SOG Ch 41

“… You are still there.”

Seon Min-yeol suppressed his emotions and muttered in a low voice. Jae-chan, who had looked over his father’s shoulder and noticed the crack in the office door, was also taken aback.

“I’m sorry to interrupt.”

Go Woo-jin, who was standing outside the door, responded immediately. At the same time, he strengthened the hand that was holding the door. Seon Min-yeol, who was in the way of the perfectly trained young Esper’s grip, had to give him some room.

“I need guiding.”

The lighting in the office enhanced Go Woo-jin’s face. Jae-chan was embarrassed and turned his wrists back as he stared at the shadow of the uniquely sharp and smooth features. It was because Go Woo-jin’s frowning gaze had already reached the spot where the handprints had turned red before he realized it.

‘…I thought he was gone.’

It was confirmed that he was definitely not inside the emergency center, which meant that he was still outside the door, in a blind spot.

Jae-chan wondered if he heard everything.

Jae-chan clasped his hands together behind his back to hide them, and for a moment, Jae-chan had the same thoughts as his father. A discomfort seemed to have settled in his throat. His head was spinning.

Meanwhile, Woo-jin came to Jae-chan’s side. It was a time when Jae-chan was desperately trying to figure out how to get out of a situation where there was no room for excuses, despite being cast in a heavy shadow.

“You. You’ve changed”

Seon Min-yeol, who had been observing Go Woo-jin’s movements, opened his mouth slowly. His gentleness had faded, and his face had hardened.

“Because he’s my pair guide.”

Woo-jin replied in a businesslike voice.

However, Seon Min-yeol had a different opinion. He has served on active duty for over 20 years and has witnessed numerous Espers and Guides. Above all, the position where Go Woo-jin stood caught his eye. He seemed to subconsciously block this side and keep his son within his radius. It looked like he was trying to protect him

Suddenly, the corners of his mouth twisted.

“He is my son, but he is also a guide. A guide is nothing more than a symbol of ‘limits’ to an Esper.”

“…”

“Don’t tell me, you’re trying to cling to that dependent system?”

Go Woo-jin didn’t have an answer, but he stood his ground. He smiled politely, but the dilated pupils of his eyes were pitch-black.

Tsk. Seon Min-yeol clicked his tongue and averted his gaze. He was quite offended by the atmosphere created by the young man, but he couldn’t say anything because he was the son of Chairman Go Young-chang.

It reminded him of the atmosphere inside J Pharmaceuticals, which has been on a rapid rise lately. Due to the bomb incident, Director Yoon Seo-mi’s influence has drastically shrunk, and because of that, Go Woo-jin’s position, which Chairman Go Young-chang had in mind as his successor, has risen rapidly.

“…”

It was not possible to quarrel with the next owner of J Pharmaceuticals in a trivial way. Especially over something involving his second child.

Seon Min-yeol straightened his collar again after finishing the calculation. Woo-jin might be swayed by his friendship as a young Esper, or his instinctive attachment to his Guide. It didn’t look great, but that wasn’t even a flaw for an S-class Esper. Furthermore, if he could build a strong relationship with J Pharmaceuticals, it would be a profitable business even if he threw his second child as a guiding slave or a sex toy.

“Let’s have dinner together later. And Jae-chan, about Eun-soo…”

Seon Min-yeol, who was trying to make a request, hesitated. It was because Go Woo-jin’s gaze, which had been paying attention to what he was saying, intervened in a straight line.

Ha. A sigh escaped his lips once more. It was not good manners to mention another Esper in front of an Esper who started paying attention to the Guide.

He had become a nuisance. In any case, the guide was no different from harm to the Esper.

He hoped Go Woo-jin realized this as soon as possible. Seon Min-yeol let out a short sigh.

“I’ll contact you later.”

In the end, he could only leave his second child in charge with that request and hoped the best for the future.

*

Seon Min-yeol then decided to contact his son directly. However, because Jae-chan refused to accept phone calls, there were two things that frequently remained as text messages.

[Withdrew the complaint]

[If your brother visits, send him back in moderation]

What moderation.

Friday before the weekend. Seon Jae-chan, who was heading to the Guide’s accommodation after leaving work on time after a long time, grumbled as he saw the long message that arrived again.

This time, it was even accompanied by a tempting threat: “If you don’t drop the complaint, we will cut off the ties.” This was exactly what he had wished for, to cut ties. He snorted and was about to put the phone in his pocket when he looked at it curiously.

It was supposed to be smashed about a month ago, so it shouldn’t have been here at this time.

It was most likely in the past, probably around the end of September this year. Something happened when Seon Eun-soo appeared out of nowhere looking for him. They were arguing about guiding as usual, and his cell phone was smashed when he fell.

In his current present, Jae-chan was on his way to Mentosa Island at the time, so the encounter did not take place. There were 463 missed calls. Naturally, the dreadful number of missed calls flashed through his mind one after the other. Originally, Eun-soo was someone who called Jae-chan obsessively when he couldn’t reach him when he needed him, but the number of times felt extreme.

To say the least, it was the first time Jae-chan had avoided contact with Seon Eun-soo for several days, so he thought it was understandable.

Jae-chan checked his cell phone, which was fine. Even as it illuminates the gloomy evening sky, the liquid crystal emits a distinctively black and clear light. The previously broken cell phone was now intact like this.

He was suddenly convinced that he could change the past. This cell phone felt like a symbol.

‘I wonder if I’ve become weak.’

It was not a superstition or a jinx.

Jae-chan had been thinking a lot lately. It may be because Woo-jin caught him in a confrontation with his father.

Jae-chan didn’t want to tell him, but he already know it. He didn’t think Go Woo-jin would use his weakness and attack him, or that he would look down on him.

It was just… embarrassing.

For that reason, he had been avoiding him lately.

‘This will get better too.’

He thought to himself as he suppressed his unrequited love. Although it was thanks to his narrow escape from death that he learned to cherish every moment, this small embarrassment, in comparison to that feeling, was nothing but a fleeting emotion that would gradually fade away.

Anyway, he felt extremely embarrassed right now. His thoughts were all over the place.

He sighed. He breathed in the cold air lightly. Putting aside his weak feelings, Jae-chan checked the texts he had saved as a reminder of the purpose of this quarter.

[From: ★Director Yoon Seo-mi★

Honey, why can’t I contact you lately?

Did I perhaps offend you?]

The ‘★’ was a way for him to mark the people he needed to impress at this time separately. After returning, he didn’t bother to modify the list one by one, so he just left it as it was, but today he felt it was a particularly weird choice.

Director Yoon’s search for the surviving hound was not new. [Director, what can I do? I’m still not feeling well. I’m sorry, I’ll always support you from afar!] I stared at my roughly dictated reply and opened the following saved text.

[From: Guide Nam Hae-sol

Hello, Guide-nim. This is Nam Hae-sol. I received notice that I passed the second test today.

I look forward to seeing you again soon.]

Innocent, polite, and concise, it was exactly like a message from Nam Hae-sol.

When Jae-chan was on the island, he gave Nam Myung-seong his contact information, and Nam Hae-sol contacted him first, which was the start of a polite message that occasionally arrived.

It was November, so it wasn’t long before she arrived in District 1. Jae-chan went on to the next message, trying hard to hide his bitter feelings.

This time, only the contents he unilaterally sent remained.

[Hello Team Leader. It’s been a while since we last spoke.]

The recipient of the message that started like that was ‘★Team Leader Han Tae-hoon (Guide Team 1)★’. Seon Jae-chan looked at the black star with its sparkling presence and let out a short sigh when he realized that there was no reply.

‘Why are you not in touch? Even the old man is looking for you.’

When Gyeong Chang-hyun said that, he should have contacted him right away.

Oh, well. If Team Leader Han Tae-hoon had erased him from his mind, it would have been enough for Jae-chan to return to his mind. He was going to tuck his phone into the pocket of his thick coat while considering his next step when he received a message.

[I’m going in now. 6:23 PM]

It was from his roommate, Jeong Noah. Jae-chan’s forehead crumpled faintly. It was nothing special, but Jae-chan was suspicious because he’d been pretending to be friendly lately.

Jeong Noah definitely hated him. Was it because he felt thankful that Jae-chan saved him? He thought of the Golden Retriever’s curly hair. He hadn’t seen his face properly in the nearly month since their work schedules had clashed. Jae-chan straightened his expression and continued walking.