OMH Chapter 37
by Volare37. Hooligan (1)
“Cha Woojin! You’re Cha Woojin, right?”
Woojin and I turned our heads towards the voice. It was the Guide from earlier, looking at Woojin with a slightly excited expression.
Woojin also looked quite surprised, so it seemed like he knew him.
“Lee, Lee Hansae? You’re alive.”
Woojin, who was in front of me, went over to the Guide, Lee Hansae or whatever his name was.
Wooreen, who had been clinging to Woojin’s feet, seemed flustered as Woojin suddenly went to a stranger.
Wooreen looked back and forth between me and Woojin, before eventually going to her brother.
“……”
Wooreen didn’t seem to recognize him, so it seemed that the Guide was an acquaintance Woojin had met a long time ago, probably about 7 years ago.
‘It’s rare for someone from a Civilian House/Area to meet someone they knew in the past alive.’
I decided to understand Woojin’s excitement at seeing the Guide.
Of course he’d be happy to see someone he thought was dead appear alive.
I straightened out my clothes that Woojin had messed up.
I smoothed out the crumpled collar, zipped up my zipper, and straightened my sleeves, then checked the strange feeling in my hands that I’d been feeling since earlier.
No wonder I felt like I was using more strength than usual when doing delicate hand movements, my fingernails had almost completely melted.
‘Well, fingernails grow back, so it doesn’t really matter, but it’ll be uncomfortable for a while.’
While I was looking at my melted fingernails, Park Haemi came up to me and spoke.
“Pretending to be so meticulous, but you didn’t see your fingernails were in that state? You and him are really something.”
The cynical Park Haemi immediately started badmouthing Woojin as he walked away. I can understand her cursing me, but I can’t stand her cursing Woojin.
I started to defend Woojin.
“That’s not true. Woojin was very surprised to hear that the yellow liquid all over my body was a substance that could melt almost anything. You explained it to him, right? Woojin told me everything. He was so worried that even a little bit of my skin might have melted. A cold-blooded person like you doesn’t understand Woojin’s heart.”
“He couldn’t even recognize the only melted part, what a great concern. Or is he just clumsy?”
“He’s perfect with an appearance like that, how can he be perfectly detailed too? Woojin is also perfect in some ways with his slightly clumsy parts. Shall we say it’s the aesthetic of imperfection? Rather, the seemingly clumsy parts show an unexpected charm.”
“Huh……”
“Such a handsome face with a clumsy side, isn’t it totally cute? He’s not meticulous, but he’s kind, so he worries that I might be hurt. He’s handsome, cool, pretty, cute, kind, and does everything all by himself, he’s so perfect.”
“……Crazy.”
Haemi, who was talking to me, suddenly took a step back and said she had to go to work now.
Then she called out to the Guide who was standing apart.
“Lee Hansae! If you’re done goofing off, go to work!”
Haemi shouted loudly, and the Guide who was with Woojin reacted.
The Guide, who straightened his back as if struck by lightning, greeted Woojin and Wooreen with a bright expression, and even came to me to greet me.
“It was a pleasure to meet the famous Hana! If I have the chance, let’s meet again next time.”
The affable Guide even smiled brightly after finishing his words, and then quickly ran after Park Haemi.
Now that I think about it, I think I heard that a A-grade Guide had just joined the Research Center, maybe that’s him.
Anyway, I’m glad Woojin made a friend.
Woojin told me that the Guide had been Woojin’s friend since long before the Gate Break.
Although he couldn’t talk for long because Park Haemi took him away so quickly, it seemed that he received the Guide’s contact information.
Now that he has a Guide friend, it will be easier for Woojin to adapt to the Association, right? I’m so glad that Woojin’s friend didn’t get eaten by a monster and became a Guide.
Woojin also wanted to give the Guide his contact information, but he couldn’t because his Smartwatch, like mine, had stopped working.
I comforted Woojin, telling him that since he had received the contact information, he could contact him as soon as he received a new watch, and went to get the watch.
Since this was the Research Center, the department that manages Smartwatches was nearby.
Woojin and I talked as we received new Smartwatches.
As Haemi said, the cost was paid by the Association and our accounts were not touched at all.
I turned on my Smartwatch, thinking that I should spend the rest of the weekend playing with Woojin.
But as soon as I turned on the watch, I had a missed call.
It was from the Guide Director.
*
My schedule became busier due to the Guide Director’s crazy call.
Director Kim contacted me because of the Guide who would be assigned to our mission next week.
Of course, there was a reason why someone as high up as the Director contacted me about such a trivial and common matter.
It was to tell me to take a rookie Guide who had just finished basic training to the field.
The reason why Director Kim contacted me was to tell me to take Woojin to the field next week.
‘Is Director Kim really crazy?’
Woojin has only learned the basic training theory, and hasn’t received any field training yet, but he’s being put into a mission right away.
‘Besides, Woojin hasn’t recovered enough to lift anything heavier than a spoon. Of course, I can carry all the luggage, but he has to carry his own self-defense weapon.’
When I made this appeal, Director Kim retorted that the mission was not high-risk, and that I could protect one Guide enough.
‘No, of course I can do it, but how can the person who taught me to value principles and never break them say that when anything can happen in the field?’
But Director Kim wasn’t originally like this, and seemed very impatient, so I had no choice but to accept.
It’s a simple mission anyway, and I’m confident that I can protect Woojin without hurting a single hair on his head.
I know that the Guide Bureau hasn’t recovered the manpower it lost 3 years ago and is in a state of anxiety, but at the same time, I also know that the Guide Bureau doesn’t thoughtlessly send rookie Guides to their deaths.
Director Kim is doing this because he judged that nothing big will happen if I take Woojin on this mission.
Originally, Director Kim is a stickler for principles and doesn’t take human accidents lightly.
Besides, Director Kim has always taught harshly, but he has definitely raised elite manpower.
If I follow Director Kim’s instructions, it will be good for Woojin in the end.
I was torn between thanking him for trusting me so much and getting angry at the situation of putting Woojin in danger, but I steeled my heart that this was all for Woojin and prepared for next week.
In the end, I couldn’t go out to play with Woojin on the weekend, and I dragged Woojin around all day to get equipment for Woojin.
We looked at dedicated protective equipment throughout the weekend, and I especially carefully examined and chose self-defense products for Woojin.
*
After such a hectic weekend, Monday came and class time was approaching.
I sat Woojin down among the children and started the class for next week.
First of all, to go to the field, you need to know the reason for going to the field and what we have to do.
Usually, they read the mission description and figure it out individually, but rookies don’t know even if they read it.
So, it was the EGA Association’s practice to take them on their first mission during education time and give them related explanations.
There is a reason why they have no choice but to do so.
There are separate common sense and practices only for active duty personnel.
So today, I was mainly going to brief on the mission.
I sorted through the materials I had prepared and turned on the screen. My students’ eyes turned to the screen all at once.
The content I will explain from now on is about “Hooligans”.
The term “Hooligan” as used by the EGA Association refers to Espers who are active outside the Association.
The origin is from those thugs who make a fuss while watching soccer. Of course, the meaning is similar. Both are thugs who resort to violence if they don’t like something.
“Hooligans are Esper tyrants who don’t like the Association and go outside to squeeze the survivors.”
It’s easier to memorize it like this.
Jang Hana, who was listening to my words obediently, said.
“When the Association massively catches Hooligans every winter, does that mean they’re going to catch Espers?”
“Are we going on a human hunt?”
I ignored Jo Yong’s nonsense and answered Jang Hana.
“That’s right. They are Espers who refuse to belong to the Association and live outside, but they keep harassing the survivors, so they’re similar to monsters. It’s good to do it from a humanitarian point of view, and if we just leave them alone, they’ll also bother the Downtown residents and we’ll all be harmed? It’s good to catch them all at once in the winter when the monsters are quiet. We’re busy with monsters on other days.”
“Then, what do you do with the caught Espers?”
Ham Soyoung asked with a serious expression.
That’s a pretty good question for these kids. I answered right away.
“Captured Hooligans receive re-education and enter the Association. We can’t bring Espers who have awakened outside right away, so it’s a pretty common case. These days, many of the new Espers are from Hooligans.”
“Do you accept Espers who have abused people outside here?”
Woojin asked a very important, sharp, and intelligent question.
Woojin is definitely a very smart person.
“Of course, we don’t accept everyone. We judge the severity of the crime and execute many Espers on the spot during missions. There is a limit to the re-education we can do, and we don’t know what will happen in the field.”
Woojin’s expression suddenly darkened as he listened to my explanation.
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