Since everyone was hungry, each person grabbed their own menu items and quickly set up. In the midst of this, I discovered a bottle of gaoliangju placed in front of me.
“Do Wonjin, did you order gaoliangju too?”
“I was going to drink it alone, but it ended up there.”
Do Wonjin, who had been tearing open the packaging for his gan jjajang, made an ‘oops’ face and tried to take the gaoliangju in front of me.
“Good things should be shared, hyung.”
Yang Garam, sitting next to me, snatched away the gaoliangju before Do Wonjin’s hand could even reach it. Then the expression Do Wonjin had made upstairs because of Yang Garam reappeared on his face.
“Oh-ho, looks like our youngest is confident in his drinking capacity.”
‘Here we go again.’
Though Do Wonjin was making an effort to go easy on Yang Garam as the youngest, when they actually clashed, their levels were exactly the same. Do Wonjin swept his hair back and smirked with only one corner of his mouth raised, sneering, and at his provocation, Yang Garam’s eyes blazed.
“What alcohol in broad daylight? The noodles will get soggy. Hurry and eat.”
However, since it would be troublesome to have a drinking session in broad daylight like this, I said while snatching the gaoliangju from Yang Garam’s hand. In the midst of all this, Joo Seolhyeon was already nibbling away at his portion of fried rice, which left me dumbfounded again.
Fortunately, there was no one else who would argue back about alcohol to the point of making a fuss, so the meal began in the usual atmosphere.
After chattering about light topics, the story of staying overnight at Jeong Seyeon’s house came up again. When I tried to gloss over it because the situation when I was teleported was too embarrassing, Yang Garam asked.
“Hyung. Were you okay last night?”
I momentarily looked toward Joo Seolhyeon. Having apparently finished the fried rice that was still half remaining, he’d pushed it to one side and was now nibbling on sweet and sour pork. When my gaze turned to him, he openly frowned.
“It’s fine, Seolhyeon hyung knows too.”
Since Joo Seolhyeon was eating, Do Wonjin answered instead. I turned my head to look at Do Wonjin and immediately frowned.
“But why are you smiling in that unpleasant way?”
“Because you’re like a startled hamster. It’s cute.”
“……Let’s not talk.”
Even though I knew Do Wonjin was originally like this, hearing it from his own mouth still dealt damage. This time too, I conserved my words, thinking that if I reacted I’d get caught up in his pace again.
‘Anyway, so all four of them knew.’
From the time Jeong Seyeon knew, I’d figured Joo Seolhyeon would know too, but hearing it outright felt strange. It was even more so because Joo Seolhyeon was the cause of me being tormented by nightmares and becoming unable to sleep without Guiding.
‘Even a temporary Guide is too good for Joo Seolhyeon.’
When I ended up living under the same roof with him, even my anxious worrying about falling for him again felt like a dream now. I thought the time had come to gradually wrap up the temporary Guide arrangement too.
“Hyung?”
At Yang Garam’s call, I realized I still hadn’t answered his question.
“Ah, sorry. Seyeon hyung helped me.”
At my words, a bitter smile formed on Yang Garam’s face.
“That’s a relief. At least Seyeon hyung was there by your side.”
“Are you Garam the Little Mermaid? You’re not just wistful, you’ll disappear into sea foam.”
Here we go again.
Yang Garam calmly countered Do Wonjin’s sly words.
“How about worrying about yourself first, hyung? There were a lot of mosquitoes in your room.”
“There aren’t any mosquitoes in my room though?”
“Really? That’s strange, I saw a really big mosquito.”
“Then it must be male. Male mosquitoes don’t suck blood, so it’s fine.”
Watching the two’s conversation gradually going off track, I swept the few remaining pieces of sweet and sour pork into my mouth. When eating with several people, the person who ate first was the winner.
“But why can’t you sleep without a Guide every night?”
Just as I was putting the last piece of sweet and sour pork in my mouth, I heard Joo Seolhyeon’s voice. Do Wonjin and Yang Garam must have heard his question too, as they stopped bickering and looked at Joo Seolhyeon.
For a moment, I thought it was fortunate I was chewing sweet and sour pork. Otherwise, I would have unknowingly cursed at Joo Seolhyeon. I swallowed the food in my mouth and looked straight at Joo Seolhyeon.
“They say a carelessly thrown stone can kill a frog.”
“……”
“Think a bit before you ask questions, Mr. Joo Seolhyeon.”
At my cold answer, Joo Seolhyeon’s face hardened stiffly. The atmosphere rapidly sank coldly. I sighed and stood up from my seat.
“Sorry. I’ll go up first.”
It wasn’t words meant for Joo Seolhyeon, but for Do Wonjin and Yang Garam. I didn’t feel even a speck of remorse toward Joo Seolhyeon.
While putting on all sorts of airs, I ultimately couldn’t say the most important thing—that I had eaten the last piece of sweet and sour pork—and came up to my room on the second floor.
Actually, thanks to Joo Seolhyeon’s tactless question, I’d realized one thing. That Joo Seolhyeon was the one person I should never forget, even if I forgot everything else and lived on.
‘What state of mind was I in to live with him all this time? I don’t know about others, but he’s absolutely not acceptable.’
I immediately picked up my phone and contacted Jo Hail.
“Please prepare the temporary Guide contract termination documents.”
—When should I come see you?
Tomorrow was the re-evaluation day so that wouldn’t work, and three days later I had to participate in an event hosted by the Esper Alliance with the Center Director, so the earliest would be two days later. However, since I’d been continuously skipping training, I did need to go to the Center once two days later.
“Five days from now.”
I said five days later with plenty of margin, and Jo Hail said he understood and asked me to please notify the Guide before contract termination.
Contract termination being this easy was because the employer was an Esper. The reason Guides wanted to contract with high-grade Espers was also because the higher the grade, the higher the pay the Guide received.
If an Esper’s income was 10, an Esper with an exclusive Guide would divide the 10 at 6:4, giving 4 to the Guide. In the case of having multiple temporary Guides, it was divided 7:3, with the 3 split into n equal parts according to the number of Guides. That’s why exclusive Guides couldn’t have jobs other than Guiding, but temporary Guides could have side jobs. Because of this, people with low Guide grades commonly did Guiding like part-time work. This too was only possible because there were fewer Espers than Guides.
After the call with Jo Hail ended, I flopped onto the bed with a relieved heart. It was regrettable I couldn’t move up the date further, but since I hadn’t received Guiding from Joo Seolhyeon even once since regression until now, there were more than enough reasons for contract termination.
* * *
The next day, having breakfast while watching the news making a fuss about ability evaluation day from morning naturally led to sharing schedules.
Jeong Seyeon was at 9 AM, Do Wonjin at 11, Joo Seolhyeon at 3, and Yang Garam and I at 4—the latest.
“Are you going to work today too, hyung?”
“Yes, I am.”
Ability evaluation day was also called Ability Users’ Day. This was because for those who possessed Guide or Esper licenses, this day applied as a public holiday. From the nation’s perspective, as many people as possible should get tested on ability evaluation day that comes once a year, so it was actively encouraged, but reality was different.
“Looks like you’re not resting. Be careful, hyung.”
Even Jeong Seyeon was like that. Having finished preparing for work as usual, he stood at the entrance with his hair neatly swept back and his jacket draped over his arm.
“I’m off.”
He gave a slight nod to me seeing him off and left with refined steps, and I watched his retreating figure while catching characteristics of his I usually didn’t pay much attention to.
‘I wondered why he never wore a tie, but if his work is in that field, it makes sense. The reason his shoes change frequently too…… I don’t really want to imagine this.’
When I’d asked Jeong Seyeon if he was a gangster, I hadn’t gotten a proper answer, but the mere fact that he didn’t deny it was as good as affirmation. I stared blankly at the front door Jeong Seyeon had left through, then tousled my hair and turned around. Whatever his identity was, the image I had of Jeong Seyeon didn’t change. I was just worried whether he might be doing dangerous work, precisely because it wasn’t an ordinary job.
‘He had a lot of scars on his body—I wonder if he’s okay.’
I’d never seen him get injured while living together, but it could be that only the visible parts were fine. I knew with my head that there was no reason for me to interfere in a temporary Guide’s private life, but I kept worrying about it. When I wasn’t even in a position to look after anyone right now.
“Oh, did Seyeon hyung leave?”
Yang Garam came to my side with a messenger bag and asked.
“Yeah, he went to work. Are you going to school too, Garam?”
“Yes. I have a lecture at 11, and I have a group project too, so I’m leaving now.”
Yang Garam’s face rapidly darkened as he mentioned the group project. The message I’d briefly glimpsed that day when I went to give him an umbrella flashed through my mind and disappeared.
“That’s rough.”
When I patted his head saying he was working hard, Yang Garam bent at the waist and thrust his face forward as if asking for more. I withdrew my hand with a laugh at his appearance acting spoiled.
“What time does it end?”
“It ends at 3.”
“Then I’ll wait in front of school at 3.”
Yang Garam’s eyes widened.
“You’ll be tired though, hyung. You don’t have to come all the way to school……”
“What do you mean, when your mouth is hanging to your ears?”
“Ah……!”
Yang Garam hastily covered his mouth, but I pushed his back telling him I’d already seen it all, so hurry and go to school.
‘I need to tell him about the contract termination too.’
After seeing Yang Garam off and going up to the second floor, I ran into Joo Seolhyeon coming out of his room. Seeing his face, what came to mind first was the phone conversation I’d had with Jo Hail the day before.
“Mr. Joo Seolhyeon.”
Joo Seolhyeon was about to pass by me but at my call, he only turned his head to look at me.
“I have something to tell you this evening.”
Though there were still a few days left until the day of contract termination, dragging this kind of thing out didn’t seem like it would help me.
“Something to tell me? You think if you come apologize now, I’ll accept it?”
I momentarily didn’t understand why he was being sarcastic, but then realized he was talking about how I’d embarrassed him yesterday and left alone.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
