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Siwoo woke up after a good night’s sleep and started the day in good condition. Though his body was tired from training muscles he hadn’t used before, he felt like his stamina was gradually improving. It felt like he was getting healthier.
“Guide Han Siwoo, please go to practice room 36 for guiding practice.”
The training instructor who handed Siwoo a towel as he got off the treadmill approached him with a smile. He didn’t forget to compliment Siwoo on how much his running form had improved.
How much could his form have changed in just a week? Feeling uncomfortable with the excessive praise, Siwoo quickly left the area.
“Ah…!”
Siwoo, who was walking while looking at the ground, bumped into someone. The other person seemed to have been looking elsewhere too, as they apologized first in great embarrassment.
“S-Sorry. Are you okay?”
A large-bodied esper stepped back and bowed his head. He was flustered, worried that Siwoo, who had hit his forehead on the esper’s shoulder, might be hurt.
“Are you in a lot of pain? Should we go to the infirmary?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Siwoo looked up at the esper while rubbing his forehead. The man had a somewhat peculiar aura. His speech was noticeably slow, and he was sweating profusely even while standing still. There shouldn’t be any reason for an esper to sweat so much in the guide training center.
As Siwoo was wondering about this, someone called for the man. The esper bowed his head slightly and entered the guiding practice room. He seemed to be an esper who had come to act as a practice partner. Seeing him wipe his sweat with a handkerchief in a familiar manner, it seemed he was just naturally prone to sweating.
Siwoo, who had paused briefly, started moving again. Before entering the room the instructor had directed him to, he stopped by the nearest restroom. He needed to urinate after drinking a lot of water.
“Oh, Guide Han Siwoo. I heard it’s your last day of training today!”
“You’re really amazing. As expected, SS-rank training periods are short.”
As Siwoo entered the restroom, people leaving greeted him.
“I heard you’re the first person to complete the training course in just a week.”
“That’s right. There are rumors about how incredible your guiding energy is. Please teach us sometime.”
They showed enthusiasm, saying they would learn diligently. On the last day of training, more people were trying to act friendly like this. It was maddening that they even tried to talk to him in the restroom. Siwoo just nodded vaguely and went into the farthest stall, locking the door.
“Haa…”
With people trying to talk to him from all directions, even his urge to urinate, which had been pressing just moments ago, disappeared. It seemed even his bladder was shy.
He lowered the toilet lid, sat down, and rubbed his face dry. They say it’s hard to spit in a smiling face. No matter how annoying and uncomfortable it was, Siwoo couldn’t bring himself to get angry at them. Even if it was fake, he couldn’t raise his voice when they approached him with smiles.
Is this how Ha Seojun feels?
Siwoo felt extremely tired after experiencing this for just a week. It was surprising to see how the young maknae suppressed his true personality and dealt with people with a friendly face. On the other hand, he felt more sympathetic.
It must have been really tough. How much stress must he have endured, not only hiding his discomfort but even forcing himself to smile?
Yoo Jihan loved attention, so there was no need to worry about him. People were too scared to approach Kang Geonho. Everyone just bothered the maknae who seemed gentle.
And then in an instant, they turned their backs and poured out criticism. Despite all of Ha Seojun’s efforts to smile and be kind.
Siwoo stood up with a bitter expression. He wanted to return to the dormitory quickly. Even if not the dormitory, he wanted to go somewhere those guys were. He increasingly felt that he had made the right decision to commit to field guiding. It meant he could be with them longer.
As he was feeling relieved thinking about this, he suddenly found himself strange. Siwoo no longer felt that Baekya Guild was like distant strangers. He felt closer to all of them. Even the leader, who was hard to even see.
They are all my espers. Espers I need to protect.
Siwoo, who had been making a cool expression, washed his hands while brushing off the goosebumps on his forearm. He cringed at his own thoughts. He shook his head unnecessarily and left the restroom to quickly get to the practice room.
Zing―. At that moment, Siwoo received a phone call.
He immediately took out his phone from his pocket, as he had been waiting for a call. However, the caller wasn’t who he had expected.
“What? Did something happen?”
He was worried because it was a call from Geonho, who usually didn’t contact him. He would usually just come to see him in person rather than calling or texting. He often left his phone behind.
― I just wanted to hear your voice.
Siwoo laughed silently at the frivolous answer and slowed his pace. Hearing his voice, it really seemed like he had called because he had nothing to do. Siwoo deliberately stayed silent instead of responding. He was supposed to be upset with Geonho right now.
― Are you still mad?
Geonho, who had been waiting for Siwoo to continue the conversation, asked cautiously. Since the night before when he had interrupted Jihan’s guiding, Siwoo had been ignoring him. He didn’t even make eye contact or greet Geonho when he came early in the morning to bring him a lunchbox. If he didn’t do this, the same situation would repeat next time.
― I’m sorry. I’m sorry for breaking the door.
Geonho repeated his apology in a subdued voice. He seemed to know he had done wrong, as he was more cautious of Siwoo’s mood than usual.
“Don’t ever do it again.”
Siwoo deliberately spoke in an even harder tone. Yesterday wasn’t an emergency situation, so it didn’t cause a problem. But if Yoo Jihan’s condition had been bad, it could have led to a serious situation.
Through this training, he had learned a bit about esper psychology as well. He learned that espers are more jealous than expected and experience great stress when their guiding is interrupted. It was fortunate that Yoo Jihan had a good personality; otherwise, it could have led to a big fight.
― I’ll try.
“No, say you won’t do it.”
Siwoo’s voice became forceful. The situation where he forcibly broke down the door and entered must not be repeated. Even though all he did after entering was give a snack, still.
― …Alright. I won’t do it.
His voice, mixed with a sigh, sounded like it was sinking into the ground. Even though Geonho wasn’t in front of him, Siwoo could picture his expression. He was sure to have that dejected look on his face again. Reminding himself not to weaken at this moment, Siwoo abruptly ended the call to make him reflect more.
He decided to keep his distance from Geonho at least until tomorrow morning. That way, he wouldn’t do it again next time.
Shoving his phone into his pocket, he quickly searched for the practice room. He had only meant to go to the restroom briefly, but too much time had passed.
“Room 36…”
As he was passing by the lined-up practice rooms, hurrying his steps, suddenly a commotion could be heard from afar.
Siwoo turned his head towards the sound coming from behind him and drew in a breath.
“Oh my, what happened? Why is there so much blood?”
“It doesn’t seem like he’s injured though.”
The murmuring crowd approached a guide coming out of a practice room. He was wiping blood off his entire body with a crumpled face. It was blood shed by the esper who was his practice partner.
“Ha, if you’re not feeling well, you shouldn’t have come out. I thought my heart was going to stop.”
Behind the guide covered in blood, emergency responders and a teleport esper who had been called examined the collapsed man. He was slumped over a desk, continuously vomiting blood.
It was that esper who had bumped into Siwoo earlier. The man with the slow speech who was sweating profusely.
The guide wiping blood with a towel recognized Siwoo approaching and greeted him. He was one of those who had been eagerly talking to Siwoo earlier.
“Guide Han Siwoo, were you surprised? It’s not my blood. Don’t worry.”
Siwoo watched from a distance as the man was supported by the teleport esper. He continued to cough up blood until just before leaving.
“Apparently, he’s an esper with poor health. He explained before starting the practice. He said he might suddenly collapse, so not to be too surprised.”
The guide sighed deeply as he looked over his blood-soaked clothes.
“I didn’t know he would bleed this much. If I had known, I would have asked to change practice partners.”
“Ah, so it’s that person. Isn’t he the esper who recently left Hamwon Guild?”
More and more people gathered around the noisy practice room. Siwoo stood blankly in front of the door, staring at the blood-stained desk and the pool of blood on the floor.
“What’s Hamwon Guild? I’ve never heard of it.”
“It exists. A low-ranked place. I heard an esper from there made a mistake during gate subjugation and almost got all his colleagues killed. That’s the esper who just coughed up blood.”
“Ah, I think I’ve heard about that. The one whose ability is about to disappear, right?”
Siwoo, startled by the unfamiliar term, looked at the chattering group.
“What’s that?”
“Pardon?”
“What do you mean by ability disappearance?”
The group of guides exchanged glances at Siwoo’s sharp tone and explained with awkward smiles.
“It’s exactly what it sounds like, a state where the ability disappears.”
“You haven’t heard about it yet? It’s basic knowledge.”
They explained in detail, saying he might not know about it.
“It’s an extremely rare condition. Think of it like an incurable disease. They say you cough up blood or suffer severely like that until the ability completely disappears.”
“I heard bodily functions also gradually break down. Like losing sight or hearing.”
Siwoo clenched his fist as he looked at those smiling pretending to be kind.
“And then… what happens?”
His clenched fist trembled slightly. The group of guides didn’t quite catch Siwoo’s lowered voice.
“Do they… die?”
The only one who understood Siwoo’s question shrugged his shoulders.
“If they’re unlucky, they could die, I guess.”
They said it was such a rare case that even they didn’t know the details. After that, the bell signaling the start of the next training session rang, and they quickly dispersed. Siwoo was left alone.
“…”
Siwoo stared at the blood left behind by the esper for a long time. A familiar face flashed across the red-stained floor. As he gazed at the face that rose like smoke, he suddenly started running.
“Guide Han Siwoo, the practice room is that way!”
Ignoring the voice of the training instructor calling for him, he ran out of the building. And immediately called Taebeom.
Rring― Rring―.
Once again, the call connection tone didn’t lead to his voice. Siwoo bit his lip and repeatedly called him. Then, after a while, he suddenly reached deep into his pocket and took out a pager.
On the small screen of the pager, he saw a button signaling for rescue in case of danger. Siwoo hesitated, bending and straightening his thumb, before firmly pressing that button. Then he called Taebeom again. If I’m in a dangerous situation, won’t he answer the phone?
Ring―.
The annoying dial tone was about to sound but was cut off abruptly. Siwoo’s eyelids fluttered rapidly. After a brief silence, Taebeom’s low voice was heard. He had answered the phone almost as soon as the call connected.
― Where are you?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
