Chapter 19: Before We Go Home

“For now… I think it would be best if you washed up.”

Tae-woo’s gaze shifted toward So-won’s body.

Following his line of sight, So-won looked down at himself.

Something strange was smeared across his white T-shirt.

It was black, yet almost greenish—and there were streaks of red mixed in.

It wasn’t just his clothes.

The same substance was splattered here and there on his arms and legs as well.

“What is this?”

So-won tilted his head.

“Monster blood.”

Monster blood?

So-won’s face went pale.

Now that he thought about it, Tae-woo’s body was also covered in a sticky-looking liquid.

In the darkness last night, So-won had assumed it was Tae-woo’s sweat—but it seemed it had been monster blood all along.

Realizing the source of the smell he’d noticed yesterday made his stomach churn.

All at once, his entire body felt grimy, and he wanted to wash immediately.

“It can be dangerous since it’s toxic.

Please wash in the bathroom over there.”

Tae-woo gestured toward the bathroom attached to one side of the private room.

So-won nodded, saying he understood.

“I’ll prepare a change of clothes.”

“Uh… what about you, Tae-woo?”

So-won looked at him.

Unlike So-won, Tae-woo was practically drenched in monster blood.

Judging by appearances alone, Tae-woo should have been the one to wash first.

“I’m fine.

Please go ahead and wash first.”

So-won glanced at Tae-woo’s body with concern, then reluctantly nodded.

As he climbed down from the bed, he noticed shards of glass scattered all over the floor and looked around for his shoes.

He was sure he’d climbed onto the bed with them on last night—but whether he’d taken them off half-asleep and tossed them aside, only his white socks remained on his feet.

While searching for his shoes, his eyes finally took in the full state of the room—something he hadn’t been able to see clearly yesterday.

Revealed only after daylight broke, the room was utterly wrecked.

Furniture had been flung aside carelessly, and both the walls and floor were dented and cracked.

Around the bed lay shattered liquor bottles and—

…He was glad he hadn’t turned on the lights last night.

Tae-woo walked through the mess barefoot, completely unfazed.

He stepped on shards of glass without showing any sign of pain.

For a moment, So-won had forgotten that Tae-woo was a physical-enhancement Esper.

Though he’d died once with a massive hole torn through his abdomen, Tae-woo was famous for having skin that nothing could pierce.

Even monster blood wouldn’t affect him at all.

Trailing after him, So-won suddenly realized he was staring fixedly at Tae-woo’s back.

He felt like some kind of pervert.

Clearing his throat for no reason, So-won quickly looked away.

After finding his shoes hidden between the guiding machines, he put them on and entered the bathroom.

It was clean—neither cramped nor spacious.

He roughly stripped off the clothes stained with monster blood and stepped into the shower booth.

As warm water poured over him, the monster blood—and the lingering discomfort—washed away.

The gradually thickening steam clouded his thoughts.

So-won closed his eyes under the spray.

With his vision gone, images from last night resurfaced—Tae-woo’s miserable state.

To think he had endured that kind of pain for eight years, even after gaining a Guide.

No—that he had endured it because of him for eight years.

His heart felt heavy.

So-won knew better than anyone that he couldn’t turn back those eight years, nor erase the suffering Tae-woo had gone through.

That knowledge only made him feel more apologetic, more regretful of his past actions.

Even so, he was glad he had come to see Tae-woo.

It was a relief to learn, even now, what condition Tae-woo was in after returning from the gate.

If So-won had realized any later, Tae-woo would have had to endure that pain alone yet again.

That couldn’t happen anymore.

Having lived such a miserable life in the future, Tae-woo deserved a peaceful one in this lifetime.

After washing quickly for Tae-woo, who would be waiting outside, So-won wrapped a towel around his waist and cracked the door open.

“Tae-woo?”

His voice slipped through the narrow gap in the door, but there was no reply.

Did he leave?

So-won peeked out to check.

Tae-woo wasn’t there.

Instead, neatly folded clothes lay by the bathroom entrance.

So-won picked them up and went back inside.

Even at a glance, the clothes were huge.

They were clearly Tae-woo’s.

He couldn’t exactly put his bloodstained clothes back on, so despite their size, So-won decided to try them anyway.

Even after he came out dressed, Tae-woo was nowhere to be seen.

The room, however, looked somewhat tidier than before.

The dents in the walls and floor remained, but the broken furniture and glass shards were gone.

Even the sofa had disappeared, so So-won perched on the sheetless bed and looked around.

The gloomy weather outside and the now-barren room.

The silence carried an inexplicable loneliness.

As he idly surveyed the room, So-won’s curiosity grew.

He wondered what Tae-woo might have written in the notebook on the table, imagined what his handwriting looked like.

He glanced at the drawer where Tae-woo’s business card had come from, curiosity flickering over what might be inside—but he never touched it.

After a while, a heavy knock sounded.

So-won’s gaze shifted.

The door opened, and Tae-woo walked in.

He looked clean, as if he’d washed elsewhere, and he was wearing clothes similar to So-won’s.

Mid-step, Tae-woo stopped when he saw So-won.

Only then did So-won fully register his own appearance and avert his eyes.

The clothes really were far too big.

“Do you… happen to have anything else?”

Though he was only about 25 centimeters shorter than Tae-woo, the difference was enough to make the clothes look like they belonged to someone else entirely.

The top was barely manageable, but the pants were hopeless—he’d had to roll up the hems several times, and the waist was so loose he had to hold it to keep them from falling.

“…I’ll look.”

As soon as Tae-woo returned to his private room, he had to head out again.

The clothes he brought back were a pale green set—something So-won had occasionally worn during examinations at the center.

Wearing the full set made him feel like a patient, so he’d usually only changed into the pants.

This time, though, he put on both the top and bottom.

Unlike Tae-woo’s clothes, these fit him perfectly.

Once changed, So-won felt guilty, wondering how far Tae-woo had gone just to get these.

He worried whether Tae-woo had run into others and been subjected to those disgusted looks again.

“I’ll take you home.”

Yet Tae-woo’s perpetually blunt expression revealed nothing.

Perhaps because it was a weekend morning, the association building was nearly empty; they didn’t run into a single person on the way down to the parking lot.

Remembering the tension he’d felt riding the elevator with Tae-woo days ago, So-won relaxed thanks to the quiet.

When they climbed into the familiar black sedan parked in one corner, Tae-woo’s car pulled out smoothly.

The sky was still pouring rain beneath heavy gray clouds.

The wind was stronger than yesterday, and watching the trees sway outside the window made So-won feel as though his own heart were being tossed about with them.

“Looks like a typhoon might be coming.”

“Seems so.”

The wipers busily swept away the large raindrops striking the windshield.

The car stopped at a red light.

With the motion halted, the sound of rain drumming against the car and the rhythmic swish, swish of the wipers grew louder.

Tae-woo stared straight ahead, hands on the wheel.

So-won leaned back comfortably, resting both hands neatly on his knees as he looked out the window.

“How are you feeling?”

In the quiet atmosphere, So-won spoke first.

Though it felt a bit late, he finally asked about Tae-woo’s condition, then lifted his gaze to the clouds blanketing the sky.

The rain was falling harder now.

“Thanks to you, Mr.

Lee So-won, I’m much better.”

“What are you doing today?”

“I don’t have any particular plans.”

That was a relief.

So-won recalled the thoughts he’d had in Tae-woo’s empty apartment.

When Tae-woo got home, he wanted to give him proper guiding this time.

Though they’d held each other all night, considering Tae-woo’s condition yesterday, that alone didn’t seem sufficient—even if he felt better now.

“I’ll do more guiding for you once we get home.”

He wasn’t tired today, and he was confident he wouldn’t repeat the same mistake as last time.

Thinking of it, So-won decided to tell him in advance—so Tae-woo wouldn’t be able to put it off once they arrived.

Tae-woo didn’t answer.

“But…”

So-won, who had been looking out the window, suddenly noticed something strange and turned to Tae-woo.

“Isn’t this the opposite direction?”

Rather than heading toward Tae-woo’s place, they were going toward So-won’s.

Tae-woo’s expression stiffened.

They were indeed on the way to So-won’s home.

He’d naturally assumed he should take So-won back to his place.

It had never crossed his mind that So-won might be thinking something entirely different.

“I’m sorry.”

After a long silence, Tae-woo turned the wheel and changed direction.