***
Why a blanket?
Yoon Kihyun stared down at the blanket covering up to his chest. It seemed he had dozed off for a moment when he sat down to rest. Since he had no memory of covering himself with the blanket, this was Jung Sijun’s doing.
‘…Why is he doing things that don’t suit him these days?’
Yoon Kihyun, who had been fiddling with the soft blanket, fell into thought while dry-washing his face.
How should he treat Jung Sijun?
For the past few days, the end of the thoughts that made Yoon Kihyun agonize always ended with “I don’t know.” Jung Sijun still felt awkward to get close to, but keeping distance also didn’t appeal to him in its own way.
What was he trying to do? Around the time he was even thinking it would be nice if someone could look clearly into his head and tell him the answer, he heard a familiar voice.
“Oh, you’re awake?”
It was Jung Sijun. The bangs of the guy standing tall where he turned his head were wet again. Moreover, what about the vivid body wash scent emanating from his body as if he’d just finished washing?
At the strange sense of déjà vu, Yoon Kihyun tilted his head.
‘What is it?’
It was hazy as if his head was covered in white fog.
It felt like he’d seen this scene in a dream…
While Yoon Kihyun slowly blinked his eyes, Jung Sijun sat on the folding bed and said.
“I went to a Gate and came back after washing up.”
Reporting his whereabouts now felt quite natural. But speaking of Gates, hadn’t he just gone and come back a little while ago?
“You went earlier though?”
“Hm? I’m saying I got called again after eating and went there.”
Only then did Yoon Kihyun check the time. Time had flown by since returning to the Guiding room after finishing lunch. He’d dozed off for almost over four hours.
“…You look tired lately, are you okay?”
Jung Sijun’s question was thickly coated with concern.
If he’s okay? There was no reason not to be okay. The satisfaction in terms of work was incomparably excellent compared to when he worked at the Center.
Moreover, thanks to Jung Sijun, who acted as if it were a disaster if he skipped meals, he was eating lunch to the point of almost overeating.
If there was a reason he looked tired to Jung Sijun’s eyes, it was probably due to stress stemming from being on other people’s lips. However, since it was a part he’d already been prepared for, it was bearable.
Words like being a guy crazy for money or a guy with no guts didn’t deal much damage to Yoon Kihyun.
Should he say there was a lack of freshness in the derisive expressions? Since they didn’t deviate much from the expected expressions, they even seemed somewhat stale.
Yoon Kihyun nodded, saying he was fine. At the words that he looked tired, a schedule he’d briefly forgotten came to mind.
“Speaking of which, is it okay if I go to the hospital briefly next Tuesday? The test results come out then.”
“Go comfortably. As I said before, you don’t have to Guide at the Center, so you don’t have to commute here.”
Jung Sijun leaned back with his arms propped on the folding bed. Watching him stretch while tilting his head left and right, Yoon Kihyun asked back.
“Then where do I Guide?”
“Well, you can decide that, Kihyun-ssi. What’s the point of being at the Center when foxes like Seo Igyeong just come fucking around when I’m not there? You’ll just get stressed.”
As if it was unpleasant just thinking about it, Jung Sijun wrinkled his face terribly. The morning visit from Seo Igyeong seemed to displease him considerably. Yoon Kihyun also sympathized with that.
If incidents similar to Seo Igyeong’s visit and scouting offer continued to happen, Guiding in a different location didn’t feel like such a bad choice.
“I’ll think about that a bit more.”
“Okay. Think about it. Let’s get off work for now?”
“Already?”
“I’m not on duty today.”
Then there was no reason to refuse.
Yoon Kihyun quickly got up from his seat. The sooner you get off work, the better. It seemed perfect to go home, wash up, and sleep. It was when Yoon Kihyun was gathering his phone.
“Since we finished early, want to have a drink together?”
Alcohol. He was tempted by the thought that the alcohol Jung Sijun bought would definitely be expensive and delicious, but he changed his mind.
‘No. What if I get drunk again and take off Jung Sijun’s pants?’
He’d drunk alcohol to the point of being sick of it in the city where he stayed for a month determined to die. Back then, he was desperate for alcohol that would dilute the pain even a little since he was only thinking of dying, but now the situation was different. Since he’d decided to live somehow, it was time to look after his discarded health even now.
Above all, one drunken incident was enough. He didn’t want to see naked Jung Sijun lying next to him again when he opened his eyes in the morning.
“Ah, you can’t because you’re taking medicine, right?”
As if belatedly recalling Yoon Kihyun’s health condition, Jung Sijun scratched the back of his head vigorously.
“The hospital told me not to drink, so I can’t. I was planning to quit alcohol anyway…”
“Then how about dinner?”
“I’m just going to go home and rest today.”
“Ah, then how about I take you home?”
He really never dropped it in one go. If he rode in Jung Sijun’s car, he’d arrive quickly, but he didn’t want to show him the shabby goshiwon building.
Moreover, Jung Sijun’s memory was unreliable. Wasn’t he the guy who forgot he’d said he had a disease where just the medicine cost twenty million won and invited him to go drinking?
If he saw where he lived directly, he might surely say he’d get him a place or that he could move into his house.
“No. I’ll go on my own. You get off work too, Team Leader Jung.”
“…Okay. Contact me when you get home.”
“Got it.”
He gathered his phone and left the Guiding room side by side with Jung Sijun. Only after entering the road leading to the goshiwon did a belated question suddenly pop up in his head.
‘Wait, why do I have to contact him when I get home?’
He’d been swept up by Jung Sijun in the moment. Yoon Kihyun checked his phone while lying face down on the bed. Looking at the screen where Jung Sijun had sent a message asking if he’d arrived home safely, he sent a short reply.
I’m home. See you tomorrow.
To think a day would come when seeing Jung Sijun tomorrow became natural. Indeed, the saying that you can’t know even an inch ahead of what will happen in life seemed exactly right.
***
The place where he met Seo Igyeong again was in the Center lobby on the way to work.
The majority of Espers went straight to the annex when they came to work, but Espers with ranks often came to the main building. Because there were all kinds of meetings and tasks to handle.
When their eyes met, Seo Igyeong was still smiling with eyes whose inner thoughts were unknowable. Yoon Kihyun, who had been gauging the gradually closing distance, first gave a light nod with an indifferent face.
He had no intention of completely cutting ties with Seo Igyeong. He’d just rejected the offer he’d made at an inappropriate time because it wasn’t appealing.
“Ah, Kihyun-ssi.”
Seo Igyeong smiled brightly and approached with large strides, standing side by side next to Yoon Kihyun.
“Good morning.”
“Yes. Good morning.”
In fact, Seo Igyeong still hadn’t escaped from the shock of his proposal being rejected outright. To the point where he inwardly thought Yoon Kihyun might treat him like an invisible person.
However, the Yoon Kihyun he met again after a few days wasn’t much different from before.
“I’m sorry about last time.”
While waiting for the elevator, Seo Igyeong apologized in a small voice.
Yoon Kihyun glanced at Seo Igyeong. If it were before, he would have let it pass without much thought, but having seen the face that hid subtle inner thoughts as if being slimy, he felt thoroughly uneasy.
‘I wonder if he’s doing this on purpose in a place with many people. Well, thinking deeply about it will only give me a headache.’
Having many trivial thoughts was generally a loss. Because when unnecessary thoughts followed one after another, it only consumed mental energy without anything improving.
Yoon Kihyun cut off his thoughts briefly and nodded his head.
“I was also inappropriate in my tone back then, so. I’m sorry.”
Looking back, the conversation they had at the cafe was appropriately rude to each other.
In Seo Igyeong’s own way, he must have made that offer because he evaluated him highly. It was just that the timing was somewhat early and it was problematic that he made unnecessary probing remarks while making such an offer.
He was aware that even though he could have refused moderately and softly, Seo Igyeong could make an issue of his own attitude of rejecting curtly as if snapping from unnecessary inferiority complex.
So burying and moving past it appropriately was good for both Seo Igyeong and himself.
“Kihyun-ssi is such a coveted talent that I guess I was too hasty.”
“Ah, yes.”
The modifier of being a coveted talent was accepted as a compliment in the job market, but unfortunately it didn’t resonate much with Yoon Kihyun. Because he happened to have been called things like public good at the Center.
When he was sick of being treated subtly like an object, how could he like the modifier that a person was coveted?
“Actually, I had a chance to dine with the Guide Headquarters Director yesterday, and they asked me to pass on their regards to you, Kihyun-ssi.”
Seo Igyeong brought up the story of the Guide Headquarters Director with a good-natured smile.
Guide Headquarters Director.
The person who had constantly made a corner of Yoon Kihyun’s heart uncomfortable. While he’d been bothered in many ways by the threats after submitting his resignation, hearing it from someone else’s mouth other than Jung Sijun gave him a different feeling.
That said, he had no intention of continuing the conversation in the lobby where people glancing this way were spread everywhere. He was just nodding his head while matching the rhythm appropriately when a familiar scent suddenly cut in from behind.
“What are you two whispering about?”
The owner of the voice that flowed in like a whisper was none other than Jung Sijun.
