#47
Wonwoo took his eyes off his phone and glanced at Juwon.
‘Is he really regretting it?’
However, as soon as their eyes met, Juwon’s face contorted into a deep scowl again before he sharply turned his head, avoiding his gaze.
It was clear to anyone that he wasn't regretting anything, let alone happy to see him.
‘...Forget it. How is that the attitude of someone who regrets something? Unbelievable.’
No matter how he thought about it, the system was clearly lying to try and change the mood. There was no way someone who felt regretful would have their eyebrows raised, be biting their lip, and frowning so intensely, all while refusing to make eye contact. On top of that, his apology was painfully obviously forced upon him by his superior, Jaeyoon.
Wonwoo scoffed. Of course, he couldn't do it loudly because he was aware of his surroundings, so he did it very quietly, just loud enough for himself to hear.
‘Or could it be... he’s actually embarrassed? The tips of his ears look a little red.’
No. Seeing Juwon exuding an aura that screamed ‘What are you looking at?!’ at any moment, Wonwoo shook his head internally.
There’s no way. The redness of his ear tips probably just looked that way because of his piercings. Or maybe he wasn’t embarrassed because of him, but rather embarrassed by the situation of having to apologize by force.
And even if that really was a look of embarrassment, there was no need to look favorably upon someone who had spewed such harsh words at him.
With that thought, Wonwoo glanced at Jinho, who was sitting next to him.
‘He’s so different from Jinho-ssi, the atmosphere too….’
When Wonwoo first heard Juwon’s sharp words, he had momentarily wondered if he had done something wrong. He soon quit thinking about it, having reached the conclusion that, ‘Assholes aren’t assholes for a reason, they’re just born that way.’
As if sensing the strange atmosphere, Yonghyun stepped in to mediate.
"You didn't come all this way just to argue like this, did you?"
"Hahaha, of course not. When have we ever visited for such a reason? Besides, I came along as well, didn't I?"
Translated, the words of Yonghyun and Jaeyoon meant the following:
‘If you were going to ruin the mood this badly, why did you even schedule the meeting? Just call it off and go home.’
‘Oh, come on, don’t be like that. This isn’t the first or second time this has happened. Why else do you think I came? I came to mediate this bastard’s temper.’
The two men looked at each other, exchanged a few glances, and then nodded in mutual understanding.
Meanwhile, Jaeyoon, Juwon's direct superior, had to suppress the urge to smack Juwon on the back multiple times.
"Haha. It’s quite amazing to see so many S-class gathered in one place. I wonder what brings the rest of you here…."
‘The reporters stationed on the first floor would love to see this,’ he added with a joke and a laugh.
Jaeyoon’s rank was B-rank. On average, it couldn’t be called a low rank, but surrounded by four S-ranks, it was hard to shake the feeling of being insignificant.
Juwon was his team member and he'd known him for so long that he was like a younger brother, but the other three were different.
"Hey, what are you so nervous about? Just act like you normally do. You came because you were curious about the Guide, right?"
Hyeonil said with a smile, looking back and forth between Jaeyoon and Juwon. Juwon slowly nodded.
"Ta-da, I introduce to you, the Guide!"
"Ah... Hello, I'm Kim Wonwoo."
Wonwoo found himself swept up in Hyeonil’s mood and introduced himself. Hyeonil started clapping, and soon Jinho and even Yonghyun, as if also swept up in the atmosphere, began to applaud him, making him so embarrassed he wanted to run out of the room.
‘Wh-why are they clapping!’
At that, Juwon’s brow furrowed even more than before. Seeing Juwon’s expression turn more hostile, Wonwoo now wanted to throw the purpose of this meeting out the window and shout, ‘Ah, if you have a problem, just go home!’
But he was different from that hothead in front of him. He was someone who knew how to be considerate of others and act politely according to the situation. Wonwoo ignored the system’s continuously ringing messages and smiled.
***
"Baek Juwon."
"...Yes, Team Leader."
"It's all in the past, but let's hear it. Why did you do that?"
Inside the car heading back to the Guild headquarters after the meeting. The atmosphere flowing between the two, sitting side-by-side in the back seat of the SUV, was as chilling as if Yonghyun had used his ability.
Juwon’s lips parted several times. But he didn’t open his mouth, keeping it firmly shut.
"I was, seriously. I was so surprised the moment I walked into that meeting room."
Jaeyoon, who had been at the Bureau headquarters for a seminar, had hastily joined the meeting after receiving a message from the Guild Master saying, ‘It’s a bit much to send Juwon alone, so you should join the meeting too.’
But the moment he entered the meeting room, what he faced was the sight of his subordinate, scowling as he picked a fight with some man.
‘How are we supposed to enter a Gate together like this? He needs some seriously intense physical training.’
Although Juwon was known as the 'Mouth of Terror' within the Geonyeong Guild, he had never been this aggressively rude to someone he'd just met. That's why Jaeyoon was even more dumbfounded.
"What was your problem, making the situation like this?"
"......"
"Your job, no. Our job was to find out who the Guide was and make contact with him."
"...Yes."
"But when you should be trying to get on his good side, you pick a fight out of nowhere?"
Do I really have to spell this out for a twenty-five-year-old brat, Jaeyoon thought, thumping his chest with his fist. Guild Master-nim, I don't think I'll live to a ripe old age because of this kid.
Jaeyoon suppressed the anger welling up from deep within his chest by thinking of his team leader bonus.
"You. Did you see the Bureau's announcement video or not?"
"I saw it...."
"You saw what the Guide does in it, right?"
Jaeyoon recalled the moment he watched the video. The face was mosaic-blurred or edited out to show only the body, so it couldn't be identified, but he could clearly see the scene where the Guide used his ability called 'Guiding.'
He saw the two Espers become stronger the moment they held the Guide's hand, a blue light shimmering around them. When he first saw the video, he was just filled with questions, but it didn't take long for those questions to turn into astonishment.
As the team leader of a team with an S-class Esper, Juwon, the most important thing to be concerned about was, of course, the side effects Juwon experienced when using his abilities.
After using his powers, Juwon felt a pain as if his entire body was on fire. The side effects were so severe that even in the dead of winter, he couldn't feel the cold and was busy cooling his body's heat with ice packs. Furthermore, whenever he suffered from the side effects, Juwon would become even more sensitive than usual.
Every time he saw Juwon like that, Jaeyoon sometimes felt like his team was harboring an S-class time bomb.
For that reason, Geonyeong Guild's Team 1 always formulated strategies to minimize Juwon's ability usage when clearing Gates.
Not just the Black Star Guild, but the Geonyeong Guild had also tried to find ways to reduce the side effects of S-rank Espers for Juwon's sake.
They had tried various things, like support-type Espers with healing abilities or developing painkillers specifically for Espers, but so far, nothing had worked, and they were on the verge of giving up.
And in such a situation, the appearance of a being who could eliminate the side effects of abilities. Jaeyoon was engulfed in a sense of euphoria.
I don't know who the Guide is, but we must contact them as quickly as possible.
Jaeyoon, who had figured out what he needed to do without receiving any specific orders, hurried his movements after receiving a well-timed message from the Guild Master.
But all of that grim determination was blown away by Juwon’s single remark.
"....It's, it's like this."
"Okay. Let's hear it."
"...I was embarrassed."
"What?"
"I mean, I was embarrassed! The words just came out!"
"...Embarrassed? What? You?"
Jaeyoon pushed his side hair back and cupped his ear. At Jaeyoon's action, Juwon's face flushed from his cheeks to the tips of his ears.
"Say that again. What did you say?"
"......I said I was embarrassed!!"
"Oh my god.... Wow, to think I'd live to hear the word 'embarrassed' come out of Baek Juwon's mouth. Embarrassed? Don't tell me, you were embarrassed to meet the Guide?"
At Jaeyoon's teasing, rapid-fire words, Juwon bit his lip and turned his head away. It was Juwon's own way of answering, a plea to not ask anymore because he was truly embarrassed.
Just as the system had said, Juwon was truly embarrassed. Although Wonwoo still misunderstood.
Juwon recalled that moment again. Until he met him, he had been passively enduring a downpour of fire, but then a feeling of a waterfall full of the scent of flowers covering him, extinguishing the fire and warmly embracing him, spread faintly.
Moreover, the blue light emanating from Wonwoo's vicinity soaked Juwon from his fingertips.
The moment he saw Wonwoo, who had been waiting quietly in the meeting room, open the door and walk in, he knew.
The Guide. He's the one, the Guide.
He felt a tingling sensation all over his body, as if multiple cotton-like flowers were popping open like blooming buds. Thinking back on that moment, his toes curled and his whole body felt itchy, making Juwon shrink into himself.
Flustered by that unfamiliar sensation, Juwon had blurted out sharp words without even realizing it.
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