I Want to Be Your Guide – Chapter 5
According to the ‘Guide Protection Act,’ Guides had an obligation to report their movements when going anywhere outside headquarters. Even going to the convenience store in front of their home was restricted, so for a long time now, time after work meant being cooped up at home.
“I’m tired…”
Today had been an exceptionally difficult day, so Jeongyun increased his beer from one can to two. He was slightly worried about tomorrow, but right now, getting rid of this gloomy mood was more important.
Firmly resolving to live recklessly tonight, Jeongyun sat on the sofa and picked up the remote.
“Ah, it’s Choi Domin.”
When he turned on the television, as if by fate, an advertisement featuring Domin appeared. ‘Government-affiliated Espers are the guardians who protect you, citizens.’ Jeongyun muttered the line he had now perfectly memorized, matching the lip movements of Domin on the screen, while taking a long sip of beer.
“This is healing.”
Whether it was because he was looking at Domin’s face, or because he was already getting tipsy after just a few sips of beer, his vision pleasantly blurred. Jeongyun bent his knees and rested his cheek on them.
When living with his family, he couldn’t freely watch advertisements featuring Domin because he was mindful of his parents. Both of them were the type to have a fit if an Esper was mentioned.
Though he hadn’t met them since becoming a Guide, sometimes when comfortably watching advertisements with Domin like this, he would think of his parents.
‘But I never missed them.’
When he told people that he cut ties with his parents after becoming a Guide, they would all ask if he was okay. Jeongyun always answered yes. He had almost no good memories of living with his family.
A patriarchal father, a submissive mother, a sibling with whom he never talked. There wasn’t anything that could be called affection, so he could leave easily. He was always a stranger in that place.
To forget his family that had suddenly come to mind, he picked up the remote and deliberately searched for channels showing Domin’s advertisement. He must be the only person who changes channels to watch advertisements. It made him chuckle.
“Ah…”
With his mind filled with Domin, the incident at the lounge today came back to him. Jeongyun gulped down his beer. He wanted to mindlessly drink something cold because of his stuffy feeling inside.
Like that, he emptied one can of beer in an instant and opened a new one. His vision wavered with the sudden rush of intoxication, but it soon came back. Deciding that he was still okay, Jeongyun quickly drank the newly opened beer as well.
“They don’t match at all…”
As his reason blurred with intoxication, words that had been kept inside suddenly popped out.
What on earth was rank, that it was natural for Saeon to be by Domin’s side? People say Saeon and Domin match well. They must all collectively have bad eyesight.
“They don’t match at all.”
But who was he to say such things? Saeon was Domin’s dedicated Guide, but Jeongyun was merely a stranger who had exchanged just one word with him.
Wooyeon had laughed once and said that Choi Domin probably didn’t even know Jeongyun existed.
That’s right. Domin doesn’t know who Jeongyun is. He might know Saeon, but not who Yeo Jeongyun is. Not now, not ever.
“I hate this so much…”
What filled the large screen now wasn’t Domin. If it wasn’t Domin, there was no point in watching television.
Jeongyun fumbled over the sofa, searching for the remote. When he pressed the power button, celebrities whose names and faces he didn’t know disappeared into the black darkness.
“I’m tired.”
Lying on the sofa, he blinked his increasingly heavy eyelids. He needed to clean up the empty cans on the table and iron the shirt he would wear to work tomorrow. There were so many things to do, but his body, limp like cotton soaked in water, wouldn’t listen.
When he opened his eyes again after briefly closing them, the sun was already high in the sky. As he got up, holding his throbbing head, a chilling sensation ran down his spine.
The sound of daily life coming through the window made his lips dry and his heart start racing. Jeongyun turned his gaze to check the clock on the wall. The thick hour hand was pointing to 10.
“I’m crazy…!”
Coming to his senses, Jeongyun rushed into the bathroom. After hastily washing up, he put on his clothes without properly drying his hair.
As he grabbed his bag and flung open the front door, the pager in his pocket rang loudly. When he pressed the button with the blinking blue light, a rigid mechanical voice sounded.
[Guide Yeo Jeongyun, please report current location.]
It was a message from headquarters looking for Jeongyun, who hadn’t shown up despite it being well past work hours. He urgently left a reply saying he would be there soon and then deeply pocketed the pager.
“Why did I sleep until now of all things?”
In the speeding taxi, Jeongyun vowed never to drink excessively on weekdays again.
* * *
Upon arriving at headquarters, Jeongyun was summoned by Department Head Jung Yona without even a moment to catch his breath.
Jeongyun went up, extremely tense as if he were a student called to the teacher’s office, and stood before Department Head Jung Yona, who looked even more haggard than before.
Department Head Jung Yona spoke in a gentle voice, saying she had wasted a day because of Jeongyun, who had been absent without notice, but behind that, her boiling anger was clearly visible.
“So, you’re saying you drank and slept at home, correct?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“You were doing well, why did you do this? If you had been a little later, we would have sent a team out looking for Guide Yeo Jeongyun.”
“I’m sorry.”
The endless scolding finally ended thanks to an unknown Esper who came looking for Department Head Jung Yona just then.
Department Head Jung Yona pressed her throbbing temple and waved her hand as if telling Jeongyun to leave quickly. Jeongyun gave a slight bow before leaving the department head’s office where he had been held for a long time.
Written explanation plus confirmed overtime for today.
It was a relatively mild punishment for being absent without notice, but the mental shock was considerable. He should have known better when he couldn’t control his emotions and drank. Jeongyun frowned at the lingering smell of alcohol that wafted up every time he breathed and returned to his Guiding room.
“I heard you were late today?”
Wooyeon, who had been waiting in front of the Guiding room, caught Jeongyun and asked. Jeongyun, who had had his spirit completely drained by Department Head Jung Yona, nodded weakly. Wooyeon made a fuss, saying the sun would rise from the west tomorrow.
He wanted to laugh along with Wooyeon’s words, but his head was buzzing, perhaps due to the hangover. As he weakly opened the door and entered, Wooyeon, who followed him in, sat down first.
He had planned to rest a little until the Espers came, but that was ruined now.
“Why were you late?”
“I drank.”
“How much did you drink?”
“Not that much…”
Jeongyun counted the number of cans he couldn’t organize in his head. As he folded his fingers one by one, he realized he had folded all five fingers of one hand.
He remembered excitedly taking out all the beer from the refrigerator, but it seems he mindlessly drank, exceeding his usual tolerance by twice as much.
“You’ve been acting weird since before. Something’s up.”
“Nothing’s up.”
“Just tell me. They say sharing worries cuts them in half.”
Wooyeon spoke with an exaggerated expression as if saying to just trust him.
If it had been yesterday, he would have shared his troubles with Wooyeon and received comfort, but he had already somewhat soothed his upset feelings by drinking.
“I solved it all yesterday.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I let it all out while drinking.”
Although he got written up and had to work overtime as aftereffects, he wasn’t in the same depressed mood as yesterday. After pouring out all the emotions he had been holding in, it felt refreshing, as if his stuffy chest had been cleared. His stomach felt much better.
“If you’re okay with it, that’s good, but still, don’t worry too much.”
Wooyeon patted Jeongyun’s shoulder as he spoke. The awkward comfort made him chuckle.
“Thanks.”
As Jeongyun chatted with Wooyeon about various things, lunch time was already coming to an end.
As soon as the hour hand pointed to twelve, Wooyeon’s pager rang loudly. It meant an Esper had arrived at the Guiding room.
“These bastards don’t know what leisure is.”
Wooyeon, who was thoroughly annoyed, slowly got up from his seat. After turning off the loudly ringing pager, Wooyeon tried to make excuses until the last moment, not wanting to leave.
When Jeongyun waved his hand, telling him to go quickly, Wooyeon drooped his shoulders as if he had no choice and returned to his Guiding room.
“It’s quiet.”
After Wooyeon left, the Guiding room with only Jeongyun was silent.
Now it was time to catch up on work after all that lively chatting. Seeing the list without a single check mark even though lunch time had passed, he couldn’t help but sigh.
“Let’s do this.”
After a light self-encouragement, Jeongyun contacted the Esper at the top of the list first. He sighed at the tight schedule without any breaks, but he had to quickly process his quota since he had been late.
Most Espers arrived on time, but occasionally there were Espers who didn’t keep their appointments and acted as they pleased. And today, as if determined to completely mess things up, there were three Espers who didn’t keep to their time.
“Why is everyone like this?”
Already having squeezed in the morning schedule with difficulty, leaving no time to catch a breath, he couldn’t even finish half of his quota due to Espers who didn’t keep their appointments.
Before he knew it, when he checked the time, it was already eight o’clock, well past six o’clock when he was supposed to get off work.
“Ah…”
Jeongyun roughly rubbed his face with his hands in rising annoyance.
Emotions have a significant impact on Guiding. To provide the most effective Guiding to randomly assigned Espers without checking compatibility rates, he needed to maintain stable emotions.
“Calm down.”
Jeongyun closed his eyes and took leisurely deep breaths as he had learned during Guide training. Only after his anger had subsided and he felt much better did he open his eyes.
As he sat quietly waiting for the next Esper to come, suddenly a loud siren sound rang through the building. It meant that a terror attack had occurred somewhere in the city.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
