No matter how much you get angry and throw a tantrum, there is nothing you can change.
Eight years ago, on the day So Won was matched with the monster Kang Tae Woo, even when he tried so hard to invalidate the Matching, there was nothing he could change.
Kang Tae Woo. The three syllables carried great impact.
At So Won’s stubborn will, So Won’s mother finally shed tears, and So Won’s father pressed his brow and let out a deep sigh.
The previously bright and cheerful atmosphere had completely disappeared.
So Won’s heart ached as if he were being unfilial, but the only words he could say were apologies.
Tae Woo had ended his life just a few days ago, earlier than So Won’s parents.
He couldn’t even close his eyes properly.
His stomach was completely pierced, his whole body covered in blood, he poured out all his blood and died cold and stiff.
And that happened right before So Won’s eyes. So Won’s expression darkened further as he recalled that sight.
It was something to apologize to his parents for, but So Won had to take responsibility for his death this time at least.
In the end, So Won couldn’t bear the heavy atmosphere and fled to his room.
Click, when the door closed with a small sound, So Won slowly sank down.
He had expected it, but his parents’ opposition was severe.
Still, he had to convince them somehow.
After all, because of the Guide Duty System, So Won had to become Kang Tae Woo’s Guide, and now the result couldn’t be changed.
Outside had already grown dark.
So Won lay on the bed and tried to search Tae Woo’s name, but before he could even type it, he found Tae Woo’s name in the real-time search rankings.
So Won tilted his head and tapped Tae Woo’s name in the real-time search rankings.
Soon, the screen that appeared was full of new articles he hadn’t seen yesterday.
[Monster Kang Tae Woo, Even His Matching Rate Is a Monster]
So Won frowned at the article title. Monster, huh.
Of course he had thought so too, but even so, calling a person a monster was too much.
Thinking of Tae Woo, who must have always been treated as a monster, a feeling of pity washed over him.
Both to the So Won of the past and to his one and only Guide, he had been treated as a monster.
This time, it wouldn’t be like that. So Won resolved that at least he would treat him not as the monster Kang Tae Woo but as the human Kang Tae Woo.
Anyway, it was surprising. It hadn’t been long since the results came out, but the news was so fast that articles were already up.
He clicked and read the top article, and it said that Tae Woo had recorded an unprecedented 100% Matching Rate and had gained a Guide.
It seemed they hadn’t yet discovered that Tae Woo’s Guide was So Won, as there was no information about the Guide.
He picked and read a few other articles, but most had similar content.
So Won turned off the phone screen and lay looking at the ceiling.
Several days had passed, but the current situation still didn’t feel real.
Or maybe he had dreamed an eight-year-long dream. Should he have memorized lottery numbers?
Frivolous thoughts continued. If he had known this would happen, he should have watched the news in detail at least.
So Won had spent the past eight years doing nothing but holed up in his room, so he didn’t even know much about most major events.
After becoming Tae Woo’s Guide, he had no memory of the early-to-mid period, and after that, he only remembered things like when Tae Woo didn’t come home for a long time, or the most recent Incheon Gate Incident.
At this rate, the only way So Won could be helpful to Tae Woo seemed to be Guiding.
So Won let out a deep sigh.
So Won opened his eyes with a haggard face.
It was hard to close his eyes before sleeping every night.
He was afraid that if he closed his eyes for a moment and opened them, he would wake up in an operating room filled with his own screams.
Even if he soothed his anxious heart and lowered his eyelids for a moment, he saw Tae Woo vomiting blood and closing his eyes, and the smell of blood, the touch of a cold hand, and a thread-like Guide’s Wavelength tormented So Won.
Then when he fell asleep, he always had nightmares. This repeated every night.
“Haa…”
So Won, who had had a nightmare again, opened his eyes at dawn.
He had definitely fallen asleep long after midnight, but he woke when the outside of the window was bluish, as if the sun was just about to rise.
He felt like he could count on his fingers the hours he had slept over the past few days.
Perhaps he had thrashed while dreaming, because the blanket had fallen to the floor.
Cold sweat ran all over his body, soaking his clothes. Even after opening his eyes, the scenes from the dream were vividly remembered.
His hands trembled. After having a nightmare, So Won always searched Tae Woo’s name.
Only after confirming that there was no article saying he had died could he finally feel relieved.
So Won had stayed home for the past week.
It had already been a week since the Guiding Test, but he hadn’t met Tae Woo even once since then.
At first, So Won had tried to contact Tae Woo. But there was a problem.
So Won had never even contacted Tae Woo in the past eight years, so he didn’t know his number.
Still, So Won didn’t give up and called the Esper Association to try to contact Tae Woo.
We apologize. Even if you are the dedicated Guide, we cannot give you the Esper’s phone number over the phone due to personal information protection.
The first answer flustered So Won. But he accepted that it could be so and asked them to transfer the call to Tae Woo.
-Esper Kang Tae Woo does not accept call transfers from outsiders.
It was an answer that seemed prepared in advance to tease So Won.
In the end, So Won couldn’t get anything and had to hang up in vain.
The only thing So Won knew about Tae Woo was exactly one thing. Tae Woo’s house, which So Won had thought of as a prison for the past eight years.
But Tae Woo’s house had never been revealed to the outside, so if So Won suddenly visited, Tae Woo would definitely find it strange.
Therefore, even the only thing So Won knew was useless.
Still, it wasn’t that nothing happened in the meantime.
So Won finally succeeded in persuading his parents and quit the university he had been attending.
Unlike eight years ago, he had thought about trying university this time, but he worried that he might neglect Guiding with Tae Woo, so after much thought he applied for a leave of absence.
Around this time, he still had a few close friends at university, but to the current So Won, they were people he had lost contact with eight years ago.
He also completely changed his low-quality and childish clothes to match the taste of thirty-year-old So Won.
Because of the Regression, there wasn’t much money in his bank account, but it was possible because a large sum came in right after he became Kang Tae Woo’s dedicated Guide.
Having lost the means to contact Tae Woo, So Won became lax.
If it weren’t for the nightmares he had every night, it was peaceful, as if he had returned to the days before becoming Tae Woo’s Guide.
So Won planned to lie in bed again today, enjoying the cool air conditioner.
If only the mail that arrived from the Guide Association a little after morning hadn’t come.
So Won opened the envelope and took something out of the mail. A small white card.
It was a Guide Registration Card, something that could also be called a Guide’s ID.
As So Won alternated between looking at his own face in the card and the name of his assigned Esper, Kang Tae Woo, a sparkling idea came to mind.
Tae Woo lived almost like he was living in his Personal Room at the Esper Association.
Even before living together with So Won, he had left a good house and deliberately stayed at the Esper Association, and thanks to that, So Won could breathe a little in that stifling house.
Probably today too, unless there was a special reason, Tae Woo would definitely be in his Personal Room.
So Won admired his own cleverness and immediately began preparing to go out.
The Esper Association lobby, just after lunchtime, was crowded with people compared to when he had come last time.
Nervous about meeting Tae Woo soon, So Won swallowed and bravely walked to the information desk.
“How may I help you?”
“Where is Esper Kang Tae Woo’s Personal Room?”
“I’m sorry. We cannot tell outsiders the location of an Esper’s Personal Room.”
It was the expected answer. So Won fumbled in his pocket, took out his Guide Registration Card, and handed it to the employee.
The employee, who confirmed Tae Woo’s name on the Guide Registration Card that So Won had confidently handed over, looked back and forth between So Won and the card two or three times with an expression of disbelief.
In the end, unable to believe it, the employee checked So Won’s Guide registration number in the computer system. .
It was true. He wanted to believe it was an error in the computer system, but the photos of the So Won in front of him and Kang Tae Woo were displayed side by side on the computer screen.
The employee, who had once happened to encounter Kang Tae Woo’s terrifying appearance, went blank.
He didn’t even want to go near there, but since So Won was not an outsider and was the dedicated Guide, he had no choice but to guide him.
“I will guide you…”
The employee’s steps were heavy.
So Won, who got on the elevator following the employee, stole a glance at the floor number he pressed.
10th floor. There might be a reason to come later, so he had to remember it well.
The floor they soon got off on was quiet compared to other places.
There was no one walking around the hallway, no numbers were attached to each room, and the number of rooms was remarkably small compared to the large structure.
In the quiet hallway, only the footsteps of So Won and the employee guiding him could be heard.
It was so silent that it felt rather alien.
“This is the place.”
The employee, who had stopped before he knew it, pointed to a firmly closed door.
When So Won bowed his head, the employee hurried away with busy steps.
So Won watched the employee quickly disappear, then looked around.
Tae Woo’s Personal Room was at the very end of the hallway.
No other rooms were visible nearby, and the inside was quiet.
He couldn’t feel any sign of people at all.