#27
“What if someone hears you saying that?”
“Who else is here right now besides you and me, hyung?”
“That’s true. Well, let them hear if they want. It’s the truth.”
'If they hear it and make a fuss, I can just quit, which would be nice.' Yihyun said, shrugging his shoulders and taking his phone out of his jacket pocket. His calendar was filled with the Bureau's work schedule.
“Come to think of it, I forgot to tell you. I meant to tell you as soon as I got it, but I was dragged into the meeting.”
“Did a new call come in?”
“Hmm, it’s a call if you call it a call… and it’s not if you say it’s not…”
Yihyun let out a short sigh. From that sigh, Yonghyun felt a sense of unease. If it was something that made Yihyun sigh, it was bound to be a massive headache for Yonghyun as well.
“I got a call from Kim Hyeonil-ssi.”
“…It’s been ages since we contacted Kim Hyeonil-ssi, and he’s only replying now?”
According to the contract between the Bureau and the Black Star Guild, if they sent a gate dispatch request to an Esper belonging to the Black Star Guild and the said Esper responded within a week, they had to pay a minimum dispatch fee unconditionally, even if the Esper arrived after the gate was already raided or didn't show up for the dispatch at all.
That was why Yonghyun avoided sending dispatch requests to Esper Kim Hyeonil unless it was a really, very, extremely urgent matter.
You could never be sure when he would respond, making it impossible to set a definite schedule, yet Hyeonil's dispatch fee was enormous. Therefore, dispatching Hyeonil was, in all aspects, nothing short of a gamble for Yonghyun.
There was no need to specifically request a dispatch from Hyeonil, who often went MIA and worked half-heartedly, when he had Juwon, who moved briskly, and Jinho, who did his best in everything.
“I can see it now, your future in two hours, where you have to stay up all night writing a dispatch report.”
“So, what does Black Star say?”
“He said he has something to confirm regarding the dispatch request and will visit the Bureau tomorrow at 11 AM.”
“A visit? After no contact at all until now?”
“Of course, before that, the Black Star Chief Secretary sent a polite official letter of apology, a full A4 page long. Saying they’ll be careful not to let this happen again and asking for our generous understanding. It’s the people at the bottom who suffer, here and there. Isn’t it?
It’s rare for Black Star to bow down this low, and at Yihyun’s continuing words, Yonghyun’s mind raced. Not a single working-level employee, including Yonghyun, was happy about Hyeonil’s visit.
‘Tomorrow at 11, Esper Kim Hyeonil will be visiting the Bureau. Everyone, please prepare.’
Just thinking about the last time Hyeonil visited.
‘Chief, I’m planning on being suddenly sick tomorrow, so I’ll be taking a half-day off!’
‘Chief, I saw it in my dream. A gate is going to appear near Uijeongbu tomorrow! So I was thinking of heading over there in advance for fieldwork!’
‘I didn’t know, but my cousin is suddenly getting married tomorrow, so I think I have to attend the wedding! I don’t know why they’d get married on a weekday instead of the weekend, haha.’
Everyone at the Bureau was in an uproar. Though all their leave requests were denied.
Yonghyun shook his head, imagining his subordinates wailing. Welcoming Kim Hyeonil as a guest was more tricky and difficult than dealing with about ten executives, including the Division Head, from within the Bureau.
He only sought out water from the brand with the pink logo depicting a certain European mountain, and for coffee, he would only touch hand-drip. If a desk was even slightly crooked, he would suggest moving seats.
If a meeting that included a meal happened to be scheduled, he would pressure the person in charge by saying things like, ‘I feel like having Dokdo shrimp today.’
If, due to unavoidable circumstances, he was served water sourced from Jeju Island in a glass, he would subtly knock the glass over, and if there wasn’t a conference room to his liking, he would leave on the spot, saying, ‘I’ll come back tomorrow.’
“Understood. Me and… um, Assistant Manager Lee Mihee can handle him.”
Assistant Manager Lee Mihee had the nickname "master of organization", to the point where Hyeonil had once clicked his tongue and said, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen anyone more extreme than my manager.’ She was also a capable talent, the only one in the dispatch department besides Yonghyun who could stand before Hyeonil unfazed.
“Right. She’s also quite the character, so picky despite not looking it.”
However, contrary to Yihyun's words, Kim Hyeonil showed a completely different side of himself in front of other high-rank Espers, including Yonghyun. He acted smart and mannerly, as befitting his rank.
‘I might not care about other Espers, but since I came to the Bureau myself, isn’t it okay to expect at least that much?’
Once, when Yonghyun had pleaded with him to stop making things difficult for his staff, Hyeonil had smiled slyly and said that. Thinking back to that time made his stomach churn, so Yonghyun gulped down some mineral water, even though he wasn't thirsty.
“He must be coming because of the AA-rank gate issue.”
“Right? Hmm, which means…”
He would surely come and say this.
‘So, what kind of gate was that yesterday that you had to request my dispatch? I think I need to hear about it.’
It meant he had to organize the AA-rank gate report by tomorrow, by morning at that, and familiarize himself with it enough to present it.
Yonghyun washed his dry face in his mind dozens of times and sent a message to Jinho.
[By any chance, are you still at the restaurant?]
[Yes. But the meal… is almost finished. Are you perhaps not done yet? ㅠㅠ]
Of course, they had just finished the main dish and were waiting for dessert, but Jinho lied nonchalantly as Yonghyun had no way of knowing.
[Hmm, if you’re almost done, then it can’t be helped. It would just be a nuisance for me to come over now… Ah, by any chance, are you free tomorrow, Esper Han Jinho-nim?]
[Tomorrow? Yes, I don’t have anything specific scheduled. What’s up?]
[In that case, could you visit the Bureau with Wonwoo-ssi tomorrow? I think it would be good to continue the conversation we couldn't have today, tomorrow.]
But even after three minutes passed, there was no reply from Jinho.
[Esper Han Jinho-nim?]
[Ah, yes. I was just checking my schedule for a moment. I’ll do that. I’ll ask Wonwoo-hyung and text you a good time. Take care! ^^]
After finishing his conversation with Jinho, Yonghyun sighed and sent Wonwoo a polite message with an apology, saying it would likely be difficult to join them at the restaurant today. Yihyun watched Yonghyun with an interested gaze.
“Who are you messaging that you’re staring at your phone screen like you’re going to burn a hole through it?”
Yonghyun didn’t have the energy or the confidence to tell his older brother, Yihyun, ‘It was because I was bothered and couldn’t stop thinking about Esper Han Jinho calling Wonwoo-ssi ‘hyung’.’
He simply put on a flat smile and wrote a message to Wonwoo saying it would be difficult to join them at the restaurant.
“It’s nothing.”
“Hmm. I see.”
Yihyun shrugged his shoulders once more and patted Yonghyun’s shoulder two or three times as if to console him.
“I’m working late today too, so let me know if you need help.”
“Even if I had nothing else to borrow, would I borrow a cat’s paw?”
“Haha. A cat’s paw is at least cute. Hmm… You haven’t eaten, right? Should we have dinner and start our overtime with a fresh mindset? What do you want to eat?”
“Today… I’m craving bean sprout soup with rice. With lots of extra squid topping.”
“Great, very nice. I’ll add a poached egg then. So, is the basement place better or the Suni’s next door better? …What are you doing?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“Do you know you’ve been saying ‘it’s nothing’ this whole time?”
“Have I? But it really is nothing.”
“Alright, fine. Fine. Then I’m just going where I want to go, okay?”
“Yes.”
As if to prevent Yihyun from seeing his phone screen, Yonghyun put the phone he had been diligently tapping just a moment ago into his inner jacket pocket with a movement that was obviously hiding something.
The desire to send one more message to Wonwoo and the thought that he shouldn’t bother him since they would meet tomorrow began to fight.
Yonghyun continued to mull it over, appropriately brushing off Yihyun's trivial comments, like how a glass of moju would go perfectly with the bean sprout soup.
And so, Yonghyun ate soup with Yihyun, briefly explained tomorrow's schedule to Mihee, and while booking a conference room, he kept deliberating until late at night before finally sending a text to Wonwoo.
It took him a full 10 minutes to write a short phrase or two, carefully typing each and every letter.
[I will see you tomorrow, Wonwoo-ssi. Have a good night.]
***
[(Emergency Alert) May 9th, 07:52, B-rank gate occurrence in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province. Nearby residents are advised to evacuate swiftly.]
He had said the number of gates was increasing, but for a new gate to appear so soon…
Wonwoo, who had groggily opened his eyes at the alarm and was brushing his teeth, had his eyes fly wide open at the disaster alert suddenly flooding his phone.
Moreover, it wasn’t a common D-rank or C-rank, but a B-rank gate.
“I was supposed to go to the Bureau with Jinho-ssi to meet Chief Shin Yonghyun… I wonder if it’ll be okay.”
Wonwoo was torn about whether he should contact Jinho and Yonghyun. And at that moment.
-Bbirong bbirong!
[G★A★T★E★A★P★P★E★A★R★S]
[The first gate to appear after user ‘Wonwoo’ was revealed as a ‘Guide’!]
[In that case, how about taking this opportunity to show off your abilities as a guide by raiding this gate? ( •̀ω•́ )✧]
[<QUEST> Generated!]
[‘Solve the suddenly appeared B-rank gate together with the Espers!’]
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