Chapter 43
First day at work.
Seoyul looked around as he made his way to the announced location. Although it was the center he had visited many times before, now that he was coming as someone who had officially passed, he felt unnecessarily excited and nervous.
‘Will Minjun hyung… be here?’
Having worried about Minjun, who had also proudly passed, Seoyul quickly scanned the interior.
‘Ah… there he is!’
Fortunately, he had arrived earlier. In the distance, Minjun was nodding off, probably from not having slept well. Finding this typical of Minjun, Seoyul approached and called out to him.
“Hyung!”
“Uh, huh? You’re here?”
Still half-asleep, Minjun groggily stood up to greet Seoyul. Seeing him check his mouth corners for drool made Seoyul laugh as the tension eased.
“You came early?”
“Can’t be late on the first day. You came early too, huh?”
“Yes. I was too excited to sleep well.”
“Oh! You too?”
Minjun went on about how he’d been so excited that he’d stayed up all night. He also rambled on about other trivial matters as usual, and listening to him helped ease Seoyul’s nervousness.
“Ah! Come to think of it, you’re already paired up. Did your Esper-nim say it was okay for you to intern?”
Minjun immediately voiced a question that had just occurred to him.
This was because most people formed pairs after joining either an association or a guild.
As an Esper himself, the thought of his paired Guide providing Guiding to another Esper made him feel twisted inside.
‘Haah. I don’t even want to imagine it…’
An Esper’s obsession with their Guide was beyond imagination.
Moreover, hadn’t Dowoon said that Seoyul was his only Guide? Considering that, it didn’t seem like it would have been easy.
But Seoyul ignored all such assumptions and nodded with a bright voice.
“Yes. He gave his permission willingly. He even told me to work hard.”
“Really?”
“Yes!”
Seeing his bright smile, it didn’t seem like a lie.
‘He gave permission willingly? Even told him to work hard?’
Was that possible?
Minjun thought it absolutely impossible according to his Esper common sense.
Or maybe Seoyul only believed so, while Dowoon might be internally raging.
‘Hmm. That’s quite possible.’
Cha Esper-nim didn’t seem to have the best personality.
As an example, hadn’t Yeon Jiwoo, who had tormented Seoyul, gone down a dark path? If he hadn’t gotten involved with Cha Dowoon, he could have formed bonds under better conditions.
“Oh? I think they’re about to start.”
As the orientation start time arrived, Minjun and Seoyul turned their heads. An employee stepped up to the platform and began conveying information along with a brief greeting.
“Hello. I am Lee Youngjung from the Management Support Team, in charge of today’s orientation. For the next three months, you will gain experience in various teams. After that, team assignments will be made…”
Seoyul listened to and memorized every word from the employee. Some things he already knew, and some were new.
Perhaps because of this, the fact that he had finally become an employee of the association started to feel real.
“You will be matched one-on-one with senior Espers and Guides to learn a lot. If you have any questions, you can ask your matched seniors as you carry out your activities. And…”
Huh…? Wait.
‘One… on… one?’
Seoyul was surprised and opened his eyes wide.
He had been curious about what kind of work he would be doing, and it seemed like a system where one person would be responsible for teaching him.
‘Can I… do well?’
Being quite shy, one-on-one interaction was still burdensome. What if the person disliked him? What if he couldn’t adapt properly and ended up wandering? Such worries suddenly rushed in.
“Don’t worry. You’ll do fine.”
As if reading his anxiety, Minjun offered words of encouragement. Those words gave him a little courage, but the uneasiness still remained.
“Then we’ll begin again at 10 o’clock.”
It seemed that those who would be in charge of them would arrive at 10, so there was a short break.
Seoyul waited anxiously with a fluttering heart. Other people began entering the space that had been filled only with interns.
Among them seemed to be some famous individuals, as the surroundings buzzed when certain people entered.
“Wow. That person is an incredibly famous Guide.”
“A famous Guide?”
Tilting his head and turning his gaze, Minjun continued excitedly explaining.
“Guide Choi Insung, who they say entered with a perfect score last year. Don’t you know?”
“Wow. A perfect score?”
Seoyul was surprised and opened his eyes wide. A perfect score. Having heard that Dowoon also had a perfect score, hearing about another perfect scorer was exciting.
Seoyul turned his gaze back to Guide Choi Insung with sparkling eyes.
He had calm black hair and wore thin black-framed glasses. Whether because of his composed gaze and expressionless face, or because of hearing that he had a perfect score, he looked like an elite among elites.
“He’s smart and has a B-grade rating, so guilds were quite eager to have him. It was a hot topic, don’t you really know?”
“Ahaha. I don’t really know much about these things.”
Seoyul laughed awkwardly and scratched his head. But Minjun said that was understandable and continued to provide information about others who were entering.
He knew so much detail. It seemed like he knew all the Espers and Guides in the center.
“Wow. All of them are such capable people? Seoul Center is really good.”
Among those to be matched one-on-one, there were not only those from last year’s batch but also many experienced individuals who were quite old.
Minjun seemed to like that. But for Seoyul, it was just pressure, so he swallowed dryly and kept his eyes forward.
“Ahem. Then…”
The person in charge took the microphone, seemingly about to start the matching. But it appeared someone had not yet arrived. Belatedly, the door opened and a familiar figure entered.
“Huh?”
“That person is…”
Seoyul and Minjun were surprised and opened their eyes wide. Minjun was so shocked that he sent a silent signal asking what was going on.
But Seoyul too had not expected this at all, so he didn’t know what to say.
“Now that the last person has arrived, we’ll begin.”
The last person to enter was none other than the center’s only S-grade Esper.
Cha Dowoon.
* * *
‘That guy can be helpful sometimes. You really do live and learn.’
Dowoon, who had been deeply concerned about Seoyul’s situation, smiled with satisfaction. An unexpected individual had given him a decent method.
‘Babe, for things like this, you should have told me right away. I know the solution really well.’
It was Ji Sunghun, one of Dowoon’s major sources of stress.
He proudly provided the solution free of charge. Though the provider being Sunghun was a bit unsettling, now was not the time to be picky. It was a time to grab at any straw.
‘Why didn’t I think of this?’
The method he suggested was the “Intern Direct Supervisor Application.”
The association operated a one-on-one system to help interns adapt more quickly. So each team was forced to register at least one person.
Dowoon didn’t know about this because he wasn’t the type to be drafted for such things.
‘Everyone looked at me like I was crazy…’
But what did that matter?
Among those participating in this, there was no one with more influence than him. So he felt lighthearted, thinking he could designate Seoyul without any issues.
Of course, this didn’t mean he could prevent Seoyul from Guiding others, but for now, just being able to watch over him was enough.
“Just try to set your eyes on him. I’ll kill you all.”
With a menacing gaze, he chuckled and moved his feet.
It seemed he would arrive just in time, but thinking they wouldn’t start without him, he leisurely opened the door.
Click.
As he entered, all eyes turned to him. As whispers started around him due to his appearance, his shoulders unconsciously straightened.
It was because he felt like he had shown Seoyul his fame and greatness.
‘Where’s Seoyul…’
Dowoon quickly scanned the surroundings to find Seoyul. It wasn’t difficult to find him. Even among this crowd, his presence was distinct.
But…
“…”
Why was there a troublemaker next to Seoyul…?
Dowoon discovered a foreign object existing beside Seoyul. It was undoubtedly that cursed “Minjun hyung” that Seoyul always had on his lips.
‘Damn it. He passed too?!’
Moreover, the two were sticking close together and started whispering.
Dowoon burned with jealousy. Seoyul, perhaps too surprised by his appearance, just stayed still without pushing him away.
Who knew that his attempt to surprise Seoyul would backfire like this.
‘If I had known, I should have told him!’
Dowoon regretted and cursed his foolish self.
‘It’s all because of that guy!’
Yes. It was all that guy’s fault.
Dowoon directed all his anger towards Minjun and shot him a fierce glare. Minjun jumped in surprise and quickly distanced himself from Seoyul.
‘Hooh. Seems he’s somewhat perceptive?’
Dowoon stood with a face full of triumph. Then the person in charge called Dowoon to the front.
The one-on-one matching was done by having the applicant directly choose an intern.
The first in order was Dowoon, who had firmly secured that position through kind conversations.
“Then, Esper Cha Dowoon. Please select and call out one name from this list.”
The list was presented to Dowoon. He thought there was no need to look at it. He would just call Seoyul’s name…
‘Huh…?’
Dowoon detected something strange.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
