104
This is driving me crazy.
Siwoo’s left chest pounded at the sight of the red eyes glowing in the darkness. In fact, it would have been enough to make anyone’s heart leap, regardless of who it was. But the fact that it was Geonho made his heart sink even more.
“Ah…! Hey!”
Jihan, still unaware that Geonho had woken up, rubbed his nose against Siwoo’s chest. Spreading his still-excited breath, he even touched the slightly protruding area with his lips.
“Stop it!”
Siwoo pushed away the shoulder of the guy who couldn’t grasp the situation. Jihan was pushed back so far that his entire body lifted off. It wasn’t a strength Siwoo could have exerted.
“I said stop.”
Geonho’s voice, just woken from sleep, echoed slowly. His already low voice, now deeper, sounded even more similar to the leader’s. For a moment, Siwoo thought the leader had arrived.
“Oh, Geonho, you’re up?”
Jihan casually straightened his clothes. He smiled nonchalantly as if he and Siwoo had just been wrestling on the bed. His shamelessness was beyond measure. What an incredible guy.
“Are you okay?”
Geonho pulled up the blanket to cover Siwoo’s body. He treated Jihan like air, not even sparing him a glance as if he couldn’t see him.
Siwoo had expected him to make a fuss. Surprisingly, Geonho didn’t raise his voice. He checked on Siwoo with an uncharacteristically calm attitude.
“Should I call a doctor? Or not?”
Geonho’s large hand covered Siwoo’s forehead, which had become hot. Since his own body temperature was high, he couldn’t tell how high Siwoo’s fever was.
Siwoo shook his head while hiding his body under the blanket. He should say something, but his lips were sealed, unfamiliar with Geonho’s reaction. He was just mortified beyond words.
How long had he been awake?
His ears turned bright red, wondering if Geonho had seen him grabbing and shaking Jihan’s lower body. Ironically, the person who should be most embarrassed was Jihan, but he just got up from the bed, making a sound like “Heave-ho.”
Jihan seemed very light on his feet. Of course he would be. He had received intense guiding.
“Hey, Kang Geonho…”
Seeing that Jihan didn’t seem like he was going to explain, Siwoo forced himself to speak. He wanted to say that they weren’t doing anything indecent, but that he was trying to lower Jihan’s wavelength.
“So, this… I first, his wavelength…”
However, his words got tangled due to his embarrassment-addled mind. He should just explain it as it was, but the words wouldn’t come out as he wanted.
“It’s fine.”
Geonho, who had been staring intently at Siwoo’s flushed face as he stammered, lightly tapped the pillow. It was a gesture telling him to lie down properly.
“You were guiding, right?”
Siwoo looked at Geonho’s calmly settled eyes with a dazed expression. It was clearly the Kang Geonho he knew, but he felt like a completely different person.
“Isn’t that right?”
Siwoo, who had been stunned, finally nodded in agreement. He was relieved that Geonho didn’t raise his voice. He had thought Geonho would get angry, asking what they were doing. Since they had done such a thing in front of him while he was sleeping, he wouldn’t have had anything to say if Geonho had gotten angry.
No, wait. It was just guiding. There’s nothing to be scolded for, right?
Siwoo was confused, unable to distinguish between an indecent act and guiding. While he was mulling over this question in his mind, Jihan, who was between them, gestured to Geonho with his chin.
“Let’s go now. The Guide needs to rest.”
Geonho got up from the bed without a word. He was behaving so docilely that it seemed strange, as if he had eaten something wrong.
However, Jihan could see it. Siwoo couldn’t because it was dark, but Jihan, with his eyesight superior to animals, noticed the veins bulging under Geonho’s jaw. He could clearly sense that Geonho was suppressing his anger.
“They said if you press this, a nurse will come right away. If anything happens, press it immediately.”
Geonho showed Siwoo the location of the nurse call button while taking out various snacks from his pocket. It seemed he had prepared them to give to Siwoo.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
Siwoo said he was fine, looking at the candies and snacks piling up at his bedside. He had no appetite due to exhaustion.
“By the way, Guide, where’s your phone?”
Jihan, who had turned off his pager that had started ringing again, joined the conversation. Siwoo pursed his lips, remembering his latest phone that had been broken in two by the leader’s hand. It was the one Jihan had just bought for him.
“…I lost it.”
He gave a short answer and quickly closed his eyes. If he continued the conversation, he felt like he might end up telling everything about the leader.
Kang Taebeom, collapsed and coughing up blood. He had told Siwoo not to tell anyone about his condition.
Jihan stared blankly at Siwoo’s back as he turned away. Then Geonho, with his hands in his pockets, trudged over.
“Let’s go.”
His expression was completely different from when he was dealing with Siwoo. It was the typical expression everyone knew Geonho for.
* * *
The Esper who had finished the briefing took his seat. He was the Esper in charge of the area where the beastkin outburst incident had occurred.
So far, there had been a total of three outbreaks. All of them lost their rationality, showed symptoms of seizures, and simultaneously led to rampages.
They were all users of offensive abilities, and they shared the commonality of being mammalian beastkin. Moreover, except for the wolf beastkin, both were leader-class Espers from high-ranking guilds.
“Even though Esper Kang Jaeryun, the wolf beastkin, is low-ranked, he’s a multi-ability user.”
He was a person skilled enough to play an ace role within the guild. In other words, he had more energy than ordinary Espers.
“All three of them normally used their abilities frequently and had aggressive combat tendencies.”
“Their wavelength levels just before the outburst were within the stable range, but relatively above average. That’s characteristic of mammalian beastkin.”
“How many Espers aren’t like that? More than half of all Espers are offensive ability users.”
The cold atmosphere in the conference room gradually sharpened. As the discussion progressed, everyone’s expressions hardened. Especially the beastkin Espers’ voices grew louder.
“Aren’t most Espers deployed in the field heavy ability users with rough combat styles?”
“There are differences in degree.”
Kwak Seokjin, the head of the Seowol Guild, slammed the table, drawing attention.
“Among the beastkin who have had outbursts so far, there were no newcomers or low-rank Espers. Isn’t that right?”
The beastkin Espers were silenced by his cold gaze. They lost ground to argue and closed their mouths.
Beastkin Espers with high ability usage and outstanding energy. If those with such characteristics were having outbursts, the leader-class beastkin Espers sitting in the conference room now would be deemed the most dangerous targets. That was why their voices had risen.
“Total Guild Master Kang Taebeom.”
Kwak Seokjin looked at Taebeom, who was sitting at the head of the table, with an imposing attitude.
“It’s time to make a decision. I believe it’s right for all high-ranking Espers among the beastkin, including the leaders, to withdraw from the field.”
At his extreme proposal, not only the beastkin Espers but also the regular Espers shook their heads. They were barely managing to hold the field as it was. If the deployed personnel decreased even further from here, it was clear that the field atmosphere would become chaotic.
“What will you do?”
Everyone showed signs of discomfort at Kwak Seokjin’s confrontational attitude. Only Taebeom maintained a calm demeanor. He never showed his emotions in front of others.
The sound of Taebeom putting down his pad echoed quietly. The pad screen displayed a map with a gate risk level graph.
“Sectors B1 to B10, and all A sectors.”
He mentioned the areas where gates opened most actively while looking at those seated around the conference room.
“As of today, withdraw all beastkin Espers.”
The beastkin Espers’ faces reddened even more at his astonishing order. Not just some, but all of them to withdraw. Moreover, the gates he mentioned were all crucial areas. They were the sectors that needed the power of beastkin Espers the most.
“Then who will fill those vacancies—”
Kwak Seokjin, whose expression had brightened considerably, opened his mouth with gleaming eyes. However, Taebeom immediately cut him off.
“I will handle it.”
At this decisive statement, the wrinkles between Kwak Seokjin’s brows deepened. Unlike him, the beastkin Espers, who had looked like they had rags in their mouths, relaxed their expressions a bit.
If Total Guild Master Kang Taebeom was managing their sectors instead, not only would their positions not be threatened, but they could also entrust it to him with confidence. There couldn’t be a more trustworthy person than him. If they couldn’t trust the leader of Baekya who had subdued the gate saturation period, who else could they trust?
Even though he said he would take on the work that hundreds of high-ranking Espers should handle, not a single person raised an objection. The Espers’ trust in Taebeom was solid. It was natural to trust him, as he had already proven his abilities at a much younger age than now.
“Then how will you handle the rumors about Esper Ha Seojun?”
Kwak Seokjin, whose momentum had been suppressed, finally brought up the topic of Seojun. It was a subject everyone had been trying to keep quiet about while watching Taebeom’s reaction.
From the beginning, when Seojun entered the Baekya Guild, he had been a subject of much talk. Everyone wondered why they had recruited him into Baekya, a young man with ordinary ice abilities.
The whispering atmosphere changed instantly when it was revealed that he was chosen by the former Total Guild Master. They even overlooked the reason for hiding his true form, thinking there must be circumstances. The moment Seojun entered the shelter of the Baekya Guild, people’s attitudes changed.
In an instant. The attitude that had changed so easily, like flipping a hand, showed the same change when his true form was revealed.
“You must have heard the rumors. The story that Esper Ha Seojun turned into a monster in Sector A7 is widespread.”
“Esper Kwak Seokjin. Monster? Your words are too extreme.”
Several people expressed their displeasure at the provocative word. They were all people who sincerely respected the Baekya Guild. They regarded the stories about Seojun as exaggerated rumors spread by lower-ranking Espers.
“Go outside and see. Even more extreme words are circulating.”
Along with the beastkin outburst problem, false rumors about a virus that turns people into monsters were also spreading. The stories that were inflating day by day stimulated many people’s anxiety.
“You’re not planning to just keep your mouth shut, are you?”
Kwak Seokjin no longer hid his hostility even in a place with many eyes watching. He looked like a person driven to the edge of a cliff, charging forward with only one focus. It was a stark contrast to Taebeom, who always approached everything with a detached attitude.
Taebeom left the conference room without responding to his question. No one blamed or tried to stop Taebeom. Except for Kwak Seokjin.
* * *
Taebeom, who had boarded the moving elevator, checked a message from his secretary. It said he would go to the basement of Building C to take care of Seojun’s meal.
Taebeom put his phone in his pocket without sending a reply. However, the phone fell to the floor instead of into his pocket.
The phone he had been holding perfectly slipped from his hand. Even though he was holding it with his right hand, not his left.
Taebeom picked up the phone with his characteristic expressionless face and put it back in his pocket. Then, out of habit, he checked the time. It was soon time for the gates to become active.
His quiet black eyes stared at the rapidly rising indicator panel. As always, the moving elevator was heading towards Taebeom’s office. Even if he went there now, he would have to leave after sitting for barely a few minutes.
Taebeom, taking his eyes off the indicator panel, looked down at the buttons packed with numbers. His gaze rested on the 36th floor. The floor connected to the Guide ward.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
