Chapter 24 : Rampage (11)

“Ugh!”

A sharp wind grazed Yuaan’s cheek. Jisung’s eyes widened at the sight of blood flowing from the sharp cut.

“Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine.”

“Ugh, that must hurt.”

Jisung frowned at the wound on Yuaan’s cheek. Yuaan smiled faintly at his worried expression, as if he himself had been hurt.

“This much is fine. I’m an Esper, you know.”

“Just because you’re an Esper doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”

“That’s…”

“Just because your wounds heal quickly doesn’t mean you don’t feel pain. Take care of your own body too.”

Yuaan opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. Jisung firmly pointed out what he had been taking for granted. He scolded him, telling him he shouldn’t. ‘Like a hyung.’ Yuaan smiled faintly, thinking of the family he no longer remembered the faces of.

“Jisung, I don’t want to lose Hyunwoo.”

“Of course not. Don’t worry, I’ll…”

“And I don’t want to lose you either.”

Jisung’s eyes widened at the unexpected words. Yuaan looked at him. His voice was trying to feign composure, but Jisung’s body was trembling. It was natural to be scared. Even he, an Esper, hesitated to get close. There was no way Jisung, an ordinary person, would be okay.

Jisung, caught pretending to be strong, frowned and smiled.

“Honestly, I’m scared.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m worried about what if Hyunwoo doesn’t recognize me. I’m also scared of the fact that I might lose Hyunwoo like this.”

Jisung clasped his hands together. He squeezed his eyes shut and muttered to himself.

“Honestly, everything is scary.”

“Yeah.”

Yuaan replied to Jisung’s words and tightened his grip on him. As if to alleviate Jisung’s trembling even a little.

“Really, I’m doing all sorts of things because of you.”

He muttered with a hollow laugh and got down from Yuaan’s arms. He placed his hand on his loudly beating heart and then took a deep breath. And then,

“Park Hyunwoo!!!”

He shouted with all his might. A single person’s name. At that moment, Hyunwoo’s body flinched. His gaze turned to Jisung. For a moment, his red eyes flickered.

“Hyunwoo…”
“Watch out!”

Yuaan wrapped Jisung and dodged to the side. A black van fell in a straight line. With a loud crash, the spot where they had been standing just moments before was caved in.

“Damn it, he doesn’t even recognize Jisung?”

“…”

‘I thought our eyes met for a moment just now.’

‘No way…’ Jisung’s brow furrowed. Yuaan grabbed his arm.

“Jisung, any further is dangerous. I can’t get any closer with my ability.”

“Yeah, it’s okay.”

“Huh?”

Jisung let go of Yuaan’s hand that was holding his arm and said.

“I’ll go alone from here.”

“No, no, you can’t!”

“I can. It’s okay.”

Yuaan closed his mouth at Jisung’s clear eyes that were looking straight at him. Jisung briefly stroked Yuaan’s head and said.

“I’ll go get him.”

His voice was somehow angry. At that, Yuaan blinked blankly. He let go of the hand he had reached out to stop Jisung.

“Please.”

Jisung braced his legs and endured the strong wind. He felt like the wind was pushing his body, as if rejecting his approach. Jisung gritted his teeth and took one step at a time. His side throbbed. The wound that had almost healed seemed to have burst open again as he moved.

“Ugh!”

His body tilted back in the strong wind. Jisung, who had flailed his arms and somehow managed to hold on, let out a sigh of relief.

“I almost rolled back to the starting point…”

Jisung looked at Hyunwoo. He wasn’t looking this way. Jisung frowned at his appearance, as if he was deliberately avoiding him. ‘So you’re going to be like this?’ He gritted his teeth.

“Park Hyunwoo, my wound isn’t healed.”

At Jisung’s words, Hyunwoo’s head lifted. His gaze, after a moment of hesitation, returned. Jisung, at his appearance looking at him at last, lifted his clothes and showed him the wound. Blood was seeping through the white bandage. Hyunwoo’s eyes widened.

“Why…”

Hyunwoo’s pupils trembled. Jisung calmly opened his mouth at his frowning face.

“Stop it, and let’s go back.”

“What are you doing, do you want to die? With that body…! You said you wanted to live a long and prosperous life. You said you wanted to live safely without any dangerous things! Then why are you always doing dangerous things? No, no. It’s because of me, because I’m here. My existence makes you dangerous.”

Jisung frowned at Hyunwoo’s words. Hyunwoo looked down at his own hands. He clenched his fists at the sight of them stained with Jisung’s dried blood. He felt like the smell of blood was still lingering at the tip of his nose. The image of the lifeless Jisung kept replaying in his mind and wouldn’t disappear.

“Go back.”

“What?”

“I want to stop now. Nothing more…”

He didn’t want to wish for anything, nor lose anything.

“Because I asked you to be my Guide, you almost lost your life. If it weren’t for me, if I hadn’t wished for it. No, if we hadn’t met in the first place…”

‘Then I could have died alone without harming you.’

“I twisted your life. So go back now. To your original daily life.”

‘To a peaceful and safe life without any danger.’

Grit.

Jisung ground his teeth. “Hey.” Hyunwoo, who had turned his gaze to Jisung at the voice calling him, flinched. Fierce eyes were directed at him. The always gentle eyes were now shining fiercely, filled with anger. He had never seen Jisung so angry before.

Come to think of it, Jisung had never been truly angry with him before. Even when they barged into his house, he was annoyed but never firmly rejected them.

“You were the one who persistently came to ask me to be your Guide, and now you’re telling me to go back? You don’t need me anymore, is that it?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Or, are you ignoring my decision?”

“What, what do you mean…”

“It was my will to decide to be with you. I knew it would be dangerous, and I expected there would be days like this where I get hurt. Nevertheless, I decided to be your Guide. Because I want to be with you guys, that’s why I chose it.”

Jisung clenched his fists.

“But, you’re ignoring my decision and now you’re making me out to be an idiot who’s just doing dangerous things because I got carried away by the atmosphere.”

“I, you hate dangerous things, so…”

“Yeah, I hate dangerous things. I really hate them. I love safe things.”

“So I’m telling you to go back to your safe life!”

“I’m saying I want to be with you even if it means taking that risk!”

Hyunwoo’s eyes widened. At his frozen appearance, Jisung didn’t hold back and shouted.

“I like you enough to endure this kind of pain. The time I spend with you guys is fun! I’m saying let’s be together, so why are you keep pushing people away?!”

“But…”

“There are no buts! If you want to ignore my will and trample on my feelings, then do as you please. But if not.”

Jisung reached out his hand towards Hyunwoo. His red eyes flickered.

“Let’s go back together.”

Tears welled up in Hyunwoo’s eyes. The wind barrier that had been surrounding him gradually disappeared. Hyunwoo’s steps, which had been slow, quickened. He ran in front of Jisung in an instant and hugged him. His red shining eyes gradually returned to their original color.

Jisung smiled in relief at the feeling of his shoulder getting wet.

“Welcome back.”

“Yeah.”

At the watery voice, Jisung slowly stroked his head.

“And I’m sorry for making you worry.”

“Ung.”

Jisung smiled faintly at Hyunwoo who was replying with a slightly sulky tone.

“Jisung-hyung! Hyunwoo-hyung!”

Yuaan and Sunwoo ran towards the two of them. Jisung’s eyes widened in surprise as Sunwoo hugged him tightly.

“I’m so glad.”

“It’s all okay now.”

Jisung stroked Sunwoo’s head. Then Sunwoo looked up. A smile formed on Sunwoo’s lips as their eyes met.

“What about me?”

Sunwoo’s eyes narrowed as Hyunwoo spread his arms and pretended to wait. He punched Hyunwoo in the chest.

“Ouch~”

“You really need to be punished, Hyung. Do you know how worried I was?”

“That’s right, you need to be punished.”

As Yuaan agreed from the side, Hyunwoo made a wronged expression. “Hyung~” Hyunwoo called Jisung with a pitiful expression. At that, Jisung chuckled softly and opened his mouth.

“You tried to die, leaving your colleagues who were so worried about you, so you need to be punished thoroughly~”

“I was already scolded by you, Hyung!”

“That’s my share.”

“Where is there such a thing, huh?”

Hyunwoo’s body swayed. “Hyunwoo!” Jisung, startled, supported his body. Upon closer inspection, his complexion was not good.

“His body is strained because of the rampage.”

“Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’ll be fine if he rests.”

Yuaan reassured the worried Jisung. He supported Hyunwoo’s shoulder and said.

“We have to treat Jisung’s wound too, so let’s go back now.”

“I’ve contacted the Center. They said they’ll send a cleanup team and vehicles.”

“What happened to that Guide?”

Sunwoo looked at the rampage site that had become a wasteland.

“If he survived this chaos, he’ll be punished.”

“What about the other Espers…”

Sunwoo pointed behind him with his hand. There, a group of evacuated Espers and Guides could be seen.

“Thanks to our guiding, they had the strength to escape. Even if they were blown away by the wind, they wouldn’t die from that since they’re Espers, but the people who died from the initial explosion…”

“Yeah…”

Jisung brought his hand to his side. From the bomb to this wound. This whole mission was a trap to kill him. Too many people were sacrificed because of that. This incident, unlike the Center Director’s wishes, had grown too large to be contained.

It wouldn’t be possible to just cover it up and move on.

“Come to think of it, what about that terrorist?”

“He stole an ambulance and ran away.”

“Oh…”