Chapter 16: You’ll Catch a Cold

“Thank you for the meal.”

I sat in the auxiliary chair that Esper Hwang Gyu-tae had placed right next to Hyung’s bed.

Hyung, who had placed a set of utensils in front of me, only took his own first bite after I picked up my spoon.

“You weren’t eating?”

There were no signs of the food that packed the table having been touched.

If I had known Hyung was waiting without eating, I would have come right away.

“…I guess so.”

Hyung, who had taken a sip of the already slightly cooled soup, mumbled faintly to himself.

“I wasn’t eating.”

I watched him, then ate a piece of boiled pork, feeling sorry for the cold food.

This was completely cold.

I should have come in sooner.

Chewing on the meat, which was still delicious even when cold, I watched Hyung’s hands as he now comfortably used his chopsticks.

His hands, with no burn marks left, didn’t seem to need bandages.

I should mention to the attending physician when he comes for the next check-up that the bandages could probably come off.

Anyway, my Hyung eats well.

His eating speed had slowed a little, but Hyung still ate well.

He was still the same, eating heartily without being picky or pecking at his food.

It was one of the countless strengths of Hyung that I liked.

That he eats well.

“Eat your food.”

After openly admiring Hyung, I quickly averted my gaze and focused on the food.

Despite my obvious stare, which must have been uncomfortable, Chul-soo Hyung didn’t chase me away and just pushed the plate of boiled pork towards me.

After that, I diligently moved my chopsticks, following Hyung.

Whenever I wanted to talk to Hyung, I deliberately shoved a large piece of meat into my mouth without cutting it.

When it became hard to swallow because I couldn’t taste the food as I ate, I chugged water.

The water Hyung had poured went down so smoothly.

And so, only the sound of chewing food went back and forth between us until the meal was over.

The times when we would chat endlessly and laughter never ceased just by looking at each other’s faces felt so distant.

Thankfully, all the food that Esper Hwang Gyu-tae and Tae Seung-jun had bought was cleaned up.

Hyung ate everything without leaving any food behind, as usual, and I too kept filling my stomach until Hyung put down his utensils.

I couldn’t help it, as Hyung’s words that he didn’t want to eat alone kept ringing in my head.

“Ugh.”

But in the end, I threw up all the food I had painstakingly eaten.

I ran to the most remote bathroom on the Esper ward floor and vomited until only watery stomach acid came out.

I had sort of expected it while eating.

“Cough, gasp.”

After emptying my stomach refreshingly, I closed the toilet lid and sat down, wiping my mouth with a tissue.

My stomach hurt even after throwing everything up, probably because my stomach was strained from eating a meal after so long.

Hyung was taking a nap after eating.

The frequent onset of drowsiness was a good sign.

It meant Hyung’s body was busy recovering.

“Ah—”

I wrapped my arms around my stabbing stomach and bent my upper body.

Somehow, it seemed to be getting more and more painful, so I thought I should take some medicine and sighed.

My body felt cold as I sat crouched alone in the bathroom.

My stomach, having emptied all its food, felt hollow.

I comforted myself by imagining Hyung, who would drop everything and stay by my side whenever I was sick.

Thanks to my firm resolve not to be pathetic, no tears came out.

I, who used to cling to Hyung and cry my eyes out whenever I was sick, felt a little more mature.

Though Hyung would laugh if he heard.

I let various thoughts drift by as I waited for the pain to subside.

I was rubbing the smooth tile floor with my foot when I killed my presence at the sound of the door opening.

I had deliberately sat in the very last stall, in case I was caught loitering in the bathroom.

“Your team’s kids get brought in too?”

“Don’t even mention it. It’s killing me.”

The two Espers who came in, cracking their tense muscles, repeated their sighs while taking care of their business.

Leaving aside the fact that it was the Esper ward floor, their heavy footsteps alone gave away that they were Espers.

From their conversation, they seemed to be team leader-level.

“That guy, what’s-his-name, Team Leader Kim is still hospitalized, right? He must be around here somewhere.”

Wondering if they were talking about Chul-soo Hyung, I clutched my stomach and pricked up my ears.

They had lowered their voices when they brought up ‘Team Leader Kim’, so I had to press my ear close to the door to hear properly.

“They’ve blocked visitation. Except for team members.”

“Looks like he hasn’t woken up yet. We could catch a break if he returned soon. How can we live with this anxiety?”

“We’ll have to see when the time comes. We might not get anything from Team Leader Kim’s testimony.”

It was indeed about Chul-soo Hyung.

To hear their conversation more clearly, I pressed my ear even closer to the crack of the door.

But the sound of them washing their hands at the sink drowned out their conversation.

“So his partner wasn’t even in the Center’s main building? How many Gates does Team Leader Kim manage?”

The Esper’s slightly louder voice, simultaneous with the sound of the water turning off, stabbed my ear.

“I heard he’s been cooped up at home ever since leaving the team. I heard it from my Guide, so I don’t know the details.”

“No matter how much he teleports on his own, he should be on standby in the Guiding Room. Every second counts when an accident happens.”

“You know, there were a lot of rumors that it was this. Don’t you remember?”

“This? Ah… Ah! It was him, right.”

Seo Yeong-u.

I couldn’t get up for a long time at the three syllables of my name that came through the sound of the closing door.

A few more people came and went, and only when my crouched posture had gone numb did I get up and unlock the latch.

As soon as I opened the door and stepped out, I fell flat on the floor with a loud thud.

My legs had given out from sitting for too long.

I touched my knee, wondering if it was broken, but it looked fine on the outside.

I had no problem walking either.

I sluggishly went to the sink, washed my face for a long time, rinsed my mouth, and then left.

What a good memory they have.

It was a new feeling to hear my name from strangers after such a long time.

It was strange how they were still talking about the ‘rumors’, which felt so distant to me, the person involved, as if they had happened recently.

What was so great about it that they remembered it for so long?

Can’t they just forget?

“I want to go… home.”

I walked with my eyes glued to the floor the whole way back to Hyung’s room.

I walked quickly, afraid someone might talk to me, and soon arrived in front of the familiar door.

Chul-soo Hyung is probably still sleeping.

Since his injury, Hyung would sleep for over six hours without waking up once he fell asleep.

Last night, I had also followed Hyung and passed out for over 10 hours.

Thanks to sleeping with Hyung’s permission, I slept soundly without even dreaming.

Still, home is the best.

I was happy to be able to lie in the same bed with Hyung, but I just wanted to go home as soon as possible.

Even a day sooner.

To our home where the kids are waiting.

I was about to grab the doorknob but clenched my fist when I saw my finely trembling fingers.

The convulsion symptom, which had appeared as a side effect of excessive guiding, had unexpectedly relapsed.

It wasn’t as severe as then, but my hand was trembling noticeably.

I blankly massaged my hand and then fiddled with my ear.

I was wondering what was ringing so loudly, but it was my own heartbeat.

It was pounding so hard that I thought it was the loud footsteps of the Espers.

No wonder I could hear it even when I covered my ears.

“What are you doing there?”

I was pointlessly pressing my ear canal when I froze.

The voice that should have been sleeping inside the room was approaching from the end of the hallway, and I thought I had misheard.

Even as Hyung stopped the wheelchair right in front of me, I blinked, wondering if I was seeing things.

Only after reaching out my arm to check if Hyung was tangible did I open my mouth.

While placing my hand on Hyung’s cheek.

“Are you sick somewhere?”

It wasn’t that I touched his cheek without a reason; I was wiping his sweat.

I don’t know where he had been, but beads of sweat had formed on Hyung’s forehead.

“Why are you sweating so much…”

I worriedly scanned Hyung, who was even panting slightly, and placed my hand on his forehead to check his temperature.

Because my hand was cold from washing my face with cold water, it just felt hot.

“I’ll go get a doctor. Wait here for a moment.”

“What’s wrong with your hand?”

I was about to go call the attending physician when Hyung caught my hand.

Hyung, who had grabbed my hand with the slight convulsion symptom remaining, looked up at me.

At his gaze that was waiting for an answer, I spoke lightly, as if it were nothing.

“It’s like this sometimes. It’ll be fine soon.”

I thought if I touched Hyung now, I would want to hug him completely, so I pulled my hand away.

Thanks to Hyung holding it weakly, it came loose easily with a slight force.

It was a little disappointing.

I pushed the wheelchair into the room and checked Hyung’s complexion again.

He was sweating, but he didn’t look sick.

“Where have you been?”

No matter how many times I asked, Hyung didn’t answer.

Had he been working out somewhere?

Hyung originally liked to work out.

He used to frequently squeeze out time he didn’t have to do weight training until his whole body was drenched in sweat.

And I would do breathing exercises disguised as meditation next to him.

“Don’t overdo it. You’re still recovering.”

I wanted to tell him to postpone rehabilitation until the bandages were off, but I swallowed my words, afraid it would sound like nagging.

Because each Esper’s recovery ability was so varied, there was no set time for when rehabilitation was possible.

They just did it whenever they felt they were okay.

Espers tended to start rehabilitation early because stimulating the pain receptors further promoted their regenerative abilities.

Still, I hoped Hyung would rest more.

“Did you throw up?”

Hyung suddenly asked me as I was wiping his sweat with my bare hands out of habit.

So flustered that the convulsion in my hand stopped, I immediately pursed my lips.

I really rinsed my mouth for a long time, but I wondered if it still smelled, and was about to take a step back.

“Did you cry?”

Before that, Hyung’s hand, which had come up to my cheek, stopped me.

Chul-soo Hyung unhesitatingly caressed the corner of my eye, just as I had wiped his sweat.

Even after confirming there was no moisture, his fingertips lingered at the corner of my eye and then traveled down my cheek, further and further down.

I held my breath and watched Hyung, who was carefully touching my face.

When his slowly moving hand got closer to my upper lip, my eyes closed on their own.

I slightly parted my lips and waited for something, a finger or whatever, to enter, and,

“Guide-nim.”

Hyung touched my philtrum.

“Your nose is bleeding.”

Hyung, his eyes wide, held out his finger stained with red blood.

Reminded once again of Hyung’s age of seventeen, I replied, “Ah, yes.”