His original plan should have landed him as Wi Hajoon's guide, but unexpectedly, Wi Hajoon admitted to having been in a secret relationship with him. The reason? He didn't know.
He was a bit bummed not to know why Wi Hajoon did it. He had thought he knew him well, but maybe just reading about a character is the same as seeing clips of a celebrity online. You can know a lot about them, but also not.
Although he had tried to downplay the situation, Officer Shin was still adamant about not letting this go so easily. If Wi Hajoon had made him his personal guide, it would have been easier, but that position was probably only reserved for his one and only Su Iseul and never could be taken by anyone unless he decided to move on from the main character. Only Rim Young knew that the possibility of that was zero because Su Iseul only had eyes for Hyeong Ki.
If the main character didn't like you, the chances of you becoming the male lead are already low, but Wi Hajoon wasn't even the second male lead. He was the villain, just a hurdle in the way of the main character and male lead's relationship. Rim Young at one point had disliked the author for writing his character only for this purpose, but since the author gave life to Wi Hajoon, he couldn't hate them completely.
In any case, Rim Young was still going to stick to Wi Hajoon's side and prevent him from becoming a villain. He would do anything in his power to not let Wi Hajoon go down that path again. That's why, although he wasn't Wi Hajoon's guide, he was standing outside the entrance waiting for him, despite this making him late on his first day of work. The people passing by in and out of the center all stared at him as they walked by, but none of them were Wi Hajoon.
Is he going to be late today?
Rim Young wondered, standing with his hands in front of him neatly in his new suit, when a squirrel-like animal ran to him and climbed onto his shoes. Rim Young smiled and bent down to pet the animal. It was a familiar animal of guides that have bonded with an Esper. The familiar animals were born of the guide and Esper's energy. They helped the guide in guiding the Espers, taking off some of the burden from the guide's shoulders.
But don't these familiars stay with the guide?
"Where is your guide, little guy?"
The squirrel only stared at him as Rim Young carefully touched its head. He was focused on the familiar when suddenly he felt his head being touched too, causing him to glance up. A guy with a bright expression grinned, petting his head as if he were also an animal.
"...."
"You adorable little thing. I wonder what's going on in that head of yours."
"Ah, is he your familiar animal? I'm sorry for touching him without permission."
Belatedly realizing it, Rim Young stepped away from the familiar, who immediately sat down on the guide's shoes instead.
"I haven't seen you here before. Are you waiting for someone?"
The guide spoke to him. Rim Young fumbled the badge out of his pocket and pinned it on his suit.
"I'm actually new here. I'm a B-Class Guide. The name's Rim Young. Nice to meet you."
"What a pleasant surprise. I'm also a guide. S-Class Esper Hong Juryeon's official guide, Park Taehee."
Rim Young shook the young man's hand, but he didn't recall his character. He knew Esper Hong Juryeon, but he never knew he had a guide.
"Are you an S-Class guide?"
Most of the S-Class Espers had high-class guides, and if they are official, Park Taehee had to be a high-class guide.
"Yeah. You guessed pretty accurately."
".....Do you know Esper Wi Hajoon, then?"
"....I do. Are you waiting for him here?"
"Yes."
Rim Young simply nodded at Park Taehee's inquiry.
"What to do...."
Park Taehee seemed troubled for a moment, glancing into the distance.
"What is it? Do you know where he is right now?"
Also gazing intensely in the same direction, Rim Young caught a car parked in the corner near a restaurant. Park Taehee came closer and leaned down to whisper into his ear.
"That car... is Wi Hajoon's car. He's sitting in there."
Instantly backing away from him, Park Taehee looked at him.
"I was thinking it was unusual of him to do so. Maybe he's trying to avoid you."
"Avoid me?...."
Rim Young stared longingly at the car as he listened. Was he bothering Wi Hajoon too much?
"I think it's going to rain soon. Why don't you head inside now? You've been standing here for a while. You might get fired at this rate."
He was hesitant, but he also didn't want Wi Hajoon to wait outside in his car like this. Nodding, Rim Young bid farewell to Park Taehee and turned to head inside. For the new guides, there were a few training classes scheduled for them today, and Rim Young missed the first one entirely and only attended the last two, which taught him how to guide Espers in many ways and situations. In his last class, the trainer, also a guide, said that for the whole week they would receive training and practice on guiding Espers. Only if they succeeded in guiding the Espers would they be given the guide license.
If he wanted to guide Wi Hajoon someday, he definitely needed the guide license, so he paid full attention to the classes and even took notes diligently. Walking in the hallway while reviewing those notes after class, he wanted to get a drink from the vending machine when he encountered Wi Hajoon hoarding the vending machine, and beside him stood Su Iseul, the main character. They were talking to each other comfortably as friends and colleagues.
So he really had been waiting for me to go away...
Rim Young thought and, standing a few steps away, exhaled and called out.
"Ha-Hajoon...."
He nervously called him by his name, gaining a glance from Su Iseul as Wi Hajoon slowly turned to face him.