* * *
Lost in thought, Haebom flinched slightly.
He had been wondering, why is Choi Yoonseo bothering with him?
But his wandering mind snapped back to reality at the sound of his name.
“Oh, uh… yeah. You can sit.”
“Thanks.”
He had wanted to refuse outright, but he just couldn’t bring himself to say no.
It wasn’t because he cared about what others thought.
What did it matter what people said about him?
No, it was more about the fact that he had already coldly rejected Choi Yoonseo yesterday.
Rejecting her again today felt… a little too harsh.
He probably doesn’t have any bad intentions, right?
His mind drifted.
She’s the female lead of this novel, after all.
There’s no way she’s scheming anything… right?
“Alright, guides, focus~”
At that moment, a smooth voice echoed through the room.
A woman stood at the front of the conference room, holding a microphone.
Since Haebom had come into this world and became a guide through his contract with Jin Seyoung, he had met this guide only once before.
Normally, all guides were managed by him—except for Haebom, who was under Jin Seyoung’s special supervision.
If not for that, he probably would have seen this man a lot more often.
“Thank you all for gathering today without complaints. Some people are missing, but hey—what matters is that we’re here safely, right?”
The atmosphere was livelier than Haebom had expected.
Though, of course, he didn’t quite fit into that liveliness.
Maybe it was because he hadn’t been in a large crowd for a long time, or maybe it was because the presence of the person sitting next to him was making him uncomfortable.
Until the head guide, Yoon Minyoung, arrived, Haebom had felt eyes burning into him from all directions, all thanks to Choi Yoonseo sitting beside him.
Fortunately, now that Minyoung had taken the stage, all the attention was directed at her instead.
That made things slightly better—aside from the overwhelming discomfort of being in this situation at all.
The real problem, however, was what came next.
“Alright, guides! What’s the first thing we always do in these meetings?”
“New member introductions!”
Haebom exhaled sharply through clenched teeth.
At the mention of new member introductions, all eyes turned toward him.
Even Choi Yoonseo, sitting beside him, was now looking straight at him.
‘Shit. I should’ve just called in sick.’
A few minutes ago, he had walked into this room without much thought.
Now, he wanted to grab his past self by the collar and shake him senseless.
The way everyone was staring at him made it painfully clear—he was the only new guide in the room.
“We skipped introductions last time because there weren’t any new guides, but this time, we have one! And not just any guide—an S-class guide. Guide Yoon Haebom, please come to the front!”
“…What?”
His voice cracked from sheer panic.
Soft laughter rippled through the room, but Haebom couldn’t care less.
It wasn’t a huge crowd, but it wasn’t exactly small, either.
Aside from Choi Yoonseo and his trainer, everyone here was practically a stranger.
Even the head guide, Yoon Minyoung, was someone he had only met once.
“Haha, I love how enthusiastic you are. Don’t worry—it’s just a quick introduction. These are your colleagues, after all. Unless you transfer or retire, you’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”
Minyoung smiled kindly as she patted Haebom’s shoulder.
But to Haebom, that kind smile looked straight-up demonic.
Before he knew it, Minyoung had shoved him forward, forcing him to stand in front of everyone.
And there, in his place, Minyoung sat down—wearing the most satisfied smile Haebom had ever seen.
Just like the first time she saw him, having an S-Class Guide seemed like a point of great pride.
And since it wasn’t her responsibility to manage him, there was no hassle either.
To Yoon Minyoung, Haebom was an excellent subordinate.
A very… troublesome one.
For Yoon Minyoung, who was responsible for the Guides, Esper Wonho was nothing short of a headache.
It was bad enough that S-Class Espers, who were always the subject of endless talk and controversy, openly avoided guiding, making her job all the more difficult.
And just when Esper Wonho finally got his hands on a high-matching-rate Guide, that very Guide was taken away by another S-Class Esper and added to her list of people to manage.
In Na Hyunjoon’s case, there weren’t any Guides who matched well enough to form a Pair, but at least he received guidance regularly, so he wasn’t as much of a problem.
However, thanks to Haebom, who had seemingly fallen from the sky, one major headache had disappeared.
If only things could continue this smoothly while she remained the Head of Guides…
“Um… I’m Yoon Haebom, and I’m twenty-one years old. Uh… I’m currently paired with Esper Wonho, and, um…”
It had been so long since he last introduced himself in front of so many people that he couldn’t even remember when the last time was.
Ignoring the heat creeping up his face, Haebom continued his introduction.
Not that he had much to say.
Yoon Minyoung had said they’d be colleagues from now on, but Haebom didn’t feel that way.
Wonho had already adapted to guiding, so now it was time for Haebom to start looking for a way back.
Even if he found a method, it wasn’t like he could leave right away—not as long as Wonho was holding him back.
But it was still better than knowing nothing at all.
Once he got back, he’d have to ask Jin Seyoung about the Gate.
With that thought in mind, he mumbled his way through his self-introduction, not even remembering what he had said afterward.
With Haebom being the only newcomer, the introductions ended quickly, and it was time to gather in small groups to enjoy refreshments and build camaraderie.
Another hurdle to cross.
He had already been thinking about Wonho all day because of his empty house, and now, surrounded by unfamiliar faces, the urge to see Wonho only grew stronger.
Damn it, Wonho…!
The only saving grace was that his guide trainer, Lee Taeyoung, took care of him.
“Guide Yoon Haebom, let me introduce you.”
Despite having the kind of cold expression that suggested he didn’t care about anything, Lee Taeyoung was surprisingly considerate.
He started with the person on Haebom’s left, a long-haired woman with a bright smile—Kim Jihyun.
The person on his right was Yoon Geonwoo.
Yoon Geonwoo was tall and broad-shouldered, built so solidly that he could have passed as an Esper himself.
His sharp facial features only added to his masculine appearance.
“Hello. I’m Yoon Haebom.”
“Nice to meet you! I’m Kim Jihyun. Wow, it feels kind of weird greeting the most famous person in the Center. It’s like meeting a celebrity or something.”
Haebom stiffened for a moment at her words.
Famous?
Was she really talking about him?
Lee Taeyoung gave Kim Jihyun a light smack on the arm, making her mutter an exaggerated “Fine, I get it” under her breath.
Famous?
When all he did was shut himself away in either the research lab or the Guide office?
This was definitely Wonho and Choi Yoonseo’s fault.
He didn’t want to lump the two together, but there was no helping it.
“I’m Yoon Geonwoo. You can just ignore whatever she says.”
“Hey, Yoon Geonwoo.”
“Yeah, yeah, everyone knows I’m Yoon Geonwoo, even if you don’t say my name. So just keep your mouth shut.”
The two bickered back and forth, with Kim Jihyun growling while Yoon Geonwoo flicked away his words like he was swatting at a fly.
Haebom had worried it would be awkward, but thankfully, it wasn’t too bad.
He watched them argue or chatted with Lee Taeyoung, and before he knew it, time had passed.
“Don’t mind Guide Choi Yoonseo too much. She loves attention. Before you came, she was treated like an S-Class, so she’s acting out because she’s afraid of losing her spot. Not that it was ever her spot to begin with…”
Lee Taeyoung felt a little guilty for not bringing Haebom over right away.
He had trained him but hadn’t been particularly close, so he’d just left him alone.
But if he had known Choi Yoonseo would approach him, he might have reconsidered.
* * *
