“Hee-young?”
“Oh, uh….”
Hee-young’s eyes darted around quickly. Unable to bring himself to admit he’d simply forgotten, he wore a troubled expression and played dumb. His attending physician suppressed the sigh threatening to escape. His professional instinct to avoid negative expressions in front of patients barely managed to spare Hee-young from further embarrassment.
In truth, the doctor was already quite grateful for the situation as it was — a surgical attending who’d grown worried about Hee-young remaining unconscious had put in a consultation request, and that was how he’d learned of Hee-young’s hospitalization.
For a psychiatrist, patience was the single most essential quality. The majority of patients don’t come in on their own. There are almost none of those rare, self-motivated ones who show up of their own accord. Because of that, he had grown accustomed to no-shows and had become something of a specialist in coaxing and soothing avoidant patients. How could it ever be the patient’s fault for not coming? The greater responsibility lay with the guardians and those around them who hadn’t looked after them properly.
Still, they were here now, and that was what mattered. Even if they hadn’t walked in on their own two feet. Hee-young’s attending physician had happened to still be in the residents’ office, sorting through materials for a paper. Thanks to that, he’d been able to rush over at this late hour.
“It’s all right. Have you been taking your medication properly?”
“……Well, more or less.”
He’s not taking them. The doctor, Ha-ram, Deputy Seong, and Deputy Shin all came to mind at once.
“…How is life at the Center? Is it difficult adjusting, or are you having a hard time?”
“Oh, you know. I haven’t died yet. As you can see, I’ve only got broken arms and legs.”
“…….”
In the silence that fell again, Hee-young thought, Hm, wait, did I really just screw myself over? That last comment was the kind of thing that even a stranger overhearing it would justify locking someone up in a psychiatric ward — the remark of a true social misfit. Hee-young scratched the bridge of his nose in embarrassment.
“…Shouldn’t you be off work by now?”
“Ah, me? It’s fine. I came straight from work.”
I’m not fine….
Noticing Hee-young’s uncomfortable expression, the doctor finally said he’d be heading out and left the room.
“I’ll schedule an appointment for tomorrow, so please make sure to come at the right time. The nurse will guide you.”
“Oh, sure….”
The doctor waited until he’d gotten some sort of answer from Hee-young, then emphasized several more times that he absolutely had to come tomorrow before leaving. Hee-young let the staff support him as he lay back limply in the bed. The staff who’d even seen him settled into bed also said their goodbyes, promising to check in again next time, and left.
When peace finally returned to the hospital room, Hee-young and Ha-ram let out a simultaneous sigh. That was somehow funny enough that Ha-ram let out a quiet laugh before asking Hee-young:
“Hee-young, how did it go at the Center?”
“Yeah, well. They had him tied up like a dog.”
“…It must’ve been hard to look at.”
“…Yeah.”
Honestly, it really wasn’t a pretty sight. Hee-young recalled the image of Shin-yul. Wearing a blindfold, handcuffs, a collar.
Everyone acting like he’s some great Esper, S-rank this and that, practically worshipping the ground he walks on — and they treat him like that.
“Those are all Ability Suppressors for Espers. Apparently before a disciplinary hearing, if someone gets into a bad headspace it could be dangerous, so they usually restrain them that way. The reason the Ability Suppressors look like that is because normally the only times you’d need to suppress an Esper’s abilities are things like Rampage risk, or disciplinary situations — things that are, well… bad. So the only equipment that exists for it looks like restraints. Honestly, it wouldn’t be any trouble at all to make them look different, but there are stories that the reason they keep insisting on restraint-style ones is because of decisions coming from higher up. Either way, you really went through a lot. I’m sorry.”
Ha-ram’s words made Hee-young nod with a serious expression. It was plain to see that he was genuinely listening to what Ha-ram said. Ha-ram looked at Hee-young’s attentiveness and felt deeply moved. You’re finally listening to me…!
Ha-ram knew that Hee-young always let about half of what he said go in one ear and out the other. No matter what Ha-ram said, Hee-young would respond with dead-fish eyes — oh, uh-huh, yeah, uh-huh, yeah — just nodding along. There had been a time when he’d had to be grateful that Hee-young was even reacting at all.
But now Hee-young was listening with bright, attentive eyes. Ha-ram felt a swell of pride. Even if everything told to him before would need to be taught again, and even if this attentiveness might only last the moment — still. He’s trying to learn.
Resolving to teach as much as possible while he had the chance, Ha-ram sat upright before Hee-young. First things first — the thing he’d most wanted to teach him.
“Hee-young, did you meet with Shin-yul and do the Guiding?”
At Ha-ram’s words, the bright gleam in Hee-young’s eyes died.
“…Why, do you think I went around kissing everyone too?”
……Yes.
Ha-ram averted his eyes with an awkward expression, and Hee-young internally unleashed a torrent of curses. You son of a bitch, Han Shin-yul! A creature in human skin who bites people like a damn animal — I will fix that habit of yours if it’s the last thing I do.
Ha-ram noticed Hee-young’s embarrassment and deliberately spoke in an even gentler tone.
“You did wonderfully. Didn’t I tell you? Now that you’re a Guide, your duty is to ensure the health and safety of your Esper, Han Shin-yul.”
“Ha. I came back with my lips completely torn up.”
Hee-young fumed for a moment, then let out a slow breath. Right, it wasn’t kissing — it was Guiding. Not kissing — Guiding. He kept repeating it to himself like a quiet reassurance. Ha-ram waited for Hee-young to calm down before carefully continuing.
“…By the way, Hee-young — how accurately do you know about Guiding levels and an Esper’s physical condition?”
Hee-young’s head snapped up at that. Oh, good, you brought that up at just the right time. Those damn Guiding levels — he could never quite get a clear picture of them!
“Look, I know absolutely nothing about it. That — what was it — 10% and Rampage something, 5% and Rampage something. That’s all I know.”
…You really don’t know.
Ha-ram shook his head slowly. But he wasn’t discouraged. After all, there had only ever been one lesson.
Even that single session had been spent entirely on appeasing Hee-young’s protests — I don’t want to kiss, I don’t want Mucous Membrane Guiding, I don’t want any of this — and Ha-ram had ultimately coaxed and soothed him into the conclusion of: let’s at least try to open up your Guiding senses first, and left it at that.
After that, this student had somehow gone off entirely on his own — kissed his Esper, awakened his Guiding senses, and even entered a Dungeon — an absurd amount of self-directed advanced learning, leaving him severely lacking in fundamental knowledge.
When Ha-ram shook his head, Hee-young nodded as if he’d expected to be wrong, but still wore a sulky expression. Ugh, I really knew absolutely nothing. Ha-ram handed Hee-young a glass of water and continued.
“To be precise, from 20% onwards an Esper’s daily life starts to become difficult, and from 7% onwards it’s classified as a pre-Rampage state. You can forget everything else, but please remember at least this. Maintaining the Guiding so the Esper doesn’t Rampage — that’s the most important thing. But even more important than that is the Guide knowing the Esper’s condition accurately. Just like it’s most important for a doctor to understand a patient’s condition correctly and administer the appropriate treatment, we Guides also need to accurately grasp the Esper’s state and time our Guiding accordingly.”
“Right, because if the guy is barely staying on his feet looking pale as a ghost, I need to know exactly how bad that actually is. From what I saw in the Dungeon, he was still fighting at 50%, and it’s not like I can run over mid-fight to do a Guiding session, now is it.”
Ha-ram gave an awkward smile at that.
“Mm…. Actually, unless an Esper drops below 20%, they’re not in a truly serious state. Of course, it’s not their best condition, so when Guiding can be done during normal circumstances, it’s good to keep them at 80% or above. You want to maintain peak condition so they can enter even sudden Dungeons. But inside a Dungeon, the standard is usually set at 25% — a little buffer above the 20% mark — and you make sure they never drop below that.”
“……?”
“Of course, it would be ideal to keep them at peak condition by Guiding them fully at all times. Even so, if the Guiding level only drops by around 10 to 20% inside the Dungeon, it’s too inefficient to keep Guiding constantly. The idea is to Guide to the maximum when you can, and as long as they haven’t gone below 25% even after heavy ability use, there’s no need to rush into another Guiding session. The range is fairly wide, right? So in other words — 50 to 60% is perfectly fine, meaning…. Hee-young?”
“……Hold on.”
Hee-young had been listening to Ha-ram’s lengthening explanation, and now his mouth fell open in an expression of pure disbelief. 20%? Seriously? Then what the hell was that bastard doing, barely able to stand and whining like he was dying at 60%?
What do you think? He was faking it, you idiot.
Hee-young’s face flushed a furious red, his whole body trembling with surging rage. He acted weak and helpless and practically shoved his lips at me when he was completely fine? And I fell for it hook, line, and sinker? The first time? In the Dungeon? Just now too? Hee-young breathed hard with the sheer injustice of it. I got played? Me? Then what was the point of losing my — no, some stranger’s — lip virginity?
Seeing Hee-young’s condition rapidly deteriorating, Ha-ram began explaining hurriedly.
“Hee-young! Hee-young! Please calm down! Espers are always craving Guiding, so even if their level drops by just a little, they’ll try to get Guiding from their Guide—!”
“My phone! Where’s my phone!”
“Sorry?”
Temporary alliance my ass! That saying about never taking in a black-haired beast is completely true! Can you believe this ingratitude!
His trust in Shin-yul — who’d come in and out of his life like a revolving door and disappeared — shattered, and Hee-young frantically searched for his phone. I need to request a pair change. I cannot live with this little bastard after what he pulled!
Instead of helping find the phone, Ha-ram, in a panic, pressed the call bell out of concern for Hee-young’s condition. The impatient Hee-young, seeing that, declared he’d go find a payphone instead, kicked off the blanket, shot up from the bed, made to run — and crashed forward hard onto the floor.
Ah, right, I have a cast on….
“Hee-young!”
“Patient!”
With Ha-ram’s scream and the urgent voice of the nurse who came rushing in, Hee-young lay there face-down on the floor, wanting nothing more than to just pass out. The heat that had boiled up to the very top of his head cooled rapidly. He was embarrassed about being flat on the floor, and embarrassed about being tricked and played like a puppet by someone so much younger than him.
“Patient! Patient! Can you try to get up! Haneul — can someone call the on-duty doctor!”
The sudden commotion drew more people and the murmuring around him grew louder. As the urgent shaking, the are you okay? can you hear me? consciousness check voices washed over him like he was some kind of emergency, he squeezed his eyes shut.
God, why can’t I just pass out at a time like this…. Damn it, I want to die….
***
Hee-young was making his rounds near the hospital in the pre-dawn mist. It was absolutely not because he was too embarrassed by yesterday’s faking-illness incident to flee the room as if escaping. He simply felt the need for some exercise. Even if it was the electric wheelchair doing the actual circling.
After about two laps, Hee-young slowly pushed himself up and dropped onto the nearest bench. Damn, I’m going to have to go back in soon…. Life is brutal….
He was rubbing his face dry with both hands, grinding his teeth over how all of this was entirely Han Shin-yul that bastard’s fault, when he spotted someone far in the distance approaching with an enormous bouquet of flowers. The bouquet was so massive it practically concealed the person’s entire body.
Who the hell walks around with something like that. Are you running a flower shop?
Hee-young, in a mood to despise the entire world, was sneering crookedly at the man with the flowers — when he realized the man was someone he knew, and his eyes went wide.
“Wait — isn’t that Jang Tae-seong?”
“Oh, you crazy chihuahua….”
…?
You’ve been calling me a crazy chihuahua behind my back?
