# Chapter 71
Han Seungho’s fierce gaze turned toward the sleeping Lee Hoseung. How did such a person become Hajin’s father and cause him so much grief?
Han Seungho gritted his teeth and helped Hajin to his feet.
“…Forget it. Do you think I’ll spare him because he’s your father? He’s the bastard who tried to kill you. Even if you beg me not to kill him later, I’m going to do it, so let’s go for now. You need treatment quickly.”
“Let me go. I have to do this, I have to end this myself.”
Hajin rejected Han Seungho’s hand, but his resistance was feeble. Whether it was because all his strength had drained away or because he secretly wanted to be stopped, even Hajin himself didn’t know. No, he didn’t want to know.
“Let’s go back.”
Han Seungho tried to help Hajin up but ended up carrying him instead. The Guiding that emanated from Hajin seeped into Han Seungho. It had been a long time since he’d experienced Hajin’s Guiding.
But Han Seungho wasn’t happy at all. He had always known that Hajin carefully controlled his Guiding. There was no way he could be happy when someone like that was now releasing Guiding so freely.
Half of his intervention was to prevent Hajin from committing patricide. But after seeing Hajin’s condition firsthand, taking care of him seemed more urgent than worrying about the man who barely deserved to be called a father.
“I’ve rescued Hajin hyung! Everyone, wrap things up and meet us above!”
Han Seungho radioed the other three people and headed upward quickly without waiting for a response. His speed was incomparable to Hajin’s laborious climb earlier.
But Hajin, exhausted beyond measure, didn’t even have the energy to be impressed. He buried his face against Han Seungho’s shoulder and closed his eyes.
‘I’m so tired…’
He wished he could just keep his eyes closed and never open them again. Hajin lifted his head at the sound of something breaking, followed by a rush of cool air and intense sunlight piercing through his closed eyelids.
“Ah…”
It was the “real” sky he was seeing after so long. It was incomparable to the artificial garden those people had created, no matter how well-made they thought it was.
After staring blankly at the sky for a while, the other three people joined them.
“…Hajin-ssi!”
“Hajin hyung!”
“Hyung! Are you okay?!”
Only then did Hajin turn his gaze to those on the ground. They all looked disheveled. Their handsome features remained, but the emotional toll they’d suffered was clearly visible.
Suddenly, his heart fluttered. He knew they would worry. He also knew that even if everyone else gave up on him, these people wouldn’t.
But facing those who had gone this far for him felt strange. Hajin couldn’t easily open his mouth despite the flood of attention.
The three who didn’t know the situation assumed that the anti-government faction had done something to Hajin. Especially Lee Doyoon, whose temper was second only to Han Seungho’s, was furious.
“What did those bastards do?! I’m going to kill those sons of bitches!”
Having only subdued the enemies after hearing that Hajin was rescued, he was now ready to go back down and finish them off.
“No…”
Lee Doyoon was determined to go down alone if necessary to kill those he had only half-finished off.
“Don’t go.”
But how could he refuse when Hajin weakly held him back and pleaded with him not to go?
Hajin’s face was pale, with traces of dried blood under his nose.
Yet to his eyes, Hajin didn’t look unsightly—rather, he seemed as delicate as a glass sculpture that might shatter at any moment.
Lee Doyoon stared blankly at Hajin for a moment before quickly coming to his senses and nodding.
“I won’t go. I absolutely won’t go. Even if you tell me to go, I won’t. I’ll never leave your side.”
With those words, he embraced Hajin tightly. Normally, Hajin would have pretended to accept the hug before pushing him away, but now he nestled into it obediently.
Instead, he rested his face against Lee Doyoon’s chest and grabbed his waist, making Lee Doyoon both delighted and heartbroken.
‘Fuck, what did they do to make him like this?’
He felt the urge to bury those underground bastards completely once more, but there was no way he would be the first to let go of Hajin.
“Let’s move to another location first.”
Cha Jinwoo interrupted the prolonged emotional reunion.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to embrace Hajin and confirm his safety hundreds of times over. But they had only just reached the surface, and they needed to leave before enemy reinforcements arrived.
The emotional reunion, as well as finding out what had happened to Hajin, would have to wait.
Naturally, Lee Doyoon carried Hajin. Baek Jaan, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Hajin since finding him, twitched his fingers as if wanting to take him away immediately.
But no matter how much Baek Jaan was blinded by jealousy, he couldn’t forcibly separate Hajin, who had clearly been through something terrible.
So even as they moved to return to the Association, he kept his eyes on Hajin without looking away. Even as Lee Doyoon, who was carrying Hajin, remained vigilant of their surroundings, Baek Jaan only looked at Hajin.
He was beyond obsessed, acting like Hajin might disappear if he looked away even for a moment.
“We’ll rest here for a bit before continuing.”
Even S-rank Espers found it taxing to cross the country after battle. Moreover, they hadn’t received proper Guiding since being separated from Hajin, making rest even more necessary.
Cha Jinwoo rolled his stiff shoulders. The symptoms felt different from simply lacking Guiding.
However, not knowing what had happened at the Association, he assumed he had just become accustomed to Hajin’s Guiding.
‘But those two seem perfectly fine.’
Han Seungho who had brought Hajin, and Lee Doyoon who was currently carrying him—only those two seemed energetic.
‘Did they receive Guiding?’
When this thought occurred to him, Cha Jinwoo’s brow furrowed slightly.
It wasn’t about petty jealousy. It was anger toward the two people who had taken Guiding from Hajin when he was clearly not well.
Even though they had left the anti-government headquarters a while ago, Hajin’s complexion remained pale. It infuriated Cha Jinwoo to think they had taken Guiding after seeing Hajin in such a state.
“Lee Doyoon, Han Seungho. Are you both in your right minds?”
“Huh? What are you suddenly talking about?”
Han Seungho, who had been cooling off by flapping his collar, responded with confusion. Lee Doyoon, who was setting Hajin down at his request, had the same reaction.
“Did you ask for Guiding even though Hajin-ssi isn’t well?”
At Cha Jinwoo’s words, Baek Jaan glared at the two. The vicious look, usually reserved for Seo Juan, made the accused pair feel wronged.
“Fuck, what kind of person do you think I am?!”
“When Radiative Guiding keeps coming out, do you think I can avoid it? Huh?!”
The two responded angrily in such similar ways that they could have been mistaken for brothers. Hajin confirmed their claims.
“They’re both telling the truth. I gave them Radiative Guiding.”
Whether it was because they had moved away from the anti-government headquarters or because he had organized his thoughts during their journey, Hajin’s eyes had regained their life.
“More accurately, my Guiding is flowing out because I can’t control it.”
Hajin’s additional explanation made the entire Alpha Team’s hearts skip a beat. Even Han Seungho, who had somewhat guessed the situation, was shocked—imagine how the others felt.
“C-can’t control the Guiding? Did those bastards do something horrible to you?!”
“Team Leader, please send me. I’ll finish them off.”
Baek Jaan, who had been quiet, asked permission in a deadly voice. But Cha Jinwoo firmly shook his head.
“Everyone calm down. Our priority is to get Hajin-ssi back for treatment quickly.”
They weren’t making a fuss because they feared not receiving Guiding anymore. They didn’t even have time to think that far. Hajin was hurt. That single fact bleached their minds white.
“Please calm down. I know the cause, and I’m not in pain anymore.”
Hajin tried to calm the others who were ready to move without proper rest. But having already fixated on the fact that Hajin was hurt, they weren’t easily convinced.
His face still looked pale and exhausted despite claiming he was better. Unable to openly dismiss his words but still concerned, they watched him until Hajin nodded as if conceding defeat.
“Fine. Let’s go. But this time, I think Baek Jaan-ssi should carry me.”
“Why?! I’m not tired!”
Lee Doyoon raised his voice in disappointment at Hajin’s added comment, while Baek Jaan approached with a bright face.
His expression, which had remained dark throughout despite Hajin’s disheveled appearance, brightened for the first time.
“You should at least receive Guiding on the way. You probably haven’t received any while I was gone.”
At that moment, the entire Alpha Team tensed up. It happened so suddenly that normally Hajin would have missed it and moved on.
But Lee Doyoon, who was currently holding Hajin, was still young and not as skilled at hiding his emotions as the other team members.
Noticing Lee Doyoon suddenly freezing up, Hajin tilted his head. He looked up at Lee Doyoon, who had fixed his gaze on an ambiguous spot, and asked:
“Why suddenly…”
But without even hearing an answer, he found the truth.
‘Ah, so that’s it.’
It was clear they had received Guiding from another Guide while Hajin was gone. Seeing Hajin stop mid-sentence, all four began to fidget.
They were obviously watching his reaction, whimpering like puppies who’d done something wrong, but Hajin couldn’t bring himself to say it was okay.
‘What’s wrong with me? It’s something that could happen.’
Even though he thought this himself, strangely, the words wouldn’t come out. It could happen. That’s what he thought.
After all, they had to receive Guiding—if not from Hajin, then from someone else—to avoid going berserk.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
