# Chapter 55
Unable to use vacation as an excuse after hearing the word “runaway,” Han Jiwoo obediently followed the employee toward the car.
“Didn’t Esper Ju Seongwon receive medication? Why is he about to go into runaway?”
No Esper wanted to experience runaway. Guides and ordinary people couldn’t experience it, but Espers reportedly felt their entire bodies being torn apart during runaway.
No matter how painful the medication was, it wasn’t as bad as runaway, which was why Espers took it despite their dislike.
The employee couldn’t hide his bewilderment at Han Jiwoo’s question.
“To be honest, we’re not sure either. Esper Ju Seongwon definitely took his medication on time, and we confirmed it. Suddenly his wavelength became unstable, and signs of impending runaway began to appear.”
Even during this conversation, the employee pressed hard on the accelerator despite the short distance, as if afraid of when runaway might begin.
Espers who either had matched Guides or were of ranks that could easily receive Guiding could live near the central area.
Conversely, Espers of higher ranks who had difficulty receiving Guiding lived in dormitories built in outlying areas.
Ju Seongwon belonged to the latter category. After arriving quickly and getting out of the car, people who had been waiting approached. Relief spread across their faces at the sight of Han Jiwoo.
The employee who got out of the car with him urgently asked them:
“The runaway?”
“Fortunately, only preliminary signs are showing so far. Guide Han Jiwoo, please hurry.”
“Yes.”
Han Jiwoo moved without hesitation. As he approached, the unstable wavelength of the runaway Esper intensified, yet the smile on Han Jiwoo’s face didn’t fade.
This moment had finally come. The moment that would solidify his position even further.
Upon confirming that there were no people or surveillance cameras around, Han Jiwoo didn’t bother hiding his emotions.
How could the situation turn so favorably for him?
As meticulous as Han Jiwoo was in considering various possibilities, he hadn’t anticipated a runaway.
He had simply planned to engrave his necessity into the Esper’s bones, but to think it would turn out so advantageous for him.
Though the air literally grew heavier as he approached the Esper, Han Jiwoo’s steps remained light.
“Huh… kuh…!”
“Oh my, you’re struggling.”
“H-Han Jiwoo…?”
There was a glimpse of joy in Ju Seongwon’s voice as he called Han Jiwoo’s name.
The hope that he no longer had to suffer, the belief that Han Jiwoo could calm this runaway—all were evident in his expression.
Seeing with his own eyes, Han Jiwoo confirmed that Ju Seongwon was barely holding on. Despite groaning from the pain that felt like his bones were being crushed and scraped, his determination not to go into runaway was clear even to Han Jiwoo.
“Gui-ding… Quick, huhk, Guiding…!”
Perhaps because Han Jiwoo was right in front of him, Ju Seongwon grew desperate. He wanted to be freed from this hellish pain as soon as possible.
Having found an escape in Han Jiwoo, he could no longer simply wait quietly.
“Hey, don’t move. With a wavelength that unstable, what if you really go into runaway from moving around?”
Ju Seongwon found Han Jiwoo’s nonchalant tone strange. And that wasn’t the only peculiar thing. Runaway signs weren’t common, but he had experienced them before.
Yet this time felt different.
His wavelength, thrashing more unstably than usual, felt almost like it wasn’t his own, and the pain arrived as if runaway had already begun.
‘What on earth is happening?’
Ju Seongwon’s instincts screamed that something was wrong. But that momentary feeling quickly vanished with another wave of pain that came along with his roughly fluctuating wavelength.
He clutched his chest, which felt like it was being split in half from his heart beating so fast and rough, and gasped for breath.
“I understand, huh, so please, quickly, the Guiding…”
Even continuing to speak was painful. With each movement of his tongue, it felt like his teeth were being pulled out and his tongue was being sliced bit by bit, sending waves of pain crashing into his brain.
“Right, Guiding. I should do that.”
That’s why he was so happy at Han Jiwoo’s indifferent attitude that he could have cried. Finally, he could escape this pain. However, Han Jiwoo’s next words weren’t very hopeful.
“But your attitude seems a bit impure?”
“…What?”
At first, Ju Seongwon thought he had misheard due to his poor physical condition. But when he forced his body—now in such pain that even air brushing against it hurt—to look up, Han Jiwoo still appeared indifferent.
He seemed completely unconcerned about the pain Ju Seongwon was experiencing.
“Gui-Guiding, khak!”
Was it because his heart wavered? His wavelength surged more unstably, as if responding to it.
The unstable wavelength of an S-rank Esper was difficult to handle even for another S-rank, causing Han Jiwoo’s expression to deteriorate.
As his complexion, which had improved after two days of vacation, began turning pale again, Han Jiwoo, unable to endure, moved away from Ju Seongwon.
Despair seeped into Ju Seongwon’s face. If Han Jiwoo truly left like this, he was finished.
Han Jiwoo could say he tried to provide Guiding outside, but it was already too late. He had tried somehow, but the runaway had begun, so he had no choice but to escape. Who in the Association would doubt that?
Currently, it was obvious which the Association would choose between their only S-rank Guide and a replaceable S-rank Esper.
‘No, please no.’
Ju Seongwon thought he lived with the awareness that he could die at any time. But now that he was actually in a situation where he could die, he realized he didn’t want to die like this.
In a different situation, he wouldn’t have been so frightened. But after enduring that pain alone for what felt like an eternity of several tens of minutes, Ju Seongwon had no reason left.
“What, huhk, what should I, do…”
Finally facing someone he could communicate with, Han Jiwoo grinned and replied:
“Nothing much. Just change your attitude from now on, that’s what I mean. Make sure to engrave in your mind your position—that you’ll die without Guiding.”
That’s all Han Jiwoo wanted. For him to know his place and not dare to act arrogantly.
Even with his struggling mind, Ju Seongwon understood the hidden meaning and quickly nodded, despite his difficulty. There was no self-respect left to maintain.
“I understand, sob, so please, please give me Guiding…”
Like a candle with little wick left, Ju Seongwon’s life light gradually went out.
As if he no longer had the strength to lift his head, he kept his head bowed and continued with a weak, fumbling voice.
Having obtained submission, Han Jiwoo finally approached and extended his hand. The closer he got, the more his skin stung from the unstable wavelength, but that was nothing.
In fact, Han Jiwoo welcomed his flesh tearing from the pressure. The wounds, though not serious but noticeable, only emphasized his efforts.
Finally, Han Jiwoo took Ju Seongwon’s hand.
“Huhk!”
Unlike Hajin, Han Jiwoo didn’t know how to block Guiding, so he gasped as his Guiding flowed out the moment he grasped the hand. He felt a burden he had never experienced since taking the medication.
‘Am I, am I going to lose?’
Despite his Guiding being consumed frighteningly fast, like his blood was being drained, Han Jiwoo didn’t collapse. Instead, he stood more upright.
With bloodshot eyes, Han Jiwoo endured, and as soon as he confirmed that Ju Seongwon’s wavelength had returned and the index had dropped to a stable level, he let go of his hand as if throwing it away.
“Ah…!”
Ju Seongwon sighed in regret at losing Han Jiwoo’s hand. He still felt nothing from Han Jiwoo’s Guiding.
No satisfaction, no fulfillment, no emotion whatsoever. But to Ju Seongwon, who had endured alone during that hellish time, even that bland Guiding felt like sweet nectar.
His gaze followed Han Jiwoo’s fingertips as they moved away from him, returning to their owner. Past the arm, eventually reaching Han Jiwoo’s face.
Despite his pale face and nosebleed, Han Jiwoo was smiling with gleaming eyes.
‘I’m in trouble…’
He could tell instinctively. That he had run into this human scum. That despite knowing this fact, he would have no choice but to be used.
“If you’re fine now, get up. I’m drained from providing Guiding.”
That part seemed true, as Han Jiwoo staggered the moment Ju Seongwon got to his feet, then sat down on the spot like a puppet whose strings had been cut. If Ju Seongwon hadn’t caught him quickly, he would have fallen ungracefully.
“What are you doing? Not leaving.”
Though Ju Seongwon’s body was also in shambles from the aftermath of the near-runaway, he silently picked up Han Jiwoo and headed outside. It wasn’t that he suddenly felt affection for Han Jiwoo. What drove him was fear.
He was afraid Han Jiwoo wouldn’t provide Guiding if another runaway occurred.
Afraid of having to struggle alone again in that hellish pain, he moved without complaint at the command-like words.
As they left the isolation room and opened the door to the outside, Association employees gathered around, eyes wide.
Han Jiwoo had prevented the runaway of an S-rank Esper.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
