The Guide Is Fixing His Regrets

So-Won rolled his eyes, not understanding the situation. When the guide repeatedly apologized and said something in English, the woman passed So-Won with a slightly regretful expression.

She took a deep look at So-Won before she entered the conference room. That meant she was Esper too.

“That was an Esper too….”

So-Won murmured. Her hands looked unscratched and clean, so he thought she was a guide because she didn’t look like someone who would fight. So-Won realized once again that he should not judge people by their appearance.

The guide, who had meticulously confirmed the woman’s complete departure several times, whispered to So-Won.

“Guide Lee So-Won, you must never get close to that Esper.”

The guide warned with a rather grave face, but she looked smaller and more vulnerable than So-Won, so she didn’t look like a dangerous person.

So-Won asked back, tilting his head.

“Why?”

“She is an S-class Esper from the U.S. and has more than ten guides.”

“What?”

“You know what’s scarier? She stole those guides from other Esper.”

“She stole them?”

So-Won was startled. It was an act that did not match her angelic appearance. He thought she was similar to Si-Hyuk, but did not expect they were the same. Another person had been added to So-Won’s list of dangerous people.

“Once she knows that the matching rate is high, she would bring that guide in despite the guide having an Esper. Last year, she touched a guide from another country. It almost turned the country upside down.”

The So-Won that almost overturned Canada twice swept his heart, and he felt relieved. If Tae-Woo hadn’t blocked her at the first meeting, something really difficult would have happened. As he returned to the past, he seemed to have lost his ability to detect danger.

“Do you know how that guide was taken away?”

“No, this is the first time I’ve heard of it.”

“Have you ever had another Esper approaching guide Lee So-Won? Guides could change their exclusive espers at will, so that’s normal. So some people try to snatch the guide by appealing for better conditions. Just like that, Esper.”

Of course, kidnapping of guides is just as common, and it’s a problem because sometimes murders occur between Esper, he continued. In Korea, it is common for Esper to fight over guide issues, but it was okay. The guide cannot easily change its dedicated partner thanks to related provisions.

So-Won listened with his eyes wide open to the provocative anecdotes. As So-Won listened in wonder, the guide chatted more about this and that excitedly.

So-Won and the guide broke up after a long conversation. Even after arriving in front of the room, So-Won was reluctant to be left alone with a stranger because of the social phobia he acquired after suffering from depression.

The alarm went off noisily. So-Won, who tried to sleep again with his ears plugged, felt that the space next to him was empty and forced himself to open his eyes. As the view became clear, Tae-Woo raised himself from the bed. The sound he thought was an alarm was the voice of a person coming from the speaker.

Outside the window, there was a bluish dawn. Although there was combat training on today’s schedule, it didn’t start this early. So-Won listened to the continuous broadcast, questioning it. He couldn’t understand it because it was English, but something was wrong.

“Tae-Woo, what’s going on?”When he opened his mouth, So-Won heard a very cracked voice. His throat was dry, but it didn’t seem to be because he was asleep. So-Won fiddled with his neck. Is it because he had been walking around in thin clothes since he arrived in Canada? He seemed to have a slight cold. So-Won looked at Tae-Woo, answering his question, thinking he should wear thick clothes for now.

“The gate is becoming unstable, so they are moving ahead of schedule and leaving today.”

“Then do you have to go right away?”

“Yes. Lee So-Won, please sleep a little more.”

So-Won pondered for a moment. He fell asleep late while waiting for Tae-Woo yesterday. He was so tired because he couldn’t properly adjust to the time difference.

However, So-Won weigh his decision of continuing to sleep while lying down or seeing Tae-Woo off with a heavy body. He chose the latter and came down from the bed.

“I see. I’ll just watch Tae-Woo go and go to sleep.”

If he leaves now, So-Won doesn’t know when Tae-Woo will return. It took four days after he entered an A-class gate once, so it would not be strange to say that the S-class gate can take a week.

Eight years later, the gate opened in Incheon was targeted in less than a day, but it was an extremely rare case. However, the short attack time did not make it easy. Usually, monsters that have to fall individually pour out of the gate at once, making it more difficult.

So-Won, who escaped from the blanket, wore a thick cardigan over his white pyjamas, feeling a chill. While Tae-Woo was changing into his combat uniform, So-Won looked down from the window. People and vehicles were already busy gathering and moving to the gate on the first floor. Still, the announcement that he couldn’t understand did not stop. So-Won heard it from all over the accommodation.

Someone came to the front door. So-Won heard the sound of knocking and then headed to the front door.

“Hello.”

In front of the door stood the guide and his Esper. As soon as he confirmed that the schedule had changed, he seemed to have come to pick up Tae-Woo. The guide, exchanging greetings with So-Won, looked at So-Won’s outfit and asked.

“Guide Lee So-Won, are you going to see him off?”

“Yes. Can’t I?”

“It’s not like that. It’s a bit crowded outside, so you’d better not go out.”

At those words, So-Won remembered the place outside. After arriving at the accommodation, the usual quiet floor was busy and packed with people. To avoid interfering with them, it is better to part here instead of following Tae-Woo.

“Hello, Esper Kang Tae-Woo.”

The eyes of the two people standing by the door turned over So-Won’s back, and both bowed at the same time. When So-Won turned around, he saw Tae-Woo, already ready, walking out. When So-Won saw that, he realized he had to part with him. His sleepiness vanished in an instant.

“Tae-Woo.”

As the information officers came to pick him up, Tae-Woo looked away for a while. So-Won grabbed Tae-Woo, who was about to step outside and kissed him briefly. After the light kiss, the feeling and lips fell off. So-Won knew that Tae-Woo’s condition now did not require guidance. So it was a talisman indicating he should come back safely.

“Have a safe trip.”

So-Won let Tae-Woo go with a clear smile. It was the beginning of an endless wait.

So-Won’s cold, which had risen weakly, quickly subsided after resting in his room.

So-Won only spent time in the bedroom, thinking that it would not be okay to go around outside where he couldn’t even speak the language, but it became more and more boring, so he began to walk around outside little by little and look around.

Of course, he didn’t forget the warning about going alone, and So-Won called a guide and went with him.

The accommodation where all the espers left was quiet because only the guides wandered around. Some people used to flock around to see each other, but most were alone. Sometimes I could see someone leaving the accommodation in a hurry, and the guide told So-Won that he would guide an Esper, who was carried out of the gate because of severe injuries. So-Won stared blankly at their urgent backs overlapping with his past.

A week after Tae-Woo left for the gate, the wind was strong, and the gloomy weather was not very good today. When he opened his eyes, So-Won checked the cloudy sky and did not go out. Instead, he calls a guide to converse in the room.

“What? Your doctor gave you something like that?”

When So-Won talked about the package he received from her doctor, the guide laughed, almost out of breath. So-Won also smiled, remembering what happened.

So-Won became close to him for a few days. He also felt the same way as a man matched with the same-sex Esper.

He could ask him questions that he couldn’t ask others. For example… The guiding that was the most effective.

So-Won took this opportunity to exchange information and share knowledge. So-Won felt like a guide because he could tell something even though he knew nothing.

Then, suddenly, an announcement came out of the speaker. The guide beside So-Won held back his laughter and interpreted it immediately. “Oh, I guess the gate attack is over. The Esper is returning to the accommodation, so they say to prepare the guidance.”

He can meet Tae-Woo again after a week. At the same time as he was glad, So-Won was also anxious. This is because he couldn’t imagine the condition of Tae-Woo, who would have fought at the S-class gate for a week.