Chapter 14: Hallucinations In the Dark

So-won lay buried beneath the blankets, unable to fully close his eyes, yet unable to open them properly either.

His hands and feet had gone cold, and his body trembled violently.

The room that had felt pleasantly cool earlier now felt like a frigid operating room.

By now, So-won could no longer tell whether the place he was lying in was the operating room where Tae-woo had died, or Tae-woo’s house—which So-won had once thought of as a prison.

When he peeked his head out from the blankets, the outside was clearly still a messy space littered with unpacked boxes, yet somehow, the stench of blood seemed to linger in the air.

So-won turned his gaze toward the direction of Tae-woo’s room.

He felt as though, if he opened that door, Tae-woo would be lying there dead, a gaping hole torn through his abdomen.

Perhaps the smell of blood was seeping out from there even now.

Or maybe all of this was nothing but a hallucination, and he was still in that operating room—holding the hand of a dead Tae-woo.

The moment he recalled that cold, rigid hand, a shrill ringing tore through his ears.

So-won clamped his trembling hands over them.

Even so, the sharp auditory hallucinations continued to torment him.

Alone in the dark room, So-won shook in fear.

Curled up beneath the blankets, his eyes brimmed with terror.

To soothe his fear, So-won forced himself to recall recent happy memories.

The celebration party with his parents.

His heart pounding with excitement as he headed to the Esper Association.

And Tae-woo he had met there—alive, breathing, perfectly intact.

So-won remembered the moment he had fallen asleep while guiding Tae-woo in his private room.

Strangely enough, he hadn’t had any nightmares then.

Far from feeling anxious, he had sat there with his eyes closed and slept soundly.

So-won realized it then.

Guiding.

Guiding was what he needed.

The one who needed guiding right now wasn’t Tae-woo—it was So-won himself.

It sounded ridiculous.

He wasn’t even an Esper, yet here he was, a Guide who needed guiding.

Still, it felt as though only Tae-woo’s ferocious wavelength could drive away his nightmares.

So-won squirmed beneath the blankets and checked the time.
1 a.m.

It was a little late to go looking for him.

Is he asleep?

So-won quietly opened his door and checked Tae-woo’s room across the hall.

There was no light seeping through the crack, as though the lights were off.

So-won’s expression darkened.

No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t seem like Tae-woo would be awake.

Still, remembering how Tae-woo had answered the phone at four in the morning, So-won couldn’t bring himself to give up so easily.

Leaving his room, So-won hovered in front of Tae-woo’s door.

He lingered there for a long time, but no sound came from inside.

With how well soundproofed the house was, even if there were noises inside, he wouldn’t be able to hear them from outside.

In the end, So-won decided to knock.

Just once—very softly—and if there was no answer, he’d give up.

So-won lifted his slender arm.

Tap, tap.

It was less a knock and more like the faint sound of a small bird accidentally pecking at a window.

It was so quiet that even someone awake would struggle to hear it.

Yet it reached Tae-woo’s ears clearly.

[Please come in.]

At the low voice coming from inside, So-won’s face brightened.

It was the same calm tone Tae-woo always used—he didn’t sound asleep.

So-won opened the door.

The lights were off, but the moonlight streaming through the window made Tae-woo clearly visible.

Tae-woo was sitting on the bed, looking at So-won.

The rumpled blankets bore obvious traces of someone having just been lying there.

It was as if So-won had interrupted Tae-woo right as he was about to go to sleep.

Feeling that he might have woken him, So-won felt a pang of guilt.

“Is something wrong?”

“I wanted to… guide you….”

Knowing full well that he was the one who needed guiding, So-won trailed off, embarrassed by how presumptuous he sounded.

As he nervously waited for Tae-woo’s response, he noticed something different about Tae-woo’s appearance.

Unlike usual, Tae-woo’s arms were exposed.

It was the first time So-won had ever seen him wearing short sleeves.

That alone was startling enough—but the guiding device attached directly to his bare skin made So-won even more flustered.

Anxiety crept in.

The thought that Tae-woo might tell him to leave and say he’d just use mechanical guiding refused to leave So-won’s mind.

If that happened, So-won would have to return to his room and suffer through his nightmares again.

His shoulders slumping visibly, So-won stole a glance at the guiding device attached to Tae-woo’s body.

Only then did Tae-woo realize that he had been in the middle of mechanical guiding.

The moment the door opened, So-won’s guiding presence—something no machine could compare to—had overwhelmed his senses, making him forget everything else.

Tae-woo hurriedly grabbed the multiple cables attached to his body and pulled them off all at once.

“Please.”

“Ah—don’t get up!”

When Tae-woo moved to rise from the bed, So-won startled and quickly stopped him.

He couldn’t possibly make Tae-woo change locations after barging in so late at night and disturbing his rest.

“It looks like you were resting…
I’ll just do it here, on the bed.”

So-won took a step into the room.

Tae-woo’s scent lingered more heavily here than anywhere else in the house.

Just breathing it in made So-won feel inexplicably at ease.

He hadn’t even started guiding yet, but he already felt drowsy.

Tae-woo’s bed was enormous.

When Tae-woo lay on it alone, So-won had never noticed, but up close, it was clearly much larger than a normal bed.

Recalling Tae-woo’s nearly two-meter-tall frame, So-won found himself nodding in understanding as he climbed onto the bed.

The mattress sank softly, firmly supporting his body.

The smooth bedding against his bare skin felt comforting just to touch.

Absentmindedly fidgeting with the expensive-looking sheets, So-won sensed Tae-woo’s gaze and quickly withdrew his hand.

Instead, he pretended to settle himself and looked around Tae-woo’s room.

The spacious room came fully into view.

Though it was his first time inside, there was surprisingly little to see.

Aside from the large bed and the guiding equipment, the room felt empty and stark.

There were spaces that seemed to be a walk-in closet and a bathroom, but their interiors weren’t visible.

Rather than neat, the room felt hollow.

So-won quickly lost interest and leaned back against the headboard.

Just looking at the barren space made it easy to imagine how minimal the closet and bathroom must be.

It wasn’t just Tae-woo’s room—aside from So-won’s own cluttered room, the entire house felt like this.

The emptiness made it feel less like a place someone lived in and more like an abandoned space.

After finishing his brief inspection, So-won turned his attention back to Tae-woo to begin guiding.

Tae-woo’s face remained hidden in shadow, but So-won could clearly tell that he was looking at him.

“Um… I’ll start guiding.”

Feeling awkward after blatantly looking around, So-won extended his hand first.

To Tae-woo’s eyes, it was a small, pale palm that looked unbearably fragile.

Tae-woo didn’t place his hand over it right away.

He quietly stared at So-won’s palm, then slowly slipped his own hand beneath it.

The movement was almost excessively cautious.

As he did, his arm came into view.

Unlike So-won’s smooth, pale arm, Tae-woo’s thick forearm was crisscrossed with countless veins, grotesque enough to border on repulsive.

Tonight, the dark, protruding veins felt especially noticeable.

For a moment, Tae-woo considered changing into something that covered his arms—but then he recalled the moment in the private room when So-won’s head had rested against his arm.

Remembering that faint regret, Tae-woo decided to indulge himself just for tonight.

Their hands met gently in midair.

The same violent wavelength as always surged into So-won’s body in an instant, as though it might swallow him whole.

There was a sharp sting of pain, but instead of distress, So-won felt himself calming down.

This wasn’t the fading wavelength from the moment Tae-woo had been dying—this was the fierce, vivid wavelength of someone who was alive.

It was the guiding So-won had been yearning for.

Only now did So-won finally relax.

As the tension drained away, drowsiness washed over him.

The nightmares that had plagued him moments ago no longer came to mind.

Even Tae-woo, right beside him, no longer felt frightening.

Whether it was because he truly no longer feared him, or because his drowsy mind had simply forgotten fear, So-won didn’t know—all he knew was that this moment felt deeply comfortable.

The hands that had met in the air now rested atop the bed.

Feeling the warmth beneath his hand, So-won glanced at Tae-woo’s arm, which was more exposed than usual.

Instead of black sleeves, he saw skin covered in dark red veins.

This was the first time he had ever truly seen Tae-woo’s arms.

As befitted a physical-enhancement-type Esper, Tae-woo’s arms were heavily muscled.

Rather than grotesque, the thick, pillar-like limbs sparked curiosity—
they made So-won want to touch them.

He wondered if they’d feel hard all the way through, or firm yet slightly yielding, like Tae-woo’s chest had felt during guiding tests.

“Tae-woo… may I touch it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your arm….”

Even after asking, So-won felt hesitant.

Touching his arm would inevitably mean touching the veins running all over it.

Those veins—the very feature that had led people to call Tae-woo a monster—didn’t seem like something he’d welcome others touching so easily.