Jiwon entered the blankets again and dug in next to Seo Gangwoo, hugging the now somewhat familiar large upper body.
At such Jiwon, Seo Gangwoo’s arm awkwardly floated in the air before wrapping around and supporting his shoulder.
Though his body hitting the hard muscles could be uncomfortable, they were comfortably entangled like puzzle game blocks properly fitting into gaps.
Jiwon found that a bit fascinating. Other than the embarrassment of being naked, he didn’t feel any discomfort.
At Seo Gangwoo’s appearance obediently being held, Jiwon concentrated on guiding.
Actually, it wasn’t Seo Gangwoo being held but Jiwon being held, but to Jiwon, since he was the one holding, it was Seo Gangwoo being held.
Anyway, he still seems to be in a lot of pain, what should I do?
Should I call his pair Guide?
The effort of guiding all night without sleeping properly wasn’t meaningless, as the unstable waves subsided at a faster speed than before.
Of course, like a disobedient troublemaker, when one side was calmed down the other side would surge, and when that wave was calmed down the opposite side would rampage—that was still the same.
“Did you just arrive?”
Then a pleasant mid-low tone voice reached Jiwon’s ears.
Though they’d spent the night together, at best he’d only heard groaning sounds of pain, so this was the first proper voice he was hearing.
“Yes. I’m Kim Jiwon. It’s been a week now since I completed training and got my private room. Um… you’re Esper Seo Gangwoo-nim, right? I saw you passing by in the lobby once.”
At Jiwon’s question as he looked up while resting his head on the firm arm, Seo Gangwoo’s head nodded.
“I must have unconsciously done radiant guiding since I’m still inexperienced at controlling my energy. I was startled when you suddenly collapsed toward me from behind…. You didn’t answer, and Esper-nim, you’re heavy so I had a hard time.”
“…Thank you.”
Seo Gangwoo, who expressed his thanks in a low voice, guessed how much hardship the Guide before his eyes for the first time must have gone through. Just through what he felt through their touching bodies, he could tell he was delicate and had a much smaller build than himself.
But more concerning than that was Jiwon’s guiding.
Simultaneously with the guiding, the noisy and irritating presences distanced themselves. The nerves that had become sharp from sensitivity subsided as if dead.
It was unfamiliar.
That was a quiet sensation he was feeling for the first time since manifesting as an Esper. The pleasant guiding energy relaxed his body languidly. The guiding he’d felt all night wasn’t an illusion.
“Oh! Why did you turn off your watch? How do you turn this on?”
At Jiwon’s words, Seo Gangwoo brought his left hand wearing the watch close and lifted it. Then he pulled over his right hand that had been supporting the small Guide’s body and turned on the watch. The Center logo appeared on the silver metal watch wrapping around his thick wrist and the power turned on.
No wonder I couldn’t turn it on!
Jiwon’s mouth jutted out in a pout as he confirmed the method of turning on the watch with eyes sparkling with curiosity.
The power button appeared when he slid one of the sections wrapping around the wrist, not around the LCD screen where the display was. It was hidden in a position that someone who didn’t know couldn’t easily find.
After the Center logo that had been up for a few seconds disappeared, it switched to the original default screen. Jiwon was quietly watching the watch turn on when he froze.
Though he couldn’t see it properly since the LCD screen appeared diagonally at an angle, the screen he glimpsed looked strange.
Jiwon snatched Seo Gangwoo’s heavy left hand that was trying to move away.
Even when he put strength in his eyes thinking he might be seeing wrong,
Even when he brought up his other hand and fixed it with both hands to look,
The gauge number remained the same.
Could the watch be broken? Is that why he had it turned off…?
The gauge number that appeared on the lit screen was 84%.
Though it differs depending on the Esper, generally when the gauge exceeds 70% it’s a dangerous level, and when it exceeds 80% it’s classified as a high-risk level approaching the rampage stage and they must receive guiding quickly.
When that happens, a sound alerting danger should come from the watch, but the watch before his eyes was only quiet.
“Is this… broken?”
“It’s not broken.”
“84% is correct?”
“Yes.”
“…But why isn’t the emergency alarm going off?”
“It’s because I modified the danger level to 85% due to too frequent alarms.”
“???”
Question marks rose all over Jiwon’s head.
Is that even possible?
No…
Turning off the watch in the first place wasn’t ordinary either. Espers aren’t supposed to turn off their watches carelessly. Plus, 84% was a considerably dangerous number. Surely the pain from the side effects of ability use would be severe. He’d been groaning all night too.
But why is the person in question so calm right now? As if this level of number is everyday life…
Jiwon didn’t know, but in reality, Seo Gangwoo frequently exceeded 80% due to lack of guiding, so he was sick of the constantly ringing watch sound and often just turned it off.
The Center pleaded with such Seo Gangwoo to please not turn off the watch, but since it didn’t work, they exceptionally raised the alarm level to 85%. Of course, even after that, the Center suffered headaches because of Seo Gangwoo who kept turning off his watch.
“It’s nothing much.”
It had been over 10 years enduring without proper guiding.
During that time, all he learned was suppressing rampaging waves and enduring pain. For other Espers it would be a number where they’d lose their minds or, severely, enter the rampage stage, but for Seo Gangwoo it was everyday life.
He rarely lost consciousness, but having reached his limit recently, this was the fourth time he’d collapsed including this time. And yesterday he really went to the threshold of rampage.
As time passed, the repulsive force of the suppressed waves was getting stronger and stronger.
“It is a big deal though! With this number, guiding is urgent so quickly contact your pair Guide. Your current condition is dangerous.”
The gauge number that looked dangerous and the Esper’s waves that no matter how much they were released would cause a ruckus again as time passed didn’t seem ordinary, so Jiwon looked at Seo Gangwoo with worried eyes.
“I don’t have a pair Guide.”
“What? I know A-rank Guide Choi Hyerin-nim is your pair, isn’t she?”
“She’s not my pair anymore. The contract was terminated.”
“???”
Question marks appeared above Jiwon’s head once more.
What is this talk now? Team Leader Lee Juyeon said there was a pair, but there’s no pair…
According to what he heard during training time, surely cases of pairs ending their contract are rare. Of course, it’s not absolute, but excluding death, he heard they continue as pairs except for the very rare cases where they become like enemies who absolutely cannot be together, or one of them loses their ability.
Moreover, even if they end the pair for the former reason, there was a condition that both sides, especially the Esper side, must be in a situation where they can replace with another Guide.
Looking at Esper Seo Gangwoo’s gauge number before his eyes, it seemed like he hadn’t even found another Guide due to a low matching rate.
He didn’t know for what reason the pair was terminated, but the important thing was that Esper Seo Gangwoo needed to receive guiding right now.
Jiwon thought about whether Esper Seo Gangwoo would be in a situation to go receive guiding from his previous pair, but it seemed unlikely. The fact that he terminated a pair that couldn’t be easily severed meant the relationship wasn’t amicable.
“I’m fine now.”
“You’re not fine though…”
Fine? What exactly?! Jiwon felt like the gauge number that had been on the watch was flickering before his eyes.
At that moment, Seo Gangwoo sat up and picked up the clothes thrown on the stool beside the bed.
“Wait! What are you doing?”
“I’ll be going now. Thank you for helping today.”
“……?”
This person really~! There’s going to be big trouble!
“STOP! Stop!!”
Jiwon, who came to his senses after blankly thinking about what he’d heard, hurriedly sat up and clung to the arm of Seo Gangwoo who was trying to gather and put on his clothes.
Where was he planning to go with a gauge of 84%? Even though he stabilized it, he guided all night without sleeping properly at waves that quickly became unstable, yet he’s going to leave in this state!
“Esper Seo Gangwoo-nim! Even if you came in just like that, you can’t leave without the Guide’s permission when you go!”
Actually, when entering the private room too, Jiwon had pulled him in, but he didn’t care. What’s important now is that the Esper whose gauge condition is dangerous receives guiding.
Even if the rampaging waves were temporarily subdued, bottomless abyss waves filled his insides. The energies tangled like thread were entangled and clumped, hardened like concrete, so with brief guiding they didn’t even budge.
In Jiwon’s judgment, the current Seo Gangwoo was the same as a bomb that could explode anywhere at any time.
Just how long does one have to not receive guiding to reach this state?
Do S-ranks have S-rank patience and mental strength too?
Jiwon, who continued such thoughts in his mind, found it amazing that Esper Seo Gangwoo was alive until now. Thinking he absolutely couldn’t let him go like this, his body moved on its own to block Seo Gangwoo trying to leave.
With Jiwon, who was smaller than average height, clinging to Seo Gangwoo’s large build, he was exactly like a koala clinging to a tree. At such Jiwon’s strong blocking, Seo Gangwoo’s eyes widened for a moment then returned.
Seo Gangwoo’s body was in a very peaceful state. It had been so long he couldn’t even remember when he’d been this comfortable. With proper guiding received for the first time since awakening as an Esper, though the gauge might be high, his condition was incomparably better than usual.
Since he suddenly barged in, the young Guide who had just manifested must have been very troubled. By his standards, he’d sufficiently received guiding all night. He’d just gotten up thinking staying longer would be rude.
The unstable waves of an S-rank Esper carried rough energy on a different level from other Espers. It would have been considerably difficult since he’d even entered the rampage stage. The remaining waves afterward could be dealt with by receiving guiding substitute medicine.
Thus, Jiwon and Seo Gangwoo’s standoff continued.
