Chapter 105: Tangled Threads

What should he do?

How could he possibly make up for the mistake he had made with Chaewon?

And how could he turn this relationship, one that had begun in such a tangled, disastrous way, into something as close as he wanted it to be?

Su-ha was staring wordlessly at the coffee cup in front of him, lost in thought, when his phone suddenly rang from inside his jacket.

For a fleeting second, his hardened expression brightened.

Chaewon?

Was he calling because he wondered where Su-ha was? Because he had waited and waited, then finally couldn’t bear it anymore?

The mere possibility loosened Su-ha’s face in a way that was almost foolish.

But the name glowing on the screen was not Chaewon.

It was Ye-seon.

“Yes, Team Leader. What is it?”

Embarrassed, Su-ha quickly wiped the lingering smile from his face before answering. Ye-seon’s voice came through the receiver, rigid and urgent.

“Where are you, Su-ha? Come to the Esper medical examination room right now.”

Su-ha’s face drained of color.

****

“Can’t I at least put out the immediate fire first?”

Watching Chaewon struggle, drenched in cold sweat and barely conscious, Tae-jun asked Ye-seon urgently. At a glance, Chaewon’s energy was violently unstable. They had already administered an emergency auxiliary stabilizer for Espers, but it seemed to be doing little.

Ye-seon looked between Tae-jun and the monitor displaying Chaewon’s erratic heartbeat before speaking.

“Guide Jin Su-ha will be here soon. It’ll be fine.”

“But-!”

“In this situation, guiding from someone who hasn’t even run compatibility tests or synchronized wavelengths could make things worse. You know that.”

Ye-seon’s cold voice cut off Tae-jun’s protest.

Grinding his teeth, Tae-jun glanced back at Chaewon’s pale face.

He had been happy to run into him at the park again, if only for a moment. Then Chaewon had collapsed without any warning. Tae-jun had nearly fainted himself.

He had carried him on his back all the way here, and he could still remember the shock of how quickly Chaewon’s body had heated up against him.

He had realized then that Chaewon needed guiding. But guiding an unconscious Esper without prior testing was dangerous, exactly as Ye-seon had said.

Unless someone had an overwhelmingly broad guiding spectrum like Su-ha, intervening without testing required extreme caution. A misstep could worsen the Esper’s condition, especially when the Esper was as unstable as Chaewon was now.

Tae-jun knew that.

But knowing it didn’t stop his emotions from flaring as he stood helplessly by.

“What was Guide Jin Su-ha even doing while his Esper ended up like this?”

“Esper Gong Tae-jun!”

Ye-seon’s sharp voice rang out. Tae-jun turned, meeting a gaze colder than he had ever seen from him.

“You did well bringing Lee Chaewon here quickly. From here on, we’ll handle it. You may leave.”

It was a clear dismissal. Tae-jun was neither part of the management team nor Chaewon’s Guide. His involvement ended here.

“I apologize for causing a disturbance. I’ll take my leave.”

“Very well. We’ll talk later.”

“Yes… Please take good care of him.”

Though he admitted his outburst, Tae-jun couldn’t help adding that last request. The helplessness of watching an Esper he cared about suffer while being unable to act pressed heavily on him.

It felt unfair.

He already knew Su-ha had been displeased about becoming Chaewon’s Guide. Tae-jun could understand that much, having one’s lifelong goal suddenly crumble due to external circumstances would breed resentment in anyone.

But that was Su-ha’s situation.

Chaewon had never asked for Su-ha specifically. Why should he bear the weight of Su-ha’s past?

If it had been him…

He wouldn’t have done that.

He wouldn’t have let Chaewon carry more burdens on top of already severe side effects.

Even knowing it wasn’t his place, Tae-jun couldn’t stop the thought.

‘If I had been given the chance, I would never have done that.’

“Chaewon, hold on. Su-ha is on his way.”

Hearing Ye-seon murmur while gripping Chaewon’s hand, Tae-jun turned and left the medical room with heavy steps.

If only he were given one chance.

As he walked away, dreaming of an uncertain future, he found himself ironically understanding the heart of someone who had once struggled desperately to reach I-hyeon.

****

“What happened all of a sudden?!”

“Jin Su-ha! Where have you been?!”

Ye-seon’s voice rose sharply as Su-ha burst into the medical room. He didn’t answer. He rushed straight to the bed where Chaewon lay.

Chaewon’s face was paper-white. His eyes fluttered uselessly, cold sweat soaking his skin.

“What happened?”

“He collapsed at the park without warning. Did he mention feeling unwell?”

“He didn’t say anything…”

Su-ha’s gaze fell on the IV line in Chaewon’s arm. Auxiliary stabilizer.

“Please stop the stabilizer first.”

He clasped Chaewon’s hand with one hand and cupped his face with the other, focusing immediately. As he extended his senses, Chaewon’s energy came into view, knotted and tangled like a chaotic mass of threads.

There had been no battle. No obvious trigger.

But identifying the cause could wait. Stabilizing him came first.

Ye-seon swiftly removed the IV and monitoring equipment, freeing the bed. Without another word, Su-ha pushed it into the guiding room.

“Chaewon, can you hear me?”

Inside, Su-ha cradled his face again, speaking softly.

Chaewon stirred faintly, struggling to open his eyes, instinctively tilting toward Su-ha’s warmth.

The response tightened Su-ha’s chest rather than comforting him. Did he even deserve this kind of trust?

But now wasn’t the time.

He steadied his emotions and began guiding, carefully threading his energy into Chaewon’s tangled currents. Despite the instability, it wasn’t difficult, there had been no combat depletion.

“Ah…!”

As Su-ha’s power gently pressed in, Chaewon reacted strongly, trying to wake.

“Su… ha…?”

“Yes. It’s me. Are you in pain anywhere?”

Raising the output gradually, Su-ha brushed his fingers lightly beneath Chaewon’s eyes. Finally managing to open them, Chaewon looked up and shook his head faintly.

“I’m fine… why…?”

“You collapsed.”

“I… did?”

“Did you feel anything unusual beforehand?”

Su-ha carefully softened every edge of his voice, afraid of sounding accusatory. Chaewon seemed still dazed.

After a moment, he shook his head again weakly.

“No symptoms…”

“It might be from overexertion. For now… let’s complete the guiding properly.”

With that, Su-ha climbed onto the bed beside him and pulled Chaewon into his arms.

Even after regaining some awareness, dizziness and nausea still overwhelmed him. He closed his eyes and naturally burrowed closer.

The air felt like sharp needles piercing his skin. The only thing he could rely on was Su-ha’s energy.

Su-ha pressed a gentle kiss to Chaewon’s forehead.

Their legs intertwined naturally. Arms wrapped around each other. As their bodies aligned, waves of guiding flowed more smoothly between them.

Slowly, Su-ha trailed his lips down along the bridge of Chaewon’s nose.

He had never indulged in such tender contact during guiding before. But whenever he touched Chaewon, the line between guiding and something far more personal blurred beyond recognition.

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