# Chapter 16
## Chapter 2. The Rumored Guide
Words without feet spread faster than expected.
In less than a day, news that Jeongyun was the Guide who had one-sidedly imprinted on Domin and became Domin’s new dedicated Guide completely turned the headquarters upside down.
The B-grade Guides were furious at the headquarters for recognizing Domin’s decision and the dedicated partner contract between the two, while the C-grade Guides offered sincere congratulations while not hiding their curiosity about how Jeongyun had pushed Saeon aside and become Domin’s dedicated Guide.
“What kind of situation is this!”
“Exactly.”
“I expected it, but it’s really hard to hang around famous people.”
Unable to eat lunch comfortably because they were avoiding people, they escaped to Wooyeon’s Guiding room. Jeongyun couldn’t bring himself to laugh at Wooyeon’s joke about not being able to eat comfortably when with him.
After spending time drinking the cheap instant coffee Wooyeon made for him, Jeongyun only came out after lunch hour ended. But despite these efforts, a group of B-grade Guides was blocking the front of Jeongyun’s Guiding room.
All that effort to avoid them had been in vain.
“Are you Yeo Jeongyun?”
One of the B-grade Guides asked, arms folded and face hardened like a school bully occupying an alley.
Jeongyun nodded first. He wasn’t scared, but he was quite taken aback. They weren’t children, and he hadn’t expected them to come in a group to intimidate him like this.
“What were you thinking when you one-sidedly imprinted on Choi Domin?”
When Jeongyun, still confused, didn’t answer, a large-built Guide stepped forward. He lowered his eyes and glared as if to threaten, but Jeongyun still wasn’t scared, just bewildered.
“Just a C-grade, who do you think you are.”
“Know your place!”
Beyond confusion, now he wanted to laugh at their clumsy intimidation. Jeongyun lowered his head, trying not to look at them in their self-important poses.
His shoulders shook as he tried to hold back laughter, which the B-grade group misinterpreted as fear, making them even more arrogant.
“Tell Choi Domin to release the imprint immediately.”
At the disrespectful touch pushing his shoulder, the laughter disappeared. When Jeongyun raised his head and met their eyes directly, they stopped their chattering, taken aback.
He lightly rubbed his aching shoulder. Though he wanted to pay them back in the same way, in case of a fight within headquarters, the lower-grade person would suffer the consequences.
Moreover, he wasn’t just a C-grade Guide now but Domin’s dedicated Guide, and if he received any disciplinary action, it was obvious Domin would be affected too. Thinking that way, he could endure it.
‘I was prepared for this anyway.’
Lowering the hand that had been rubbing his shoulder, Jeongyun silently pushed through the B-grade Guides. Passing by the Guides who had inadvertently made way, he stood in front of his Guiding room.
While searching his pocket for the key card, one of them, the first to regain composure, ran toward Jeongyun.
“Hey!”
“……”
“Yeo Jeongyun!”
Ignoring the disrespectful calls, he opened the Guiding room door with the key card from his pocket. Once inside, he wouldn’t have to deal with them anyway.
As he was about to enter the now-open Guiding room, suppressing his anger, the Guide who had run over grabbed Jeongyun’s shoulder. Another unauthorized contact.
“Don’t you—”
“The Guiding room is a Guide’s personal space. If you take even one step inside, I’ll call the Department Head immediately.”
Jeongyun warned, fiercely knocking away the Guide’s hand.
Jeongyun was already inside the Guiding room. No matter how high their grade, entering another Guide’s Guiding room was only possible with permission.
But ignoring even that, some started to step inside recklessly. Jeongyun quickly took out his pager and waved it in front of the B-grade Guides pushing into the Guiding room.
“If this invasion continues, I will call Department Head Jung Yona.”
For B-grade Guides sensitive about rank, there was no better threat than calling Department Head Jung Yona. The reason B-grade Guides acted like kings on this floor was because they didn’t share the floor with A-grade Guides.
“I think he’ll really call her.”
“If we get called by the Department Head, we’re done for.”
“Let’s stop. This will get out of hand.”
The murmuring grew louder, and the Guides who had been cornering him began to retreat one by one. Only after the feet that had stepped into the Guiding room disappeared did Jeongyun lower the pager and close the door.
He could hear them cursing as they walked away. Jeongyun stood guarding the door until the noisy sounds disappeared, and only then did he let out the long breath he’d been holding.
“…My head hurts.”
As expected, but more troublesome than anticipated. They would obviously repeat this behavior until Jeongyun wore out. They would keep blocking the front of his Guiding room and making these weak threats.
Release the imprint, cancel the dedicated contract. He knew they came to him, who seemed relatively easier to intimidate, because they couldn’t approach Domin directly.
Beyond Ju Saeon’s personal issue, this was the first time a C-grade had taken an Esper’s dedicated partner position, pushing out a B-grade. Since they were sensitive about grades, their pride was hurt, which was why they were acting this way. He understood intellectually, but no, he didn’t even want to understand.
“Maybe I need counseling.”
He could endure for a day or two, but if this continued, it would obviously affect his work.
Before that, he should go to Department Head Jung Yona and explain the situation as is. Sighing deeply, Jeongyun took out the pager he had put back in his pocket.
“Ah, I don’t have any schedule.”
Since becoming Domin’s dedicated Guide, his once-packed schedule had emptied. The headquarters had specially removed all his Guiding schedules so he could rush to Domin whenever he was called.
Unlike the past when he had to perform Guiding without rest, sitting idly in the Guiding room with nothing to do was quite boring.
But he could endure it just with the thought that someday Domin would call for him. Now, no matter what anyone said, he was Domin’s dedicated Guide.
“I miss you.”
He murmured, holding the silent pager.
He could meet the real Domin anytime, not just the one in advertisements played repeatedly on the TV in the lounge. Just for that, he could endure this childish harassment and the long wait.
* * *
“Did I make it difficult for you to handle this quietly?”
“I asked them to keep it quiet…”
“Your concept of ‘quiet’ seems different from mine.”
At Domin’s sarcastic comment, Junyoung could only press his lips tightly together.
The headquarters that had been calm until they submitted the dedicated contract papers had completely flipped its atmosphere in the few minutes it took to return to Domin, but that wasn’t his fault. He had desperately asked the staff to keep it a secret, but he shouldn’t have trusted their cheap mouths.
“Damn, this is annoying.”
Domin sighed deeply and completely disassembled Junyoung’s loudly ringing phone in mid-air.
Junyoung stared blankly at his phone crumbling in the air. After destroying the phone into pieces until his anger subsided, Domin blew away the pulverized phone in front of Junyoung.
“Useless bastard.”
Domin went into the room, leaving behind the scattered remains of the phone that had spread like dust. He took off his constricting shirt and pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, putting it in his mouth.
Thanks to that useless Kim Junyoung handling things so poorly, he would have to hear all kinds of comments from various places for a while, which made him want to curse.
“Damn…”
He ran his hand through his hair as heat rose and took a deep drag on his cigarette. Looking at the white smoke that came out with his exhaled breath, Domin finally couldn’t hold back his anger and flicked his finger.
“Ugh…”
The ashtray that had been floating lightly in the air came down roughly. That he felt pain in his fingertips just from lifting this one small thing drove him crazy.
He didn’t like pain. Who would? Even the Deputy Director, who endured without Guiding by using medication, wouldn’t like pain.
‘Right, that person must not be used to pain either.’
While trying hard to suppress the pain, he suddenly noticed the pager placed on the table. He had never paid attention to it when Ju Saeon was his dedicated Guide, but now the situation was different.
Domin got up unsteadily and grabbed the pager with trembling hands. Then, without hesitation, he pressed the button.
The yellow light flashed and soon changed to blue. It meant Yeo Jeongyun had received the call.
‘That’s fast.’
A smile spread across Domin’s face. Fortunately, Jeongyun was keeping the contract well, which stated he should be on standby ready for Guiding at any time.
“Oh, are you going somewhere?”
As Domin, who had put his shirt back on, came out of the room, Junyoung quickly wiped away his tears and asked.
Instead of answering the question, Domin threw the car keys at Junyoung and said:
“Get the car out. We’re going to headquarters.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
