Guide Me If You Dare-Chapter 169: CAUGHT OFF GUARD

"HOW CAN we be assured that this complaint was really from Esper Lee Sarang-nim?"

"Aigoo. Chief Kim, just because the National Guide Bureau forges official documents now and then doesn’t mean the Esper Association does the same."

"That’s a heavy accusation, President Kwak. Can you prove that in court?"

"Oh, you’re going to sue me? Go ahead. Let’s see if I have enough evidence or not."

Haaah.

Bambi quietly left the chief’s office while Chief Kim Munhee and President Kwak Hakjae were butting heads.

He may look calm on the outside, but he was quite panicking inside.

This surprise attack is ruining our plan.

Bambi headed to the VIP Lounge.

It was a common space for the Top 5 Guides to relax.

For now, I should hide Mo Hanjin to buy us some time. I need to tell him what exactly he has to say in case he gets summoned by the Esper Association. As long as we have Mo Hanjin, we can always take back Esper Lee Sarang.

"Bambi-ssi, you brought a guest with you?"

Hmm?

When Bambi arrived at the VIP Lounge, he saw Rebecca patching up Kim Jaeha’s bruised face.

Fortunately, Mo Hanjin was there.

As usual, he’s busy playing games on his phone without a care in the world.

Jin Sooin was also there, and it was Jin Sooin who asked the strange question.

"A guest?" Bambi asked, confused. "I’m alone..."

"That’s what I thought."

And, in the blink of an eye, Jin Sooin ran past Bambi.

Then...

BAAAM!

The ground shook when Jin Sooin seemingly punched the air.

However, Jin Sooin’s fist actually hit something hard.

It was a shield that seemed to be made of stones.

Ah.

There’s one famous Esper known for controlling rocks— a disciple of Ki Gayoon.

"Gu Inwoo, did you get lost?" Jin Sooin asked sarcastically. "This isn’t a dumpsite where you belong, you know?"

"Ah, it isn’t?"

The stone shield collapsed— revealing Gu Inwoo.

"It seems like I got lost, indeed. But you can’t blame me, Sooin Noona," Gu Inwoo said, flashing that annoying arrogant smile of his. "After all, it reeks in here."

"Wow. You’re really Gayoon’s slave," Jin Sooin said in disbelief. "Does Gayoon also teach sarcasm to his subordinates?"

"No, I’m a natural."

"Bastard."

"Yes, that I am."

Jin Sooin punched Gu Inwoo again.

Gu Inwoo quickly put a stone shield to protect himself, but that didn’t work since Jin Sooin’s punch went through and hit the male Esper.

As a result, Gu Inwoo was sent flying until his back hit the wall— causing a small crater.

"Don’t be arrogant, Gu Inwoo," Jin Sooin said coldly. "Do you think you’d win against me, huh?"

"Of course not," Gu Inwoo said while getting up, wiping the blood off his mouth with the back of his hand. "That wasn’t my goal anyway."

"Yah!"

Bambi and Jin Sooin both turned to Mo Hanjin when Mo Hanjin yelled.

Gu Inwoo created a two-meter Stone Golem that grabbed and lifted Mo Hanjin by the waist. And, now, the Stone Golem had its arms around Mo Hanjin’s waist as if it would crush the Guide at any moment.

"Esper Gu Inwoo-ssi!" Bambi yelled angrily. "What do you think you’re doing?!"

Gu Inwoo couldn’t answer, though.

After all, Jin Sooin’s Mana had already manifested— and it was strangling Gu Inwoo.

Ah.

Now Bambi was confused about what to do.

If Gu Inwoo dies here, Gayoon Hyung would kill us all.

"Jin Sooin, let go of Gu Inwoo."

It wasn’t Bambi’s order.

"Gayoon-ah, just how do you raise your subordinates?" Jin Sooin asked, frowning. "They’re just as disrespectful as you."

"Then I raised them well," Ki Gayoon said, scoffing. "Let go of Gu Inwoo now while I’m asking nicely, Jin Sooin."

"Tell your subordinate to let go of Mo Hanjin first."

Ki Gayoon just glanced at Gu Inwoo.

It was enough.

Gu Inwoo clenched his hands, and then the Stone Golem collapsed.

Jin Sooin immediately caught Mo Hanjin before the male Guide hit the floor. Aside from that, Jin Sooin also created a shield to protect Rebecca and Kim Jaeha from getting hit by the falling rocks.

As expected, Esper Jin Sooin-ssi is really reliable.

"Are you alright, Gu Inwoo?"

Gu Inwoo covered his mouth with his hand when he coughed, but he nodded while touching his neck. "Fortunately, you arrived before Sooin Noona broke my neck, Boss."

"You did well surviving before I arrived."

"Thank you, Boss."

Bambi glared at Ki Gayoon. "Hyung, is it really the time to praise your subordinate? Esper Gu Inwoo-ssi followed me when he knew he was not allowed here. He even tried to harm Guide Mo Hanjin-ssi!"

"Gu Inwoo just followed my orders," Ki Gayoon said casually. "You know that we’re here for Mo Hanjin, right?"

"Since when did you become the Esper Association’s lap dog, Hyung?"

"It’s funny that you said that," Ki Gayoon said, smirking. "Espers are originally raised to be the Associations’ killing machines. I don’t like it, but it’s a fact that Espers belong to the Esper Association. And I’d rather be their dog than the National Guide Bureau’s."

Bambi clenched his hands tight. "Hyung, you—"

"Lee Sarang won’t be coming back here," Ki Gayoon said, cutting off Bambi rudely. "And, from now on, Lee Sarang won’t follow orders from the National Guide Bureau. Of course, she’ll still work as this country’s #2 Esper. But she’ll only be accepting job requests from the Esper Association. If the National Guide Bureau needs Lee Sarang’s help, then you have to send an official request to the Esper Association first. Once the Esper Association deems your request valid and reasonable, only then would they forward the request to Lee Sarang’s guild."

Bambi couldn’t say anything because it was the correct protocol.

It only changed when the National Guide Bureau got a hold of the (previous) Top 5 Espers by making them too dependent on the Guides that Bambi handpicked himself. Back then, the Esper Association couldn’t complain because the Top 5 Espers turned their backs on President Kwak Hakjae.

But now that Gayoon Hyung is acting like the Association’s dog, it will be difficult to blatantly bypass the Association’s authority.

"Hyung, Esper Lee Sarang-ssi still needs to come here because her Guide is here."

"We’ll discuss that later," Ki Gayoon said, snapping his fingers. "For now..."

"GAYOON!"

Jin Sooin yelled Ki Gayoon’s name angrily when Mo Hanjin’s body suddenly surged forward in Ki Gayoon’s direction.

When Jin Sooin ran after Mo Hanjin, a wall emerged from the floor— blocking her.

Mo Hanjin then remained suspended in the air, right next to Ki Gayoon.

It seemed like Ki Gayoon "tied" Mo Hanjin with his Mana because the male Guide couldn’t move.

Mo Hanjin looked terrified, but Bambi couldn’t do anything.

"I’m taking Mo Hanjin with me," Ki Gayoon said. "Don’t worry— we’ll follow the due process."

"Hyung, you’re going to regret this."

"Just so you know, if you don’t lay low for now, I’m going to report you next."

"Report me for what?"

"Sexual assault," Ki Gayoon said bluntly. "Luckily for me, Noh Yuno is willing to stand as a witness. Moreover, I have plenty of evidence to prove that you assaulted me that night. Just the fact that you stole HoneyMoon’s aphrodisiac was enough proof, don’t you think so?"

Bambi’s felt his cheeks burn from embarrassment. "Hyung, I just tried to guide you that night."

"Yeah, without my consent. You should really learn from Noh Yuno."

Now Bambi couldn’t really say anything back.

Gayoon Hyung looks serious...

"Yah, Gayoon. If you’re done with your business, then leave," Jin Sooin said, almost growling at Ki Gayoon. "Stop picking on Bambi-ssi."

"You don’t have to tell me— I’m leaving even if you don’t kick me out," Ki Gayoon said, his gaze falling on Jin Sooin. "I’m coming back for you soon."

"Me?" Jin Sooin asked in disbelief, and then she burst out laughing. "Stop being gross, Gayoon."

"I’ll come and get you soon," Ki Gayoon said in a serious tone. "Wait for me, Sooin Noona."

Jin Sooin looked stunned when Ki Gayoon called her ’noona’ sincerely.

Not sarcastically.

And Bambi could see that Jin Sooin wavered just because Ki Gayoon called her ’noona.’

I thought I already destroyed the bond of the original Top 5 Espers...

***

"MADAM, do you want to see something fun?"

Yuno had just finished devouring the boat of fancy sushi that Kang Dabin ordered for him (using Ki Gayoon’s card) when Kang Dabin called him.

He wondered what could be interesting outside.

Kang Dabin was on the balcony. And, although the view of the Han River was nice to look at, it was far from "fun."

Since he’s an Esper, he has sharp eyes, so he definitely saw something.

"Did you see something fun below, Hyung?" Yuno asked when he stood next to Kang Dabin on the balcony. "What is it?"

Kang Dabin grinned while pointing below. "A dust storm."

Huh?

Yuno immediately looked down.

And, true enough, there was a pretty big dust storm happening in front of the fancy apartment complex— and a few cars were being carried away by the strong wind.

"Hyung, help them."

"I created that dust room, so why would I help them?"

Yuno was shocked.

But it made sense.

Dabin Hyung is a sand manipulator, so it’s normal that he can control dust, too.

"I know it’s bad for the environment and our health. But I’m glad that Seoul is literally a dusty place because of the yellow dust and bad air pollution we have here," Kang Dabin said, grinning. "Thanks to that, I can use my ability even if there isn’t that much sand here."

"Okay, cool," Yuno said, glancing at the dust storm worriedly. "But are you trying to kill the people inside those cars?"

"High-ranking Espers won’t die from that."

"Espers? Are those bad Espers?"

Kang Dabin tapped the earbud in his left ear. "According to Yu Minju, those people have been watching Gayoonnie’s penthouse since last night."

Oh.

’Yu Minju’ is Ahjuhyung’s subordinate who leads their Intelligence Unit. And she’s too busy to leave her office.

"Gayoonnie isn’t here, so it’s better to kick those bastards back to where they belong."

And then Kang Dabin moved his hands as if he was conducting an orchestra.

After that, the dust storm got bigger and bigger. As it grew in size, it also started moving farther from the apartment complex.

It was amazing, not only because of Kang Dabin’s ability.

"How come the other cars and everything below aren’t affected by the dust storm, Hyung?" Yuno asked curiously. "They’re not even budging as if they are too heavy to be lifted by the strong wind."

"There’s someone who’s using his ability to prevent that from happening."

Hmm? freewebnøvel.coɱ

Yuno wanted to ask if Ki Gayoon had a subordinate with the same ability as Yang Youngjae (the former #5 Esper with the power to control gravity).

But he was distracted when he got a message from a person he didn’t expect.

<"Hyung, I’m here at HoneyMoon. Can you come here? I want to talk to you.">

Oh.

"Dabin Hyung, I need to go to HoneyMoon," Yuno said, a bit excited. "You’ll go with me, right?"

"Well, I have to if I don’t want Gayoonnie to kill me," Kang Dabin said, smiling. "But, Madam, why do you look excited? Gayoonnie will lose his shit if he saw you that eager to meet someone who isn’t him~"

Aigoo.

***

"GOOD JOB, Yoonyoon~"

Ki Gayoon ignored Moon Noa’s praise.

The sly fox was making a fuss just because he brought Mo Hanjin to the VIP Room where Lee Sarang was.

But he didn’t have time for that.

"Take care of this, Noa Hyung," Gayoon said while checking his phone. "I’ll just make a phone call first."

"Okay~" Moon Noa said cheerfully. "Say ’hi’ to Yuyu for me~"

Gayoon was about to leave the room.

However...

"Gayoon Oppa, wait."

"What is it, Lee Sarang?"

"Thank you for bringing Mo Hanjin here," Lee Sarang said, smiling gratefully at Gayoon. "I owe you."

"Just get better as soon as possible, kid," Gayoon said before heading towards the door. "I’ll bring the others back soon."

He then left the room in a hurry.

When he arrived at the empty emergency staircase, he immediately called Kang Dabin.

"How’s Yuno doing? That punk isn’t replying to my messages, and he’s not picking up my calls either."

<"The madam keeps you calling ’Ahjuhyung,’ Gayoonnie.">

Ah, that meant Noh Yuno was upset with Gayoon.

Is it because I left the house without telling him?

<"And we’re not at home.">

Gayoon knitted his eyebrows. "Where the hell are you then?"

<"The madam has a date with a handsome younger man~">

Fuck.

Of course, he knew that Kang Dabin was just messing with him.

Even so, he didn’t like the fact that Noh Yuno left the house without telling him, especially when it was dangerous for him to be wandering outside without Gayoon.

I know he’s with Kang Dabin, even so... ah, fuck.

Gayoon accidentally crushed the phone in his hand when he gripped it a little tighter.

That’s it— I’m putting a tracker in Noh Yuno’s phone!

***

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