wasn’t familiar with the route, Yoon Kihyun placed the contract on the desk. The logo neatly printed on the upper left as if proving he’d received legal consultation was annoying.
He slowly looked around his room.
‘…It’s just fine though.’
A single bed with a small desk and a chair with a backrest, and a small refrigerator with only a freezer compartment—that was it. It was an ordinary two-and-a-half-pyeong goshiwon with a small bathroom like a shower booth in one corner of the room.
Honestly, among the several goshiwons he’d looked around, it was the one with the best condition and even luxurious options.
When he left this room to meet Jung Sijun, he hadn’t thought much of it. He’d thought it was enough to have a space where he could stretch out his legs and lie down, and wash comfortably.
But after having an argument with Jung Sijun at the cafe, why did it strangely look cramped and suffocating?
When his chest felt stuffy, he opened the window. With the cool breeze coming through the small window, Yoon Kihyun cooled down his arbitrarily boiling heart.
Only after quite some time had passed did Yoon Kihyun close the window and head to the desk.
He unfolded the contract that had been in the document envelope and checked the page with Jung Sijun’s address. Then he searched the apartment name on his phone.
The information that appeared on the search portal was impressive even at a glance. It was counted as a luxury apartment, and he checked again to see if the sale price and jeonse price were incorrectly listed.
It was a place where articles about celebrities purchasing it in lump sum and making headlines, strict security, and landscaping decorated with paintings and sculptures by famous artists came up in a row.
‘It’s a room that would have surprised the rich kid if he came here.’
The class difference was too different. He was so sure that the parking lot attached to the apartment Jung Sijun lived in would be bigger than this room that it said it all.
‘No, fuck. Still, the additional monthly rent I paid to get this kind of room was how much. Forget it. Everyone lives according to their level, so what? I just need to live tenaciously and succeed.’
Yoon Kihyun cut off the chain of thoughts and checked his phone again. It was because he felt it would be okay to check Jung Sijun’s messages now.
Jung Sijun
I’m sorry if I upset you. I didn’t say that on purpose.
I’ll think before I speak from now on.
Jung Sijun conveyed an apology by message. There were a few more messages that had arrived, so when he scrolled down the screen, a hollow laugh came out.
Jung Sijun
But I had my position too
Let’s revise the contract, I’ll cover housing in addition to salary
It’s not ignoring you, just think of it as welfare
It was fortunate he saw it after calming down a bit. If he’d seen this message when he was having trouble controlling his emotions earlier, the words definitely wouldn’t have come out nicely.
He might have called to curse or sent a message saying to cancel the contract.
After his head cooled down, thinking from Jung Sijun’s position, he might have been concerned about gossip. Still, wrong was wrong.
No matter what, I don’t want to go live in Team Leader Jung’s house
When he sent a reply, Jung Sijun immediately sent a reply as if he’d been waiting. It was a speed impossible unless he’d been staring at the message window the whole time after storming out like that.
Okay. But tell me if you change your mind
I really said that because I want to get along well with Team Leader Yoon
I really didn’t know it would sound like that
This much, he could feel that Jung Sijun was really sincerely apologizing.
‘Get along well with me for what? Once the contract is written, that’s the end of it.’
Even thinking that, the emotion he’d felt toward Jung Sijun wasn’t as intense as earlier. Yoon Kihyun wrote a reply with a much softer heart.
I understand. But thank you for thinking of me.
Since he’s a guy who only has money, he must have made such an offer thinking in his own way. There aren’t that many things in this world that money can’t do.
Jung Sijun
Don’t mention it
I’ll contact you when you’re registered at the Center and get the access pass
And today’s guiding was the best
It was really fucking amazing
Jung Sijun kept sending messages like writing a diary. Yoon Kihyun, who was casually skimming through the messages he’d sent today, sent another reply.
But you’re not planning to call me Team Leader at the Center too, right?
No matter how used to it his mouth was, now that he strictly wasn’t affiliated with the Center anymore, continuing to be called Team Leader Yoon was perfect for causing talk.
If he didn’t remind him once more even now, he might continue to be called Team Leader Yoon even after quitting from the mouth of the Center’s bona fide S-rank Esper who acted however he wanted without being able to be criticized carelessly.
Jung Sijun
Is calling you hyung really that bad?
This persistent bastard, really. Yoon Kihyun let out a deep sigh.
