Chapter 5
A shout burst from Dohyun, who couldn’t contain his anger.
“Even if he hasn’t manifested yet, he’s still an Esper! We don’t know when he’ll manifest! And you’re pouring guiding energy on him? What if something happens because you poured guiding like that? What will you do then!”
Harsh criticism poured out. But buried within it was a great deal of concern for Jaehee. This was because he knew well about the excessive obsession Espers have for Guides.
Moreover, Choi Geonwoo was someone with the qualities of the top-grade Esper that the Center had been seeking for so long. If that was the case, his obsession with Guides would obviously be incomparable to other Espers.
Yet, to pour guiding energy on such a person. Dohyun’s face flushed red with anger that rose to the top of his head.
But despite Dohyun’s scolding filled with concern, Jaehee just stared at him blankly.
Seeing Jaehee like this, Dohyun was about to shout again but hesitated. Because of his intense anger, only now did he properly look at Jaehee’s face. Dohyun’s eyes caught sight of Jaehee’s wet eyes. Even his cheeks and the tip of his nose were red with traces of crying.
“What’s this? Were you crying?”
Before Jaehee could answer Dohyun’s question, he staggered. It was because his legs had weakened due to the continuous confusion and sudden release of guiding energy. Dohyun firmly grabbed Jaehee’s body.
While holding him, Dohyun turned his gaze and scanned the employees. His gaze was fierce. After glaring at each one as if he would kill them, Dohyun’s gaze finally reached Geonwoo.
In that moment, deep lines formed between Dohyun’s eyebrows. His eyes raised even more sharply. His attitude suggested that the greatest responsibility for Jaehee’s tears lay with Geonwoo. Dohyun’s eyes were fierce as if they would tear Geonwoo apart. But that gaze returned to Jaehee when Jaehee grabbed and shook his arm.
“Dohyun… Hit me once.”
“What?”
Jaehee needed to make sense of the current situation. Everything was screaming that this was reality, but in his mind, a distant future, a very sad future, remained vivid.
If this was reality, then did it mean that Dohyun losing his leg at the gate and Geonwoo dying in his place were all just a dream? Even though it hurt so much, even though the sadness was still so clear… could that be possible?
So Jaehee clung to Dohyun.
“Just once! Just one hit is enough! Please!”
“Are you really crazy? Stop talking nonsense and come with me!”
But Dohyun ignored Jaehee’s words and simply led him out of the examination room. Employees blocked Dohyun’s path.
“Esper Kang Dohyun-nim, the examination is still… in progress…”
But the employee couldn’t finish his words. Due to Dohyun’s fierce demeanor, they couldn’t keep blocking the way, feeling they wouldn’t be safe if they did. The employees weren’t brave enough to confront Kang Dohyun, an A-class Esper. Eventually, they slightly cleared the way and stepped aside.
But there was someone who stopped Dohyun’s footsteps. None other than Jaehee himself.
Jaehee tried to shake off Dohyun’s arm. This resistance became more intense when they left the examination room where Geonwoo was and entered the corridor.
“I’m not going! Hey! Kang Dohyun! Let go of my arm!”
“Lee Jaehee!”
But it wasn’t easy for a Guide, who was physically no different from an ordinary person, to break free from an Esper’s grip by himself. No, it would be right to say it was impossible. So instead of trying to shake him off, Jaehee gently grabbed Dohyun’s arm.
“G-Geonwoo! Geonwoo is… here… where are you going!”
In the end, Jaehee burst into tears again. This might be reality. Geonwoo was in that room, so where was he going?
“Let… go…! Please let me go…”
Ha, Dohyun let out a hollow laugh as if in disbelief. He had rushed over because he was worried, and now he was being told to let go. Instead, Jaehee was crying profusely in front of him. Dohyun let out a deep sigh, not understanding why Jaehee was acting like this. Still, he couldn’t let him back in there. So Dohyun roughly pushed Jaehee again.
“Why? You want to go back in there and pour more guiding energy? Do you not know what happens when you spray guiding energy on an unmanifested Esper like that?”
At Dohyun’s fierce shout, Jaehee’s shoulders shrank with a jolt. Despite seeing Jaehee like this, Dohyun didn’t stop.
“What if he forms a bond with you after you pour it like that? What will you do then!”
With veins bulging on his forehead, Dohyun hit the wall with a bang and continued lashing out.
“Don’t you know what happens then? He’ll only seek you out! He’ll instinctively chase only you, addicted to the guiding! How dangerous that is, you also…!”
Dohyun, who had been emotionally spitting out words without pause, suddenly stopped speaking. As if it was difficult to continue, Dohyun’s lips eventually closed firmly. Once closed, they wouldn’t open easily.
After remaining closed for a long time, his lips opened again, and Dohyun’s face twisted painfully.
“…you… know very well…”
The following words shattered into pieces.
Dohyun had been like that too. With the person in front of him. With Jaehee, who was much smaller and younger then, he had been obsessed like that.
He couldn’t help it. Just as a baby bird recognizes the first thing it sees after hatching as its mother, Dohyun, who had no immunity to guiding, received his first guiding from none other than 13-year-old Jaehee.
And that first guiding was terrifyingly imprinted on his body. A bond formed unconsciously in an unmanifested state was different from a bond made when an Esper and a Guide wanted each other. It was much closer to instinct. It only made him follow the instinct of ‘wanting to possess that Guide.’
The obsession that had been building up like that burst all at once as soon as he manifested as an Esper.
“Damn it!”
Dohyun gritted his teeth as the afterimage of the past flashed by, with the image of Jaehee crying painfully while looking at him lingering.
Because of that past, Dohyun felt his blood run cold when he saw Jaehee in the examination room. Afraid that Choi Geonwoo, lying on the bed, might be like him.
On top of that, he was someone who might manifest at a higher class than himself. That raised anxiety that he might not be able to protect Jaehee.
Yet, Jaehee poured guiding energy to the limit on him. An S-class Guide, with high-purity guiding energy. And an unmanifested Esper with no immunity received it all, meaning he would soon instinctively and unknowingly only seek out Jaehee.
That’s why Dohyun was furious. Jaehee in front of him would know this too, so he couldn’t understand why he was suddenly acting like this.
Instead,
“I don’t… care about that! Let go! I’m going to Geonwoo!”
Making him go crazy like this.
“Hey, Lee Jaehee! This is really…!”
“Let… go! Just let go!”
Dohyun’s words to Jaehee continued to bounce off.
No matter how much concern he put into his words, they didn’t reach Jaehee’s ears. Dohyun’s worries were too overwhelming for Jaehee, who still couldn’t distinguish whether this was reality or a hallucination. Jaehee’s small head didn’t have room to accept it.
“Geonwoo… Geon-woo! Sob… Geon…woo…!”
Jaehee just cried, looking for Geonwoo. He was causing a scene trying to get back into the examination room. Jaehee was overwhelmed by the confusing and complicated current situation. Jaehee just wanted to be by Geonwoo’s side.
Seeing Jaehee like this, Dohyun roughly ruffled his hair and pulled Jaehee’s arm. But faced with Jaehee’s resistance, refusing to be dragged away, Dohyun eventually lifted Jaehee up and slung him over his shoulder.
The Guide, much smaller than the large A-class Esper, was hoisted like a bundle onto his shoulder. Jaehee, dangling on Dohyun’s shoulder, hit and pinched Dohyun’s back, and when that didn’t work, he cried and made a scene.
Despite this, Dohyun pretended not to hear.
He just,
“Lee Jaehee, stop acting up and stay still.”
Only uttered these firm words.
After that, only Jaehee’s shouts to let him go and loud cries filled the corridor.
***
Several days had passed since Jaehee saw that Geonwoo was alive. During that time, Jaehee had experienced many emotional changes.
“…I’m… 23 years old?”
Jaehee asked with tears hanging in droplets.
To which Dohyun,
“Ha.”
Visibly sighed and glared at Jaehee.
“What? Should I tell you again what year it is now, and how old you are?”
Dohyun had already heard this question hundreds of times. As a result, his irritation level was quite high. He couldn’t help but be prickly.
“Hey, Lee Jaehee. Do you remember my age? Do you remember that I’m your friend?”
“…”
“Should I just record it and play it for you 24 hours a day?”
And so, under Dohyun’s prickly care, Jaehee was gradually accepting that this was reality.
At first, he had cried and screamed that he would stay by Geonwoo’s side, making a fuss for Dohyun to send him back. Crying every night, only looking for Geonwoo. He tried to escape whenever Dohyun looked away for a moment.
That wasn’t all. He would often wake up from sleep, screaming and harming himself. When Dohyun, alarmed, tried to take him to the Center’s ward, he would scream terribly and have seizures.
In the end, Dohyun had no choice but to stay with Jaehee 24 hours a day. He couldn’t leave Jaehee alone when he didn’t seem to be in his right mind.
So Dohyun took Jaehee with him even during missions, brought him to his quarters when resting, and although he showed obvious annoyance, he kept him by his side and took care of him.
This continued 24 hours a day, without regard for day or night.
