Chapter 10
There’s no way someone who lives however they want without caring if others get hurt or die could be considered ordinary.
“…Let’s go.”
When Hajin finally surrendered and agreed to come along, the faces of all four men brightened. Han Seungho in particular, who had been holding Hajin’s hand, was grinning like a groom about to be married.
I thought he was just rude, but he can smile quite adorably too. Knowing it was a disrespectful thought, Hajin kept it to himself.
“Then let’s go to the Association right away!”
“Ah, before that.”
“Why?”
Han Seungho, who was about to scoop Hajin up and start running, stopped like a dog that had heard its owner’s “wait” command.
Though no one said anything, Hajin could feel the Espers’ impatience to leave quickly.
However, there was something he needed to do first.
“Department Head, I’m resigning.”
After leaving the building and going to where his department members had gathered, Hajin immediately approached his boss and spoke.
“Uh, what? Hajin, what are you saying? Is this really the time for that?!”
His face said, “Why are you talking about resigning during a terrorist situation?” But Hajin remained confident.
It was obvious that once he became a Guide, he would be busy for quite some time. So it was better to say it now while he had the chance.
It was unfortunate that he wouldn’t be able to receive unemployment benefits since it was a voluntary resignation, but in a way, it was more like changing jobs, so it should be fine.
Hajin elaborated a bit more to his bewildered department head.
“I…”
Wait, is it okay to mention being a Guide? When he looked at Cha Jinwoo, their eyes met immediately—he must have been watching all along—and he gave a slight nod.
“I’ve become a Guide, so I don’t think I’ll be able to continue working at the company.”
“G-Guide?!”
The government identifies potential Guides through regular tests administered before adulthood, after which they become affiliated with the government.
It was the government’s intention to bring in Guides as early as possible to prevent them from being taken by other factions. And typically, Guides rarely manifested after that period.
For Hajin, who was over thirty, to become a Guide…
In reality, he had been hiding his Guide identity and was now revealing it, but those who heard the story understood it as if he had just become a Guide. Since it was a harmless misunderstanding, Hajin simply nodded.
“Yes. That’s what happened.”
Perhaps this was a good excuse. There was no need to start off on the wrong foot by revealing that he had been hiding his identity all these years.
He would just say that it suddenly happened like this.
“Please process my resignation quickly. I need to write a resignation letter, but I don’t think I’ll have time if we leave now.”
“Ah, yes. Of course.”
Not just the department head, but everyone in the department was too shocked by the sudden situation to properly see Hajin off.
Ironically, only Hajin, who had dropped the bombshell, maintained a clear mind as he left a final greeting wishing everyone well before turning away.
“Let’s go now.”
The Espers who had been watching the situation thought that their Guide might be quirkier than they’d expected. But what did that matter?
Even if he were the world’s greatest villain, as long as he was Hajin, they would only see the good in him.
When Cha Jinwoo brought a government car around, everyone got in together.
During this process, there was an invisible struggle for the seat next to Hajin, but when Hajin naturally got into the passenger seat, the struggle ended futilely.
“Ah, should I not sit here?”
Whenever Hajin got a ride from his superiors at work, he always sat in the passenger seat, so this time too, he sat there out of habit.
Wondering if it was appropriate for him to take a seat as he pleased when he wasn’t even a team member yet, Hajin lifted his hips as if about to get up, and the three men in the back tried to hide their anticipation.
“No, you can sit wherever you want, Hajin.”
At Cha Jinwoo’s gentle dissuasion, Hajin fastened his seatbelt, and the three men in the back swallowed their disappointment as they took their seats.
“Feel free to ask if you have any questions during the ride.”
“Hmm, since you found my company, I guess my home has already been compromised too?”
“Is that all? There are probably guys already hiding there!”
Lee Doyoon, unable to stand watching Hajin and Jinwoo have an intimate conversation, cut in.
“This is our first proper introduction, right? I’m Lee Doyoon. You remember me, don’t you? I protected you in the dungeon.”
Hajin hesitated, unsure how to take the hand that suddenly extended from the back seat. But since he couldn’t simply ignore it, he lightly grasped it, shook it, and let go.
After all, they were now in the same boat.
“Ah, yes. I’m Lee Hajin. Nice to meet you.”
His voice sounded somewhat absent-minded, but the others, not yet familiar with Hajin, didn’t notice. Doyoon seemed satisfied just to have held his hand, even briefly, and grinned.
“Doyoon, sit properly.”
“Tch, you people who claim to be teammates can’t even let a teammate have a good moment for one minute.”
That was truly a pot calling the kettle black. But that wasn’t what was important to Hajin.
People hiding in his home? In his house? Well, it wasn’t entirely his since it was a jeonse* apartment. That made it even worse.
“D-don’t tell me they’ve destroyed my home?”
When Hajin, who had maintained his composure even in the dungeon, started stammering, even the four bickering men became serious.
“Why? Is there something important there? Team leader, what are you doing? Let’s drive there right now!”
“It’s a jeonse, so I’ll have to pay for any damages…”
Han Seungho, who had been clamoring along with Hajin’s anxiety, was so dumbfounded by this statement that all his energy drained away.
Despite speaking to Hajin, he unconsciously asked in a dejected tone:
“That’s what you’re worried about?”
“It’s a big problem. My severance pay might all go to repairs. And now that my address has been compromised, finding a place to stay is also an issue. Surely it hasn’t been destroyed already, right?”
Anxiety tends to snowball as it builds. In Hajin’s mind, the situation had already deteriorated to the worst case scenario.
If his jeonse apartment, along with his clothes, furniture, and all his household items were gone, how was Hajin supposed to live from now on?
It was Cha Jinwoo who calmed him down.
“Since no fighting has been reported, your home should be safe. But we don’t know what tricks they might have played, so let’s relocate first, and when you need to retrieve your belongings, you can go with me.”
“Huh? Captain, I didn’t take you for the sneaky type. You’re going alone with him?”
Jinwoo’s shallow ploy immediately met with objections. Baek Jaan didn’t open his mouth but rolled his eyes, while Han Seungho and Lee Doyoon jeered in unison.
Then Han Seungho asked Hajin directly. It was much faster to ask the decision-maker than to argue among themselves.
“Is one S-rank enough? We don’t know what those bastards might have done. Take all four of us.”
“It’s a bit much to involve such busy people in my personal matters…”
But they thought differently. Not realizing that these busy people were desperate to get involved in his personal matters, Hajin thought one person would be sufficient.
Of course, it would be nice. Going alone would feel like a date with Hajin, and it would help reduce the distance between them—the guys who couldn’t come along would probably be dying of envy.
But what good was that if it wasn’t him? It wasn’t even a 50% chance, but a 25% chance. What if he wasn’t chosen?
Their common opinion was that they couldn’t let others have all the good opportunities.
When their gazes met in the rearview mirror, they all nodded without anyone taking the lead. Truly deserving of the name Alpha Team, their thoughts aligned perfectly without a word.
Han Seungho and Lee Doyoon leaned forward and tried to persuade Hajin.
“Come on, what if something happens? Rather than regretting it later, isn’t it better for Alpha Team to move together, even if it’s a bit chaotic?”
“That’s right. It seems Hajin hyung doesn’t understand his own value yet, but I’m sure the Association would be horrified and try to stop you if you said you wanted to go alone.”
Hearing the whispers from both sides, Hajin felt a strange sensation. He was pretty sure he had been called “ahjussi” (mister) last time.
Being called “ahjussi” wasn’t great, but when the youngest-looking one appeared to be in his early twenties, there wasn’t much to say if he was called that.
Was the Guiding that good? To think that not just the form of address but even their attitudes would change this much. As a Guide, Hajin would never understand how they felt even if he lived his entire life.
“Anyway, you understand, right?”
“Pardon?”
“You said ‘yes.’ When we go to your home, we’re definitely taking all four of us with you.”
‘I’m pretty sure I just said “pardon?”‘
It was practically coercion, but it wasn’t as if anyone was refusing to go, and there was no reason or justification to refuse when four S-rank Espers wanted to accompany him for his safety.
“Thank you.”
“Th-thank you…”
“Ahem.”
Seeing them blush at a simple thank you, they finally looked their age. After all, the image of them playing with house-sized monsters had been etched in his mind.
Perhaps that was why, despite looking young, they had an unapproachable atmosphere.
“If you’re thankful, you could do just one Guiding for me.”
“Wow, Seungho hyung. Are you a con artist? You’re going to get Guiding in return for that one thing?”
Lee Doyoon immediately countered Han Seungho’s words with something close to criticism.
Not just him, but Baek Jaan and Cha Jinwoo also opened their eyes sharply and stared intently at Han Seungho. But if Han Seungho were the type to back down from such stares, he wouldn’t have been in Alpha Team in the first place.
“What, why, what.”
Hajin briefly looked down at his gloved hands.
Now that he would be living as a Guide, there was no need to hide his hands with these gloves. Thinking about it, the situation had felt abstract until now, but suddenly it became real.
Hajin took off his gloves, which had gotten a bit dirty from the commotion. His hands, which had never seen sunlight, were revealed—whiter and smoother than others’.
‘…Somehow, it feels refreshing.’
[*Note: Jeonse is a Korean housing rental system where the tenant pays a large lump-sum deposit (usually 50-80% of the property’s value) instead of monthly rent, and gets the full deposit back at the end of the contract.]
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
