# Chapter 68
Take the Guide in front of you right now.
That phrase repeating in his head like tinnitus was choking Dohyun’s breath. The Esper’s body, craving guiding energy, was numbing his reason and awakening his instincts.
“…!”
Harsh breaths burst from his mouth as he opened it to call for Jaehee. Jaehee’s guiding energy was scattered throughout the room. Because the guiding energy remaining in his body was minimal, the amount of energy scattered in the room was also minuscule. Yet Dohyun was struggling to maintain his sanity, like someone intoxicated.
‘…Lee Jaehee.’
Dohyun ground his molars so hard they made a creaking sound, trying to regain his senses. He bit the tender flesh inside his mouth, trying not to be dominated by instinct. It required a terribly strong will. To divert his mind elsewhere, Dohyun tried to focus on the pain tearing through his body. But even that wasn’t enough. The voice urging him to crave the Guide echoed loudly in his ears.
‘He’s not just a Guide…’
Dohyun clenched his fist. He squeezed so hard that veins popped out on the back of his hand and arm. It was because he was tensing his entire body to control himself.
‘He’s not just a Guide, he’s Lee Jaehee!’
Dohyun tried not to forget this fact. Staring intently at Jaehee, who he was, what the person in front of him meant to him. He endlessly injected this into his reason that was being consumed by instinct. The person before him was not someone to be craved.
“…Lee… Jaehee.”
Dohyun barely managed to utter Jaehee’s name. Jaehee’s name, mixed between rough breaths, created a dangerous atmosphere. Dohyun glared at Jaehee with a fierce gaze.
“Stop.”
Each syllable was spoken so low and cold that it made his body tremble. But despite this, Jaehee didn’t stop. He didn’t reduce the amount of radiant guiding energy.
“Receive guiding. It’s too dangerous now!”
Dohyun’s eyes were gleaming as he looked at Jaehee. The red light signaling a meltdown was growing stronger. The limit was right in front of him.
‘I need to get away from Lee Jaehee.’
Dohyun, who had been tensing his entire body, tried to move backward. But something was strange. He was getting closer to Jaehee. Very slightly, very slowly. Dohyun was approaching Jaehee. Like hunting prey, Dohyun’s wavelength was gradually surrounding Jaehee. Dohyun was losing control of his body to his instincts. His body, which had reached its limit, was listening to instinct rather than reason.
“Stop radiant guiding right now.”
Dohyun spat out the words, grinding his teeth. It was dangerous if this continued. Not only was it a problem that the guiding energy, which was as precious as life to a Guide, was running out, but he felt like he might hurt Jaehee first.
That’s when it happened. His gaze, which had been on Jaehee, betrayed its owner’s will and scanned Jaehee on its own. Just as he had thrown it to him to wear, Jaehee was wearing the black Esper shirt. Dohyun’s gaze fell on the gap between the unbuttoned shirt where all the buttons had fallen off.
Dohyun’s expression turned grim. He was losing his body to instinct. That meant a meltdown wasn’t far off. The Esper’s instinct was numbing Dohyun’s reason in order to survive.
“Receive guiding right now!”
Jaehee felt it too. That’s why, even though he felt the Esper’s wavelength tightening around him, he didn’t back down.
“You’re already at your limit. You’re about to meltdown!”
Dohyun’s body was already in tatters. He needed to calm his wavelength quickly. Moreover, his red eyes, which couldn’t get any more vivid, were warning of a meltdown.
Besides, people would be coming soon. Since everyone in the examination room had seen Dohyun’s condition, they would call Guides who could perform guiding on Dohyun and bring them here. It was difficult for Jaehee alone to calm Dohyun’s meltdown. It would have been possible normally, but now the amount of guiding energy in his body was too low. There was a high possibility that his body’s energy would run out before completely calming Dohyun down.
So Jaehee tried to keep Dohyun here until the Guide team arrived. To stop Dohyun who was acting more emotionally than usual, to prevent him from going to Geonwoo, and to prevent the higher-ups from issuing a shoot-to-kill order after seeing Dohyun’s dangerous condition. Jaehee had to keep Dohyun here. Somehow!
“…Guiding.”
Dohyun, who had been approaching one step at a time, was suddenly in front of Jaehee. A large shadow fell, completely covering Jaehee’s body. As Jaehee had planned, Dohyun couldn’t leave this place. He couldn’t go to Choi Geonwoo. But it wasn’t because Jaehee had used his obedience ability on Dohyun. He had simply let the Esper, who needed guiding energy, know that what he wanted was here.
“…Ah!”
It happened in an instant. Dohyun wrapped his arm around Jaehee’s waist, pressing him tightly against his body. Dohyun’s rough breathing burst out above Jaehee.
It was an unfamiliar situation for both of them. Usually, Jaehee and Dohyun finished guiding by just holding hands. Sometimes they received radiant guiding, and in slightly more dangerous times, they would embrace each other’s necks for guiding.
But pressing their bodies together for guiding was a first. They had grown up like brothers. Pressing their bodies together was more awkward than doing it with someone else. Because of that, Jaehee unconsciously pushed Dohyun away.
“Stay still.”
But Dohyun didn’t let go of Jaehee. He just warned in a deeply lowered voice not to move. It was Dohyun as an Esper who didn’t want to separate from Jaehee that uttered those words. Dohyun had already lost his reason to the pain that had consumed his body. His reason was obscured by instinct.
Dohyun urgently wanted to bury his face in this body that felt so warm. For the first time, he wanted to hold a Guide beneath him.
That’s when it happened. Bang! The door to the quarters where Dohyun and Jaehee were was forcibly opened.
“Captain!”
It was Hyeono. Beside him were Guides and Espers.
“Stop radiant guiding right now!”
The most senior Guide shouted. All the Guides were A-class. They were all those with high matching rates with Dohyun. Seeing Dohyun’s red eyes, they immediately released radiant guiding at maximum.
Soon, as if he had barely regained his reason, Dohyun’s gaze changed. Dohyun’s fierce aura also diminished gradually. Sensing this, the Guides approached Dohyun very slowly.
“Cap…!”
Hyeono also approached Dohyun. But Dohyun roughly pushed Jaehee toward Hyeono. Hyeono urgently caught Jaehee, who almost fell from the strong force. Hyeono heard Dohyun’s strained voice in his ear.
“…Jeong Hyeono.”
Dohyun was covering his eyes with his hand. He had no choice. To prevent himself from rushing to Jaehee, he had to erase his image from his sight. Even though the room was full of guiding energy, all of Dohyun’s senses were focused on Jaehee. So Dohyun turned his body completely. He tried to focus on the approaching Guides.
“…Take Lee Jaehee… and stay in the room.”
Dohyun lowered both hands with his eyes closed. Soon, Esper ability restraints were placed on Dohyun’s wrists. As the wavelength that couldn’t be released pooled in his body, a more terrible pain overtook Dohyun.
“And until the guiding is over, absolutely… don’t come out.”
Hyeono nodded slightly at Dohyun’s words. Dohyun’s words meant to keep Jaehee out of his sight so that he wouldn’t accidentally touch him or take guiding energy from him.
But perhaps worried that he would go to Choi Geonwoo, Dohyun wanted to confine Jaehee in his own room, not elsewhere.
So Hyeono took Jaehee into the room. Before the door closed, Dohyun’s voice reached Hyeono’s ear.
“If I try to enter, stop me.”
With the resolve to kill. It was a very small voice, audible only to Hyeono, an Esper. Hyeono closed the door with a hardened expression.
“Guide Lee Jaehee, are you alright?”
Entering the room, Hyeono first checked Jaehee’s condition. He was worried whether the rough wavelength on the verge of meltdown had harmed Jaehee’s body.
“Yes… I’m fine.”
Jaehee exhaled a faint sigh of relief. He could relax now. It would take time, but Dohyun’s meltdown could be suppressed.
“But, how is Esper Choi Geonwoo?”
With one problem resolved, Jaehee urgently asked about another. Although Dr. Yoon was by Geonwoo’s side, Jaehee was needed to calm his wavelength. Moreover, he was worried about Geonwoo’s wounds. The bandages stained red couldn’t be erased from his mind.
“I need to return to the examination room first…!”
As the anxious Jaehee tried to go to the examination room, unable to wait for an answer, Hyeono blocked his path. He grabbed Jaehee’s shoulders, sat him on the bed, and said:
“Esper Choi Geonwoo is fine.”
At those words, Jaehee immediately raised his head to look at Hyeono. Hyeono spoke with a slight smile:
“Although there’s hardly any part of his body that’s intact, his healing ability is so high that the healing Espers said there’s no need to worry. They said everything will heal in a few days.”
That was good news. But, a bigger problem than the body’s wounds was the rising wavelength.
“What about his wavelength readings?”
So Jaehee urgently asked.
“Dr. Yoon actually asked me to tell you about Esper Choi Geonwoo.”
At those words, Jaehee’s expression changed. He focused on what Hyeono would say next.
“Dr. Yoon said that Esper Choi Geonwoo is absorbing guiding energy from other Guides.”
Jaehee’s eyes widened. That meant the effect of the medicine Jaehee had been taking was working. It meant Geonwoo was mistaking guiding energy that wasn’t Jaehee’s for Jaehee’s and accepting it. That meant he could suppress his wavelength even without Jaehee.
“So he said not to worry.”
As soon as Hyeono finished speaking, Jaehee covered his face with both hands. His hands were trembling, perhaps because the tension had been released. In that state, Jaehee exhaled with difficulty. The breath that had been caught with worry finally burst out.
“…”
Hyeono silently looked down at Jaehee. But his expression changed. A deep shadow fell over Hyeono’s face.
