Chapter 85
Officially, my purpose was to find materials as Guide Moon Soo-young, who was imprinted on by the two guys.
Based on what Yoon Cheong said during his visits, I’d figured out which building and location he was using his abilities in.
For an ordinary Guide, this might have been difficult, but since I had experience working at the Association, finding out the location was easy.
“I’ll go with you after I finish. Right?”
“Yeah.”
“Shall we meet after we’re done? I’ve also requested some materials.”
“Then I’ll come to you.”
“No, I’ll finish faster anyway. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll wait for you at the café downstairs.”
Yoon Cheong answered casually.
Even though he refused when I suggested going together outside of school, now inside the Association building, there was no sign of refusal.
I had deliberately timed my visit.
Since Yoon Cheong said he’d only be moving documents all morning for 50,000 won, I planned to check materials for about an hour starting from 10 o’clock, then extract Yoon Cheong in the middle of his work.
After all, his part-time job started with a request for help, and it wasn’t something he absolutely had to do, so they should let him leave with me.
I thought they wouldn’t be able to stop him.
I’d make sure to finish a little early. What should I say? If you’re scared, just die… no, that’s not a movie I can see now.
I waved at Yoon Cheong.
“See you later.”
Yoon Cheong continued his work without suspicion.
As discussed, he was moving documents, then moving more.
I followed an Association employee to avoid suspicion.
“Actually, I’m confused about the floors… Is this the 6th floor?”
Then that same employee from last time came to escort me.
Yoon Cheong’s location was one floor below mine, with me above.
According to Yoon Cheong, once he started moving documents, he wouldn’t move to a different floor.
“The materials you requested this time have also been collected. I’ve organized Guides who released imprinting by rank level… but in my opinion, there doesn’t seem to be much difference.”
“Thank you. I’m just grasping at straws. They’re my friends, after all.”
After I sighed deeply, the Association employee who brought me to the empty office, Deputy Son Jong-hun, showed a sympathetic expression.
Did he find it pitiful to see a high school Guide trying so hard for his friends?
“I see… Then I’ll be going. If you need anything else, please call me. Leave the documents here, and when you’re ready to leave, let me know, and I’ll organize them separately.”
“Thank you always. By the way, is your office on a different floor?”
“Pardon? Why do you ask…”
“I just didn’t want to trouble you if the floors were different. It might be difficult for you to go back and forth…”
“It’s fine. It’s just one floor up, so please contact me when needed.”
I felt truly sorry for Deputy Son, who looked at me like a kind-hearted boy.
He didn’t seem to mind me running into Yoon Cheong, so he probably wasn’t related to Yoon Cheong’s part-time job.
“One more thing. There’s a water dispenser at the end, so I’ll be moving around. I’m worried I might disturb others on this floor.”
“Oh, that’s fine. There are no meetings today, so feel free to use it as you wish.”
- Then it shouldn’t matter if I move around to see Yoon Cheong.
“Thank you. I’ll check the materials and go. Really, thank you.”
“Not at all. I’ll head upstairs then.”
I bowed to Deputy Son, who was bowing to me.
My face trembled from forcing a kind smile.
I checked the documents while concentrating on the fading footsteps.
I did genuinely want to look into imprinting-related issues, so I planned to skim through a few pages.
I wondered if rejection rates for Guide imprinting differed by rank, but that wasn’t the case, so there was no gain.
There were more release cases for lower ranks, but the reason was simply that they had relatively higher matching rates compared to higher-ranked Guides.
Since there wasn’t much content, I bundled several pages together and stacked them on the floor to make it look like I’d read them.
At least it should appear as if I’d read them.
I was relieved that no one was using the other conference rooms.
After all, I hadn’t come for the materials in the first place.
I picked up my phone and sent a message.
[Preparing to move. Fortunately, it looks like there won’t be any issue with observing.]
[Ji Yeohoon> I’m also looking into things at the guild. Be careful, Hyung~ (۶•̀ᴗ•́)۶ Fighting!]
On the surface, the reason Ji Yeohoon and I split up was for this.
The actual reason was because he didn’t know about the imprinting, and the uncle had helped us.
[Ji Yeohoon> There are so many guild documents… I’ll read through everything before leaving ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д`ﾟ)ﾟ｡]
I don’t know where he got these emoticons from, but I copied them because they were cute.
I focused, put my phone in my back pocket, and opened the door.
After checking both ends of the quiet corridor, I left the conference room.
I walked out with the most natural face possible and headed for the stairs.
It was clearly empty, but just in case I encountered someone, I kept my gaze fixed on the bathroom sign so I could naturally enter the bathroom.
Fortunately, no one came while I passed the bathroom. I walked slowly, almost killing the sound of my footsteps, and went down one floor.
The emergency exit stairwell door was definitely open when I deliberately went to that floor to run into Yoon Cheong.
I could see boxes floating through the air.
It looked like Yoon Cheong’s power.
[Found him. Using telekinesis.]
[Ji Yeohoon> Nothing else?]
[He’s really just moving documents like he said.]
It was exactly as I reported to Ji Yeohoon.
Yoon Cheong was moving boxes of documents to a warehouse with a familiar expression.
The boxes were naturally sealed with tape, and even when the handle parts were open, the papers were packed so tightly that checking the contents was impossible.
[Have you found anything unusual?]
[Ji Yeohoon> Apparently, Espers who were provisionally affiliated with other guilds occasionally transfer to Chaehwa.]
I knew that.
Usually, Espers keep some distance from each other, but at school, many become friends at a young age.
That’s why guilds fiercely competed to recruit Espers from other guilds at that time.
For Espers without guilds, like Yoon Seong-jin, guild membership offers came during school, or they submitted applications directly after graduation.
But even Espers with guilds weren’t official members as students, so they could change anytime after becoming adults upon graduation, making all guilds vigilantly strive to protect their Espers.
Like the saying “following a friend to Gangnam,” cases where friends followed close friends to different guilds weren’t uncommon.
[But isn’t that the same for Calling?]
[Ji Yeohoon> But something seems a bit different. The Guild Master looks like she’s deciding whether to tell me or not…]
Why hesitate? Just tell him.
[Ji Yeohoon> It’s bigger and longer-term. She’s considering whether to copy and include the documents for you?]
Guild Master, I can clearly picture the staff’s troubled expressions.
[Just tell her I’ll request a visit later. I’ll go see them directly.]
[Ji Yeohoon> Okay~٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و]
Ah, really cute.
I turned my gaze, which kept wanting to go back to the text messages, towards Yoon Cheong who was using his ability.
Though his face looked a bit bored due to the repetitive nature of just moving documents, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual.
I hadn’t worked at the Association for very long, but during my time there, I was a fairly seasoned employee.
There was no need to pay part-time wages to have an Esper do such simple labor of moving sealed documents to another warehouse.
Especially since I saw a cart on the stairs where I was.
There must be a clear reason why they were having him do something so simple that they could do themselves, while forbidding him from telling his friends.
“Cheong, is it very tiring?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Want some water?”
“Could I trouble you for some?”
You’re going to just drink it, you simpleton?
I watched to see if there was something strange, but nothing seemed to have been done to the water.
It looked like they were going to get water directly from the dispenser.
“Yoon Cheong.”
It would be better to stop him before he drank it.
As I called out while coming down the stairs, Yoon Cheong looked up at me while moving a document box.
“Are you done?”
“I still have two left. Are you finished with what you were doing?”
“I’m planning to look at it later. I’m just checking the materials I requested. Excuse me, could I have some water?”
This was what I was aiming for.
If they had tampered with the water, they wouldn’t be able to give it to me.
“Two more won’t take long. Finish quickly. Let’s have lunch together after we leave.”
“Should we? I’ll eat lunch separately today.”
That’s right, well done. The employee nodded, saying it was fine.
“Or your friend can join us too.”
“I already planned to eat with someone else outside.”
Of course, there was no such plan.
Yoon Cheong looked at me as if asking if I had called Ji Yeohoon, but I just smiled.
Sensing my expression telling him not to ask, he immediately turned his gaze and moved the box.
As I approached Yoon Cheong, I could see the warehouse where the boxes were coming from.
Inside the empty warehouse with no windows, boxes were sitting alone.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you.”
I took the water the employee was about to give to Yoon Cheong.
It was directly from the water dispenser, and there was no sign of them throwing it away and refilling it on the way.
Though he was moving boxes, Yoon Cheong was watching the employee approach me.
Since he was already imprinted on me, even without being aware of it, he was sensitive to people approaching me, so there was no need to worry.
So, should I take a sip to see if they’ve done anything to the water?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
