Chapter 15: The Emergency Ward

Once I made up my mind, walking back to the center itself wasn’t particularly difficult.

The real problem was that I now had to walk inside and face Park Suchang, who was undoubtedly furious beyond reason.

You piece of shit.

I repeated the short sentence over and over in my head, letting it stab mercilessly into my chest.

No matter what he said, I just needed to bow my head and apologize.

I had to survive first.

Only if I survived could I even think about a future.

If I stupidly let my pride get in the way and provoked Park Suchang even more, things would only become worse.

So this time, I decided to kill my own dignity first.

Ding-dong.

“Han Jaeyoon.”

“Yes.”

“You’ve completed all the necessary procedures. The schedule you submitted will be reflected in this month’s performance records. You may head upstairs now.”

As soon as my access pass was scanned by the machine, the name Han Jaeyoon appeared in large letters across the massive TV screen.

The management employee quickly accepted my schedule report before politely dismissing me.

Dragging my unwilling feet forward, I stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the 47th floor, where the medical center was located.

[35]

[36]

[37]

The numbers on the display climbed rapidly.

Then, with a ding, the elevator doors opened.

The moment they did, I saw Park Suchang standing in the middle of the emergency ward, staring at me as if he wanted to kill me.

Before I could even react, he grabbed me violently and threw me out of the elevator.

My legs gave out instantly, and I collapsed onto the floor.

The stitched wound that had only just started healing after this morning’s secondary examination tore open again from the impact.

The sleeves of my cardigan slowly stained red.

“You f*cking bastard. I told you I’d kill you if you ignored my calls. I saw you checked the messages earlier too, so what the f*ck were you doing instead of replying immediately? Crawling around like some slow-ass slug?”

“…I’m sorry. I had something to take care of outside…”

“Something? What something? Who the f*ck would even look for a refugee bastard like you? Stop making bullshit excuses.”

“…….”

“No, seriously. You don’t have family. You don’t have friends. Hell, do you even have anyone who contacts you at all? If you wanted to slack off, you should’ve just admitted it instead of making pathetic excuses.”

As I let out pained groans and apologized, Park Suchang scoffed in disbelief.

Carelessly ignoring the eyes around us, he nudged my shoulder with the tip of his shoe before violently grabbing a fistful of my hair.

“Ugh—!”

“Hey. Why do you think we left you here in the first place? We were busy as hell and didn’t want to keep dragging Choi Siram back and forth, so we temporarily shoved you in here instead. But then Choi Siram, whose body was already wrecked from handling nonstop schedules, went out to field support worrying about your ass and ended up getting into an accident?”

“…Kh…”

“A guiding overload accident, you f*cking piece of shit. Choi Siram nearly died.”

Guiding overload.

A guiding overload was the worst kind of accident that happened when the matching compatibility between an Esper and Guide dropped drastically, or when their wavelengths failed to align properly.

Within the last ten years, it had become the leading cause of death among center-affiliated Guides.

Once a guiding overload occurred, the Esper would completely lose control of their abilities and begin destroying everything around them indiscriminately.

Naturally, the first target was usually the Guide who had been performing the guiding beside them.

Guides constantly underwent physical training, mental conditioning, and emergency response education inside the center.

But against a superpowered Esper, a Guide’s physical capabilities were still absurdly inadequate.

“And even after all that, Choi Siram kept worrying about you and couldn’t sit still in the recovery room for a single second. Meanwhile, you’re out happily enjoying yourself because we weren’t around. Do you seriously have no conscience?”

“…Is Choi Siram alright?”

“Of course he is, fucker. Why? If he wasn’t, were you planning to replace him? Though honestly, with your abilities, even if you died and came back to life, you still couldn’t handle even half of Choi Siram’s workload.”

“…….”

“Just thinking about it pisses me off. If one of you had to die, obviously it should be you. Logically and morally, that’s the correct choice. Everyone knows it’s better to throw away some mediocre bait than lose a high-ranking Guide.”

Even while being dragged around by my hair, I instinctively checked whether anyone else was nearby.

Thankfully, it was already late, and everyone seemed too frightened by Park Suchang’s violence to step outside their rooms.

Only the employees at the reception desk covered their mouths with both hands while looking at me with pity.

Thud—!

“Ugh— cough!”

“f*ck. I seriously can’t stand you. Every time I see your face, my temper explodes. Watching a refugee bastard like you act cocky and forget your place makes me sick.”

The tip of Park Suchang’s dress shoe slammed brutally into my ribs.

As a physical enhancement Esper, he was probably holding back in his own way.

Even so, the pain was unbearable enough to leave foam gathering at the corners of my mouth.

Breathing gradually became difficult.

Tears spilled uncontrollably from pure physical pain.

Watching me suffer, Park Suchang spat onto the floor in disgust.

Barely breathing, I curled inward and clutched my reopened wound while lowering my head to the ground.

I didn’t want anyone to see me crying this pathetically.

I didn’t want them seeing the lowest part of me.

“…What exactly do you think you’re doing right now?”

“……!!”

While I struggled helplessly against the pain, a familiar voice reached my ears.

Apparently, the accident hadn’t been an exaggeration after all.

Choi Siram looked terrible.

His once flawless pale skin was covered in scratches roughly treated with gauze.

One of his legs was either fractured or broken entirely, wrapped tightly in bandages over a cast that acted like a brace.

Even standing seemed difficult for him.

“Park Suchang. Answer me. What the hell are you doing?”

“What does it look like? I’m filing a complaint against this bastard on your behalf. Personally.”

“…Who gave you permission? Since when do you get to speak for me, especially while cornering someone like this?”

“Hey, Choi Siram. Aren’t you pissed too? You spent three straight days getting dragged around press conferences without sleeping. Then we finally let this bastard go get some luggage, and you ended up injured covering field support in his place? Are you stupid?”

Supporting the injured Choi Siram by the arm, Kim Seokhwan walked closer before suddenly hauling me upright with one hand.

When I caught sight of my reflection in the nearby glass, a dark bruise had already spread across my chest, making it look as though my heart itself was rotting from the inside.

After examining my condition silently, Choi Siram clenched his fist and spoke carefully, emphasizing every word.

“Jaeyoon. Did you forget that you got hurt instead of me not long ago?”

“I know that. But what does that have to do with you going out for field support in his place today?”

“…Hey, Park Suchang. I’m a Guide. No matter how busy our schedule is, we can’t send an injured patient into the field. The residents were already panicking, so obviously the person who had room to help should’ve gone instead.”

“Hah. So what? You’re saying this bastard did nothing wrong?”

At this point, the situation had escalated into a full-blown argument between Choi Siram and Park Suchang.

I had no idea how this mess could possibly be resolved.

The pain inside my abdomen worsened steadily.

Cold sweat poured down my body like rain.

I couldn’t feel my arms at all anymore, and the spot where Park Suchang had kicked me throbbed painfully.

Even Kim Seokhwan, who was supporting me, seemed to realize my condition was far from normal.

He shouted sharply at the enraged Park Suchang.

“Both of you stop it. There are sick patients here besides us. What kind of scene are you making?”

“Hyung, if you’re just gonna lecture me, stay out of it. And why do you only ever get on my case? This bastard’s obviously the one at fault.”

“…Park Suchang. Don’t cross the line. Even if this entire situation really was Han Jaeyoon’s fault, your reaction right now is way too extreme. You know that too.”

“What’s extreme about it? If I was actually serious, there wouldn’t even be bones left of this bastard.”

Restrained by Kim Seokhwan’s grip, Park Suchang stepped back briefly before suddenly raising his hand threateningly toward me.

The moment his hand swung toward my face, Kim Seokhwan quickly shoved me behind him and punched Park Suchang square in the face.

“I said stop it. What, Kwon Yiyul’s words matter but mine mean jack shit to you? Do I look that easy to you?”

“Kim Seokhwan, what the hell is wrong with you too?!”

“…f*ck, hyung. You just hit me?”

Park Suchang wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

The moment he saw the blood staining his fingertips, his expression twisted violently as power began surging throughout his body.

His brainwave levels spiked sharply.

An unstable aura flooded the emergency ward corridor.

“Stop! Please, just stop already!”

“…….”

“…….”

“Seokhwan, sorry, but can you take care of Jaeyoon for me? Jaeyoon, I’m really sorry. I’ll come apologize properly later regarding all of this. I truly am sorry. Really.”

The tension stretched so tightly it felt ready to snap finally loosened at Choi Siram’s words.

Even Park Suchang, who had been strengthening his body with power, quietly suppressed his energy after hearing Choi Siram raise his voice in anger.

Park Suchan, who had just returned from the convenience store, stared blankly at the chaotic scene unfolding before him.

Kim Seokhwan carefully pulled me into his arms and quietly asked if I could still walk.