#78
No, if this continues….
Fragmentary, brief thoughts continued, and the image of Ho-woo desperately reaching out was captured in his blurred vision.
“Ho-woo!!”
As Yeo Na-kyung’s sharp cry faded away, Yul’s enormous energy erupted like an explosion. Like a fierce hurricane sweeping in all directions, his energy quickly stole all the warmth from the surroundings. Even the body’s own temperature.
Yul lost his thread of consciousness with the last image of her embracing Ho-woo.
He regained consciousness not long after.
White breath seeped between his lips. Eyes turned blue from the instantly frozen hell fixed on one spot.
“Ho, woo…”
The name was painfully uttered from his tightly constricted throat. Oh-yul, who raised his limp body while staggering, reached out his hand. His fingertips, trembling slightly with fear, failed to reach Ho-woo and faded away.
Despite being protected in the frozen woman’s arms, Ho-woo was unconscious. Oh-yul wanted to hug the pale, shivering child, but he stopped abruptly one step away. His glistening eyes stared out the window and then firmly turned to the room’s entrance.
An uninvited guest had arrived.
The young Esper’s eyes glowed coldly at the presence of several people entering the mansion. The intruders who came through the main entrance were rummaging through various parts of the house. One of them, who had already entered the house, was gradually approaching Oh-yul’s room on the second floor. Oh-yul warily watched the slowly turning doorknob.
“Oh!”
The boy who carefully opened the door and checked the room widened his eyes in surprise. The unpleasant visitor seemed not to have expected such a scene, wearing a very perplexed expression. The child cradled in a human-shaped ice block and the child staring at him as if glaring were not at all in his mental picture.
Though surprised, the boy quickly gathered himself, cleared his throat a few times, and greeted.
“Um… Hello?”
The boy awkwardly smiled and waved his hand casually. His raised hands were empty, as if showing he had no intention to attack.
However, the flow of energy rippling inside his body was clear.
He’s the same kind of being as me.
Yul’s eyes grew fiercer. Seeing the extreme wariness of the small beast growling not to come closer, the boy pondered and then plopped down where he was. He then took out a radio from his chest and spoke to someone.
“Mister, I found him on the second floor. He’s very wary, so I’ll try to coax him and bring him alone.”
-Isn’t that dangerous?
The boy laughed cheerfully at the worry felt in the voice filled with static noise.
“If you were going to worry about that, you shouldn’t have brought me here. Is that something to say after bringing a trainee who hasn’t even graduated yet?”
-I’m the guilty one for bringing you secretly. Well, I trust you’ll handle it. We’ll take care of the first floor, so do your best, okay?
“Will do.”
The boy finished the last radio communication in a leisurely tone. As the boy’s gaze thoroughly examined Ho-woo while talking to the other person, Yul stepped forward as if to block him. The Esper boy looked back and forth between Ho-woo and Yul at the blue wariness in their eyes, then spoke calmly.
“He’ll die if you leave him like that, is that okay?”
“……”
Oh-yul still blocked Ho-woo’s front while staring at the boy. The boy didn’t rush at the beast-like wariness that didn’t have a speck of trust. Although the situation was a bit urgent, he was an excellent healing Esper and was confident he could treat quickly, so he focused a bit more on ensuring Oh-yul wouldn’t attack him.
“If you’re that distrustful, shall we start with introductions? I’m Woo Tae-sik.”
The casually smiling face was quite a gentle boy. True to being a well-developed Esper, despite being 17 years old, his height had already grown to nearly 180cm. Aware that his size might be threatening, the boy bent down as much as possible to meet his gaze.
“It was you just now, right?”
It was an enormous energy explosion that could be felt even from the opposite side of the city. The energy that could have turned half the city into chaos fortunately shot up vertically, and its damage was limited to this house with its spacious garden.
The people frozen by the swept-up energy were unlucky, but they probably died instantly without even feeling pain. Woo Tae-sik glanced at Yeo Na-kyung, now nothing more than an ice block, who had desperately hugged the small child.
It was a miracle. The very existence of a survivor at the center of an Esper’s energy storm.
The boy’s eyes twisted with pity towards the only survivor. Even though he survived, the trauma would torment this small child for life. The Esper, who could heal but couldn’t treat the mind, glanced at the small beast still sending wary looks and approached the small child.
‘He’s indeed alive.’
Although his face and lips were pale blue from the flesh-biting cold, he was breathing faintly. Woo Tae-sik reached out his hand as slowly as possible to avoid appearing threatening. As he slightly lifted the body, intending to take him out of the ice statue’s arms to prevent frostbite, a sharp piece of ice suddenly thrust its head under his chin. The ice, angled to pierce his head if he applied just a little more force, was sharp and chilly.
Woo Tae-sik rolled his eyes while stopping his hand that was reaching for Ho-woo. My, how distrustful. The emotion was clearly visible on his face.
“I don’t care if he dies, but you do, right?”
“……”
Despite his words, he had never seen Espers caught in irrationality act logically. Woo Tae-sik thought the small child in front of him would die here, even though he miraculously survived. However, contrary to Woo Tae-sik’s expectation, Oh-yul, who was walking a tightrope between instinct and reason, made an unpleasant expression but stopped his threat and stepped back.
Although he still sent a watchful gaze, once permission was granted, Woo Tae-sik carefully examined Ho-woo after taking him out of the ice statue. Apart from the significantly lowered body temperature, there were no visible external injuries. However, he felt a slight fever, perhaps shocked by the sudden temperature change. Woo Tae-sik, who was about to use energy to treat Ho-woo, widened his eyes.
“Wha, what…”
His gaze, full of bewilderment, alternated between Oh-yul and Ho-woo. His eyes twisted and his brow furrowed as if looking at the most bizarre thing in the world.
“What on earth did you do?”
Astonishment was evident in his muttering voice. Woo Tae-sik’s hands holding Ho-woo tightened. It was already surprising that he survived the enormous energy tsunami, but this small child’s body was completely changed internally.
“This isn’t something I can judge alone.”
It wasn’t something a boy who wasn’t even officially appointed as an Esper should recklessly handle. It seemed that the ordeal of the newly manifested young Esper and the barely surviving survivor was not over yet.
As Woo Tae-sik hesitated whether to report via radio or not, Oh-yul, who had maintained silence until now, spoke for the first time.
“What happens if the people downstairs see?”
“…. Nothing good will happen.”
Regrettably, this small child had a high probability of being treated like a lab rat for life, being neither an Esper nor a Guide. Given that experiments were already being conducted even on Espers, even more ruthless experiments would be inflicted on a powerless weakling. Woo Tae-sik wore a bitter smile.
As the boy, torn between sympathy and an unavoidable choice, was about to call the scattered Espers through the radio after putting Ho-woo down, Oh-yul briefly looked at Ho-woo with a hint of question.
He felt a very faint sensation connected to Ho-woo. As instinct was pushed back and reason became clearer, that unknown connection strongly pulled at Oh-yul. Ho-woo at the end of it was afraid.
Of what?
Of himself?
“Are you scared?”
While gently stroking and smoothing out the deeply furrowed brow with his small hand even in unconsciousness, Oh-yul tightly hugged Ho-woo. Despite not knowing what had happened, Oh-yul felt an intense satisfaction.
Ah, this is now mine.
As his possessiveness was satisfied, the impulse to protect seized the small child. The Esper, instinctively realizing that what he held in his arms was his lifeline, watched the most disturbing presence in this space. Woo Tae-sik was in the middle of a conversation with someone via radio a little distance away.
“So, I’m telling you, you need to come and see.”
-What’s going on?
“…Just come and see before I explain. I’m not confident I can explain it in words.”
-What’s this, you said you’d confidently coax and bring him, but it’s too much for you? Well, I guess it was a bit early for Tae-sik? I’ll tidy things up down here and come, so wait a little.
The voice mixed with laughter finally burst into hearty laughter. Judging by the laughing sounds coming from around, it seemed to be not just one person but at least five or more.
Oh-yul heightened his senses to their utmost and read all the human presences around the house. If the Espers downstairs came here, Ho-woo would experience something unpleasant.
Whatever it was, the small Esper had no intention of allowing it.
“…Sigh, this old man is at it again.”
Woo Tae-sik, who approached while scratching the back of his head after ending the radio communication, was about to check Ho-woo again for any abnormalities when he froze at Oh-yul’s intense stare.
