Churu for the Angry Guide

Chapter 68

Having fulfilled his assigned quota, Seojun finished work earlier than his older colleagues again today.

“Good work, Esper Ha Seojun!”

“Get home safely!”

Boisterous voices of the Espers rang out behind Seojun as he took off his heavy protective gear piece by piece. They still had work left to do. Seojun was the only one leaving the site before sunset.

Seojun responded to their greetings with a bright smile. He hoped no one would talk to him on his way back to the center’s main building. If he smiled any more, he felt his mouth might start twitching.

It had been an unusually tiring day. Even though there weren’t particularly many gates opening, his body felt incredibly heavy. His limbs felt cumbersome and heavy, and he felt on edge.

Even though he hadn’t done much.

Seojun rubbed his stiff lips and let out a self-deprecating sigh. Compared to the leader and his older colleagues, he felt like he was barely working. Even compared to other guilds, he felt he wasn’t pulling his weight at all.

He seemed to have forgotten that his assigned quota was twice that of other Espers. Seojun was fixated only on outward appearances.

The kind youngest member of the Baekya Guild. But also a young and inexperienced Esper without his own assigned area. Still with a long way to go.

The cold evaluations mixed in among the countless praises floating around the internet made Seojun feel impatient. He wanted to be acknowledged by everyone.

That was the way Seojun had learned to survive. To be remembered as a good person by everyone. At least until he died.

“Seojun, are you done for today?”

A familiar voice approached Seojun as he walked with his eyes on the ground. It was Jihan.

“Yes, I’m about to head back.”

“I’ll take you. Where do you want to go?”

Once again, Jihan’s teleportation ability proved useful. The tired Seojun smiled sincerely and said, “Please, if you don’t mind.”

“Please take me to the guiding room.”

“Not the dormitory?”

Jihan tilted his head slightly before departing. Recently, Seojun had been heading to the dormitory instead of the guiding room after finishing work. He would take care of guiding using a small machine in his own room. Since Siwoo started staying at the dormitory.

“The guide should be alone in the dormitory right now.”

Jihan informed him that Geonho’s confinement had been lifted. As a result, the A13 area was filled with heat even in broad daylight. Geonho’s boisterous energy was attracting all the monsters.

“That’s good news. It was lifted quickly.”

“The situation at the sites hasn’t been good lately. And Geonho didn’t do anything terribly wrong.”

Jihan stretched as he surveyed the atmosphere around the gate. Although there were only low-risk monsters compared to nighttime, there were many newcomers mixed in, so they couldn’t let their guard down.

Most of the beastkin Espers who had been withdrawn from the field were those treated as aces, so their absence had a significant impact. Even at the same rank, there was a noticeable difference in strength between regular Espers and beastkin Espers.

How long would this situation continue?

Jihan was curious about what was going on in the leader’s mind, who had withdrawn so many beastkin Espers from the field. Even if he could look inside, it would probably be filled with all sorts of complicated thoughts, but he wanted to take a peek at least once.

Taebeom had been carrying too many burdens alone. It was an environment where he had no choice but to do so.

“Jihan hyung.”

“Oh, sorry. Let’s go.”

Jihan, who had been lost in thought for a moment, lightly pressed his temple. He seemed to be getting a headache.

“Hyung, when did you last receive guiding?”

Seojun looked down at Jihan with concern. He was asking about machine guiding. Jihan’s complexion didn’t look good up close.

“Do I look sick?”

Jihan brought his face close to Seojun’s. As if telling him to look more closely.

“Not exactly, but you do look like you need guiding.”

Seojun rummaged through his pocket looking for guiding medicine. He had some he carried for emergencies.

“It’s fine. You take it.”

However, Jihan refused the medicine. Even though, unlike Geonho, guiding medicine suited him.

Could it be…

Seojun stared at Jihan while taking one pill himself since he had already taken it out. The thought that suddenly occurred to him gradually turned into certainty.

Is he intentionally not taking it? To receive proper guiding from the guide?

* * *

After filling his stomach with a hearty meal and taking cold medicine, Siwoo slept for a very long time. When he opened his eyes, the sun had already set. It must have been around 9 PM.

Siwoo yawned widely as he got out of bed. Worried that his ears or tail might have appeared again, he preemptively felt his head and backside. Fortunately, they hadn’t come out.

“The fever’s gone down too.”

He touched his lukewarm forehead and felt relieved. After a good sleep, his fever had dropped considerably. He leisurely opened the door, went to the bathroom, and then headed to the living room.

The darkened living room was quiet. Not even a faint presence could be heard.

Siwoo naturally looked up at the upper floor before moving to the kitchen. Judging by how quiet it was, everyone must have gone to work. Once again, Siwoo was left alone in the dormitory.

“I’ll eat it all myself.”

Thinking it was a good opportunity, he took out ice cream from the freezer. Since his cold was almost gone, he thought it would be okay to eat a little.

It was the ice cream Jihan had bought. Expensive, premium ice cream.

Even though it had been several days since it was bought, no one had touched it yet. It wasn’t that they were saving it; they had just forgotten about it.

“Oh, delicious.”

Siwoo sat on a kitchen chair and ate the ice cream to his heart’s content. He even spread some on the bagel on the table and took out some jam while he was at it.

His appetite was voracious. With an abundance of food, he ended up eating even more.

But why don’t I gain weight?

He shrugged, pondering Geonho’s words that had suddenly come to mind. Having lived with a thin body his whole life, he didn’t think much of it. Siwoo was used to his skinny arms and legs. It didn’t hinder his life either.

With bread in his mouth, he measured the circumference of his wrist. Compared to Kang Geonho’s intimidating forearms, his were like chopsticks. Unlike Siwoo, Geonho had a naturally large frame.

“I shouldn’t compare myself to an Esper.”

Siwoo grumbled to himself, suddenly dissatisfied with his thin body. It hurt his pride that only he had caught a cold when they had both been caught in the rain. Moreover, Kang Geonho had been exposed to much more rain, yet he was fine.

“Cough.”

Siwoo let out a small cough and put away the ice cream. He cleaned the table thoroughly, got a glass of warm water, and went to the living room sofa.

Since no one was around, he decided to enjoy the expensive sofa. The owners of this dormitory didn’t care about the expensive sofa anyway. So he might as well use it.

Siwoo sipped his water and quietly looked up at the upper floor again. As he scanned each tightly closed door, he muttered to himself:

“Baekya Guild, exclusive guide…”

It still didn’t feel real. He kept questioning whether he really belonged to a guild now. And not just any guild, but the Baekya Guild. They were famous to the point where almost no one, both domestically and internationally, didn’t know them.

But what stirred Siwoo’s heart was a different reason. Siwoo found it amazing that he belonged to a guild at all. He would have felt the same even if they weren’t famous.

“Baekya Guild.”

His wandering life was over now. Although he didn’t know how long it would last.

“Exclusive guide, Han Siwoo.”

He chuckled, scratching his chest where he already felt a faint sense of stability. For some reason, his cheeks turned slightly red with embarrassment.

“They really have no eye for talent.”

While Siwoo was happy to belong to a guild, he couldn’t understand why the Baekya Guild welcomed him. Of course, it was because of his matching rate with the leader, but they seemed to praise him excessively.

No matter how he thought about it, they seemed like a collection of peculiar individuals. Even the secretary who liked him seemed a bit strange.

Above all, their image was distinctly different from what he had seen on TV. The Baekya Guild that people talked about and the actual members felt like completely different entities.

How should he put it? Very unique, and a bit… ordinary?

He sipped his warm water while simultaneously recalling two contradictory words that couldn’t coexist.

As he wondered when they would return from work, alternating his gaze between the clock and the door, his eyelids slowly closed. The comfortable sofa was once again inviting sleep.

Siwoo didn’t try hard to keep his closing eyes open. The Baekya Guild dormitory had somehow become a comfortable space for him. Not just his room, but the kitchen and living room felt cozy too.

Just as he was about to fall into a comfortable sleep, a random voice popped up in his head. It was Jihan’s voice.

[I don’t think our guide actually dislikes contact guiding.]

“Nonsense…”

Yoo Jihan’s baseless words floated leisurely in his mind. Before he could think about it in detail, the sound of even breathing filled the air. Siwoo fell into a deep sleep once again.

Siwoo’s body, which was sound asleep, suddenly floated into the air. It was just past 1 AM.

Someone securely held him, supporting his thighs and waist. Siwoo, who had been sleeping like the dead, gradually woke up due to the change in air.

‘What’s this? Who is it?’

He had regained consciousness, but his eyelids still wouldn’t open. His body was still chasing after the cozy sleep.

Normally, he would have recoiled and pushed away the hands holding him, but now he remained still. He could guess who was moving him to his room. So he entrusted his body calmly. It wasn’t someone who would harm him.

‘Kang Geonho, you bastard. Walk faster. What time is it now?’

Siwoo, enveloped in the large body, grumbled internally.

‘I haven’t even eaten yet.’

While secretly expressing his disappointment that he would never voice out loud, he continued to pretend to be asleep. When he slightly turned his head towards the chest, instead of a firm chest, a soft blanket touched the tip of his nose.

It seemed he was wrapped in a thick blanket. Even though that guy usually touched his face with bare hands.

Just as he was wondering about this uncharacteristic manner from Kang Geonho…

The smell that reached his nose was a bit unfamiliar. It wasn’t Kang Geonho’s scent.

Siwoo wrinkled his nose and inhaled the air more deeply. Geonho always had a warm scent mixed with the smell of grass. But now, the scent was completely opposite.

A cool and heavy fragrance, as if carrying the deep air of dawn.

Siwoo’s eyes flew open as he instantly recognized the owner of the scent. His mouth opened wide at the same time.

It was who he had guessed.

“…”

Siwoo remained frozen with his mouth wide open, not even blinking. After confirming with his own eyes who was laying him on the bed, he wondered if he was dreaming.

And for good reason. Because it was none other than Kang Taebeom.