FG | Chapter 6.4

For South Korea, it had always been an unattainable dream. But for countries that had even the slightest chance, they had been desperately trying to get in. The United Nations was the place to be if you wanted to establish yourself as a true power.

But why?

Why South Korea of all places?

Why choose an East Asian country, and more specifically, a nation considered weak in terms of Awakeners?

I had a feeling I already knew the answer.

I glanced to the side at Yeo Eundo, who was fidgeting with my fingers, as if he had finally calmed down. Noticing my gaze, he grinned sheepishly.

Even though the conference room was dim, it felt like golden specks of light were sprinkled over his face, like pepper. I squinted at him, but before I could say anything, the people who had yet to settle down started speaking one by one.

“H-How is this even possible?”

“Are we talking about that Basis? Why would they…?”

Some people even speculated that it might just be a splinter guild derived from Basis. Baek Jesung, however, didn’t bother stopping the rumors from spreading. There was no need to. The fact that he mentioned Basis without any qualifiers meant that it was the real one—the one everyone knew.

Rather than offering a lengthy explanation, Baek Jesung simply looked in one direction.

Specifically, towards where Yeo Eundo and I were sitting. Without hesitation, ignoring the weight of everyone’s stares, he asked directly.

“Esper Yeo Eundo, haven’t you recently received an invitation to join Basis Guild?”

The moment those words left his mouth, every head in the room whipped around in unison to face us. There wasn’t even a proper place to hide, and with all those gazes locked onto us, I instinctively leaned back. Even though all the attention was directed solely at Yeo Eundo, the sheer pressure of it was overwhelming.

Everyone held their breath, watching Yeo Eundo’s lips. No matter what he said, they were bracing themselves for whatever shock would follow.

The guy, who had been absentmindedly playing with my fingers, finally spoke.

“What should we have for lunch?”

A collective ‘?’ might as well have appeared on everyone’s foreheads.

I didn’t even bother looking at him. Staring straight ahead, I ground my teeth together and hissed.

“Answer.”

“……?”

He blinked, clearly not understanding.

God, I wanted to smack him. Just slam my palm against his back and yell, ‘Face forward and answer the damn question like a human being!’ But if I did that, we’d only draw more attention—and worse, Yeo Eundo would probably just laugh.

I swallowed my frustration and started hypnotizing myself internally.

‘He’s a dog.’

A dumb, disobedient little puppy.

I subtly jerked my chin forward, signaling him to look ahead. Only then did Yeo Eundo finally turn to face the front. Even then, I didn’t stop my mental chant.

‘A dog. A three-month-old puppy that doesn’t understand words.’

‘A dog. A dog. A—’

With an awkward smile, Yeo Eundo said, “Guide-nim, no matter how hungry you are, that’s a bit…”

“You son of a—”

The room fell into complete silence, as if a typhoon had just swept through.

‘I’m doomed.’

I had finally snapped and blurted out a curse. Yeo Eundo, his already large eyes widening further, blinked at me in shock.

I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them again. I’d deal with this lunatic later. Right now, I needed to focus on escaping this situation.

With a calm smile, as if nothing had happened, I said, “Esper Yeo Eundo, they’re asking if you received an offer to join Basis. You should answer properly.”

I practically ground my teeth together as I spoke.

Finally, Yeo Eundo replied.

“Did I?”

One punch. No, two. No, three. Hell, six punches should do.

Even though I knew my hands would hurt more from hitting him, I still clenched my fists.

But just then, Baek Jesung, standing on the podium, smiled gently and said—

“Seven times.”

The moment those words were spoken, the gazes that had been drilling into us immediately swung back to Baek Jesung. And, as if to deliver a final, fatal blow, he repeated himself.

“Esper Yeo Eundo has officially rejected Basis Guild’s invitation seven times.”

Which meant that if you included unofficial invitations, the number would be even higher.

The entire room erupted into murmurs.

Just like that, Baek Jesung’s words completely erased the fact that I had just cursed out loud.

A true savior.

Once the noise had died down to a reasonable level, Baek Jesung opened his mouth again.

“Basis has started valuing individual capabilities more than organizational structure, and from this year, they have been making efforts to recruit better talent. South Korea was recognized for its potential and received an offer to be the host country. In exchange for cooperating in Gate raids during the tournament and guaranteeing additional support from national mercenaries for the Esper who wins and secures a position in Basis, the association has officially approved Basis’s proposal for hosting.”

From that moment on, the place was in an uproar.

A barrage of questions poured in like grains of sand, and eventually, the crowd’s attention turned to Baek Jesung. He responded to each question with a calm and thoughtful demeanor.

As the meeting wrapped up, Baek Jesung was seen tidying up his materials. Once he stepped down from the podium, the hall lights would turn on, so I stood up, intending to leave before that happened. Yeo Eundo stood up as well, and I grabbed his wrist, pulling him along.

As we stepped out of the conference hall, I was wondering what to do with this troublemaker when a deep, composed voice behind us brought us to a stop.

“Esper Yeo Eundo.”

It was Baek Jesung.

I had no idea when he had returned from the back of the hall, but it wasn’t particularly strange. The moment I saw Baek Jesung, I let go of Yeo Eundo’s wrist, but he immediately grabbed my hand again. I tried to shake him off, but it was useless.

Sensing the situation, Baek Jesung spoke.

“If you’re not too busy, do the two of you have some time?”

From inside the conference hall, people’s voices could be heard. It seemed they were starting to trickle out, their chatter growing closer.

There was no escaping a meeting with Baek Jesung.

We were led into Baek Jesung’s private office. With my rank, not only was it unthinkable for me to have a conversation with him, but even just being in the same space as him was already an anomaly. And yet, here he was, personally serving tea.

“This is lokum, brought in from Türkiye. Please, have a taste.”

What he brought out with the tea were colorful, jelly-like sweets. They had nuts inside, something I had never seen before. I wasn’t in the mood to eat, but my eyes suddenly caught a green one. It looked the most appetizing, so if I had to eat one, that would be it—but it was just out of reach. I resigned myself and picked up a pink one instead.

At that moment, Yeo Eundo swapped my fork with his.

Speared on the fork he handed me was the green lokum.

Dumbfounded, I simply put the fork down and took a sip of my tea. From the side, Yeo Eundo looked slightly dejected, but I pretended not to notice.

I wished Baek Jesung would just get to the point, but he remained silent, looking between me and Yeo Eundo. Then, as if he had suddenly realized something, he gave a faint smile and said,

“A good partner is a lifelong companion.”

“Pfft!”

I ended up spitting out the tea I had just taken a sip of. Yeo Eundo, his face turning red, panicked and hurriedly wiped my mouth with a handkerchief, even patting my back, while Baek Jesung simply chuckled.

‘This old man… he enjoys messing with people.’

I snatched the handkerchief and pressed it to my lips, pushing Yeo Eundo away. After taking a moment to compose myself, I pretended I hadn’t heard what Baek Jesung had just said and spoke.

“This is our first meeting. I’m Seol Maehwa, a D-class Guide from the Planning and Coordination Office’s Information and Statistics Department, assigned to monitor Esper Yeo Eundo.”

“So, you are Guide Seol Maehwa.”

I had emphasized “D-class” in my introduction, thinking he would naturally focus only on Yeo Eundo, but Baek Jesung continued to view the two of us as a set. I didn’t like that, so I made my stance clear.

“If you don’t want this conversation recorded, I’ll take my leave.”

I was essentially offering to step out if he didn’t want this meeting to be included in the monitoring report. Baek Jesung, however, simply refilled my empty cup and said,

“This tea must be savored slowly to fully appreciate its flavor. There’s plenty left, so please, take your time and enjoy it.”

Baek Jesung had no intention of letting me leave. It was understandable if he wanted to keep Yeo Eundo here, but why was he holding on to me? How long did he plan to keep me seated, just drinking tea? Fortunately, it didn’t take him too long to get to the point.

“Esper Yeo Eundo, have you received an invitation to join Basis within the past week?”

Instead of answering, Yeo Eundo was gloomily picking out only the green lokum and placing them in front of me.

Baek Jesung watched him with a gentle gaze, patiently waiting for a response. But no matter how long he waited, Yeo Eundo remained focused on selecting green lokum rather than answering the question. I elbowed him in the side, signaling him to read the room.

Only then did he finally lift his head from his intense search for lokum. However, instead of responding, he stabbed a green lokum with his fork and held it out toward me.

Forcing a smile, I spoke.

“Esper Yeo Eundo, you should answer the chairman’s question first.”

“…….”

He remained silent, stubbornly holding out the lokum. He was going to keep this up until I took it.

If it were just the two of us, I might have ignored it, but watching this full-grown man act like a sulky child in front of others was driving me insane. Baek Jesung, meanwhile, was watching us with a serene smile, which only made things worse.

In the end, I reluctantly accepted the lokum and put it in my mouth.

Chewing on the sticky sweetness mixed with the nutty flavor, I glared at Yeo Eundo and whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

“You just wait till we get home.”