# Chapter 92
“Guide Yoo Jiwoon.”
Minhun frequently visited where Jiwoon was staying. His justification was to check on Dohyun’s condition, as they had entered the gate together, and because the injuries he had sustained in the gate hadn’t fully healed yet.
But as anyone could clearly see, these were all just excuses.
Minhun came to Jiwoon like this to receive guiding. Jiwoon’s guiding was special. Like an addiction, Minhun increasingly craved his guiding energy.
And there was one strange thing.
‘Even though they’re both S-class Guides, they’re different.’
It felt different from when he received Jaehee’s guiding in the gate. The more he received Jiwoon’s guiding, the more his mind became hazy, as if intoxicated.
Minhun received guiding in this dazed state. The guiding energy, which he had started receiving little by little, had accumulated considerably in his body without him even realizing it.
“…is there no possibility?”
At that moment, a commotion was heard outside the ward. Though the examiners seemed to be trying to keep it hushed, Minhun could easily tell what they were talking about even from the brief snippets he heard. About the unawakened Esper with top-tier potential. About the attempt to forcibly bond him and put a leash on him.
Minhun couldn’t help but know about it since he had been at the Center at that time.
But Jiwoon didn’t.
“It’s been quite noisy out there. Did something happen at the Center before I arrived?”
Yoo Jiwoon looked at Minhun with curious eyes.
“Ah, well…”
Minhun hesitated for a moment before speaking. It wasn’t a story that needed to be kept completely secret, and he also wanted to have a longer conversation with Jiwoon.
“…so they tried to forcibly bond with an Esper to put a leash on him.”
The story grew longer. Seeing Jiwoon focused on him, Minhun excitedly talked more.
“But you know what’s even more shocking!”
Minhun tried to get Jiwoon’s attention as if he was about to say something important.
“Do you know who orchestrated this?”
While speaking, Minhun’s gaze occasionally shifted to Jiwoon’s hand, which was holding Dohyun’s hand. While he only received guiding occasionally, Jiwoon was currently Dohyun’s temporary dedicated Guide.
Just as Minhun lowered his gaze briefly and then raised it, about to continue speaking—
“Guide Yoo Jiwoon.”
Someone called for Jiwoon. It was an examiner. Minhun couldn’t finish what he was saying.
“The Center Director wishes to see Guide Yoo Jiwoon.”
The examiner said this and explained the location of the Center Director’s office to Jiwoon.
“Should I go right now?”
Jiwoon asked, and the examiner confirmed.
Jiwoon immediately stood up. Minhun had a disappointed look on his face. Jiwoon gave Minhun a small smile and approached the doorway. His steps were lighter than usual, and his face showed clear signs of pleasure.
How could it not be? Lee Minhun, Kang Dohyun, and all the Espers who had received guiding from him were in the palm of his hand.
“At least one of them will be useful.”
Unlike the Deputy Center Director.
Yoo Jiwoon had an expectant look on his face.
***
It was a dark night.
“…Guide-nim.”
On the bed with the lights off, Geonwoo was holding Jaehee. Embracing him from behind, Geonwoo burrowed into Jaehee’s warmth.
Due to the constantly rising fever and poor physical condition, Jaehee had to sleep for more than half the day. What woke Jaehee was the fiercely raging Esper wavelength he felt from behind him.
Reflexively, Jaehee tried to push him away. Then he hesitated. Geonwoo’s wavelength was too fierce. The intensity of the wavelength was so massive that even Geonwoo himself could hardly bear it.
“Just… a little while.”
Perhaps sensing that Jaehee had woken up, Geonwoo whispered softly into his ear. He pleaded not to be pushed away, just for now.
“Just a little… is enough.”
When Geonwoo fell asleep, he always saw fragments of broken dreams. Fragments of poor-quality dreams that showed only the results, skipping the middle. They were all about his hyung’s death. Ever since that scene in the gate where he first lost his hyung, Geonwoo had continued to have these dreams. He kept having these terrifying dreams of endless death, where another death would strike no matter how he tried to prevent one.
So he couldn’t easily fall asleep. He became instinctively nervous, and fear overwhelmed him. His mind became urgent, and every moment was anxious.
In this situation, Geonwoo’s body, which easily entered a rampage state due to the side effects of his early awakening, was in a critical condition because it wasn’t even getting enough guiding energy.
Geonwoo broke out in a cold sweat. He relied on Jaehee to calm his anxiety, this violent wavelength. He pressed his body completely against Jaehee’s, closer, without even the slightest gap.
“…!”
Their skin touched, and Geonwoo’s wavelength was transmitted. Jaehee’s pupils trembled. Through their touching bodies, he couldn’t help but know. Jaehee’s body, which had been about to resist, stopped. Instead, his lips trembled. The thought that had made him wonder ‘could it be’ when he saw Geonwoo suffering, he now knew for certain after feeling the wavelength jumping from their touching bodies. What result the early awakening had brought to Geonwoo.
Geonwoo relied on the weak guiding energy coming from Jaehee’s body. He took the guiding energy that he had been suppressing as much as possible to avoid burdening Jaehee’s still unrecovered body. Although it was a very small amount, Geonwoo tried to calm down with it.
Rough breaths reached Jaehee. Jaehee’s face contorted as if about to cry. Gritting his teeth, he waited for Geonwoo’s wavelength to calm down.
But it didn’t calm down easily. Geonwoo got up. Leaving Jaehee, he left the room, taking rough breaths. More than his body desperately wanting guiding energy, he feared that his rampage might hurt Jaehee.
The door closed, and Jaehee opened his eyes. His gaze wavered. Though it was uncertain whether the one-way bond had been erased or not, seeing Geonwoo suffering made his heart waver. Despite being unable to provide guiding, and despite knowing better than anyone that he shouldn’t do it in this situation, it was hard to steady his wavering heart.
He had been someone Jaehee loved. He had been the person who took his own death in exchange for saving Jaehee.
He wished Geonwoo wouldn’t suffer. He wished nothing bad would happen to him. The longer Jaehee watched his pain, the more it hurt. This situation where he could only watch felt cruel. He was afraid he would make a choice he would regret again.
Jaehee was relieved that he had memories from before the regression and memories of the original story. And he resented it. Because his memories were painfully telling him that he shouldn’t approach Geonwoo.
“…!”
Suddenly, an unstable wavelength peaked sharply outside the door. Startled, Jaehee urgently tried to raise his body, which wouldn’t move well.
That’s when it happened. Suddenly, heat once again surged through his body. But it was strange. He had thought it was just because his body wasn’t well. His body increasingly went limp. This wasn’t a typical symptom. Something was off.
At that moment, he sensed a strange scent. A very faint scent that wouldn’t be noticeable unless he concentrated.
A familiar… Alpha pheromone.
“…!”
Only then did Jaehee realize. The timing was too early, so he hadn’t known. His manifestation was supposed to be much later than this, so he hadn’t even considered it.
Moreover, since the initial manifestation symptoms were just a mild fever with no other specific symptoms, it took him longer to notice. Because his body had been sick, he had only thought the fever was due to that.
Still, fortunately, pheromones wouldn’t be released yet. But his body, having recognized the Alpha pheromone, seemed to want to hasten its manifestation.
Geonwoo returned, his wavelength apparently calmed. The bed shook, and Jaehee felt a body embracing him from behind. He felt the Alpha pheromone that was heavily enveloping his entire body. Jaehee pretended not to notice. He thought he shouldn’t be found out. But the fever rose. His whole body tensed.
Perhaps sensing this movement, Geonwoo embraced him even more tightly.
“Guide-nim.”
Sensing Jaehee holding his breath and staying still, Geonwoo whispered softly into his ear. Seeing the body beginning to respond to his pheromones, he spoke as if whispering a secret.
“It won’t be long now.”
There were no words after that. But both Geonwoo and Jaehee knew what he meant.
Jaehee couldn’t utter a word. He just stayed still. Geonwoo gently patted Jaehee’s body, which was trembling without him realizing it.
“Don’t think about anything and just go to sleep, Guide-nim.”
Geonwoo spoke to the highly tense Jaehee. For a moment, Geonwoo’s gaze turned toward the door. Immediately, an urgent presence outside the door instantly disappeared.
Geonwoo closed his eyes.
Until Jaehee’s manifestation, truly, not much time remained.
