But there were too many things holding him back.
First, how would he explain himself, as a guide? Although Yonghyun had accepted that guiding was his ability, Wonwoo knew better. He knew that Yonghyun had simply let it slide. But would other people accept it so easily? Wonwoo shook his head internally.
And second. If he, a nobody, a civilian, were to join the Bureau, there would surely be talk.
It was a scout from none other than Yonghyun. He was bound to attract that much attention, but Wonwoo was an ordinary civilian who couldn't live up to such expectations.
The headline, ‘[Breaking News] The Bureau, a government-affiliated agency. Suspicions of hiring corruption. How did the Bureau hire someone without a college degree?’ flashed through Wonwoo's mind. He imagined reporters rushing at him from all sides, demanding to know the source of the corruption.
‘No, that can never happen. Do I want to block my own career path?’
And most of all, the thing that bothered him was that Yonghyun was being incredibly favorable to him. He had experienced the guiding, and thanks to that, he had safely dealt with the monster, but a suspicion of ‘He’s being this nice to me?’ made it impossible for him to be completely comfortable with Yonghyun.
In fact, Wonwoo had expected to be interrogated by Yonghyun, if not arrested or locked up somewhere. About the suspicious things he had said in front of the monster, or about his abilities.
But the first thing he heard was a job offer. It was hard to shake off a somewhat uncomfortable feeling.
‘I don’t want to fasten the second button like this.’
"So, I'll pretend I didn't hear the job offer you mentioned."
"...In that case, I will formally arrange a meeting and make you an offer. I... I didn't expect to meet you, Guide-nim, no, Wonwoo-ssi, like this."
...That's not it. I said, ‘I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it.’ Doesn't that mean the conversation is over? Wonwoo bit his lip without realizing it.
If there was one thing Wonwoo had overlooked, it was that Yonghyun was a civil servant before he was an S-class Esper. Yonghyun worked in a profession that valued system and procedure more than anything.
The part where Yonghyun said he had made a mistake was ‘making a scout offer without following the proper procedure,’ not with the intention of Wonwoo's ‘Let’s not talk about this anymore.’
"Ah, saying I didn't expect to meet you like this... is actually wrong. To be precise, it would be more accurate to say I didn't expect to meet you here. I knew I would meet Guide, no, Wonwoo-ssi, today."
"...Me? Today?"
"Yes. I took a vacation for today, for Wonwoo-ssi. Although I returned to work due to the gate outbreak."
Wonwoo recalled what Yonghyun had said as soon as he saw him.
‘He asked if I was a guide. As soon as he saw me. I was so out of it because of the monster that I couldn't think straight, but... this person, he knows what a guide is. How? On top of that, he even took a vacation today? Of all days?’
Wonwoo felt like grabbing his head and shaking it, but he held back, thinking of Yonghyun in front of him and the other people passing by. And he forced a smile.
"In that sense... I'd like to hold your hand one more time."
But that smile was shattered by Yonghyun's next words.
"My hand?"
"Yes. Just once... please. It will only take a moment."
"Uh. Uh. Yes. It's not a difficult thing..."
Having been held by him in front of a monster, holding hands was not a difficult task. But in this situation... suddenly holding hands?
Wonwoo looked at Yonghyun with a face full of doubt. He tried to read his expression, but Yonghyun's expression was unchanged. He just looked at Wonwoo with the same stoic expression.
Wonwoo stopped fiddling with the ballpoint pen and held out his hand to Yonghyun. Then he felt Yonghyun's intense gaze on his hand. A nervous Wonwoo gulped. For some reason, he felt a strange palpitation along with the tension. Just as Yonghyun was slowly about to place his hand on Wonwoo's, Lee Mihee came over.
"Section Chief, I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation. I've brought Esper Han Jinho-nim."
Ah, something smells good... With that thought, Wonwoo raised his head. What he saw was a man with light pink hair staring at him intently, his cheeks flushed for some reason.
"Ah, ah, ah... Hel, lo!"
The man, Han Jinho, greeted him in a voice that sounded like he could burst into tears at any moment.
***
He had dropped everything he was doing and rushed to Dangsan Station to conquer the gate. However, what greeted Jinho upon his arrival at the conquest camp was not a briefing on the dungeon situation, but the news that the gate conquest was already over. Hearing that the conquest was already over and there was nothing for him to do, Jinho couldn't tell whether he should be happy or sad about it.
After being told to wait for a moment by a dispatch department employee, Jinho checked his condition with a selfie on his phone. His skin, which he had nourished by eating vitamin-rich fruits every day and had just been treated at an aesthetic clinic, was glowing, making the effort worthwhile.
'...But something's strange.'
The danger level of the gate he had been dispatched to support was AA-rank.
It takes at least half a day to conquer a B-rank gate, even at the fastest. In unlucky cases, it could take a week to conquer a gate.
But for the conquest to be completed so soon after the news of the gate's appearance... For a brief moment, Jinho wondered if the Bureau was lying to him to cancel his dispatch and avoid paying his freelance fee, but he shook his head.
'That can't be. Even if I can't trust the Bureau, I can trust Section Chief Shin Yonghyun.'
More than anything, the atmosphere at the conquest camp was clearly not that of an ongoing situation.
Since it's come to this, I might as well do what I was originally going to do. Jinho decided to take things as positively as possible and took out his phone. He was going to contact the System Guide to ask what he should do now. But a message had already arrived.
[Sender: System Guide]
[<Revealation> that changed your destiny 180 degrees!
Hello, this is 'System Guide'.
Have you been well?
It's just that a lot has happened to me while serving him. It's been a very eventful year. ^^
Thanks to that, I have safely paid off the karma I had while serving him. It's all thanks to you all. Because of that, I have come to realize what I was lacking.]
[So, I'm going to close for a while and take a break. I will come back to you all as a better version of myself. I will greet you again when the break is over. ^^]
[May your future be filled with happiness and comfort. ^^]
[P.S. Destiny is near you!]
[-Consultation Closure Notice-
Please note that I will be unreachable not only through my Tototalk (messenger) ID but also through all other contact numbers. I ask for your generous understanding in this matter.]
'Huh...?'
Suddenly like this?
Jinho stared at his phone screen with a bewildered expression. He hurriedly sent a message, but no matter how many messages he sent, the System Guide didn't reply. He tried calling, but only heard an automated voice saying that the customer was unavailable, and the call wouldn't connect.
On top of that, Jinho sighed when he saw that the rainbow-colored profile picture decorated with roses had been changed to one with the words 'Temporarily Closed' in the center.
'Did I, did I... fall for a malicious prank?'
But Jinho shook his head, recalling the strange feeling he had while talking with the System Guide.
All the emotions he had felt at that time were real, and the dream he had after receiving the message from the Master, and the fluttering in his heart he had felt, were all things he had experienced.
As an Esper, an S-class Esper at that, who conquered dangerous gates, his intuition and instincts were a matter of survival. The gut feeling that had kept him alive through numerous gate conquests had told him to follow the System Guide's message.
Jinho calmed his mind and read the message left by the Master slowly, as if dissecting each letter.
[P.S. Destiny is near you! ^^]
His gaze stopped at one sentence.
'Destiny... destiny... Ah, is he talking about my destiny?'
Jinho looked up from his phone and looked around. Then he saw a woman approaching him and gave a silent nod. It was Assistant Manager Lee Mihee, who was in charge of his dispatch and contact at the Bureau's dispatch department.
Surely Assistant Manager Mihee isn't my destiny... right? No. To chase away the silly thought, Jinho shook his head.
"Esper Han Jinho-nim. Hello."
"Ah, Assistant Manager Mihee. Hel...lo."
"I'm sorry that the gate was already conquered after you took the trouble to come all this way."
"Not at all. The faster the conquest, the less damage there is, so it's not a bad thing. It's actually a relief."
"Thank you for thinking so. ...Section Chief Shin Yonghyun is looking for you, Esper Han Jinho-nim. Would it be alright if I guide you to him?"
"Yes, yes. Of course."
Jinho decided to quickly resolve the task at hand and then look around, following the meaningful postscript message left by the System Guide.
And the moment he entered the container house following Mihee, Han Jinho met the destiny he had so desperately wished for.
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