# Chapter 66
After an uncomfortable day had passed, as soon as morning came, Jeongyun immediately requested to be discharged.
The doctor recommended staying in the hospital one more day since he still had a slight fever, but this time Jeongyun wouldn’t budge. Finally, in the afternoon, discharge was approved as Jeongyun wanted.
Jeongyun repeatedly promised to take his medicine properly and get plenty of rest for the time being, as the doctor instructed in exchange for his discharge.
After finishing the consultation with the doctor, Jeongyun returned to his hospital room and immediately took off the patient gown. Just doing that made his body feel lighter.
After gently placing the folded patient gown on top of the neatly made bed, Jeongyun left the burdensome private room.
‘They said to go to the reception desk first.’
As the nurse had instructed, Jeongyun first went to the reception desk on the first floor. When he went to the window and gave his name and date of birth, the employee handed him a receipt with the hospital bill.
Jeongyun looked at the receipt and tilted his head in confusion.
“Excuse me, I think there’s something wrong here?”
“Pardon? What is it?”
Jeongyun handed the receipt back to the employee.
There was no problem with the itemized costs and the total amount. However, the payment amount written at the end of the receipt was ‘0’. It meant there was no money to pay.
Strongly convinced that there was an error, Jeongyun asked the employee to check the receipt again. The employee who was examining the receipt closely suddenly opened her eyes wide as if she remembered something.
“…Ah, just a moment.”
After asking for Jeongyun’s understanding, the employee soon handed him a different receipt. At the bottom of the paper marked “Paid in Full Receipt” was someone’s hastily written signature.
“Guide Yeo Jeongyun’s hospital bill was paid in full by Esper Choi Domin yesterday.”
“…Pardon?”
After hearing the employee’s explanation, Jeongyun checked the signature on the paid receipt again. It seemed somehow familiar, and it was definitely Domin’s signature.
There was a lot he wanted to ask, but with patients waiting in line behind him, he had to let the employee go. With a heavy heart, Jeongyun sat down on a chair placed in front of the reception desk.
“…”
Jeongyun examined the detailed items listed on the receipt.
As expected, the price of a private room was expensive. Since the hospitalization period was only one day, it wasn’t a huge financial burden, but it wasn’t an amount that could be easily ignored either.
‘Why does he keep doing this?’
Domin kept acting out of character. Before, he would have just left Jeongyun with Junyoung whether he lost consciousness or not, but now he had personally taken Jeongyun to the hospital and even paid the bill.
Of course, if something happened to Jeongyun’s body, it would affect Domin’s Guiding, but that would only be relevant if the two continued their dedicated partner contract.
But regardless of what Domin did, Jeongyun had no intention of changing his decision to terminate the dedicated contract. The time to be swayed by momentary kindness had already passed.
‘I need to return the hospital bill.’
Jeongyun immediately took out his phone and transferred the full hospital bill amount to Domin.
But how many seconds had passed after completing the transfer when a call came from Domin? After considering, Jeongyun pressed the call button.
[What are you trying to do?]
Domin asked sharply without even greeting.
Though it was completely out of context, Jeongyun immediately realized that the reason Domin was angry was because of the hospital bill he had just sent.
Besides, Jeongyun wondered why else Domin would contact him. He was someone who couldn’t come often because of his busy schedule.
[Why are you sending back money that I’ve already paid in full?]
“Because it’s my hospital bill.”
[Who doesn’t know that—]
Domin, who had been speaking smoothly, stopped and let out a deep sigh. During the heavy silence that followed, Jeongyun carefully folded the two receipts on his knee.
Jeongyun knew why Domin wanted to pay his hospital bill. He probably felt somewhat responsible for what had happened. That’s why he had stayed in the hospital room yesterday to provide care in his own way.
Of course, it was just uncomfortable and not helpful at all.
The call time flowed endlessly, but neither of them spoke first. Occasionally, Jeongyun could hear Domin muttering something through the phone, but it wasn’t directed at him.
[Yeo Jeongyun.]
Breaking the long silence, Domin spoke first. When Jeongyun, who had been fiddling with the neatly folded receipts, answered “Yes,” Domin said in a sharp voice:
[I told you I have no intention of terminating the dedicated contract, so don’t put up unnecessary walls, and I’ll send the money again, so accept it.]
“I—”
[Ah, I didn’t do it expecting anything in return, so don’t feel burdened. I’ll contact you later.]
With those words, Domin ended the call first. And a few seconds later, the money Jeongyun had sent was returned. It was exactly as he’d expected—Domin was doing whatever he wanted.
‘Fine, I’ll return it next time.’
It was obvious that if Jeongyun sent the money to Domin now, it would just come back. Rather than engaging in this endless battle of attrition, it seemed better to return it along with a final goodbye when the dedicated contract was terminated.
‘Let’s go back to the Guiding room for now.’
Having taken sick leave, there was no reason to stay at headquarters any longer. Jeongyun wanted to quickly return to the Guiding room, gather his things, and then go home to rest.
‘…I think my fever is rising again.’
Perhaps because of the draining conversation with Domin, his fever started rising again. Jeongyun put his hand on his forehead and grabbed the railing attached to the wall.
It was just for a moment, but his vision wavered. He needed something to support his body to avoid falling. Fortunately, the silver railing extended all the way to the end of the corridor.
Maybe for psychological reasons, the corridor leading to the Guide wing seemed particularly long today. Just as Jeongyun was worrying about how long it would take to walk through it, someone quietly approached and asked:
“If it’s difficult to walk, would you like some help?”
“It’s alright…”
Jeongyun turned to face the person to decline the offer and lost his words. Understanding Jeongyun’s incomplete refusal, the person kindly said:
“Don’t feel burdened, hold onto this. Oh, and don’t worry, Guiding won’t happen.”
Unlike the gentle voice, there was no expression on the person’s face. Meeting the mysterious gray eyes, Jeongyun cautiously took the offered hand.
“Where are you going?”
“To the Guiding room on the third floor…”
“That’s perfect. I was just on my way there too. We can go together.”
The person carefully matched their pace to Jeongyun’s. Tense for a different reason now, Jeongyun walked looking straight ahead. The corridor leading to the Guide wing seemed even longer than before.
‘Guiding really isn’t happening.’
When an Esper and a Guide touched, Guiding inevitably occurred. But strangely, Jeongyun felt nothing from the hand that was holding his. It was like touching an ordinary person.
‘Maybe it’s because our levels are too different?’
The person currently supporting Jeongyun was Hyun Semin, the Deputy Director of headquarters. One of the few S-class Espers in the world and the only Esper who could refuse Guiding to Guides.
Jeongyun couldn’t understand why someone who particularly kept his distance from Guides would be visiting the Guiding room. But one thing was certain: the moment Semin appeared, the Guide wing would be turned upside down.
“What’s your name?”
“Ah. I’m a Guide affiliated with headquarters—”
“Skip the formal introduction, just your name.”
First the Center Director and now Semin said the exact same thing. Stopping his standard introduction, Jeongyun simply stated his name as Semin wanted.
“I’m Yeo Jeongyun.”
“…Ah.”
At Jeongyun’s answer, Semin suddenly stopped walking. Although Jeongyun was looking ahead, he could feel the intense gaze on his left cheek.
Finally, Jeongyun slowly turned his head to look at Semin. The gray eyes were glinting mysteriously.
“So you’re Guide Yeo Jeongyun.”
Semin’s reaction was puzzling. Reading the questioning look in Jeongyun’s eyes, Semin took a step closer. Jeongyun’s shoulders trembled in surprise at the suddenly reduced distance.
“Actually, I was on my way to meet Guide Yeo Jeongyun.”
“Pardon?”
Despite his excited voice, Semin’s expression remained impassive. Confused by this dissonance, Jeongyun belatedly understood what Semin was saying.
“To see… me?”
Jeongyun was very surprised by the fact that the Guide Semin wanted to meet was none other than himself. No matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out why the Deputy Director would be looking for him.
“I have something I’d like to ask Guide Yeo Jeongyun.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
