Chapter 74: A Deep Thinker

I saw it.

The gazes of Seon Jaeyul and Nadongchan entangling in mid-air.

It meant that there was a prior agreement between the two for what was happening now.

Since Jaeyul had even met with the Branch Director before meeting me, it was highly probable that he was involved as well.

“What on earth did you do…?”

Unable to grasp the situation properly, I asked what he was talking about.

I couldn’t understand what Nadongchan was saying, nor the whispers from Jaeyul.

“You’ve lived your whole life guiding while being treated so harshly, you can’t do the same thing here again. I won’t let you suffer anymore, hyung.”

Jaeyul let out a heavy sigh and continued speaking in a low voice.

To be honest, I hadn’t suffered all that much.

It was true that the clientele was not great, but the ones who had a hard time were those bastards who made passes at me, not me.

I had the ability to protect myself, at least.

“It wasn’t so much that I was suffering….”

“I saw it all when I went to your shop at eighteen. Some thug-like bastard was harassing you. I made a promise then. That I would quickly establish myself so that you would never have to suffer like that again.”

My heart quickly grew complicated at Jaeyul’s words.

The fact that he had noticed everything that happened at the illegal guiding office, which I had wanted to hide from him of all people, and the fact that the young kid had lived with such thoughts in his heart after knowing that.

Really, really… Seon Jaeyul is a deep-thinking child.

“So… what is all this about now. Explain it to me properly.”

“If you join the Guiding Team, you’ll have to guide dozens of people a day, and your body will be the first to break. A new gate subjugation team will be formed soon. You can just comfortably guide the team members there.”

“…Just me? They’ll allow that? They’re already in a frenzy because of the guide shortage.”

“From now on, they say they’ll proceed by assigning dedicated Guides to each team. The shortage of guides will be supplemented by trading personnel with other Centers.

For now, they’ll pilot the dedicated guide system with the newly created team.”

Hmm….

It wasn’t completely unheard of.

In fact, in the past, before ‘X’ became rampant, a few raid teams of this type existed.

There were pros and cons to it, but the cons became much larger, so raid teams that included guides naturally faded away.

A major problem was that there were quite a few casualties when guides accompanied teams inside gates or in areas where a Gate Break occurred.

Since there was a shortage of guides to begin with, the complaints from teams that were not assigned a dedicated guide were also considerable.

On top of that… the biggest problem was when a guide who became too close to a specific team member retired after marriage.

“Haah… okay. Well, it’s better for me to be close to you too. Still, you could have given me a heads-up beforehand.”

“Sorry. There wasn’t enough time. It was just coordinated with the Branch Director earlier.”

It doesn’t seem like a bad idea for us to join forces.

The voices of two SS-ranks will carry more weight than one, so it will be relatively easier to deal with the higher-ups.

And it seems better for me to be right there to protect Jaeyul, rather than him suffering in a place I can’t see.

The more I think about it, the less bad it seems.

“Anyway! That’s how it is, so if you have any complaints, go find the Branch Director and take it up with him directly!”

Nadongchan arbitrarily ended the conversation and approached us.

Seeing the Guide Director looking at me with a vacant gaze, I felt a little sorry for him, but what can you do.

Even I think the difficulty of the work on this side is obviously much lower, so am I crazy to go and help that person?

Dealing with a few people is much better than dealing with dozens of espers.

I’m sorry… please find a good guide.

“Well, let’s go! Our special team is going to be very reliable! Hahaha!”

Following behind Nadongchan, who was proudly leading the way as if he had solved a big problem, a question suddenly occurred to me.

I hadn’t asked something important.

“Jaeyul-ah, is the team being completely newly formed?”

“Yeah. The team I used to lead is as good as disbanded. And I’m no longer in a position to take on jobs like wiping out criminal organizations.”

“Right. But… then who is the team leader of the new team?”

Jaeyul, who had stopped at my question, showed a smirk.

Something… is ominous.

Did this kid know how to make such a detestable smile…?

I suddenly want to run to the Guide Director who was left alone back there.

“Hyung, repeat after me.”

“…What…?”

“Try calling me ‘Team Leader Seon Jaeyul-nim’.”

Ah, wait a minute.

I’m getting dizzy.

Not anyone else, but Jaeyul is the team leader?

And my direct… superior…?!

I’m not going there!

***

“Here.”

“…Here?”

“Why?”

Jaeyul’s gaze, which seemed full of mischief, looked up at me.

I had organized and handed over the documents for selecting the members of the newly formed special team at Jaeyul’s request, so why is he like that?

I looked back at him with a questioning look.

“Ahem. I’m the team leader now… haah, it seems I have a lot to teach our Agent Jin Sehyeon, since it’s his first time in a company….”

Well, well.

Look at this kid.

Is he already planning to abuse his position?

Is this why… you shouldn’t take in a dark-haired beast…?

“Ah, so now you want to hear the word ‘nim’ after ‘Team Leader’ from my mouth…?”

“I’m kidding. Let’s be comfortable when it’s just the two of us, hyung.”

Still, I have to treat Jaeyul like a proper team leader.

If I start by disregarding him, what will the team members who join later think?

They might already look down on a young team leader, so I have to conduct myself properly from the start.

I may be older than Jaeyul, but I joined the company two years later than him.

Not only did he already have the title of team leader, but a guide couldn’t lead a team for gate subjugation.

How could a guide lead rough espers?

It was natural for the person with the physical advantage to become the team leader.

“But are there any decent people?”

Jaeyul, who had put aside his short-lived joke, looked at the documents I handed him.

“Well… there are too many. It feels like every Tom, d*ck, and Harry applied since it’s a team with two SS-ranks. Still, I’ve narrowed it down as much as I could.”

I pulled a chair and went next to Jaeyul, explaining the pros and cons of each resume I had organized.

“…You organized all this by yourself…? I just asked you to divide them by attribute…?”

“Uh, uh…? Did I…?”

Ah… was I too enthusiastic?

I had meticulously reviewed the list Jaeyul gave me and came up with the best team combination….

“How on earth do you know all this, hyung?”

Haah… get moving, brain.

Think of any excuse!

“Well… I ran a guiding office for a long time, right? I picked up quite a lot of things there, so I referred to some of the things I heard back then….”

Jaeyul nodded his head slightly, as if the answer was reasonably plausible.

Thank goodness.

My brain seems to be working properly still.

“So you think these people will be good?”

“First, this resume here is a collection of only fire-based espers. They’re all B-rank, but they have a lot of experience, so it’s good to include one.

No, I heard it’s good. In terms of firepower alone, they’ll be on par with other A-rank attributes. And this one here is a physical enhancement type, so he’s a must-have. Just refer to the list and you make the final decision.”

The special team was said to target high-level gates that are difficult to handle.

In that case, the team composition was very important.

It wasn’t good to just scrape together high-rank espers.

Based on my long experience as a team leader, the most important thing is… character.

A character that won’t backstab a team member.

I continued my explanation for a while, but Jaeyul didn’t say much.

“…Why, are you looking at me like that…?”

When I turned my head, he was staring at me with his chin propped on his hand.

“Just because. This is what my hyung’s face looks like when he’s working… I thought. And I also thought, why did you hate joining the Center so much when you work so excitedly.

And I was a little impressed, wondering how a newcomer knows so much.”

Jaeyul listed off the impressions he had while I was explaining.

“…Is that so.”

Well… now that I’m in the Center and trying to do the work, I did have such thoughts.

‘Ah, this was what I was best at.’

It was a job I could handle as easily as breathing, without much effort.

Of course, I can’t confess this fact to Jaeyul.

Smack!

I slapped Jaeyul’s forearm to hide my awkwardness.

It’s just the two of us for now, so this much should be fine.

“This is all work you should be doing, you know? Aren’t you going to help me quickly? Why are you only making me work!”

“Ahem. How dare a team member lay a hand on the team leader’s body. Agent Jin Sehyeon, do you not know how great a crime insubordination is?”

Jaeyul roughly ruffled my hair, just as he would with Poppy.

I know it’s a light-hearted joke, but in a different way from the past ‘X’, it’s annoying.

“You’re going to get a big scolding from your hyung if you really abuse your power like that…! How dare you touch my hair like that….”

It was when I was putting up a futile resistance and trying to brush off Jaeyul’s hand.

“Excuse me.”

A strange voice echoed in the office.

We reflexively put our playful hands back in place.

Even if no one was around, we were too careless.

“…What can I do for you?”

I came to my senses and opened my mouth towards the person.

“Is this Special Team 1’s office? Why isn’t there a nameplate on the office.”

Who is this.

A face I think I’ve seen somewhere… but I can’t remember.

But why is he speaking so informally all of a sudden?

And I was the one who spoke, so why is he looking at Jaeyul and answering.

As if he couldn’t even see me, the man who had just entered the office was only looking at Jaeyul.

His steps were also heading in that direction.

“You….”

“Seon Jaeyul!”

It was instantaneous.

The person who had run a few steps, jumped towards Jaeyul who had stood up from his seat, and hung on him with his arms around his neck.

“How long has it been! You have no idea… how much I missed you.”

Then, as if having a very happy reunion, he greeted him with an excited voice.

Just from that short scene, I could tell.

That the two of them knew each other from before.

And that they were quite… close.