Chapter 67: Fainting Again

Beep- beep- beep-.

Bodam, who tried to ignore the unpleasant mechanical sound, bit his lower lip firmly.

Kang Yi Jun was still the same.

He was exactly as he was, with dusky skin reminiscent of a monster and his limbs bound by an intangible special barrier.

The black cloth blocking his mental abilities was still covering his eyes.

He didn’t look like a living person, but he didn’t look as peaceful as a dead person either.

“You’re being punished. Because you did a lot of bad things.”

The barrier users, standing in a triangular formation to prepare for the rampage of the high-risk Esper whose wavelength was still in the 90% range, had their backs turned.

They were all colleagues of Team Leader Kim, who was well-connected within the barrier division.

At Bodam’s request, a special membrane was even placed to block sound.

Only Bodam and Kang Yi Jun, whose eyes might have been open or closed, could hear the conversation on the bed.

“Laughing while hurting others, showing off money, and completely ignoring those who don’t have it.”

The moment he entered the room, Bodam immediately felt angry at Kang Yi Jun’s familiar wavelength.

Before stepping in front of the bed surrounded by guiding machines, he had intended to hit him just once and then start.

The fact that he was tied down in the Center again, along with the wounds he had received from him, flashed through his mind.

Even the big and small slights and subtle taunts he thought he had forgotten came back to him.

‘Ha, and I’m supposed to guide this f*cking bastard right now—.’

Beep- beep- beep-.

His head, which had been seething with anger towards Yi Jun, turned cold the moment he reached the bed.

His appearance was so agonizing to look at that it made his breath catch.

“Why did you break the Teleport Esper’s arm again? Are you a thug?”

Bodam, continuing in a subdued voice, lowered his gaze towards the blanket, not the skin covered in bruises.

It was hard to keep looking.

Under his lowered gaze, the hospital room floor was covered with thick machine wires.

Not to mention the bed where Kang Yi Jun lay, adorned with all sorts of electrode pads.

If it appeared in a drama, it would be a scene so grotesque it would make you turn it off.

“How scared the rookies must have been. All of that becomes trauma.”

Bodam, who had intended to hit him just once, ultimately did not raise his fierce fist.

He was not enough of a ruffian to hit a sick patient, so he only chastised him verbally.

Kang Yi Jun truly looked like he was in serious pain.

So much so that one wondered if he was even alive.

“Don’t live like that anymore. You don’t need to live kindly, just live normally.”

Bodam, who had conveyed his curse, “You bastard,” calmly regulated his breathing and took off the coat he had borrowed from Jo Yeon.

It seemed Jo Yeon’s wavelength clinging to it was interfering with the guiding.

He carefully hung the heavy coat on the back of a chair and straightened his back.

He felt a little nervous about guiding after a long time.

When he was led by that old, pig-like Research Director and guided, his physical condition hadn’t been good, so he couldn’t perform well.

And there was no way he would show skill when forced to do something.

“Hmph.”

He focused his mind on Yi Jun, thinking, ‘Please, just accept it gracefully while it’s offered.’

With the research team’s permission, he painlessly removed one of the largest electrode pads.

His skin seemed weakened, as even the gentle adhesive left marks on his blackish-blue cheek.

The clean face, which even showed soft down unsuited to his personality, was terrifyingly black and shriveled as cells died.

It was hard to look at.

He really didn’t want to see it.

Just looking at it was disgusting—.

“Stop it. Kang Yi Jun.”

Bodam said.

At the same time, the thoughts that had been spiraling abruptly broke off as if fleeing.

Despite the horrifying sight, Bodam was not the kind of person to feel disgusted by someone lying ill.

“Don’t mess with my thoughts.”

At first, he just thought his emotions were connected along with his pain sensation.

One of the symptoms among ability users with normal imprinting was indeed having their emotions linked with their partner.

This allowed them to know not every fleeting emotion, but heightened emotional states like intense anger and fear.

This greatly helped Guides detect their Esper partner’s impending rampage.

He had only thought that he and Kang Yi Jun were feeling each other’s emotions, just like with normal imprinting.

However, it was slightly different from the known symptoms.

“Don’t use your ability on me. This is a warning.”

As expected, Kang Yi Jun was a madman.

It seemed he was using his mental abilities through the sensory link with Bodam.

It was suspicious that he repeatedly appeared in his dreams, disrupted his deep sleep, and made words contrary to his thoughts pop out.

It was clear Kang Yi Jun was playing tricks again.

It was a very weak level, judging by how it diminished when Bodam consciously tried to shake it off.

‘Is it thanks to that black cloth covering his eyes?’

“If you do that one more time, I’m never coming back.”

Bodam, his mind now calm, narrowed his eyes and looked down at Kang Yi Jun.

It was frustrating not knowing if he was even listening or what.

And he couldn’t just yank off that cloth.

“Are you listening?”

Bodam, recalling Yi Jun’s subtle grayish eyes, wished he had his eyes open.

He needed to know that Bodam, with the vast generosity of a lottery winner who had conceded ten million times, had personally come to guide him.

Although it was for himself, he believed that if Kang Yi Jun knew he was also making an effort to save him, Kang Yi Jun would learn something too.

Just as Bodam had smiled back at his mother, who smiled brightly even in difficult situations.

This young brat desperately seemed to need an example of how to live as a sane adult.

“If you’re listening, answer me.”

He wondered what on earth he had grown up seeing to develop such a personality.

‘What could possibly be lacking for a guy who grew up as the youngest master of Hansung Group, enjoying everything and being treated well, to be so—’

“Kang Yi Jun.”

‘So lonely?’

“Uh…”

Bodam, placing his palm on Yi Jun’s blackish-blue cheek, suddenly swayed.

Thump.

The chair, caught by Bodam’s unbalanced leg, fell backward.

The barrier users standing nearby couldn’t hear the sounds inside.

“Kang… Yi Jun…”

‘This bastard….’

Bodam’s vision blurred as he mumbled with weakening lips.

Struggling to open his heavy eyelids, he clutched the blanket covering Yi Jun.

He wanted to grab his collar, but Kang Yi Jun was naked.

Instead of his collar, he tightly gripped the blanket, stumbled, and fell forward.

His upper body, half-draped over the bed, brushed against Yi Jun’s arm and then slid off.

On the black bare skin, now uncovered by the blanket, thick IV lines and electrode pads were attached.

Everywhere except for his oxygen mask and vital areas.

Thump.

Bodam, who fell to the floor with a rather loud thud, lost consciousness.

Simultaneously, the barrier users, sensing Yi Jun’s sharpened wavelength and turning around, immediately approached Bodam.

Team Leader Kim, who had been standing near the door on the phone, also ran over and helped Bodam up.

“Guide-nim!”

Team Leader Kim, who had lifted Bodam’s limp upper body, checked his pulse.

The research team, quietly observing the situation, took notes on their charts and checked Esper Kang Yi Jun’s wavelength levels.

Unfortunately, it seemed guiding had not occurred.

“Khuh…”

Team Leader Kim, leaning his ear close to Bodam’s lips, was first relieved by the faint, even breathing.

He seemed to have just fallen asleep.

He informed his barrier division colleagues that Bodam was fine and then retrieved Bodam’s coat.

He glanced at Kang Yi Jun, whose previously impeccable appearance was gone, and then teleported.

Thinking that he should moderately grant Guide Yoon’s requests from now on.

“Oh, what?”

“What’s missing?”

“Where’s the blanket?”

Three team leader-level barrier users exchanged bewildered glances.

Along with Team Leader Kim, who had disappeared after a brief greeting, and the sleeping Guide, the blanket covering Esper Kang Yi Jun was gone.

The bewildered gazes of the three briefly focused on one spot, then turned to admiration.

***

Seung Ho, who arrived at the requested scene with a Teleport Esper, coldly surveyed his surroundings.

Inside the commercial building, where civilian access was controlled, only Espers were present.

It seemed to be a major incident, judging by the fact that only teams composed of well-trained A-classes had gathered.

Han Seung Ho’s mere presence in the civilian area already proved the gravity of the situation.

“Team Leader Han. Over here.”

A tall Esper, who recognized Seung Ho at a glance from afar, waved his long arm.

The bulky Esper, wearing an eye patch over his empty left eye, belonged to Attack Team 1.

“Why weren’t you answering? I’ve been waiting for ages.”

The bald man, whose head seemed to shine, and who wore a black eye patch, possessed a strong, movie-like impression.

He looked like he could tear and eat a large piece of meat right off the bone. He was an Esper who had transferred from Attack Team 2 to Team 1, scouted by the Esper Director.

“Where is it?”

The bald man, clucking his tongue at Seung Ho, who was looking for work without even a greeting, nodded his head and told him to follow.

The old three-story commercial building had low ceilings and smelled musty.

It was clearly a place that had not been maintained at all.

Given that all the lights were on, people seemed to pass through quite often.

“I don’t know what these unregistered bastards are doing, but it must be a headache for the Center Director. You know the situation, right?”

“Yes.”

The bald man, losing the desire to talk to Seung Ho who gave dry answers, spat his chewed gum onto the floor.

It was annoying how he was so submissive to the higher-ups’ words but so stiff with a senior from the attack division, who was like heaven to them.

“A whopping three reports have come in. Three incidents in a week is enormous.”

The bald man, unable to keep his talkative mouth shut while descending the stairs to the basement, continued.

He spread three blunt fingers, emphasizing the immense number.

It was an extremely serious incident to that extent.

“A gate opening in a civilian area? f*ck, I’ve lived long enough to see this again.”

The bald man, who now turned his head to glare at Seung Ho, who wasn’t even reacting, raised his voice loudly.

That young brat was on his phone while an adult was speaking.

“Hey, Team Leader Han!”

At the bald man’s shout echoing through the basement hallway, Han Seung Ho raised a long index finger to his lips.

It was a refined way of saying “shut up.”

He stopped checking a message and made a call.

He put up a barrier around the bald man, who was cursing violently, to block the sound.

– “Yes, yes. Team Leader Han Seung Ho.”

The researcher, who answered the call immediately as it connected, cleared his throat.

He was in the middle of typing a message to Team Leader Han to write the next details.

“He came to visit.”

– “Yes, that’s right. It seemed he came to attempt guiding. Among the devices connected for contact—.”

“Why did he collapse?”

Seung Ho, cutting off the researcher, stopped walking.

He had called after receiving a message that Guide Yoon had lost consciousness while trying to guide, causing it to be interrupted.

He didn’t budge at the bald man’s shouting, which seemed about to shake the entire building next to him.

He already had a tolerance built up against loud noises.