# Chapter 56
“Jeongyun hyung!”
Jeongyun, who had just left the Center Director’s office, didn’t stop walking even when Hwayeon called out to him. Hwayeon chased after Jeongyun, who was walking straight ahead without hesitation.
When they talked about Contact Guiding, Jeongyun naturally thought they would change Hwayeon’s Dedicated Guide to someone from the Center. However, the Center Director overturned Jeongyun’s expectations. Despite knowing that Jeongyun was already Domin’s Dedicated Guide, asking him to do Contact Guiding for Hwayeon was disrespectful.
If they had just asked him to continue the current Guiding and extend the time, he would have accepted the proposal without hesitation. Well, that was all over now.
“Jeongyun hyung.”
After hesitating, Hwayeon grabbed the edge of Jeongyun’s clothes. Only then did Jeongyun stop walking. He had been walking aimlessly in anger and had somehow reached the Center’s main entrance.
Hwayeon’s feet were precariously positioned on the line that marked the entrance. Unable to go any further, he seemed to have no choice but to grab Jeongyun.
Seeing Hwayeon on the verge of tears, Jeongyun let out a deep sigh. Tears that had been welling up in Hwayeon’s eyes rolled down his cheeks, but Jeongyun didn’t wipe them away.
“You know it’s not possible.”
Even without stating the subject, Hwayeon immediately understood what Jeongyun meant. Wiping away his tears with his arm, Hwayeon said with a sniffle:
“Can’t you at least think about it?”
“No.”
When Jeongyun firmly refused, Hwayeon cried with his shoulders shaking. While Domin was an exception, Jeongyun was a Guide who knew how to clearly separate personal and professional matters when it came to Guiding.
He couldn’t take on Contact Guiding for another Guide when he had already signed a dedicated contract. For Jeongyun, the Esper who should take priority was not Hwayeon, but Domin.
‘Should I have never started in the first place?’
Because Jeongyun had taken on the Guiding, Hwayeon still couldn’t receive Guiding from other Guides. Right now, all he did was train at the Center, but the field was different.
If side effects came after fighting unregistered Espers, emergency Guiding would be needed, and at this rate, it was obvious that even the team Guides would refuse him later.
“The teachers said our matching rate is so high that just being in the same space is enough for Guiding. So if we just stay together—”
“Min Hwayeon, don’t make me say it twice.”
Jeongyun was firm to prevent Hwayeon from having false hopes. It was better not to leave any room for misunderstanding than to be vague and cause hurt.
“Why do you keep saying it’s not possible!”
But Hwayeon, unaware of Jeongyun’s intentions, shouted with a voice full of sadness. Jeongyun unconsciously reached out to pat Hwayeon’s trembling shoulders, but his hand stopped before making contact.
Jeongyun took off the access badge around his neck and placed it on Hwayeon. Hwayeon, who had stopped crying, looked at the badge that had moved from Jeongyun’s neck to his and asked:
“…Why are you giving me this?”
Jeongyun didn’t say anything. But Hwayeon immediately realized what returning the access badge meant and tried to give it back to Jeongyun.
“This is yours. Don’t give it to me.”
“No. You take it. I don’t need it anymore.”
Jeongyun pushed away Hwayeon’s hand that was trying to return the access badge.
Hwayeon’s eyes wavered aimlessly as his hand was weakly pushed away. Jeongyun, unable to look at the hurt Hwayeon, turned his gaze elsewhere.
“…I’m going now.”
He turned around after leaving an ambiguous farewell. But he couldn’t take more than a few steps before Hwayeon caught him. To catch Jeongyun, Hwayeon had already crossed the line he shouldn’t have crossed.
“You…”
“You don’t have to do Contact Guiding for me, and you can come like this just as you have been… please take this back. Just don’t say you won’t come anymore.”
Hwayeon, trying hard to swallow his tears, put the Center access badge back around Jeongyun’s neck. Then he raised his arms to wipe away his tears and smiled faintly.
“See you tomorrow.”
With that desperate goodbye, Hwayeon returned to the Center.
Left alone, Jeongyun looked again at the Center access badge hanging from his neck. The photo of himself always looked so stupid to him.
* * *
Upon returning to the Guiding room, Jeongyun collapsed onto the small bed as soon as he closed the door. Even though he hadn’t done any Guiding, his body felt drained. He wondered if it was because of stress.
He removed the Center access badge from his neck and carelessly tossed it onto the desk. Hwayeon had told him to come back tomorrow, but he wasn’t sure. At least tomorrow, he didn’t plan on going.
‘I’m tired.’
He closed his eyes, but sleep wouldn’t come.
While lying still and letting time pass, a call arrived. Jeongyun took out his pager and slowly opened his eyes.
He naturally assumed it would be from the Center, but the sender was Domin. Domin’s message said he was coming to the headquarters now, and Jeongyun slowly got up.
‘I wonder if something’s up.’
Domin coming to headquarters at this hour meant there was something else going on. Guiding would be something he’d get while he was here, but it wouldn’t be the main purpose.
Although it was a great joy that Domin’s call came after just one day when Jeongyun thought he wouldn’t hear from him for at least a week, he wasn’t in a good mood right now.
‘I can’t keep being like this.’
Jeongyun lay back on the bed and checked the time. Domin said he’d arrive in 30 minutes, but if he had something to do on the way, it would take even longer.
Before then, he needed to make his mood at least a little more peaceful. Even normally, he and Domin had a low matching rate, so he had to be extra careful with his health and emotions to avoid affecting the Guiding.
Jeongyun got up from his sluggish body and started cleaning the Guiding room. Moving seemed better for emotional release than just sitting still. And as expected, as he moved without thinking, his mood began to improve gradually.
While passing time cleaning, the door suddenly opened without a knock.
“Choi Domin…”
Domin strode in and stood in front of Jeongyun. Because of Domin’s height, which was a head taller, Jeongyun had to lift his head high to meet Domin’s eyes.
Today, Domin was wearing a black trench coat with a black turtleneck. Unlike usual, his hair was naturally down, which somehow made him look much younger than other times.
“Hello.”
“…”
Jeongyun greeted him a bit late, but Domin didn’t respond at all. At home, he had been endlessly affectionate, but now Domin seemed to have returned to his previously cold self.
Was it because there were people around? But this was Jeongyun’s Guiding room. It was a space where no one could enter once the door was closed, so there was no need to be conscious of other people’s gazes.
‘Why is he angry?’
Looking closely, Domin’s expression wasn’t good. Where had he stopped by before coming here that made him so angry?
Just as Jeongyun was about to carefully ask, Domin spoke first.
“Don’t you have something to tell me?”
“…Pardon?”
When Jeongyun asked back stupidly, Domin let out an irritated sigh.
As he put his hand on his throbbing forehead and turned his gaze to the side, Domin noticed the access badge on the desk.
With a flick of his finger, the badge floated up. After simply bringing it to him using telekinesis, Domin confirmed that it was a Center access badge and couldn’t help but laugh.
“Shit, what is this…”
The reason Domin had come to the headquarters unexpectedly today was because of Jeongyun.
He had come with the kind intention of finding a temporary place for Jeongyun to stay since moving immediately would be difficult. But he had heard unbelievable news from an unexpected person.
‘A new team member is coming?’
Domin, who had stopped by Semin’s office as a courtesy, had accidentally read the documents of a new recruit who was joining the Gray team. Only 19 years old but A-class, with the rare fire ability. It was truly a God-given talent.
He felt both envious and jealous of this new recruit who was entering the Gray team, which every Esper wanted to join. So, with the thought of carefully checking whether this person was worthy of the Gray team, he looked through the documents and discovered a familiar name.
‘Guide… Yeo Jeongyun?’
He couldn’t understand why his name was listed as the Dedicated Guide for someone named Min Hwayeon.
Domin jumped up, took the documents, and ran to Semin. Then he demanded to know why his Dedicated Guide’s name was on this guy’s documents.
Semin said nonchalantly:
‘I heard he’s been giving Guiding at the Center continuously. Didn’t you know?’
At that moment, it felt like the back of his head was not just stinging but cracked. He was sure that the confidential contract stated to refrain from Guiding other Espers, but apparently, he had been continuously providing Guiding, not just once.
Anger boiled up, but Domin calmed down first. The evidence was clear, but there might be some circumstances he didn’t know about, so he wanted to hear directly from Jeongyun.
Maybe it’s someone with the same name, another Guide. If not, it could be a document error. Surely, Yeo Jeongyun wouldn’t have deceived me.
He came all this way while denying reality in his own way, but now he saw that it was so official that Jeongyun even had a separate Center access badge made.
In the end, he was the only fool who had trusted Jeongyun.
“Do you still have nothing to say to me?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
