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Tae Seung-jun silently mulled over my words, then let out a long sigh as if he were chain-smoking.
“You, just don’t think about anything until the Team Leader’s memory comes back. Completely empty your head.”
He even waved his foot instead of the hand receiving Guiding, saying there was no need to listen closely.
But in the end, the healing wound tore open again.
“I get it, so stop moving. You’re interfering with the Guiding.”
I threw the blanket over his stomach, where blood had started to seep out again.
The sight of the torn wound gave me goosebumps, reminding me of the injured Chul-soo hyung.
“When the Team Leader’s memory returns, tell him exactly that. I bet a vote he’ll grab the back of his neck and collapse.”
‘He would now.’
He’s already Imprinted and loves me, so of course he’d deny it.
He would say he had been planning to Imprint eventually, and it would be obvious he’d claim he postponed it day after day for my sake.
Hyung always told me only what I wanted to hear.
But was all of it sincere?
A man who was decisive in all matters spent a year agonizing over just my Imprinting issue.
How could that be for my sake?
He did it reluctantly after driving me to my wit’s end.
“Seo Yeong-u.”
“Ah, come on!”
Tae Seung-jun, who had insisted on sitting up again, pressed his hand firmly against my face.
That b*stard’s bad habit with his hands was back.
“It’s got blood on it!”
I shouted, shaking my head to avoid his large palm.
The blood on Tae Seung-jun’s hand had smeared onto my face.
“Recognize that you have anxiety.”
I was so annoyed I was about to just leave, but I sat back down, wiping my face with my sleeve.
For some reason, everything that b*stard Tae Seung-jun said today was irrefutable.
“Give me your hand.”
I knew it was all for my own good, so I continued the Guiding.
Tae Seung-jun is generally a pain in the a**, but he’s a good guy.
Chul-soo hyung only kept good people around him.
“Hyung and I decided to go see my grandmother. After his leg is all healed.”
Tae Seung-jun only said, “That’s a relief,” curtly.
After that, we both focused solely on the Guiding.
The doctor only arrived after Tae Seung-jun’s Wavelength had dropped to 40%.
The doctor, who seemed to be a physical-modification Esper with four arms, stitched up Tae Seung-jun’s wound with incredible speed.
The moment Tae Seung-jun saw the doctor, he asked for water.
“If you were thirsty, you should have said something.”
I pouted as I washed the blood off my sleeve at a sink in a restroom near the emergency room.
Forgetting I had told him to just swallow his spit, I clicked my tongue at Tae Seung-jun for enduring his thirst until the doctor came.
We had always been the type to tut-tut at each other whenever we had the chance.
After thoroughly washing my face and drying my wet sleeve in the dryer, I took out my phone.
Quite a lot of time had passed.
It was almost time for Chul-soo hyung’s rehabilitation therapy to end.
It seemed the timing would be perfect if I went up to the therapy room now.
With my steps lightened at the thought of going home with Hyung, I opened the restroom door.
“What the hell do you even do?”
At the same time, a man coming in from outside pulled the door, making me lose my balance.
The man in a combat suit held the door and gestured with his head for me to go out first.
He was on the phone.
“If you’re going to be like that, just quit. Are you going to get your act together only after we have to hold a funeral for the kids while waiting for you?”
The man, covered in monster blood, was furiously yelling at the person on the other end of the call.
Even after the restroom door closed, the man’s shouting could be heard from outside.
“If you know you’re just going to be a burden, just quit!”
Even though his words weren’t directed at me, I felt a pang of guilt, and my chest ached.
Was it because I had heard that name I’d forgotten?
Even passing words seemed to pierce deeply into my heart today.
‘Park. I wonder what he’s doing now.’
“Guide-nim, please take the elevator on the other side. This one is for Espers only.”
“Huh? Ah, yes.”
I was walking while gripping the hallway handrail tightly and took a step back in front of the elevator.
Espers and I had ridden together the last time I was here, but it seemed they had been separated since then.
I turned in the direction the Esper pointed and pressed the button again.
I had been looking at the floor while walking and had only just now seen the notice posted on the elevator.
It stated that, to prevent accidents, the use of facilities by Espers and Guides would be temporarily separated.
It meant that there were more Espers in unstable conditions due to overwork or lack of Guiding.
If you got on a confined space like an elevator with an Esper in a bad state, you wouldn’t even be able to call for help.
“They might as well just separate the Guide ward into a different building. Who’d come here for treatment when they’re scared sh*tless?”
“Tell me about it.”
A Guide supporting a limping colleague clicked their tongue while looking at the notice I was reading.
The two of them continued to voice their complaints until the elevator arrived.
Judging by their conversation, they seemed to be Guides who went on field assignments.
“If this sh*t continues until next month, I’m quitting. Being unemployed is better than getting eaten by a monster.”
“Yeah, f*ck it, let’s quit and buy a lottery ticket.”
The Guides lowered their voices, conscious of the many listening ears around them.
Their dissatisfaction with the continuous opening of dangerous Gates was turning into criticism aimed at Espers.
“What’s the point of increasing the number of Guiding machines? There’s a truckload of b*stards who get nauseous if it’s not a human touch.”
“Honestly, don’t you think those b*stards do it on purpose? Just to touch us, they pretend to—.”
As the elevator doors opened, the whispering Guides fell silent.
I let their nonsense go in one ear and out the other, then glanced at the person they were bowing to.
“Yes, hello!”
A Guide with a bright voice returned the greeting and hurriedly ran down the hall.
I only saw the small Guide’s back.
People stopped in their tracks to greet him as he passed.
Though it must have been bothersome, the man repeated the same greeting to each and every person.
“Hello,” in a very bright voice.
“What’s he doing here? Is he hurt?”
“No way. As if he could get hurt. Not when Lee Tae-hwan Esper carries him around on his hip.”
Lee Tae-hwan Esper was a name I had heard of as well.
Even a newcomer who had just entered the Center would know him.
He was an S-rank Psychokinesis Esper who received as much attention from the general public as the Esper Director.
‘Then that person must be… the Guide from Attack Team 1.’
I perked up my ears and stared at the receding back.
Perhaps because he had a small frame, he ran fast.
“Oh.”
While I was distracted, the noisy Guides had taken the elevator up first.
‘Those inconsiderate b*stards.’
I pressed the button again and sent Hyung a text asking where he was.
While waiting for the next elevator, I glanced again down the hallway where the Guide from Attack Team 1 had disappeared.
‘I wanted to see him once, and now I have.’
‘His name… was it Yoon Bodam Guide?’
Hyung rarely talked about the Guides he was assigned to protect when he did freelance security work, but Yoon Bodam Guide was an exception.
He felt particularly sorry for him, and when his Espers had a change of heart and began to serve him, he was as happy as if it were his own business.
That Min Ji-oh punk or whatever still seemed less than human, but seeing how bright that person was, it seemed he was doing okay.
Once, Hyung had even asked if I wanted to meet him together.
He said that Yoon Bodam Guide was curious about me.
It was the first time Hyung had ever said something like that, so I considered it, but in the end, I didn’t meet him.
I wasn’t fun, nor was I a good conversation partner.
“Excuse me, you’re Kim Chul-soo Esper-nim’s Guide, right?”
While waiting for Chul-soo hyung’s reply in front of the rehabilitation room, I was startled by an approaching voice and dropped my phone.
Judging by the clothes, it was a desk employee.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I’ll get it for you.”
The face of the employee who picked up my phone for me looked familiar.
It was the same employee who had guided me to Hyung’s therapy room when I came with that punk Min Ji-oh from Attack Team 1 last time.
“The Esper-nim’s therapy already ended. Three hours ago.”
“Three hours ago?”
“Yes, you should try calling him.”
The employee pointed to the phone and went back inside the automatic doors.
I turned on my watch instead of my phone.
No matter how many times I checked, Chul-soo hyung’s location was fixed within this building.
Besides, three hours ago, he would have been more than home by now and would have contacted me.
I called Hyung as I headed back to the elevator.
‘Can the watch have an error?’
That couldn’t be right.
My heart raced at the thought of Hyung wandering alone in the Medical Center, which was teeming with Espers.
The recent accident made me even more anxious.
After a long ringing tone, a recorded message said the call could not be connected.
I pressed the end button and called again.
“Ah…”
Focused on my phone, I had gotten on the Esper-only elevator.
The Esper already inside hadn’t said anything, so I only realized it after the doors had closed.
Moreover, for some reason, I must have pressed the up button.
Watching the floor numbers ascend, I pressed the button for the floor directly above and stood close to the entrance.
Immediately, the elevator stopped with a soft mechanical sound.
I kept calling Hyung as I tried to squeeze through the slowly opening doors.
Then, a hand grabbed my shoulder.
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