Soft-hearted Han Seoha clasped his hands together as if praying and even closed his eyes. What actually came to mind was a pleasant miscalculation about Ryu Jaegeon.
No matter how many times he thought about it, Ryu Jaegeon’s feelings toward Han Seoha had changed. It seemed like he’d gone from regret over a lost toy to suddenly realizing, after unwrapping it, that it was a precious trophy. If that could be called affection, then it was affection.
He obediently let himself be dragged away, and he only looked at Han Seoha until the very end.
Not anger, but hurt feelings.
Rather than putting up his pride asking how dare Han Seoha treat Ryu Jaegeon coldly, the resentment of someone who felt betrayed was fully revealed.
Until he pulled his shoulder away, it was at most light obsession. It would be good to figure out what suddenly awakened his affection.
This case was ambiguous to judge since it wasn’t intentional.
Perhaps Ryu Jaegeon’s true feelings hidden deep inside had popped out, but the pain Han Seoha had experienced was too vivid to dare acknowledge it as love. If it was affection that could pop out so easily, the abandoned Han Seoha from his previous life was too pitiful.
Whether it’s coincidence or delusion doesn’t matter.
Whatever the reason, the direction to exploit it was clear. Since things turned out this way anyway, he could also use Ryu Jaegeon to obtain necessary information.
Having finished organizing his thoughts, Han Seoha wiped away his tears and gripped Jeong Iro’s hand, who was pretending to sleep, even tighter. Judging from the sensation of rapidly sucking in guiding, as expected, he was conscious.
Han Seoha called out to Jeong Iro sorrowfully, swallowing his sobs as if he hadn’t noticed.
“Iro-ya……”
As if utterly heartbroken.
“Wake up, Iro-ya……”
Mixing in trembling as if afraid of losing him.
“I’ll protect you. I’ll make sure nothing hurts you. So… come back quickly.”
Despite the gentleness that whisperingly scratched at Jeong Iro’s heart, he didn’t open his eyes. Even as his hand trembled from the guiding being sucked out almost to the end, he didn’t let go. Until finally, an automatic warning alarm that would rarely ring sounded on Han Seoha’s watch.
“Come with me… to our home…”
He forcibly held onto his scattering consciousness and looked at Jeong Iro. The ash-gray eyes that opened and looked this way only gazed at Han Seoha collapsing without any emotion, not moving at all.
Ah, this is a bit dangerous.
Would it be possible to move this and make him protect Han Seoha?
Contrary to the ominous thought, Han Seoha’s expression was infinitely gentle.
“Our Iro……”
He was acting like that because he didn’t yet know how precious what he held in his hands was. If he continued to give affection, cherish him, and pour out tenderness, Jeong Iro would also come to know how special Han Seoha was.
Originally, children are easily influenced. He’s not a real child, but it would be possible.
But before that, he was going to die.
“Guide Han Seoha!”
Despite the loud warning sound, he heard someone urgently calling him from far away in that endlessly sinking sensation, but he absolutely couldn’t open his eyes.
The surroundings became noisy with warnings toward Jeong Iro and concerns toward Han Seoha mixed together. The sound of other wavelengths colliding with, bursting against, and breaking apart from the fierce wavelength that wouldn’t release the tightly gripped hand was close yet only felt distant.
“Jeong Iro! Let go of the Guide!”
“This crazy bastard, you’ll break Guide Han Seoha at this rate!”
Thanks to the watch detecting the Guide’s danger and putting in an automatic call, only two from the suppression team had rushed over. It was a mistake that occurred because they assumed it was the same Guide putting in a report twice in one day.
His mind was captivated by the soft guiding that continued endlessly, seemingly about to break but never breaking, as it kept sucking energy from the unconscious person.
Good. I want to suck it all out to the very end.
Seoha hyung will forgive me anyway.
It’s okay to do it, right, Seoha hyung?
Even as the unconscious Han Seoha slid down off the bed, the subdued Jeong Iro didn’t release his hand.
“Hey, break it.”
“Is this bastard an enhancement type? He won’t budge.”
It was difficult for the suppression team Espers to control Jeong Iro, who had recovered almost perfectly while resting, with their strength. Since being affected by the control device was fair, if they pushed with numbers, even an Esper should be easily subdued inside the Association.
“Should we request support? This is embarrassing.”
“Is that what you’re worried about right now? You wanna kill the Guide?”
With Han Seoha’s complexion turning pale in real-time, they weren’t in a position to be picky about means and methods. Just as the suppression team was about to strike Jeong Iro with a stationed chair while calling for team backup, they instinctively dodged from a chilling and heavy wavelength.
Crack. Crunch.
The source of the sound of bones being crushed and smashed was Jeong Iro’s arm. Precisely, the part that had been his wrist crumpled. Cutting or breaking would have been enough to release the hand. It revealed how twisted the owner of the wavelength’s mood was. Jeong Iro’s reaction, watching this without even letting out a groan, was also eerie.
“Shouldn’t guiding warnings be handled by team units?”
At the clearly reproachful question, the suppression team couldn’t even meet his eyes despite Baek Uihyeon withdrawing his wavelength. Before an S-rank’s anger, control devices and such were useless. He was even generous, merely crushing a wrist.
Baek Uihyeon, who plucked Jeong Iro’s fingers off one by one from the arm of the pale Han Seoha collapsed on the floor, embraced his Guide without hesitation.
“Haah… Seoha-ssi. This is really too much.”
Because his guiding energy had been mercilessly drained, he couldn’t feel anything beyond the skin in contact with Baek Uihyeon. No matter how much he tried to calm his mind, it was hard to suppress the anger toward the Esper who caused this trouble.
Did he really need to hold back?
Eliminating Jeong Iro here would be an easy task. How long should he understand Jeong Iro, who only greedily exploited the only one who would guide him of their own accord?
“Seoha-ssi is just too harsh only to me, so I’m a bit hurt.”
If he didn’t whine to the unconscious person, it was hard to quell the anger that had nowhere to go. Even if an Esper was at the rampage risk stage, it could be resolved by attaching multiple Guides, but if a Guide collapsed from guiding energy depletion, there was no answer. It was natural since there was no way to return the energy.
Fortunately, just separating Jeong Iro allowed him to confirm Han Seoha’s color gradually returning, and the anger that had been seething like flames subsided. As Baek Uihyeon wiped the cheek with tear stains, it was hard to remove his hand from the sensation of the soft skin.
Why did he want to touch him even though his guiding energy was depleted?
Along with the regret of hastily parting in the busy dawn, even a small wish to safely put him to sleep in his arms like this bloomed.
It was time to go to the Gate, but he could afford a little leeway. Even if he couldn’t, it didn’t matter. Just by not immediately installing Han Seoha as his pair, he was upholding the Association Director’s authority.
“It’ll be hard to heal with a healer of an ambiguous grade. Contact them to collaborate with a surgeon.”
Busy taking care of Han Seoha, Baek Uihyeon left the hospital room leaving only instructions without further reproach. As soon as Baek Uihyeon’s presence moved away, the suppression team who had barely been holding on collapsed right there.
“Whoa, crazy, S-ranks are real monsters.”
“Cough cough, shut up, you crazy bastard. They say S-ranks’ hearing is no joke too.”
The sharp and heavy wavelength that had driven them to just before vomiting disappeared, and they were busy gasping for insufficient breath.
At the grumbling of the Espers sprawled on the floor, Jeong Iro’s gaze, which had been looking who knows where, found its place. His crumpled wrist felt unfamiliar as if it were someone else’s, yet pain strong enough to soak his back spread beyond his elbow to his arm. Due to the pain intensifying as if poison were spreading, he couldn’t follow Han Seoha being carried away in Baek Uihyeon’s arms.
“Excuse me.”
“Huh, did that kid just speak?”
Toward them barely catching their breath, Jeong Iro asked in a flat voice without inflection.
“I want to receive treatment.”
“Why’s he so calm? Does this bastard have no sense of pain?”
“It hurts. Please let me receive treatment.”
It would be done by just pressing the nurse call, but toward the suppression team with thoroughly uncomfortable faces, Jeong Iro bowed his head.
“I need to apologize to Seoha hyung. To go to hyung, I need to get better. Please treat me.”
Jeong Iro’s deeply bowed face still didn’t show a speck of emotion, but they couldn’t leave a patient with a young face and even a crumpled wrist unattended. Above all, seeing the beads of sweat on Jeong Iro’s neck as he deeply bowed his head and his soaked back suggested that he just wasn’t showing the pain, but was feeling it intensely.
“If you put back on the control device that was released because you were under treatment until now, we’ll call the medical staff.”
“Yes, I’ll behave well.”
Though they felt uneasy at Jeong Iro’s attitude becoming suspiciously docile, they moved according to the manual. Until the nurse who soon rushed over returned with a doctor and healer, the suppression team also didn’t leave for surveillance purposes.
While the healer and doctor discussed the treatment order, saying the injury was serious, Jeong Iro kept his gaze vacantly in the air and thought of Han Seoha again and again.
More unbearable than the pain that came with the suddenly flying wavelength was the severance of the endlessly continuing guiding.
It’s mine. Seoha hyung permitted it.
Jeong Iro knew that if Han Seoha hadn’t fallen asleep, he surely would have taken his side.
Ah. I made a mistake. I should have only taken enough to leave hyung conscious.
It was a mistake. Then, I just need to correct it.
It’s not like he died.
