# Chapter 30
“Don’t disturb him during this time if you don’t want a protector to become a destroyer.”
This was an open secret among the high-ranking Espers who had been watching Joo Dojoon for years.
The center director who supervised the Espers overlooked Dojoon’s only deviation from his usually diligent behavior. That’s because he knew it was close to the anniversary of Dojoon’s sister Joo Dorim’s death, the only blemish and caution in his record.
“Haaa…”
Joo Dojoon, locked in a space surrounded by solid walls, spent days alone in crushing pain. No one came looking for him. Only one person, Seo Jaeha, lingered around Dojoon.
Since the private center wouldn’t allow Jaeha, who was treated no differently than merchandise, to leave freely, he would return when urged by the guard who supervised him. While it would usually please Dojoon to see Jaeha restless, at this time even that low pleasure couldn’t be felt, and he just kept sinking deeper.
Throughout the year, there wasn’t a single day when Dojoon didn’t think about his sister.
The sound of piano keys being tapped by small childlike hands was vivid. The sound that always made the same mistake came out as humming from Dojoon. Even though he didn’t return often because he stayed at the Esper dormitory, he could clearly recall his sister’s room. The pink dresses filling the small closet and the sparkling accessories – he remembered exactly how many there were and where they were placed.
When he saw pretty desserts, when he saw a short girl passing by, when the spring breeze gently blew – he thought of his sister. Whenever a child called “oppa” somewhere, even though it clearly wasn’t his sister, Dojoon’s heart would break over and over again.
As the anniversary approached and it became unbearable, he pushed away Jaeha, whom he had treated carelessly, and locked himself away. Every time he hid alone in the darkness, memories of that day repeated hundreds of times daily.
He shouldn’t have gone to the outlet mall.
At the very least, he shouldn’t have gone with Seo Jaeha.
He could have picked out his sister’s clothes by himself.
He should have paid attention to the surroundings.
He should have noticed the dangerously stacked structure.
He should have been suspicious of the tilting truck.
He should have been wary of the ripple that appeared in the air.
On that day of great disaster, when the clear blue sky and fluffy white clouds looked like a picture.
Joo Dojoon headed to the outlet mall with his friend Seo Jaeha to buy new clothes for his sister Joo Dorim. The bustling crowd and various sights made people excited as if they were at a festival. Dorim, holding both their hands while standing between Jaeha and Dojoon, was at the height of her joy.
Then Dojoon, who first saw the ripple in the air, felt uneasy and stopped.
“What’s that? Jaeha, can you see it too?”
“What? Oh, balloons? It would be nice to get one for Dorim.”
Jaeha looked at a balloon stand in a slightly different direction from what Dojoon was pointing at and ran toward it. Dojoon’s heart ached when he saw the ripple growing larger toward Jaeha’s side.
At that moment, he shouldn’t have let go of his sister’s hand. He shouldn’t have watched where Jaeha was going.
Even if he saw the ripple getting worse behind Jaeha coming back with the balloon, he should have ignored it.
“Dojoon, why do you look like that? Are you feeling sick? Should I get you some medicine?”
Even if he witnessed the impossible phenomenon of the ripple in the air instantly creating a red sphere and burning black, he should have protected his sister Dorim.
Bang!
“Wh-what’s that?”
Even if the air exploded and the unstable structure came crashing down, Dojoon should have held his sister’s hand.
“Hey, Dojoon… ugh!”
Crash.
It happened in an instant.
As soon as Dojoon sensed the unknown threat, he used all his strength to protect Jaeha. He couldn’t remember when he had let go of the small hand he was holding tightly so as not to lose his sister in the crowd.
“What’s wrong with you? Don’t tell me you were scared by the fireworks?”
Dojoon felt relieved at Jaeha’s amused response. Yet he couldn’t believe his own actions. He couldn’t understand why he was embracing Jaeha and rolling on the ground.
“You’re not even afraid of ghosts but you’re scared of this? Get off me.”
Despite Jaeha’s calm reaction, Dojoon was confused as he kept thinking about what he had done.
When Jaeha was about to be in danger, Dojoon prioritized his safety above all else. He could have pushed him with one arm, but instead he ran over and pulled Jaeha into his arms to protect him. Because of that, his sister, whose hand he suddenly let go, fell on her bottom and made eye contact with Dojoon with a startled face. Dojoon tried to go back to his sister.
“Let me go to Dorim… ugh.”
The moment Jaeha, whom he was holding, made a pained sound as if hurt somewhere, Dojoon’s body wouldn’t move.
Must protect him. Can’t let him get hurt.
That thought seemed to tie Dojoon’s arms and legs, preventing him from moving for just a few seconds.
Bang. Crash.
“Ahhh!”
“Wh-what’s happening?”
“Ahhhh! Th-there’s a child trapped here!”
Just a few seconds.
A few decorative structures shook, and one of them fell to a place it should never have touched.
With just that, the person Dojoon should have protected more than anyone lost the light of life in an instant before his eyes.
“Ahhh!”
After a few seconds passed to recognize reality, it was Jaeha who screamed. Jaeha, who escaped from Dojoon’s protective embrace like he was having a seizure, crawled away screaming.
“N-no, no! Dorim!”
It was clearly Dojoon’s mistake.
He neither understood nor wanted to understand why he prioritized and protected Jaeha.
He let go of his sister’s hand. Those big eyes looking at him with surprise were the last he saw.
Dojoon’s heart pounded violently as if it would be torn out as he stood frozen, unable to react.
“What do I do, Dorim. Dorim is. What do I do. Dorim. Dorim…”
Facing Dorim’s death, Jaeha lost his mind and held the child’s damaged body. Watching Jaeha crying and repeating the same words, Dojoon couldn’t move in the face of the unbelievable reality. Even though explosions could still be heard and people’s screams were fading away, Dojoon’s eyes and ears were only open to Jaeha and his sister.
The strange thing was that despite losing so much blood, Dorim’s complexion remained fair and slightly rosy. She didn’t look dead at all.
How could that be when she had lost so much blood?
Was this really not reality?
It was painful to hear Jaeha’s wailing instead of his own silence. Dojoon couldn’t understand why suddenly all his senses were directed toward Jaeha.
Knock knock.
At the small tapping sound, Dojoon’s head turned reflexively.
The sound came from about 5 meters away. An older man in a suit who raised his hand in the air as if doing a mime act and armed people surrounded them from beyond 5 meters. The middle-aged man spoke to Dojoon with a friendly smile.
“May I come closer?”
When there was no particular response, the man’s hand tapped the air again.
Knock knock.
Each time his hand hit the air, there was a sound like tapping a solid barrier. Come to think of it, the man’s voice sounded distant, like hearing it underwater.
“Joo Dojoon, there’s a wall around you. Can you stop using your power?”
The man’s smile filled with concern as he continued saying incomprehensible things.
“It’s not good to overuse your power right after awakening. You might lose your ability forever, so you should save it.”
Only then did Dojoon realize that he had created something invisible that was blocking the surroundings.
Must protect. That thought had created an invisible wall.
The power created for protection came too late. What use was a protective barrier when his sister was bleeding like that?
The air became heavier over time, making Dojoon’s head hurt.
“Please stop using your power. We need to take the child to the hospital.”
At the mention of the hospital, Dojoon swallowed. At that moment, noise poured in. He felt the barrier around them being removed.
People rushed in and took his sister away from the arms of Jaeha, who was crying his heart out. The moment Jaeha’s hands completely let go of his sister, Dorim’s reddish face turned blue without a trace of blood. As if he had been preserving her last bit of life.
No one noticed this fact.
“Dorim… Dorim.”
Jaeha, who had cried so much in the span of a few minutes that he was about to lose his voice, staggered as he tried to follow the person carrying his sister. When he was about to trip over broken debris without looking at his feet, Dojoon reflexively reached out and grabbed him.
As he grabbed Jaeha’s arms and waist and pulled him into his arms, a wind came from where they touched. It was a strange sensation with texture that didn’t quite feel like wind. The heavy air that had been weighing around Dojoon enough to make his head ring lightened from where he touched Jaeha.
“What do I do about Dorim…”
In Dojoon’s arms, Jaeha kept looking for Dorim.
Despite Jaeha’s crying in grief, Dojoon was still captivated by the sensation of pushing away the heavy air. He didn’t notice Jaeha’s body shaking, looking unusually weak and tired. Dojoon’s arms tightened around Jaeha, enjoying the sensation that soothed his sharpened nerves and made his heavy body feel lighter.
“I’m sorry. I should have been beside her. I shouldn’t have gone to get the balloon.”
It wasn’t Jaeha’s fault. It was Dojoon who had been by her side. It was Dojoon who had pushed away his sister’s hand and rushed toward Jaeha.
Jaeha apologized for his mistake over and over as the sound of the ambulance siren faded away.
“Dorim said she wanted cotton candy. I should have bought her that. Then she wouldn’t have been hurt here.”
Dojoon looked toward the cotton candy machine at the entrance. That side had also collapsed from falling structures and was half-destroyed.
Jaeha’s claim wasn’t right. But Dojoon, not wanting to lose the sense of stability that Jaeha gave him in his arms, agreed.
“You’re right.”
That one word was enough.
It was that easy for Jaeha to break down and for Dojoon to possess him.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
