Chapter 41: Misunderstanding

“Yeong-u-hyung?”

I was about to shake off the large hand on my shoulder when I looked up.

It wasn’t some crazed Esper, but a familiar face looking down at me.

A sigh of relief escaped me automatically.

“Chul-soo.”

I strode toward Hyung, who was standing in front of the elevator, ready to throw myself into his arms.

If he hadn’t answered the call I just made, I would have lost my mind.

Thankfully, I found him before that happened.

“Why didn’t you answer your phone? Did you leave your phone behind?”

“Why are you coming out of here?”

Chul-soo hyung ignored my words and gripped my shoulder even tighter.

Instead of one of his crutches, he was holding onto me, causing his weight to press down on my shoulder.

I straightened my legs firmly to keep from stumbling.

“Why did you ride this thing up? Didn’t you see the notice?”

Hyung’s murderous gaze was fixed on the inside of the closing elevator.

Just as my captive shoulder was about to ache, an unfamiliar voice cut in.

“Chul-soo hyung! Let go and talk, for now.”

A man with a gentle, smiling curve to his eyes approached, picking up the crutch Hyung had dropped.

My guard went up at the bright voice and face I’d never heard or seen before.

“The Guide-nim’s shoulder is going to pop out.”

At the man’s words, Chul-soo hyung immediately loosened his grip and leaned on his crutch.

The young-looking man kept calling him ‘Hyung, Hyung,’ while subtly trying to separate Chul-soo hyung and me.

‘Who does he think he is.’

I moved to Hyung’s side and placed my hand on the crutch handle instead of linking arms with him.

When I closed the distance he had painstakingly created, the flustered man backed away on his own.

The guy knew how to take a hint.

“I’m a dongsaeng who got close to Hyung while we were doing rehabilitation therapy together. My name is Choi Hong-gi.”

‘He looks like a rookie from his face, and his Wavelength suggests he’s not a low-rank. His energy feels familiar, so his ability is probably common…. Not from the Barrier side.’

“I am Seo Yeong-u Guide.”

‘A Teleportation Esper, maybe.’

“Yes, I know! I’ve heard a lot about you from Chul-soo hyung.”

The brightly smiling man stared at me so intensely it was burdensome.

This time, it was my turn to be flustered and almost step back.

“Hong-gi, you can go ahead.”

Before I could, Chul-soo hyung sent the man on his way first.

The man, with his gentle-looking eyes wide, looked back and forth between Hyung and me, then said he would get going and bowed.

To his words of ‘see you next time,’ I just gave a slight nod.

“Why are you here?”

Chul-soo hyung blocked my view as I was watching the man.

“I came to go home with you.”

“What for? I was going to go on my own anyway.”

I was a little taken aback by Hyung’s sharp attitude.

The gentle expression of Hyung, who had been smiling just this morning, was completely gone.

‘Should I not have come?’

“Tae Seung-jun was hurt, so I came to give him Guiding. Since I was here, I tried to contact you to go together, but you didn’t answer, so I came up.”

Hyung, with his cold eyes narrowed, took out his phone.

I thought he must have left it somewhere since he wasn’t answering, but it was neatly tucked away in his pocket.

“Is Seung-jun hyung okay? Was he badly hurt?”

“He’s fine.”

I didn’t bother telling him his stomach was torn.

He was indeed in a state to hold a long conversation, so he was fine.

“I had it on silent, so I didn’t know. I was in the middle of therapy.”

“…Your therapy just ended now?”

“Yes.”

Hyung lied nonchalantly.

The desk employee had clearly said it ended three hours ago.

“The atmosphere at the Center isn’t good right now. Don’t come alone.”

Chul-soo hyung led me to the Guide-only elevator and pressed the down button.

I wanted to ask why he was lying, but for some reason, the words wouldn’t come out.

“You didn’t see the notice, did you?”

“Yeah….”

I saw it, but I said I hadn’t.

It seemed better than saying I saw it but forgot.

“They split them starting this week. Hyung, you take this one down.”

The elevator coming down from the floor just above was caught quickly.

“See you on the first floor.”

“You get on quickly too.”

I was about to get on the elevator after sending Hyung off, but my feet froze.

Unlike when I came up, there were too many people.

I lowered my head, feeling dozens of eyes on me all at once.

“Hyung, aren’t you getting on?”

At the sound of Hyung’s voice from behind me, my feet moved on their own.

Hyung hadn’t pushed my back, but I walked in, pretending to be fine, and squeezed into the crowd.

There was still room for two or three more people.

Chul-soo hyung stood in front of the entrance and watched until I went down.

My chest started to tighten even more at the expression on Hyung’s scowling face.

I waved my hand at Hyung, telling him to go.

As the doors closed, my heart, which had been calmed by medication, began to race.

I shouldn’t have gotten on.

When it was crowded, I would take the next one or get off midway and use the stairs.

I should have sent Hyung down first instead.

I tried to endure it for just a few more seconds, but the moment the doors opened on the 9th floor, my body moved on its own toward the open space.

I gasped for breath like someone who had just emerged from being underwater and leaned against the wall.

Still, the 9th floor was manageable.

If I ran down the stairs quickly, I probably wouldn’t be too late.

I could just tell Chul-soo hyung that I got off on the wrong floor and walked.

I did sometimes get the floors mixed up and get off.

“Are you okay?”

In my head, I was already leaping down the stairs two or three at a time, but in reality, my body had slumped to the floor.

‘Do I need to get my tranquilizer prescription renewed?’

“Excuse me, Guide-nim?”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“Can’t you get up?”

A group of people approached me, showing interest.

I sat with my forehead against the wall and shook my head.

Even though I answered several times that I was fine, the Esper b*stards kept talking to me.

“I said I’m fine, f*ck….”

I cursed as I shook off a hand that tried to grab my shoulder and pull me up.

Since I was only looking at the floor, I couldn’t see the expressions on the Espers’ faces as they looked at me.

They were probably scowling.

“Hey, just leave him. He said he’s fine.”

“Swearing at someone trying to help.”

Thinking only of getting down quickly, I tried to stand up using the wall, but I fell forward.

My legs were perfectly fine.

It felt like someone had pushed me from behind.

With their ability, without touching me.

I glared at the Esper who had grabbed my shoulder but clenched my fists and held back.

Chul-soo hyung was waiting, so I had to go quickly.

First, I would catch the elevator again and get on if there was no one inside.

Or if there were, I’d just endure it for a few more seconds.

Thump.

Just as I regained my balance and tried to stand, I fell forward again.

This time, I smashed my nose on the floor.

The suddenly quiet group of Espers tried to make a run for it, saying it was time to go.

After making a person fall over twice.

“What the.”

With my hand smeared with blood dripping from my nose, I grabbed the Esper’s leg.

A scream erupted as I sank my teeth into it.

I tried to bite down harder, but another Esper pulled my head back, and I failed.

Still, I didn’t let go of the leg until the end, preventing the guy from escaping.

I would catch him and make sure he gets disciplined.

“Isn’t this guy f*cking crazy!”

I was thrown against the wall, and a cough burst out.

As my held breath was released, my vision blurred dizzily.

‘You sons of btches. I was going to let it slide the first time, you bstards.’

Before they could escape, I grabbed the arm of one of them running toward me.

Since we were in front of an elevator, I thought someone would see and call for help.

I clung to the firm arm and spewed out every curse word I knew.

The cursing was just because I was frustrated.

Then, suddenly, the Esper pulled me into a fierce hug.

I scratched at his arm with my nails and screamed even louder.

I also warned him that if he forcibly extracted my Guiding, his life would be f*cked.

After screaming my lungs out, I abruptly stopped my shrieking at the sensation of a hand stroking my back.

The Esper was patting my back.

Calling me Yeong-u-hyung.

The moment I thought the voice was familiar, my vision went black.

I dreamed I was being chased by someone.

Without even knowing who it was, I ran through a shabby alley with torn, bare feet.

It was late dawn, so only stray cats and their food were rolling on the ground in the alley.

After running for a long time, I looked back and saw only an empty alley.

Only then did I realize that I wasn’t being chased but was running to catch something.

So I ran again, and I kept dreaming of running.

It was the dream I had most often.

A dream from before I became a Guide.

The dream would only end when I fell flat on the floor.

Meow-.

As I inhaled sharply and opened my eyes, I saw Yeong-i sitting on my stomach.

Seeing Yeong-i, and not Shiru or Baekseol, made me wonder if this was also a dream, so I closed my eyes again.

Then Yeong-i let out another short cry, waking me up.

Waking up to the warm temperature of Yeong-i on my stomach, I looked around.

Of course, it was home, and it was a time tinged with the faint light of dawn.

I pulled out the cotton stuck in my ticklish nostril and fumbled for the empty space next to me.

The inside of the blanket was cold.

It seems I fell asleep alone.

“Are you awake?”

At that moment, at the sound of Chul-soo hyung walking in from the hallway, Yeong-i returned to her room.

The bedroom door was open.

I was about to make a sound, but my throat stung, so I closed my mouth.

Chul-soo hyung handed me the glass of water he brought and propped up the pillow so I could sit up against it.

“Drink more.”

I was about to put the glass down after just one sip, but at Hyung’s words, I drank a little more.

The water soothed my stinging throat.

“Are you okay?”

The face of Hyung, who was asking if I was okay, didn’t look okay.

He looked like he hadn’t slept a wink.

There were even new shadows under his eyes.

‘Did he stay up all night because of me?’

“I’m fine.”

My thigh felt warm, and it turned out Shiru was lying there.

It seemed she had no intention of getting up, having returned to her spot for the first time in a while.

“What happened?”

Chul-soo hyung took the water glass back and asked cautiously.

His expression was darker than when I saw him in the morning, but he didn’t seem angry like at the Medical Center.

He just looked tired.

‘So the Esper who hugged me at the end was Hyung after all.’

I was clearing my cracked throat and touching my dry lips.

“I’ve settled it with them through conversation for now, but I got their contact information just in case.”

“…What?”

I blinked, dumbfounded at the word ‘settled.’

‘Settled what?’

“According to them, you suddenly lunged at them first, so I checked the CCTV. From the video… it seems they were right.”

“No, that’s not it.”

I shook my head and grabbed Chul-soo hyung’s wrist.

It was true that I cursed first, but it was that b*stard’s fault for trying to force someone up who said they were fine.

Within the Center, contact between Espers and Guides was only permitted with the other party’s consent.

‘Does the younger Hyung not know that?’

“Those guys, they used their ability to make me fall.”

I set everything else aside for now and brought up only the most important thing.

“They knocked me down twice.”

Chul-soo hyung just listened without any reaction.

‘Does he not believe me?’

The use of an Esper’s ability can’t be proven on a CCTV screen.

It would look like I just lost strength in my legs and fell on my own.

“It’s true….”

“For now, sleep. Hyung. Let’s talk after you get more sleep.”

“Chul-soo.”

I held onto Hyung, who was trying to leave me alone and go out.

I didn’t want to cry, but heat gathered at the corners of my eyes.

“I’m not lying. Those b*stards really—.”

“Yeong-u-hyung.”

Hyung weakly shook off the wrist I was holding.

Just as my vision was about to blur with tears that had welled up in an instant, Hyung spoke in a calm voice.

“They were all Guides.”