Chapter 16: Fixing the Guide After Losing the Cow – Episode 16

It was the third day since Tae Woo had failed to return home.

The room cleaning that had seemed as if it would never end had long since finished.

So Won spent every day in a monotonous routine.

He ate the meals prepared by the person who came at the appointed time, sat for a long while looking at the yard to soothe his boredom, and when the sun set, he filled the bathtub with water and rested.

So Won, who had been lying on the sofa on the first floor doing nothing, hurriedly looked for his smartphone when the phone rang.

When he checked the screen and saw not Tae Woo but someone else’s name, he was greatly disappointed.

He had never once received a call from him in eight years to begin with, and knowing that, he felt pathetic for having expected it.

“Yeah… Mom…”

-Why does your voice sound so bad? So Won, did something happen after all?

“No, it’s because I had a nightmare.”

So Won still had nightmares.

The only day he had not had a nightmare since coming to Tae Woo’s house was the first day he had fallen asleep beside Tae Woo.

Once Tae Woo disappeared, nightmares came to So Won again. When late night came, So Won invariably trembled with fear.

Whenever he closed his eyes, he kept seeing Tae Woo dying.

So Won, alone in the empty house, pulled the blanket over himself and suffered through the night in terror.

-Nothing really happened, right? Why didn’t you call when I was worried?

“Really, nothing happened. And anyway, Tae Woo doesn’t come home much….”

So Won answered self-mockingly, looking at the empty house.

Even eight years ago, Tae Woo had not come home much.

He had expected that this time too, Tae Woo would not come home often, but when he truly did not contact him once or even show his face, his feelings became complicated.

He even thought that if he had not been afraid of him, maybe Tae Woo would have returned a little sooner.

So Won looked back on his actions. Even though he had gone through Regression, nothing had changed from eight years ago.

So Won praised himself for not trembling much when he saw Tae Woo and for approaching him first to greet him, but each time, So Won was still afraid of him.

What had Tae Woo thought when he saw a Guide trembling before him?

So Won had tried in his own way not to see him as a Monster, but in Tae Woo’s eyes, So Won must have looked the same as everyone else.

As someone who saw him as a Monster.

It was only natural that he did not come home. When So Won’s voice grew gloomy, So Won’s Mom asked as if worried.

-Do you just want to come home? Can’t you just pretend to live there?

“No, Mom. I’m really okay.”

-Ugh… Contact your Dad too. If anything happens, be sure to tell me.

So Won listened to her worried nagging to his heart’s content and hung up. Then he sprawled back onto the sofa.

So Won, who had had a nightmare again today, looked utterly haggard.

He was about to become afraid even of the quiet house, so the TV he had turned on to break the silence was letting out human voices.

A few hours ago, he had definitely put on a noisy program, but the screen had already changed to the news.

A neatly dressed announcer sat at the news desk and reported the latest incidents.

So Won, who had wanted a lively atmosphere, tried to change the channel, but as he listened to the calm voice with almost no variation in pitch, this did not seem so bad either, so he left it alone.

So Won lay on the sofa, looking up at the high ceiling, and blinked.

Having not slept for days, his mind was hazy.

If it were night now, even in his daze he would have trembled in fear, but since the sun was up, he only felt hazy and drowsy.

However, even if he slept now, he would still have nightmares, so he could not sleep carelessly.

He was afraid of the night that would soon come.

[…Yesterday… Kang Tae Woo…]

So Won’s ears, which had been treating the announcer’s voice as white noise, cleverly caught Tae Woo’s name.

“Tae Woo?”

So Won suddenly sat up. When the blood suddenly rushed downward, his vision spun.

So Won squeezed his eyes shut and staggered, then when his vision cleared, he hurriedly looked at the TV again.

But by the time So Won looked at the screen, it was already too late.

The news, which had mentioned Tae Woo’s story only briefly in passing, had already moved on to another topic.

So Won quickly picked up his smartphone. When he searched Tae Woo’s name, dozens of new articles had already appeared.

So Won looked for an article that did not contain the modifier Monster, but since they all contained the word Monster, he just clicked on any article.

He saw that Tae Woo had cleared a B-rank Gate that had opened in Gangwon Province.

While he had not returned home and So Won suffered from nightmares, Tae Woo appeared to have gone to the Gate.

So Won felt needlessly sulky. Originally, when an Esper went to a Gate, it was customary to share the schedule with his Guide.

This was partly because, depending on the rank of the Gate to which the Esper was dispatched, the Guide had a duty to stand by near the Gate to assist him, but also because if the Esper needed Guiding, the Guide could be urgently summoned even if not.

Of course, Tae Woo had never told So Won that he was going to a Gate in the past either, but So Won felt needlessly hurt.

After that, So Won found and read a few more articles, but he could not find any useful information.

They all had the same content. The Monster Kang Tae Woo cleared the B-rank Gate that opened in Gangwon Province and returned in the middle of the night yesterday.

Nothing about his condition after leaving the Gate could be found in any article.

So Won scanned through his old memories.

The only memory of Tae Woo being injured was from after he had gone to the Incheon Gate on the last day, when he died.

So Won could be certain that this time too, Tae Woo had come out of the Gate unscathed without injury.

However, even if he was not injured, after using his ability, he needed Guiding.

So Won sat still and began to worry.

Judging by the fact that no call had come from the Esper Association, Tae Woo’s condition did not seem serious.

If he waited like this, the usually blunt Tae Woo would return home someday.

However, to So Won, this Gate was the first one Tae Woo had been dispatched to after dying in the future eight years later.

He knew Tae Woo would not die today, but he could not help feeling anxious.

So Won sat curled up for a while, worrying. In the end, he decided to contact Tae Woo and ask if he needed Guiding.

He mustered his courage and tried calling.

-……

The ringtone rang for a long time before it went to voicemail.

So Won lowered his eyes for a moment. His expression was dark.

[I saw on the news that you went to a Gate. If you need Guiding, please contact me.]

So Won rewrote the sentence several times like an old lover full of lingering attachment, then barely sent the message.

After that, So Won did nothing and stared at his smartphone for a long while.

It was quiet. Despite So Won’s long wait, no reply came from Tae Woo.

Only after the blazing sun disappeared and the moon rose, casting a faint light, did So Won finally put down his smartphone.

Was he not replying because he did not need Guiding, or was he deliberately ignoring him?

All sorts of thoughts rose in his mind. Today he had no appetite, so he skipped the meal.

When he thought that he would have to spend the night suffering from nightmares again, his hands trembled.

In the end, So Won decided to go find Tae Woo.

If he just sat still and waited for a contact that would not come, all that would come to So Won was terrible nightmares.

Tae Woo might not welcome So Won, but he did not seem like he would chase away So Won, who had come all the way to the Association to do Guiding.

So Won rose from his seat.

He prepared lightly to go out and checked the time.

The bus, which had the worst dispatch intervals, had already passed its last run even though it was not yet late night.

So Won opened the taxi app. The design felt crude, like something from eight years ago, but it was not unusable.

After holding his smartphone and calling a taxi for a while, he barely caught a taxi passing nearby.

A flower bloomed on So Won’s face.

As soon as he went outside, a car approached from afar.

Unlike the humid and hot outside, the inside of the taxi was cool.

The ride was not comfortable, but since So Won did not have a personal car now, he had no choice but to endure it.

“Please take me to the Esper Association Headquarters.”

So Won was certain that Tae Woo would be at the Esper Association.

Whether it was a day he had gone to a Gate or not, if he was not at his house, he always stayed in the Association’s Personal Room.

Even recently, before being dispatched to the Gate, when he had not returned home, he must have been in the Personal Room.

Today would be the same.

The scenery passed by quickly. The closer he got to the Esper Association, the more the view outside the window gradually became flashy.

On the wide-open road where he had been driving alone, other cars began to appear one by one.

Having spent time alone, seeing people walking on the streets made his loneliness subside a little.

His fear disappeared along with it. And then he began to think more and more.

‘Did I come out for nothing?’

Tae Woo did not seem likely to welcome So Won, who feared him just like everyone else.

If So Won suddenly showed up and offered to do Guiding, Tae Woo might even feel offended.

And if he narrowed his brows because of that, So Won would become frightened again and his legs would shake.

Then it was only natural that Tae Woo’s impression of So Won would worsen further.

Afraid that Tae Woo, who had been spending time alone in the Personal Room, would frown upon seeing him, So Won began to regret having gone out so recklessly.