# Chapter 62
## Chapter 5. Carrot and Stick
Government-affiliated Guides had to receive regular checkups four times a year. After finishing a long series of tests that filled an entire day, from health examinations to psychological consultations, Jeongyun returned to the Guiding room and immediately prepared to leave work.
‘I hope there’s nothing wrong.’
The test results wouldn’t be available until a week later. If there were no issues, he would only receive a paper with the results, but in the opposite case, an appointment with a doctor would be scheduled.
In the past, he might not have worried, but now he couldn’t completely let go of his anxiety. Still, since he hadn’t done any excessive Guiding recently, it should be fine. Jeongyun tried to push his worries aside.
Just as he was about to leave the Guiding room with his bag, he suddenly noticed the Center access badge on his desk.
After straightening the disheveled strap, Jeongyun lightly tapped the stupid-looking face of himself embedded in the badge with his fingertip.
‘Maybe I’ll stop by briefly.’
Although he had told Hwayeon he couldn’t come because of the regular checkup, he was still concerned about him. Even if it meant staying a little past quitting time, he thought he’d feel better if he could at least hold Hwayeon’s hand once before leaving.
‘He must have trained today too, so I should visit briefly.’
Just as Jeongyun, having made up his mind, put the access badge around his neck and was about to leave the Guiding room, the pager rang.
Beep beep. Hearing the annoying sound, Jeongyun took out his pager and hesitated when he saw the name on the screen.
[Esper Choi Domin]
After confirming it was a call from Domin, Jeongyun waited for the alert to disappear without pressing the button. The particularly persistent alert today finally turned off, and the screen showed more than ten accumulated missed calls.
All the missed calls had Domin’s name on them.
A week had passed since he requested the termination of their dedicated contract. During this time, which felt both long and short, Jeongyun hadn’t answered any of Domin’s numerous calls.
For the first few days, he worried about what he would do if Domin came to see him, but he had long since let go of that concern. Domin only sent calls or phone calls like this, but never came to find Jeongyun in person.
‘I guess he’s not desperate enough to come looking for me.’
This might be better. If he faced Domin, the resolve he had worked so hard to build would waver, so he hoped Domin wouldn’t come until his heart was completely hardened and unshakable.
Fortunately, after the weekend that felt like entering an endless tunnel, his mood started to improve little by little. Of course, this was largely thanks to Wooyeon, who came to visit whenever he had time.
‘I knew that bastard was like that! How many times did I tell you he had a bad personality!’
When Jeongyun told him about what happened last weekend, Wooyeon raised his voice, pounding his chest in frustration. If it had been before, Jeongyun would have said it was a misunderstanding, but now he only laughed silently.
He had to admit it now. That not a single thing Wooyeon said was wrong. He had been so infatuated that he had only seen Domin as he wanted to see him. That wasn’t the real Domin.
‘If it weren’t for the Imprint…’
Then he wouldn’t have been entangled with Domin, wouldn’t have had a pointless power struggle with Saeon, wouldn’t have received a heart-wrenching wound, and wouldn’t be dragging out this hopeless situation like he was now.
The reason Domin didn’t want to break their dedicated contract was ultimately because of the Imprint. Since breaking a one-way Imprint would be followed by pain, he was enduring it because he disliked that prospect. The Imprint, which had initially been a blessing that connected their destinies, had become a stumbling block at some point.
Beep beep. The pager rang again. Once more, Jeongyun waited until the loudly ringing call stopped. After seeing the number of missed calls increase by one, he left the Guiding room.
* * *
Beep—
The call, he didn’t know how many times now, went to missed.
Domin, who had pretended not to care by throwing the pager far away, couldn’t help but flick his finger as soon as he heard the missed call alarm.
[11 Missed Calls]
He looked at the screen with hope, but as soon as he read the message that appeared there, he almost shattered the pager into pieces.
Domin took slow, deep breaths to control his anger.
‘…Calm down. Please, calm down.’
He calmed his mind by repeating the same words like a mantra. After barely regaining his composure, Domin tried calling with his phone this time instead of the pager.
But this was even worse. The connection tone, which had been ringing smoothly, suddenly cut off and went to voicemail. It meant Jeongyun had completely blocked him.
How dare Yeo Jeongyun block him.
“Shit!”
Finally unable to contain his anger, Domin threw his phone with all his might. The phone, which shattered into pieces after hitting the wall, fell helplessly to the floor.
Junyoung, who had been dozing off on the sofa, woke up with a start at the sound. When Junyoung asked what was wrong, Domin gave him a look that said to be quiet.
‘Esper Choi Domin, I formally request that you terminate our dedicated partner contract.’
A week had passed since Jeongyun had said those words to him. Even in the midst of his busy schedule, Domin had sent calls to Jeongyun whenever he had a chance. But Jeongyun blatantly ignored not only Domin’s calls but also any form of contact.
At any other time, Domin would have gone to him immediately and cursed at him, asking what he was doing, but unfortunately, the timing was terrible—he was overseas for filming and couldn’t go to him.
The one fortunate thing was that even if Jeongyun wanted to terminate the dedicated contract, it was impossible without Domin’s consent. The document required the signatures of both the Esper and the Guide.
It’s ironic how fickle people can be. When he was dealing with Saeon, he thought the useless system was holding him back, but now the situation was reversed. Without that procedure, Jeongyun would have already cut off the dedicated contract while Domin was absent.
‘This is really pathetic.’
Domin, who had been laughing weakly, suddenly stood up.
Junyoung, who had been anxiously watching Domin’s emotions go back and forth like a madman—getting angry by himself, then laughing—cautiously asked:
“W-where are you going?”
Instead of answering, Domin turned around with a murderous look in his eyes, as if he was going to kill someone.
While Junyoung closed his mouth in fear, Domin was already at the entrance, changing his shoes and preparing to leave the room.
“D-Domin!”
Sensing something ominous, Junyoung followed behind Domin. As expected, car keys were already in Domin’s hand.
While it might be different back in their home country, it was late dawn here. It wasn’t an appropriate time to go out.
“Where are you trying to go?”
“…Move aside.”
“We have to go filming soon. So you should rest a little—”
“I said move, Kim Junyoung.”
In that moment, Domin’s eyes flashed fiercely. He raised his hand and swung it to the side, and something invisible hit Junyoung’s side hard.
“Ugh…!”
If Junyoung hadn’t already deployed a protective barrier just in case, it was a force strong enough to easily break a rib. While it wasn’t the first time Domin had used his ability on him, he had never attacked with such sincerity before.
“Hey, you!”
Junyoung, who had maintained his balance, shouted at Domin.
Domin, who had let out a deep sigh, was about to raise his hand again but stopped. Thinking about it rationally, there was no way there would be a flight back to their home country even if he left now.
Had he been so angry that he couldn’t even think of something so obvious? Standing still and mulling over his thoughts, Domin lowered his hand weakly.
‘This is deflating.’
Domin threw the car keys he was holding onto the floor and returned to the room. Junyoung, who had been extremely tense, only released the multiple layers of defensive barriers he had put up after seeing Domin enter the room.
Domin lay down on the bed without even taking off his outer clothes. As he was about to close his eyes with a deep sigh, he felt a trembling from his fingertips, despite having used his ability only that much. The aftereffects had begun.
‘I need to receive Guiding…’
But in his current state, he couldn’t receive Guiding from Jeongyun. Of course, just touching would alleviate it to some extent, but it wouldn’t be a satisfying Guiding. It would only leave behind a lingering discomfort, and the aftereffects would continue.
Guiding was greatly influenced by the Guide’s health or psychological state. So if Jeongyun continued to reject Domin’s Guiding, it was obvious that the efficiency would be terrible even if they forcibly rubbed skin, worse than even holding hands.
‘Should I just break the Imprint, even if it hurts?’
It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about it, but he wondered for whose benefit he should endure that pain to break the Imprint.
Rather than enduring the pain of having his flesh cut, it would be better to keep receiving Guiding from a C-class with terrible efficiency.
‘Esper Choi Domin, I formally request that you terminate our dedicated partner contract.’
Domin, who was dwelling on Jeongyun’s words that kept circling in his mind, ground his teeth.
Who was deciding to break whose Imprint? Domin had absolutely no intention of doing what Jeongyun wanted. Since Jeongyun had started it, Domin should be the one to end it.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
