# Chapter 61
In the quiet examination room, the eyelids of Geonwoo, who had been lying still on the bed, trembled finely. Geonwoo slowly opened his eyes.
“……”
But Geonwoo’s vision was blurry. His mind was also hazy. Geonwoo frowned at the sensation of his body feeling as heavy as a waterlogged cotton ball.
‘Why am I like this?’
He couldn’t understand. Geonwoo just blinked his stiff eyes repeatedly, trying to escape from his current stuffy situation. He tried to break free from the murky vision.
“Ugh……”
With that effort, his vision gradually returned. At the same time, he felt a strong, throbbing pain. Geonwoo continued blinking to focus his eyes and lowered his head. He looked down at where the pain was coming from. There was something snow-white. Soon his vision returned completely, and he could see bandages wrapped around the area where he felt pain.
‘…Ah! That’s right!’
Seeing that, memories deeply submerged in his consciousness began to resurface one by one in sequence. Scenes he never wanted to keep in his mind flashed quickly before Geonwoo’s eyes. As each scene connected, Geonwoo’s eyes grew wider and wider.
‘Guide-nim!’
The throbbing pain he had felt until just now was no longer noticeable. No, it would be more accurate to say that all of Geonwoo’s nerves were focused elsewhere. He didn’t even have the mental capacity to feel pain. Pain wasn’t important to Geonwoo at all. After all, he had become all too familiar with it since entering the Center.
“Gu-Guide-nim!”
Geonwoo urgently raised his lowered head. He looked around. Fortunately, Jaehee was by his side. Geonwoo took in the sight of Jaehee and scanned the room as well. Everyone he had seen before losing consciousness was gone. Neither the Deputy Center Director nor Cheon Taeyun were there. In the room, there were only Geonwoo and Jaehee. Relieved by this, Geonwoo examined Jaehee.
‘I hope he’s not hurt anywhere?’
Geonwoo’s gaze, which had viewed his own wound with an indifferent look, changed. His eyes, examining Jaehee, were urgent and anxious, as if they contained all the worries in the world.
‘Haa……’
Geonwoo soon felt greatly relieved. His chest, which had been swollen with tension, exhaled a sigh of relief and returned to normal.
‘Thank goodness. Guide-nim is okay.’
With that confirmation alone, a bright smile naturally formed on Geonwoo’s lips. It was a natural expression of emotion brought on by immense relief. Geonwoo was satisfied with the current situation to that extent. Because just as he had wished, Jaehee wasn’t hurt at all.
‘I’m glad I’m the one who got hurt.’
Thinking that, Geonwoo lowered his head to look at his wound again.
‘How could Guide-nim endure a wound like this.’
Geonwoo remembered the eerie sensation of the jack knife cutting through flesh. It was a different kind of pain from when his body was in turmoil due to rising wavelengths. To Geonwoo, who had lived a life no different from an ordinary person until entering the Center, such pain was incredibly unfamiliar. Because of that, the sensation remained vividly in his memory.
But nowhere on Geonwoo’s face was there any emotion about that pain. There was still a bright smile on Geonwoo’s face. Since the fact that he had protected Jaehee filled Geonwoo’s entire mind more than that eerie feeling from back then, he couldn’t help but feel happy.
Maybe that’s why. To Geonwoo, his wound was like a medal. Because it was proof that he had protected Jaehee well, even the pain from his wound made Geonwoo feel proud. It seemed like he wouldn’t mind getting more wounds like this.
More importantly.
“Guide-nim?”
Geonwoo called out to Jaehee, who had buried his face in his hands. Why was he lowering his face? Geonwoo wanted to see Jaehee’s face. Even though he hadn’t seen him for just a little while, he already missed his smile.
“Guide-nim!”
That’s why Geonwoo called Jaehee. Because he wanted to see him! He wanted to meet his eyes and share this warm smile with him.
“Guide-nim! It’s me!”
The affectionate whisper spread throughout the quiet room. Geonwoo continued to call Jaehee until he raised his head. How many times did he call like that? Slowly, Jaehee lowered his hands and raised his head. But that was it. There was no further reaction. Jaehee didn’t even meet Geonwoo’s eyes, just staring at his wound.
‘Is it because it looks painful? Is he worried about it?’
Geonwoo followed Jaehee’s gaze and looked at his wound once more, slightly frowning. While Jaehee’s concern made him happy enough to make his whole heart feel soft, he didn’t want to worry him. So Geonwoo immediately showed the brightest smile he could make.
“I’m not in pain at all! The wound isn’t even that big, but I think they wrapped too much bandage around it!”
Not even knowing how deep his wound was, Geonwoo was busy downplaying the pain of his injury.
But Jaehee still showed no reaction. Geonwoo tried to reach out his hand.
“…Huh?”
But thunk-! His arm’s movement stopped. Geonwoo looked down to check his arm.
“What is this…?”
He saw the reason why he couldn’t move his arm freely. Something was firmly fixed to both his wrists. They were safety restraints. The devices used to prevent thrashing patients from moving were firmly holding Geonwoo’s arms and legs. They fixed him to the bed, making movement restricted.
‘Was this necessary for treatment? Did I thrash around while being treated?’
Is that why Guide-nim is more worried? In the end, all of Geonwoo’s thoughts led to Jaehee.
“Guide-nim. I’m really okay!”
While his arms weren’t free, fortunately, Jaehee’s hand was right next to Geonwoo’s hand. Geonwoo slightly moved his hand and gently placed his large hand over Jaehee’s.
“A wound like this will heal quickly just with Guiding!”
His voice, filled with affection, worked hard to reassure Jaehee.
“So please undo this. I want to receive Guiding.”
Geonwoo expressed his desire to hold Jaehee in this indirect way.
“Come on. Undo this and give me Guiding.”
His rounded eye smile was saying, please come to me, look at me, I want to hold you tight.
“Please!”
Geonwoo kept calling Jaehee like that and waited. But Jaehee remained still. Geonwoo’s eyes widened. He had naturally thought Jaehee would come into his arms. Because that’s how it had been until now. Because Jaehee had always granted whatever he asked.
“Guide-nim?”
Geonwoo applied a little more pressure to his hand. With a feeling of ‘I’m here, please look at me,’ he held Jaehee’s hand tightly and shook it gently. He tried hard to wake up the frozen Jaehee.
That’s when it happened. The examination room door, where only Geonwoo and Jaehee were, opened.
“Guide Lee Jaehee.”
The person who entered looking for Jaehee was Dr. Yoon. He looked at Jaehee once, saw that Geonwoo was awake, and let out a small sigh. Then he slowly moved toward Jaehee.
But it wasn’t just Dr. Yoon. Several people were behind him as well. They were bringing in Guiding machines. Guides were also with them.
“……”
Geonwoo, with a puzzled expression, shook Jaehee’s hand. His careful touch was saying that the current situation was confusing. He was asking Jaehee to explain what was going on.
“Guide-nim… what is all this?”
But there was no reaction from Jaehee. He was just watching people bring in and set up the Guiding machines. His bland gaze was just waiting for all the preparations to be completed. Sensing something was wrong, Geonwoo’s rounded eye smile gradually disappeared, and the bright smile on his lips slowly faded away.
Geonwoo looked at Jaehee’s face. Jaehee’s expression was colder than ever before. Like that day when he tried to erase his bond. No. It was worse than that. To Geonwoo’s touch, to his desperate calls, Jaehee showed no reaction whatsoever. As if Geonwoo were a non-existent person, he just ignored him.
“…Guide-nim?”
Geonwoo called Jaehee again. There was no answer.
“…Guide-nim, that’s not it, right?”
Geonwoo’s pupils trembled.
“I’m… having a scary thought right now……”
Geonwoo held Jaehee’s hand and honestly expressed his emotions. His voice, full of anxiety, was telling Jaehee that he was scared, please comfort him.
Meanwhile, people finished installing and setting up the machines, and were turning on the Guiding machines. The Guides were releasing Guiding energy throughout the room through Radiant Guiding.
Jaehee, who had watched all of this, finally opened his mouth. But his answer was the opposite of what Geonwoo had hoped for.
“If the preparations are done, let’s begin.”
The words from Jaehee’s mouth were colder than on the day when Jaehee tried to erase Geonwoo’s bond. They were words that shattered Geonwoo’s happiness.
***
Meanwhile, at the same time.
Hyeono, who had gone on a mission, was urgently heading to where Jaehee and Geonwoo were. It was because of a phone call he had received a little while ago.
-Shit! Something terrible has happened!
He had clearly received a call earlier saying they had cleared the gate, but the call from the Guide who was with Dohyun was unexpectedly urgent.
“What? What happened? What’s going on?”
Hyeono also tensed up at this.
-The Captain has gone completely crazy! He’s on the verge of going berserk!
It was impossible not to be surprised by those words. Hyeono thought of the people who had gone down to the provinces. There were certainly high-ranking Guides among them.
‘But going berserk?’
Did that make any sense? But the sound that came through the receiver next made Hyeono even more flustered.
-The Captain went to the Center in that state! He went without receiving any Guiding!
The words he heard were shocking. To find a hidden boss monster, Dohyun had completely destroyed the vast interior of the gate. Because of that, he had used his psychic abilities to their limit. To open the gate even a little faster, Dohyun had done such a crazy thing.
As if that wasn’t shocking enough, Dohyun didn’t even receive Guiding from the Guides because there was no time, they said. He said he would receive it from Jaehee when he got back. He was solely focused on clearing the gate.
‘I need to let them know right away!’
Hyeono ran urgently. He needed to inform Jaehee of this fact as soon as possible.
