# Chapter 15
Everyone in the Center knew Geonwoo. An unmanifested Esper with top-tier potential. A being who evoked curiosity, interest, admiration, and jealousy from everyone. It was only natural that everyone’s attention was focused on him.
What the Center had done to him left everyone’s mouths hanging open.
Additionally, when they witnessed Jaehee looking like he was about to collapse, and when that was passed on by word of mouth, the backlash against the Center’s higher-ups soared to immeasurable heights.
But the higher-ups adamantly denied involvement in Jaehee’s situation. They claimed they hadn’t touched a single finger of Jaehee’s. No! They couldn’t have! Rather, they were the ones who were severely injured!
But no one believed them.
Numerous staff members against a single Guide. And the pettiness of bringing along an Esper too. Anyone could see that Jaehee was the victim.
Moreover, since both Espers who were present at the time remained silent about the incident, everything the staff claimed as truth was regarded as lies.
In the end, in their attempt to avoid the A-class Esper, the higher-up staff turned all the Guides and Espers in the Center against them.
After getting rid of them, Jaehee’s mind was completely filled with thoughts of Geonwoo. That made it even harder. The heart he thought had hardened crumbled before Geonwoo’s situation. When it came to Geonwoo, the weak Lee Jaehee who used to cry secretly, the wounded Lee Jaehee he had kept hidden, kept trying to emerge.
Like right now…
“Why… why are they taking so long?”
Jaehee was anxiously waiting for the Guides to arrive while standing in front of the examination room door where Geonwoo was.
When first hearing about Geonwoo, Jaehee had agonized. A way to save Geonwoo. And a way to protect the Geonwoo of the future too.
But no matter how much he thought, there was no clear method. Then a small clue came to mind. Jaehee pinned his hopes on it.
“We’re here! All Guides who could be gathered right now are here.”
At that voice, Jaehee immediately stood before the Guides.
People’s eyes focused on Jaehee. Their gazes swept over him. A face turned pale white. A precariousness that looked like he might collapse at any moment. Seeing that, people felt sorry and grew even more distrustful of the higher-ups.
But that wasn’t concern for Jaehee. It was just the single thought that they might do the same to them that united all the Guides and Espers.
Jaehee saw them like that, heard each of their whispers one by one. And he didn’t deny it. Originally, he had intended to spread only Geonwoo’s story, but somehow he had become a major part of that story too. It wasn’t a bad situation. No, it was rather a good opportunity.
Because after this incident, it wouldn’t be easy to touch Geonwoo.
So Jaehee didn’t try to hide his current sadness in front of the people looking at him. The more openly he showed this pain, the more the people’s sparks would grow.
So Jaehee gave instructions to the Guides in that state.
“Enter the room in groups of 2-3, taking turns, and release guiding energy. Without any gaps.”
But there was someone who objected to those words. It was the examiner who managed the physical condition of the ability users. He jumped up and shouted that this shouldn’t be done.
“No, Guide! He’s currently refusing guiding, and you’re talking about guiding from other Guides? He’ll only try to reject it more!”
He seemed truly bewildered and spoke rapidly without even taking a breath.
“You know well that he’s refusing to accept any guiding except yours, don’t y… hic!”
As he spoke, the examiner tried to grab Jaehee. But he was stopped by Hyeono, who was guarding Jaehee’s side, and had to step back.
Jaehee looked at that scene for a moment and continued.
“When the room is filled with guiding energy, I’ll mix my guiding energy in, little by little.”
No matter how much other Guides’ guiding energy was mixed in, if among it was the guiding energy that Geonwoo so desperately wanted.
‘It won’t be easy for him to refuse…’
“What do you mean?”
“If he won’t release it on his own… then we need to induce him to release it.”
All this time, Geonwoo had been forcibly injected with guiding energy through a guiding machine. But as he persisted in refusing to accept even that, his rejection response to guiding grew stronger, and as that state repeated, his guiding rejection symptoms reached an extreme. In the end, he came to reject even the minimal guiding he needed to accept.
To such a Geonwoo… to one who was saying with his whole body that he would rather die than receive any guiding except Jaehee’s, Jaehee was trying to throw bait.
Mixing his guiding energy to make him absorb the energy of other Guides. That was the best method Jaehee could think of, and the only method.
But it wasn’t as easy as it sounded. If he failed in controlling the amount even a little, the one-way bond would strengthen. And if Geonwoo didn’t accept it, the current method would be useless.
‘Please… don’t reject it and accept it… Geonwoo…’
Jaehee prayed desperately.
The Guides, who had been glancing at Jaehee like that, stood in front of the examination room door. Conversely, Jaehee stepped far back from the door. Though still an unmanifested Esper, Geonwoo might notice the guiding energy flowing faintly from within. In a one-way bond state, one becomes frighteningly sensitive to the other’s guiding energy.
And if Geonwoo detected his guiding energy first, he would not try to absorb the energy of others.
So Jaehee kept his distance. After stepping quite far back, he nodded toward the Guides. Seeing that, the Guides started to release their guiding energy little by little and opened the door.
“…ugh…”
When the door opened, someone’s voice was heard. Jaehee knew well whose voice it was. It was too familiar.
But there was a strange sound mixed in. A groan filled with pain. That wasn’t familiar. That wasn’t something he wanted to hear. As if his body was rejecting it, Jaehee’s hands began to tremble.
Even in the midst of this, guiding energy was steadily filling the room. The examiner checked the guiding level with the examination machine and informed Jaehee.
Jaehee, hiding his trembling hands behind his back, looked at the examiner and nodded slightly. Then he moved one step at a time toward where Geonwoo was.
As he entered the room, the view of the all-white examination room came into Jaehee’s sight. The backs of people appeared in sequence.
But Geonwoo was not visible. Hidden by the Guides and the examiner who had entered first, Geonwoo was not visible, and only the end of the bed where Geonwoo was lying was barely showing.
So Jaehee moved his steps. He approached one step at a time. But it was strange. Just a little closer and he would be able to see Geonwoo, but his legs were too heavy. The short distance of just a few steps felt infinitely far.
‘…what’s happening to me?’
Even Jaehee himself couldn’t understand why his body was suddenly acting this way.
That symptom worsened as he got closer to Geonwoo. His legs grew heavier and heavier. And each time, Geonwoo’s pain-filled groans grew a little louder.
Jaehee repeated this.
Getting a little closer.
Hearing Geonwoo’s painful groans a little more.
Getting a little closer again.
Hearing groans that were a little louder than before.
Getting just a little closer.
Hearing the groans of pain that had suddenly become too clear.
That pattern kept repeating.
And finally, his body stopped.
Geonwoo’s pain filled Jaehee’s ears, repeating like tinnitus.
Though Jaehee himself wasn’t aware of it now, his body knew. His body remembered. What Jaehee was feeling now was fear. The terrible future he had experienced once. The indelible trauma that had formed because of it.
No matter how much one wanted to escape it, once it formed, it clung tenaciously and wouldn’t let go. Such a thing was attached to Jaehee. Using Geonwoo’s painful groans as a host, the trauma grew even larger. It was trying to swallow Jaehee.
It persistently whispered. To become the Jaehee of that time again. To become the Jaehee who had experienced the future once and fall into hell once more. To be swallowed by it.
Because of that, Jaehee felt as if his head and body were functioning separately. His head was saying he should go quickly, while his body was saying not to go any further. Such conflicting emotions clashed violently inside Jaehee. Ambivalent emotions filled Jaehee’s insides.
He needed to go to Geonwoo, but he wanted to run away.
He needed to protect Geonwoo’s present, but he was afraid that his future would repeat.
Such emotions accumulated and tormented Jaehee.
And gradually, the current Jaehee and the Jaehee in the terrible future began to mix. The fear, the sadness, the pain from that time that was slowly rising was targeting Jaehee.
It swallowed Jaehee’s hands first. The hands he had hidden behind his back trembled incomparably more than before. That trembling didn’t stop at his hands. It spread throughout Jaehee’s entire body.
The trembling that spread like that intensified the current situation and emotions more and more.
Jaehee’s body was now beyond his own control. He couldn’t do anything.
