TDG Ch 26

Sunbae, who had been actively expressing her delight, stopped mid-sentence when she noticed the large figure appearing behind me. She froze with her eyes wide open as if electrocuted, and without taking her gaze off Han Jihyuk, she opened her mouth and asked in a robotic tone, “Wh… Who is this…?”

Ah. So she still did not know. I guess that made sense, since he had never been officially introduced at any public event.

When was the release date of Esper 24 again? Next week, maybe?

I pulled Jihyuk closer and stood him beside me.

“Let me introduce him. This is Esper Han Jihyuk.”

“Th-then this person is, that S…”

Sunbae’s mouth fell open soundlessly.

“…N-nice to meet you! I am Yoon Soojung from Guide Team 2. I am Juwon’s assigned mentor and sunbae.”

“I am Han Jihyuk. Nice to meet you.”

Sunbae gently brought the hand she had shaken back to her chest. A broad, pleased smile bloomed on her face. She pulled me closer and whispered in my ear, “He is way more handsome than the rumors. When I first saw him, I thought he was an actor or a celebrity.”

“Rumors?”

“Uh… It is nothing important…”

She trailed off with an ambiguous smile. Still, just from her expression, I could roughly guess what kind of rumors she meant.

“But what brings you here today?”

“I was wondering if it would be okay for us to stay here for a bit.”

“In our office?”

“It is my first day at work, but there is no one in the Esper Team 1 office, so I cannot get in. His personal information registration was delayed, so the door will not open.”

“Hmm… Then go ahead. We sometimes spend time in the Esper office too.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Besides, having several good-looking guys around brightens up the office atmosphere.”

Soojung sunbae covered her mouth and narrowed her eyes mischievously. Well… As she said, he was the kind of guy who looked good no matter where you put him. Fine. That was the value of a handsome man. Feel free to use him as eye candy. I led Jihyuk to my seat and had him sit next to me. Since I had not been here in a while, there was not much on my desk, and it looked empty. Should I make some tea?

“Jihyuk-ah, do you want green tea? Coffee?”

“Anything.”

When it’s “anything,” coffee is the default. Okay.

“Juwon, can you come see me for a moment?”

As I headed toward the pantry, Soojung sunbae pulled me outside.

She walked toward the emergency staircase near the hallway. Only after checking up and down the stairs to make sure no one was around did she speak in a serious tone.

“I am not the type who likes talking behind people’s backs, so I will ask you directly. Is this real?”

The phone screen she held out showed the company’s anonymous internal bulletin board.

At the very top of the dark-mode screen, a post title written in bold red letters caught my eye.

Anonymous: ‘Just saying this so everyone knows.’ [Upvotes 700 / Comments 370]

About that super rookie H this time, he is insanely close with S he was initially assigned to. The moment a fresh black card came out, he carefully handed it over with both hands. But the funny thing is, after all that, he did not do a re-assignment. Seriously have no idea wtf this is about.

Comments

Damn, if this is true, the Guides who were looking forward to it must be pretty disappointed.

└ It’s the high from the first assignment anyway. Some of those last a bit longer. Since he did not do a re-assignment, once the high wears off, you might wanna try then…

But they said he gave him the card. Then isn’t that legit? 

You clueless idiot tsk tsk… If it’s not exclusive, it means nothing. What is a card even worth? I’ve given my girlfriend one a few times too. When you are dating, what can’t you give? If you ask for it back, it is over anyway.  

You mean a debit card with a daily withdrawal limit of three hundred thousand won? How dare you compare that to an S-rank black card?   

LOLOL Holy shit, that was a fatal blow LMAO

I am more curious about Guide S. Does anyone know who it is?

He’s a newbie, so there’s not much info, but when I saw him passing by last time, his face was insanely pretty.

Ah, f*ck, so that’s why…

Guys, they say that H was also the cover model for Esper 24 in the third quarter.

gjf! For real? That is insane… Damn… Where did you hear that????

A friend knows someone who works at the Center studio ㅇㅇ^[1]

Is he really as handsome as the rumors say? Honestly, that is what I am more curious about…

ㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇ They say he’s ridiculously good-looking, like he has a halo shining from his face.  

He is not even a model. Why does an Esper’s face even matter? Completely uselessㅡㅡ

That is just your opinion.

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“At first, I was half-doubtful because there was no re-assignment. This place is full of baseless rumors anyway. But when I saw the two of you coming to work together today…”

That made sense. We are supposed to move together, so if we act separately, it was bound to seem strange. Sunbae trailed off, then hurriedly added, “I am not trying to use this as gossip, so please do not misunderstand. It is just that knowing what the two of you are thinking makes it less likely for things to get awkward later when it comes to work, right?”

Her request was reasonable.

In this field, where skin-to-skin contact is a core part of the job, romantic disputes happen as commonly as eating meals. Most people put up with minor issues once they have enough experience, but in severe cases, things turn into a total mess, and people even request team transfers because they can no longer work together. Unless you are confident, it is best to avoid messing with someone else’s ‘fishing ground’.

I just did not expect that rule to be applied even to me, someone much more junior than her. It was something to be grateful for. Even in the original story, when Guide Team 2 was described, it said they were people with strong personalities but solid loyalty. That description fits perfectly. If it were Soojung sunbae, she did not seem like the type to twist my words or make things up behind my back, so I could trust her.

“To be honest… We are not dating. Jihyuk has pretty severe Guide dependency, so I am staying by his side until his anxiety levels improve and he stabilizes.”

“Hm. Is that so? Then that means the other side is unilaterally obsessed, right? It is not dangerous, is it?”

“…Huh?”

“Why? Is it dangerous?”

She must have misunderstood my startled reaction, because her expression changed. Oh no, that’s a misunderstanding. I quickly waved my hands.

“No, it is not dangerous. I just didn’t expect Sunbae-nim to be worried about me…”

“What are you talking about? Who would understand a Guide’s heart better than another Guide? If we do not look out for each other and stick together at least among ourselves, we will not last long in this field.”

My heart felt unexpectedly touched by the consideration I encountered in such an unexpected place.

“Thank you, Sunbae-nim. But I am really fine. Jihyuk is a kind and good guy.”

“Sure he is. Do not trust Espers so easily. They are geniuses when it comes to seducing people. Especially that one, just look at his face, it is not ordinary. You know what I mean, right? Make sure you do not end up quitting later while crying.”

I just smiled without responding. There was one key difference, though. This time, I was the one who cast the line. If anything, it was closer to Jihyuk being the one who got lured by me.

“But seriously, why is that guy so ridiculously handsome? Everyone kept making a fuss about how good-looking he was, so I thought, here we go again, but my god, I almost screamed when I saw him in person. I could not even speak when I first saw him. ‘Handsome’ is not enough to describe it. It was more like refined, delicate beauty? Something like that. So ‘melancholy eyes’ really do exist. For the first time in my 32 years of life, I thought my heart might belong to someone else.”

At the sight of her letting out a sigh while patting her chest as if she had aged ten years in an instant, I burst out laughing.

I get it. The original work itself certifies that his looks ensnare everyone regardless of age or gender… And yet, despite looking like that, in reality, he is the type who sulks immediately if I do not hold his hand.

Anyway, just as she and I were leaving the emergency staircase while encouraging each other, filled with overflowing positive energy,

– “Code Red! Code Red! Multiple gates have appeared in the XX District! All Espers and Guides who have received the request, please deploy immediately to the designated location. I repeat, Code Red…”

Code Red is activated only in emergency situations where not even a moment can be wasted. Multiple gates meant that, literally, two or more gates appeared simultaneously in the same location. Because it was such a rare case, the level of danger doubled as well. When we practically ran back to the office, a call signal was already ringing from Jihyuk’s watch as well.

It was Han Jihyuk’s first deployment.

The scene we arrived at was chaotic and crowded with evacuating civilians.

Military and police forces that had arrived earlier were guiding civilians to safe areas and setting up barricades.

After presenting our IDs and entering the perimeter, I saw Song Hyunho standing tall like a tower at the makeshift command center. Wearing a microphone and issuing rapid-fire instructions nonstop, he noticed us and brightened, motioning for us to come closer.

“You finally made it!”

Around him were several Espers who had arrived earlier and were waiting.

At a rough glance, there must have been around seventeen or eighteen of them. Even for me, this was the first time seeing so many Espers gathered at once. This might turn into a war of numbers.

Just as I was surveying them, they too sent probing gazes toward Han Jihyuk, who had just joined.

“So that’s the S-rank?” Soft whispers. A trace of goodwill mixed with an even greater sense of wariness, or perhaps rivalry. Their gazes, filled with such blatant intent as they scrutinized him from head to toe, were somewhat oppressive. Even I, who had come with him, could not escape the barrage of stares. Thinking they would lose interest soon enough, I ignored it to a reasonable degree when Jihyuk turned his body about half a step and subtly positioned himself beside me, blocking them. Thanks to that, the sharp glares that had been piercing my side profile were cut off and disappeared.

…Huh?

Ah. He was blocking their line of sight for me. The fact that he was pretending not to notice, acting completely nonchalant, was cute, and the corners of my mouth lifted without me realizing it.

Song Hyunho, who had been receiving real-time reports together with the reconnaissance team at the console, checked the time and the number of personnel gathered, then stepped forward.

“Looks like everyone is here, so let us begin the briefing. For a formal introduction, I am Song Hyunho, in charge of overall command for this incident.”

He pointed to the 3D map displayed on the monitor panel.

“At approximately 7:14 a.m. A total of four gates appeared in the commercial complex located 150 meters east of here. Their types consist of one Yellow Gate, one Red Gate, and two Blue Gates, and they are expected to release up to 132, 75, and 52 monsters respectively.” 

“Is that for real…? Four gates?”

“How many is that altogether. That is insane.”

Amid the murmuring personnel, someone raised a question.

“Aren’t multiple gates supposed to appear in odd numbers?”

“That is not always the case. On rare occasions, they do appear in even numbers as well. Still, just in case, reconnaissance teams have spread out within a 5 km radius to search for a possible fifth gate that may be hidden nearby.”

Just as I had expected, it was a numbers battle. To deal with monsters pouring out endlessly, strong firepower was necessary.

Four gates erupting simultaneously in one area. Just hearing about it was horrifying. If something like that opened without any warning signs, the area would be reduced to ruins in less than half a day.