Chapter 72: A Painful Past

I was listening to a guiding theory lecture with Wonjae.
The gate warning light turned blue.
A blue light signaled a B-Class gate.

“Hyung, I think a gate has opened.”

“It’s a B-Class gate.”

I checked the gate situation with my Guiding Watch.
I had felt that the gate occurrence cycle had been getting shorter lately.
Since they were occurring at any time, there was a lot of concern around.

Since it was a lecture that was open to all grades, guides of various grades were sitting in the lecture hall.
Soon, I could see the guides who had received the notification getting up one by one.
I was watching them leave when my Guiding Watch also started to vibrate.
When I checked the screen, a guiding shelter movement alert had appeared.

‘Why me too?’

I thought the alarm had come by mistake, but an alert started to ring for him as well.

“Hyung, I think we have to go too.”

After moving to the guiding shelter in a state of confusion, I was able to find out the reason for the alert through the manager.

Two sudden-type B-Class gates had opened, but since the location was a subway railroad, the risk was high, and high-ranking Awakened had also been called.
He said that the guiding shelters would also move to two separate locations.

The guiding shelter quickly settled near the station.
Fortunately, all the citizens inside the station had been evacuated, but since it was underground and the passages were narrow, it looked dangerous for the Espers and guides.
In particular, it would be even harder for natural-type Espers since their ability range was wide and their ability use was restricted in a narrow space.

The gate size was much smaller than average, but the number of monsters coming out was more than usual.

After blocking all the subway exits with barriers to prevent the monsters from getting out, the Espers minimized their abilities and annihilated the monsters.
It was unavoidable because they could injure their own colleagues or the ground could collapse.

As they minimized their abilities in a cautious situation, there were many casualties from the monsters.
Moreover, since the boss monster this time was similar in size to a regular monster, the Espers had a hard time finding it.

The only fortunate thing was that the other gate had closed quickly.
But monsters were still pouring out of the open gate like a copy machine, and they were having a hard time.
In this situation, he also ended up getting injured.

“It seems Esper Hyun Taewoon is getting injured often these days.”

One of the 01S team members who was with me said.
As the gates opened one after another, he seemed to be suffering from side effects.

“Yes. I heard that machine guiding doesn’t work well these days. So he’s in the machine guiding room all day.”

“Really…?”

I asked back without realizing it.

“His level is in the 40% range right now.”

At Minseong’s words, I looked at his Guiding Watch screen, and the guiding levels of all the team’s Espers were written there.
Among them, the first one, Hyun Taewoon’s level, was 43%.

“Since we only have to close one gate, I think it would be better to tell him to return.”

In the end, he sent a return notification to him, and he agreed to return at that notification.
I was surprised because I had never seen him return before the gate closed.

“Is Esper Hyun Taewoon in a very bad condition?”

“Yes. I think the side effects have gotten worse. And there’s no guide to guide him…”

He said and looked at him.
He avoided his eyes.
I approached him and asked.

“Wonjae, have you ever guided him?”

“No.”

“Since you’re his exclusive, I think it would be better for you to guide him when he comes back this time.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Last time too, why are you being like this?”

I remembered that last time at the gate, he had refused his guiding, and I had done it.

“I have no intention of guiding him.”

“I dislike him too. But this is a job. You have to put aside your personal feelings.”

After thinking for a long time at my words, he finally said okay.
But he was still frowning with a displeased face.

Even though he had agreed to the return alarm, he only came into the guiding shelter after the gate was closed.
When he entered the shelter, his guiding level was 35%.

He must have felt that his condition was not good, as he reluctantly approached and guided him, but the level did not go up.
When guiding, the wavelength is connected even if one person refuses.
For this to happen, it meant that both of them were rejecting each other’s wavelength.

I approached them and told them to connect their wavelengths, but it was still the same.
At this rate, he might go on a rampage.

It would be a relief if he were anesthetized, but if he went on a rampage as he was, since he was an S-Class Esper, it would be as dangerous as a high-level A-Class gate.
That’s why I had asked him to guide him…

“Can’t a different guide guide him instead of him?”

“I’ve thought about that too…. But everyone is scared of him, so they can’t guide him properly. And he also refuses.”

I certainly remembered that all the guides were scared of him even before I returned to the past.
It was probably more so because of the risk of reverse guiding and because his wavelength was heavy and sharp.

“For now, I think Guide Minseong should guide him.”

“Okay. I’ll try.”

In the end, he guided him, but as soon as their wavelengths connected, they were immediately cut off.

“The guiding isn’t working.”

In the end, he received machine guiding, but this also repelled all the wavelengths.
Thinking it was dangerous, I had no choice but to step in.

“I’ll do it.”

As soon as I took his hand, the wavelengths connected and intertwined as if they had been waiting.
He must have been tired, as he was lying on the bed with his eyes closed.
Fortunately, his expression looked much better.

“As expected, since the matching rate is high, the guiding seems to work well.”

Minseong, who was watching him and me from the side, said.
He was looking at his hand and mine with a displeased face.

I had guided him at the last gate too, and to be guiding him like this again…
At this rate, I might become his exclusive again, so a sigh escaped me on its own.

In the end, I guided him until he reached the calm zone.
He was still watching us with a displeased face.

As soon as I got home, I had him sit on the sofa and we talked.
I had always had questions about him, who disliked him more than I did, and I thought I had to talk to him today.

“Wonjae, why are you refusing to guide him?”

“Because I dislike him.”

“Why do you dislike him?”

People can dislike someone for no reason, but he didn’t seem like the type to dislike someone for no reason.
I had a feeling that there was a reason for his hatred and loathing towards him.

“I just dislike him.”

“Really? You can’t even tell me?”

As I was looking at him with a worried face, he was silent for a while.
I waited until he opened his mouth.
Finally, after a long wait, his lips opened.

“…Last July, an A-Class gate opened.”

If it was the A-Class gate last July, it was a gate I could never forget.
It was the gate where I had first met him.

“I remember.”

At my words, he was silent.
His eyes turned cold, and his hands trembled.

I wanted to ask what was wrong, but for now, it seemed I should wait until he spoke.

Finally, when his mouth opened again, the words that came out in fragments with a rough breath were filled with anger and sadness.

“My parents were also… at the gate then.”

“Your parents were also Awakened?”

“No.”

If they weren’t Awakened, it meant they were non-Awakened.
As I looked at him with a face as if to say ‘no way’, his face contorted, and he said as if he were vomiting.

“My parents died after being swept away by his ability.”

I was speechless at his words.
I knew his parents had passed away, but I didn’t know the detailed circumstances, so I couldn’t help but be surprised.

A-Class gates were often sudden-type, and since there were many variant monsters, the Espers used their abilities over a wide range.
As a result, there were many citizens who were swept away and died, and it seemed that his parents had been unluckily caught up in it.

“I know he didn’t do it on purpose, but he is the cause of my parents’ death. To guide such a cause. I’d rather die.”

Only now did I understand his actions of rejecting him until now.
The image of him grieving for his parents to the point of malnutrition in his house came to mind, and I no longer wanted to force him to guide him.

“I understand. I’ll talk to the Association about breaking the exclusive contract.”

“I’m sorry, hyung.”

“No. Thank you for telling me, even though it must have been a difficult story.”

At my words, he rested his face on my shoulder.
He would often rest his head on my shoulder like this when he was having a hard time.
I stroked his head as if to comfort him.

“…This is something I wasn’t going to say because it’s too childish.”

“What is it?”

“As I said before, I don’t like you being close with him.”

“I dislike him too, so don’t worry about that.”

“Then that’s a relief…”

“You must be tired today, so rest early.”

I took him to his room and came to my room, lost in thought.
Now that I knew the reason why he disliked him, I thought I shouldn’t let them be close anymore.

I was thinking about how to talk to the Association when suddenly a question arose.

If Wonjae’s parents had been harmed by Taewoon’s ability at the gate that had occurred after the regression, it would have been the same before the regression.
Since I hadn’t intervened in the July gate.

If that was the case, if his parents had also died because of his ability before I returned to the past… could his and his relationship have been good?

I don’t know if he would have forgiven him after time passed, but there was no way they would have gotten a couple’s item so soon after meeting.
My head was in a mess at the situation, which was different from what I knew.