(Since his appearance changed by this point, I will use the right pronounce)
It has been exactly 5 years since that date.
“Fuck…”
Chiyoung began the day with a swear word.
He slammed his fist at his late alarm. His fist struck the beeping electronic clock, causing it to turn upside down.
He awoke before the alarm went off again today. It feels crappy to wake up before the usual time when he could have slept better.
If there was a 10- or 20-minute time difference, his temper would flare. Chiyoung’s temper, which was never particularly good, has deteriorated over the years.
Well, there were quite a few incidents that caused that change.
However, no matter how much he despises his life, the sun still rises every day, and his work is still the same.
Chiyoung quickly stood up and took off his clothes. He broke out in a cold sweat last night, most likely due to an awful nightmare. So he chose to take a shower first.
Naked, he crossed the living room to the bathroom.
He lived alone in this flat. When a guide is assigned to a team, they usually stay with their team, but Chiyoung was not high enough in the rankings to be assigned to one.
Because most guides of all ranks have teams, the guide-only accommodation was empty.
Chiyoung treated the quiet accommodation as if it were his own home. He stole the master key from the security office and opened the door to a neighboring flat, which he used for storage.
Fortunately, this accommodation was Chiyoung’s only source of joy. It was comfortable here, and no one would be concerned about Chiyoung.
Chiyoung does not have to be concerned about anyone either.
Ahn Chiyoung’s sole source of comfort and friend had been loneliness. Like familiar clothes, loneliness had become a normal part of his life.
After washing his face and brushing his teeth, Chiyoung changed into his guide uniform in the public guiding room. It took him less than ten minutes to get out of bed and get ready.
“I fucking hate work.”
Chiyoung muttered some classical words for those who live alone. He muttered as he steadily tightened the Converse’s laces.
While most guides wore military boots inside the center, Chiyoung mostly wore Converse or slippers.
He has no team and has never received any missions or training, so Converse should be sufficient for his job at the Guiding Room.
After confirming that his door was locked, Chiyoung slowly exited the dorm. There was a bus that ran throughout the center at all times, just for the guides.
Chiyoung is the only person to board at the guide-only accommodation stop.
The bus travels around the center as the guides get down one by one and only carries guides who have not yet been assigned to a team.
They must be new recruits. It was adorable to see them chatting amongst themselves as if they were excited to meet an Esper.
Chiyoung was also assigned to an unit.
The Dongjuk Unit, led by Colonel Ki Baek-yeon, who is both a guide and a esper.
Dongjuk is made up of Espers and Combat guides who graduated from the medical or nursing departments of the Espers and Guides Special College and are licensed as doctors and nurses.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“This is the stop at the public guide room.”
After this calm announcement, Chiyoung rang the bus’s bell. He could feel the guides who were chatting looking in his direction.
Public guide. Even new recruits who have recently joined the center understand the meaning of that word.
Chiyoung didn’t care and stepped off the cart as he heard whispers behind his back.
“That F-rank guide… has been abandoned… for 5 years…”
They’re only telling the truth. They must be some clever new recruits.
Chiyoung entered the building containing the guiding room with an indifferent expression on his face.
The weather was hot, even though the flowers had just bloomed recently. The warm sunlight still clung to my forearms.
Chiyoung slowly entered and opened the door to the public guiding room.
“Ah Lutendient Ahn is here!”
“Hello”
“Good morning, lieutenant Ahn.”
He did not respond when he was greeted. Chiyoung never had a good morning.
“Is the Colonel inside? I want greet her.”
“Yes.”
(TL Note: He was talking to another coworker aka the Chief btw)
The Guide room Chief whistled and gestured a thumbs up. Chiyoung put his bag back and went to the Colonel’s office.
When he knocked, a soft voice from within said, “Come in.”
Chiyoung opened the door. Chiyoung poked his head inside the wide-open door and nodded. He planned to say hello and then leave right away.
“Hello.”
“I said come in, Ahn Chiyoung.”
“It’s about time for the guides to begin works… Fine. I am heading in…”
When Baekyeon made an unimpressed face at Chiyoung’s reluctance to enter, Chiyoung finally came in.
She is his boss afterall, so Chiyoung didn’t paused any longer and get inside the Colonel’s room.
Baek-yeon looked at Chiyoung and clicked her tongue.
“Have you eaten breakfast?”
“I just woke up…”
“You have no manner.” (Chiyoung speak to her very bluntly without honorifications and such)
“I haven’t eaten.”
“Eat something! Do I have to follow you around and spoon food into your mouth carefully until you eat?”
If he blurred hisgaze to look over Baekyeon’s shoulder, he could just ignore her nagging until she stopped.
“Altight that is enough, I can’t tell you what to do forever.”
“…”
“You know why I called you, right?”
“I don’t know.”
Chiyoung replied, scratching the back of his head. Even though he had just gotten out of the shower, the hair on the back of his short head dried very quickly.
Baek-yeon’s brow furrowed, and when Chiyoung appeared to be completely unaware, Baek-yeon clicked her tongue again and continued speaking.
“Colonel Baek has been ordered to return to base.”
“…”
Chiyoung closed his mouth, as he always did. He hadn’t heard the name Baek-han in a while.
Seven years ago, Baek-han rescued Chiyoung from the IAK rebel unit.
“If you want to I can send you to the Jeonbuk or Gangwon Centers. Yes, or it would be nice to simply take a break.
Baek-yeon is Baek-han’s twin sister. Nonetheless, her bitter expression expressed her concerns for Chiyoung.
Chiyoung looked back calmly before shaking his head.
“It’s not necessary. It’s only a rumor here and there… I believe I will be able to be discharged from the military soon.”
“Discharge?”
“I accepted a mission. I have also informed my superiors that I will be discharged upon its completion.”
Baek-yeon’s eyes opened in astonishment as Chiyoung spoke. Chiyoung simply stood there, staring back at her as if he were measuring something about her.
Chiyoung’s own will is irrelevant to his discharge. But the higher-ups’.
At Chiyoung’s rank, the highest position he could achieve would be Baek-yeon’s, so what kind of promotion could he possibly obtain?
Chiyoung stood motionless, as if he had no intention of clearing up Baek-yeon’s doubts.
Baek-yeon immediately nodded his head, knowing that Chiyoung would remain silent until the end of time if he had already made that face, even if Baek-yeon asked it a million more times.
“Do what you want. If you’re having trouble, please let me know.”
“All right.”
“You can go now.”
Chiyoung saluted without responding, then turned to leave the manager’s office.
Baek-yeon stared, then took a cigarette pack from her pocket and inserted a cigarette into her mouth. Without lighting the fire, she thought about something.
The best units in the center are Chunran, Chukook, and Dongjuk.
Baek-yeon was the team leader at Dongjuk Department.
This means that she is not required to be the head of a public guiding room where people who are about to retire due to the limited amount of guiding left or who know how to guide well enough but are not good enough to join a team and become dedicated guides and instead live as a normal civilian.
Nonetheless, there was only one reason why she took over the public guiding room. She felt bad for Ahn Chiyoung.
* * *
Seven years ago, Baek-yeon’s twin, Baek-han, got a guide from the rebel IAK army.
It had been a long time since they had a guide who did not have a chip planted by the rebels, so the center conducted a thorough examination of Chiyoung.
Because his guiding grade is F, his nickname in the center is “candy shell.”
People thought he looked pretty on the outside, so they expected sweet candy inside, but when they opened it, all they found was a shell with crumbs inside.
Chiyoung’s ability to rise to the rank of second lieutenant without being recommended for discharge despite such limited guidance was solely due to Baek-han.
Baek-han, who has always struggled with a lack of guiding despite his S+ grade, only scored 60% on the matching test with even his twin sister Baek-yeon, but 95% on the mock matching test with Chiyoung.
“Look at this beautiful thing. Grow up quickly and get married. I want to take care of you.”
Baek-han was constantly pacing around the outside of the matching testing room, like a father waiting for his wife to give birth, and when the results came in, he was so happy.
Due to human rights concerns regarding minor guides, a full match rate test with Esper is only possible on January 1st, when those guides become adults.
It was an advanced version of the mock test that Chiyoung had conducted when he first arrived at the center, and the results confirmed the esper that could be paired and marked.
And Chiyoung was able to take the matching test two years after arriving at the center. Throughout those two years, numerous rumors circulated.
There are rumors that Baek-han will finally be paired with a guide, rumors that he will not be paired and will only receive one night of guiding before abandoning the F-rank guide, and so on.
Baek-han spent little time at the center during the two years. This is because a civil war erupted in Eastern Europe, and the military, desperate for money, sent Baek-han and Chunrandae to the front lines.
Baek-han, who had received money and gone out as a mercenary, emerged victorious. Just in time for January 1st, the day when his guide turned into an adult.
He even applied for a marking session and reserved a hotel suite in Namsan so that they could have it done immediately after the matching test.
After two years of waiting, they faced disaster that day.
“What is this?”
Baek-han discovered Chiyoung’s gender next to his name in the upper right corner of the matching rate check sheet.
M. Male.
When Baek-han discovered those letters, he ran out of the room and began vomiting.
With a filth-covered face. As if it were the first time he had received such an insult.
Oh my god.. so he didn’t knew than him-young was a man 🤦🏻♀️👀
I feel disaster coming 🙂
Damn the typos 😭
*That ji-young
This already has my full attention, thank you for picking this up! Eagerly awaiting updates! 🤩 Not sure whether to laugh or smh that he didn’t realize Ji-young’s gender until 2 years later. 😅