# Chapter 47
Whether Dohyun was surprised or not, Haegang spoke casually as usual.
“Esper Baek Dohyun didn’t belong to a guild at the time, and didn’t attend a school for the awakened, right?”
“……”
“Then naturally you wouldn’t know the customs and conventions among the awakened. Team Leader Ji explained it to me separately afterward.”
Wait, then why did you bring it up over and over? Saying you were sorry for making me receive guiding when I didn’t like it and such? Dohyun couldn’t respond even with his mouth open, and Haegang, who had been looking into Dohyun’s eyes, picked up his book again and headed toward the sofa.
Why are you leaving without saying anything? You should answer me! Dohyun, who had been moving his lips, finally made a sound.
“Then why did you keep criticizing me…!”
Only then did Haegang stop walking.
“I was wondering when Esper Baek Dohyun would properly say what he wanted to say. You’re curious, aren’t you?”
What do you mean, what I want to say? Dohyun had always struggled to hide his inner thoughts. Like when he muttered that Haegang was scary, or when he thought he looked like a gangster. Hadn’t his friends always scolded him for this?
“Why didn’t you tell me it was a misunderstanding?”
“That’s……”
Haven’t I always been surrounded by people who wouldn’t listen even when told the truth? But now Haegang was questioning him instead.
He was afraid Haegang would get angry, and also, because of childhood memories, he had trouble properly speaking to large people. He was also afraid that after bringing up the misunderstanding, he’d need to explain further but might get cut off mid-sentence.
Even when he managed to speak up, many people didn’t believe him, so Dohyun had to think long and hard about whether he should speak at all. This was once again one of those situations.
As Dohyun swallowed his words, Haegang nodded as if to say “see?”
“You see? You always keep things inside. When you hold back and let things accumulate, strange thoughts suddenly pop out.”
“……”
“I really thought you were re-jec-ting me. Do you know how scared I was that there could be a reverse-guiding probability when an Esper rejects a Guide? Even with a high matching rate, when an Esper refuses guiding, a Guide naturally has to be afraid…”
“I-if we’re going by that logic, Guide Choi Haegang didn’t guide me either. I heard it’s something you’re supposed to do on the first day. Even if I didn’t know that, you did…”
“You really do speak well. It seems Esper Baek Dohyun becomes more articulate when he’s a bit angry.”
Haegang smiled after Dohyun countered his nonsensical statement. Only then did Dohyun realize he had fallen for his scheme.
“You need to say what you want to say appropriately. Don’t hide your real thoughts while only letting out strange comments—express your true thoughts, and you’ll build up less stress.”
“That’s….”
That’s what? Even so, Dohyun thought it would be difficult to speak as brazenly as Haegang. Speaking in a way that subtly grates on people’s nerves… he didn’t think he could do that.
“…So you’re saying I can say whatever I want?”
“Not everything. I’m also a person who can get angry.”
Why is what you’re saying now different from before? Dohyun’s mouth opened in disbelief.
“I’m sorry for constantly picking at you too.”
“…Yes.”
Dohyun responded slowly to Haegang’s voice coming from out of sight. He’s… probably not a bad person after all. Just difficult to deal with.
❖ ❖ ❖
Haegang briefly returned home. He said he wanted to change clothes and didn’t want to wash in the hospital bathroom.
“I’m going home. Do you need anything? I can buy or bring it when I return.”
“I’m really, truly sorry, but…”
“Yes?”
“…Underwear.”
“…You can buy that at the convenience store below the hospital too.”
“Uh… I asked the nurse who came in earlier, and she said they only sell boxers downstairs.”
“Sigh…”
Haegang left with a deadpan expression. Since he wasn’t allowed to go out, he had to ask like this. Haegang handed over the barrier device to Dohyun and went out.
“Phew…”
Now I can breathe. No need to be mindful of anyone, and I can move around. He could watch YouTube by holding his phone close with the volume lowered, but he couldn’t turn on the TV for fear of disturbing Haegang’s reading.
In the meantime, thinking he should at least watch TV, Dohyun picked up the remote. He thought that might make him feel a bit better, but the discomfort didn’t subside.
“Is it really because of the hospital?”
Who would like hospitals, but Dohyun hadn’t had positive feelings about hospitals even before. Though he had no bad memories of hospitals in his recollection, for some reason he couldn’t feel attached to them. Well, it might sound strange to develop an attachment to a hospital, but for Dohyun, hospitals were so uncomfortable that he felt he should try to force an attachment. Why should a place meant to heal the body be so difficult to bear?
It’s stifling. Dohyun eventually got up from bed and stood by the window. When he opened it, the incoming air stirred up the hospital room, but it felt refreshingly cool. This made him want to go outside even more. A message on his phone informed him that the healing Esper from Somyeong Guild had not yet emerged from the gate.
He knew it was a gate they had entered with a long-term strategy in mind. They had also taken several potions made by Dohyun. Of course, if two S-class Espers had entered determined to conquer it, they would have already emerged, but Somyeong’s gate conquest objective was to enable the conquest of high-level gates even when high-ranking Espers weren’t available, even if it took longer.
While thinking this was indeed a reliable guild, he still felt frustrated. If they had just completed the conquest and come out quickly, Dohyun wouldn’t have needed to be hospitalized like this.
“Nothing interesting to do.”
Dohyun finally turned off the TV and closed the window. He was bored. He decided to try focusing on other thoughts. He had already planned what to do after discharge, but if he spoke about it now, he would 100% get a smack on the back from his worried friend, so he needed to consider how best to explain. His friend would probably curse at him, asking if he had a hundred lives to spare. But if it was something that needed to be done, it was better to do it quickly.
Dohyun limped toward the bathroom. His leg definitely hadn’t healed. He wondered if he should show it to a doctor, but since it would heal quickly once he received healing, he decided to endure just one more day. After all, they had said yesterday that guild members would emerge in two days.
He didn’t like causing worry. In fact, while Haegang was around, he deliberately avoided getting up from the bed. Although it was awkward, Haegang too would naturally be concerned about someone in poor health when face to face.
He already felt like he wasn’t being helpful enough. Doing nothing made him feel like he was just languishing, and he wanted to do something. He was the type of person who became anxious without tasks.
It seemed better to get discharged quickly, make and stockpile potions, and deliver them to the guild in advance. Considering there was a high probability he wouldn’t be able to make potions for a while…
“Esper Baek Dohyun. I brought your clothes…”
As Dohyun limped out of the bathroom, seeing Haegang’s gaze fixed on his leg, only one sentence came to mind.
Oh, I’m screwed.
❖ ❖ ❖
“How can someone who’s in pain not say anything about it?”
“……”
“Were you planning to speak up only after your body developed irreversible problems? If something doesn’t feel right, you should immediately tell the hospital so they can treat it.”
I’m sorry… This time he truly had nothing to say. Dohyun couldn’t even peep during Haegang’s scolding. The doctor had been alarmed after checking the condition of his leg, and Dohyun had been dragged straight into emergency surgery and back.
He had simply thought it wasn’t healing quickly because he was injured inside the gate. He assumed the pain would soon disappear and that this level of discomfort wouldn’t interfere with normal life, but…
“Do you realize you could have been in serious trouble?”
“Y-yes…”
They said his leg bone had been broken and was supporting his body while slightly twisted. For an ordinary person, it could have caused problems by healing incorrectly. But in Dohyun’s case, because his physical condition wasn’t normal, his leg wasn’t healing at all.
“Is that… normally possible?”
“In Esperology, it’s reported several times a year. Espers’ recovery abilities and good condition come from carrying energy in their bodies. But maintaining good condition is only possible when the hardware is intact.”
When bones are broken and misaligned, or when functions are damaged by impact, even an Esper’s body cannot show proper recovery. In Dohyun’s case, energy helped the function to move, but since it wasn’t healing, the pain continued. They also added that a normal Esper would have spoken up immediately upon realizing their physical condition was not only painful but persisting.
“It… wasn’t that painful. Just a bit throbbing…”
“That IS pain. That’s what pain is.”
“Oh…”
“Esper Baek Dohyun.”
“…Yes.”
“Didn’t I tell you to be sensitive to pain? Knowing you’re not very sensitive, I accepted the discomfort of letting you stay at my house temporarily. But you haven’t changed at all.”
Be sensitive to pain. It was something he had heard when they made the contract. Even with a poor physical condition, Espers could endure longer than ordinary people by naturally supporting their bodies with energy. But using energy also meant needing that much more guiding.
“I’m worried.”
“You don’t need to worry about me.”
“I’m not worrying about Esper Baek Dohyun, I’m worrying about myself. Don’t misunderstand.”
“……”
Did you leave Guide Choi Haegang, who earlier apologized for taking me outside, at home? Still, since he hadn’t done anything right, Dohyun quietly listened to the scolding.
“For a Guide, guiding is a stamina battle. I use my physical strength to provide guiding to Esper Baek Dohyun.”
He knew this. Dohyun had also learned that Guides become fatigued when transferring Vigor. He remembered how Haegang paid great attention to managing his physical condition. And Dohyun was someone who could render that management useless in an instant.
Haegang sighed and opened his bag to take out a potion. He had brought it from home when Dohyun was urgently taken to the operating room. When Dohyun’s eyes widened, Haegang held out the bottle to him.
“…Didn’t you tell me not to make potions?”
“I told you not to make them, not that you shouldn’t drink them.”
That was true. Thinking it would be better to heal quickly, Dohyun took the potion and brought it to his lips. He thought that once healing occurred, his leg would recover soon, and the pain when moving would improve significantly.
After taking a few sips of the potion, Dohyun looked at his leg with a puzzled expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“Um, well…”
“Tell me with words. Put the important content first. Get to the point.”
“It’s not healing.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
