# Chapter 48
“Guide Lee Jaehee-nim!”
Cheon Taeyun, who had been standing back watching Jaehee, shouted. His voice couldn’t hide his anger.
It was a situation where carelessly using healing abilities could further trigger Geonwoo’s wavelengths. He had been quietly watching from behind, partly to make Jaehee feel guilty, but Jaehee suddenly did something unexpected. Taeyun couldn’t help but be greatly shocked.
‘He’s removing the bracelet?’
He had told Jaehee to pretend to accept Geonwoo for psychological stability, but that was only meant to be an act. But removing the guiding ability control device? That didn’t mean pretending; it meant actually accepting an Esper who had formed a one-sided bond. Jaehee had just done something he absolutely shouldn’t have done.
“Wh-what? Guide Lee Jaehee-nim? The brace-let… you’re removing it…?”
Taeyun wasn’t the only one shocked. Everyone stared at Jaehee’s bare wrist with surprised faces. People’s gazes were also drawn to the guiding ability control device lying on the floor.
Among them, Taeyun was the most flustered. He felt his mind going completely blank. He couldn’t help it. If they left things like this, everything could go wrong. The deeper the one-sided bond became, the more difficult it would be to overlay a new bond.
Moreover, in Geonwoo’s case, his obsession with Jaehee was incomparably greater than other Espers. Who else would refuse guiding to the point of risking their life? Absolutely no one.
‘But not only will this deepen the bond, he’s going to fully accept Geonwoo?’
Taeyun clenched his molars and drew out the abilities deeply submerged within his body. He couldn’t let this continue. He had to stop Jaehee. This time he couldn’t just stand by and watch. If he did, everything might end in failure.
Taeyun’s pupils sank. The wavelengths inside his body rippled slightly. Very small wavelengths scattered around Taeyun.
‘Right, I’ll think about cleaning up this mess later. If we lose Geonwoo, everything is over!’
And dealing with the aftermath wouldn’t be that difficult. He could say that Jaehee’s body wasn’t well due to excessive guiding, which clouded his judgment, causing him to act rashly out of urgency. Most people would accept that excuse. They’d have to. Not only him, but everyone else looked surprised too. And any injuries could be healed.
Taeyun approached where Jaehee and Geonwoo were. The guiding ability control device had fallen at his feet. Taeyun bent down and picked it up. Then he gathered strength in his other hand.
‘First, I need to separate them. And then I need to put this bracelet back on Jaehee’s wrist.’
Taeyun approached Jaehee one step at a time. Very faint wavelengths scattered around him. Since Taeyun was forcibly suppressing his power to avoid detection, the wavelengths around his body were very light and faint. Even the guide standing near him hadn’t noticed.
But Jaehee must have felt it because he turned around. Jaehee and Taeyun’s gazes met.
Then, stop.
Taeyun’s advancing footsteps suddenly halted. His body wouldn’t move, as if it had malfunctioned. Why? He couldn’t understand the reason. All he did was briefly meet Jaehee’s gaze…
While Taeyun remained momentarily motionless, the people who had been waiting for Geonwoo to calm down quickly approached Jaehee. They helped Jaehee treat Geonwoo’s wounds.
In this space, the only person left alone was Taeyun, just one person.
***
The news that Jaehee had accepted an Esper spread throughout the Center in an instant. Removing the guiding ability control device in front of an Esper who had formed a one-sided bond meant exactly that. Because of this, everyone in the Center who heard the news was thrown into an uproar.
Among them, the higher-ups who had been targeting Geonwoo were naturally the most chaotic.
“I told you! To do it properly!”
A loud, angry shout echoed in the room. Taeyun kept his head lowered, silently listening to the man’s words.
“I said we couldn’t fail this time! That we absolutely had to have Choi Geonwoo! I clearly told you!”
The man, unable to contain his anger, didn’t hesitate to throw objects at Taeyun and hit him.
“Are you playing around? Is this how you handle things?”
Taeyun kept his head deeply bowed, simply taking the blows as they came.
“I told you to prepare to overlay a one-sided bond, and you just hand Geonwoo over to Jaehee?”
“……”
Kicking, hitting. A long time passed like that. But Taeyun remained unaffected. His body was different from ordinary people. Even if someone who wasn’t an Esper hit him with all their might, it would only result in very small wounds.
“Are you in your right mind? I’m asking if you’re in your right mind!”
It just felt a bit unpleasant. An emotional low that had become so familiar that it was just a matter of enduring it. That was all.
“Do you think I taught you that method so you could give Jaehee away?”
So Taeyun just thought about what he needed to do next, regardless of what the other person was saying.
But then,
“Huh? I guess you don’t need guiding anymore? You’re not afraid of going berserk?”
Those words made Taeyun tremble. The pain his body remembered made him react before he could even think.
“I guess receiving it from Jaehee is enough for you.”
“No, sir. I will again…!”
The man raised his hand. Taeyun completely relaxed the muscles in his face so his head would turn easily with each blow. Whack! His head turned sharply. The man’s ring must have scratched his face, leaving a slight cut.
But the one who hit him seemed displeased. Taeyun’s behavior seemed to have irritated him more.
“Because you’re an Esper, this doesn’t hurt at all? My hitting you is all just a joke?”
The man pulled something out from inside his jacket. A jackknife. He waved it in front of Taeyun’s eyes. With one corner of his mouth raised, he stabbed it into Taeyun’s side. Despite seeing it coming toward his body, Taeyun could only endure it.
“…!”
“I wonder if this hurts a little.”
Taeyun gritted his teeth to bear the pain. Blood flowed from his side. Seeing this, the man’s expression changed. Only then did a satisfied smile spread across his face.
“If you had done well, I wouldn’t have gone this far. Why do you make me the bad guy?”
Saying that, the man put more strength into the hand holding the jackknife and pressed it harder. Then he pulled it out of Taeyun’s body.
“Get them ready.”
Saying that, the man shook the blood off the jackknife.
“I’ll come directly. Have Choi Geonwoo and Jaehee ready!”
The man’s voice was lower than usual. He was openly showing his displeasure with the current situation.
Taeyun bowed his head, saying he would do as ordered. At the man’s gesture indicating he could leave, Taeyun turned to go.
“Wait.”
The man stopped Taeyun.
“Are you planning to go like that, in that state?”
The man patted Taeyun’s face with his palm.
“You should treat your wounds before going. People will find it strange.”
The man’s emotionless gaze fell on the scratch that had appeared on Taeyun’s face earlier.
“Use your abilities to erase the wound.”
The man ordered Taeyun in a dry tone. In response, Taeyun placed his hand on his face to use his abilities. Shortly after, the wound on his face disappeared completely.
Taeyun then placed his hand on his bleeding side. Unlike his face, the wound was slightly larger, so Taeyun drew more power. He summoned the healing power within his body. The wound slowly healed. But then,
“Stop, the bleeding has already stopped.”
The man tapped Taeyun’s wounded side as he spoke.
“This is covered by clothes, so if the bleeding stops, it won’t be visible. Why are you completely healing this when you haven’t done anything right?”
A nasty sneer was directed at Taeyun.
“Go and make proper preparations.”
I’ll only feel better if I create wounds like this on Jaehee.
The man said that and sent Taeyun away.
Before heading to the examination room where Jaehee and Geonwoo were, Taeyun went to his room to change clothes. Although it wasn’t noticeable because he was wearing a black uniform, he couldn’t go to the examination room in this state.
While washing himself in his quarters, Taeyun wondered what had happened to his body that day. His body clearly wouldn’t move. He couldn’t move it according to his will. That had never happened before.
The most likely possibility now was Jaehee. But since all he had done was meet his gaze, he couldn’t be certain.
‘Is this that ability I heard about?’
A guide who could subjugate Espers. He had never heard of such a thing before. When the higher-ups first mentioned it, he was mostly skeptical, and when he was with Jaehee, he couldn’t find anything unusual even after receiving guiding to the point of depleting his energy. Therefore, even if such an ability really existed, he thought it wouldn’t work on him. Since he had formed a one-sided bond, guiding wouldn’t properly affect him.
At that point, a thought crossed Taeyun’s mind.
‘I’ve formed a one-sided bond, but it’s not complete yet.’
If that was the case.
‘What did he do while guiding?’
His thoughts extended that far. He recalled how Jaehee had stubbornly insisted on guiding him, claiming it was for Geonwoo’s treatment. Taeyun gritted his molars. A guide standing above an Esper. When that thought suddenly crossed his mind, his expression twisted.
‘How dare a guide!’
Taeyun couldn’t tolerate a guide standing above him.
