/
“So I asked him to look for a guide other than me. He doesn’t like it. Si-Hyuk said their appearance should be at least above average .”
Come to think of it, Si-Hyuk’s guide looked pale, but she was quite beautiful. A slender face that looks good with short hair and gentle eyes. The small, sharp nose and attractive lips made her look like an actress.
But she was the opposite of Si-Hyuk. She didn’t smile much and shut her mouth when next to Si-Hyuk.
“Is Esper Choi Si-Hyuk’s personality like that?”
“Mischievous?”
“Uh, um… yes.”
So-Won was embarrassed by the direct expression and nodded.
“He is mischievous, but he is not a bad person. It’s just because he is not being honest. The cancellation of the gate schedule last time wasn’t because it was annoying but because my illness suddenly got worse.”
“Are you in a very bad condition?”
“It’s a rare disease that only guides get. They said I don’t have much time left.”
So-Won was at a loss for words. He shouldn’t have asked if he was told she was in such a bad condition that he couldn’t even guide. His stupid mouth was a problem.
“Even I can’t believe it. I’m good on days like this.”
She reached for the passing butterfly. It looked like she wanted to stop for a while, so So-Won stopped pushing.
“I don’t like being confined to the hospital, so Choi Si-Hyuk sometimes brings me out. He can use his ability, but he always pushes the wheelchair.”
Come to think of it, when he first met him and today, Si-Hyuk was pushing her wheelchair with his hands. He could have moved comfortably if he had used psychokinesis. So-Won understands why she said he wasn’t a bad person. Even so, So-Won still wanted to avoid him.
“Guide Lee So-Won.”
She knew his name even though he didn’t introduce himself. So-Won was surprised for a moment, but soon he could guess why. So-Won had introduced himself to Si-Hyuk in front of her, and even if it wasn’t then, it was likely that Si-Hyuk had told her about So-Won or seen the information announced through the association’s briefing session not long ago.
“To guide Lee So-Won, what kind of person is Kang Tae-Woo?”
“……”
So-Won waited to answer. But she looked at the So-Won with a soft look as if she understood it.
“The relationship between Esper and the guide… I think it’s very difficult.”
As soon as she finished speaking, he could see Si-Hyuk and Tae-Woo walking toward this place from afar. Si-Hyuk’s guide also found them and moved the wheelchair herself. So-Won hurriedly followed her and offered to push her, but she refused.
She and Si-Hyuk left. Only after they separate So-Won realize it belatedly.
That he has yet to hear her name.
Tae-Woo watched So-Won, who was gradually moving away as he pushed the wheelchair. So-Won continued to look back and move forward, anxious. Only after So-Won and Si-Hyuk’s guide completely disappeared from view did Si-Hyuk open his mouth.”Kang Tae-Woo, should we start talking?”
Tae-Woo’s eyes were on Si-Hyuk.
Si-Hyuk tried to get guidance from So-Won again, so he had no choice but to send So-Won somewhere else first. However, when So-Won disappeared in front of his eyes, and the guidance he felt near So-Won was cut off, Tae-Woo felt his body urging him to go to So-Won’s side quickly.
“What do you want to talk about?”
“I didn’t know a day where I would ask a favour would come. Apparently, your guide cherishes you so much.”
‘Cherishes you so much’, Tae-Woo mused over the words.
Wrong. So-Won was just feeling sorry for him. Looking at the curse-like veins covering his body, he remembered So-Won always seemed to check it. He is so kind that he can’t stand leaving a monster alone. And he abused the nature of So-Won and kept him by his side.
“I don’t understand. Why does he like a monster like you? If you touch it with your fingers, ordinary people who have no power like guide Lee So-won will die like balloons.”
Si-Hyuk sighed deeply and complained. Tae-Woo also understands what Si-Hyuk said.
So-Won would never understand. How much guilt weighs on Tae-Woo if he gets a blue bruise on his soft flesh because he holds So-Won so hard. That’s why he wanted to avoid listening to Si-Hyuk.
“Just tell me what it is.”
“Why are you anxious to catch up quickly? Don’t worry. I’ll let you go in a minute. I’m worried about the guide because it’s the same here,” continued Si-Hyuk, shrugging his shoulders. “You know, my guide is hurt.”
Tae-Woo recalled information about Si-Hyuk’s guide. Apparently, a few years ago, she suddenly began to weaken guiding and realized she was sick. Si-Hyuk, who ran into him at the hospital by chance, was so shocked that he didn’t notice Tae-Woo passing right in front of him.
Soon after, Si-Hyuk, returned to his usual self, though he was not as serious about being sarcastic to Tae-Woo. His guide, however, became so emaciated that it was visible that his condition was getting worse and worse each time he encountered him.
As Tae-Woo nodded, Si-Hyuk’s expression began to get distorted little by little.
Pain, nervousness, and anxiety were revealed on his face, one after another.
“I think it’s been about half a year….”
The emotions are starting to get mixed up,
“Kang Tae-Woo Esper, how on earth did you put up with this?” Finally, he completely collapsed.
Tae-Woo looked at Si-Hyuk’s face and thought that his appearance now was similar to his desperate expression on the day he encountered him in the hospital.
“My head feels like it’s going to break, and my body feels like it’s going to explode at any moment. It’s amazing that I’m still in my right mind. Guiding machine? God damn it, tell them not to be ridiculous. Do you want me to use that garbage? I think getting a guide with a 1% matching rate would be better.”
It was the opposite of Tae-Woo. Tae-Woo lived using the guidance machine every day and only found out what the real guidance was after meeting So-Won. However, Si-Hyuk, who had a guide from the beginning, would have more difficulty holding out. He must have known very well how sweet the guide was with a guide.
“Yes, Esper’s drink…. I didn’t know there was such a thing, but alcohol was more effective than that. Everyday bottles of alcohol roll around the house, and a disgusting smell stays. I feel like a worthless human addicted to alcohol.”
That, too, was understandable. Usually, Tae-Woo was able to hold out somehow, but after going to the gate, he couldn’t stand it sober. Every time, he drinks strong alcohol. The drink dedicated to Esper, which is said to have been made at a large cost by the country, will work for low-grade Esper, but it has little effect on S-class people like Si-Hyuk and him.
“I’ve met all the guides who said the matching rate was good. But if I meet them in person, they can’t guide me. Every time the association makes an excuse… I can’t help it because my repercussions are not common. Are you kidding me? If I knew how painful it was not to be able to get the guidance, I wouldn’t have listened out of the president’s mouth. I asked for an overseas guide, but it was rejected as a complicated matter with diplomacy.”
Suddenly, he remembered that So-Won applied for a designated match. The doctor in charge told me belatedly, but when he first compared the wavelength of So-Won and Tae-Woo, the association was surprised by the high matching rate, so he forgot to check the matching rate with other Esper. However, he heard that So-Won has already signed a dedicated contract with Tae-Woo, and the matching rate is overwhelmingly high, so he decided not to compare it with other Esper.
If So-Won hadn’t applied for a designated match, Tae-Woo thought he might have been a guide to Si-Hyuk before he even knew of his existence. When he remembered So-Won smiling happily next to Si-Hyuk, not him, Tae-Woo felt frustrated, as if one side of his chest was blocked.
Tae-Woo grabbed his chest, confused by his heart throbbing with unknown emotions. Si-Hyuk continued to talk about something, but he couldn’t hear it properly because he was questioning unfamiliar feelings.
“…I can’t stand it because I’m not a monster like you.”
Si-Hyuk murmured lowly. Tae-Woo’s eyes moved again toward Si-Hyuk.
“Let me get guidance from guide Lee So-won. Lee So-won has no intention of guiding anyone other than you. However, if it is the words of Esper Kang Tae-Woo, who he values so much, he will also guide me.”
“…….”
“You understand, don’t you? How painful it is not to get guidance. So can you tell the guide Lee So-won? ” Si-Hyuk begged. Normally, he wouldn’t have asked for this, but he was asking with all his pride down.
But Tae-Woo could understand him. The pain of not receiving guidance was more terrible than any torture in the world.
“I don’t want to.”
However, Tae-Woo could not give the answer he wanted.
————-
I understand SH, but TW is already in love with SW without even realizing it.