# Chapter 43
Jaehee’s lips trembled as he recalled the past.
-Guide Lee Jaehee?
At that moment, Dr. Yoon’s voice calling him came from the phone. Jaehee remembered he was still on a call, and hurriedly suppressed his emotions as he spoke.
“Dr. Yoon, thank you for letting me know.”
But it was impossible to hide all his emotions. Though he might be able to change his voice somehow, his hand gripping the phone was trembling uncontrollably, unable to contain his feelings.
“And… please keep it a secret from Esper Kang Dohyun that I heard about this.”
-Huh? Well, sure.
Dr. Yoon replied lightly.
“Both that I know about this drug, and that I currently have it.”
But Dr. Yoon couldn’t respond so casually to Jaehee’s next words.
-You want this whole matter kept secret? Everything about the drug too?
“Yes. Please, Dr. Yoon.”
At those words, Dr. Yoon was silent for a moment. Then, as if suddenly realizing something, Dr. Yoon urgently spoke.
-Guide Lee Jaehee? You’re not… No, right? Not what I’m thinking.
Dr. Yoon’s voice rose by a tone.
-This is a deadly poison. You could die. You know what I mean, right?
He continued, unable to hide his bewilderment.
-No matter how difficult it is to find a way to erase a Bond, still… This is…!
But Jaehee wasn’t listening to Dr. Yoon.
“I have something to do now, so I’ll hang up. I’ll contact you again.”
-Hey! You, seriously!
Jaehee ended the call. Then he took a deep breath. Otherwise, he felt like he would be engulfed by these surging emotions.
‘Geonwoo and… even Dohyun…!’
Jaehee bit his lower lip until it bled. He tried desperately to suppress his growing emotions. He couldn’t let his emotions ruin his work. So Jaehee focused only on organizing what he needed to do in his head. He tried to concentrate solely on that.
‘Except for the fact that it’s deadly poison to Guides, it’s not different from what Cheon Taeyun said.’
Contact Guiding that could forcibly absorb other Guides’ Guiding energy, physical enhancement that could withstand wave pattern spikes, and now this drug.
‘With this, it might be possible to erase the Bond.’
Now he knew all the methods.
‘Since I know all the methods, I don’t need Cheon Taeyun or upper management anymore.’
Jaehee now plans to invite them. To remove the unnecessary supporting characters who are ruining this stage at their whim. And to properly eliminate those who had touched Geonwoo and Dohyun.
‘For that, I need to draw out the hidden power players.’
Jaehee gritted his molars.
***
The next day. Taeyun watched Jaehee’s reactions. Jaehee seemed subtly different somehow. His face was clearly smiling, but it felt cold somewhere. Why? While he was failing to find the reason…
Knock knock. Suddenly there was a sound of someone knocking on the door. Jaehee and Taeyun turned their heads toward the sound. There was Esper Jeong Hyeono opening the door and entering.
“Guide Lee Jaehee.”
Hyeono called Jaehee with slightly creased eyes and a faint smile on his lips. He gave a light bow to Taeyun out of courtesy. Taeyun also slightly nodded his head in greeting.
“We meet often, Esper Jeong Hyeono.”
“Ah, yes. I keep having things to tell Guide Lee Jaehee.”
At Hyeono’s words, Taeyun nodded slightly and stood up from his chair.
“Then I’ll step out for a moment, please talk comfortably, you two.”
Having observed Jaehee all day, Taeyun was quite fatigued, so he left the examination room, partly to rest.
Hyeono waited until Taeyun had completely left the examination room before approaching Jaehee. Hyeono sat in the chair where Taeyun had been sitting.
Looking at Hyeono, Jaehee asked.
“Is Esper Kang Dohyun doing well?”
After the call telling him to stay away from Geonwoo immediately, Dohyun had thoroughly ignored Jaehee’s calls. Yet, he was consistently receiving news about himself through Hyeono.
And it was the same for Jaehee. He wanted to know if Dohyun was doing well and how he was doing. Having learned that the Center’s upper management had even touched Dohyun, he wanted to hear news even more.
“Yes, I heard he’s doing well. And I heard that fortunately, the gate that the captain entered was a low-level gate.”
“Did they say if he was injured anywhere?”
Jaehee asked like that. But asking such a question itself was laughable. What need was there to worry about an A-class Esper who had entered a low-level gate?
But when Jaehee couldn’t enter gates with Dohyun, he always asked this. If he was injured anywhere. If he was okay. It was the same this time. Even while thinking Dohyun wouldn’t get hurt, Jaehee asked about his condition.
“No. Fortunately, there was a big difference in level, so I heard there were no particular problems.”
Jaehee let out a small sigh of relief. Even though he already knew Dohyun had gone to a low-level gate, hearing directly that Dohyun was safe felt different. Deep reassurance came over him.
“That’s a relief…!”
Suddenly Jaehee frowned and closed his eyes. Once again, he couldn’t see in front of him. A ringing in his ears disturbed his head. The world seemed to spin, making him nauseous.
“Guide Lee Jaehee! Are you alright?”
Hyeono asked in great surprise. Soon after, as Jaehee’s condition calmed a bit, he pretended to be fine so that Hyeono wouldn’t worry more.
Hyeono said with a concerned face.
“You look really unwell. Your complexion is dark too.”
“I’m just a little tired. I’m fine.”
Hyeono didn’t seem to believe those words. He just continued to worry with a face that suggested Jaehee might collapse at any moment.
“Really, I’m fine.”
Jaehee once again dismissed his concerns. Only then did Hyeono continue with what he hadn’t been able to say.
“But, you see…”
As if choosing his words, Hyeono hesitated for a moment. Seeing his expression wasn’t good, Jaehee asked with slightly hardened eyes.
“Is there a problem?”
“Well, it seems the boss monster is a bit of an issue.”
“Don’t tell me, the monster’s level?”
“Ah. No. It was normal. All the monsters that came out of the gate were low-level too.”
It happened occasionally. Gates that received abnormal level ratings where monsters that didn’t match the gate’s level appeared. That’s what Jaehee was worried about. Hyeono waved his hands, saying that wasn’t the case, so not to worry.
“Then what’s the problem?”
“The boss monster itself isn’t a problem, but the level difference became an issue. I heard it completely concealed itself after sensing the captain’s A-class presence.”
In addition, the size of the gate they entered was also a problem. It was too vast for a low-level gate.
“So I heard it will take longer than expected to clear the gate. Other than that, there’s nothing particularly worrying.”
At those words, Jaehee unconsciously let out a sigh of relief. According to Hyeono, even if it takes longer to clear the gate, there’s nothing that could cause problems for Dohyun.
Hyeono tried his best to smile naturally as he watched Jaehee relieved that nothing serious had happened. In truth, there was something he hadn’t mentioned.
-Is the captain crazy now! What if something goes wrong!
The news about Dohyun that he heard from others wasn’t good. They said he was endlessly drawing and using power to forcibly find the boss monster. Since there was no one who could subdue Dohyun with force, no one could stop him.
Moreover, he had heard that several Espers seemed to have given up on clearing the gate and were acting independently. What on earth was happening inside the gate?
But Hyeono couldn’t convey that to Jaehee.
He felt reluctant to tell this to Jaehee, who was enduring with a pale face, doing Guiding to the limit to erase the Bond.
The reverse was also true. Hyeono couldn’t bring himself to tell Dohyun about Jaehee’s condition, as Dohyun was pushing himself so hard each day, anxious about Jaehee, trying to hurry to clear the gate. So he just relayed that everything was fine.
He had no choice. This was all Hyeono could do.
What would improve by informing them both of each other’s condition when they were already struggling in their own positions?
‘Knowing the truth would only make both of them suffer more.’
Moreover, Hyeono was much lower in rank than Jaehee. This means Hyeono couldn’t control Jaehee’s actions. It also meant he could only watch.
So Hyeono only conveyed news that would reassure them both.
“That’s what I came to tell you. Don’t worry since he entered a low-level gate… Guide Lee Jaehee?”
Suddenly, Jaehee contorted his brow and held his head with his hand, as if dizzy. Though he was saying he was fine, his complexion was deathly pale. He didn’t look fine at all. As Hyeono was about to ask about Jaehee’s condition again.
“Guide Lee Jaehee!”
The infinitely small body compared to an Esper lost consciousness and collapsed right there.
