Chapter 21 : Rampage (8)

I awakened my ability the day before my family and I were supposed to go to the beach. I was excitedly packing when my ability suddenly awakened. I watched in wonder as objects floated in the air and showed this mysterious sight to my parents. I told them with a smile that I had done something so amazing, but my parents’ faces gradually hardened. At that moment, I felt that something was wrong.

Our promise to go to the beach was canceled. Instead, we went to a place called the Center. There, after various tests, I learned that I was an Esper, a person who could handle mysterious abilities. My parents’ expressions were nothing short of despairing. The two of them talked seriously with a Center employee about something. After that, my parents left me at the Center. The hand I reached out, telling them not to go, was coldly pushed away. I can’t forget the look on my parents’ faces at that time.

Contempt, fear, despair…

And the voice I heard.

[Monster.]

My peaceful daily life was shattered in an instant. I was immediately registered as an Esper at the Center. Thus began a life far from ordinary as an Esper. Harsh training and experiments continued. No matter how painfully I cried out, no one helped me.

The gazes directed at me were always cold. I felt something breaking inside me more and more. An arm full of needle marks, a scarred face, tasteless food. Not even the common tears came out.

I was abandoned by my parents, whom I had never even doubted would always be on my side. I knew very well that I had no place to lean on, no place to return to.

A few days later, an Esper named Ha Yuaan arrived. My heart fluttered at the sight of the boy who seemed to be around my age. I don’t know if it was pity for the boy who didn’t know the fate that would soon befall him, or a sense of relief that I had a friend in the same situation, or both.

But Yuaan, like me, had eyes that had already given up on everything. When I heard that he had also been abandoned by his parents, my heart felt heavy. At the same time, a sense of injustice surged.

Why do we have to be abandoned by our parents?
Why do we always have to endure painful experiments?
Why do we have to go on difficult missions?

Why? Why? Why?

I felt something that had been barely holding on snap.

It was an Esper’s rampage.

The Center was put on high alert, and the surroundings were devastated. Since my ability was still clumsy, dozens of soldiers rushed in and subdued me. My first rampage ended in a futile way. After that, I had to spend several days confined in a white hospital room, surrounded by unknown devices.

When I returned after spending many days in the hospital room, Yuaan-hyung hugged me. His body was trembling. I think I heard him sobbing. He must have been scared because of his concern for me and the anxiety that he might be left alone. I awkwardly patted Yuaan-hyung’s back. That was all I could do. I couldn’t promise him anything, not to worry, not that I wouldn’t do it again.

I didn’t know what I would do in this hell.

Still, we endured day by day, relying on each other. Two worn-out and tired people, just finding comfort in each other’s existence… As time passed, Yuaan-hyung’s Guide appeared. He was of mixed race, with bright blonde hair and blue eyes. His name was Kim Sunwoo. Sunwoo was younger than us, but he had a mature aura.

After Sunwoo became his Guide, Yuaan-hyung’s expression brightened a lot. He smiled more often, and most importantly, he looked comfortable. Sunwoo became Yuaan-hyung’s hope.

I envied the two of them who trusted and protected each other. Yuaan-hyung now had a place to return to. It was different from me.

As time went on, the fatigue from my ability worsened. My head throbbed, and my body felt as heavy as a water-logged sponge. Sunwoo guided me from the side, but it wasn’t very effective. They said that the higher the rank, the less effective the guiding was unless the Guide had a compatible wavelength.

A Guide with a compatible wavelength for me…

The Center brought in several Guides, but none of them matched me.

It was becoming difficult to even breathe. My chest felt tight. The wounds from my missions wouldn’t heal properly.

‘Am I going to die like this?’

Honestly, I thought it didn’t matter. I had no lingering attachments to this world. Yuaan-hyung had Sunwoo now, so he wouldn’t collapse even if I was gone. Then when will I die? When can I die? Is this my hope?

I killed villains, and killed, and killed again. The more I did, the more my wounds increased, and the fatigue from my ability weighed me down. Will I be able to die soon? I went on a mission with that thought. I was trying to deal with a villain who had blown away an entire region, but my strained body sent me a warning that it was too dangerous. My arms and legs creaked as if they weren’t mine. Because of that, I was hit squarely by the villain’s attack.

I couldn’t muster any strength in my body. Blood dripped down. Is that all my blood? Can I die today? I forced my swaying body up, and someone reached out a hand. I coldly pushed it away.

“Get lost.”

Harsh words came out of my mouth. I didn’t need a moment of pity. But the person didn’t give up. He quickly supported me as I was about to fall. The moment his hand touched my body, my heavy body, as if submerged in water, instantly became light. The headache that had always been throbbing disappeared, and my labored breathing eased. It was so refreshing. It was the first time I had felt like this.

My wounds healed in an instant. I looked up, flustered by my clean body, and he was also looking at me with a surprised face. My eyes met his clear ones. At that moment, I reached out and hugged him. He was flustered and tried to get out of my embrace.

“What are you doing all of a sudden?!”
“Just a moment, just a little…”

He, who had been angry, stopped moving when he heard my voice. At that, I hugged him even tighter. I had forgotten how comfortable it was to breathe. My throbbing head, my aching body, all healed as if it had been a lie. I didn’t want to lose this feeling. This peace, please…

At that moment, his hand wrapped around my back. My body flinched. I slowly looked up at him, and his hand gently brushed under my eyes. Then he slowly stroked my head. At his gentle touch, at his warm gaze, my eyes felt hot for some reason.

“Finally, I found you.”

My Guide.

His name was Lee Jisung. He certainly looked younger than me, but he was three years older. Jisung-hyung was a kind person, just as I had expected. He took care of us even though he was annoyed by us barging into his house.

Jisung-hyung wasn’t afraid of us. Rather, he seemed to think of us as younger brothers who needed a lot of care. He treated me and Yuaan-hyung normally. When we got hurt on a mission, he worried as if he was the one who was hurt, and when we wanted to eat something, he would complain but still order it for us. How long had it been since someone dried my hair?

I thought I liked him because he was a Guide with a compatible wavelength for me, but that wasn’t it.

I liked the person, Jisung-hyung.

I was truly glad that Jisung-hyung was a Guide with a compatible wavelength for me.

If hyung, who really hated dangerous things, didn’t want to be a Guide, I didn’t want to force him. I didn’t want to expose him to danger. ‘Wait for me in a safe place, and I’ll come find you.’

But hyung came to find me in a dangerous place that he really hated. For me. That fact made me so happy I couldn’t express it in words. Did my feelings reach him?

Jisung-hyung, who had joined the Center, seemed to be having a hard time. I was worried that he might regret becoming a Guide because of the endless schedule. But hyung didn’t quit his job as a Guide. Not only that, but he even went to protest to the Center Director about the unfairness we were experiencing. It was the same when Sunwoo first came to the Center. He got angry at the injustice Espers faced and tried to change things. But it was no use. The Center didn’t budge at the words of a mere Guide, and the system didn’t change. As expected, Jisung-hyung returned disappointed.

I wanted to comfort him, but I didn’t know how. I had never comforted anyone before, so I was looking for words, but Jisung-hyung didn’t give up. He went to see the Center Director every day, without fail. He marked the Center Director so closely that it was amazing even for me, an Esper, to see. If he missed the Center Director, he would ask Yuaan-hyung to find his location.

It was the first time I had seen Yuaan-hyung use his abilities for personal reasons other than matters related to Sunwoo. Because of the brainwashing-like education he received at the Center, Yuaan-hyung didn’t use his abilities of his own will. The first time he used his ability for Sunwoo, he trembled and even cried.

That Yuaan-hyung was using his ability of his own will to help Jisung-hyung. His fear hadn’t disappeared. He was still holding Sunwoo’s hand tightly.

Nevertheless, Yuaan-hyung tried to help Jisung-hyung. Because he knew that Jisung-hyung was trying hard for us.

And so, after a persistent pursuit, Jisung-hyung witnessed the Center Director’s corruption firsthand. Things that hadn’t changed began to change.

Thanks to Jisung-hyung.