#14
'As if writing an incident report wasn't enough… to think I'd end up at a gate conquest camp!!'
Wonwoo carefully moved the ballpoint pen he had borrowed from Yonghyun, beginning to meticulously write his personal information, one character at a time, at the top of the incident report.
Anyone who witnesses a gate, whether an Esper or a civilian, must write a 'Gate Incident Report'. 'Incident Report' was a grand term for what was essentially just reporting the circumstances of witnessing a gate, following the five Ws and one H.
Submitting the report could earn you movie tickets or e-vouchers for large bakery or cafe franchises, so there were some who secretly hoped to discover a gate.
In the past, Wonwoo had been one of those people. Given the circumstances, he couldn't express it out loud, but he had thought it to himself.
'...Can I choose the gift certificate I get for writing this? I heard you could choose the movie theater.'
Now that he had defeated a monster and returned to a safe place, he was having all sorts of silly thoughts. Scolding himself internally for such a thought, Wonwoo let out a sigh. Even so, he didn't forget to slightly raise his head and glance around his surroundings.
Wonwoo was sitting alone with a serious expression on his face, at a table and chairs that looked like they belonged in a street stall, amidst the busy people. When Yonghyun had brought him here, a nearby staff member had hurriedly brought them over.
Being surrounded by people busily moving with files in hand, people muttering incomprehensible words while looking at a map on a large monitor, and people shouting, 'Residual energy has been detected!' as they rushed out with large radars, the incident report in front of him felt shabby.
Immediately after dealing with the monster, Yonghyun made a call somewhere and then brought Wonwoo to a temporary gate conquest camp set up in a Han River park near the Dangsan Railway Bridge.
It felt strange to see barricades set up and container houses occupying the space where picnic mats usually lay, in a place that was always bustling with people out for leisure.
And the place Wonwoo was in now was the Bureau's dispatch department container house.
As Wonwoo had been brought here personally by S-class Esper Yonghyun, who could be said to be at the highest position in the Bureau, the gazes of many people fell on him.
Though they didn't stare openly, he could feel them sneaking glances, so Wonwoo avoided their gazes by pointlessly tracing over the personal information he had already written.
'Awkward! This is so awkward!!'
As Wonwoo was tracing over his resident registration number, address, contact number, and even his family relations—which he didn't know why he had to write—for the fifth time, he heard the sound of a chair scraping in front of him.
"Hello. Kim… Wonwoo-ssi?"
"Uh… yes. Hello."
A man with a good-natured smile sat down in front of Wonwoo. His face was familiar, and after thinking for a moment, Wonwoo realized he was a Bureau employee who often appeared on national news to give briefings on the gate situation. Wonwoo recalled seeing him often when he was researching Yonghyun and smiled awkwardly.
"Are you finished with the incident report? Ah, not yet."
"Yes. Um, I didn't know what to write…"
Compared to having written his personal information five times over, he hadn't managed to write a single letter of the actual content.
The man maintained his friendly smile and played it off, saying, 'It's always daunting the first time!' But in truth, Wonwoo hadn't been able to write anything not because he didn't know 'what' to write, but 'from where to where' he should write.
In Yonghyun's absence, was it okay to leave an official record of the things he had done with Yonghyun? Plagued by this question, Wonwoo had just been tormenting the innocent personal information section.
"Shall I help you if you're having trouble?"
"Ah. Well, I was with Yonghyun… Section Chief-nim, when the gate was conquered. So I was wondering if it was okay for me to write something on my own without consulting him."
As soon as Wonwoo finished speaking, the smile faded from the man's face.
'...Ah. I messed up.'
It was only when Wonwoo heard the man mutter softly, 'The Section Chief conquered the gate without evacuating a civilian…?' that he realized his mistake.
"Um, excuse me, but do you know where Section Chief Shin Yonghyun is?"
"Ah. He's with Assistant Manager Mihee, briefly checking on the gate conquest… Ah. There he comes now."
Yonghyun entered the container with a woman whose face was etched with fatigue. Yonghyun answered the greetings of those around him with a silent nod and approached where the man and Wonwoo were.
Wonwoo looked back and forth between Yonghyun and the man, his eyes filled with anxiety. Yonghyun keenly noticed the anxiety in his gaze.
"Manager Kim Jaesung, if there's nothing else, please organize the results of the residual energy analysis. And prepare for the interview."
"Yes. Looks like I'll be showing my face on TV after a long time."
"And Assistant Manager Lee Mihee, please confirm if Esper Han Jinho, who was dispatched for support, is coming, and brief him on the situation."
"Yes. I will contact Han Jinho-nim. What should I do if he has already arrived?"
Yonghyun glanced at Wonwoo and said.
"...Tell me."
"Yes, I understand."
The two moved with incredible speed to follow Yonghyun's instructions. Leaving the two behind, Yonghyun sat down in front of Wonwoo, in the seat Jaesung had just vacated.
"Guide-nim. I apologize for making you wait. Did anything happen in the meantime?"
"...Well, um."
Wonwoo slowly and carefully explained why he hadn't been able to write anything other than his personal information after receiving the report, and what he had said to the man named Soohyuk.
"It's alright. Section Chief Kim Soohyuk may seem a bit frivolous, but he is tight-lipped. You don't need to worry as much as you think."
"Is… that so."
"This place is only occupied by my, subordinates. And I plan to explain about you later, so you can be at ease."
Wonwoo recalled how the people inside had stood up and greeted Yonghyun more briskly than anyone else as soon as he had arrived.
He had thought they were overly stiff, but perhaps it was because he was their direct superior. Then again, if an S-class Esper were my boss, I'd probably suffer from muscle aches from being tense every day, too.
Wonwoo thought this and smiled weakly.
"That's a relief, then…"
With those words, Yonghyun's gaze fell on the incident report, which only had personal information written on it. For some reason, Wonwoo felt like a student submitting a blank test paper to a professor or TA, and he swallowed dryly with nervousness.
Even though he had explained why he hadn't written anything, he somehow felt like a very lazy person who had procrastinated on his duties.
"So you're Wonwoo-ssi."
"Th-that's. Yes."
What's this, why is he saying my name so carefully…!
Feeling a strange ticklish sensation, Wonwoo grew awkward and fiddled with his pen for no reason.
"If it's alright with you, may I call you Wonwoo-ssi instead of Guide-nim?"
"Yes, yes. Of course. It's more comfortable for me to be called by my name, too."
"Thank you."
Is giving permission to be called by my name something worth receiving thanks for? Feeling strangely embarrassed, Wonwoo pointlessly touched the back of his head and avoided Yonghyun's gaze.
"Then, I'll get straight to the point."
"Wh-what is it."
"Would you… join the Bureau, Wonwoo-ssi."
"Pardon? Uh, uh… Join? The Bureau?"
"Yes. I promise you the best conditions and treatment."
-Bbirong bbirong!!!!!!
As soon as Yonghyun finished speaking, the system's alarm, which had been quiet for a while, rang out.
"Um, uh. Just a moment. My phone…"
Wondering how to respond to Yonghyun's sudden proposal and where to look, Wonwoo seized the opportunity and checked his phone.
[...This message has been deleted as its validity period expired due to not being checked for 1 hour from the time of transmission.]
[...This message has been deleted as its validity period expired due to not being checked for 1 hour from the time of transmission.]
[GUIDE from life senior 'SYSTEM' for user 'Wonwoo' who has received a sudden scouting offer!]
[(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻) Offering the best conditions and treatment in a shoddy place like this?! I oppose this scouting!]
[Something user 'Wonwoo' must not forget, and that is…!]
[The danger of monopoly! （；´д｀）ゞ]
[User 'Wonwoo' must guide other Espers besides S-class Esper 'Shin Yonghyun'!]
[Oppose the Bureau's monopoly! Oppose! 'SYSTEM' condemns the excessive monopoly of government agencies! Condemns! ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ]
And no sooner had he checked the system's messages, Lee Mihee, who had left just moments before, cautiously approached and spoke.
"Section Chief Shin Yonghyun, I'm sorry to interrupt. We just received word that Han Jinho-nim is arriving immediately. ...What should we do?"
"Guide him here."
"Yes. I understand."
After Mihee left and just as Yonghyun was about to speak again, Wonwoo quickly cut him off.
"Um, I don't think this is the kind of conversation to have in a place like this."
Wonwoo smiled, hoping as much as possible not to offend Yonghyun. Yonghyun silently took in the smile, then closed his eyes as if thinking about something for a moment, before giving Wonwoo a silent nod.
"I apologize. I was too hasty and abrupt."
"It's not something you need to apologize for, Section Chief-nim. It's just a little… sudden."
Wonwoo immediately understood what the system was trying to say, what it was worried about. He was bothered about the deleted messages, but that wasn't what was important right now. Having heard the bombshell declaration, he first needed to think about the 'monopoly' the system mentioned.
Honestly, Wonwoo was tempted by the job offer.
No, it wasn't just temptation; he had almost blurted out, 'Could I hear a little more about the details?' instead of politely refusing. It was only natural for him to be tempted, since the reason he was attending university and managing his grades was ultimately to find a way to make a living.
But Wonwoo was no longer an ordinary university student. Hadn't he just tearfully put his midterms and countless assignments behind him and applied for a leave of absence for the sake of his work as a guide?
Frankly, when it came to guiding Yonghyun, there could be no better condition than joining the Bureau.
If he was lucky, he might even be able to get Yonghyun's and the Bureau's cooperation in meeting and guiding other Espers. In many ways, it could be a more comfortable situation than him, a civilian, just rushing in to meet Espers on his own.
'But….'
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