“Just one more day of rest…… just one more day…….”
“I’ve seen plenty of people get depressed because they have to go back to work after one more day off, but you’re the first person I’ve ever seen who’s actually happy about it. Seriously.”
“Ah, seriously, I thought my body was going to ache me to death. You didn’t come here to tell me to rest even longer, did you?”
“If it were up to me, I’d love to, but unfortunately, that’s not the case.”
On the afternoon of the day before Rion’s discharge, the Center Director—who had come to visit him—looked at Rion with a thoroughly fed-up expression as Rion practically sang about how badly he wanted to leave the hospital.
“Somehow word got out that you’re still hospitalized, and now ridiculous rumors are spreading that you’re in critical condition.”
“Isn’t that what happens when you forcefully keep someone hospitalized when they’re not even that sick?”
“Honestly, you never lose an argument. Anyway, when you’re discharged tomorrow, if you see a few reporters, just pretend you don’t see them and walk past.”
“Yes, yes. That’s not exactly difficult.”
Rion nodded like he was used to it. As long as he could escape this suffocating hospital, nothing else really mattered.
“The people who come to visit aren’t even that different anyway. They’re all faces I see every day at the Center. Especially Min-hyeon—every time he comes, he looks so guilty I end up feeling awkward for no reason.”
“He’s still like that? Good grief… he really is too mentally fragile. If the two of you split that trait and recombined it, you’d be perfect. Did Yu-won come again after that time?”
“Uh…… no. We exchanged messages a few times, but he didn’t come.”
“At least you stayed in contact. That’s a relief. Get along well. You’re colleagues who’ve basically shared life and death now.”
“I want to.”
Rion said that while fidgeting with his phone. Ever since Yu-won left that day, Rion had been reaching out to him from time to time.
He hadn’t been left on read. Rion had worried about that a little, but Yu-won replied more reliably than expected. Contrary to Rion’s assumption that he’d only get curt one-word answers, the replies even felt surprisingly considerate.
“Re-measurement can be done immediately, right?”
“As long as there isn’t a rookie already scheduled, any time works. Just tell me what time, and I’ll have them on standby. But do you really need to do that?”
“Yes, I really do. I feel like I won’t be satisfied unless I see ‘100 percent’ with my own eyes.”
“I heard you two have been getting along well lately?”
“Is there anything more accurate than numbers? I’m going to check it myself.”
Rion snorted. Judging by Yu-won’s recent attitude, it did feel like Yu-won viewed him more favorably than at the beginning—but Rion wanted to confirm that change precisely, in numerical form.
“It’s not like I’m asking for much, right? Wanting it to go up by just 1 percent?”
“You think all 1 percent increases are the same? Don’t get your hopes up for nothing and end up disappointed. Your current rate is already high enough—why be greedy?”
“That’s true, but…… it’s good to dream big, isn’t it?”
Rion said with a grin. The Center Director scoffed at him.
“If life worked that simply, how easy would it be? Anyway, be careful when you’re discharged tomorrow. For a while, I’ll only assign you to light duties, not Gate work, so keep that in mind.”
“……But what if a Gate big enough that you absolutely need me shows up?”
“Then it’s an emergency. Don’t even say things like that. You’ll jinx it. Don’t tell me you’re actually hoping another Gate like that appears just because you want to work.”
“No matter what, I’m not that bad.”
At the Center Director’s words, Rion jumped up indignantly, insisting that there was no way. The Center Director merely looked unconvinced.
“If that happened, we’d have to call you in, sure—but do you really think S-rank Gates pop up that frequently? Think of this period as rehabilitation.”
“Ah, that makes me nervous…….”
“Or you can just stay hospitalized here.”
“……I don’t want that.”
Rion shook his head immediately, as if even imagining it was horrifying. One day left until discharge. The day he returned to his normal life was truly just around the corner.
***
“Sunbae!”
“Kang Rion’s here.”
“Are you okay?”
“You’ve visited me how many times already? I told you I was fine more than ten times.”
“I can’t trust it when you say you’re fine, sunbae.”
“Then why ask?”
The moment Rion entered the Center, his close colleagues rushed toward him. The once-quiet lobby instantly became noisy and lively.
“I don’t even remember the last time I saw you in regular clothes instead of a hospital gown, sunbae.”
“Tell me about it. I looked in the mirror this morning and barely recognized myself. I missed the dorms.”
Rion said with a shrug. Seeing the brace on Rion’s leg, Joo-chan made a worried expression.
“Your leg doesn’t look fully healed yet. Is it really okay for you to be out like this?”
“They said it’s fine as long as I don’t overdo it. And besides, I can walk without even touching the ground.”
“Still, shouldn’t you rest a bit more—”
“Ah, don’t even say that! Just thinking about it is terrifying.”
Rion snapped, cutting Joo-chan off. Watching the scene, Min-cheol clicked his tongue.
“I don’t think I’ll ever understand him, even if I come back from the dead. What, does he have the ghost of someone who died because they couldn’t work attached to him?”
“Could you at least say he has a strong sense of responsibility?”
“Hey, we all have a sense of responsibility too, you know? We just still don’t want to work. Especially not when we’re sick.”
“I know, but I’m not sick, so I’m fine.”
Rion said, lightly bouncing his leg. In truth, it still throbbed a little, but it was only mildly annoying, so he figured it was fine.
“I shouldn’t be whining over something like this.”
“We all saw what happened to your leg…… no, forget it. Talking is just a waste of breath. Still, you’re not going into Gates for a while, right?”
“I don’t have to. That just means they’ll go into Gates without me. How am I supposed to wait around without worrying?”
“What’s wrong with us? We’re experienced Espers now, you know. We’ve even been through S-rank Gates.”
“Ah, yes, yes. Very reassuring.”
Rion brushed off Seo-ha’s indignant protest. Watching from behind, Min-cheol started nagging Rion.
“Anyone would think you’re the Center Director with how much you worry about everything.”
“Are you really going to keep nagging me?”
“Yeah. I am. What about it?”
Min-cheol teased Rion obnoxiously. However, his teasing didn’t last long.
“Min-cheol hyung, there you are.”
“What?”
“What do you mean, ‘what’? We’re going into a Gate together tomorrow.”
“Hyung, you’re already going into a Gate?”
“Yeah. I want to switch places with you. Seriously.”
“I want to switch too. Can’t I go instead?”
“You really can’t take a joke. Stop talking nonsense and get lost.”
Everyone on the team except Rion had already gone into at least one Gate, was scheduled to enter one soon, or was currently inside one.
“I’m lonely. So lonely.”
The only one under a sort-of disciplinary, sort-of rest order, Rion sighed, wanting nothing more than to work. As he wandered around the Center looking for something to do, he suddenly checked the time.
“It’s 10:30. The re-measurement I scheduled was at…… 11, right.”
Though it was technically a standby assignment for emergency dispatch, it was practically a role where you were more likely to rest all day. Other Espers would count the days waiting for such an easy assignment, but for Rion, it was nothing but stifling.
“……I wonder what Lee Yu-won is doing.”
Rion took out his tablet and checked Yu-won’s schedule. His afternoon was packed with guiding appointments, but right now, there was a free slot.
“I’ll go early and we can head to the re-measurement together.”
With that thought, Rion headed toward Yu-won’s room with light steps. He’d visited a few times before to receive guiding, but this was the first time he’d gone with such an unburdened feeling.
Usually, it felt like something he did reluctantly.
Rion crossed over to the Guide Center and opened the familiar door to Yu-won’s room.
“So…… huh? Rion-sunbae, you’ve been discharged?”
“You came early? There’s still some time left.”
Contrary to his expectation that Yu-won would be alone, Yu-won was chatting with another Guide. Moreover, they looked quite close.
“Uh—yeah. I came early.”
“Then I should head back to my room. Good work.”
“Yes, noona.”
The Guide who’d been talking with Yu-won returned to her own room. Rion gave an awkward smile and spoke up.
“Ah, there was nothing showing on the app, so I thought you were alone.”
“She just stopped by to talk for a bit.”
“What were you talking about?”
“She said she was curious about what happened inside the Gate, so we talked about that briefly.”
“Oh, yeah?”
Her name was Hwa-young, wasn’t it? Younger than me, but older than Yu-won. But did she really need to come all the way to his room just to talk about that? Isn’t that something you’d casually discuss over a meal?
Rion tilted his head slightly, feeling something was off. Yu-won finished tidying up and stood from his chair.
“Do you want to go wait in the measurement room? It won’t take long anyway.”
“Sure.”
But the doubt—and the subtle discomfort—didn’t last long.
Rion followed Yu-won to the measurement room. Carrying a vague expectation and fluttering anticipation that the numbers would have gone up, Rion soon found himself seated in front of the measuring device.
“You know how this works, right? We’ll start right away.”
The staff member activated the machine. The sound of the outdated device whirring filled the room, and before long, the results appeared.
The moment the staff said he could stand, Rion sprang up as if being chased and checked the result.
“……98 percent.”
Rion read the numbers glowing on the machine out loud, his face blank.
98 percent.
No matter how many times he read it, the number didn’t change, continuing to gleam on the screen.
