# Chapter 21
After ending his communication with Raon, Hyukjin sighed and looked around the situation room. Seeing the Guides becoming busy, it seemed the Espers were returning.
There was a world here that Hyukjin, an ordinary person, didn’t know about. The expressions of the Guides approaching the Espers, who appeared exhausted and haggard, varied greatly. Those who got along well hugged each other excitedly, while those in business relationships, though not to that extent, managed their assigned Espers with simple contact or radiative guiding.
And lastly, Jaehwi, who entered while removing the black mask covering the lower half of his face, was held by the NCSC team. Though he had come with the MK team at NCSC’s request, his reports were made to NCSC.
His face showed no emotion as he shook his head, which was covered in dirt, sweat, and wet from the underwater dungeon.
The moment Hyukjin’s eyes met with Jaehwi, who had been nodding briefly or giving short answers, he unconsciously looked away. Avoiding his eyes didn’t end matters. The sound of military boots stomping was clearly audible amidst the commotion.
Looking down, Hyukjin saw combat boots covered in foreign matter enter his view, soon obscured by a large palm.
“Hand it over.”
Hesitating for a moment, unable to understand Jaehwi’s intent, Hyukjin looked up at the blunt words that felt like they’d been thrown down from above.
He noticed the crease between Jaehwi’s brows and his prominent jawline, as if clenching his teeth, as he stood in a slouched posture.
Haah-.
Hyukjin, who couldn’t move readily, only sprang up from his seat after seeing Jaehwi collapse into the chair beside him. Then, fidgeting nervously, he called for the young Guide standing alone.
“G0613S Aiden Jung. This is E1101S…”
Jaehwi’s fingertips, which had been resting on his thighs with his elbows while he leaned forward, moved slightly. With just that small action, a cold chill spread throughout the situation room. The noisy place suddenly went quiet, and at the gesture of several NCSC team members, people rapidly began leaving the room.
Only Jaehwi, Aiden, and Hyukjin remained in the situation room. The cold intensified, and Aiden was the first to react.
“Hello. I’m Guide Aiden Jung. If you’re uncomfortable, I can use radiative—”
“Give me the stabilizer and both of you get out.”
At those quiet words, spoken through clenched teeth, Hyukjin grabbed Aiden’s pale arm.
After checking that the stabilization level had dropped to 14%, Hyukjin carefully tried to avoid provoking Jaehwi.
“E1101S Min Jaehwi. Since we’ve struggled to bring in this Guide, please receive radiative guiding first. If there’s no improvement, then the stabilizer…”
The nearby chair quickly hit the wall before falling to the floor with a loud crash. And Jaehwi’s fingertips moved slightly once more. White breath rose with each breath Aiden and Hyukjin took as they stood there, holding their breath in tension.
“…Then let’s all die together.”
Blood that couldn’t be absorbed by the black suit began flowing down Jaehwi’s arm, staining his palm red. Hyukjin had thought that when Jaehwi reached his limit, he would accept guiding. When Hyukjin nudged Aiden, who was standing close beside him, the pale-faced Aiden quickly shook his head.
Do some radiative guiding.
‘I am doing it.’ Hyukjin read Aiden’s mouthing lips, then suddenly pulled Aiden behind him when Jaehwi, who had been hunched over, straightened up, leaned back in the chair, and closed his eyes.
[Team Leader. We need to start guiding right now. It’s been less than 6 hours since the stabilizer was administered, so even if we give more now, it won’t be effective…]
The words of a team member checking Jaehwi’s condition elsewhere came through the earpiece. A smile spread across Jaehwi’s lips as he acted like he might blow up the entire aircraft carrier.
Raon’s face was pale as he disembarked from the helicopter. If he had to feel this way every time he went out to a site, that place would be hell. It might have been less difficult on a plane, but most field deployments were done by helicopter. Lamely getting motion sickness, what was that about? He was fine on planes but like this on helicopters. Feeling like he might retch, Raon covered his mouth with one hand.
Perhaps because he’d gone from the trembling air to standing on solid ground, dizziness overtook him.
“Young Master?”
As Raon stood still with his head bowed, covering his mouth with one hand, he felt Jay embracing him. He should say he was fine, but he couldn’t speak or move. Despite his age, his anxiety wouldn’t subside.
Heading toward the situation room, Raon could guess the current situation through the headset he was wearing.
[I’ll take the stabilizer.]
[Let me try a bit more radiative guiding.]
After Jaehwi’s firm voice came a gentle, sweet voice. Raon’s footsteps stopped as he entered.
It was perfect black. One person sitting alone in a chair in a spacious room. Leaning back in a chair too small to fully support his tall body, he had his eyes tightly closed. Right beside him was Hyukjin, and next to him was another small person.
“Jay. Let’s go back.”
Raon removed his headset, handed it to Jay, and turned around. Unnecessary meddling and unnecessary worry. Jaehwi was 20 years old, and Raon knew his abilities best. And he was a child who could take care of himself better than anyone. It was natural that he would know his field experience, condition control, and his own state better than anyone else.
Raon felt pathetic for having postponed everything and coming all this way based on a single report that Jaehwi had been deployed to the field without stabilized numbers. The MK Center field team was more excellent than anyone, and NCSC, which had worked with Jaehwi until now, was also here.
And there was even an S-grade Guide waiting for him…
“Where are you going? Didn’t you come to see me?”
As Raon habitually brought his left hand to his mouth, he stopped when someone grabbed his shoulder. Against his will, his body turned, and both shoulders were held. And Jaehwi’s face was right in front of him.
“Even if you came for something else, can’t you say you came to see me? I’m a bit in pain right now.”
Jaehwi’s face, normally with healthy brown skin, was pale white. And the hands gripping Raon’s shoulders trembled slightly. At first, Raon thought it was himself trembling, but he saw Jaehwi slightly biting his lower lip then releasing it with a somewhat troubled expression.
“That Guide over there.”
There’s a Guide. You can get guiding. Raon couldn’t say what he needed to say and instead raised one hand to stroke Jaehwi’s cheek. There was a faint energy gathered in his hand.
“Hyung. Give me a hug.”
At Jaehwi’s murmured words, as he obediently entrusted his face to Raon’s hand, Raon sighed softly and moved closer. He wrapped his arms around the neck of Jaehwi, who had bent his upper body to match Raon’s eye level.
Naturally, Raon’s cheek touched Jaehwi’s, but he deliberately ignored it and patted his shoulder a few times. It wasn’t an obvious guiding. Very carefully, as if watching Raon’s reaction, Jaehwi passively accepted his guiding.
That behavior of accepting only a small amount, just enough to prevent a critical situation, just enough to not die, made Raon clench his molars. No matter how much he disliked Raon’s guiding, this was too much.
Even though Raon knew perfectly well that even if he gave everything, he couldn’t fill Jaehwi completely… Indeed, he was insufficient for him.
“There’s a new Guide list. We need to find someone suitable for you. I hear the stabilizer doesn’t work well.”
As Raon spoke softly, he caught sight of the face of the person who appeared to be the Guide. With round eyes opened cutely like a rabbit, he was watching Raon and Jaehwi. Raon languidly stroked Jaehwi’s round back of the head and nape with a slow touch. When a sighing sound, as if in pain, flowed from Jaehwi’s mouth as he buried his face in Raon’s neck, crumpling his large body, Raon put a little more energy into his hand.
“Yes.”
Contrary to Raon’s expectation of a negative response, Jaehwi agreed obediently, albeit a bit late, and Raon looked at Hyukjin. Suddenly, he didn’t want to see the young Guide in front of him. The pathetic hyung’s feelings ran wild. Moreover, the young Guide seemed much better than in the photos.
After hugging Jaehwi tightly with both arms and releasing him, Raon fixed his clothes. He brushed past Aiden, who was still looking at Jaehwi with surprised eyes, and approached Hyukjin.
“I’ll narrow down the list and send it to you by tomorrow morning, so prepare for the Guide compatibility test in the afternoon.”
Though Raon spoke to Hyukjin, his gaze was on Aiden. If there were no major issues, it seemed this child would become Jaehwi’s Guide. That was just his feeling. There was something undeniable in Aiden’s eyes as he looked at Jaehwi.
“I’m taking this.”
Since there was no benefit in drawing people’s attention for too long, Raon snatched the stabilizer from Hyukjin’s hand and passed by Jaehwi, who was standing crookedly. There was no need to tell him to follow or say anything. He was already walking beside Raon in the same direction.
