***
Though it was personal Guide training, there were two participants.
Unlike Yoon Kihyun, who arrived a little early before the training time, Jung Sijun arrived at the meeting room a bit late. Entering the meeting room, he naturally sat down in the seat next to Yoon Kihyun.
Instead of a friendly greeting, his eyes were cold for some reason he was upset about. Thanks to his protruding mouth, it wasn’t scary at all though.
“I heard you had a good atmosphere with Team Leader Seo Igyeong in front here.”
Jung Sijun grumbled with his lips pouted. They’d talked just a little while ago, but it had already reached Jung Sijun’s ears.
How did information travel so fast—it was a bit fascinating. Yoon Kihyun stared at the guy who was the complete opposite of Seo Igyeong and replied calmly.
“Unlike someone, he’s a very mannerly person, so I greeted him while we were meeting. Why?”
“No, I was just curious if Team Leader Seo Igyeong said anything weird.”
“What weird thing would he say? He’s not someone who lives with curses at the end of every sentence like you, Team Leader Jung.”
“…What’s wrong with the way I talk?”
“There aren’t many people who talk like that in normal social life.”
When Yoon Kihyun muttered an objective fact, Jung Sijun turned his head slightly. Between his straight nose bridge and prominent jawline, his lips still protruded.
What’s bothering him now that he’s sticking out that mouth? Yoon Kihyun inwardly snickered and let Jung Sijun’s gaze slide past. Looking closely, he was a guy whose inner thoughts were completely transparent.
Until now, he hadn’t been interested enough to even think of observing closely so he didn’t know, but his outside and inside seemed to be the same.
‘If you have complaints, say it with words. What do you want me to do?’
Yoon Kihyun turned his gaze away from Jung Sijun, who was fiddling with his phone for no reason. His head hurt at the thought of listening to a lecture from the morning, and he had no intention whatsoever of having a war of words with Jung Sijun.
He was trying to gauge when the employee who would give the lecture would arrive. An alarm sound came from Yoon Kihyun’s phone. Sure enough, Jung Sijun had deposited money again.
“What is it this time?”
“I just felt sorry again just now.”
“In what context exactly?”
“You said I live with curses at the end of every sentence. Thinking about it, I think I did curse a bit.”
So he does have self-awareness. When Yoon Kihyun looked at him as if surprised, Jung Sijun crossed his legs and asked back.
“Why? You said before that as long as there are no tax issues, it’s fine. Did you change your mind already?”
Would he refuse when a building owner overflowing with money arbitrarily gives him money? Yoon Kihyun shook his head slightly.
“No. Well… if you’re giving it, it’s good for me. It’s your money, Team Leader Jung, so it’s up to you how you spend it.”
The amount was a bit much for money sent just because he cursed at him a bit, but he didn’t particularly want to refuse when he was offering.
If he collected well what Jung Sijun sent frequently like this under the name of settlement money, he might be able to clear a significant portion of his loans soon. If that happened, it would be nothing short of great.
Should he just stimulate Jung Sijun’s guilt a bit more while he’s at it? When he was having such mercenary thoughts and felt pathetic about himself, swallowing a sigh inwardly—
“Ah, you’re both here?”
The Awakened Center headquarters employee who entered the meeting room smiled brightly. Looking at the color of the ID card hanging around their neck, they were a non-Awakened person from the operations team.
While they started preparing for the training after neatly placing the training materials in their hands in front of Yoon Kihyun and Jung Sijun, Jung Sijun muttered listlessly.
“I already know all this content, so I don’t know why I have to listen.”
Looking at his appearance and behavior, Jung Sijun was definitely not the type to enjoy sticking persistently to something. He was a typical man of action who preferred running around busily.
Still, when an Esper hired a personal Guide and registered them with the Center, this was mandatory training they had to complete, so it couldn’t be skipped.
“Have you had a personal Guide before, aside from me?”
“Uh, no? You’re the first, Kihyun-ssi?”
“Then you have to listen. It might not all be content you know.”
Yoon Kihyun took out the training materials from the file placed in front of him. The phrase printed on the first page caught his eye.
[Awakened Management Center Personal Guide OJT Training Materials (Headquarters Version).]
At the familiar document format, he had the illusion of stomach acid slightly refluxing. To think he’d come into this damn Center on his own two feet and listen to training…
The one positive aspect was that since he only had to Guide Jung Sijun, in terms of work fatigue, it couldn’t compare to before.
“…Well, that’s just what I’m saying.”
Jung Sijun glanced sideways at Yoon Kihyun, who was looking through the training materials with proper posture. Because they were sitting close, he could see every single eyelash. The facial features delicately arranged on the small face were amazing.
It still didn’t feel real that a face he could look at without noticing time passing was sitting next to him, and moreover, as his exclusively dedicated personal Guide.
“Now then, let me introduce myself first. I’m Deputy So Jiwon from the operations team at the Awakened Management Center headquarters. I’ll be in charge of your OJT training today. Based on the training materials distributed, the training will proceed for about two hours.”
Following Yoon Kihyun, who was looking at the headquarters employee announcing the start of training in a cheerful voice, Jung Sijun also corrected his posture.
Though he was terrible at things like studying, it was still training he had to receive as an Esper with a personal Guide, so he intended to listen as carefully as possible.
***
Though he received a headquarters ID card as Jung Sijun’s personal Guide, the spaces he could access were limited.
He could only access limited places—less than 20% of the spaces he could enter as a Team Leader. He couldn’t even enter the floors with the Guide team offices and break rooms.
He didn’t know if that was kept in mind, but Jung Sijun monopolized an entire Guiding room in the Center’s central building. The Center’s Guiding rooms were a system that could be used through hourly reservations, but there were exceptions.
“I didn’t know either, but this is apparently available for S-rank Espers.”
Jung Sijun shrugged his shoulders in a very boastful tone. Because he thrust out his phone screen ostentatiously, Yoon Kihyun’s gaze turned to the phone.
[Guiding Room Reservation Status (Special Team 2_Team Leader_Jung Sijun (S))]
[Awakened Center Headquarters Central Building A, 3rd Floor, Room G110]
[Guide: Personal_Yoon Kihyun (A)]
[Reservation Information: Until Contract Termination]
The content was that until the personal Guide contract between Yoon Kihyun and Jung Sijun ended, this Guiding room could be used anytime. Yoon Kihyun looked up at Jung Sijun with somewhat surprised eyes.
“It’s interesting, but what the heck is this?”
He didn’t know you could make long-term reservations for Guiding rooms. But what surprised Yoon Kihyun when he entered the Guiding room was something else.
The furniture typically placed in a Guiding room was all there was—a comfortable recliner, a two-seater sofa, a small table, and a small refrigerator. There were some light refreshments and supplies like wet wipes, but…
‘Isn’t this practically at the level of building a nest?’
The scene inside the Guiding room that Jung Sijun confidently guided him to was completely different from the Guiding rooms Yoon Kihyun knew.
The furniture was the same, but there was a portable TV placed inside, a trolley fully loaded with snacks, and even several baskets packed full of things like fairly cozy-looking blankets and sleep masks.
“I hurriedly filled it with this and that, but it’s a bit lacking.”
“So what is all this?”
“I’ve been thinking about it fucking hard, you know?”
What did you think about? As Yoon Kihyun inwardly objected and obediently moved his feet following Jung Sijun, who took his hand and led him to the sofa.
Perhaps very pleased that Yoon Kihyun was following him, Jung Sijun’s voice became a bit more cheerful.
“I thought you’d be uncomfortable when you’re at the Center, Kihyun-ssi. With that fucking nickname and all… seeing people might be stressful too.”
“…”
“But anyway, you have to come to do Guiding, right? Since I’m affiliated here. I wouldn’t mind receiving Guiding outside, but you said you didn’t want that either.”
Jung Sijun chattered while covering Yoon Kihyun’s knees with a blanket that smelled of fragrant fabric softener. Yoon Kihyun, who had been silently looking down at the blanket covering his knees, glanced up at the guy who had taken the seat next to him.
As Jung Sijun said, the contract content was an ordinary employment contract where he received a salary in exchange for providing Guiding as Jung Sijun’s personal Guide. It didn’t specifically state where the workplace was.
However, the personal Guide of a Center-affiliated Esper was encouraged to register their identity by receiving a personal Guide ID card issued by the Center and Guide at the Center in preparation for emergencies.
Center-affiliated Espers had to return to the Center after completing Gate conquests, and moving outside the Center to receive Guiding was a waste of time and travel routes in many ways. Knowing that, Yoon Kihyun also decided to commute to the Center.
“So I hurriedly put this and that here so you can be comfortable at least while you’re here. I wanted to bring in more things, but you might not like it, so.”
Jung Sijun averted his gaze first. It was funny how this guy who usually stared piercingly at people’s faces averted his eyes first at times like this.
Yoon Kihyun checked the things clumsily packed into the Guiding room. For something hastily put together, it showed signs of more consideration for various things than expected.
‘…Why is this bastard doing things he didn’t do before?’
Yoon Kihyun wiggled his hands while smelling the fabric softener fragrance rising from his knees. Since meeting Jung Sijun again, he’d been suffering from emotional ups and downs every day.
Emotions that couldn’t be defined repeatedly surged and subsided, turning Yoon Kihyun’s head into chaos.
“…If you don’t like it, put it back to how it was.”
Perhaps interpreting Yoon Kihyun’s silence negatively, Jung Sijun’s voice withered.
The way he glanced at him was exactly like a puppy who’d caused trouble. Seeing him glance furtively with the whites of his eyes fully exposed made him laugh hollowly.
How did he end up entangled with a guy like this again? His head throbbed for no reason.
