Chapter 31 : The Following Gaze (7)

Yejun, watching the confused Jisung, thought that he might be able to achieve what he had hoped for. If Jisung went with him, everything would be resolved smoothly.

The end of this long, long fight, and that person…

It was then that Yejun sensed something was wrong. A red light was shining unusually from Jisung’s wrist.

‘A wristwatch?’

‘Was he wearing that before?’

A sense of unease welled up in Yejun at the wristwatch that was now on the wrist that had been bare when they first met.

“That…”

At the voice laced with tension, Jisung looked up at Yejun.

“It looks like the one Kim Sunwoo was wearing.”

Jisung’s eyes slowly blinked. He looked at his wristwatch once, and then at Yejun once, and then answered.

“Sunwoo gave it to me as a gift.”

“…Kim Sunwoo did?”

“Yes.”

Yejun pressed his lips together at Jisung’s expression that seemed to ask what the problem was. ‘Just when I thought things were going well…’ He smiled bitterly and shot up from his seat. As the startled Jisung looked at him, Yejun gestured towards the sofa and said.

“It’s a shame, but I have to go now.”

“Suddenly?”

“Yes, suddenly.”

As Yejun quickly turned towards the door, Minseong burst into the hospital room, opening the door.

“Jisung-hyung! Are you okay?”

His sweat-drenched hair and urgent breathing told how quickly he had run. Minseong glanced at the Esper who was lying on the floor and then quickly stood in front of Jisung, as if to protect him.

“You came just in time. I was just about to leave.”

“Don’t… talk nonsense.”

Unlike usual, his vocabulary was rough.

‘Is this how he is when dealing with terrorists?’

Jisung looked at him with a surprised face at Minseong’s unexpected side.

Yejun grinned and shrugged, then took out a black, round, thumbtack-like object from his pocket. The use of the sharp-tipped object was soon clear.

The thumbtacks that had floated in the air were all aimed at Jisung and Minseong.

“No way, you’re not… going to throw that here, are you?”

‘Don’t joke around…’

Yejun smiled brightly at Jisung’s anxious question.

“Your bodyguard will protect you well.”

Jisung shouted in horror at the thumbtacks that were flying towards him in an instant.

“You con artist!!”

As he quickly protected his vital points and curled up, he felt a firm arm embracing him. And then he heard the sound of thumbtacks hitting something.

Thwack!

Thwack-thwack-thwack!

The continuous sounds stopped, and as Jisung looked up, Minseong smiled at him.

“Minseong…?”
“Are you okay, Hyung?”
“Are you, are you okay?!”

Jisung hastily checking Minseong’s condition, who had been exposed to the thumbtacks while protecting him, was flustered by the hard and cold sensation he felt on his hands.

‘Huh?’

He checked Minseong’s back with a puzzled expression and then stared blankly at the jet-black skin visible through the torn clothes from the thumbtacks.

‘Ah, come to think of it, Minseong’s ability is…’

“To think you could turn into a material harder than the metal I brought in that short amount of time, you really have a good ability.”

Minseong’s brow furrowed at Yejun’s words.

“You don’t have time to be so relaxed.”

Yejun shrugged. He put his hands in his pockets and took out a heart-shaped object in each hand.

‘What is that?’

Before he could wonder for long, Yejun, who had raised his hands high, threw the object he had taken out from his pocket to the floor. Then the heart shape burst, and a thick smoke came out from inside.

‘A smoke bomb?!’

Jisung, who had set aside the question of why the smoke bomb was heart-shaped, coughed continuously and waved his hand at the smoke that was obscuring his vision.

“If you’re going to run, cough, do it in a normal way, cough!”

‘Ah, really, Bae Yejun!! How can you set something like that off in such a small space?!’

Jisung, who was choking on the smoke that filled the hospital room, cautiously approached the window to ventilate. As he was flailing his hands in a place where he couldn’t distinguish front from back, he heard the sound of glass breaking, crash!, in his ear.

He could see the smoke that had filled the area quickly dissipating. As the acrid air instantly became fresh, Jisung let out a small sigh. As he was reassuring himself that it was okay now…

“Hyung!”

A voice was heard.

Jisung’s head slowly turned upwards. He could see his hair and clothes, which were disheveled unlike usual, as if he had flown in a hurry.

Hyunwoo, who had hastily come down to the hospital room, ran straight to Jisung. After meticulously checking his body to see if there were any injuries, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Hyung, are you okay…”

Before Hyunwoo could finish his words, Jisung wrapped his arms around his neck. Hyunwoo’s pupils trembled rapidly at the sudden embrace. His hands, which had been creaking like a broken machine, slowly wrapped around Jisung’s back.

“…Were you scared?”
“Hmm… no, what I was scared of was…”

Jisung, who had been trailing off, then closed his mouth. Honestly, he wasn’t scared of being with Yejun. It was partly because of Yejun’s personality, which was unlike a terrorist, and he had a strong belief that he wouldn’t harm him. And in fact, Yejun did not threaten Jisung.

‘…He threw the thumbtacks knowing I wouldn’t get hurt…’

Moreover, he had even offered him a scouting offer, asking if he wanted to become a terrorist.

What he was really scared of was…

What if, by any chance, what Yejun said was true… so what if Hyunwoo or Yuaan had suffered such terrible things, that was what he was so scared of.

At that moment, a gentle touch stroked Jisung’s head. As he, surprised, looked up, Hyunwoo was stroking his head with a worried face, yet trying to reassure him with a smile.

“It’s okay now.”

He whispered as if to soothe him.

“…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you alone…”

Hyunwoo hugged Jisung tightly. Unlike his gentle touch that was comforting Jisung, his eyes were fiercely lowered. He was angry at himself for being fooled by the terrorist’s threat and leaving Jisung alone, and at the Espers who were lying on the floor, unable to do their job as guards properly.

As his mood fluctuated, the objects around him shook and floated in the air, then stopped, repeatedly.

As Hyunwoo gritted his teeth, Jisung’s hand cupped his cheek. At that moment, a cool yet warm sensation washed over him. He could feel his mood instantly calming down.

As he turned his head to the side, Jisung smiled brightly.

Even though it was right after he had experienced a dangerous situation, even while his heart was pounding anxiously, he couldn’t help but smile at Jisung’s action of thinking of him first.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
“…Isn’t that what I should be saying to you, Hyung?”
“No? It’s what I should be saying to you.”
“No~”
“Yes?”

While the two were bickering, Yuaan, with Sunwoo in one arm, jumped into the hospital room.

“Hyung!”
“Ah, Sunwoo.”
“Are you okay? Are there any injuries?”

Sunwoo, who had quickly scanned Jisung’s condition with his eyes, then nodded in relief.

“It seems like you don’t have any injuries.”
“Yeah, we just talked.”
“For just talking… the hospital room has become quite spectacular.”

Sunwoo’s mouth became a thin line as he looked at the shattered glass of the wall.

“Hmm… this is…”

‘Hyunwoo shattered it…’

But since that was also to save him, Jisung just kept his mouth shut.

“More than that, this!”

Jisung showed the watch on his wrist and said.

“He ran away when he saw this, is there some amazing ability in this?”
“Ah, that… unfortunately, there’s no amazing ability. I just modified it so that Yuaan-hyung can immediately know if your heart rate rises above a certain level.”
“Ah…!”

Jisung recalled the watch screen that had been shining red. And also Yejun’s face, which had turned pale when he saw it.

‘If Yuaan knows I’m in danger, he’ll immediately tell Hyunwoo, and then Hyunwoo will come running… so that’s why he ran away.’

Now he understood Yejun’s action. It was meaningless if he, who had been deliberately separated from Hyunwoo, came back again.

“Hoo…”

‘Useful.’

“Was it helpful?”
“Yeah, totally.”

As Jisung nodded with his eyes shining, Sunwoo smiled faintly.

At that moment, a voice was heard from the walkie-talkie that Sunwoo was holding, along with a crackling mechanical sound.

[What is going on? Suddenly leaving your post… and what is this about Guide Lee Jisung being in danger?!]

Perhaps because they had come right away without explaining the situation properly, the voice transmitted from the walkie-talkie was full of bewilderment.

“Bae Yejun came to target Jisung-hyung. The threat letter sent to the Center was a lie.”

[He targeted Guide Lee Jisung?!]

Along with the surprised voice, the murmuring of the surroundings was transmitted. Sunwoo gestured that he would go outside and talk and then left the hospital room with Yuaan.

‘…This is going to be a hassle.’