# Chapter 15
-It’s too much for you to handle alone. Keep your mouth shut.
“This isn’t something for the Captain to handle either. Didn’t you hear that I’m one step away from becoming a cripple?”
-You’d be lucky if you could even become a cripple. Do you have any idea how you look right now?
“…”
-If you want to howl like a chimera and lose your mind, go ahead, Yeo Dowoon.
It was an apt description.
Yeo Dowoon quickly surveyed the isolation cell he was confined in, then tilted his head back. The high ceiling came into full view. The glaring light stabbed at his eyes, making him slowly lower his eyelids.
“Why is our great Kwon Jeonghoo acting like such a rookie?”
-…
“You should separate work from personal matters, hyung.”
Yeo Dowoon recalled the time when his very name was synonymous with “unregistered Esper,” bringing him notoriety. A social nuisance who benefited from his fortunately innate abilities, surviving by mining enhancement materials from dungeons.
He had been none other than that malicious illegal miner who enjoyed sending back Espers who came to negotiate with injuries so severe they couldn’t be healed.
-I’m doing a good job separating them, so you just mind your own business.
So this wasn’t his first wavelength test either. Memories of that time, when he had to surrender an entire week without even being able to wash properly, crept up on him.
“Captain.”
Yeo Dowoon, who had been trying to deduce why Kwon Jeonghoo was so anxious and wanting to share his pain, gave up the unnecessary thought process and smiled through the glass.
He forcibly curled up the corners of his mouth, then lifted his fingers to both sides of his lips as if suggesting the other should smile too.
Eventually, his hands dropped weakly and changed position to stop the blood flowing from his nose. His nasal voice, consistently imitating a playboy, said:
“I’m really fine.”
-…
“I’m in top condition, just had a kiss too.”
In fact, during this brief time, he had brilliantly come up with a plausible solution.
Since the highest measured point was 43%, what if he obtained retirement permission before filling the remaining 7%, or put a bullet in his own head before Cha Haseong was anchored to him?
It was so absurdly simple that laughter burst out. He should have told Guide-nim too. Yeo Dowoon thought ruefully, glancing at his blood-soaked hand.
Haha… damn it.
Just trying to end an unrequited love, and now I might end my life first.
***
“With 3%, your future is still bright, hey.”
Baek Seonwoo wasn’t so much lacking in the skill of consolation as he was completely uninterested in it.
If he had nothing to say, it would look better to just keep quiet, but unfortunately, not knowing how to leave his mouth alone, he kept blabbering non-stop.
Ko Ijae anxiously glanced at them, worried that Yeo Dowoon might freeze Baek Seonwoo’s mouth. There was still no human-like vitality on Dowoon’s face.
“Just 3% if you receive guiding. That’s quite decent.”
The perceptive Ko Ijae quickly noticed that Dowoon’s mood was much worse than usual. From the shirt that looked larger than his size, to the congestion slightly visible around the back of his neck.
His swollen lips, looking as if thoroughly sucked by someone, also served as evidence.
‘That bastard Yeo Dowoon, he’s received guiding.’
Thinking about it, it was an obvious procedure that didn’t even need to be mentioned.
When Dowoon returned to the team after completing his wavelength test, Cha Haseong was ordered to be exclusively assigned to him on the grounds that he would need to focus solely on Dowoon for the time being.
For the rest of the Espers, A-class guides including Shim Woomin were scheduled to be redeployed to Delta. For the likes of leftovers like Baek Seonwoo, who was still raising his voice without any sense.
“Dowoon-ah! Cheer up, huh? Hyung will support you!”
The reason for specifically calling them leftovers was because Baek Seonwoo, clinging to Dowoon’s side and fidgeting, looked truly like a leftover.
With guys like this claiming to be S-class Espers and belonging to Delta, it was somewhat understandable why Cha Haseong had consistently rejected contact guiding until now.
“Mmph, mmmmph!”
As expected, Baek Seonwoo, whose mouth was coldly frozen, made a fuss by himself as he vigorously tore off the ice.
Dowoon’s personality had mellowed considerably. Ten years ago, when he first joined, if someone got on his nerves, he would freeze them so severely that they would need lip tissue transplants.
“Hyung.”
Ko Ijae felt a chill down his spine and his vision blur every time Dowoon addressed him as “hyung.” This form of address was invariably followed by threats or warnings.
Well, wasn’t Kwon Jeonghoo the same?
During feedback meetings, he would call team members’ names 5 times more affectionately than usual, only to then unleash harsh criticisms.
Yeo Dowoon was a 100% replica of that behavior.
“Ijae hyung.”
After shedding the pretense of kindness, he would attack with a knife in his mouth. After spending time with Kwon Jeonghoo, it seemed that he too had begun thinking and acting as if he were the second Kwon Jeonghoo.
Perhaps because Jeonghoo had been the man who served as his greatest role model.
“If Baek Seonwoo messes up the mission by acting like that, I’ll freeze you to death too.”
“…Me? Why me?”
“Because you just stood by and watched as that son of a bitch ruined the teamwork.”
“…”
“Didn’t you know? Being a bystander is also a crime. A huge crime.”
At the rough tone that seemed to erupt from his Adam’s apple, Ko Ijae hurriedly secured the seat next to Baek Seonwoo. He should have done this earlier. He only regretted hesitating for fear of suffering more.
Baek Seonwoo looked questioningly at Ko Ijae, who put an arm around his shoulder.
“What’s this? Move. I need to catch up with Dowoon too.”
“Unless you want to become smelt sashimi, please stop acting so restless, I beg you.”
“What are you talking about… Come out a bit, man.”
Even though Baek Seonwoo didn’t understand what he meant, Ko Ijae firmly held his position. He advised:
“This is all for our sake, Seonwoo.”
He was well aware that Baek Seonwoo, who had spent an unusually long time abroad compared to other Delta team Espers, hadn’t built as much of a friendship with Dowoon as others and was quite regretful about it.
“Don’t tell me you’re being petty and trying to be the only one who’s friends with Dowoon?”
But damn it, even building friendships should be attempted with some situational awareness.
“I’ll say I am, so please shut up…”
Ko Ijae, not feeling it was worth explaining further, cleared out everything around him except just enough space for breathing. As the surroundings quieted down, Dowoon seemed satisfied and finally softened his sharp eyes.
Could it be because monster breeding season spans from late spring to early summer? Recently, monster nests have been frequently discovered, exploiting the Espers.
Of course, most cases involved pterosaur-type monsters hatching eggs in dungeons formed in rugged mountain ranges.
But occasionally, there would be days when insect-type monsters with poor intelligence but strangely good instincts would make nests in the heart of urban areas without dungeons.
Every time this happened, S-class Espers would take the lead in inspecting the city.
Since insect-type monsters were also excellent at predicting gate outbreaks, having at least one or two S-class Espers deployed could prevent potential disasters.
‘If only it weren’t for the runaway possibility. Damn it.’
So for Dowoon, having to deploy with not just Ko Ijae but also Baek Seonwoo felt deeply humiliating.
Normally, this was a mission he could have handled alone without any problems, but perhaps due to having just completed the wavelength test, the base was extremely concerned.
While it was intellectually understandable, emotionally accepting it was a significant blow to his pride. Let’s see. The guiding duration was… about half a day, wasn’t it?
Dowoon recalled Cha Haseong’s personal resting room, which he had visited just before the mission deployment after being summoned by him.
‘Ah, you’re already here.’
Lying on a sofa that looked very cushiony even at a glance, Haseong greeted him.
Not only allowing a personal rest room but also providing a sofa and television—it seemed the base was doing its best to accommodate the one and only S-class guide in South Korea.
Perhaps because his schedule had become much more flexible after becoming Dowoon’s exclusive guide, Cha Haseong was wearing a neat shirt rather than the functional training clothes he usually preferred.
Raising his upper body like a sloth, he nodded toward the sofa and asked:
‘Won’t you receive guiding?’
‘Do I have to receive it there?’
‘If you want to kiss standing up, we can do that too.’
At the indifferent response, Dowoon moved his reluctant feet. Hearing the word “kiss” face to face made his ears feel slightly warm.
Cha Haseong said nothing until Dowoon stopped in front of him, and only after the last footstep was taken did he pat his thigh playfully and say:
‘Sit down quickly.’
‘…’
‘Let’s do it on the sofa.’
That embarrassing act was enough to make Dowoon faint. A rebuttal without much thought followed:
‘I want to receive it normally.’
‘…Hmm?’
While the corners of Cha Haseong’s mouth turned up crookedly, Dowoon stood his ground and said:
‘I think it would be better for both of us if we just finished the kiss quickly.’
