Chapter 9: Fixing the Guide After Losing the Cow – Episode 9

‘What will I do if Tae Woo isn’t here?’

There was no Guide, but Tae Woo was also an S-rank Esper, so he was often dispatched to the field. 3

Because he obeyed his superiors’ orders more docilely than other S-rank Espers, Tae Woo participated in Gate raids more often than any of them.

Most Gates that opened in Korea were difficulty C or lower, so he usually cleared them and returned within a day, but occasionally when he went to A-rank or B-class difficulty, it took several days.

But it was a problem even with Tae Woo there. Being left alone with him in one space still came as a great fear.

Although during the Guiding Test last time, So Won had taken Tae Woo’s hand first and even hugged him, that was only possible because other people were watching.

So Won took a deep breath. Tae Woo was still frightening, but it seemed he wasn’t as scary as before.

He did tremble a little, but at their first meeting, hadn’t he greeted first and even cried pathetically?

A small hand that had mustered courage knocked on the door twice.

As the clear sound echoed down the hallway, a blunt voice came from inside.

[Come in.]

Fortunately, Tae Woo was inside. So Won opened the door carefully with relief.

So Won, who opened the door and peeked inside, met a grim gaze.

He looked to be in a very bad mood. So Won quickly lowered his eyes.

He saw his own trembling legs. He was seized by the urge to close the door just like that.

Tae Woo was flustered by the unexpected guest.

As soon as So Won’s hand touched him during the Guiding Test, he felt as if someone had struck his brain, and he fainted just like that.

That evening, when he opened his eyes alone in the empty Personal Room, a sense of emptiness washed over him.

His memory was cut off, which was unpleasant, yet his body felt lighter than usual.

Tae Woo couldn’t even remember the feeling of the first Guiding.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he looked at the back of his hand that would have touched So Won’s hand.

He had just returned from a Gate, so his body should have been in bad shape, yet even the pain that was always there had disappeared.

Having done Guiding only briefly, the pain that had tormented him his whole life was gone, and it felt strange.

But from the next day, the pain came back to Tae Woo. His body, suffering from a wringing pain, kept seeking a Guide.

The warm aura he had felt even without touching, the strange feeling of all tension in his body releasing when their hands touched, and the image of So Won looking up at him with a slightly reddened face.

Whenever that happened, Tae Woo recalled So Won, who had trembled pitifully while looking at him, and suppressed his dirty desires.

After the Guiding Test, Tae Woo’s attending physician frequently visited Tae Woo’s Personal Room.

Normally, the physician wouldn’t come except for checkups and would tremble whenever he faced Tae Woo, but now he came to Tae Woo and chattered on praising So Won, making Tae Woo feel like he was getting neurosis.

Eventually, when Tae Woo, unable to hold back, narrowed his brows and glared at the physician, the physician would run away immediately, but after a little time passed, he would come looking for Tae Woo again.

Knock, knock, a cheerful knocking sound was heard. Tae Woo sighed and rubbed his face dry.

It seemed the physician had come again.

He thought he would die from going berserk at the Gate, but now it seemed he would go berserk at the Esper Association in the middle of Seoul.

“Come in.”

With a creak, the door opened carefully. He didn’t hear a noisy voice.

At the situation different from usual, Tae Woo looked at the door.

A pale face peeked out. The guest, who bowed his head as soon as their eyes met, was Tae Woo’s Guide.

Tae Woo realized he had unconsciously been frowning and relaxed his expression belatedly.

But So Won had already become very frightened. Looking at So Won, who couldn’t even think of raising his head, Tae Woo blamed himself.

So Won wanted to run away. But he could feel Tae Woo’s gaze, so his feet wouldn’t move even a single step.

As soon as the door opened, So Won, who had received Tae Woo’s fierce glare, felt his confidence fall endlessly.

It was clear that he had suddenly visited Tae Woo’s personal space and made him uncomfortable.

So Won, unable to keep his eyes still like an anxious puppy, eventually muttered weakly.

“Um… I came because I didn’t know how to contact you. I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable.”

Even to So Won’s own ears, his voice was greatly shrinking.

This isn’t it… So Won tightly shut his eyes.

Before opening the door, he had planned to pretend not to be scared and greet him brightly.

At this rate, wasn’t he completely revealing that he also thought of him as a monster?

Tae Woo heard So Won’s words and realized that he had fallen asleep as if fainting on the first day, so he hadn’t given So Won a way to contact him.

He thought of his attending physician, who had repeatedly told him about the conversation with So Won after the test.

Before praising him like that, he should have given his number to So Won first.

Tae Woo seemed to hear the physician’s greasy laughter by his ear.

“It’s all right. Come in.”

So Won, who had been standing at the entrance unable to even come in, glanced at Tae Woo.

Perhaps because he felt So Won’s sincere apology, Tae Woo’s expression had relaxed a little.

So Won greatly relieved inwardly and only then carefully entered the room.

Click, the sound of the door closing was heard especially loudly.

So Won rolled his eyes and looked around the room.

His Personal Room, which he was seeing for the first time, was simply fascinating to So Won.

They said it was a Personal Room, but it was just like a large studio apartment.

Brilliant sunlight came in through a window that filled one whole wall.

Right in front of the window was a large, neatly made bed, and beside it was a clunky Guiding Machine.

In the center of the room, a three-person sofa faced another across a table, and Tae Woo was sitting there looking at So Won.

“Lee So Won.”

“Yes?”

So Won, who had relaxed his tension while looking around the room, answered in surprise.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“Ah…”

So Won rolled his eyes around and found a green tea bag placed on top of the water purifier.

“Green tea, please.”

“Understood. Please sit.”

Because he had never conversed with him, speaking to Tae Woo was awkward.

Tae Woo’s low voice was unfamiliar as well.

So Won glanced at Tae Woo, who rose from the sofa and headed to the water purifier, and stole looks at him.

A large build and short black hair with no brown mixed in at all.

Even though it was summer, his body was wearing long-sleeved black clothes, and perhaps because of his large build, the clothes clung to him and showed Tae Woo’s lines as they were.

On his face and hands, which he couldn’t help but cover, dark red veins stood out, and around his neck was a thick black ring whose purpose was unknown.

So Won’s gaze, sitting on the sofa, soon fixed on Tae Woo’s back.

In his dreams, there was always a large hole pierced there.

It still seemed that if he lifted that clothing, there would be a hole dripping with blood.

So Won’s hand trembled finely as he thought of Tae Woo’s death again.

So Won tightly grasped his joined hands to calm his cold hands.

Tae Woo put a green tea bag in a paper cup along with cold water and handed it to So Won.

“Thank you.”

As soon as So Won accepted the paper cup, his mouth was dry, so he took a sip of green tea.

Tae Woo sat across from So Won and watched him.

At a glance, he almost thought So Won didn’t fear him because his actions seemed natural, but because of his slightly trembling hands and his eyes that couldn’t meet Tae Woo’s, he had to admit that it was a misunderstanding.

Even while drinking water, So Won felt Tae Woo’s gaze and thought he would get sick.

When he sipped the water while watching Tae Woo’s reaction, before he knew it, half the water in the paper cup was gone.

So Won set the paper cup down on the table.

“First, shall I give you my contact information?”

So Won, who had completely forgotten the purpose of visiting Tae Woo, snapped to his senses at Tae Woo’s words.

Right, that was it. So Won nodded, feeling needlessly embarrassed.

Tae Woo rose from his seat again and brought something from the desk on So Won’s right, handing it over.

As he accepted the small slip of paper, the first thing he saw was Kang Tae Woo, the three syllables of his name.

“So he had a business card too…”

So Won muttered to himself. During the eight years he had been his Guide, he hadn’t known his phone number and hadn’t even known he had a business card.

So Won couldn’t take his eyes off the stiff paper.

He stared at the business card as if memorizing the phone number, then, in case he might lose it while taking it, he took out his smartphone and saved his number.

So Won’s slender fingers moved busily to save Tae Woo’s number.

Tae Woo quietly gazed at So Won like that.

As expected, just having So Won nearby made his body feel good, as if a Guiding Machine had been attached.

The faint warm aura was unfamiliar but not unpleasant.

“Um, and…”

So Won’s round eyes looked at Tae Woo and checked his mood.

His small hands fidgeted as he hesitated to speak.

“Because of the Guide Duty System, we have to live together. I heard there’s also National Support Housing, but I don’t like it there…”

Was there such a clause too? Come to think of it, other S-ranks also seemed to live with their Guides.

For a moment, the image of living with So Won came to Tae Woo’s mind.

When he came home, the round Guide who welcomed him, and the Guiding he could feel just by being near So Won without the bother of attaching a Guiding Machine. It might not be bad.

‘Your Guide will be unhappy.’

But why did that Esper’s words come to mind?

At the same time, he thought of the life of a Guide who would live in the same house as him and become unhappy.

On days when Tae Woo returned from a Gate, he would enter the house looking more terrible than usual.

After using his power, the veins covering his whole body writhed, and he became several times more sensitive than usual.

If he accidentally touched his Guide in a situation where he couldn’t properly control his power, So Won might be seriously hurt.

He might suffer all night making monster-like sounds.

Could this Guide endure in such a place?