# Chapter 61
It was truly a situation where cursing was inevitable.
“Fuck, seriously……”
His body was no longer in any condition to perform Guiding or anything else, but if he didn’t do it now, it would come back as an even bigger burden later, so he couldn’t back out anymore.
In the end, he had to follow the Association employee out.
“After this is done, don’t come looking for me for a few days. I’m already exhausted from Guiding that rampaging Esper yesterday.”
“What? Are you talking about Esper Ju Seongwon? Wasn’t Ju Seongwon at risk of going berserk? And it wasn’t yesterday but two days ago……”
At the employee’s words, Han Jiwoo closed his mouth. Two days ago? That meant he had been unconscious for two whole days. Han Jiwoo couldn’t help but stay silent, realizing the situation was more serious than he’d thought.
The employee, seeing Han Jiwoo fall silent, didn’t know what to say either and just focused on driving. The vehicle sped quickly to their destination.
Unlike his initial reluctance, Han Jiwoo now moved with urgent steps, needing to assess the situation with his own eyes.
“Guide Han Jiwoo! This way.”
Fortunately, the atmosphere wasn’t too chaotic. Han Jiwoo swallowed a sigh of relief as he followed behind the employee.
Like with Ju Seongwon, the Esper was in an isolation room as a precaution against any unexpected situations.
“Then I’ll leave Guide Han Jiwoo to it.”
“Yes.”
Han Jiwoo entered the isolation room, leaving the employee behind. For the first time, he felt nervous before performing Guiding. His physical condition wasn’t good.
Even though this wasn’t a rampaging Esper, he had a strong premonition that if he performed even slightly intense Guiding on an S-rank Esper, he would end up with another nosebleed.
‘Just a little, really just a little is all I’ll do.’
If there was one thing he was more confident in than anyone else, it was controlling Guiding. Even someone as capable as Hajin would be worse than Han Jiwoo when it came to controlling Guiding.
“Oh, you’re here? Try some Guiding.”
He was about to frown at the nonchalant tone when Park Incheol, who had been sitting with his arms resting on his knees and head lowered, continued with a deep exhale.
“Something’s wrong. I’ve never felt like this before—my head is dizzy and my vision is wavering.”
Han Jiwoo unconsciously swallowed a short, surprised breath and glanced at Park Incheol. In his momentary surprise, he had made a gesture as if he knew something.
However, fortunately for Han Jiwoo, Park Incheol wasn’t feeling well enough to notice Han Jiwoo’s small reaction.
‘These are exactly the same symptoms as mine…’
It couldn’t be considered a coincidence. Han Jiwoo’s mind went completely blank.
He could tell there was a problem, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was causing it.
That fact frightened Han Jiwoo. He needed to understand what was happening to deal with it, but in the current situation, problems were arising without giving him time to respond.
“Aren’t you going to do the Guiding? *cough* I might look fine, but I’m not in good shape right now. So please help me out.”
Han Jiwoo, who had been standing still with a pale face, came to his senses at the voice calling him. He needed to perform Guiding before the situation got worse.
After shaking his head once to clear it, Han Jiwoo stood in front of Park Incheol.
“I’ll handle the Guiding myself, so don’t touch my body. If you forcibly try to take over the Guiding, I’ll never Guid you again.”
In normal circumstances, Han Jiwoo would have pretended to be calm until this moment, but consecutive situations beyond his control had made him extremely sensitive.
“Alright, just hurry…”
Regardless of Han Jiwoo’s warning, Park Incheol just wanted to escape from this terrible feeling of someone reaching into his head, kneading and shaking his brain.
“Huu…”
Han Jiwoo placed his fingertips on the white-knuckled fist that Park Incheol was clenching. He positioned himself so that he could pull away at any moment if Park Incheol tried to touch his body.
Contrary to his expectation that Park Incheol’s hand would be hot, it was cold. Startled by the ice-cold temperature, Han Jiwoo quickly set aside his concern and concentrated on producing the lightest possible Guiding.
If they could have seen it with their eyes, they might have witnessed Guiding as thin as a silk thread seeping into Park Incheol’s body, but unfortunately, none of them had the luxury to pay attention to such things.
Han Jiwoo carefully performed Guiding while checking the levels on the device on Park Incheol’s wrist, and as soon as the readings moved out of the danger zone, he removed his hand.
Even though the amount of Guiding he had performed was minuscule compared to usual, his breathing was rough.
“Haa, you should be fine now, so I’m leaving.”
Park Incheol, whose expression had relaxed somewhat after receiving the Guiding, raised his head in surprise.
“You’re done already? It’s not even in the stable zone yet?”
“Isn’t it enough that you’re out of the danger zone? Take medicine for the rest.”
At the sharp retort, Park Incheol furrowed his brow. However, before he could respond, Han Jiwoo had already left the isolation room. Park Incheol’s reaction didn’t matter to him.
What he needed now was rest.
He wasn’t feeling well, like he was holding a balloon filled to its limit.
Han Jiwoo decided that he would not perform any Guiding for at least a few days and would just rest in his quarters.
After passing through the corridor connected to the isolation room and opening the door to exit, the employee who had been waiting for Han Jiwoo the whole time greeted him.
“Did it go well?”
“I just got him out of the danger zone, so please prescribe him medicine for the rest.”
“Won’t Guide Han Jiwoo finish the Guiding?”
At the employee’s words, Han Jiwoo suppressed the urge to shout madly.
Had this idiot forgotten that he had Guided a rampaging Esper just two days ago?
Han Jiwoo, who had even been unconscious for a day after that, wanted to punch the employee’s cheek for speaking as if it wasn’t his concern.
However, he couldn’t afford to be on bad terms with Association employees yet, unless they were Espers whose weaknesses he could exploit. Especially not in an uncertain situation like now, where a bomb could go off at any moment.
“I’m still not fully recovered from the fatigue of Guiding Esper Ju Seongwon two days ago. I’d like to rest for a while.”
Though he held back his anger, he couldn’t prevent his words from coming out coldly. Only after Han Jiwoo directly mentioned what happened two days ago did the employee understand the situation and nodded.
“I was thoughtless. I’ll make arrangements so you can rest for a while.”
Since that statement was at least agreeable, Han Jiwoo nodded and got back into the vehicle that had brought him. The employee left behind tilted his head as he watched the departing vehicle.
“That’s strange. Guide Lee Hajin was reportedly fine even after putting the Alpha Team to sleep.”
Hajin, who was unaware of rumors, didn’t know about it, but on the day he had put the Alpha Team to sleep with Guiding and quietly disappeared, the Association had been in an uproar.
A Guide who walked out on his own after putting to sleep three Espers on the verge of rampaging and one who had already gone berserk?
After Hajin’s rank was revealed, everyone came to understand that such feats were possible for an S-rank Guide. So it was confusing that Han Jiwoo, who was also an S-rank, was struggling after Guiding a rampaging Esper.
The employee considered whether to report this or not, but eventually shook his head.
With only two people to compare, it would be a hasty judgment, and if Han Jiwoo found out, it could be serious trouble.
There was no one in the Association with more power than high-ranking Guides, so it was natural to be cautious.
* * *
Puppy woke up after sleeping for exactly 24 hours.
He had been anxious about what would happen if a call came while he was asleep, but fortunately, whether Choi Jihyung had taken some measures or not, there were no calls or visits during that time.
After blankly recalling what had happened to him with a dazed expression, Puppy suddenly came to his senses and rushed out to stand in front of Hajin’s room.
Unlike usual, the door was firmly closed. When he knocked firmly, Hajin’s voice came from inside.
“Who is it?”
Puppy found it amazing that he could feel this way just from hearing the voice. It felt like being wrapped in the softest cloth in the world. It was so good that it gave him goosebumps.
Swallowing at the pleasant shiver that ran down his spine, Puppy answered.
“It’s me.”
However, contrary to his expectation that the door would open, there was no response from Hajin.
“Huh? Why aren’t you answering? Did something happen?!”
Realistically, such a thing couldn’t have happened, but Puppy couldn’t think rationally. Even though it was just his own judgment, he felt anxious at the thought that something might have happened to Hajin.
“I’m coming in!”
With the thought that if anyone tried to take Hajin from him, he would tear them apart, Puppy raised his fist. However, before that solid fist could strike the door, Hajin’s voice intervened.
“Nothing’s wrong, so don’t come in.”
Hajin’s voice was no different than usual, but Puppy, unable to see his face, still couldn’t help feeling anxious.
“Can’t you show me your face? Why is the door closed?”
Inside the room, Hajin felt like he was losing his mind at those words. Was he really asking because he didn’t know? Hajin wasn’t sure whether to call such a reaction shameless or stupid.
“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”
“Huh? Of course. Did I do something wrong?”
Hajin was truly fed up. He wasn’t being shameless; he genuinely didn’t think what he’d done was wrong.
If he had been shameless, Hajin would have at least cursed at him, but when he seemed to really not understand, it made Hajin feel like the fool for getting angry and cursing.
Faced with this unimaginable lack of tact, Hajin just wanted to ignore Puppy, but if he closed his mouth again, Puppy would undoubtedly tear down the door and barge in before he could stop him.
Repeating the character for “patience” countless times in his mind, he explained.
“Didn’t you force a kiss on me?”
“Oh, that.”
Despite the explanation, his continued lack of remorse made Hajin’s anger rise again. At this point, he wondered if Puppy was deliberately trying to anger him and draw him out.
“Didn’t you like it? I enjoyed it.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
