107
As soon as Siwoo arrived at the dormitory, he dashed through the long entrance hallway and ran into the living room. He was very glad to set foot in the dormitory after a week.
Since he hadn’t been away for too long, everything remained unchanged. The only difference, if any, was that there was no smell at all.
Siwoo sniffed towards the stairs and wiggled his toes.
There was no scent of Kang Geonho or Yoo Jihan either. It seemed they really weren’t coming to the dormitory.
“I told you. No one’s here.”
“Then where are they staying? They still need to sleep, no matter how busy they are.”
“Jihan hyung is barely able to leave the site. There are so many places looking for him.”
He was barely catching a few winks at the temporary accommodation on site. Not just Jihan, but many Espers were tied up at the site. Except for the beastkin Espers, everyone was guarding the front of the gate. This time, the rules were applied without exception even to the Baekya Guild.
“Geonho hyung and I are staying separately.”
Seojun went to the kitchen and checked the refrigerator. It had been a while since he came to the dormitory too, so he first checked if there was anything for Siwoo to eat.
“Where are you staying separately? Are you two living together?”
Siwoo narrowed his brows, wanting a more detailed answer. After learning about the beastkin seizure incident, he was more worried about Kang Geonho and the youngest. Especially Kang Geonho, who had a fiery temper and was prone to wide fluctuations in his wavelength. It meant he was at high risk of going berserk.
“It’s a safe place.”
However, Seojun didn’t give details. He didn’t want Siwoo to know that they were staying in the underground training room of Building C.
Currently, the beastkin Espers were under restrictions on all their activities. In the case of high-ranking Espers with offensive abilities, they even had to move their living spaces. They all stayed in special restricted facilities.
“For the next month, free activity is completely prohibited. We have to stay in designated facilities, and we’re only allowed to go out for three hours.”
Excluding the time for receiving guiding, only three hours of going out was allowed. Even this was considered a lot. Seojun, who was A-rank with a relatively stable wavelength, had three hours, but Geonho, who was the highest-ranked, was only given 30 minutes of free time.
“30 minutes?! Then when does he take walks?”
Siwoo frowned, greatly shocked. He thought three hours a day was short, but Kang Geonho only had 30 minutes. Beastkin Espers needed more activity. He had heard that releasing energy was how their stress was managed.
“The place we’re staying is quite spacious. He’s getting enough physical activity.”
“Still, it’s different from taking a walk.”
Siwoo rubbed his face and let out a deep sigh. He felt suffocated thinking about Geonho, who had been cooped up in his narrow hospital room during those short free hours.
He had only visited Siwoo for 10 minutes. Siwoo had even lashed out at him, telling him to leave quickly if he wanted to go so badly, as Geonho kept checking the time. Not knowing the situation he was in.
Stupid kid. He should have said he didn’t have much time. Then they could have at least taken a short walk in the park together.
“Will the restrictions be lifted after a month?”
“I don’t know. We’ll have to see when the time comes.”
Seojun said he was just doing as he was told. His job was to quietly follow instructions. Thinking was the role of the leader and the higher-ups.
“There are no precursor symptoms, so don’t worry too much.”
Seojun spoke casually, noticing Siwoo’s serious expression. He hoped Siwoo wouldn’t be anxious. Even if he couldn’t completely put his mind at ease, still.
“When seizure symptoms start, they won’t respond even if you call their name. Their wavelength starts to rise, and they show noticeably unstable behavior.”
All the Espers who had seizures so far showed similar symptoms before transforming into animals. It was a short time, but there was still a chance to escape.
“You’re fast, Guide, so you should be able to run away.”
Though physically weak, his legs were faster than anyone’s. It was one of the biggest advantages of cat beastkin. Swift movements and excellent physical coordination.
“If you notice any strange signs, run away immediately. You’re a specialist in running away, right?”
Seojun joked, his tension seeming to have eased. However, there was more sincerity in his words.
If by any chance he showed seizure symptoms, he hoped that Han Siwoo the guide wouldn’t be there. Seojun was more worried about Siwoo’s safety than his own rampage. He was caring for Siwoo to an extent he wasn’t even conscious of.
“Who’s a specialist in running away?”
Siwoo narrowed his eyes and hit Seojun’s shoulder. He then habitually grabbed his collar and led him to the living room sofa.
What specialist in running away. My specialty is guiding!
Being still a rookie, he couldn’t proudly shout it out loud. He just shouted it confidently in his mind. Instead, he sat down on the sofa with a thud and pulled Seojun close. It would be much more effective to show through action rather than just running his mouth.
“I’m starting guiding.”
Siwoo immediately began the promised guiding for him.
* * *
Beep beep, beep beep—.
Today too, Jihan’s pager was ringing noisily. Recently, it hadn’t been quiet for more than 30 minutes. Almost every sector needed him.
“Wow, at this rate, I’ll be the first to die from overwork.”
Jihan, who had returned to the barracks after removing a gate, sighed as he saw the new call signal. There was a limit to creating and sending doppelgangers. If he exceeded three doppelgangers, fatigue quickly built up and they couldn’t exert their power properly.
“Don’t say such terrible things.”
The secretary, who had come to replenish Jihan’s guiding medication, clicked his tongue. He frequently visited the field barracks to refill Jihan’s necessary supplies.
Guiding medication, small machines, and things like food or spare clothes to change into. There was one new favorite item recently added to this list.
“You should cut down on cigarettes too.”
The secretary had a sour expression even as he brought them. He prepared them because Jihan said he needed them, but seeing the amount of cigarettes Jihan smoked made him worried.
“Why did you start again after not smoking for a while? You’re not even sleeping properly, how can you do more things that are bad for your body?”
“Yes, mother. I’ll try to cut down.”
Jihan winked and put a cigarette in his mouth after turning off his pager. Since being tied to the site, he had been smoking every day. He smoked two packs a day of the cigarettes he hadn’t touched at all since Siwoo came to the dormitory.
“Is Geonho doing well?”
He chewed and swallowed a guiding pill while blowing cigarette smoke outside the barracks. Unlike him, Geonho couldn’t suppress his wavelength with medication and machines. He was the type whose wavelength could only be calmed by real guiding.
“He’s managing somehow. At least he goes to see the guide’s face once a day.”
“He’s not receiving guiding, right?”
Jihan asked to confirm. In fact, they had promised each other not to receive guiding.
[Hyung, don’t receive guiding for a while.]
That day when he received intense guiding in front of the sleeping Geonho. Geonho had warned Jihan first not to make contact until Siwoo’s health recovered. Jihan readily accepted the proposal. Instead, he set one condition.
[If you don’t receive it, I won’t either.]
He said with a refreshing smile to make it fair. If you don’t receive it, I won’t either. But if you receive it, I will too. That way neither of us will feel hurt.
Siwoo’s attending physician had repeatedly emphasized absolute rest. The guide’s body was generally weak, and being vulnerable to stress, he needed to minimize anything that could strain his heart.
Guiding was created from the heart. So until Siwoo recovered enough to do a forward roll voluntarily, they had to stay away from guiding as much as possible. Since he was a precious guide with more enthusiasm for guiding than the Espers, they had no choice but to restrain themselves.
“I’m checking everything. Don’t worry.”
“Visit the guide’s hospital room often too. He gets quite lonely.”
“Quite? He gets very lonely.”
The secretary chided, asking if Jihan still didn’t know Guide Han Siwoo well. It’s true he liked being alone, but only when there were people in the living room. It wasn’t just once or twice that he had scurried out of his room pretending to have business in the kitchen whenever anyone returned to the dormitory. That’s why they had recommended hospital life.
“By the way, it’s such a waste that our Geonho Esper can’t use his power.”
The secretary shook his head, looking around the site filled with monster cries. Geonho’s absence left a huge gap. To keep someone who could do the work of a thousand people locked up in an underground training room at such a busy time.
“If he had just done the imprinting, his behavior restrictions might have been a bit looser…”
“Secretary.”
Jihan lowered his voice uncharacteristically, as if cautioning him. Even his smiling lips became a bit sharper.
“Don’t bring up imprinting in front of the guide. We agreed not to put more pressure on him here, right?”
He raised his eyebrows and then curved his eyes a beat later.
“If he runs away again, I’ll really cry.”
The secretary exaggeratedly recoiled at the sight of Jihan pretending to cry. Even without Jihan’s warning, the secretary had no intention of mentioning even the word ‘imprinting’ in front of Siwoo.
Imprinting was a contract that was only good for the Esper. A lifelong contract that couldn’t be terminated even if desired. The imprint engraved on the body lasted until the partner died.
An Esper could imprint with only one guide, but it wasn’t the same for guides. If they wanted, they could do it with ten or even a hundred people. But in that case, they had to be prepared for a short life.
Ordinary guides only had one partner. Only in unavoidable circumstances did they imprint with up to two people. This was because while the effect of guiding increased, it also put a strain on the guide’s body. Moreover, sharing sensations with the Esper was also a difficult issue to handle.
But if the guide could overcome all this, the Esper could be freed from the fear of going berserk.
The effect of imprinting was truly remarkable. This beastkin seizure incident had once again made many people realize the importance of imprinting.
The reason the beastkin Espers who had seizures were able to survive was all because they had imprinted partners. Without them, even if they had avoided going berserk on site, they would have ended their lives on the operating table.
When this fact became known, the number of imprints increased rapidly day by day. Voices hoping for imprinting with the Baekya Guild were not uncommon. In fact, there had been subtle pressure from the higher-ups for a long time.
“Don’t make that face. Even before this incident, I’ve been hearing until my ears hurt that we should get the Baekya to do some imprinting.”
Nevertheless, the secretary did not recommend imprinting to the guild members, including the leader. He occasionally brought it up once or twice when worried about their health, but that was all.
“I will never force or persuade on that issue. Especially for the guide, I won’t even mention it.”
The secretary prepared to leave. He was as busy as Jihan.
“But I won’t stop him if he says he wants to do it either.”
With the secretary’s last words, Jihan’s pager started ringing again. Jihan left before the secretary, pressing his pager.
Imprinting. The heavy two syllables lingered annoyingly on the tip of Jihan’s tongue like a splinter. Along with the name of someone as white and delicate as a snowflake.
