Chapter 69: It’s Time for Some Proper Power-Tripping

“What do you think you’re doing.”

Jaeyul pushed me against the wall and stood in front of me, shielding me.

His coldly uttered voice was considerably intimidating.

It was more of a murmur, devoid of emotion, yet somehow it carried a heavier weight.

As if ready to counterattack the moment the opposing agents used their abilities, the mana inside Jaeyul’s body, which my hand was touching, was raging fiercely.

His state was not as quiet as his voice.

Yet, none of the opponents opened their mouths.

They seemed less aggressive and more intent on trapping us.

This standoff continued for a while.

“Ah, ah, my apologies for our staff’s rudeness!”

Just as the atmosphere was turning dangerous, a somewhat frivolous voice was heard from behind the agents.

“Move, get out of the way!”

A man emerged, pushing through the espers in black combat suits.

He was a well-dressed, elderly, middle-aged man.

The badge on his chest indicated he was a high-ranking official from the Special Abilities Support Agency.

Judging by the greasy shine on his face, a person of considerable status at that.

“What is the meaning of this. I believe an explanation is in order.”

Jaeyul presented his special agent ID and protested with appropriate courtesy.

“Oh my goodness! Is this not Agent Seon Jaeyul-nim! So handsome… you have no idea how much I wanted to meet you!”

The man suddenly grabbed Jaeyul’s hand with both of his.

Then he displayed an exaggerated delight, as if meeting a long-lost first love.

Seeing the honey dripping from his eyes, it didn’t seem like a complete lie either.

It was when I was completely unable to grasp what was happening.

“Then the person behind you must be… Jin Sehyeon-‘nim’…?”

This time, it seemed I was caught in his gaze.

He snatched my hand.

Then, holding my hand and Jaeyul’s in each of his, he broke into a wide grin.

“I never imagined I would get to meet such treasures in person! Haha, first, shall we move to another location?”

His attitude did not seem hostile.

Led by his hand, Jaeyul and I exchanged glances that screamed, ‘what the hell is this,’ and followed the man.

I guess we’d find out when we got there.

***

Indeed, people are cunning.

Of course.

There’s no such thing as kindness without a reason in this world.

“Hahaha! I never imagined an SS-rank special ability user would appear in our country! And two at once, no less!”

That was the reason for this excessive kindness.

The man dealing with us was the Branch Director of the <Seoul Special Abilities 2nd Center>.

A man who held the second-greatest power after the head of the central Support Agency.

The reason he had come running in such a flurry was that Jaeyul belonged to the Seoul 2nd Center, and thus he had been the first to receive our awakening examination results.

“Congratulations, truly!”

Who were these congratulations for?

For them, or for us?

“Ah, yes. But why are you not letting us go home?”

“That’s because, of course… ahem, with such a joyous occasion, shouldn’t we make a grand announcement to the media with the Agency Head present? Please just wait a little while until then, haha!”

Of course.

The plan was to drag us around again and make us take pictures with high-ranking people.

In the past, I thought of that as quite an honor, but not anymore.

“Jaeyul-ah, let’s go.”

I stood up without listening to the Branch Director any further.

“…Why, what’s the matter…?”

“We have no desire to be ‘used’ in such matters. We don’t wish for personal glory, and besides, I’m sure you’re well aware that I… am a civilian. I have no intention of joining the Special Abilities Center.”

“J-Jin Sehyeon-ssi…! You are the first SS-rank Guide to appear in our country, and you’re saying you won’t work at the Center? We are already in a difficult situation due to a shortage of Guide personnel…!”

The Branch Director’s face turned pale, as if he had heard a bolt from the blue.

Honestly, even I hadn’t anticipated this situation.

I had expected to some degree that Jaeyul would receive a high rank.

Although I couldn’t perfectly know Jaeyul’s current abilities, considering the past ‘X’, there was no reason he wouldn’t receive an SS-rank.

But for me to get an SS-rank as well.

I had never seen a Guide receive such a high rank, even in the past.

So it was only natural for the Branch Director to be so flustered at my refusal to join the Center.

“I’m not the kind of person who fits well in a military-like organization. If you are short on Guides, you could look into methods like exchanging special ability users with foreign countries in a trade format. Let’s go, Jaeyul-ah.”

I wasn’t being entirely sincere, but in times like these, you have to raise your value as much as possible.

Whether it’s financial or otherwise, you have to pull in as much as you can.

I have no intention of meekly moving as they wish.

“S-Seon Jaeyul Team Leader! You are our employee, so first….”

“Ah, I was thinking of quitting, too.”

Jaeyul, it seems… is quite a good actor.

He didn’t even spare a glance for the Branch Director who was speaking to him, scratching at a non-existent hangnail as he replied dismissively.

“…W-what… did you say…? S-suddenly, why….”

“There’s a limit to how bad a working environment can be. Oh, and I would appreciate it if our faces did not appear in the media, Branch Director-nim. Well then.”

Power walking.

We exited the room, and Jaeyul and I walked with our shoulders held high and proud.

“…It’ll be okay, right? It’ll be a big problem if those petty bastards lose their minds and go on a rampage.”

“You’re the one who… haah, told me to do this, hyung.”

Although a somewhat unexpected result came out, in the grand scheme of things, my plan was correct up to this point.

Jaeyul, having received the highest possible rank, announces his resignation, and using that as leverage, we fine-tune the details to change his working conditions from how they’ve been until now.

I have to show them he’s not a pushover so he won’t be dragged into troublesome matters like I was in the past.

“D-don’t worry! It’s already been done, so what can we do. Besides, as an SS-rank, there’s no way they’ll let you go easily. Really… if it comes to it, there are plenty of foreign special ability centers we can go to, so don’t worry.”

As we walked down the corridor and out of the building, numerous gazes latched onto us.

They weren’t just glancing; they were openly gathered in the hallway, watching us.

The sound of murmuring was loud, too.

Among the crowd, I saw a familiar face.

The examination room employee who had been so snappy with us.

Smirk.

I deliberately gave the guy an even brighter smile.

Seeing his face turn ashen made me feel a little better.

This is why people shouldn’t go around revealing their true colors so carelessly.

You never know what kind of power the other person might be hiding.

***

“What are you looking at so intently?”

“Ah, you’re back? I was just thinking it might be nice to have a glass of wine together.”

While Jaeyul was washing up, I had been looking at the wine cellar.

Perhaps because I didn’t drink wine often, no matter how much I looked, it was difficult to choose which one would be tasty.

“Hmm… should we pick one together?”

As if to join in the selection, Jaeyul crouched down next to me, draping an arm over my shoulder.

The moment he came close, the damp scent of shampoo stimulated my senses.

My gaze naturally turned to the side of Jaeyul’s face as he was choosing a wine.

Was it because he had just washed?

The skin on his face and neck looked smoother than usual.

Unlike other guys, his smooth skin, without a single messy stubble mark, seemed like it would surely carry a refreshing scent.

His straight-bridged nose looked even higher from the side, and I thought the line from his forehead to his lips was truly beautiful.

“Hmm… the one we had last time was a Pinot Noir, should we try something different this time?”

And why was the large hand wrapped around my shoulder so comforting?

Perhaps because of that comfort, a strange curiosity kept creeping in.

Again, and again….

“Hyung?”

“…Huh?”

My dazed mind returned to reality.

Only then did I realize what kind of delusion I had been having.

And about Jaeyul, of all people.

“Which wine would be good….”

“This one! Let’s have this one!”

I grabbed whatever my hand landed on and shot up from my spot.

I hadn’t even had a drink yet, so I don’t know why I was having such useless thoughts.

No, seeing as I’ve been getting into this state abruptly lately, it might be that there’s something wrong with my pheromones.

I should probably take some pheromone stabilizers.

“It’s unusual for you to suggest we drink first, hyung.”

“Well, something good happened, so we should celebrate.”

I grabbed the wine glasses, and Jaeyul, holding the bottle he had just uncorked, went to the sofa table.

We sat side by side on the floor, leaning our backs against the sofa, and tilted our filled wine glasses.

“Woof!”

“Right. Poppy, you can eat as much as you want today, too.”

Poppy’s spot was on the sofa.

I gave him a pile of dried chicken jerky, and he wagged his tail excitedly and began to eat.

“A lot of things are going to change now, Jaeyul-ah.”

“I still don’t know if this is the right thing to do. Honestly, I haven’t told you everything, but the Center isn’t that easy to deal with.”

“That’s why we got the re-evaluation first. Over there, rank is king. You have to use that appropriately to have a comfortable company life.”

“I’m talking about you, hyung. What, SS-rank, in a situation where there’s already a shortage of Guides? It’s obvious a path of hardship will open up, so how about you change your mind, even now?”

The kid… he’s all grown up.

Worrying about me like this.

Jaeyul’s words were not wrong.

The rumor of the appearance of an SS-rank special ability user must have already spread far and wide.

And with a high probability, the Seoul 1st Center would try to pull some strings to get us.

As the place that defends the area with major national facilities, there was no way they would miss out on a capable agent.

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of working hard. I’m going to work as little as possible and make money comfortably.”

Troublesome things will undoubtedly happen, but this is better.

If Jaeyul has no intention of quitting the Center, then all I have to do is hand him a shield to protect himself.

An immense power that no one can dare to touch.

“…That’s not all… haah…. Never mind. So, what are we going to do now? Is it enough that we both came out as SS-rank, as you wanted?”

“You’ll know if you wait. The Center doesn’t treat just anyone any way they want. From now on, a lot of very interesting things will happen.”

In this situation, Jaeyul and I are the ones in power.

I had declared I wouldn’t join the Center, and Jaeyul had dropped the bombshell that he would quit, so it was obvious there would be chaos at the top.

All we had to do was wait and see what kind of gift package they would bring, while tilting our wine glasses like this.

Now that they know we are SS-rank, they will probably try to persuade us with unimaginable kindness at first.

As if we were heroes who had already saved the world.

Of course, after they get us into the Center, they will use the public to demand immense responsibility from us, and they will try to use our loved ones as hostages to make us move as they wish, but that is a matter for the distant future, so there’s no need to worry about it now.

All we have to do is slowly prepare for it.

Ding-dong, ding-dong.

The doorbell rang, even though it was quite late in the evening.

Ah, it seems they’re here already.

“Jaeyul-ah, unplug the intercom.”

It’s time for some proper power-tripping.

I’ve wanted to do this… so much