← The Resurrected Guide Wants to Live Quietly
Nothing Yeon-seo said was wrong. Sometimes the process mattered more than the result. Doing nothing would surely be worse.
Yi-yeon finished a short deliberation and nodded.
"Getting dragged into trouble is fine by me. In that case… please do it."
"Yeees! I’ll report back when we get a good result."
She beamed, relieved, and Yi-yeon smiled back.
He’d heard Yu-geon founded the guild with his training-academy peers, so he’d been curious what kind of people he worked with — what a relief that she was a good person.
"Ah, and… about the bullshit our Guild Master pulled… we’ll take responsibility for it, not dodge it…"
It had seemed about to end warmly, but apparently for Yeon-seo this was just the beginning. Her bright face clouded, and she was watching him extremely carefully.
"What bullshit?"
"He pounced on you… did mucous-membrane guiding on you, rather forcefully…"
"Ah."
Yi-yeon’s lips parted.
He hadn’t expected her to worry about that. And to act as if she’d done wrong herself.
He shook his head quickly.
"It’s not that rare for an esper exposed to extreme stress without guiding to lose control and pounce on a guide. I knew Esper Han’s wavelength was in an extremely unstable state, so it was within the range of what I’d anticipated."
"R-really?"
"…"
"Yes. I also tried guiding without permission first, so that’s my fault too; I have no intention of making an issue of it. Only, please make sure to get guiding in advance from now on so this doesn’t happen again. It can endanger not just you but guides and civilians too, so I’d appreciate it if you’d be careful there are no repeats."
"Of course, of course! Obviously."
Yeon-seo was responding with enthusiasm, but the person in question had no reaction at all. He was just driving, face sulky, focused on the road.
…Was the scolding too much? From Yu-geon’s perspective he’d met this person today, and he was a fresh green guide — it might have been presumptuous.
But it had needed saying. Yu-geon had truly done something dangerous. It was only luck that he, a guide, had been right there; one wrong move and it could have been a disaster.
In the era when gates opened, monsters appeared, and the concepts of "esper" and "guide" were just being established, prioritizing espers meant guides were often forced to guide. But things had started changing around the time Yi-yeon was active, and now the "right not to guide" was codified into law and observed.
So these days, it was the high-ranked espers — the ones guiding was burdensome for — who got avoided.
And yet here was that S-class esper, wavelength unstable from not being guided on time, on the verge of rampaging because he couldn’t control his emotions — who would look kindly on that?
They’d contained it quickly, thank goodness; if it had gotten out, there was no doubt it would have dragged not just Yu-geon but his whole guild into scandal.
…He couldn’t not know what a risky move that was — so why had he gone without guiding until it came to that?
He’d have liked a clear answer he could accept, but Yu-geon kept his lips pressed shut, silent.
Yi-yeon sighed inwardly. He’d thought Yu-geon had become an adult in his absence, grown so much in body and mind, but seeing him like this, he wasn’t much different from his puberty days.
It couldn’t be helped. He’d surely heard it all, so it would be fine.
To Yi-yeon, Yu-geon was that kind of kid. He might act like a rebel on the surface, but once you pointed out a mistake he’d quietly reflect and never repeat it — a smart kid. So he could trust him.
"Kuh, ugh. Puhahaha!"
Yeon-seo, who’d been quietly watching the two, suddenly burst out laughing.
"Wow, crazy. Look at Yu-geon’s face! It’s gonna explode! I told you ages ago to get guided. You insisted and held out and then caused a scene! Good thing Ha-neul was with you — if not, you’d have been in huge trouble, man!"
"Ha-neul’s guiding is amazing, so even getting it when you’re stable would be great — you’re gonna be all loopy? Makes you wonder why you never got it till now. From now on, get it on time like he said. Don’t make regrets like today’s."
"Shut up."
Yu-geon broke his silence with a savage growl, but Yeon-seo didn’t blink. She only bloomed with more laughter and stuck close to Yi-yeon.
"He’s like this because it’s his first time doing mucous-membrane guiding. Must be quite the shock. He’s a total romantic and an old-fashioned stickler, so he’s super protective of his chastity."
"I-is that so? But a kiss and mucous-membrane guiding are different things, so you don’t need to attach great meaning to it. You can save your first kiss for someone you like."
"…"
For a few seconds after Yi-yeon finished speaking, the car the three of them were in sank into a strange silence. And the one who broke it was Yu-geon’s strained voice.
"Haa… damn…"
"Pfft. Puhahaha! What’s gotten into you, Yu-geon! What a day!"
Yeon-seo burst out laughing again, looking thrilled, as if she’d caught him red-handed.
As far as Yi-yeon could tell, things weren’t quite making sense — but he did understand one thing.
Yu-geon had someone he liked. Someone he cherished so much he was saving his purity to give them.
It was wonderful news. Yu-geon had risen to an enviable position as an adult, an S-class esper, and a guild master — having someone he liked on top of that was nothing but cause for celebration. He didn’t know if they were dating, but someone like Yu-geon would surely win their heart soon enough.
He’d actually worried whether a wooden block like him would ever find someone to like; winning someone’s heart would be easy. With his looks, his height, his personality, even his wealth and fame — a perfect man with nothing missing — who would turn him down?
"Ha-neul."
"Yes."
"Would you… consider working for our ‘Seonyeon’?"
Yeon-seo was gazing at him earnestly, both hands clasped tight.
"It’d be way better than a Center guide. You can’t even get paid for today as a Center guide, you know. With us, we’d hand you a lump sum right away. You stopped our Guild Master from nearly going berserk, after all."
"Ah, that’s fine. I don’t guide for the money."
"Oh my."
It had been a polite refusal, but it seemed to have backfired. Yeon-seo’s eyes sparkled even brighter. She had the look of someone thinking, how can our Ha-neul be so humble and free of greed?
He could tell she thought far too highly of him, to a burdensome degree.
"Even if not money, tell us if there’s anything else you want. We’ll do our best to match it. Our atmosphere’s good and we take welfare seriously. You don’t have to go to the field, and we don’t force you into dangerous ones. You’ll see in the contract. We’ll really treat you at the industry’s best standard."
He already knew Seonyeon was a good guild, without being told. He’d looked into the guild Yu-geon had founded.
It was the dream guild for espers, but especially for guides. Since the members were mostly A-rank espers, they recruited guides at A-rank and above too, to the point where the only downside was that it was pie in the sky. Salary and welfare were excellent, the atmosphere within the guild was good, and it was even famous for its delicious cafeteria food.
But Yi-yeon wasn’t particularly after "the best workplace" or "the industry’s best treatment." He’d already enjoyed plenty of that as Seon Yi-yeon. And since Yu-geon, the guild master, didn’t seem to want this recruitment either, it was all the more awkward.
Had she noticed his gaze flicker toward Yu-geon for a moment? Yeon-seo quickly added,
"He’s hoping for it deep down too, you know? Look at him being all quiet. He’s embarrassed because guiding you was so good he lost his mind."
"Is… that so?"
"Yes! Look, he’s still got that sulky face with his mouth zipped shut!"
"…"
It was true. He was clearly listening to them talk about him, yet Yu-geon stayed silent, lips pressed tight. This from the same Yu-geon who was crystal clear about likes and dislikes and showed his displeasure one way or another when he disliked something.
Was he now rating "Lee Ha-neul" highly, deeming him worth recruiting? If so, that was a very happy thing.
But… that didn’t mean he felt like joining Seonyeon. If anything, it was closer to a predicament. From the start, this meeting had gone far too off-plan. He’d never meant to publicize the existence of "Lee Ha-neul," let alone "Seon Yi-yeon" — how had it come to this?
"…I’ll think about it."
"Great! You can look at the contract while you think. I’ll send it."
"Ah, you don’t need to send the contract…"
"It’s fine if you have no intention right now. I just want to send it. Give me some hope!"
"Then… I’ll take a look."
"Wow! Then, Ha-neul, would you tap accept?"
A Seonyeon exclusive-guide contract had already been sent to the watch issued by the guiding Center.
It looked clean even at a glance. The number written on the first page was quite overwhelming, as if to seize the initiative…
"And this is a gift. This much is fine, right?"
"Huh? Ah…"
Wondering what she meant, he saw a gun ownership transfer notice for the gun he’d used today pop up on the watch screen.
The flustered Yi-yeon tried to tap the reject button right away, but Yeon-seo slyly covered the screen with her hand first.
Smiling brightly, Yeon-seo said, "Please take it. It’s not that great a thing. We’ve been using it for ages. That’s why we can give it to you without tripping the anti-solicitation law."
"I didn’t do it expecting a reward. You really don’t have to give me anything."
"If we give you nothing in return for today, we’d feel terrible. We put you in danger — we should at least give you something for self-defense so we can feel at ease."
"No, you don’t need to feel responsible at all. Honestly, it was my own rashness that—"
"Just take it."
A strained voice cut in.
It was Yu-geon.
It was the first time Yu-geon had spoken to Yi-yeon since getting in the car — no, since leaving the field after the mucous-membrane guiding ended.
He didn’t turn around since he was driving, but it was clearly directed at Yi-yeon. No one had expected him to cut in, and while they were stunned, Yu-geon let out a short sigh and continued, in a tone that said he couldn’t stand the frustration.
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