# Chapter 88
“Let’s go straight to the next location.”
“Are you sure you don’t need to rest? You just provided Guiding to a rampaging Esper…”
Ha Sungjin couldn’t forget Han Jiwoo’s pale face and nosebleed after providing Guiding to Ju Seongwon.
Of course, Han Jiwoo had raised his rank through drugs, but still, wasn’t he S-rank? Ha Sungjin worried he might see the same with Hajin.
However, Hajin was puzzled by Ha Sungjin’s reaction and tilted his head. He then touched his face, wondering if he looked unwell, and asked:
“Do I look tired? I don’t feel particularly so.”
Seeing Hajin, who would have checked a mirror immediately if one had been available, Ha Sungjin waved his hands.
“No, no. That’s not it.”
Tired? He looked perfectly energetic, making it hard to believe he’d just provided Guiding to a rampaging Esper. Ha Sungjin had heard legends about Hajin providing Guiding to all of Alpha Team, but seeing him completely fine with his own eyes was astonishing.
“Hyung, at times like this, you should pretend to be tired to get what you can.”
Lee Doyoon chimed in with unsolicited advice. Ha Sungjin was alarmed at this attempt to corrupt Hajin.
But given who he was dealing with, he couldn’t intervene and could only nervously chew the inside of his cheek. Fortunately, Hajin ignored Doyoon’s words and spoke:
“Then let’s quickly move to the next location. How many Espers are currently rampaging?”
At Hajin’s question, Ha Sungjin inwardly sighed with relief as he turned on the tablet PC he had been carrying.
“Currently, there are 5 Espers in a rampaging state, excluding Choi Heejun whose treatment is complete, and 4 showing early signs. All 9 frequently received Guiding from Guide Han Jiwoo. They’re also powerful Espers.”
The stronger an Esper, the more desperate their need for a Guide. This is because it’s difficult for them to find a Guide with matching resonance.
There are occasional cases of lower-ranked Espers finding compatible Guides, but the odds were lower than winning consecutive lottery jackpots.
Because of this, when Han Jiwoo became S-rank, these Espers eagerly sought his Guiding, which now made Hajin’s Guiding urgent.
Hajin swallowed a sigh. Han Jiwoo surfaced in his thoughts, but he pushed him back down. Right now, there were too many things that needed immediate attention. It was time to focus on them.
“Let’s go to the closest one.”
“Yes.”
* * *
“Haaah…”
Hajin massaged his shoulder that had been gripped tightly. Why did the strongest one have to be the furthest away and visited last? What was frightening was that this was the Esper’s controlled strength.
If the Esper hadn’t regulated his power, Hajin’s shoulder wouldn’t just have been crushed—it would have been torn off completely. The thought sent shivers down his spine, and he quickly shook off the gruesome image.
“Mmm…”
Despite trying not to, Hajin let out sighs and groans as he sat down right there. He had addressed the most urgent cases with Guiding, stabilizing their resonances and removing drugs through mucosal Guiding.
After providing Guiding to about ten people without rest, even Hajin couldn’t help feeling tired. Understandably so—he had repeated the process ten times: calming agitated Espers with radiative Guiding, then providing mucosal contact Guiding.
If Hajin hadn’t been of immeasurable rank, if his Guiding capacity wasn’t unfathomable, he would have collapsed long ago.
‘How much time has passed…?’
Judging by his tired eyes, it must have been well into the night. Hajin laughed wryly at the thought that he had only just put out the most urgent fires despite the considerable time spent.
‘Should I say I’ll do the rest tomorrow…?’
The thought crossed his mind momentarily, but he shook his head and stood up.
Though his thoughts were sluggish from fatigue, this was simply due to providing Guiding until late, not because there was anything wrong with his body.
“Let’s finish it all at once.”
Not only was there no point in dragging it out, but he also wasn’t confident that Alpha Team would tolerate him helping other Espers a second time.
‘They definitely wouldn’t let me.’
Even Lee Doyoon, who had accompanied him, had been pouting each time Hajin returned from providing Guiding to someone.
Thinking about having to placate him again, a bit of tiredness seemed bearable in comparison. Besides, the remaining Espers only needed mucosal Guiding, so there was no need to visit them individually.
“Oof.”
After getting up and stretching his arms upward, Hajin turned toward the exit. His steps felt lighter, perhaps because he had extinguished the most urgent fires.
“You’ve worked hard.”
Ha Sungjin no longer looked at Hajin with anxious eyes checking his condition. It was difficult to worry about a Guide who remained perfectly fine after preventing the rampage of ten Espers.
Still, having already been disciplined for being careless, he did check Hajin’s physical state out of obligation. His gait was steady, his gaze clear, and he wasn’t staggering.
‘So this is a real S-rank Guide.’
More precisely, he was of immeasurable rank, but publicly his rank was S, which led to these kinds of misunderstandings about S-rank Guides.
Unable to read Ha Sungjin’s thoughts, Hajin decided to use a method he couldn’t use with rampaging Espers.
“Could you gather the remaining Espers who need treatment in one place?”
“What? Ah, right, there’s no need for Guide Lee Hajin to visit them individually now. Understood. I’ll prepare a room in the research wing. Let’s head there.”
After getting into the driver’s seat, Ha Sungjin made a few brief calls before guiding Hajin to an empty room upon reaching the research wing.
“It will take some time for all the Espers to gather, so I think it would be good for Guide Lee Hajin to rest for a while.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Having no reason to refuse rest, Hajin gratefully sat on the sofa. The plush sofa comfortably enveloped his body.
“If you’re tired, hyung, you can sleep for a bit.”
Lee Doyoon whispered temptingly, but Hajin shook his head.
“I can’t do that after calling them.”
“If you called them, they should be willing to wait even until morning.”
Hearing Doyoon’s grumbling, Hajin slightly relaxed his body and leaned comfortably against the sofa. Perhaps due to the physical comfort, his eyes began to droop.
‘What time is it now…?’
Wondering what time it was that made him sleepy already, he checked the clock on the wall with half-closed eyes and found it was already past midnight.
‘Wait, did I summon the Espers at this hour?’
Suddenly wide awake, Hajin leaned forward, groaning and rubbing his dry face with his hands. He felt like he’d unintentionally abused his authority.
Of course, as Doyoon had said, the Espers would wait until morning for Guiding, but Hajin, who had dismissed Doyoon’s words as exaggeration, didn’t know this.
Moreover, hadn’t he lived pursuing ordinary ways of thinking for decades? But from a common-sense perspective, wasn’t it strange to summon people in the middle of the night?
“What’s wrong? Is there a problem? Should we go home? I can tell them you can’t do it.”
When Hajin, who had seemed about to fall asleep, suddenly rubbed his face and groaned, Lee Doyoon leaned in.
Before hearing an answer, Hajin caught Doyoon’s hand as he stood up to find Ha Sungjin, and made him sit down again.
“I’m just trying to wake myself up. So stay put.”
With Hajin giving him no opening, Doyoon made a “tch” sound and sat back down next to him.
‘Forget it. I can apologize later.’
Hajin, having made a mistake he wouldn’t normally make, clicked his tongue softly and drank the water Ha Sungjin had left. He had thought about resting his eyes a bit, but he needed to maintain his clarity of mind, let alone sleep.
After driving away drowsiness with cold water and finishing some stretches by twisting his body in various ways, there was a knock, and Ha Sungjin opened the door.
“Guide Lee Hajin, preparations are complete.”
“Thank you. Lee Doyoon-ssi, please wait here. I’ll be back shortly.”
Since Hajin didn’t want to show himself providing Guiding to others, Doyoon agreed to wait obediently this time too.
In truth, he desperately wanted to follow and make sure the others didn’t try anything untoward, but understanding Hajin’s intention to leave him behind, he restrained himself.
Waving goodbye to Doyoon, Hajin followed Ha Sungjin’s guidance to a room where the Espers were gathered. There seemed to be slightly more than the number of rampaging Espers.
More than ten pairs of eyes turned toward Hajin simultaneously.
While Hajin himself was unfazed, Ha Sungjin needlessly flinched and shrank his shoulders. Then, seemingly embarrassed by his reaction, he cleared his throat and stepped back.
“W-well then, Guide Lee Hajin. Please call me when the Guiding is complete.”
“Yes.”
The Espers gathered here didn’t necessarily require Ha Sungjin to leave, but seeing his face turning red out of embarrassment, Hajin readily let him go.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
