Chapter 113: Awakening

My vacation was on the biweekly day of Taewoon’s detailed examination. On that day, the examination was conducted with machine guiding, so my own guiding wasn’t necessary.

I confirmed that Taewoon had entered the detailed examination room and left the hospital. It was the only day I could make time, so I had already scheduled an appointment. Instead of going home, I headed to a hotel lounge near the Center.

As I entered the lounge, a staff member who recognized me immediately guided me to a private room. Inside, Sehyun, dressed in a government uniform, was sitting at a table waiting for me.

“Shinui, it’s been a while.”

It had been two months since I last saw him. He had been promoted at the beginning of the year because it was thanks to him that they had found the devil’s weakness and were able to close the S-Class gate. It seemed he had become even busier with work.

“Have you been well?”

I took off my coat, hung it on the rack, and sat down opposite him.

“Yes, I’ve missed you a lot.”

“Me too.”

I bantered back at his now-familiar joke and we caught up on what had been happening.

“How long are you going to stay by Esper Hyun Taewoon’s side?”

It had been almost a year since I started staying by his side. To be honest, I hadn’t thought he would remain unconscious for so long.

“I don’t know either.”

Taewoon was only accepting my guiding, and his wavelength was still erratic. Machine guiding had its limits, so I couldn’t leave his side in this situation.

“You can’t stay by his side forever. It’s already been over half a year. It’ll be a year soon. You have to think about your own life too, Shinui.”

I knew, just as Sehyun said, that I couldn’t spend my life just guiding Taewoon. Honestly, there were many times when I felt tormented looking at his sleeping face. I was also worried that he might reject my guiding and die. Still, I wanted to stay by his side until my strength ran out.

“You’ve gotten very thin.”

Sehyun looked at my face with a worried gaze. When I touched my cheek with my hand, it felt rough.

“I’m planning to stop when I get tired.”

“You already look tired enough.”

I looked at him with a bitter smile. I had been guiding him constantly, except when I was sleeping or during his examination times like now. As he said, my body was already exhausted a long time ago.

“How about you let him go now and spend some time away from Korea? You’ve become famous, so it might be difficult to live a normal life, but it would be good to get a personal freelance certification from the International Awakened Organization and live in a protected area under their protection.”

It was an offer he had been making for a long time. I wanted to go to the Awakened Organization, but I couldn’t because he might die if I wasn’t there.

“I’m not thinking about it yet.”

“You have a tendency to be overly considerate of others, Shinui. I hope you don’t forget that the most important person is yourself.”

He was right. But I also had a responsibility for what happened to him, so I wanted to stay by his side until he woke up.

In the middle of our conversation, a call came from the hospital, so I had to part with Sehyun early and return to Taewoon’s room.

I had definitely guided him to a stable level, but his level had already dropped to near the danger zone. I asked the caregiver to leave, then lay down next to Taewoon and hugged him.

Thanks to the constant treatment from the healing-type Esper, there wasn’t a single scar on his skin. Instead, it was deathly pale from lack of sunlight.

Still, it was a relief that there were no black scars left from the devil’s ability. I carefully caressed his cheek with the back of my hand. Unlike my cold hand, his cheek was warm.

His neat, thick eyelashes were cast down deeply. Unconsciously, I reached out and gently traced his closed eyelids.

“When are you going to wake up. Don’t you miss me? If you miss me, wake up quickly.”

I talked to myself for a long time, waiting for an answer that would not come. I felt that if I kept doing this, he would eventually answer me.

As darkness fell in the room and my eyes grew heavy, I finally stopped talking.

When I opened my eyes again, the surroundings were tinged with a navy blue light, indicating that morning was approaching.

As I moved my body, having fallen asleep in an uncomfortable position, my muscles screamed in protest. As I rolled my shoulders and reflexively looked at his face, my mouth fell open in shock.

Taewoon, who had been sleeping as if he were dead, was awake, silently looking at me.

Thinking I was seeing things, I closed and opened my eyes, but he was still looking at me. Tears instantly welled up, and his face blurred.

Tears also filled the eyes of Taewoon, who was pressing his trembling lips together. I gently held both his cheeks and met his eyes. The poignant emotions we both held in our hearts were transmitted through our gaze.

Hyun Taewoon was alive. I wanted to ask him when he had woken up, but my throat tightened, and the words wouldn’t come out.

I composed my breathing and first pressed the doctor’s call button. Soon, a doctor and a nurse appeared. They were surprised to see him awake and hurriedly checked his condition, trying to move him to the examination room. But he, not understanding the situation, refused.

He looked at the nullification ring the doctor had put on his neck and called my name. The ring was a preventative measure, as his already unstable energy wavelength could cause problems during the examination if he became agitated.

“Shinui.”

His voice, calling my name, was hoarse, perhaps because he hadn’t spoken in a long time. I reassured the anxious him that it was okay and followed him to the examination room.

“Don’t worry, just get the check-up. I’ll be outside.”

Despite my words, he was still anxious and tried to take off the nullification ring. The doctors and nurses tried to calm him down, but it had the opposite effect.

“Can’t you be with me?”

“I’ll be waiting outside.”

I told him to calm down several times, but he shook his head vigorously and wouldn’t listen. Feeling that I wouldn’t be able to change his mind, I got the doctor’s permission and went into the examination room with him.

As I told him what had happened during the examination, he couldn’t believe he had been in a coma for over half a year. However, after meeting Jin-ho and other Association staff who came to the hospital, he had no choice but to accept it.

“So you took care of me for half a year?”

I didn’t answer and just nodded. There were many things I wanted to say to him when he woke up, but I couldn’t even talk properly due to guilt.

“Why? You hated me. You must hate me even more now for taking care of me for so long…”

He looked afraid that I would hate him for wasting so much of my time.

“I did it because I wanted to.”

I used to hate him. My feelings had gone beyond dislike, bordering on hatred. But seeing him block the devil’s ability for me and the past events that Sung Yohan had shown me, I could no longer hate him.

“You got hurt because of me.”

“Still…”

“Just focus on recovering for now.”

He still seemed unable to believe the long gap while he was asleep, and he seemed both happy and awkward that I was by his side. Watching him, I silently guided him, just as I had for the past year.

A week after Taewoon woke up, the news of his awakening spread throughout the country through the news. Everyone was happy and welcomed the news. As the hero who had protected Korea from the Devil’s Gate, hundreds of people came to the hospital to see him.

Wonjae also called me as soon as he heard the news.

• “Hyung, did Esper Hyun Taewoon wake up?”

“Yeah.”

• “Then you can leave the hospital now. How long are you going to stay?”

“His wavelength is still unstable, so I have to stay with him until it stabilizes. It’s because of me that he became like this.”

• “You know it’s not because of you, Hyung.”

I couldn’t agree with him. In any case, Taewoon was injured to protect me from the devil. If it weren’t for that injury, he might not have fallen into a coma.

• “Actually, I called today because I have something to tell you. …I’m planning to move to the American Association this time.”

“Have you made up your mind? It might be harder than in Korea.”

• “As you said, Hyung, I’ve been dispatched to the American Association and all, and I think it’ll be better than in Korea. I need to stand on my own two feet now. Esper Rainer also said he would help me.”

It seemed that Wonjae and Rainer had become close while he was in charge of Rainer’s guiding during the last Devil’s Gate.

• “Hyung… how about you go to the US too?”

“I’m fine. I’m comfortable now.”

• “If you change your mind, let me know anytime. And I’d like to meet you often before I go to the US.”

“Okay, let’s meet this weekend if you have time.”

• “Great. Please contact me as soon as you get out of the hospital, Hyung.”

After the call with Wonjae ended, I stared blankly at the end of the hallway.

Taewoon was currently undergoing rehabilitation therapy. After a year in bed, he had lost the sensation of standing, so he was now able to walk a little with the help of rehabilitation therapy and a healing-type Esper.

His side effects had worsened after he woke up. So, I was still staying by his side, guiding him.

The door opened, signaling the end of his rehabilitation therapy, and I saw him coming out using a walker.

“Shinui, you must have been bored waiting.”

I shook my head and went to the hospital room with him.

I don’t know what to do now. As Wonjae said, it was right for me to leave the hospital now that Taewoon was awake, but the desire to leave and the desire not to leave coexisted, making me hesitate continuously.