“I’m already tired.”
He pressed his temples and shifted his gaze to search for the child among the busily moving staff.
This was the first time in his life doing this kind of variety show, so he was all the more bewildered.
From what he’d heard from Geuru, it was supposed to be a job experience program.
Where had Geuru gone, and why did he have to sit alone on the set by himself?
Since this was the first filming, he had no idea how things would proceed, and to make matters worse, he’d been thrown right into it without a proper explanation.
What on earth were they trying to do?
The only thing his poor imagination could come up with was working a part-time job at a fast-food restaurant with Geuru.
He’d even been thinking that today might finally be the day the child discovered he couldn’t cook at all.
Seo PD smiled broadly and waved his hand.
“Then, Guild Leader On, let’s begin filming.”
“Huh?”
Jurim raised his head sharply, and a crease formed between his brows.
What did he mean, what were they filming? What about the job experience? Where was Geuru?
But Seo PD simply smiled as if he knew exactly what Jurim was wondering about.
“For now, please just watch the VCR clip we prepared and give us your reactions.”
Jurim found it strange, but decided to watch how things unfolded.
But he should have realized then. He should have stopped it at that very moment.
Before Jurim could say anything, the VCR footage began to play.
There, Geuru was entering the Hyeonak building with quick steps, wearing a shoulder sash.
Jurim fixed his eyes on the screen.
The Hyeonak employees who saw Geuru’s shoulder sash burst into laughter.
Written largely on the sash were the words “One-Day Guild Leader.”
“……?”
Jurim’s mouth fell open.
The PD’s voice followed Geuru along with the camera.
Despite the mild weather, Jurim raised his eyebrows at the chick gloves the child was wearing on only his left hand.
The child clenched both fists tightly.
The cameraman on set uneasily zoomed in on Jurim’s left hand tapping the table incessantly.
Geuru raised his left hand wearing the chick glove with grim determination.
Pffft! Laughter burst out here and there. He could hear Seo PD giggling up front.
Jurim looked at him with a cold gaze.
At that, Seo PD and the staff pressed their lips shut and rolled their eyes downward.
On Jurim squeezed his eyes shut.
He couldn’t believe that even in this situation, he still found the child cute.
…Come to think of it now, maybe it would have been better to just let this world go to ruin.
*
The next scene moved to the Guild Leader’s office.
The One-Day Guild Leader sat as if buried deep in the large chair.
A guild leader must look at documents, after all.
Most of what he’d observed Jurim doing so far had been that kind of work.
‘Alright!’
With tiny hands, he pulled out a random document from the tall stack of files.
The important files were stored separately, and since the ones scattered across the desk were said to be unimportant, he roughly read through it and tried to attach a sticker and stamp it.
‘What is this?’
It was English!
Countless difficult English words lined up before him, and his ambitious spirit shriveled up instantly like dried pollack.
While he was flustered and at a loss, Seo PD asked.
Geuru raised his eyes, slightly conscious of the camera, and muttered small.
The camera moved toward the document.
Then Geuru hugged the document tightly to his chest and rolled his eyes around.
The child hesitated, seeming to read the atmosphere, then soon took out a chick eyepatch from his bag.
Geuru put on the chick eyepatch and nodded roughly.
Geuru slightly lifted the chick eyepatch.
And then slipped it back down.
On the set, Seo PD asked, suppressing his laughter.
“Guild Leader On, you look like you have a lot to say. Would you like to make an excuse?”
“No… it’s not that I sleep a lot, it’s just—”
Truth was, he slept.
Jurim rubbed his face with the expression of someone being scolded.
“Yes, I see. Understood perfectly.”
“I think we can stop this now? Don’t you think?”
“Alright, alright, let’s quickly continue before we’re forced to end this.”
A subtitle appeared stating that Geuru had really slept straight for an hour.
And in the next scene that followed, Geuru was moving around busily on a bicycle.
The subtitle “Great Crisis!” popped up below.
‘What is it?’
As far as he knew, nothing much had happened while he was away on business.
Seo PD voiced the question in his stead.
His face as he spoke urgently was full of tension.
It was an important schedule.
Moreover, managing the break room seemed like the work of a diligent guild leader.
“Guild Leader On. You have to make sure the break room doesn’t run out of snacks, right?”
“Can you please stop asking questions?”
Jurim, resting his chin on his hand, spoke as if holding back irritation, and eventually laughter burst from Seo PD.
While Geuru made a fuss to Nayeon, saying it was an emergency and they had run out of snacks—
The child checked his watch and once again moved around busily on his bicycle.
Jurim clenched his fist tightly.
Gidan, it was you again.
Without thinking of the consequences, Geuru took out what he had been hiding behind his back and showed it.
When Seo PD looked at it in surprise and recognized it, Geuru puffed his shoulders out proudly.
Proud, so proud.
His white, mochi-like cheeks flushed red as his shoulders stretched back so far they might fall behind him.
Jurim narrowed his eyes. It was quite a talent to get so puffed up from a single compliment.
He must have really wanted to boast, for his words grew longer.
Jurim, who had been nervous the child might say something off, let out a small sigh when the screen moved on.
Now, Geuru was preparing together with Serhi, Gidan, and Raid Team 1.
When Geuru showed them his shoulder sash, everyone burst into laughter.
Geuru, who had been pretending to give orders with a solemn expression, spotted the snacks on the table and put them in his bag.
The Team 1 leader hugged Geuru and rubbed his beard against him.
Jurim ran the tip of his tongue along the inside of his cheek.
‘So everyone knew except me?’
No wonder everyone had been twitching the corners of their mouths whenever they saw him for the past few days. They had been keeping the secret for today.
While he stood there with his arms crossed and a sulky face, the raid personnel began to gather one by one in the dungeon.