# Chapter 20
“Mr. Min Jaehwi.”
Jay’s voice pierced his ears again. It was time to return to reality.
He let his arm, which had been wrapped around Raon’s waist, fall limply.
Raon, who had been leaning against him motionless as if he’d fallen asleep, was moved away. Jay lifted him up as if this was a familiar task.
“Mmm?”
Raon’s closed eyes opened briefly, but upon seeing Jay’s face right in front of him, they closed again. His small head moved and buried itself against Jay’s chest.
“Do you need a car?”
One of Raon’s hands, which hadn’t found a proper place to rest, hung down. From his position, Jaehwi couldn’t see Raon’s face. As Jaehwi took a step closer, Jay took a step back.
“Why are you being cautious now after leaving us alone all this time?”
Seeing Jay’s wary attitude, Jaehwi laughed dejectedly and grabbed Raon’s dangling wrist, placing it back on his body. He wanted Raon to be comfortable, even for the short time it would take to get to the car.
“The young master won’t be aware of this.”
Jaehwi, who had been turning away since staying any longer would just be lingering attachments, stopped.
“It’s just a drinking habit. And next month, the young master will meet someone, and by next year, he’ll be married.”
Jaehwi, who had been showing his back to Jay, slowly turned around. He noticed Jay’s complicated and uncomfortable expression.
“These people’s lives are predetermined. I’m telling you this for your benefit, Mr. Min Jaehwi. And this plan—the young master is unaware of it. Since it’s decided by the family, they’ll make it flow naturally. From the meeting to the marriage, everything will flow as naturally as water. It will be a meeting between families, but in everyone’s eyes, it will look like the romance of the century. I believe the young master will be happy.”
It seemed more appropriate to have this conversation amidst the noisy crowd than in a quiet place. Jaehwi raised his hand and pulled his cap lower to hide his face. He couldn’t guess what his expression looked like right now.
There were few things Jaehwi could say or do. He chose what seemed most rational among them. He turned away from Jay and Raon. He left the chaotic club. And he walked. Very slowly.
* * *
Raon, with his arms crossed, stared through the transparent glass window. Though he had arrived here and had been standing in front of the window for over 30 minutes, he hadn’t moved at all.
Jaehwi was sitting in a chair in the middle of a white room the size of a basketball court. Raon observed the numerous complex lines connected to his body and his closed eyes.
“What’s the problem?”
In the space where only the steady sound of machines had been audible, Hyukjin’s voice, tinged with a sigh, emerged softly. Raon, who hadn’t even blinked properly, turned his head to look at him.
“What?”
“The measurements. They’re exactly the same as what we received from NCSC. It’s impossible to have zero deviation. He’s human, and there should be some basic variability depending on his condition. If it’s like this, there’s no point in testing. To control to this extent while unconscious… Haah—. I really don’t know.”
Seeing Hyukjin, who was frantically running his hands through his hair, slump onto the desk, Raon quietly sat in the empty chair beside him. He moved the microphone toward himself. Without hesitation, he pressed the red button in front.
“E1101S. Min Jaehwi. Let’s increase it by exactly 3 percent from now.”
After finishing his words, Raon released the red button.
“This is driving me crazy. Really.”
From the moment Raon grabbed the microphone, Hyukjin, who was watching the monitor, let out a curse. Looking at the brain waves, Jaehwi was still in an unconscious state. The only temporary change in the brain waves was in the auditory section.
But as if toying with everyone here, the numbers changed. The 3% Raon had mentioned.
“Like you said, measuring him is pointless. Focus on the guiding tests instead of these physical ones. Is the list ready?”
Raon, who had been hoping, moistened his dry lips with his tongue and leaned back in the chair. Hyukjin, who had pressed a few more buttons to decide whether to end the test, pulled a file from the drawer.
Raon took the file and left the test room. Even by the time he had left this space and arrived at his office, Jaehwi remained in an unconscious state.
Raon tapped the table with his pen while looking only at the cover of the file on his desk. He should have flipped through it, but his hand didn’t readily move. Whenever Jaehwi saw him, he would always speak first and smile brightly.
He would listen to whatever Raon said. As if he had suddenly become a good child. Though he had received a contract deposit and said he’d find a place to move out, he was still at Raon’s hotel. In the meantime, he had obtained a driver’s license and was driving the car Raon had gifted him. He accepted whatever Raon gave him with gratitude and never refused his suggestions.
Even about the Guide.
The pen dropped from his hand. And his fingertip touched Raon’s lips. When he applied pressure with his index finger, his lips were firmly pressed. When he released the pressure, his finger moved back a bit, and his lips returned to their shape. His plan to meet someone else at the club had clearly failed.
The thought of fainting on the dance floor due to his terrible stamina and then waking up in his own bed—he couldn’t believe it. Plus, remembering how he was scolded at the lab the next day made him chuckle.
They needed to make Jaehwi’s stabilizer with his blood, but he had drunk until he was intoxicated. In the end, they couldn’t draw blood that day. For several days, Raon’s diet had been changed to a healthy one.
Raon took out a bubble gum from the drawer and chewed it. No coffee, no chocolate, no candy. He wondered why there were so many foods he shouldn’t eat. He felt fortunate that at least gum was allowed.
He chewed loudly, reflecting his discomfort, and even blew large bubbles. After repeatedly blowing and popping bubbles, Raon opened the file.
“When Jaehwi wakes up and his condition stabilizes, send him up here. We need to talk about Guides. Oh, and what’s his current level?”
After contacting Hyukjin, Raon stared at one page. A Guide with a cute smile on a white face caught his attention. At the fresh young age of 20, S-grade. Born to an American mother and Korean father, he was suitable to work as a Guide in Korea.
“22 percent. It seems to have dropped more because of the test just now. We’ve administered a temporary stabilizer. I’ll check the stabilization level in about 30 minutes and send him up.”
After ending the call with Hyukjin, Raon flipped to the next page. Aiden Jung. He had received basic Guide training in the U.S., was healthy, and had excellent guiding abilities.
His bright smile on a face that still retained some baby fat was truly radiant. Wouldn’t he look beautiful alongside Jaehwi? Moreover, since he was currently in Korea, there wouldn’t be any significant issues.
Raon, who had been busily chewing gum and blowing bubbles, closed the file he had been looking at, his lips no longer moving.
* * *
“What are you saying?”
Raon, with a hardened expression, looked out the window beyond Jay.
“The NCSC side…”
“What’s his stabilization level that he’s been dispatched to the scene? This isn’t right. There’s a provision about participating during national disasters, but that’s only when his condition is good. How does it make sense that he left without even reporting to me, the team leader of the management team?”
He had focused on his work, not paying much attention to the matter, believing Jaehwi would come on his own as time passed.
“What about Hyukjin?”
“He went to the scene together.”
“So it was only a secret from me? I don’t know where the reporting went wrong, but once this is over, I’ll definitely hold someone accountable, so relay that message. And where’s the site?”
Upon hearing it was at the East Sea, Raon looked at Jay. How long would it take to get to the East Sea? Understanding the current situation was the priority. Raon quickly pulled out his mobile phone and called Hyukjin as he hurriedly left the office.
“The helicopter is ready.”
“Report.”
As soon as he boarded the helicopter, Raon put on the headset connected to the scene.
[From an underwater dungeon occurring 84km northeast of Donghae City….]
“No, I mean about Nox.”
The state of the dungeon wasn’t important to him right now.
[16 percent.]
“What?”
As soon as he heard the number, a curse escaped Raon’s lips. He had been told they had administered a stabilizer. But the 16% figure wasn’t much different from the previous U.S. dungeon.
Even after administering the stabilizer, Jaehwi’s level was only at 23%, and they said he had been dispatched as part of the standby team.
“Standby team, shit. His level dropped from 23 percent to 16 percent, and you call that a standby team?”
Raon, who had shouted angrily at Hyukjin, turned his gaze away from the window and covered his face with both hands.
[There’s a Guide prepared here too. And we have enough stabilizer for two doses, so don’t worry too much.]
“What Guide? He doesn’t have a Guide! And the site is an underwater dungeon, you said!”
[He’s on a nearby aircraft carrier. You can land there too. The Guide is Aiden, a 20-year-old S-grade. Didn’t you check the file?]
Raon slowly lowered his hands that had been covering his face. It was definitely the name he had just seen in the file. The age and grade matched the Guide that had caught his attention.
[The site situation has been cleared up, and they’re about to return. Since it’s underwater, it will take some time to come up. The Guide is on standby in the control room because his stabilization dropped below 20 percent and he has a headache.]
Raon unilaterally cut off the communication. Suddenly, strange emotions overwhelmed him. Jaehwi had probably been deployed to countless such sites until now. There must have been many moments when his stabilization level was unstable like this.
If he had been reported to, what would he have done? Raon would have prevented him from going to the scene even if it meant a falling out with NCSC. Amidst the noise and shaking of the helicopter, he closed his eyes.
No matter how late he was, no matter what happened, he had to trust the Guide named Aiden.
