Chapter 107: A Misbuttoned Shirt

Chaewon, who had already received a worried scolding from Ye-seon, answered with a slightly dejected expression.

“…Yes, I will. But if I rest today and there’s no problem, I can start training again tomorrow, right?”

Seeing him look like a puppy banned from going on walks made Ye-seon want to sigh and give in with an indulgent response.

But as a seasoned professional, he firmly resisted the attack and replied coolly,

“Well, we’ll decide after running tests again tomorrow morning.”

This time Chaewon turned his head toward Su-ha as if seeking backup.

Su-ha’s expression was even more impassive.

“Looking at me won’t help, Chaewon. We’ll decide based on the test results.”

“I agree.”

Eunho, likely Chaewon’s last line of defense, quickly added his agreement.

“Okay… then we’ll get going…”

Having failed to win over anyone, Chaewon answered gloomily and began walking away with heavy steps.

Watching his retreating figure with quiet satisfaction, Ye-seon then spoke in a low voice to Su-ha, who had bowed and was about to follow.

“You know there are plenty of Guides who’d want Chaewon’s pair position the moment it opens up, right?”

Su-ha immediately realized he was referring to Guide Gong Tae-jun.

But even aside from him, there were always many Guides who dreamed of taking on an S-class Esper.

Some found the idea daunting, afraid of guiding those who stepped only onto the most dangerous battlefields.

Others longed for it, out of admiration, ambition, the desire to build an impressive career, or to earn more money.

For various reasons, the position of an S-class Esper’s pair Guide was coveted.

Su-ha had not been the only one who once lined up, desperate to become Min I-hyeon’s Guide.

And Chaewon was an S-class who had awakened after a long absence.

At first, there had been more doubt than expectation because of the side effects, questions about whether he could truly fulfill his role.

But now that he had become such a topic of conversation, the attention given to whoever guided him would naturally increase as well.

If one could handle it, it was far from a bad position.

That Su-ha had secured Chaewon’s pair position early on hadn’t been much of an obstacle either.

After all, Su-ha had openly kept his distance from Chaewon in front of others, making no effort to hide his dissatisfaction.

Many must have assumed the partnership would eventually fall apart.

Which was probably why Gong Tae-jun had felt free to approach Chaewon so casually, despite him already having a pair Guide.

Thinking that far, irritation flared to the top of Su-ha’s head once more.

But he could hardly complain; it was the result of his own actions.

“…Yes. I’m aware.”

After assuring Ye-seon that he understood the situation perfectly well, Su-ha turned and followed after Chaewon.

As if he would ever leave an opening.

A misbuttoned shirt could simply be undone and fastened again.

Whoever it was, Gong Tae-jun or anyone else, Su-ha had no intention of letting this position be taken from him.

****

“You should head back and rest too, Su-ha. Today must’ve startled you because of me.”

“Yes. I was startled. But I’m not exhausted or anything… I’ll stay a little longer.”

As he spoke, Su-ha pulled the blanket up over Chaewon, who lay in bed.

Noticing the fatigue in Chaewon’s eyes once they returned to the dorm, he had insisted he get some sleep.

Chaewon could have done it himself, and being tended to like this made him feel both apologetic and embarrassed.

Yet as drowsiness quickly crept over him, he had to admit the touch felt comforting.

Still, since he would soon fall asleep, it didn’t make sense for Su-ha to stay.

Chaewon hurriedly spoke up.

“No, it’s okay. I’m going to sleep now, so you should go rest too.”

“Something unexpected happened today. As your Guide, it’s only natural that I monitor your condition a bit longer. Don’t worry and get some proper sleep. I’ll watch for a little while… then head back.”

Saying that, Su-ha gently took one of Chaewon’s hands outside the blanket and began a faint guiding.

Already on the verge of sleep, Chaewon’s body responded immediately.

It felt as though he were slowly sinking into deep water, and the speed at which he blinked grew sluggish.

Su-ha’s other hand carefully brushed the stray hair from Chaewon’s forehead.

Then he spoke softly.

“Today… I’m sorry you had to go through that alone.”

He had wanted to say it for a while.

Of course, it hadn’t been intentional, but the fact that he hadn’t been by Chaewon’s side when he had struggled to the point of losing consciousness weighed heavily on him.

Worse still was the thought that, in his absence, another Guide had held and taken care of Chaewon.

The feeling went beyond regret, it made him angry at himself.

When had he become so emotional?

Chaewon looked momentarily surprised at the apology.

It hadn’t even occurred to him.

He shifted the hand Su-ha held and clasped it instead, speaking gently.

“You didn’t know. I just suddenly… it just happened.”

“Even so, if I’d been there, you wouldn’t have suffered as much…”

“I’m really okay. If I can’t endure even something like this on my own, how could I call myself an Esper?”

He smiled lightly, even teasing, as if trying to ease Su-ha’s guilt.

The smile looked genuinely relaxed.

But Su-ha wasn’t apologizing only for today.

He had known he couldn’t simply erase what he had once said to Chaewon.

Still, he hadn’t realized it would lead Chaewon to completely avoid and reject getting closer to I-hyeon.

He had been careless.

He had known how sensitive and considerate Chaewon was, yet he had thought too lightly of it.

“…For now, get some sleep.”

There were many things he wanted to say, but rest came first.

Suppressing his emotions, Su-ha gently brushed beneath Chaewon’s eyes.

Chaewon nodded slowly.

“You too… don’t stay too long. Go rest soon, okay?”

“I will. So don’t worry. Just close your eyes.”

The way he said it was so gentle, like soothing a child, that Chaewon let out a small laugh before obediently closing his eyes.

There had been days when he endured pain alone in a cold, narrow room.

For a moment, he feared that if he fell asleep now, he might wake there again by himself.

But the warmth of the hand holding his and the tenderness of the hand stroking his hair were real.

Silently pushing the fear away, Chaewon drifted into a deep sleep.

****

Su-ha did not return to his own quarters.

Instead, he sat alone in Chaewon’s living room.

Chaewon’s breathing had stabilized quickly, and Su-ha had checked several times to ensure there was nothing wrong with his condition.

Still, he couldn’t bring himself to leave.

He hadn’t even witnessed Chaewon collapse, yet it felt as though that moment had branded itself into him like a trauma.

Perhaps if Chaewon had fallen in front of him, he wouldn’t feel this restless now.

Watching Chaewon suffer would have torn at his heart.

But knowing Chaewon had endured it alone, somewhere Su-ha hadn’t been, hurt even more.

He didn’t want Chaewon to go through that again, nor did he want to experience this helplessness again himself.

Letting out a deep sigh, Su-ha rubbed his face with both hands.

An odd fatigue weighed on him.

Left alone with his thoughts, the conversation he had had with I-hyeon earlier resurfaced.

In the end, to Su-ha, it was all the same issue.

He wanted Chaewon to stop bearing everything alone.

Yet Chaewon was still far more accustomed to enduring things by himself.

Su-ha was certain there had been warning signs before today, dizziness, nausea, a fleeting pain.

Something.

But to Chaewon, those things would likely have been too trivial to count as abnormal, not worth mentioning.

Even if the symptoms had been serious, could Su-ha be sure Chaewon would have told him immediately?

Not wanting to cause trouble.

Not wanting to make him worry over something small.

Thinking it wasn’t real pain, that he’d endured worse before.

For reasons like that, Chaewon might have chosen not to say anything.

Just as he had quietly rejected I-hyeon without a word, so as not to make Su-ha uncomfortable.

When Su-ha had spoken with I-hyeon today, beyond jealousy and guilt toward Chaewon, he had also felt a trace of embarrassment.

He had always believed he was a Guide who could stand confidently before anyone.

But today, he was nothing more than a man who, because of his personal feelings, had failed to give his paired Esper the unwavering trust he deserved.

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