Chapter 99
“How are you feeling? Are you okay?”
Gitae, who was asking me this, had a long scar crossing his eyebrow. Since he was fine before entering the Regular dungeon, I concluded he must have been injured afterward.
“I’m fine. But what about you? Were you injured in the Regular dungeon?”
“Just got grazed when we were taking down the boss mob. Makes me look more manly and cool, doesn’t it?”
I wasn’t inexperienced enough to just nod along with Gitae’s playful smile. The higher an Esper’s grade, the more superior their physical recovery ability. Yet the fact that such a scar remained meant he must have been seriously injured at the time.
“Song-i, are you okay? No injuries?”
“Of course. Who do you think I am? Are you really okay now, oppa?”
Other team members also came in succession to ask about my well-being, and I looked each one in the eye and answered sincerely. There might still be losses or damages I wasn’t aware of, but I naturally felt grateful just to be alive and seeing their faces again.
—
The atmosphere in the office was so welcoming and pleasant that, contrary to my initial plan of just checking in with the team members, I naturally wanted to sit at my desk.
But ultimately, I had to turn back without even reaching my desk. Song Ji-hyeok, with uncanny perceptiveness, pushed my back toward the door, saying “Let’s go now.”
Probably the other team members wouldn’t have been different. Especially Kim Young-joo—if she had been there, she would have glared at me, insisting I should rest more while I could.
Anyway, thanks to that, I rested at home all day and officially returned to work the next morning. There were more people in the office than yesterday. After warmly embracing them and sharing our feelings, I was able to sit at my desk for the first time in three long weeks.
Another difference from yesterday was that Song Ji-hyeok wasn’t beside me. To be precise, we came to work together, but as soon as we arrived at the Guild, he joined a pre-assigned dungeon raid team.
Ding-
My device on the desk made a sound. As if secretly monitoring my thoughts, a message came from Song Ji-hyeok.
[What are you doing?]
[Texting with you lol]
[ㅡㅡ]
[I should start working now]
[Don’t overdo it and leave early if you don’t feel well]
[got it~]
I couldn’t help but smile as I typed the letters. Is this the bond shared between pairs? It’s sweeter than a chocolate bar.
[You be careful too, don’t get hurt]
After sending my reply, I gripped the computer mouse. Having been away for quite some time, I had a lot of work to do.
The top priority was undoubtedly accessing the Guild’s information program. The unread list was enormous. Including about twenty reports related to the Regular dungeon, there were updates spanning over three pages.
‘I hit the jackpot with work.’
It would take several more days to properly analyze and understand everything, but I was still in a state of gratitude for life. Thinking positively that being able to return like this was already a blessing, I clicked on the first report covering the battle in the Regular dungeon.
—
Working busily, lunchtime quickly arrived. Gitae offered to buy me something delicious, but since I still needed to be careful with food, I had porridge delivered to the office.
Thanks to Kim Young-joo, who volunteered to be my meal mate, mealtime wasn’t lonely. We took the porridge bag, which arrived exactly on time, and moved to the break room.
The scene in the break room, which I had taken for granted, was equally welcoming. However, there was no time to dwell on sentiment for long. Kim Young-joo, claiming to be hungry, toughly tore open the container lid and ripped apart the plastic disposables, then immediately handed me a spoon first.
Conversation didn’t cease even during the meal. Starting with talk about a currently popular actor, news that had accumulated in the Guild overnight also flowed continuously from Kim Young-joo’s mouth.
Indeed, this is why she’s called the best informant in Team 3. While I was blowing on my porridge with newfound admiration, Kim Young-joo suddenly began speaking as if she had just remembered something.
“Oh, by the way, I have something to ask you.”
“What is it? Tell me.”
“My high school junior works as a nurse in the inpatient ward. And she told me that on the night you woke up, Song Ji-hyeok bought chicken for the nurses and slept with you in the hospital room. Is that even possible?”
Hearing those words, two thoughts came to my mind. One was, ‘I already knew she had a wide network, but to think she even has connections with inpatient ward nurses, that’s really impressive.’ The other was, ‘Actually, the chicken was bought for me to eat.’
Anyway, since there was nothing factually incorrect, I simply admitted it without arguing.
“That’s right.”
For some reason, Kim Young-joo made a shocked expression.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“You slept together in the hospital room? And embraced each other on the same bed?”
When the doctor and nurses came for morning rounds, Song Ji-hyeok was indeed holding me. But that was because I had turned into his body pillow while sleeping… Wait, is it okay to spread rumors about a patient’s privacy?
“All pairs do that, I heard.”
“All pairs do what?”
“When one of the pair loses consciousness and then wakes up, they stay by their side from then on…”
“Who told you that?”
“Ji-hyeok did.”
At that, one corner of Kim Young-joo’s mouth turned up skeptically. Her expression suggested she was trying to understand what I had just said. Eventually, as if she had figured it out, she smiled with her eyebrows forming the character ‘八’ and shrugged.
“Our Su-hyeon, still has that childlike innocence.”
“What do you mean?”
“If someone has lost consciousness and then woken up, they should absolutely be resting. And visiting a hospital room or even sleeping there is entirely based on personal will.”
Kim Young-joo spoke in a very assertive tone. But I had my own point to make.
“Ji-hyeok said the team leader told him to do so…”
“Yeah. I’ll bet 500 won that he used the team leader’s name for his own benefit.”
Her confident manner caused a slight disturbance in me. Did Ji-hyeok really use the team leader’s name just to stay in the hospital room with me?
“The corner of your mouth is going crazy?”
“No, it’s not.”
I immediately denied her teasing, but as she said, I could feel the corner of my mouth twitching. Instead of teasing me further, Kim Young-joo continued with thoughts similar to mine.
“I think Ji-hyeok finally realized the reality when you got hurt this time. That while a Guide can live without an Esper, an Esper is in big trouble without one. He’s going to be on edge from now on.”
“We’re already a pair anyway.”
“That’s exactly why it’s a bigger deal for him. He’s realized that receiving guiding whenever he wants is definitely not a given.”
…Is that how it works?
“It’s a golden opportunity to get back at him for looking down on you initially, but you’re not that type of person… Now that Ji-hyeok has properly come to his senses, all that’s left is for you two to become more sticky—I mean, more tightly bonded.”
I decided to pretend I didn’t hear the true feelings that slipped out. The subsequent conversation naturally focused on my relationship with Song Ji-hyeok. Kim Young-joo excitedly suggested “At this rate, you might even form an imprint soon,” but my heart wasn’t so comfortable hearing those words.
The reason was the test results I had confirmed the day before yesterday. Although a retest was scheduled for tomorrow, to be really honest, I didn’t expect the results to improve dramatically in just three days.
But I couldn’t tell Kim Young-joo. She must have been more worried than anyone while I was unconscious, and I didn’t want to add to her concerns just a few days later.
‘Besides… there could be a reversal.’
Hoping deeply that would be the case, I continued my meal.
—
We planned to have coffee at the cafe on the first floor, but we couldn’t follow through. As we were leaving the break room, Kim Young-joo received an urgent guiding request.
“Sorry. Let’s have coffee together later.”
“It’s fine, go quickly.”
Kim Young-joo gave me an apologetic look and quickly disappeared. Left alone, I checked my wristwatch.
Despite leisurely eating lunch, there were still about 30 minutes left in the lunch break. Thinking I’d be sitting continuously until the end of the day if I returned to the office, I decided to go up to the rooftop for some fresh air.
I chose the stairs instead of the elevator. Since I still couldn’t use the physical training room or skill training center, I needed to gradually recover my stamina through daily exercise.
Just as I was about to quicken my pace, contrary to my intention, I hesitated and stopped. A few people had just appeared from around the corner of the corridor. They were all Guides from Team 6.
Choi Young-sun was among the group. It was the first time seeing her face since returning from the Regular dungeon.
She also seemed to momentarily hesitate upon noticing me.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
