# Chapter 32
Geonwoo blinked.
His vision gradually blurred. He could no longer see his hyung’s face. It was fading into whiteness. The scenery shattered piece by piece, and his hyung and young Geonwoo disappeared.
“…Hyung…”
Everything was erased as if it had never existed, becoming a blank white canvas, and,
“Esper Choi Geonwoo!”
Guide-nim’s voice began writing a new story on it. Jaehee’s voice filled Geonwoo’s ears. Geonwoo slowly opened his eyes. The dream that had felt so real shattered, and he returned to reality. The figures from his dream vanished, and Jaehee was before his eyes.
“…Guide…nim?”
As soon as he recognized Jaehee, something rolled down Geonwoo’s cheeks. Geonwoo traced the vivid memory and raised his hand to touch what was flowing down his face. His fingers became wet with tears.
‘…Why am I crying?’
Geonwoo couldn’t understand. The story in his dream had clearly been happy. It was different from the nightmares he usually had. For the first time, he had dreamed something different from his memories.
It was a fantasy that embraced the pain of reality. It was also a dreamlike story given to him who was tired of nightmares. Thanks to that, the terrible fear he had experienced at 10 years old was covered up for the first time.
‘I wasn’t alone.’
That was possible because of the presence in his dream.
The figure from his dream overlapped with the terrible memory of having to endure alone. This time, young Geonwoo wasn’t alone; his hyung was by his side.
That’s why Geonwoo wasn’t scared of this dream. For the first time, this nightmare had become such a warm dream by his side.
But Geonwoo, now awake from the dream, was crying.
What was even more incomprehensible was the deeply lingering emotion.
‘Why… am I feeling this way…’
A longing so deep it felt like drowning. Geonwoo couldn’t accept this painfully intense emotion that was infinitely sorrowful and made his heart ache. It was a sadness too immense to bear. It wasn’t an emotion whose depth one could withstand while being in their right mind.
Because of this, Geonwoo was confused.
“Esper Choi Geonwoo?”
It was then. A careful touch reached his cheek.
“Are you alright? Are you conscious?”
Jaehee’s voice reached Geonwoo’s ears.
“…Guide…nim.”
Only then could Geonwoo emerge from the deep, pulling emotion. The hyung from his dream who kept flickering before his eyes merged beneath Jaehee’s image.
“…!”
But at the same time, another scene flashed before his eyes. He remembered what had happened before he fell asleep.
“Guide-nim!”
Geonwoo’s voice trembled. Geonwoo was anxious. Nervous. That was why he embraced Jaehee with his entire body. His body holding Jaehee shook. Everything that had happened before he fell asleep had made him this way.
The memory of helplessly falling asleep was clear. He remembered how he couldn’t resist the Espers’ power. That pathetic memory filled Geonwoo with fear.
Because of that, Geonwoo asked. He silently voiced a powerless question.
‘What should I do? How can I stay by Guide-nim’s side?’
Geonwoo felt wretched. There was nothing he could do. So he just buried his face in Jaehee’s arms. He soaked Jaehee’s shirt with his pain.
“Please…, please, Guide-nim…”
Geonwoo begged and begged. What else could Geonwoo do? There was nothing the current Geonwoo could do.
“…I don’t want to sleep.”
So desperate, pleading words flowed out.
“What if… when I open my eyes, Guide-nim isn’t here?”
Geonwoo expressed his anxiety as it was.
“…I don’t want to receive treatment either.”
Anxiety kept wetting Geonwoo’s eyes.
“I can endure this pain. So… can’t you not call the Espers?”
He could endure any amount of pain. But he was afraid of getting better. Geonwoo chose pain rather than recovery, fearing that Jaehee might abandon him once he was healed.
“Guide-nim…”
Geonwoo’s Adam’s apple bobbed. Sorrow burst forth. Desperation overflowed.
“Can’t you just… stay by my side? Can’t you just… let me stay… by your side…?”
Please, Guide-nim…
The tears of reality overlapped with the tears created by the dream. In the dark examination room permeated with the deep energy of night, Geonwoo pleaded like that.
But Jaehee didn’t say a word. He just kept his eyes closed, listening.
***
“Let’s stop here for today.”
Taeyun, ceasing to use his ability, spoke to Jaehee. Having consumed a significant amount of guiding energy for two consecutive days, Jaehee’s face looked quite exhausted.
“Since Esper Choi Geonwoo’s physical strength is so low to keep drawing out healing power, I don’t think he can endure anymore. We should end this and let him rest.”
Taeyun said this and withdrew his hand from Geonwoo.
Currently, in the examination room were only Geonwoo who was asleep due to the ability, Jaehee, and Cheon Taeyun, the only A-class healing Esper who could treat Geonwoo.
Outside the window, it had already grown dark.
“Guide Lee Jaehee.”
Hearing himself being called, Jaehee turned his head. At the same time, he picked up the silver bracelet and put it on his wrist. Jaehee’s complexion wasn’t good. Perhaps because the guiding energy inside him was depleted, his expression after putting on the guiding control device actually looked better.
Tired from exhaustion after pouring out guiding energy, Jaehee, as if he didn’t even have the strength to stand, sank into a chair next to the bed. In that state, he looked at the person who had called him.
Seeing Jaehee like this, Taeyun smiled comfortingly with crinkled eyes, then took out two bottles of drinks from the refrigerator. He pulled a chair over to sit next to Jaehee with the drinks in hand. While handing one bottle to Jaehee, he examined Jaehee’s complexion.
“Are you alright?”
“Ah, thank you. Yes. I’m fine.”
Though he said that, perhaps due to energy deficiency, Jaehee’s hand holding the bottle was trembling slightly. He must have been aware of it too. In that state, Jaehee placed his hand over Geonwoo’s to try to relax Geonwoo’s wavelengths even a little.
Taeyun carefully observed Jaehee’s hand, then spoke in a very slow tone.
“Hmm… I think I should ask in advance, even for the sake of treatment.”
After briefly closing his mouth as if choosing his words, Taeyun suddenly reached out. He lightly took the drink bottle from Jaehee’s hand. In place of Jaehee, who was so concerned about Geonwoo that he hadn’t even thought of drinking, Taeyun opened the cap with a pop. Then he naturally placed the drink back in Jaehee’s hand and continued speaking with a kind smile.
“Now, what are you planning to do?”
Taeyun’s face had a faint question along with his smile. He asked without hiding that question.
“I heard you tried to erase the one-sided bond but failed.”
Taeyun added in a light tone, almost whispering, that he had heard it from the examiner. Then he spoke with a bit more puzzlement.
“Usually in such cases, you’d just leave them alone. Let the bond dissolve naturally.”
That was the case most of the time. If left alone, unable to bear the pain, they would eventually accept guiding from another Guide and erase the bond. What was the need for all this trouble?
But Choi Geonwoo’s case was different.
According to what he heard from the examiner, even in a situation where his wavelengths surged to the point where he could stop breathing at any moment, Geonwoo continued to refuse guiding. On top of that, he even tried to hasten his manifestation to protect the one-sided bond.
Hearing that, Taeyun was lost for words. He was disgusted by Geonwoo’s obsession with his Guide, the object of his bond.
Even now it was the same. Whenever Jaehee’s presence moved even slightly away from the bed, Geonwoo’s wavelengths would rise up. It was only by mixing in a little of Jaehee’s guiding when using the healing ability that Jaehee could leave the bed at all.
So what if he moved away in this state? The outcome was predictable without even seeing it.
“Well, it’s obvious that Esper Choi Geonwoo would be a corpse to dispose of if that happened.”
That would be awkward too, Taeyun added quietly.
He now turned his head to look at Geonwoo. The smile gradually disappeared from his face. With a now infinitely dry gaze looking at Geonwoo, Taeyun, while maintaining that gaze, spoke as if for Jaehee to hear.
“But that’s something an Esper who made a one-sided bond has to accept. Regardless of how the bond came about.”
Unlike before, Taeyun’s words had a chill to them. Sensing this himself, Taeyun immediately put a smile back on his lips. His face, now turned back toward Jaehee, already had a deep smile on it. He added a soft tone to it.
“But I’m not sure why you’re doing all this beside Esper Choi Geonwoo.”
Taeyun’s face was deeply filled with a question that didn’t make sense to him. Seeing Jaehee’s endlessly tired face, Taeyun further expanded that question. He couldn’t understand Jaehee holding Geonwoo’s hand and drawing energy beyond his limit while in a state where his guiding energy was already depleted.
That’s why he asked.
Why Jaehee was by Geonwoo’s side and what he hoped for. Taeyun absolutely needed to hear that.
