Facing an unusual situation, Heewoo gripped the strap of his crossbody bag tightly. If it were the usual Heewoo, he would have stepped forward without much thought to help someone in difficulty. Because he himself desperately hoped someone would help when he was in difficulty too.
However, what that person was currently looking for was none other than a ‘guide.’ Heewoo had never yet come forward as a guide in front of other people, and Heichi’s words of repeated advice still remained vividly in his head.
‘Be careful not only of direct skin contact but also indirect contact through fabrics or fibers.’
Although he’d gained no results at the PC cafe he’d visited to learn the reason, Heichi must have had some reason to advise him repeatedly. Heewoo tried to look away, suppressing the desire to help those before his eyes.
“Please! Please, someone help! At this rate he’ll die!”
“What’s wrong?”
The street in front of the PC cafe was a busy district with a lot of foot traffic, so there were many other people besides Heewoo. Fortunately, while Heewoo was agonizing, one brave person stepped forward. However, the face of the person who stepped forward was particularly handsome and clean-cut.
“Gasp, it’s Kim Sowoon.”
“Really? Kim Sowoon? That Korea’s first Brown?”
“A celebrity appears here? No, a guide appears?”
Sounds of people inhaling could be heard around them upon seeing the face of the man who bravely stepped forward. Heewoo, mixed in among the crowd, quietly watched the man whose name was probably ‘Kim Sowoon.’ He approached the collapsed esper, bent one knee, and sat down.
“A-are you a guide? Please help. Here, there’s an esper who suddenly……”
“Mm…… I am a guide, but I don’t know the details either, so what should I do about this.”
“Could you at least hold his hand? I’m scared he’ll die at this rate!”
Kim Sowoon lowered his head to look down at the esper’s hand that had fallen to the ground. As pity was inscribed in his eyes and he was about to grasp the esper’s hand—
“Stop.”
An amazing thing happened. Though there seemed to be no one approaching nearby, when he blinked once, suddenly some man was standing in front of Kim Sowoon. Heewoo opened his mouth in surprise at that ridiculous situation that couldn’t be explained without superpowers. The reactions pouring out from around were similar.
“Where did that person suddenly appear from?”
“An esper?”
“I-is that really a superpower……?”
Though it had already been quite a while since espers landed on Earth, ordinary people rarely had opportunities to witness superpowers. People were each astonished in different ways and began to focus on the fascinating scene before them.
“Kim Sowoon-ssi. Don’t go any closer.”
“Ah…… But it’s an emergency situation.”
“It’s not possible. ……The other bastards won’t agree either.”
Though he forcibly blocked the way, at the gentle persuading tone, Kim Sowoon eventually lowered the hand he was about to grasp. When Kim Sowoon seemed to give up, the esper who turned around looked down at the person who had asked for help and said,
“We will take this person according to esper emergency response procedures.”
“N-no, what if something goes wrong on the way……!”
“That too is this person’s fate.”
Though he should also be an esper like himself, Kim Sowoon’s esper’s eyes looking down at him were extremely cold. At those eyes, the person who had been asking for help also seemed to sense something was wrong and suddenly blocked the way. The man hugged the collapsed esper tightly and shouted.
“You can’t do that! Let me at least see him open his eyes, please!”
“Stand aside. If time is delayed like this, a rampage will……”
It was before the esper’s words could even finish. Heewoo momentarily felt a faint vibration coming from beneath his feet. It was a vibration of unknown origin when there wasn’t even a subway station nearby. However, it seemed not only Heewoo but the surrounding people, and the esper before his eyes, also felt that vibration.
The eyes of the esper who had collapsed on the ground without moving as if dead opened again. However, it was a clearly dangerous state with no black pupils, only whites remaining. From that man’s hand, tree branches suddenly burst out and began to sweep around indiscriminately.
“Kyaaaak!”
“Aaaaah!”
The people who had gathered to watch the commotion scattered frantically. On the other hand, the esper who had blocked Kim Sowoon looked at that situation and muttered quietly.
“Ah, fuck.”
It was a very precise curse. Heewoo, being close by, also clearly heard that curse. The esper whispered something small toward Kim Sowoon, then soon nodded his head and took a step forward.
“From this moment forward, I will respond according to rampaging esper emergency response procedures.”
No sooner had the words ended than the esper’s form briefly disappeared from sight, then appeared behind the esper using tree branches. At the appearance that looked exactly like teleportation, Heewoo’s eyes widened in surprise. Kim Sowoon suddenly ran toward the direction where Heewoo was standing.
“Everyone evacuate! Quickly!”
“Uh, yes, yes……!”
Heewoo also became flustered and began to move his steps following Kim Sowoon. Running in the same direction as Kim Sowoon by chance, Heewoo turned around at a sudden feeling, then was startled when his eyes met the pupilless whites of the tree branch esper. If it seemed like he was looking in his direction, was it an illusion?
From then on, Heewoo ran without looking back. Of course, Kim Sowoon was following along beside him.
“Damn it, Kim Sowoon-ssi……!”
But suddenly an anxious sound came from behind, and Heewoo unknowingly looked back again. There, the tree branch esper who seemed to have lost reason had already shaken off Kim Sowoon’s esper and was closely following in this direction. The speed of movement as he struck the ground thud, thud using tree branches was tremendous.
Similarly, Kim Sowoon, who had turned around at the voice calling him, witnessed that scene and was shocked with horror. The thought that an esper who had lost reason was chasing him made Kim Sowoon anxious. Kim Sowoon, who had been running anxiously, eventually tripped over protruding flooring material and fell.
“Ah, ugh……!”
In contrast, Heewoo, who had been running properly, saw Kim Sowoon fall and for an instant, he deliberated. Was it right to run with Kim Sowoon? Or was it right to just close his eyes tight and abandon him?
Before judging rationally, Heewoo moved his body first. He supported the fallen Kim Sowoon and stood up swiftly.
“L-let’s go……!”
“Th-huk, thank you.”
Because Kim Sowoon was limping as if he couldn’t properly put strength in his legs, Heewoo used all his strength to support him and ran. However, after not even a few steps, the back of his neck was grabbed with a thud by a tree branch that flew from behind.
The situation where Kim Sowoon, whom he’d been supporting, tumbled down and he himself was dragged as the distance gradually increased, came to him like slow motion. The back of his neck caught in the tree branch was still pulling Heewoo strongly. Only then did Heewoo realize that that esper had been targeting himself, not Kim Sowoon, from the beginning.
“P-please save me……”
Help me.
Save me.
Rescue me…….
Heewoo desperately reached out his hand toward Kim Sowoon, who had sunk down on the ground. However, Kim Sowoon with a dazed face didn’t even seem to think of approaching to rescue Heewoo. Terrible fear pierced through his head. His breathing diminished, his pupils trembled crazily, and his teeth chattered.
I’m going to die. Like this, I’m going to die.
It was at that moment. Something changed as if the flow of air reversed. The tree branch that had been recklessly biting and dragging Heewoo’s neck also abruptly stopped its actions. Heewoo trembled and slowly turned his head.
Then he could see the tree branch esper, who had somehow gotten this close, standing right nearby. That appearance with only whites remaining looked exactly like seeing a ghost, making goosebumps rise all over his body for a moment. However, he was strangely motionless.
Heewoo witnessed once again ‘something’ that extended long behind that esper’s back. It was similar to what he’d seen at the convenience store. However, not as huge as that time, pitifully sharp and pointed as it jutted up…….
“You, what are you?”
At the voice heard right behind him, Heewoo whipped his head around. The esper with only whites remaining had already lost reason and his movements had stopped, so it was hard to see him as producing such a clear voice. Then there was only one person who could approach him this much and speak to him now.
“What is……this?”
He was Kim Sowoon’s esper. Though reason clearly seemed to remain, somehow the signs were strange. The esper, who had been approaching Heewoo as if entranced, soon—
Pat.
Unknowingly reached out his hand and caressed Heewoo’s exposed nape. From the lukewarm fingertips that were neither cold nor hot, Heewoo felt something ‘connecting.’
