Chapter 9
Cha Jinwoo’s breathing remained steady, but his eyes were repeatedly tearing Seo Juan to pieces.
“What the hell, why is that bastard Seo Juan here?”
Just then, the Espers who had been clearing the area where Hajin had been targeted returned. Han Seungho, who entered first, discovered Seo Juan and immediately frowned deeply.
Even garbage scattered randomly on the street would look more pleasant than him. But Seo Juan paid no mind and waved with a smile.
“Hello, government dogs.”
“Well hello there, homeless trash. You’re not even worth being a stray.”
The exchange of vicious words continued. As Han Seungho, followed by Lee Doyoon and Baek Jaan, arrived and tried to surround Seo Juan, he raised both hands.
“Calm down. Today I just came to say hello.”
“We’ll never have to see each other again, so why bother with greetings?”
Lee Doyoon approached, clenching and unclenching his fist.
Despite being surrounded by three S-class Espers—assuming Cha Jinwoo couldn’t move because he had to protect Hajin—Seo Juan acted completely fearless.
“Ah, the master’s guard dogs are too scary, so I better go now. Honey, I’ll see you later.”
“This bastard! Who’s your ‘honey’?!”
Han Seungho shouted like lightning, but Seo Juan made a kissing sound with his lips and disappeared instantly. As if this happened often, the Alpha team clicked their tongues but made no attempt to chase him.
Hajin, who had suddenly become Seo Juan’s “honey,” felt uncomfortable and asked.
“Don’t you need to chase him?”
Lee Doyoon, who had turned around regretfully without landing a single hit, answered.
“Once that rat-like bastard runs away, we can’t chase him. Despite his status, he’s an S-class who can jump across countries in a single move.”
Though this wasn’t the time to think about it, Hajin thought that was quite an enviable ability.
Cha Jinwoo also seemed regretful about letting him escape, but he quickly masked his expression and asked his team members.
“Did you subdue all the KEs remnants?”
“Yeah. We captured the ones that seemed powerful, so they should handle the small fry themselves.”
At the news that the situation was resolved, Hajin gently tapped Cha Jinwoo’s hands. He was finally feeling embarrassed about being cradled like this.
Cha Jinwoo, though reluctant, carefully set Hajin down. Hajin felt awkward at the cautious touch, as if handling a fragile glass sculpture.
“I apologize for involving you in this. I should have been more vigilant of our surroundings.”
Cha Jinwoo bowed his head, genuinely apologetic. Hajin shook his head.
The problem was the people who deliberately attacked, not him. Why should he apologize? Terrorism isn’t something you can avoid just by being prepared.
The only sad thing was the near-certainty that he would face countless similar incidents in the future.
“I was the one who headed to the rooftop, and if not for Cha Jinwoo-ssi, I would have been riddled with bullets. I should be the one thanking you.”
When Hajin bowed, Cha Jinwoo was flustered. It was obvious from the way he wanted to lift Hajin up but couldn’t bring himself to touch him, grasping at empty air instead.
“What’s this? The captain’s got it good? You make us deal with the leftovers while you monopolize the Guide?”
‘The blonde one, Han Seungho, was it?’
Han Seungho, who had been acting like a hooligan picking fights with couples on the street, flinched when Hajin’s gaze turned toward him and froze in place.
Judging by how Cha Jinwoo didn’t snap at him, this seemed to be his usual personality.
For Hajin, it was an unfamiliar character, so he stared curiously for a moment, but the longer he stared, the redder Han Seungho’s face became.
“What, why, why?”
Acting like a thug one moment and then blushing at a single glance the next. How innocent.
Hajin turned his gaze away just before Han Seungho’s face was about to explode from redness.
When the Guide’s gaze moved elsewhere, Han Seungho finally exhaled deeply, but part of him wanted to recapture that attention.
However, before he could even try, Baek Jaan spoke first.
“Um, do you remember me?”
Baek Jaan, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Hajin since Seo Juan disappeared, approached him subtly.
He had been staring almost heatedly at Hajin when Hajin wasn’t looking, but when Hajin’s gaze finally turned to him, he couldn’t meet his eyes and bowed his head.
“Of course. Are you feeling better?”
The last time he saw him, he looked like a corpse, and Hajin had worried whether he would die even with Guiding, but fortunately he seemed fine now.
He opened his eyes wide when Hajin asked after his well-being. Then, his eyebrows drooped, and tears welled up in his eyes.
“A-aren’t you afraid of me? I heard you were almost hurt because of my power surge.”
“Wow, that fox bastard…”
Han Seungho muttered quietly, but it was so soft that it didn’t reach Hajin’s ears. Hajin just continued to build up his misunderstanding that despite being strong, Baek Jaan was still a young man.
“More than that… I felt sorry for you.”
He wasn’t sure if he should say this, but yes, Hajin did feel sorry for him. More precisely, he felt sorry for Espers as a whole.
What good was it to touch the sky and overturn the earth? They had to live with pain that Hajin couldn’t even imagine. He wouldn’t want such power even if offered.
“You felt sorry… for me?”
Not just Baek Jaan, but all the Espers present were momentarily speechless at this sympathy they had never received before.
‘Is it because he’s a Guide?’
Who would dare sympathize with S-class Espers who use extraordinary abilities to hold and manipulate the world in their hands?
If someone else had said such things, they would have scoffed and ridiculed them, but if it was Hajin, the story was different.
He wasn’t just anyone—he was the Guide who had given them their first taste of sweet rest. Nothing he said could sound offensive.
Amid the bewildered group, Baek Jaan’s eyes shone.
‘If you feel sorry for me, then feel even sorrier.’
He was ready to become even more pitiful if Hajin felt sorry for him. He couldn’t help it.
While all four of them had received Hajin’s Guiding, perhaps none felt its significance as deeply as Baek Jaan.
He remembered the energy that had washed over him like a spring breeze at the moment of his power surge, when he could neither see, hear, nor feel anything.
That indescribable sensation from the touch of fingers when he thought he would be trapped in this moment of agony forever, unable to die.
If he hadn’t fallen asleep, Baek Jaan would probably have kidnapped Hajin right then and hidden him away somewhere without people. This wasn’t a metaphor or exaggeration—it was sincere.
Of course, he still harbored such thoughts. He was just behaving now because he knew it was impossible at the moment.
The most important thing now was to keep Hajin by his side somehow. If he could gain Hajin through sympathy, it was a small price to pay.
‘If that’s all it takes, I can become an obedient dog anytime.’
Meanwhile, Hajin felt bewildered by their reactions—as if he’d struck them for the first time—to his simple expression of sympathy, wondering if he had said something wrong.
But what could he do about feeling sorry for them?
Unexpectedly stubborn, Hajin never retracted his words unless he had actually done something wrong.
“This might offend you, but that’s what I think. You’re in pain, aren’t you?”
The three men, except for Baek Jaan who had already decided to become a dog wagging its tail, felt awkward at this observation that no one had ever considered.
On behalf of his teammates who were slow to grasp the situation, Baek Jaan spoke to Hajin.
“Then please come with us. Please become our Guide.”
‘I don’t want to share Hajin-ssi, but for now, let’s at least keep him close like this.’
“Hmm…”
Hajin hesitated, as if this was a separate issue. But Baek Jaan didn’t give up. He wouldn’t back down from such a mild response.
Perhaps he might have before he knew what hunger was, but now he had tasted Hajin’s Guiding. Now he couldn’t imagine life without him.
“Other factions already know your identity. If you’re alone, something like this could happen anytime.”
Han Seungho, who had understood Baek Jaan’s intention, joined in.
“Not ‘anytime’—you’ll be kidnapped as soon as we leave! Anti-government guys might at least treat a Guide with respect. But if it’s KEs, then just…”
He meant to say “you’ll die,” but found it uncomfortable to mention Hajin’s death even hypothetically, so he trailed off.
‘They’re completely infatuated.’
Who knew they would become like this from just one Guiding session?
Han Seungho was self-deprecating, but he didn’t feel too bad. In fact, he felt superior to other S-class Espers for having experienced Hajin’s Guiding even once.
That’s exactly why they were infatuated.
“So just take our hands.”
In the end, he didn’t say it as a command to take his hand. How could he? He was in a position of begging, feeling like his heart would tear apart at one word of refusal.
“Huu…”
Hajin sighed as he looked down at the extended hand. Han Seungho’s hand, which had pretended to be calm, trembled slightly.
Thinking coldly, their words were right a hundred times over. He had tried to hide his identity in his own way, but it hadn’t lasted even a week, and he had already faced a life-threatening situation once.
It wasn’t just about his own safety. If it had been, he would have tried to endure as long as possible according to his stubbornness.
But they were violent organizations that not only targeted Hajin’s life but could also harm those around him and ordinary citizens.
He couldn’t let others get hurt or killed because of his stubbornness.
‘Hajin, you must live well. Never reveal that power. Live ordinarily, like everyone else.’
Though it felt like an auditory hallucination of his father’s voice, Hajin eventually took the extended hand. Live ordinarily, just like everyone else.
‘That’s why I’m going with them, Father.’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
To target him on the same day, there must be anti government and ke spies in government