Churu for the Angry Guide

132

“Where are you?” That was my question to ask.

Siwoo bit his lower lip and swallowed dryly. He wanted to shout, “Why are you only answering now?” but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“Han Siwoo guide.”

The voice on the other end of the phone sounded gravely serious. It was a deep voice, like someone who had just woken up or regained consciousness. Siwoo was certain it was most likely the latter.

“I’m coming now, so wait.”

Siwoo tightly closed his stinging eyes and gripped the phone. The image of Taebeom unconscious and coughing up blood flashed before his eyes, making his throat tighten. There was so much to question, but this was serious.

“Come quickly.”

Just as Siwoo thought he needed to see his face, he heard movement behind him. He quickly turned towards the sound. However, it wasn’t Taebeom who had answered Siwoo’s call, but his teleport esper.

“Are you alright?”

The esper, who had come on Taebeom’s orders, looked around Siwoo. There seemed to be no danger around Siwoo, who was standing perfectly fine. Near the training center building, only birds flew leisurely and stray cats rolled on the ground.

Ignoring the teleport esper who seemed confused about why the distress signal had been activated, Siwoo just clutched his phone.

“You come. Not anyone else, you come directly.”

Siwoo gripped the phone tightly, like someone who believed the call would continue if he held it firmly enough. He was anxious that Taebeom, who often answered with silence, might end the call like this.

“Later.”

A small breath mixed with the low voice. It was a subtle difference, but Siwoo, being a beastkin, noticed it. Somehow, the breath seemed rapid.

Siwoo bent forward, pricking up his ears and shaking his head. Not knowing what state Kang Taebeom was in made him even more anxious. He could only imagine Taebeom alone, spitting out an enormous amount of blood as if expelling internal organs. The image of Taebeom collapsed like a cold corpse flashed in his mind, making his heart race.

“Meet me now. Please.”

Siwoo’s voice trembled. His bitten lower lip quivered. The image of the esper’s face soaked in blood wouldn’t leave his mind. The shock of seeing him hadn’t faded, leaving his hands and feet cold.

“Please meet me. Leader.”

Siwoo sank to the ground, covering his face with his palms. Just as his eyes were about to redden from the suffocating feeling, the teleport esper extended his arm for Siwoo to grab. On Taebeom’s instructions.

* * *

The teleport esper brought Siwoo to the center of the gate site. As it was right after the gate subjugation, a suffocating silence hung in the air. The sight of monster corpses densely covering the damp ground was horrific.

“He’s in that tent over there.”

Siwoo, who had been swallowing hard at the sight of a monster with its face torn off, suddenly looked up. A single tent stood a little distance away from the pile of monster corpses. It seemed all other espers had been withdrawn, as not a single person was moving about.

The teleport esper, having completed his task, disappeared in the blink of an eye. Siwoo looked around the corpse-strewn ground and slowly stepped forward. Unlike when he first came to the gate site, breathing wasn’t uncomfortable. It seemed to be thanks to the barrier stone he had in his pocket.

Purple storm clouds loomed heavily in the quiet sky above. It looked like it might rain soon. As Siwoo walked, looking at the strangely colored sky, a chilling sound came from under his feet.

“Ugh…”

It was the sound of a monster’s eyeball bursting. He had accidentally stepped on a monster’s eyeball rolling on the ground without noticing it.

Siwoo shook off his foot and quickly ran to the tent, opening the heavy door.

Creak.

Unlike his rushed approach, his hand was careful in opening the door. It was so quiet that he doubted whether Kang Taebeom was really inside. As he pushed open the heavy wooden door and looked around the dim interior, his eyes met the face he had been waiting for.

Kang Taebeom was leaning against a small desk. He was buttoning up the cuffs of his crisp shirt, looking at Siwoo with an indifferent face.

Outwardly, he looked no different from usual. His cool expression and upright posture were exactly the same as always.

He scanned Siwoo up and down with a sharp gaze, without saying a word. Siwoo also scrutinized every inch of him.

“Only press the distress signal when it’s urgent.”

A cold order flew at Siwoo, who was uninjured. The voice that had been severely cracked during the phone call sounded similar to usual in person. He didn’t seem out of breath or in pain.

Was he really alright?

“Just say what you need to and go.”

Siwoo could bet all the Churu he had eaten in his life that this wasn’t the case. He’d even bet all the Churu he would eat in the future.

“You’re in pain right now, aren’t you?”

Siwoo approached Taebeom briskly and raised his eyes. With only a palm-sized lamp as the sole source of light in the tent, he had to lean in close to see him clearly.

“Did you cough up blood again? Did you faint?”

His face was clean without a single wound, but his complexion was pale. Siwoo searched for red bloodstains around his mouth and neck. But it was clean. The shirt Taebeom was wearing didn’t even have a wrinkle. It was crisp as if he had just put on a new one.

“If you have nothing to say, leave.”

As Siwoo tried to get even closer, Taebeom attempted to move away. Before he could, Siwoo spread his arms and blocked his path.

“Why are you avoiding me?”

If it had been Kang Geonho or Yoo Jihan, they would have grabbed him by the collar long ago. But Siwoo couldn’t easily put his hands on Taebeom’s body. The reason was clear. Contact with him tended to cloud his judgment.

First, they needed to talk. Guiding would come after that.

“Do you want to hide it that badly?”

Siwoo’s expression darkened as he approached until his toes were almost touching Taebeom’s.

“How long are you going to hide it? Until all your abilities disappear?”

The silence pressing down on the air deepened as much as their gloomy expressions. Taebeom, with his mouth shut, just looked down at Siwoo without any reaction. He stood still, staring at the white face without even blinking.

His emotionless eyes made him seem like he lived in a different world. He looked as if his emotions had been completely emptied, like someone who had already died in this world.

“Your abilities are disappearing, right?”

Siwoo, unable to bear his silence, asked with a fierce expression.

“Answer me. If you heard me, just answer!”

Even though he shouted, Taebeom remained silent. Siwoo’s heart burned as black as Taebeom’s eyes. The thought that an esper who could die at any moment was right in front of him made his chest ache.

How long had he been in pain? Up close, Kang Taebeom’s pale face showed signs of emaciation. His cheeks around his high nose bridge seemed slightly sunken. Even the whites of his eyes looked cloudy.

“Would you believe me if I said it wasn’t true?”

Taebeom broke the silence, lightly pushing Siwoo’s shoulder with his left fingertip.

“It hasn’t been that long, so don’t make a fuss.”

He issued a dismissal in a flat tone as he distanced himself from Siwoo. His voice, cold like its owner, upset Siwoo even more.

“Instead of playing with the pager, focus on your training properly.”

Siwoo, who hadn’t budged at the sharp dismissal, opened his eyes fiercely. Then he tensed his legs and slightly lowered his upper body. Like a cat preparing to pounce.

“Get out.”

Realizing this, Taebeom grabbed Siwoo’s shoulder first, turned him around, and pushed him towards the door. Siwoo, helplessly pushed back, struggled and shouted. If he didn’t shout, he felt like his frustration would burst.

“What do you mean get out! You should receive proper guiding! I came here to do my job!”

Siwoo lifted both legs and blocked the door with his feet, emitting radiant guiding. Seeing Siwoo’s body floating in the air, Taebeom immediately raised his left elbow to support his lean back.

Siwoo shouted that he wouldn’t leave like this and that Taebeom should receive guiding. He kicked the door hard with both feet, yelling until the veins in his neck popped out, making sure it couldn’t be opened.

“Other guys are desperate to receive it! Why the fuck do I have to go this far with you!”

As he was shouting in frustration, his body suddenly slammed to the floor. Taebeom had thrown him down.

Even though he had crashed onto the hard floor, strangely, his body didn’t hurt. He was just surprised.

“Then focus properly on those guys.”

Taebeom lowered his eyes as he distanced himself from Siwoo, who had fallen to the floor.

“Don’t bother with someone who doesn’t want to receive it.”

An even more intense chill set in his shadowed gaze. It was the kind of look that made it understandable why people got nervous when Kang Taebeom and Ha Seojun looked at them for too long.

“Get out.”

Taebeom murmured softly as if giving a final warning and turned around. Then he turned back towards the door. He thought it would be faster for him to leave than to kick Siwoo out.

As Taebeom stepped towards the door, a white face caught his eye. He had intended to leave without looking.

“Then who…”

Eyes brimming with large teardrops caught Taebeom again.

“Who’s going to care for you?”

The trembling voice made Taebeom’s already slow steps even heavier. The tears that finally rolled down the soft cheeks ultimately brought him to his knees.

“Don’t cry.”

He was a guide that Taebeom simply couldn’t handle. From the moment they first met until now. All Taebeom could do was pretend to push him away.