***
The Korean set meal was excellent. It was the kind of taste that gave him confidence they’d make enough to easily cover the building rent in this expensive neighborhood. Several exchanges of conversation had passed, with Jung Sijun asking questions and Yoon Kihyun answering.
“Ah, and about that additional settlement money I mentioned before…”
Jung Sijun opened his eyes wide like a puppy who’d caused trouble and was watching his owner’s mood as he broached the subject.
Yoon Kihyun, who had been picking up side dishes with his chopsticks, only lifted his eyes slightly to look at Jung Sijun. Hadn’t they finished talking about additional settlement money back then?
“I told you that was enough. What kind of settlement money gets paid in installments anyway?”
“Oh, installments. That’s good. How about I give you additional settlement money whenever I feel guilty toward you, Kihyun-ssi?”
Was there ever a perpetrator who gave settlement money every time they felt sorry? At this point, it was becoming clear.
Yoon Kihyun decided he would no longer misunderstand that Jung Sijun had been the first to come up with and call him by that nickname. He’d heard through the grapevine that it originated from Jung Sijun’s reckless mouth, but it seemed the rumor had been distorted.
After having conversations with him, while his mouth was foul and his temper fiery, he wasn’t completely ruined like some irredeemable human trash you couldn’t associate with at all. Just a thoughtless young punk who lived however he pleased. That’s exactly the kind of guy he was.
“Just how much money do you have rotting away that you’re acting like this?”
Yoon Kihyun asked with a slightly fed-up expression. Of course, the more money the better. He could pay off his loans faster, and it would give him breathing room for treating his illness too.
But one curious thing was that the settlement money, salary, and money Jung Sijun spent every month were absurd. At least from Yoon Kihyun’s perspective, where his only asset was debt.
“This building here, and the building in front of it are mine… and I have others too. I just have a fucking ton of money, you know?”
His mind went blank for a moment at Jung Sijun’s words as he scratched the back of his neck.
This restaurant building belongs to Jung Sijun?
Yoon Kihyun recalled the exterior of the Korean restaurant he had looked up at after getting out of the taxi to confirm the address.
Not only was it luxurious, but he’d thought the location was in an area with expensive land prices—who knew the building owner would be sitting right in front of him?
Perhaps reading the emotion on Yoon Kihyun’s face, Jung Sijun persistently asked again.
“I told you before. That I inherited a lot of this and that.”
Right. He remembered hearing that story. But the scale of the inheritance was a bit beyond Yoon Kihyun’s common sense.
Though he didn’t know for sure, the sale price of a building like this wouldn’t be small change, and the monthly rental income alone would be considerable. Then the salary Jung Sijun was offering and the settlement money he seemed willing to give at any time—it all made sense now.
“So what do you say, can I keep paying settlement money in installments?”
Jung Sijun’s eyes sparkled as he brought up that ridiculous additional settlement money again. His eyes, which held an unusually vibrant energy beneath his coolly sharp eye shape, glittered so intensely they almost seemed tinged with madness.
During the brief time it took to blink his eyes a few times, Yoon Kihyun fell into endless anguish. He needed the money, but he felt like he was continuously extorting money under the name of settlement payments.
‘No, wait—it’s true that he called me a public good. What kind of person calls another person a public good, fuck. Rather than just going along with it, he probably called me that gleefully.’
He wanted to just close his eyes and receive financial treatment…
‘But I’ve already received some, so to receive more is a bit… After giving settlement money, can I be certain he won’t call me that again when things go south? Why should I trust someone who relies on money and tries to smooth everything over with money…?’
He was seized by anxiety that if he received too much, Jung Sijun might use it as leverage to treat him even more carelessly. Just when he couldn’t quite get a grip on things, an alarm went off on his phone. It was a notification message from the bank.
[Sehwan Bank] Loan Principal and Interest Advance Notice Tomorrow is your loan principal and interest payment date. This notice is sent in bulk to customers who have already completed their monthly interest payment or partial or full early payment of loan principal and interest…
Seeing the notification message with details about the monthly loan payment and interest rate, all his idle thoughts completely evaporated.
Even with a full stomach, he was thoroughly broke. Now wasn’t the time to have such thoughts and put forward worthless pride.
“As long as you send it without tax issues, I’m fine with…”
What can I do when he’s offering? I’m grateful.
Still, that cheap pride of his made the words “it’s fine” get slightly stuck at the end of his throat. Fortunately, Jung Sijun caught on that it meant yes and smiled brightly.
Despite waiting for it, Yoon Kihyun couldn’t quite bring himself to check the screen when the deposit notification sound rang on his phone. His flimsy pride wouldn’t allow even that.
“I sent it. Then I’ll take it as you’ve given permission and I’ll send it whenever I feel sorry. Don’t worry about tax issues since I have a place I use for that.”
As a substantial building owner whose income as an Esper must also be considerable, Jung Sijun would naturally have professionals managing his assets. Since he was making such confident declarations and was the owner of an impressive building on expensive prime land, what was the use of worrying?
Yoon Kihyun silently nodded his head and wordlessly chewed on the side dish in front of him. It was a side dish he’d never seen in his life, but he couldn’t really taste what it was.
It was Jung Sijun who broke the silence in the room, where only the occasional clinking of dishes could be heard.
“Ah, right. That Deputy from your team.”
Yoon Kihyun thought of his team members. There were two Deputies—he wasn’t sure which one he meant. When Yoon Kihyun tilted his head slightly, an explanation quickly followed.
“That really kind-looking ahjumma.”
“Deputy Park Jeongae?”
“Oh, I think that was the name. Anyway, she asked me to pass on a message to you, Kihyun-ssi.”
Jung Sijun cut the tenderly grilled galbi with his chopsticks. Unlike his live-as-you-please personality, his textbook chopstick handling was unexpected.
‘Deputy Jeongae…’
If it was Deputy Park Jeongae, she was a Guide who had attended the modest farewell party held on Yoon Kihyun’s last day of work. As a Guide on Yoon Kihyun’s team, she used to look after him with snacks and such.
No matter how busy work was, you shouldn’t work while starving. The inari sushi she made herself and various snacks had indirectly given Yoon Kihyun, who lost his mother early, a taste of a mother’s cooking.
Though he’d never shown it, feeling such emotions toward a work colleague felt somewhat creepy.
“What message did she ask you to pass on?”
“Nothing much, just to say hi if we see each other at the Center? She told me that in the lobby today when I was leaving work.”
“Ah…”
Center life had been barely endurable at best. But thinking about it, there were many times when he could breathe easier thanks to team members who did their work quietly in their positions without any particular problems and who spoke to him first even with trivial words.
If he returned to the Center, he’d probably meet those who were his team members again. Then they’d meet not as Team Leader and team members, but as ordinary Guide to Guide, so maybe they could talk about more things than before.
When Yoon Kihyun smiled unconsciously while recalling those he’d grown fond of, Jung Sijun grumbled in a sulky tone.
“By any chance… do you prefer older people?”
What kind of bullshit is this now?
This brat really doesn’t give you time to get sentimental. Yoon Kihyun escaped from his shattered reminiscence and glared.
No matter what, Deputy Park Jeongae is someone who built a wonderful family. This bastard—look at him go, there’s nothing he won’t say.
“Are you crazy? Deputy Jeongae’s daughter is the same age as me. Stop talking nonsense. And questions like this make me uncomfortable.”
“Questions like what?”
“Well, asking what my preferences are and stuff like that—it doesn’t help with work.”
“What’s with getting so angry if it’s not true? I just asked to get a bit closer.”
It had been bothering him since before, but Jung Sijun seemed to want to get close to him outside of work too.
“Espers and Guides just need to do Guiding, why try to get closer than that?”
“That’s…”
“Even if we’re not close, there’s no problem with Guiding efficiency.”
“Ah, yes. Whatever you say.”
Jung Sijun’s lips twitched in displeasure.
When Yoon Kihyun glared at lips protruding so much they looked like they could be picked up with chopsticks, Jung Sijun subtly avoided his gaze. He felt psychologically intimidated for no reason, like being scolded by a scary adult.
His appearance and build were much smaller and more delicate than his own, but his unyielding personality and firm attitude made him seem like an adult much older than himself.
‘Getting close is fucking difficult.’
It’s not like he could just cut off the mouth that made mistakes before.
There was no one to advise him on what to do in times like this. All the people close enough to ask personal questions were completely distant from this sort of thing.
The only mother he relied on couldn’t be met outside of limited visiting hours, and though he had two brothers, they were just as friendless.
The family that raised Jung Sijun permissively had taught him how to punch more effectively, the location of vital points convenient for ending lives, how to establish hierarchy among men and smooth things over with money when causing trouble—but they hadn’t taught him how to get along with people. If they had known, his brothers’ lovers wouldn’t have run away or disappeared like that.
“Still, I wanted to get along well with you, Kihyun-ssi.”
Jung Sijun grumbled, unable to let go of his lingering attachment. The sound of Yoon Kihyun’s chopsticks from across the table couldn’t be heard.
Is he going to say something again?
When he lifted his head to sneak a peek at Yoon Kihyun’s face, surprisingly, a small smile hung on that white face where you couldn’t find a trace of color.
“Team Leader Jung.”
“…What.”
“I roughly understand what you mean, so eat your meal.”
Jung Sijun obediently nodded and resumed his meal.
But saying he roughly understood must mean getting along well together, right? Jung Sijun glanced at Yoon Kihyun’s face several times.
“I’m going to get indigestion from this expensive meal, so stop staring at me.”
Until Yoon Kihyun, unable to stand it anymore, pointed it out near the end of the meal.
