TGIC Ch 81

Chapter 81

Vasily left for the conference room, dragging along the trembling Association staffer cowering in the corner.

Once the private office fell silent, I rose quietly to my feet. Moving toward Vasily’s desk, I began rifling through the mountain of documents piled high like a small fortress.

Judging by his behavior earlier, it was obvious he’d handle the rest of the paperwork just as carelessly.

I should check in advance to see if there was anything important. Knowing Vasily’s schedule would help me plan this week’s tasks as well.

Most of these documents were probably classified, but Vasily wasn’t the type to complain if I happened to sneak a peek. Sitting in his chair, I started reading.

“This week’s schedule is already packed?”

Another raid was scheduled for Vasily.

Barely any time had passed since he cleared the last gate, yet new ones were already popping up one after another.

Among them was a massive gate that looked like it would take several days to subjugate. Whatever happened, I absolutely had to avoid tagging along for that one.

While marking the date firmly on the calendar, my phone buzzed briefly with a notification.

It was a message from Jo Wooyeon; the content appeared on the notification banner at the top of my screen.

— Congratulations! I knew you two were perfect for each other!

— [emoji]

— [photo]

Photo?

Curiosity flared, and I quickly tapped on the message. The chat window opened, revealing a screenshot he’d sent.

The screenshot seemed to be of something captured from elsewhere. The contents weren’t clear, so I clicked to zoom in.

[Exclusive] Vasily in a Relationship?

I blinked in disbelief.

A dating rumor about Vasily? I racked my brain trying to recall whether he’d even had the chance to meet a romantic partner, considering he was practically glued to my side all the time.

The conclusion: he absolutely hadn’t.

Intrigued, I read on. Of course, the report was most likely false—Vasily wasn’t the type to engage in sweet, affectionate romance.

Even if it was nonsense, it was still fascinating. This was an event that hadn’t even happened in my previous life. Whoever dared write such a sensational piece about Vasily—I almost admired their recklessness.

I munched popcorn in my mind as I scrolled further down the article…

“…That’s me.”

The moment I read the first sentence, my whole body turned cold.

[Vasily, recently seen with his guide, Mr. Kwon, in his early twenties…]

I rubbed my eyes and reread it. No mistake. It was me.

No wonder I’d had such bad dreams last night… If they’d exposed the exclusive contract instead, I wouldn’t have felt nearly as wronged.

But of all things, it was a dating rumor? If I died a second time, it would surely be from sheer frustration.

I clutched my head and checked the reporter’s name, ready to call the paper and demand they take it down immediately.

Wait—there’s more below.

I scrolled frantically, but Jo Wooyeon had only captured part of the article. No matter how far I scrolled, I couldn’t see the rest.

I hurriedly searched for the article online.

It was indeed exclusive; only one outlet had it. Gnawing my nails, I read on from where the screenshot had cut off.

“Currently cohabiting at Vasily’s residence… matching rate in the single digits? How did they even find that out?”

The reporter had done surprisingly thorough research.

Which, for me, was a disaster. The accurate details about me lent credibility to the dating rumor.

And at the very bottom of the article was a photo—not showing our faces, but unmistakably Vasily and me. In the Association hallway, no less, in what appeared to be a very intimate embrace…?

When had that ever happened?

Suspecting it was doctored, I suddenly remembered: before the West Sea Gate strategy meeting had even begun, we’d turned the room into chaos. While escorting an injured Vasily to the Association infirmary, he had leaned heavily against me, forcing me to support his weight. Someone must have snapped a shot at that moment.

To outsiders, who didn’t know the context, it would absolutely look like a romantic display of affection. My face went pale as I pressed my forehead and swayed.

How they’d discovered my information or our matching rate was secondary; first, the article needed to be taken down.

I started to call Vasily—but hesitated.

‘Could this be what the meeting was about?’

There were regular Monday morning meetings, but Vasily wasn’t always required to attend. And this article had just gone live this morning—hot off the press. The timing was too perfect.

So that’s why Vasily was called in.

The Association must have seen the article and convened a meeting to decide how to handle it.

Which meant the article would likely be taken down soon anyway. Vasily hated people gossiping about him.

The reporter probably mistook me for his lover because they didn’t know about my low matching rate and exclusive guiding contract with him. For me, though, this was an absolutely nightmarish misunderstanding—enough to sue for emotional damages.

“…What do I even say in reply to Jo Wooyeon?”

After writing and erasing replies multiple times, I gave up and left the chat window.

Four percent matching rate and I’m his exclusive guide? No one would believe me if I tried to explain. The only way to clear this up was to remove the suppressor chip at the back of my neck and restore my original matching rate.

On Friday, I’d press Vasily’s physician to check it. It was a week earlier than scheduled, but who knows? The fusion might already have dissipated enough for removal.

As I anxiously refreshed the article page, waiting for it to vanish, Vasily returned to the private office.

“Ah, Esper Vasily.”

“Sorry for the wait. The meeting ran longer than expected.”

Compared to when he left—snapping from irritation at the guiding interruption—he now seemed in surprisingly good spirits.

I immediately sensed something was off. If he knew about the article, his mood shouldn’t be this light.

Cautiously, I asked,

“What was the meeting about?”

“Mm… nothing much.”

He dodged the question. The evasiveness made it clear he was hiding something from me.

Frowning, I thrust my phone toward him. Vasily glanced at the article on the screen and curved his lips in a faint smile. So he already knew.

I showed him the article point-blank, refusing to let him deny it.

“This is what you call nothing much?”

“Oh, you already saw it? I thought you wouldn’t find out so soon.”

He admitted it easily. Given the timing—the article had gone up just before work—normally I wouldn’t have noticed until the evening news at nine.

“…So what’s going to happen to the article?”

“The photo came out nicely. I told them to give this reporter an award if there’s such a thing as Journalist of the Year.”

“…Don’t tell me you didn’t ask them to take it down?”

His breezy attitude made my voice tremble involuntarily. I looked at him, silently begging for this to be a joke.

“Do we really have to take it down?”

He asked calmly, as if genuinely puzzled.

“Why… why not?! It’s not just about you—there’s stuff about me in there too!”

“It’s not true anyway, so what does it matter?”

“So you’re just going to leave it up?”

“Yeah. If the rumor spreads, people will stop mistaking you for an esper, at least.”

He was referring to what had happened in the gate earlier. Was he still hung up on that incident?

Taking a deep breath to stay calm, I explained,

“You’ve only been in Korea a short while, so you might not know this, but people here are obsessed with celebrity romances. It’s going to be noisy for at least a month. Can you endure that?”

“All that fuss, just for this?”

“It’s going to be on the nine o’clock news.”

“Really? Then I’ll have to watch tonight’s broadcast.”

He sounded intrigued—completely unlike his usual icy reaction to media coverage about himself.

“In that case, just announce that I’m your exclusive guide. We agreed to disclose that when the time was right, didn’t we?”

“Hmm. I still think it’s not the right time. Besides, we said we’d do that after removing the device on your neck and confirming the accurate matching rate.”

Vasily, who had been so eager to reveal that I was his guide as soon as possible, was suddenly backtracking.

I glared at him in silence. He then asked,

“You really want this article gone that badly?”

“…Yes.”

“Then bring me a reason—one good enough to convince me. Because right now, I’m very satisfied with this situation.”

His tone left no doubt: he had absolutely no intention of taking the article down. My teeth clenched in frustration.