# Chapter 97
“S-class Guide Yoo Jiwoon has agreed to become Esper Choi Geonwoo’s dedicated Guide.”
If Yoo Jiwoon could overlay Choi Geonwoo’s one-way bond with his own through guiding, this whole situation would end immediately.
“All we need to do is change the target of the one-way bond. Then everything will be over.”
Jaehee’s pupils trembled. Just as he painfully tried to open his mouth again, the door burst open.
“Lee Jaehee!”
It was Dohyun. He was wearing a silver bracelet on his wrist. He had put on an Esper ability control device that forcibly suppressed the wavelengths in his body to avoid being detected by the sensitive Choi Geonwoo.
In that state, Dohyun immediately approached Jaehee’s side and examined his condition.
“…!”
Dohyun’s eyes widened. Jaehee’s condition was worse than he had thought. His flushed face, disheveled clothes, and the countless vivid marks left on his delicate skin…
Moreover, the room was filled with alpha pheromones. Thick, intense alpha pheromones showing strong possessiveness, waiting for the omega to manifest.
Dohyun gritted his teeth. A grinding sound spread through the room. Right now, Dohyun looked ready to kill someone. But there was no time for anger. They needed to leave this place as quickly as possible.
Dohyun lifted Jaehee into his arms. He wanted to get Jaehee out of here as soon as possible.
“Please lure Choi Geonwoo toward the east entrance. The Center Director will be waiting there with other Espers.”
Dohyun said, looking at Dr. Yoon.
Dohyun had asked Hyeono to guard Jiwoon so he could safely arrive here, while he himself had just finished preparations in the east with the Center Director.
The Center Director and other Espers were now waiting there to subdue Choi Geonwoo. Under Dohyun’s direction, all the ability users had formed ranks and completed their combat preparations.
Dr. Yoon nodded at Dohyun’s words. Then he said one last thing to Jaehee.
“Don’t worry about anything. Just think about your own body, Guide Lee Jaehee.”
Jaehee’s eyes twisted. He looked conflicted. He seemed torn between wanting to leave this place and worrying about the people here.
When Jaehee opened his mouth as if to say something, Dohyun pulled him deeper into his arms as if to stop his words. Jaehee’s body, completely drained of strength, was enveloped in Dohyun’s embrace.
“If you’re going to think about other things, just go to sleep, Lee Jaehee.”
Because when you wake up, you won’t have to see Choi Geonwoo again. Dohyun added those words. Then he adjusted Jaehee’s clothes and concealed him in his arms. Jaehee was cradled like a child in Dohyun’s embrace.
Soon, footsteps were heard. The people they had been waiting for had arrived.
“Captain!”
Hyeono called out to Dohyun as he ran over. Behind him was Yoo Jiwoon. Both of them were also wearing ability control devices on their wrists to avoid being detected by Choi Geonwoo.
“Lee Jaehee.”
After confirming the two, Dohyun called out to Jaehee.
“Perform guiding on Guide Yoo Jiwoon.”
“…Huh? What?”
Jaehee asked as if confused by what he had heard.
“Spray your guiding energy on Guide Yoo Jiwoon enough to make him mistaken for you.”
That way, they could at least buy time to lure Choi Geonwoo in another direction while they left the Center.
“Hurry.”
At those words, Jaehee looked at Jiwoon. As he tried to reach out his hand, his fingertips hesitated. His pupils shook violently.
Why? Jaehee asked himself.
Yoo Jiwoon was the one who was supposed to be Choi Geonwoo’s Guide originally. Lee Jaehee needed to distance himself from Choi Geonwoo.
This was the right answer. Geonwoo was supposed to have Jiwoon by his side. For the completion of the original work… that’s how it had to be.
That way, Geonwoo could keep the happy ending he was originally meant to have.
But contrary to those thoughts, his fingertips trembled. Now that Jiwoon, who would take Geonwoo’s side instead of him, had appeared, his emotions felt strange.
Ridiculously, could it be… that he still had lingering attachments?
Jaehee closed his eyes tightly and then opened them. He needed to kill his ridiculous and selfish emotions. Even hesitating was a sin against Geonwoo.
Jaehee gritted his teeth. He wanted to escape from these futile thoughts. Yes, this was right. Now everyone would… find their proper place. Repeating those words to himself, Jaehee reached out to Jiwoon. But he couldn’t hide his trembling fingertips. Jiwoon firmly grasped his hand.
Jaehee closed his eyes, trying to steady his wavering heart. Concentrating on guiding, he squeezed out the remaining guiding energy in his body and transferred it to Jiwoon. He coated him with guiding energy so that his own energy could be felt from Jiwoon’s body. He focused solely on that to avoid thinking about anything else.
Watching Jaehee, Jiwoon said:
“Thank you for saving me in the Gate, Guide Lee Jaehee.”
Jaehee looked at Jiwoon.
“I’ve been wanting to say this for a long time.”
Jiwoon said with a bright smile. It was a face full of gratitude.
Soon the guiding ended, and Dohyun concealed Jaehee in his arms again. Seeing Dohyun, Hyeono said:
“Then we’ll head to the east entrance and join the Center Director.”
Dohyun nodded.
“Be careful, Choi Geonwoo will follow you soon.”
Knowing Choi Geonwoo, he would soon move to chase after Jaehee’s energy. Dohyun planned to take Jaehee through the south entrance while Geonwoo was chasing after Jiwoon, mistaking him for Jaehee. Once they passed through there, there would be several villages. There was no better place to hide than among crowds of people.
“Well then, see you later.”
With those words, Dohyun put a control device on Jaehee’s hand. And immediately turned around.
Dohyun and Jaehee headed south. The rest of the people headed east. The group split in two directions and began to disperse.
***
Keeeeek-!
A horrible scream of a monster echoed from the opened west entrance. Soon, a monster fell to the floor, bleeding. There were already numerous monster corpses around it.
And in the middle of it all was Geonwoo.
There were still many living monsters around Geonwoo. But despite their numbers, the monsters didn’t readily approach him. With wariness in their eyes, they were busy looking for an opening.
That’s when it happened. Geonwoo’s gaze, which had been watching the monsters with murderous eyes, shifted away. His gaze turned completely. His brutal slaughtering of monsters also came to an abrupt halt.
‘Guide.’
The monsters didn’t miss this opening and rushed at him. But soon, one by one, their hearts were torn out by Geonwoo’s hands, and they tumbled to the ground as corpses.
Geonwoo threw a monster aside and hardened his expression. He looked at the building. Jaehee’s energy was disappearing from the building. It was moving somewhere else.
Despite his clear warning.
Geonwoo’s eyes sank coldly.
***
“Haa, haa.”
At that time, Dohyun was carrying Jaehee toward the south entrance. He ran without stopping. Normally, he would have used his abilities to move immediately, but he couldn’t do that now. He was wearing the control device to avoid being detected by Choi Geonwoo.
So Dohyun didn’t stop running. He needed to get far away from the Center as quickly as possible.
But something was strange. Small headaches kept occurring. Unclear, unknown sounds seemed to be tangling up his mind. It was an unpleasant feeling he had never experienced before. He couldn’t understand the reason even when he thought about it. And there was no time for that.
A monster appeared in front of Dohyun.
Despite opening the west entrance, it had entered through somewhere else instead of coming through there. Dohyun’s eyes sharpened. His arms holding Jaehee tightened. Jaehee, unable to withstand the fever, was not in his right mind. He couldn’t even open his eyes and was just suffering in Dohyun’s arms.
Dohyun had to face the monster while protecting Jaehee in that state. He was the only one who could protect Jaehee here.
To avoid being detected by Choi Geonwoo, they had gathered all the Espers in one place. Therefore, there wasn’t a single Esper near this south entrance. He had to deal with the monster in front of him. While wearing the control device!
Dohyun pulled Jaehee closer into his arms and took out a dagger from his pocket. Even though this was a monster he could handle without much difficulty if he used his abilities, this time it wasn’t so easy. It took a considerable amount of time.
Dohyun aimed only for the monster’s vital spots. He tried to deal with it as quickly as possible.
But it wasn’t easy. An ordinary person would have been torn apart and killed long ago. It was only because he was an Esper with enhanced physical abilities that he could fight even in a situation like this where he couldn’t use his powers. Even if it felt burdensome.
Soon, with a thud, the monster’s body collapsed. Dohyun pulled out the dagger that was stuck in the monster’s vital point.
Blood was flowing down Dohyun’s arm. It was a wound he had received while fighting the monster. But Dohyun shook his arm, splattering the blood, and immediately checked on Jaehee.
“Haa…”
And he let out a sigh of relief. Jaehee was unharmed.
But then, Jaehee began to struggle in his arms. Even that small movement seemed difficult for Jaehee, and he was panting. Moreover, a heat that felt like it could burn was emanating from within his arms. Labored, gasping breaths could be heard.
And as if something was tormenting him, he tightly gripped Dohyun’s shirt. Jaehee’s hand holding the shirt was trembling violently like an aspen leaf.
“Lee Jaehee?”
Alarmed, Dohyun immediately brought his face closer to Jaehee. Jaehee was curling up his body and suffering.
At that moment, a very faint scent of pheromones was detected. It was an extremely sweet scent, and it was a scent that should never be smelled from someone considered family.
For a moment, Dohyun had the illusion that Jaehee’s hot body temperature was infecting him too. The heat and breath touching his body felt increasingly intense. His gaze involuntarily turned to the marks imprinted on Jaehee’s neck.
Just as Dohyun was about to turn his face away to steady his increasingly disordered nerves.
“…!”
Suddenly, he felt a chilling wavelength from behind. Despite being very far away, he could feel it precisely. It was the wavelength of the top-tier Esper, Choi Geonwoo.
