I Want to Be Your Guide – Chapter 3
From F-rank, where even using abilities is restricted, to S-rank, of which there are only a few in the world. Espers are divided into ranks according to their abilities, and discrimination exists based on these ranks.
The headquarters officially prohibits discrimination based on rank, but they couldn’t eliminate the caste system that had already been firmly established.
And Guides were no different when it came to such inequality.
“…Ah, shit.”
Wooyeon, who was leading the way with his tray during lunch time, stopped in his tracks and muttered.
Before Jeongyun could ask what was wrong, Wooyeon jerked his chin toward the B-rank Guide group occupying the center of the cafeteria and grumbled.
“They always sit there on days when the department head doesn’t come down.”
“Should we go somewhere else?”
“Let’s do that.”
Jeongyun and Wooyeon sat far away from them. Fortunately, there weren’t many people using the cafeteria today, so they didn’t have to sit near the tray return area.
The B-rank Guides clustered together in the center laughed and talked loudly as if they owned the cafeteria, regardless of whether others were giving them pointed looks.
Wooyeon, who was about to happily take a spoonful of soup, frowned deeply at the laughter echoing throughout the cafeteria and put his spoon back into the soup, saying:
“Isn’t the department head coming? Someone needs to shut them up.”
“She must be busy.”
“She still needs to eat. We’re all just trying to make a living here.”
Wooyeon prayed with his spoon raised, begging for Department Head Jung Yona to come down to the cafeteria. Jeongyun ate silently. He was hungry from the Guiding that had continued since morning.
Before coming to headquarters, he hadn’t been someone who ate this much, but after starting Guiding, his food intake had definitely increased more than threefold from before.
He worried about gaining weight, but because of the excessive Guiding sessions, he had actually lost weight despite eating more.
‘Let’s finish eating quickly and go take a nap.’
As he was taking his last spoonful while thinking of this perfect plan, his eyes met with someone at the center of the B-rank Guide group.
Ju Saeon. One of the few Guides whose name Jeongyun remembered, and a Guide who had consistent scandals with Domin.
“What’s wrong?”
Wooyeon asked. Jeongyun delayed his answer, not wanting to lose the staring contest with Saeon.
Saeon, who was engaged in the persistent staring match with Jeongyun, whispered to the Guide sitting next to him. And the gazes directed at Jeongyun increased from one to two, then to three.
‘Why are they looking?’
The eyes curved with unpleasant smiles.
Jeongyun furrowed his brow at the obvious mockery. Wooyeon, turning his head belatedly, also noticed the group of Guides whispering while looking at Jeongyun.
“Are they picking a fight?”
“…I don’t know.”
He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it probably wasn’t anything nice. However, though their rudeness made him feel bad, it wasn’t enough to make him stand up and shout.
It wasn’t the first time these arrogant B-ranks had acted this way. It was just pathetic that they couldn’t let go of childhood habits and were playing the bully game among themselves.
‘Let’s not associate with them.’
Since one avoids excrement because it’s dirty, not because it’s scary, Jeongyun chose to cleanly withdraw from the conflict.
“Let’s go if you’re done eating.”
“Hey, let’s go together.”
Wooyeon also rose from his seat, following Jeongyun who stood up first. Even as they returned their trays to the return area and left the cafeteria, they continued to feel glances directed at them.
Unlike Jeongyun, who calmly continued to ignore them, Wooyeon couldn’t contain his rising anger and stomped his feet.
In the corridor heading back to the Guiding room, Wooyeon finally exploded and shouted loudly.
“Those bastards, they were definitely laughing at us earlier!”
“Just ignore them.”
“Should we just flip everything over instead of holding back?”
Wooyeon turned as if he was going to go back to the cafeteria. Jeongyun quickly reached out and grabbed Wooyeon’s shoulder.
“If we play along with them, we’ll be the only ones who lose.”
At Jeongyun’s calm words, Wooyeon slowly steadied his breath that had been coming out roughly due to his anger.
Only after calming his trembling body did Wooyeon continue walking toward the Guiding room. Jeongyun lightly patted Wooyeon’s slumped shoulders.
“…It’s so fucking unfair.”
“I know.”
“It feels like we’re the only ones living in a caste system in modern times!”
Jeongyun empathized a hundred percent with Wooyeon’s indignation. Instead of the small number of A-rank Guides, the high-nosed B-rank Guides liked to distinguish themselves from lower-ranked Guides.
Like nobles and commoners in medieval times, they had consistently requested that floors be separated for lower-ranked Guides and themselves.
Fortunately, Deputy Director Hyun Semin, who had his head on straight, had scrapped that proposal, but conflicts had worsened since then, and discrimination had deepened.
Among them, the B-rank Guides clustered around Ju Saeon found it uncomfortable to even breathe the same air as C-rank Guides. As if they were harmful substances polluting the air.
“I’m going to submit a complaint to headquarters. I can’t live like this. I think I’ll get hair loss from stress!”
“No, you still have plenty of hair.”
“That’s not what I mean!”
After dropping off Wooyeon, who was still fuming with unquenched heat, Jeongyun walked leisurely down the corridor. Since it was the middle of lunch time, most Guiding room doors had “Lunch Break” signs on them.
Passing through the quiet corridor and arriving in front of his own Guiding room, Jeongyun was about to go inside when he suddenly noticed a silhouette standing far away.
Knock, knock. The silhouette knocked on someone’s Guiding room door. Given the time, they should have known the Guide would be having lunch, yet they seemed to be a rude Esper who lacked respect for Guides.
“Fuck, if you called someone, you should be here!”
Once, twice, three times, the knocking sound echoing in the corridor became increasingly rough. But no answer could be obtained from the empty Guiding room.
“Shit,” the Esper spat out a harsh curse and finally lowered the hand that had been knocking.
“This is bullshit.”
The low, growling voice was savage. The Esper loosened the choker that seemed to be constricting their neck and exhaled a long breath.
This time, instead of using hands, the Esper kicked the door several times before sensing Jeongyun’s gaze and turning around.
‘Who is that?’
The distance was too great for them to see each other’s faces.
But judging from the tall height and the splendidly dressed, vibrantly patterned suit, he could tell this wasn’t an ordinary Esper.
Probably an Esper of quite a high rank with freedom of dress code.
“Hey, you.”
The irritated Esper who had mussed up his hair walked briskly toward where Jeongyun was. His long legs terrifyingly closed the distance. Startled, Jeongyun glanced at the exit beside him.
“Let me ask you something.”
If this was an Esper who came looking for Guiding so urgently that they even broke lunch time, they might easily lose their temper. Moreover, there were too few people here right now.
Even if something happened and Jeongyun screamed, there would be no one to help him.
‘This is dangerous.’
The silhouette of the Esper, who had already approached halfway, became clear. His blurry face also began to appear more distinctly.
Jeongyun, who had been about to flee, saw the face of the approaching Esper and foolishly opened his mouth wide.
“Ah….”
The anxiety and fear that had been making his knees weak disappeared, and his heart began to race for a different reason. But it beat more fiercely and rapidly than before.
‘Is this… a dream?’
Jeongyun pinched his thigh with his trembling hand. His hand, unable to control its strength, pinched the tender flesh hard enough to leave a blue bruise, but Jeongyun’s eyes sparkled at the certain pain.
‘It’s not a dream. Really, Choi Domin is standing in front of me.’
They say memories fade someday, but Jeongyun still remembers that day clearly.
If Domin hadn’t saved him in that hell where buildings were collapsing and screams were echoing, he would probably be wandering somewhere in the afterlife by now.
Most people take the Guide test voluntarily, not by force, because of money. If you become a government-affiliated Guide, they provide housing and the pay isn’t bad.
But Jeongyun was different. He took the test and became a Guide solely to see Domin again.
“When does lunch time end?”
“Un-until two o’clock.”
Jeongyun answered with a trembling voice.
Domin, furrowing his straight eyebrows, checked the time on what looked like an expensive wristwatch. It was still 1:10 PM. There was still a long time until 2 PM when lunch time ended.
“…This is driving me crazy.”
Domin, running his hand through his hair, looked over Jeongyun’s shoulder at the empty corridor. At the far end, in the lounge, an advertisement featuring a younger-looking Domin’s face as big as a door was playing on repeat.
“When did they film that new one? And they’re still using it.”
Domin grumbled as he recognized himself on the screen. As Domin said, the advertisement playing in the lounge was filmed last year.
Even his deeply furrowed eyebrows, annoyed at cursing the headquarters staff who hadn’t updated the newly filmed video, were handsome. His savage cursing voice was also too attractive.
Several times—no, hundreds of times—more radiant than on that day when he was covered in dirt and dust, Jeongyun was left speechless at Domin’s appearance.
Though he marveled every time he saw the advertisement, the real person was beyond admiration, reaching awe. It felt like even if he used all the beautiful expressions in the world, he couldn’t fully describe Domin.
“Are you a Guide too?”
At Domin’s question, Jeongyun nodded. Ah, with that brief response, Domin didn’t speak anymore. And then he acted as if he’d completely forgotten about Jeongyun standing right in front of him.
‘Say something. A day like this doesn’t come often.’
He needed to express his gratitude. To say thank you for saving him in that hellish chaos, to tell him that thanks to him, he was alive like this.
But unlike his thoughts, his lips wouldn’t easily part.
Just as he was finally squeezing out courage to open his firmly closed lips and say thank you, Domin was already looking at someone else, not Jeongyun.
Domin, who had been frowning, deliberately smoothed his face as he passed by Jeongyun and called out to someone beyond him.
“Ju Saeon!”
Ah, only then did Jeongyun realize that the Guide Domin had come to see was Saeon. How could he have forgotten that Ju Saeon was Domin’s dedicated Guide?
Turning around, Jeongyun spotted Saeon walking from afar with the group of B-rank Guides. Saeon, who had been chatting quietly, spotted Domin and smiled brightly.
“Why are you here so early?”
“It’s not that I came early, but that you’re late.”
Saeon, who had bounded over to Domin, naturally linked arms with him. Domin slightly frowned but didn’t push away Saeon’s arm, leaving it as it was.
“They look good together.”
The words Jeongyun muttered without realizing were soon reality.
Someone like Saeon belongs by Domin’s side. Even imagining Domin receiving Guiding from him for just a brief moment was enough to make his face burn with embarrassment.
Knowing that Domin would never request Guiding from a C-rank Guide like himself, he had still foolishly indulged in a dream for a few seconds.
“How embarrassing…”
Even while fanning himself to dispel the heat rising in his flushed face, Jeongyun couldn’t easily take his eyes off Domin’s back.
He envied Saeon who was by Domin’s side. Ridiculously, the assumption of ‘if he himself were in that position’ wouldn’t leave his mind.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
