# Chapter 27
‘Is this even possible?’
Hyeono observed Geonwoo carefully.
Until now, not a single person had manifested abilities surpassing Dohyun’s. Yet the sensitivity Geonwoo just displayed exceeded Dohyun’s senses.
Moreover, his physical condition wasn’t even normal yet. That meant the sensory ability he’d just shown wasn’t even at its peak.
Goosebumps formed lightly on Hyeono’s arm.
Esper society was a place where hierarchy was strictly determined by power. That’s why none of the Espers at the Center could treat Dohyun carelessly.
But now, the thought occurred to him that Choi Geonwoo standing before his eyes could be an exception.
Then another thought came to him. That it might be better if Dohyun returned quickly. That it might be better if he caused trouble.
Before Choi Geonwoo manifested.
Before Jaehee was taken from him.
***
Meanwhile, Jaehee, having finished his call, hesitated in front of the examination room door. Unable to enter readily, he just stood by the doorway. His hand rested limply on the handle, his gaze directed at the floor.
Jaehee remained standing still, unable to do anything.
It was because of the call with Dohyun.
‘He said he’d… break the bond himself…’
The words he’d heard just now hung like a heavy weight on Jaehee’s body. Making each step difficult and his footsteps heavy, making his head endlessly complicated, making him feel completely weighed down.
Making the journey to the examination room feel unbearably long, and now making even approaching Geonwoo difficult.
‘What should I do…’
Jaehee exhaled weakly as if releasing his suffocating feelings. But soon, his expression softened. Nothing would be solved by standing here like this. He had to go in first. Until Geonwoo’s condition improved, he needed to open his senses.
So Jaehee put strength into the hand holding the doorknob. The door opened so easily it was almost disappointing.
And at that moment, a familiar voice called out.
“Guide-nim!”
Before the door was fully open, Geonwoo called for Jaehee. His voice was full of excitement.
At that sound, Jaehee’s gaze, which had still been directed at the floor, slowly rose. That gaze, as if naturally, settled on Geonwoo. The white bed came into view, and Geonwoo was sitting on it. Their eyes met.
Then once more,
“Guide-nim!”
A voice filled with joy called out to Jaehee.
Jaehee looked at Geonwoo like that. Standing in the doorway, he took in the sight of him welcoming him so enthusiastically.
Geonwoo was smiling so brightly. As if saying, ‘I’m so happy to see you.’
And what about his arms? Spread wide open as if urging him to return to his embrace.
All while continuously calling out ‘Guide-nim.’ That appearance looked so beautiful to Jaehee’s eyes. It created a deep sense of relief. Although there wasn’t a significant change since it had only been a day, his bright smile seemed to say, ‘I’m a little better now,’ providing comfort.
‘He looks better than yesterday. That’s a relief.’
Perhaps it was because he felt somewhat reassured. Dohyun’s words came back to him again. His cold words that if Jaehee stayed by Geonwoo’s side, he wouldn’t leave him alone—they echoed in his ears.
Jaehee couldn’t give any answer to Dohyun’s words. It was because Dohyun had hung up as if he wouldn’t listen to anything. That meant he absolutely wouldn’t change his mind.
Moreover, he didn’t know when Dohyun would return.
No matter how much time was needed to clear a gate, a high-class Esper had entered a low-class gate. And that Esper was Dohyun, the strongest combatant in the Center. So he would emerge much faster than the expected clearance time. Furthermore, now that he knew about the current situation, he might even push himself to advance quickly.
So Jaehee had to hurry. Before the two people precious to him hurt each other.
But that method didn’t come to mind easily.
In the face of this overwhelming uncertainty about what to do, Jaehee’s gaze naturally fell to the floor.
“…Guide-nim?”
Meanwhile, Geonwoo stared intently at Jaehee, who was standing by the doorway with his head bowed.
‘Why aren’t you coming over here?’
‘You should come back here quickly.’
Geonwoo slightly waved his arms to emphasize his presence to Jaehee.
I’m here! Arms open wide like this! You just need to come here. Into my arms! He was expressing that so earnestly.
Still, Jaehee didn’t come. Geonwoo’s smile disappeared. Suddenly, Geonwoo’s arms dropped. Geonwoo pressed down on the bed and lowered his legs to the floor. His unsteady body stepped onto the floor with difficulty.
Only then did Jaehee’s eyes, which had been weighed down by countless thoughts, widen in shock.
Geonwoo was suddenly getting up urgently.
Why?
‘He shouldn’t be doing that… His body isn’t ready yet!’
Guiding only suppresses newly emerging pain, it doesn’t heal existing wounds. That’s why Geonwoo wasn’t in a condition to get up from the bed on his own yet.
‘What if he falls and gets hurt!’
Jaehee’s steps quickened.
Geonwoo’s body came down from the bed, and his weakened form staggered.
People were also surprised. But not one of them extended a helping hand. Even though they were standing closer to Geonwoo than Jaehee was, nobody helped.
More precisely, they couldn’t approach Geonwoo. He didn’t want it. As soon as someone slightly moved to approach, a fiercely sharp gaze would strike them—how could they approach? Even though he was just an unmanifested Esper, he was behaving more aggressively than an actual Esper.
The only thing Geonwoo wanted was Jaehee’s touch, and to have him return to his embrace.
So Geonwoo waited, allowing Jaehee to come to him, to take in the full sight of his staggering form. With trembling hands gripping the bed, forcing strength into his weak, shaking legs, he endured like that.
He didn’t care if he got hurt.
As intended, Jaehee hurriedly approached Geonwoo. To support Geonwoo, who was larger than himself, Jaehee wrapped his arm around Geonwoo’s waist, allowing him to lean on his body.
As their bodies pressed together, a violently fluctuating wave rushed into Jaehee. An enormous amount, enough to make him flinch.
‘Surely until just before I left the room…, it wasn’t like this…’
The waves that he had difficultly suppressed were raging violently again. Jaehee immediately turned his head to check the wave levels displayed on the examination machine. The levels had risen to a dangerous degree, and the examiner standing in front was watching Geonwoo with undisguised bewilderment.
All of this had happened in that brief moment when Jaehee was absent.
“…Guide-nim.”
Geonwoo moved his body closer to Jaehee. Geonwoo’s trembling was transmitted directly through Jaehee’s body where they touched. Unlike his brightly smiling appearance, Geonwoo’s body was trembling finely.
He had only left his seat for a very brief moment… but in that short time, the waves were ready to devour Geonwoo again like yesterday. The wave levels were gradually rising to the critical point.
Jaehee’s face turned deathly pale.
‘Is it because I wasn’t by his side…? Because I left? Because he was afraid I wouldn’t return?’
Was it that worry that made the waves rampage like this? To the point of threatening to swallow Geonwoo’s life?
Jaehee’s eyes, supporting Geonwoo, twisted in pain.
He wanted to believe that yesterday’s moment—something Geonwoo had caused in his emotional agitation, something he had done without knowing… had been that kind of mistake.
But it wasn’t. The current Geonwoo was willingly accepting the fear of death he had felt as his manifestation was accelerated. Even as the waves surged, he rejected the guiding energy in the room until the end and just waited for Jaehee.
Geonwoo’s fear wasn’t death.
His fear was Jaehee not being by his side. That was more frightening than death. Geonwoo was saying that with his entire body.
‘…Geonwoo… please…’
Jaehee looked at Geonwoo. Geonwoo’s eyes, looking straight at him alone, greeted Jaehee. A gaze that bound his entire body to the point of being blind devotion. Receiving that gaze, Jaehee felt a surge of emotion.
Last night’s Geonwoo and the current Geonwoo arbitrarily overlapped.
Geonwoo’s heart, his thoughts, his body…, everything bound by the one-way bond was warning that it could show Jaehee last night’s Geonwoo again at any time.
‘No! I can’t let that happen! I have to erase it… I have to erase the bond right away! As soon as possible!’
But, how should he…
Jaehee, unable to find the answer, suffered.
Whether he left his side, tried to erase the bond, or didn’t erase the bond as it was. The end of all paths was… Geonwoo’s death.
Faced with these terrible choices before him, Jaehee lost his way forward.
With the added pressure of time, not knowing when Dohyun would arrive, Jaehee could only collapse.
He needed to do something quickly, but he couldn’t.
He couldn’t choose… any option.
He couldn’t see… a way out…
“Guide-nim…”
At that moment, Geonwoo called out to Jaehee in a small voice.
Simultaneously, Geonwoo’s body staggered greatly.
