#49
While Juwon was reading a book on ‘How to Converse Smoothly with Others’ under Jaeyoon’s guidance, Wonwoo was on his way home in Jinho’s car, receiving the System’s meddlesome messages.
-Bbirong bbirong!
[Just the two of you, time alone in a car! (●ˇ∀ˇ●)]
[Doesn't your heart feel like it's pounding, all tingly?]
[In an enclosed space!]
[Just the two of you!]
[Oh my, oh my!]
[There's no better atmosphere for making progress to raise that favorability UP! ♪(^∇^*)]
Why is it being so nosy again…!
Ever since the favorability feature was updated, the System had started acting like an AI counselor from some matchmaking or dating app.
When he was holding hands to Guide someone, it would send messages like, ‘There’s a Guiding method even more amazing than holding hands! (*≧▽≦)ツ’, and if he happened to be alone with Yonghyun, Jinho, or Hyeonil, it would chime in with ‘Oh my, oh my!’.
It was making such a fuss in various ways that Wonwoo had reached the point of complaining, ‘Please create a mute or block function for the alarm sound….’
‘Come to think of it, we never finished our conversation about... destiny.’
Suddenly, Jinho’s words flashed through his mind.
‘Wonwoo-hyung, do you believe in destiny?’
‘I believe in destiny. And I think my destiny is you, hyung.’
Could Jinho’s favorability level being higher than the others have something to do with this idea of destiny? Wonwoo kept stealing glances at Jinho.
As if being considerate of the tired-looking Wonwoo, Jinho drove without saying much, concentrating on the road. The space between them was filled with jazz music, its slow tempo steeped in a relaxed tone.
Perhaps because he had been staring for a while, Jinho seemed to sense his gaze and turned his head towards Wonwoo as soon as the car stopped at a red light.
"Oh, um... is there something on my face?"
"Huh? Ah. No. It's just... just because."
Feeling embarrassed, Wonwoo let out a needless dry cough and turned his gaze forward. It was as if he’d been brainwashed by the System’s constant shouts of a ‘heart-pounding atmosphere!’, and he was perplexed by the tingling feeling in his heart.
"Um. There's something I'm curious about."
"Wow. Great. What is it? I can tell you anything you ask. For real."
Was him being curious something to be this happy about? Or was he glad that he broke the silence? Wonwoo tilted his head in thought for a moment before carefully opening his mouth.
"You said I was your 'destiny,' back when we had a meal together."
"Yes. That's right. Hyung, you are my destiny."
Wonwoo's cheeks turned red at the words that went beyond tickling his heart to making it itch unbearably. And with perfect timing, the light changed and the car began to move.
"What is the destiny that you're thinking of, Jinho-ssi?"
There were many things weighing on his mind.
Both Yonghyun and Jinho were very cooperative with him. He had just thought he was lucky, but after seeing Juwon's reaction today, he felt it wasn't something he could dismiss as mere luck.
Yonghyun already knew about Guides. So why was Jinho so favorable towards him, why did he believe his words without a hint of doubt? Thinking about it that way, Jinho’s use of the word ‘destiny’ and his favorability score being remarkably higher than the others bothered him.
Since they happened to be alone like this, he thought it was a good opportunity and decided to ask.
"Mmm.... How should I put it? It’s literally destiny."
His words were tinged with laughter. Wonwoo listened to the music flowing from the radio and waited for Jinho to continue. The music had now changed to a faster, more cheerful tune.
"Wonwoo-hyung, you don't know how precious a Guide's existence is to an S-rank Esper, do you?"
"Yes? Um...."
What does he mean, Wonwoo thought, biting his lip.
"The moment our eyes met, I knew, hyung. I knew that this was 'destiny,' and that you had it."
No, I'm asking what that is...! Just as he was about to open his mouth, the car stopped, and Wonwoo missed his chance to speak. Looking around, he saw that the car was parked on the shoulder of the road.
"The destiny I think of is... someone on my side. A person who will be with me."
-Bbirong bbirong!
[Ah, this timing is...! A heart-pounding ♥ confession moment?! (❤´艸｀❤)]
"Haha. Hyung, your face is beet red."
"Th-that's, no. No, you shouldn't tease people like that...."
"I'm not teasing. It's just, hmm. Right. Now that I think about it, the word 'destiny' seems a bit too grand."
"Right? It's not a word people usually use."
Wonwoo needlessly rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding Jinho’s gaze.
Just before he looked away, the image of Jinho caught in Wonwoo's eyes was one of a bright smile, his cheeks tinged with a faint blush.
"The word destiny, well, I had my fortune told. My grandmother recommended it. The fortune teller told me I would meet my destiny on May 8th."
"Your fortune?"
"Yes. And I met you on May 8th, hyung. That's why I said you were my destiny. Thinking about it now, I wonder if they were talking about a Guide? Haha."
Does that mean Jinho-ssi already knew he would meet me on May 8th? With that thought, Wonwoo then recalled the email Yonghyun had received.
Yonghyun, who received an email saying he would meet a Guide, and Jinho, who was told by a fortune teller he would meet his destiny on May 8th.
Someone had informed the two of them about his existence, the Guide's existence, in advance. When his thoughts reached that point, Wonwoo unconsciously stared at the phone in his hand.
‘System, was it you?’
However, the moment Wonwoo questioned who was behind everything, the System maintained its right to remain silent, as it usually did.
The System, which just moments ago had been spewing out nosy messages about events and heart-pounding moments, was now quiet.
"So, from now on, please take good care of me, Wonwoo-hyung."
"O-of course. I look forward to working with you too."
"Great, then I should hurry up and get you home. You look really tired."
"Do I?"
Although he felt a bit awkward about the sudden change of topic, Wonwoo decided to go with the flow instead of fighting it. If he didn't, he felt Jinho would casually continue with more embarrassing words.
‘At times like this, yes. Staying quiet is the best option.’
As soon as he got home, Wonwoo threw off the mask and sunglasses he had worn just in case and dived onto his bed.
‘Wow. Wearing a mask and sunglasses together is so stuffy.’
He felt like some kind of celebrity. Hyeonil had scared him into wearing them, saying, ‘If you don't wear this, you might get your picture taken somewhere and your face will be all over the place!’, but he never wanted to wear them again.
‘But Wonwoo. It’ll be a huge problem if you go out with Jinho like that, you know? There are more than a few reporters camping out to find the Guide’s identity after the seminar. So, you should wear it whenever you’re moving around.’
‘R-Reporters?’
‘They might write articles like, "[An Unidentified Man with Esper Han Jinho, Who is He? Could He be the Hidden Guide?]"’
‘I’ll wear it obediently.’
‘Yep, yep, good thinking. I picked this out myself, thinking it would suit you, Wonwoo.’
It seemed Hyeonil was telling the truth about carefully picking them out, as they fit perfectly without being too much of a bother, but uncomfortable was still uncomfortable.
Once the guild is established and we start activities in earnest, I won't have to cover my face like this, right? This is just a precautionary stage.
As he was thinking that, Wonwoo lay still for a moment before sluggishly pushing himself up.
The reason he had come home, turning down Yonghyun’s suggestion to just stay at the Bureau, was because he had things to sort out alone, while checking the System’s messages.
‘Do I really need to start working out? I have no energy.’
As his body felt heavy and limp, he felt like he could hear an auditory hallucination of Juwon’s teasing words about him being weak and skinny.
Wonwoo quickly shook his head to shake off the hallucination and made a vow.
‘We’ll see if I’m the one to offer my hand to that bastard first.’
I wonder how crappy his favorability score is.
Hyeonil’s was 1%, so maybe his is around -20%? If his favorability is that low, the guiding efficiency won't be good either, so it's over, it's over.
Thinking that, Wonwoo was rendered speechless the moment he saw the favorability information displayed by the System.
[S-rank Esper Baek Juwon]
Favorability: 28%
Status: favorability must reach a certain level to view this content.
♥♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡]
"28? Really? Isn't this an error?"
Wonwoo was at a loss for words at an favorability score higher than Yonghyun’s and Jinho’s. Right, it must be an error. Thinking so, Wonwoo brought up the favorability information window once more.
[Favorability: 29%]
"No way, it went up in that short time? What the. What is this?"
Just in case, he checked Hyeonil's favorability, and it was still, annoyingly, at 1%.
"Don't tell me, he was really... em-embarrassed?"
Wonwoo recalled the message the System had sent him. The message that said it was because he was embarrassed, a message so absurd he had laughed it off.
[I do! not! lie! (σ｀д′)σ]
[I am disappointed in user 'Wonwoo' for having so little faith in me. ╯︿╰)]
"No, it's not about my faith in you or whatever. Has the definition of embarrassment I know completely died or something…."
Wonwoo rubbed his face with his hands. He had no idea what principle this favorability system operated on. Wonwoo just decided to focus on Guiding diligently and started looking up gyms near his house.
Feeling bad was one thing, but what's necessary is necessary. It definitely wasn't because Juwon's words were bothering him.
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