Chapter 21: You’re Seo Yeong-u

I had never seen someone get so many nosebleeds in my life.

When the Guide, who had been holed up in the bathroom for 30 minutes, was carried out by a nurse, I thought he had coughed up blood.

The amount of blood that stained the lower half of his face red was too much to be just a nosebleed.

‘It’s a nosebleed. They said it’s because of malnutrition, lack of sleep, and so on.’

However, thanks to the man who visited the room, I found out it wasn’t hemoptysis.

Tae Seung-jun.

Recalling the man’s still unfamiliar name, I asked if the Guide was okay, but there was no reply.

The man, who had pulled over a stool and sat sprawled out with his long legs extended, glared at me with a tired face.

‘From now on, if he’s holed up in the bathroom or anywhere else for more than 10 minutes, call someone immediately. Don’t leave him alone.’

‘Why?’

I was about to ask, ‘Why me?’ but just asked for the reason.

The man’s expression, which seemed to be subtly blaming me, got on my nerves.

It wasn’t like I had made his nose bleed.

‘He’s weak.’

My mood soured even more at the subsequent half-hearted reply.

Isn’t twenty-eight an age where you know how to take care of your own body?

Besides, why was he telling me to take care of him?

‘Aren’t you going to ask where, how much, and why he’s weak?’

To me, who was silently swallowing my complaints, the man sent an even more dissatisfied gaze.

I picked up the glass of water on the side table and showed that I wasn’t interested.

‘Because I’m not curious.’

Actually, I was curious.

It was only natural to be curious when a person who had been clearing away lunch boxes just fine a moment ago was carried out of the bathroom after a nosebleed.

But for some reason, I felt like the cause was me, so I tried my best not to find out.

‘Kim Chul-soo.’

The man, who had crossed his sprawled legs, swiped a hand down his long face.

He had called my name and then just sighed, but then suddenly chuckled and looked at me.

‘You’re an Esper. An Esper who can’t live without a Guide.’

‘I know.’

‘Seo Yeong-u is a Guide who does his best for you, the Esper. The way he tries might seem strange, but anyway, he’s the one you need most right now. Just think about that.’

‘There are other Guides, aren’t there?’

‘Not for you.’

I was at a loss for words.

I watched the man get up from his seat, unable to ask back what he meant.

He checked his watch, which wasn’t even ringing, and spat out his last words before leaving.

‘Don’t do anything you’ll regret.’

I stared at the empty stool and mulled over the words the man had left behind.

My lips, which had been firmly closed because I was alone, soon parted without a sound.

We’re imprinted.

My chest felt heavy with the realization.

‘What’s so wrong with Chul-soo!!’

I had gone to the rehabilitation room to move my body and shake off the stuffy feeling.

I had tried to clear my head, but the chaotic scene only made my heart heavier.

‘You dare talk bad about my Hyung, you son of a b*tch!’

A Guide was shouting at the top of his lungs in front of an Esper who looked strong even to my untrained eye.

My heart sank as if I were watching someone step onto a minefield.

At home and at school, I had grown up hearing countless times to be careful of Espers.

It wasn’t just me; it was everyone.

What was the reason for separating the living spaces of superhumans and ordinary people?

They were like ticking time bombs that could go off at any moment.

An angry Esper was especially dangerous.

‘Don’t you f*cking talk down to me!’

But the Guide, far from being careful, shouted until his throat was raw.

My body moved on its own at the sight of him charging at the fuming Esper, ready to throw a punch, without even thinking of avoiding him.

After the ill-mannered Esper disappeared, only a sigh came out.

What on earth was he going to do by hitting an Esper?

With that skinny body that only spewed nosebleeds, why on earth.

‘Tell me if you get colder.’

Why did he only worry about me?

‘If you’re sleepy, don’t fight it and sleep well. That’s how you’ll get better faster.’

Without taking care of his own body, the Guide only worried about me.

He had even fought with an angry Esper to take my side.

I had felt it since he guided me naked, but the Guide seemed to value me more than his own body.

“I’m sorry…. I kept, calling you Hyung, didn’t I….”

I had told him I was Kim Chul-soo, not Hyung, because I was uncomfortable with him calling me that, and the Guide repeatedly apologized.

That’s not what I meant to hear.

The Guide, who was overly conscious of my reactions, kept getting on my nerves and occupying my mind.

“It wasn’t on purpose. It’s… a habit… no, I’ll definitely fix it.”

“Just talk informally. It’s uncomfortable.”

It was hard to listen to the Guide’s mumbling, so I cut him off.

I thought it would be less uncomfortable if he treated me casually like Tae Seung-jun Hyung.

Only that Hyung treated me as my original age.

Seventeen, not thirty-three.

I lowered my head as I let go of the white ankle I had been holding to pull down his rolled-up pants.

My brow furrowed at the sight of his knees, which were mottled with severe bruises.

A strange feeling, whether it was anger or displeasure, kept surfacing.

I wasn’t originally the type to show my emotions like this.

“Calm your anger…”

I was rubbing my forehead when my gaze met the Guide’s at his tiny voice.

His voice was trembling, so I thought he was crying.

But the Guide, who was looking up at the monitor screen, wasn’t crying.

His face, which pointed to the ‘wavelength level’ with a hand as white as his ankle, even looked calm.

Just a moment ago, it seemed like he was about to cry.

“It’s not good for your body if the level gets high.”

My wavelength had risen from 49% to 53%.

It seemed negative emotions had a big impact on my wavelength.

It really sucks.

I can’t even get angry as I please.

“It went up suddenly, so if we just hold hands for ten minutes—”

“No. It’s fine.”

I told the Guide, who was clenching and unclenching his fist, to leave.

I didn’t want to hold the hand that had been convulsing and suck out his guiding.

I thought his face would look a little better after being home for two days, but if anything, his complexion looked worse.

At my words to leave, the Guide got up from the wheelchair but then hesitated, looking back and forth between me and the bed.

He moved his lips and watched me furtively, as if he wanted to help me get on the bed.

I was certainly grateful for his consideration, but my sense of rejection was stronger.

I didn’t want to be helped up, nor did I want to show myself crawling onto the bed.

“Guide-nim.”

“Oh, oh. Say it.”

The Guide, who had been getting closer to the door step by step, quickly turned back at my call.

I pushed the wheelchair back against the wall and continued without looking at the Guide.

“Don’t fight with Espers. If they pick a fight, avoid them, and if they raise a hand, report them. Don’t just rush in recklessly like that.”

“Okay, I won’t.”

He’s so good at answering. My trust in him dropped at his reply, which came as if he had been waiting.

The Guide, who watched me as I said nothing more, soon distanced himself from the room, killing his presence.

“……”

Thinking he had really gone, I strained my ears beyond the closed door, but it was quiet.

The footsteps that had once moved away did not return.

I listened to the quiet stillness for a moment, then dragged my legs and crawled onto the bed.

As the Guide had said, the floor was cold.

Even though I didn’t get cold easily, the coldness of the floor clung to my skin, making my body feel cold.

Does your constitution change when you get older?

Recalling the Guide who had brought me a coat in the middle of summer, I checked my wavelength again.

The doctor had also told me to learn how to be conscious of my wavelength from now on.

He had warned me to get into the habit of checking the level and to manage it so that it didn’t exceed 50%.

54%.

The number went up even more after the Guide left.

To be honest, it still felt like a number that had nothing to do with me.

I didn’t think I would be fazed even if that number hit 80%.

Even if I were to rampage just like that.

55%.

“Just stop going up.”

As if the number were trying to scare me, who wasn’t aware that I was an Esper, it rose quickly.

I shook my head and turned on the guiding machine.

Wheee. While waiting for the light to come on from the machine that was making a loud noise, I rubbed the back of my hand.

There had been a pretty big hole where the IV needle had been pulled out, but it had already narrowed.

It seemed it would take more time to adapt to an Esper’s body.

It was a body that was more strange and amazing than I had thought.

Just as much as an Esper’s, a Guide’s body was also quite strange.

Just by touching the Guide’s bare skin, my energy would droop.

My energy was drained just by touching his white leg.

I think that’s why I was even more angry.

Because I felt like a madman for feeling his soft skin even while looking at his knee, which was covered in a wide bruise.

“Get a grip…”

Wasn’t it enough to have just lost my memory, why was I trying to go crazy too?

Shaking off the sensation of the Guide’s touch and his lukewarm body temperature that lingered on my fingertips, I attached the wire connected to the guiding machine to my left chest.

55, 54, 56, 55….

I glared at the numbers that were going up and down at will and then tapped the guiding machine once, as if to say, ‘please do a good job’.

First, I decided to calm my wavelength and then find that noisy Teleport Esper.

I didn’t want him to ever meet my Guide again.

“…My Guide?”

I had been closing my eyes at the cold energy of the guiding machine but then shot them open.

I tapped my head, which had naturally thought of Guide Seo Yeong-u as ‘my Guide’, and made a dazed expression.

Do you normally feel this way towards an imprinted Guide?

To clear my thoughts, I buried my face deep into the pillow, but this time, a pale face lingered like a phantom.

That face, with its reddened eyes, which hadn’t shown tears until the end, kept flickering.

He should have just cried.

Then my heart would have been forced to soften, and I would have kept him by my side.

I can endure being uncomfortable.