91
Espers become stronger and more resilient as time passes and experience accumulates. This truth applied to guides and ordinary people as well.
However, for some Espers, this obvious truth didn’t apply. There were those whose abilities wore down or whose bodies suffered strain the more they used their powers.
Espers destined for their abilities to disappear. These individuals usually hid their symptoms or denied their fate.
Former Guild Master Shin Daehan started showing abnormal physical symptoms not long after taking the representative position. At that time, South Korea was at the peak of the gate saturation period, with a fierce atmosphere prevailing.
He concealed his diminishing abilities and held his position for decades, and as a result, his body deteriorated to an irreparable state.
The reason he could hide his symptoms for decades was due to his ability. Former Guild Master Shin Daehan was a rare healing ability user. It was the second rarest ability after mental abilities.
Many places needed his abilities and reached out for help. This was why he couldn’t step down from his position.
He scraped together and used his already depleted abilities as if wringing water from a dry towel. In the process, he endured by healing his damaged body with his own ability.
Now his body was in a state like a dried leaf. It was only a matter of time before it crumbled.
[I don’t think I’ll make it past this year.]
Taebeom, clutching his blood-soaked lower face, sat on the floor catching his breath. The dull pain spreading from the left side of his chest briefly quickened his breathing.
[With you here, I can go peacefully.]
Taebeom leaned against the desk leg, waiting for the bleeding to stop. The blood that had stopped quickly as if predicting the hemorrhage was now gushing out in clots.
Even then, Taebeom reacted nonchalantly. He didn’t frantically search for his phone or call for his secretary. He just quietly waited for the symptoms to subside.
[Don’t overdo it. The situation is different from before.]
Red blood seeped through the fingers covering his nose. His vision was blurry, perhaps due to suddenly losing a lot of blood.
Taebeom closed his eyes and replayed his conversation with the former Guild Master once more. He mulled over and over the words that things were different from before. However, all that remained in his mind was the calm voice saying it would be difficult to make it past this year.
Former Guild Master Shin Daehan. He was the one who had given a young twenty-year-old Taebeom, who had just manifested as an Esper, a goal to live for.
Without him, the Baekya Guild wouldn’t have existed. Taebeom established the Baekya Guild with his support. There was only one reason he had rushed to achieve such unreasonable accomplishments in a short time.
As Taebeom coughed wetly and tried to take out medicine from the desk drawer, a large, dark figure entered his blurry vision.
Taebeom reached out and called to the giant figure resembling a monster. It was a hallucination that often appeared when his body pain intensified.
As Taebeom waved his hand, the blurry figure gradually became clearer. The first thing that caught Taebeom’s eye was the bushy tail. It was something young Taebeom used to touch and play with often.
“Come here.”
The triangular ears twitched, detecting Taebeom’s voice. However, instead of running over, it whimpered and lay flat on the ground. It was because it was timid.
Taebeom waved his hand once more. At this, the large tail slowly swayed from side to side.
Taebeom, wiping away the blood, waited for the black dog that didn’t recognize him to lower its guard. Knowing it was just a hallucination, not real, he didn’t get angry even when it bared its teeth. He just waited.
* * *
Swish. Siwoo, who was using the bathroom in the dormitory, suddenly rubbed his nose.
Feeling a chill in his nose, he tilted his head. For a moment, he thought he might have a nosebleed, but there was nothing on his hand.
Absentmindedly flushing the toilet, he washed his hands and left the bathroom. Instead of going straight back to his room, he lingered in the living room for a while. He even stood on his tiptoes and glanced up at the upper floor.
“Why is he sleeping so long…”
Siwoo’s attention was focused on the door to Geonho’s room.
Two days had passed since he regained consciousness, but Geonho was still recovering. The side effects of the inhibitor were lasting longer than expected. He was still in poor condition.
Geonho had been sleeping heavily all this time. He was relatively fine when awake, but once he fell asleep, he wouldn’t wake up for more than ten hours. It was better than being sick, but Siwoo being bored was a big problem.
Siwoo scratched his drooping lips and narrowed his eyes fiercely. He glared at Geonho’s distant room for a long time.
There was no response. Geonho was sleeping for a very long time today as well.
“What are you doing there?”
Siwoo, who had been standing absentmindedly, flinched in surprise at the sudden presence. He had been so focused on Geonho’s room door that he hadn’t even heard Seojun approaching.
“You’re not trying to go to Geonho hyung’s room, are you?”
Seojun, who had looked up at the upper floor following Siwoo’s gaze, blocked the stairs. Siwoo snorted with an exasperated expression.
“How many times do I have to say I’m not going in?”
“I need to be able to believe you. You’re good at lying, Guide.”
“You little…”
Siwoo made a motion as if to hit him, but Seojun didn’t even pretend to be hit. Remembering Geonho who would back away even if he just clenched his fist, Siwoo felt even more irritated.
“Eat first.”
Seojun, after examining Siwoo’s expression, waved a package in front of him. He had come to take care of Siwoo’s meal even though he still had work hours left. He had to leave again soon.
“You haven’t had lunch yet, right?”
“Not in the mood.”
Siwoo turned his back on Seojun. However, instead of going to his room, he headed to the living room again.
“Are you really not going to eat?”
“I said I’m not eating.”
In truth, Siwoo was quite bored. Without Kang Geonho constantly talking next to him and Yoo Jihan being annoying, the silence in the dormitory felt more pronounced. Because of this, he was reluctant to be alone.
“You didn’t eat breakfast either.”
Seojun sat down on the sofa following Siwoo and opened the package. Even though Siwoo said he wouldn’t eat, he showed the contents of the package anyway.
“Just try it. It’s something you like, Guide.”
Siwoo, resting his chin on his hand, rolled his eyes to glance at the lunchbox Seojun was holding out. It was indeed food he liked. Tuna belly and salmon sushi packaged from a high-end sushi restaurant.
“You ate well when Jihan hyung brought it before.”
“…I’m not hungry.”
“You should eat every meal even if you’re not hungry.”
Seojun opened the chopsticks wrapper and handed them to Siwoo. Thanks to the excellent menu choice, Siwoo reluctantly picked up a piece of sushi.
Seojun felt relieved inside seeing Siwoo’s cheeks full after a long time. Recently, since Geonho hyung had been sleeping more, the guide’s food intake had significantly decreased.
The guide wouldn’t eat anything while Geonho hyung was sleeping. He even refused the snacks he used to always have. He would wait for Geonho hyung to wake up and eat together.
However, Geonho hyung, due to the side effects of the inhibitor, had lost his appetite and hardly ate anything. As a result, the guide naturally started avoiding meals too.
It’s not like they’re one body, what’s he doing? Seojun felt irritated every time he saw Siwoo getting thinner day by day.
“Eat with the rice too.”
When he commented on Siwoo only picking at the fish, he just got a snort in response. Seojun smiled slightly and watched the lips busily swallowing food. His gaze naturally moved up to the white cheek.
There was still a faint hand mark on the pale cheek.
It was a mark Siwoo had made in his sleep. He already had a habit of scratching his body, but when he was under a lot of stress, he would scratch even harder, leaving small scars on his body.
“How about cutting your nails?”
Seojun said casually, as if in passing. He had tried to say it carefully so as not to upset Siwoo.
“You’ll get hurt if you scratch yourself.”
When there was no response, he thought for a moment before adding.
“If it’s bothersome, I can cut them for you.”
At this, Siwoo frowned deeply. He even put down his chopsticks as if he had lost his appetite at the offer to cut his nails.
“I was just saying. If you don’t want to cut them, that’s fine.”
Seojun corrected his statement, but Siwoo didn’t eat any more. There was still half of the sushi left, but he was already full. He felt like his stomach would upset again if he ate more. Sensing this, Seojun didn’t urge him to eat more either.
Just then, a notification sounded from Seojun’s pocket. It was a signal that the break time was over. Although it was Seojun who had to go to work, Siwoo looked more disappointed.
“What are you going to do today?”
Seojun continued to care for Siwoo even as he prepared to leave.
“Don’t know.”
“You’re going to stay in the dorm, right?”
“Just go already.”
“Don’t go to Geonho hyung’s room.”
Seojun bent down to match Siwoo’s eye level.
“Don’t go into his room when he’s sleeping. I’m saying this for your sake, Guide.”
Siwoo nodded, albeit with a grumpy expression. Even without him saying so, he had no intention of going anywhere near Geonho’s room. He had absolutely no desire to repeat the same mistake.
And above all, he had an important task today.
Actually, he hadn’t planned to do it today, but feeling like he couldn’t postpone it any longer, he decided to get it over with immediately. If he kept putting it off, he would only become more reluctant to do it.
Not long after Seojun left, Siwoo changed into outdoor clothes. After pondering what to wear, he chose the neatest guide uniform. Thinking that guy might find fault even with clothes, he paid attention to even the collar.
“I’m going out for a bit.”
He muttered towards the door of Geonho’s room, who was sound asleep, as he left the dormitory. Siwoo’s destination was Taebeom’s office.
