STJ_15
"....what?"
"Guide Joo Doyoung's callsign is Juliet."
"Is there anything else?"
"What do you mean?"
He felt like he couldn't stand it if everyone called him Juliet. The panicked Doyoung grabbed the soldier's arm and pleaded.
"Since… since my name is Doyoung, what if you change it to D?"
Then he immediately looked at the chart on the table. D was 'Delta'. It was a million times better than Juliet.
"Sorry. Those are the rules."
Doyoung's face darkened after learning that the rules were what the soldiers were most afraid of. Ignoring Doyoung, the soldier was busy moving to another table, then quickly handed Doyoung a new ID card.
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[Promotion / Support Guide
Chief Joo Doyoung]
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"This is your new staff card. We've never had a UEFC staff member who was a Guide, so we've held several meetings for this. But Guide duties are not always available, and Chief here as a professional."
"So?"
"So we decided to keep your position in the PR department. You will be enrolled in both the PR department and the Guide Support department. This is an unusual case and a first in the history of the UEFC."
His tone was full of hidden pressure, as if he wanted Doyoung to be proud. Doyoung smiled faintly and accepted his staff ID card.
The photo on the card was of Doyoung's face when he was 23 years old. He didn't expect the photo, which was taken in preparation for the journalism exam, to be used in this way.
"The security level has also been raised to level 3. Report the loss of your ID card immediately. Failure to report the loss of the ID card is also a violation of the security law."
Doyoung came out after receiving Juliet's callsign, which he inevitably had to get used to, and his new ID card. And he took his first steps as a Guide.
***
The first day in Guide's support department was the same for everyone. Doyoung, who left the personnel department with a heavy heart, went to the research building. This was where the matching test would be conducted.
But before he reached his destination, Doyoung happened to overhear someone arguing.
"It's not even a big gate, is it? Sending a Class A is enough. Is it necessary to send Sa Iijun?"
"It's not about the battle. There are many countries that don't have any Esper at all, and even the countries that have S-class Esper are less than ten. Do you know how many people in countries without Esper feel insecure and want to emigrate?"
Doyoung now knew who the researcher with the horn-rimmed glasses was.
Min Seongyu. The director of the UEFC research building.
And the person he was arguing with was the commander of the UEFC, Jeon Haesu.
"So you're using Sa Iijun for politics? Do you think these people will vote for you the next time you run for office?"
"Regardless of my unattainable personal goals, let's recognize what needs to be recognized. A country's strength is its population. With so many people dying in the gate incidents, the birth rate has plummeted. In this era of a population gap, wouldn't it be grateful if people could at least immigrate?"
"You know Sa Iijun's condition. Even now, after one training session, it takes fifteen Guides to heal him. Is it necessary to send him abroad? What if something happens?"
"Doctor Min, you seem to have misunderstood. Are you Sa Iijun's biological father? Sa Iijun is a soldier by nature. He is a soldier who must fight on the battlefield."
The debate came to a halt. Min Seongyu seemed to back down after being pushed by Jeon Haesu's strong conviction.
"And even if I hear these words, shouldn't I hear them from Minister Sa Geonho? I know Doctor Min cares about Sa Iijun, but isn't this a bit much?”
“.......”
Min Seongyu's mumbling voice did not sound good. It seemed like he was probably admitting that he had gone too far and apologizing. Just as Doyoung was confused, Haesu suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Oh my-"
"I didn't know you had an eavesdropping hobby, Chief Joo Doyoung?"
Her face looked calm as if nothing had happened.
"I didn't mean that. You were talking loudly in the hallway where people were passing by."
"Ohh, you're good at answering too."
Haesu shook her head completely and asked.
"Does Chief Joo also think that I did something wrong?"
"......"
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Didn't Sa Iijun become an Esper against his will? I think what he went through doesn't make sense. And what I saw in the lab that day... I don't think you can escape this responsibility, Commander."
"It seems you lost your fear after returning from the dead?"
Haesu said with a subtle smile, without showing the slightest discomfort.
"We didn't force it. You know Sa Iijun, right? He's not someone you can force. Experiment? It was something he agreed to because of his sense of responsibility as a soldier..."
"Sense of responsibility? You just want him to believe that, right?"
"Yes?"
"Isn't that more like gaslighting?"
"What? Gaslighting?”
Haesu gasped in surprise.
"Did you really give him the chance to refuse? Did Sa Iijun know that he had the option to refuse? Did you also explain to him that no one would be disappointed even if he chose a different path?"
"......."
"He was only six years old at the time. Did he really understand and agree?"
"Really. You've become fearless, huh? Chief Joo Doyoung."
Haesu spoke with a smile, but her eyes were as sharp as a well-sharpened knife.
"Today is the day of the matching test, right? I hope you get good results."
Whether it was an interrogative or descriptive sentence, it seemed to be her habit to always end her sentences with a question mark. This made her words sound more ambiguous.
Doyoung bowed slightly and passed by.
Haesu, left alone in the hallway, asked her personal aide who was standing one step behind her.
"Do you think I just said something wrong to him?"
"Yes...?"
"I feel lost right now. What do you think objectively?"
"Ah, haha... Well…”
Haesu took her eyes off his subordinate, who looked confused and blank out of the window.
"Phew... This is going to be difficult."
"Is there something you have trouble with? It looks good. You've changed your attitude to be more friendly to the Esper."
"That's the problem. I have to act as if I'm Sa Iijun's guardian, as registered."
"Ah, is that bad?"
"No, it is not. The problem is that the opposite is true."
"......."
"If I do that... that's crazy."
Haesu wore a sad expression as if he was lost in thought.
"Come to think of it, there's not much left."
"What?"
"Today is the anniversary of their mother's death.”
***
The measuring room where the matching test was conducted was surprisingly small. It was designed as a perfectly airtight room so that the energy of the Guide would not leak out in the slightest.
In the center were two large reclining chairs with a hand support bar between them. Esper would sit in the chair next to it and hold hands as they placed their hands on it.
"After you sit in the measuring chair, the Espers enter one by one. Measurements start every hour and take about 30 minutes per person, with a 30-minute break afterward."
As Doyoung nodded, a staff member in a white uniform continued his explanation.
"If the match rate is high, Esper will be the first to know. Esper will probably suggest an imprint, but you can refuse. If Esper tries to force you, you can report it immediately. Here, hold this device during the test. Press it immediately if you feel threatened.
"Forced? No way the scum would go that far.”
Doyoung was handed a small device with a red button in the center. The staff member spoke to the unwary rookie Guide with a serious expression.
"For Esper, a Guide is the key to survival. It is humanity's greatest desire. Above all, human dignity and morality... What can't be done?"
His completely humorless voice sent a shiver down his spine for no reason.
"Today there is a test with five Esper scheduled."
He explained that the matching test was done by rank, and within the same rank, it was done by rank. Doyoung, who had nodded occasionally while listening to his explanation, suddenly raised his head.
"Then my first opponent is... Lieutenant Colonel Sa Kangjun...?"
"No, Lieutenant Colonel Sa did not participate in the test.”
“Ah....”
At that moment, someone knocked on the door and opened it. It was Kim Hangyeol, Sa Kangjun's personal assistant, who always followed her superiors like a goldfish.
She quickly came in and started spraying disinfectant on Esper's chair and hand support. The staffer who was there to explain couldn't hide his puzzled expression and asked.
She quickly walked in and started spraying disinfectant on Esper's chair and hand support. The staff member conducting the test asked, unable to hide his confusion.
"Huh? Sergeant Kim, why did you come here?"
And before Hangyeol had a chance to answer, Sa Kangjun appeared from the open door, wearing his usual neat, immaculate uniform.
He was a man with an unrealistic appearance no matter when he saw him. With his sharp eyebrows lowered, he slowly approached, looking like a white snake with scales and sparkling blue eyes.
Doyoung lowered his eyes to his neck. There was an Adam's apple sticking out above the neatly buttoned uniform collar. Somehow he felt like he was looking at an intimate body part.
"I came to take the matching test.”
Sa Kangjun, who spoke in a low voice so that it could not be imitated, slowly raised his hand. Then, he grabbed the end of his right glove with his left hand and gently took it off.
"......!"
The black leather glove revealed the back of a hand with protruding veins. Even the fingers were sleek and straight.
Doyoung unconsciously turned his head. Just like a moment ago, he felt like he was seeing something he shouldn't.
Was removing the gloves an obscene thing? Didn't it seem like taking off the belt right before sex?
It seemed that he wasn't the only one who felt this way. The faces of the staff members who were with him also turned red.
In this room, Kim Hangyeol was the only one who didn't feel the strange atmosphere, as she diligently disinfected the chair her boss was sitting on.
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