# Chapter 73
Sleep vanished due to the suffocating feeling of something heavy pressing on his body. Jeongyun blinked his unfocused eyes and slowly looked to the side. Hwayeon was lying in the space beside him that should have been empty.
‘…Why is he here?’
Until before falling asleep, Hwayeon had been on the bed while Jeongyun was on the floor, but now Hwayeon was on the floor, sharing the same blanket. Jeongyun couldn’t even remember when Hwayeon had come down from the bed.
He should have firmly cut off any unauthorized contact, but for some reason, he always softened when it came to Hwayeon. Perhaps it was because he looked so young in Jeongyun’s eyes.
‘Does he still have some baby fat?’
As if hypnotized, Jeongyun reached out and lightly touched Hwayeon’s pale cheek. Looking at Hwayeon, it seemed like the word “pretty” suited him better than “handsome.”
His skin was white, his eyelashes were long, and above all, his lips were quite red. It was like looking at Snow White from a fairy tale. Of course, his height and build were far from princess-like.
“Hwayeon.”
Jeongyun shook the shoulder of Hwayeon, who was sound asleep. Hwayeon groaned and shifted his body, but instead of moving away from Jeongyun, he moved even closer in his sleep.
After placing his arm on Jeongyun, he now put his leg over Jeongyun’s body, pulled him into his embrace, and became quiet again. Hearing the regular breathing sounds, Jeongyun shook Hwayeon awake again.
“Hwayeon, wake up. We need to get ready for work now.”
“…I want to sleep more.”
Hwayeon answered in a mumbling voice.
Jeongyun reached for his phone at the bedside and checked the time. Either the alarm hadn’t gone off, or they were already at risk of being late if they didn’t hurry.
“Get up quickly!”
Only when Jeongyun yelled did Hwayeon slowly open his eyes. Scratching his messy hair as he got up, Hwayeon still couldn’t fully wake up even as Jeongyun was tidying up the blanket.
“Go wash up quickly. I’ll get ready too, so let’s meet in 10 minutes.”
“Yeaah…”
After pushing the nodding Hwayeon into the bathroom, Jeongyun returned to his own place. The time that passed while he hurriedly got ready was exactly the 10 minutes he had promised Hwayeon.
After locking his front door and turning around, Hwayeon still hadn’t come out. Surely he hadn’t fallen back asleep? Just as Jeongyun was about to ring the doorbell with an anxious heart, Hwayeon came out.
“I kept the time, right?”
Hwayeon said with a bright smile. Instead of answering, Jeongyun reached out and fixed Hwayeon’s disheveled hair. It seemed like he hadn’t had time to take care of it in his rush to come out.
Hwayeon obediently lowered his head to receive Jeongyun’s touch and laughed out loud as if he enjoyed it. Jeongyun wondered if he was being too forward by fixing Hwayeon’s hair, but it seemed fine since it suited him anyway.
“Where’s your scarf?”
“Here it is.”
Hwayeon handed Jeongyun the scarf he was holding. It was the white scarf they had bought at the mart yesterday. When Jeongyun carefully wrapped it around Hwayeon’s similarly white neck, Hwayeon’s cheeks turned pink with happiness.
Today was Hwayeon’s first day going to the field. Fortunately, he wasn’t going to handle a terrorist situation but rather to train and get familiar with the field, but Jeongyun couldn’t help but worry.
“They say it’s cold today, so always keep your scarf on.”
“I will.”
Hwayeon answered with a pretty smile.
* * *
Thanks to making a scene at the office, Domin secured a week’s vacation and a promise for a more relaxed schedule than before. It was a satisfactory result.
But despite it being his day off, Domin got up early in the morning and prepared to go to headquarters. It was to soothe the feelings of his Guide, who was still upset.
‘This should be good enough.’
Unlike yesterday’s formal outfit, today he wore comfortable clothes and kept his hair down casually. Well, even this look was too perfect.
After satisfactorily checking his reflection in the mirror, Domin picked up his car keys and phone. Just as he was looking for his pager, wondering where he’d put it, an annoying mechanical sound was heard.
“Here it is.”
The pager that had fallen under the table was ringing.
Frowning at who would be sending a page so early in the morning, Domin flicked his finger to bring the pager to him instead of bending down.
“…Hyun Semin.”
Domin sighed deeply after reading the name on the screen. Since Semin wouldn’t call him for a personal conversation, this page was most likely related to work.
Suppressing the urge to reject it, Domin pressed the confirm button first. He put the now-silent pager deep in his pocket and headed to the entrance. He roughly put on his shoes and left the house.
While the elevator was descending to the underground parking lot, Domin took out his phone and checked the message he had sent to Jeongyun. As expected, the number 1 next to the message was still clearly visible.
‘Seems like he has no intention of reading it at all.’
Domin sighed briefly and turned off his phone screen. Before, he would have been angry, but now he felt stubborn. He wanted to turn Jeongyun’s heart back to him and make him desperate for Domin again.
‘It shouldn’t be too difficult.’
Just then, the elevator doors opened as it arrived at the underground parking lot. Domin stepped out and got into his car parked near the entrance.
The original plan was to visit the Guiding room at the time Jeongyun started work, but since he received a page, he had to meet Semin first. The car left the underground parking lot and sped along the road.
‘Will it be about 10 when I arrive?’
Checking the time, it was 9:10 AM. Domin’s house was quite far from headquarters. Although Espers and Guides were usually encouraged to live close to headquarters, Domin had chosen to live as far away as possible.
Until now, he hadn’t noticed the inconvenience since he didn’t need to go to headquarters, but that was no longer the case. Wasting time meaninglessly on congested roads made him want to move his house closer to headquarters.
“…I’d like to push them all away.”
It was frustrating that he couldn’t just wave his hand and push away all the annoying cars, though he could easily do so. Espers affiliated with headquarters were supposed to protect civilians, not harm them.
Sometimes he thought that unregistered Espers who lived without such restrictions might have it easier. Of course, he kept this thought to himself since he would certainly be treated specially if he voiced it.
Domin tapped the steering wheel and checked the time as it passed endlessly. As the morning rush hour passed, the number of cars on the road gradually decreased, but the traffic situation was still far from good.
After enduring countless urges, he finally arrived at headquarters. Domin parked his car in a suitable spot and immediately headed to the Esper building where Semin’s office was located.
Since the director’s office was on a high floor, the elevator ride took quite a while. Domin’s patience, already worn thin from wasting time on the road, was at its limit, so even this bothered him.
Before the elevator doors had fully opened at his floor, Domin stepped out and walked resolutely down the corridor. After knocking on the Deputy Director’s office door at the end, he waited exactly three seconds before opening it himself.
“I’m here.”
Despite Domin’s arbitrary entrance, Semin showed no sign of surprise. He didn’t smile in welcome either, but his voice telling Domin to come in was incongruously kind compared to his expression.
“You came earlier than I expected.”
“Because someone sent me a page early in the morning.”
Domin replied curtly as he walked to the sofa area and claimed the best seat. Semin, who had been watering plants, finished what he was doing before leisurely coming over to where Domin was.
“Why did you call me?”
“You should at least give me time to ask about your well-being first.”
“I’d like to, but I’ve already wasted too much time. Get to the point.”
At Domin’s urging, Semin reluctantly took out a document from his inner pocket. Domin’s eyebrows rose crookedly as he immediately recognized what it was.
“…Why do you have this?”
What Semin had taken out was a Dedicated contract termination application. It was unclear why Semin had the document that Domin had already torn up in front of Jeongyun, but Jeongyun’s signature was still there on the paper.
“It was returned because it lacked the Esper’s signature, but I asked for it.”
“So why do you have it?”
“To bring Guide Yeo Jeongyun into our team.”
“…What?”
Domin’s eyes widened at Semin’s unexpected words.
The idea of Jeongyun, who was only C-class, entering the Gray team, which was supposed to only accept A-class or higher Espers and Guides, was scandalous enough to turn headquarters upside down.
“Just then, I heard that Yeo Jeongyun had submitted this to the document team, so I called you to ask about it too.”
“Ask what?”
“If it’s true that you’re terminating the Dedicated contract.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
