#32
"Yes? Uh..."
What would happen if I answered that I didn't know? Wonwoo stealthily avoided Hyeonil's gaze and looked at Yonghyun. The moment their eyes met, Yonghyun shook his head slowly a couple of times with a very serious expression.
Hmm, so the model answer the team leader wants here is, 'No, I don't want to, don't do this.'
"You know, this 'Guiding' ability of yours, Guide. I'm incredibly curious about it. Just making eye contact like this makes me feel energized. To be honest, when I just heard about it, I thought it was a bit of nonsense, you know? Seemed exaggerated, too."
R-right... Hearing those words, Wonwoo nodded his head.
He himself had asked what nonsense the System was spouting when he received its message. For a brief moment, Wonwoo wondered if he should show Hyeonil the PPT he had made.
"You can solve this damn penalty that's been tormenting me for so long? Something our company has been researching and trying to develop for so long without success, all by yourself, Guide?"
Hyeonil raised the corners of his mouth and crinkled the edges of his eyes, showing a smile.
'No, why is this person suddenly acting like this?'
At Hyeonil's sudden, strange atmosphere, Wonwoo scooted his hips back, putting a little distance between himself and Hyeonil.
'No matter how handsome he is, well... smiling like that with those eyes that have a beauty mark is a bit burdensome. No, a lot. Why on earth is this Esper smiling at me like this...'
Wonwoo's preference was not for sharp, somehow sultry faces, but for round, gentle faces.
'If we're talking about smiling faces, Jinho-ssi is better than this person... Gasp, no, what wicked thoughts am I having!'
Wonwoo shook his head, driving away the images of his ability, 'Heart-pounding♥ Relationship with Espers,' unlocked by the System, and the various hearts that had filled it, which were trying to push their way into his mind.
Making eye contact, holding hands, ki...kiss... No, no. For some reason, Wonwoo shuddered at the feeling of his cheek stinging where Jinho had slapped him in his dream.
"So I'm extremely, extremely curious about you, Guide. So, will you give me the chance to see your ability for myself?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Hyeonil moved a little closer to Wonwoo.
"Just looking at you like this feels so good."
As much as Wonwoo leaned his head back, Hyeonil came closer. So close that their noses were almost touching, Wonwoo felt Hyeonil's breath, his respiration.
'I'm going to be... eaten.'
Somehow feeling like a small, weak hamster in front of a large snake, Wonwoo's breath caught in his throat. At the same time, a woody musk scent powerfully overwhelmed his sense of smell. With the sudden change in atmosphere, Wonwoo didn't know where to put his gaze and had to dart his eyes around.
'This person, was he always... this kind of dangerous person?'
"In that case, would you like to see this? I have some materials I've organized about the Guide."
Thinking he had to change the mood somehow, Wonwoo took his phone out of his pocket. Just as he was about to open the PowerPoint he had shown the others yesterday, Hyeonil covered Wonwoo's phone with his hand.
"Mmm, I'm the type of person who's weak with this kind of data or briefings."
"Oh, in that case..."
"Wouldn't experiencing it for real be the best?"
"Yes?"
"Do you know what my side effect is?"
"Ah, no..."
"Right, right, of course you don't know. It's an Esper's weakness, after all. Shall I tell you my side effect, which even my manager doesn't know?"
Wonwoo shook his head. He had an intuition that nothing good would come from getting involved any deeper, no matter what it was.
"Every single day, I feel like my internal organs are melting. A stomachache is just a daily routine, and every time I use my ability, it feels like my whole body is being churned up."
"E-even now?"
"No. Right now, it's really... peaceful. Since meeting Wonwoo, it doesn't hurt at all. The pain that wouldn't subside even after downing very strong painkillers has quieted down. Now, it's just a slight poking feeling in my stomach, I guess."
Hyeonil smiled.
"So I'm getting a little, no. Actually, I'm getting very greedy. For you, my Guide."
The moment Hyeonil tried to press his cheek against Wonwoo's, Yonghyun moved faster, grabbing Hyeonil's shoulder and pulling him to his side.
"That's far enough. You're being rude to Wonwoo-ssi."
"Th-that... um, that's..."
Wonwoo saw it. He saw Hyeonil click his tongue with a 'Tch' as soon as Yonghyun finished speaking. And as soon as Hyeonil clicked his tongue, he saw Yonghyun's brow furrow and the corners of his mouth turn down.
'I'm weak in these kinds of nerve-wracking situations...!' Receiving the gazes of two S-class Espers all at once from the middle, he felt his stomach ache and a cold sweat break out for no reason.
"Rude? I just told him a secret that could make him a fortune if he tipped off the press."
On top of that, he had learned Hyeonil's weakness, which even Black Star's manager didn't know. If things went south, wouldn't he be assassinated under the pretext of having to protect confidential information? Wonwoo's fingertips trembled slightly.
"The most important thing is Wonwoo-ssi's opinion. Do not force him."
"Hmm, forcing him? I was just doing a bit of self-PR."
In fact, from Wonwoo's perspective, it was much more comfortable to be with Yonghyun than with Hyeonil in many ways.
He had already raided a gate with him, and during the trip, with Mihee's help, he had familiarized himself with a ton of things he needed to keep in mind during a gate raid.
Things like where the best place to position himself would be if Yonghyun took the lead, or what he should do when Jinho attacked with his fists.
To suddenly have a new party member in this situation was a burdensome variable for Wonwoo, who was just starting out in gate dispatches.
But...
'It's a good opportunity in a situation where I need to pay attention to other Espers, not just Yonghyun and Jinho.'
He already had a chance to explain his abilities to Yonghyun and Jinho anyway. And for some reason, those two were even favorable toward him.
But Hyeonil, in front of him, was not. No, to be more precise, it was hard to guess his true intentions.
Feeling Yonghyun's eyes on him trembling intensely, Wonwoo let out an awkward "Haha..." and avoided his gaze.
No matter how suspicious and uncomfortable he was, as long as Hyeonil was an S-class Esper, he would have to continuously face and clash with him in the future. If so, couldn't this gate raid party be the starting point?
He was a little worried about Hyeonil's suspicious and strange atmosphere, but Wonwoo was still okay.
In fact, for Wonwoo, who had already experienced death and, even if it was virtual, the end of the world, the scariest thing was the world's destruction by gates, not the flirting of a suspicious S-class Esper.
Wonwoo knew that Yonghyun was thinking of him and worrying about him. But that was that, and Wonwoo had to run toward what he needed to do.
Wonwoo's goal was to help the Espers as a Guide and prevent the end of the world. And if he could make money while working as a Guide, that would be great too.
'And, he probably won't pull anything in a situation where everyone is watching like this. Besides, I'm a Guide! Ah, wo... would he hit me if I asked to hold hands? Hmm, I'll have to think about that one.'
Without a second thought, Wonwoo, who had a thought that the System would have scolded him for with a message saying 'User Wonwoo is thinking too complacently!', opened the door and got out of the car.
"Then I can go with Guide. Great, it's decided!"
"Just a moment."
Yonghyun, with a very stiff expression, stopped Hyeonil, who looked like he was about to link arms with Wonwoo and run to the gate at any moment.
"Ack. What on earth is the problem? What don't you like?"
"...I can accept the terms requested by the Black Star Guild, but you will have to add two clauses."
"What is it? What do you want to do?"
"Please have the Black Star Guild hire Esper Han Jinho to participate in the raid. We cannot have only the Black Star Guild participating in the raid."
"Only the Black Star Guild... oh, Chief, you're not participating in the raid?"
"No. According to Bureau's regulations... we cannot dispatch more than three A-class or higher Espers to a B-class gate. Since Esper Kim Hyeonil has expressed his intention to participate, and we have already sent a dispatch request to Han Jinho, I have no choice but to step down."
"There's a regulation like that? No, wouldn't it be better to just throw in high-ranking Espers all at once and raid it quickly?"
At Wonwoo's question, Hyeonil shrugged and answered.
"It means they don't want to spend that much money on 'just' a B-rank gate. I mean, B-rank gates are plenty dangerous, but these kids are too relaxed, you know? Being too good is also a problem, a problem. They think raiding a gate is easy or something?"
"That is not true. It is a regulation established for safety to prepare for unforeseen circumstances. If Espers were concentrated on one gate and another high-rank gate appeared immediately after, wouldn't that cause a problem?"
"Uh-huh, so you're showing favoritism, is that it? Well, fine. Let's just say that. It's not like I'm the one suffering. Chief Shin is. Haha."
"...So, please give me your answer regarding the addition of the clauses."
"Hiring Jinho? Yeah, that's fine. I'd rather be with Jinho than Chief Shin. You and I, our ability compatibility isn't great, is it?"
Feeling as if the surroundings were getting colder, Wonwoo hunched his shoulders.
"And you said two things? What's the other one?"
"We need a report on Wonwoo-ssi's Guide ability. Please actively receive Guiding during this gate raid and write a report accordingly."
"Hmm, as for receiving Guiding, I was planning to receive it actively even if you didn't tell me to, Chief."
'No, of course, I'm going to actively provide Guiding too. But could you please stop deciding my future without my opinion?' The words rose all the way to his throat. But he didn't have the guts to actually say them, so Wonwoo stopped at just thinking them.
'...Fine, fine. Everything's good, so let's just hurry up and go raid.'
They hadn't even reached the gate entrance yet, but he felt like all his energy had been drained.
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