# Chapter 14
“Shall we discuss the contract tomorrow? I think you should rest first. Team Leader Cha Jinwoo?”
At the Chairman’s call, Cha Jinwoo stepped forward.
“Yes.”
“Please escort Guide Lee Hajin to his quarters.”
At those words, the entire Alpha Team’s eyes lit up, including Cha Jinwoo’s. Inwardly, Cha Jinwoo swallowed a snicker.
If the Chairman had his way, he’d be plotting how to best utilize Hajin, but seeing how quickly he assigned him to their team showed just how desperate he was.
“Hajin, shall we go?”
* * *
Finally free from Dr. Song and the Chairman, Hajin unconsciously loosened his tie to breathe easier and let out a sigh.
The Alpha Team, who had been watching Hajin the entire time, reacted sensitively to that sigh.
“Are you tired? Want me to carry you?”
“Why did that old geezer Dr. Song have to be so annoying?”
“And what about the Chairman? I’ve never seen that old man grovel before. That stiff-necked human, I mean.”
“We’re inside the Association. Watch your words.”
“Yes, sir.”
Cha Jinwoo cautioned them as they were about to cross the line with their comments, though he didn’t seem particularly sorry about it.
Meanwhile, Baek Jaan continued to stand with his arms outstretched, waiting. Afraid that if he didn’t answer, he might end up being carried by someone four years his junior despite being thirty-two, Hajin quickly shook his head.
“I’m fine. I’m just tired, that’s all.”
“I wouldn’t mind carrying you…”
Though disappointed, Baek Jaan lowered his arms. It wasn’t time to be forceful yet. In the short time he’d known Hajin, he’d observed that Hajin seemed to have strong individualistic tendencies.
‘Yet he’s also soft-hearted enough that he can’t ignore a rampaging Esper.’
While he didn’t let people into the boundaries he’d drawn, once someone was inside those boundaries, this kind man would surely not refuse even self-interested contact. Baek Jaan decided to step back for now, waiting for that moment.
Han Seungho whispered in a disgusted voice, asking what kind of trick he was trying to pull as Baek Jaan stepped back smacking his lips, but he was thoroughly ignored.
To reach their quarters, they needed to travel by car.
Unlike the Association headquarters located in Seoul, the Espers and Guides’ quarters were separately located on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province. As Hajin listened to this explanation, he asked some questions.
“Are there separate quarters for Guides to live together?”
“Well, Guides without assigned pairs have their own quarters, but Guides assigned to teams live with the Espers.”
“So I’ll be assigned to your team?”
Cha Jinwoo, who had been dutifully answering while driving, smiled crookedly for the first time, as if something displeased him.
“That’s how it is for now, but the Chairman is a greedy man. He’ll treat you well right now after seeing your abilities, but before long, he’ll try to use your abilities here and there.”
“Hmm…”
‘I’ve become petty too.’
Cha Jinwoo smiled bitterly. Since awakening as an S-class Esper and living as Alpha Team’s leader, he had never been like this. Espers formed teams strictly based on performance.
Even in teams designated by names like Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and so on, the Espers within could change at any time based on ability and performance.
Alpha Team hadn’t changed its members since it was first formed.
Espers without matching Guides were greatly affected in their ability usage even with slight condition changes, yet they had remained solid, never wavering even once.
He took pride in his abilities. But now?
He was afraid of losing Hajin to the Chairman, subtly saying negative things while hoping Hajin would stay by his side, with Alpha Team.
In truth, it was his own circumstances. Setting emotions aside and looking only at reality, the Chairman’s attitude could be considered rational.
An immeasurable Guide.
Hajin had already guided four S-class Espers and calmly disappeared. He had successfully guided rampaging Espers, not ones who had been managed through Guiding.
There’s something called a matching rate. It measures how well an Esper and Guide’s wavelengths align. Perfect matches are almost nonexistent.
If a Guide shows a high matching rate with even one Esper, that Guide’s value skyrockets.
However, such probabilities are typically low, and Guides with high matching rates across an entire team are even rarer. That’s why a Guide with just a 50% matching rate with a team is usually designated as that team’s Guide.
Even if the efficiency isn’t great, they still need to prevent rampages.
But Hajin had put all the S-class Espers with different wavelengths to sleep.
Hajin didn’t seem to understand how remarkable it was to put S-class Espers with different wavelengths to sleep.
When the dungeon disappeared and the sleeping Espers appeared, there was chaos among the Association staff.
They had reported a rampage, but the rampage readings of the sleeping Espers had dropped to zero, which was only natural.
Guiding four S-class Espers simultaneously—Hajin was truly an unprecedented Guide in history.
That’s why Cha Jinwoo and all of Alpha Team were whining like puppies hoping for something.
The car took the Esper-exclusive road and quickly arrived at the quarters. It looked like an entire village. Among them, Alpha Team’s quarters appeared to be the largest and nicest, which made Hajin click his tongue at the Association’s pettiness.
‘So they gathered kids from a young age and discriminated based on performance like this.’
What would young Espers who were taken away as children know?
Those who awakened late might understand, but those who had been accustomed to this treatment since childhood must have been in turmoil, competing and envying each other.
‘I’m already tired.’
Just today, Hajin had questioned several times whether joining the Association was the right choice. Soon realizing there was nothing he could do regardless, he followed Alpha Team into the quarters.
Hidden gazes fixed on his back as he entered.
“The quarters are nice.”
It was cleaner than he expected. That was the first thing that surprised Hajin. With all their deployments, he wouldn’t have thought they’d have time to clean. Perhaps someone came to clean for them?
“A cleaning service comes regularly, but you can call them anytime you want, Hajin.”
‘Money is indeed good.’
Being able to call a cleaning service that would be too expensive to hire with his own money anytime he wanted—the Association’s score, which had only been dropping, rose a little.
“There’s one spare room, but if you want, you can switch rooms with any of the guys.”
“Or you can share a room with me.”
Han Seungho jumped in, trying to tempt Hajin despite Cha Jinwoo’s glare. But Hajin firmly shook his head. Why would he deliberately share a room with someone else?
“I’ll pass.”
“…Couldn’t you at least think about it before answering?”
“…I’ll pass.”
After counting exactly three seconds before declining, Han Seungho seemed even more hurt, but regardless, Hajin finally voiced the concern that had been bothering him.
“By the way, why are you speaking informally to me?”
“…Is that not okay?”
“Of course not.”
Han Seungho was taken aback. He was someone who even called Cha Jinwoo “captain” but still spoke informally to him. It didn’t seem like he was being disrespectful on purpose.
Having manifested as an Esper in middle school and coming to the Association, Han Seungho had long become accustomed to this survival-of-the-fittest principle.
When a child who had just graduated elementary school wielded tremendous power and spoke casually, no one had ever complained about Han Seungho’s informal speech.
At most, he maintained proper etiquette when he needed to mind his image or when meeting citizens, but even that quickly reverted when he stopped paying attention.
If it had been someone else who said such a thing, he would have snapped back, asking what business it was of theirs, but the person in question was Hajin.
Han Seungho watched Hajin cautiously, like a large dog that had done something wrong. And such behavior worked on Hajin, who was particularly weak toward those younger than himself.
Hajin, who had been about to firmly rebuke Han Seungho for his sudden informal speech, unconsciously relaxed his shoulders upon seeing his cautious demeanor.
The fact that Han Seungho probably hadn’t had proper social experiences softened Hajin’s heart.
The Espers, with eyes that could detect even the slightest muscle tension, stared intently at Hajin’s reaction, as if to engrave it in their minds.
Only Han Seungho, worried that Hajin might dislike him, slumped down and apologized in a dying voice.
“Sorry… I mean, I’m sorry. It’s the first time we’ve had a Guide, so…”
‘He’s always calling Baek Jaan a fox, but he’s more of a fox himself.’
Watching Han Seungho, who was usually annoyingly confident, now drooping his shoulders and checking Hajin’s mood like a puppy who had done wrong, Lee Doyoon felt like throwing up.
‘But that kind of thing works, huh.’
Lee Doyoon, the youngest among them, watched Hajin’s reaction with gleaming eyes.
Meanwhile, Hajin completely relaxed his shoulders at Han Seungho’s words. What more could he say when the other acknowledged his mistake and even apologized?
Not realizing his own weakness for those younger than him, Hajin found Han Seungho endearing.
“Just be careful from now on.”
But despite Hajin’s encouragement, Han Seungho wasn’t confident he could avoid speaking informally. He might be fine if he was conscious of it, but how could a person be conscious of such things 24 hours a day?
If it had been the Chairman, he would have just kept his mouth shut, but since it was Hajin, even answering “I understand” to avoid the current crisis felt cautious.
What if he accidentally spoke informally again later and disappointed Hajin?
“Can’t I just call you hyung and speak informally? Please? I’m not confident otherwise…”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
