A stiff atmosphere hung over the small room. The silence stretched on, making it hard to believe a job interview was taking place.
“So…”
The man, handsome enough to pass for a celebrity, narrowed his eyes.
“You’re applying to our guild?”
His gaze was so full of suspicion that it hardly seemed appropriate for an interviewer, but the applicant simply nodded.
“Yes.”
“An S-class guide?”
“Yes.”
“To a guild with nothing but C-class espers?”
“…Are you going to keep asking?”
“Until I can believe it, yes.”
Ahn Dante, the leader of the C-class guild Noapi, propped his chin on his hand and stared at the applicant. His fingertips tapped the résumé the man had brought—right on the words S-class guide.
“Why?”
Despite having an S-class guide show up to join his C-class guild, Ahn Dante looked suspicious rather than welcoming him with open arms.
“As an S-class guide, you could aim for the National Security Bureau, the most prestigious guild there is. Why ours?”
It was a reasonable question. This was rather like someone scoring in the highest band in every subject on the college entrance exam, then interviewing for a place at a provincial two-year college. Jin Hyoseop had expected this reaction.
“There’s one condition I have.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“I’d prefer not to do anything beyond contact guiding.”
Ahn Dante’s eyes narrowed slightly. He looked Jin Hyoseop over with an expression that said, So that’s why.
His scrutiny had been rude from the very beginning, but Jin Hyoseop remained perfectly still. No one would believe it, but this interview mattered to him. He absolutely did not want to fail.
“So that condition is why you’re applying to a C-class guild, despite being S-class?”
“Yes.”
“Aha… Well, I suppose that makes sense.”
Even an S-class guide would have trouble finding a guild willing to accept a firm limit on the level of guiding he would provide. It was a plausible explanation. Still, Ahn Dante seemed unconvinced.
“But why our guild specifically? I don’t know if you’re aware, but although we call ourselves a guild, we don’t really do guild work. Our latest job was… Right, finding a cat.”
Ahn Dante said the cat had been exceptionally vicious, a distant look crossing his face.
“You’d be better off thinking of us as odd-job fixers.”
“Yes. I’m aware.”
“Then you must also realize there won’t be much for you to do here.”
“But you are still hiring a guide.”
“Even if there’s no danger involved, using our abilities causes toxins to build up in our bodies.”
“In that case, holding hands should be enough for me to guide you.”
“Well, I suppose so. You are S-class, after all.”
Ahn Dante’s tone was indifferent. He showed no interest whatsoever in seizing the stroke of luck that had landed an S-class guide on his doorstep. Jin Hyoseop couldn’t help growing anxious.
“But you understand, right? We can’t pay you an S-class salary. Our guild barely scrapes by.”
“That’s fine.”
“Still, you must have a figure in mind. Go on, tell me.”
Go on. Just tell him, huh.
Jin Hyoseop swallowed nervously and studied the man across from him. With those indifferent eyes and that half smile, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
“I think four million won a month would be good.”
For a moment, Ahn Dante’s smile froze. His brows drew together slightly, as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
…Was that too much?
“Or how about three and a half million?”
Ahn Dante still said nothing. By now, the smile had disappeared from his face.
Even three and a half million is too much.
“…Three point one million.”
That was the minimum he had privately set for himself. Well, technically, he had cautiously added another hundred thousand won. In any case, he couldn’t work for less than three million. He had rent to pay every month, along with his loan repayments. Anything below three million wouldn’t be enough to live on comfortably.
Yet the guild leader still gave no sign of agreement. Was even 3.1 million too much? Then again, the job would only involve holding hands, hugging, and, at most, kissing. Perhaps 3.1 million really was asking too much.
Should I lower it again? Or should I make it clear that this is my absolute minimum?
While Jin Hyoseop wrestled with those thoughts, Ahn Dante let out an incredulous laugh.
“Ha. Three point one million.”
“…Yes.”
“Well, aren’t you reasonable.”
At some point, amusement had entered Ahn Dante’s gaze.
“All right. You start tomorrow.”
“Really?”
Jin Hyoseop’s cheeks flushed as he asked. His delight was so obvious that Ahn Dante could only give a disbelieving chuckle. An S-class guide, overjoyed to have gotten into a C-class guild. Unbelievable.
“Let’s draw up the contract now. I’ll introduce you to our espers when you come in tomorrow.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Have you already chosen a bondage partner?”
“A bondage partner?”
“An esper to protect you.”
He added that most guides affiliated with a guild designated an esper as their partner to protect them.
“Oh…”
That’s a thing?
He hadn’t known, but Jin Hyoseop nodded as though he had. Life here had thoroughly taught him that letting people realize he knew nothing would make him an easy mark. Of course, pretending to know things he didn’t was hardly easy.
“I haven’t chosen anyone in particular.”
“Then pick whoever you like. None of our espers have an exclusive guide or anyone they’ve imprinted on. If you asked one of them to be your partner, I’m sure they’d welcome you with open arms, contact guiding limit or otherwise.”
Ahn Dante continued speaking as he rummaged through a messy stack of documents.
“I’ll give you the guild members’ profiles. You can look them over and choose.”
After a moment’s thought, Jin Hyoseop shook his head.
“No, that’s all right.”
“All right? What is?”
“You don’t need to give me those. I don’t think I need a bondage partner.”
The hand shuffling through the papers stopped.
Ahn Dante slowly turned to look at Jin Hyoseop, like a video playing at reduced speed.
“You don’t need one?”
“No. I don’t think I’ll need anyone to protect me.”
“…You don’t need protection?”
Ahn Dante’s expression tightened almost imperceptibly. His lips pressed into a straight line, and no further words emerged. Silence settled between them.
His muted eyes lingered on Jin Hyoseop, sharp with scrutiny, as though trying to work out his intentions.
Caught in the sudden silence and prickling tension, Jin Hyoseop’s eyes darted about.
Did I do something wrong?
Judging by the atmosphere, he must have. But however much he thought it over, he couldn’t figure out what. This was a C-class guild of odd-job fixers who did things like finding cats. He had simply assumed he wouldn’t need protection in a place like this.
Yet looking at the guild leader’s expression, he began to wonder whether he had been mistaken…
He even regretted not simply picking someone at random.
Just then, Ahn Dante let out a short “Ha,” almost a sneer.
“Well, that’s a new one. What a thoroughly jaded attitude.”
For a moment, Jin Hyoseop was speechless.
“…Pardon?”
“Never mind. We’ll do it your way, then, Mr. Jin Hyoseop, our guild’s guide.”
Ahn Dante held out a hand, wearing the same smile he had at the beginning.
“Allow me to introduce myself again. I’m Ahn Dante, leader of the C-class guild Noapi. I look forward to working with you.”
“Yes…”
The oddly unpleasant ending left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Jaded? Worn-out? It’s not like I’m the heel of an old shoe.
What exactly was a bondage partner, for him to say something like that? It certainly wasn’t a pleasant enough remark to simply brush aside, but Jin Hyoseop forced himself to ignore it. He was the one who needed this job.
If I’m going to pretend I know what I’m doing, I guess I have to let it slide. …Right. At least I’m employed now.
With this, the money troubles that had been dogging him would be settled for the time being. Jin Hyoseop clasped his hands and lowered his gaze.
Now that the immediate crisis was over, a sigh of relief escaped him.
“Right, this is Jin Hyoseop, the S-class guide I told you about yesterday.”
Ahn Dante introduced him plainly, without embellishment.
“He officially joined our guild yesterday, so treat him well.”
Six guild members stood gathered before him. Including its leader, Ahn Dante, Noapi was a small guild with just seven members. If anything stood out, it was that every one of them was good-looking.
Jin Hyoseop bowed deeply.
“I look forward to working with you.”
His courteous greeting drew everyone’s attention. One man, visibly more excited than the rest, shot to his feet and shouted.
“No way. You were actually telling the truth, boss?”
“I told you I was.”
“Come on, you can’t blame me for thinking it was impossible. An S-class guide? In our guild?”
The man with bright red hair was in front of Jin Hyoseop in an instant.
Beneath his fluffy hair, golden eyes stared at Jin Hyoseop with an intensity that made him uncomfortable.
