SOG Ch 77

“Where is Guide Kim Geun-won?”

Go Woo-jin grabbed the guide of Team 5 who was passing by.

After the first suppression was successful, dozens of people were busy trying to control the situation at the fishing spot. There were currently 5 Guide teams urgently deployed to the scene. Kim Geun-won must be somewhere around here.

“Guide Kim Geun-won? I thought he was going to Mt. Owol for support?”

Woo-jin’s spine stiffened at the answer he received. Originally, Kim Geun-won loved to travel around a lot. To make matters worse, he doesn’t even answer the phone. This was an urgent situation…

Go Woo-jin nervously put his cell phone in his pocket. Woo-jin gently brushed Jae-chan’s back while supporting him with one arm, attempting to soothe the increasing restlessness wavelength.

Woo-jin was conflicted about whether or not he should grab a Guide right away, regardless of whether Jae-chan was discovered to be an Esper or not.

“Do you by any chance need a guide?”

A soft voice approached.

It was Guide Nam Hae-sol the apprentice Guide from Team 2.

In fact, Woo-jin had noticed her snooping around earlier. He was so busy looking for Kim Geun-won that he just left her alone.

Two hours ago. She was the one who arrived at the scene quickly and luckily found Gyeong Chang-hyun, who was looking for Guide Team 1 leader Han Tae-hoon. She ran straight to Go Woo-jin after hearing about the location tracker from him, not Han Tae-hoon.

Thanks to this, Woo-jin was able to immediately bring E-SOF team members with him, skipping almost all unnecessary procedures. If there were no teleporters among the hostage-takers and no need to devise a plan to suppress him, they could have rescued Seon Jae-chan much sooner.

‘Please take me with you instead.’

As a condition for handing over the location tracker, Nam Hae-sol made that proposal. That’s why she was here.

“I don’t need a guide.”

After briefly getting entangled in his thoughts, Woo-jin looked a Nam Hae-sol and replied.

On her white cheeks, lightly freckled, her black eyes trembled as if pleading. Watching that trembling for a moment, Woo-jin continued walking. It was when he passed right by the apprentice guide.

“I think you do need a Guide.”

Nam Hae-sol, who had been following up until the end, lowered her voice. Then a whisper was heard, complicating Go Woo-jin’s mind even more.

“Not Esper Go Woo-jin… I’m talking about Senior Seon Jae-chan.”

Woo-jin’s steps stopped.

If Seon Jae-chan had been awake, he would have lamented that it was a twist of fate. Just as Nam Hae-sol had noticed Han Roy’s Esper abilities in the past, she seemed to have recognized Seon Jae-chan’s Esper abilities now. The situation also required guiding.

The lukewarm river breeze brushed through the reed forest and passed between the three people.

Woo-jin turned to Nam Hae-sol. Vigilance and anxiety crossed paths in her innocent eyes. His hesitation lasted only a moment. He could only nod.

*

Nam Hae-sol acted swiftly.

There were no questions. She concentrated solely on stabilizing Sun Jae-chan’s wavelength while silently holding the unconscious senior’s hand. Fortunately, the matching rate was not too bad, and Go Woo-jin could also sense Seon Jae-chan’s wavelength calming down as he was noticeably settling down.

“It’s done. Go quickly.”

Having quickly completed the guiding, Nam Hae-sol hastily returned to the scene as if nothing had happened

Woo-jin absentmindedly glanced at her fluttering long hair and then boarded the transfer boat again. The previously uneasy paramedic, now visibly relieved by the stabilized condition of the patient, started the boat with a puzzled expression.

From arriving at the dock to being transferred to an ambulance and heading to the Ross Clinic, which was designated as the designated hospital for this incident, all procedures were completed quickly.

Kim Geun-won arrived at the hospital after Seon Jae-chan had finished the general examination.

“How is Guide Seon?”

Seon Jae-chan was currently moved to a single room. Geun-won took out the portable wavelength meter he had stolen. Only after confirming that Seon Jae-chan’s wavelength had recovered to stability did the two let out a short sigh.

“Hey, why is your wavelength like this?”

Kim Geun-won, who felt a heavy wave of energy, looked around in surprise. He was so clueless that he didn’t know, but Go Woo-jin also needed guiding.

‘…Well, this should be relatively stable compared to the past.’

Other espers had a hard time withstanding even when their stability dropped to around 30%, but Go Woo-jin tended to easily endure the limit. He’s been walking around like a well-kept beast lately, so this was his original energy state.

“Get guided. Don’t be stubborn.”

As he spoke, Kim Geun-won felt it had been a long time since he guided Woo-jin. When was the last time? It seemed like the only time was earlier this year when they coincidentally met at the center.

Now that he thought about it, it was strange. He wondered why he hadn’t been getting guided by him lately.

Geun-won was captivated by a strange thought. Staring at Sun Jae-chan and capturing his side profile like a rock that doesn’t budge, these perplexing thoughts deepened.

“…You’re not trying to get guided by the patient, are you?”

Kim Geun-won stroked his scruffy beard. Somehow, he felt like he knew how to move Woo-jin.

“If you were in that state, Guide Seon would have rushed to guide you as soon as he woke up.”

It was as expected. Go Woo-jin stood up from his seat soon after. Kim Geun-won thought about whether he should like or dislike this and followed him.

The two left the patient’s room and headed towards the central station overlooking the hospital lobby. They sat side by side on chairs for guardians in one of the hallways. Since Woo-jin had mentioned that there was no significant burden right now, Geun-won began the radiation guiding.

‘There’s no significant burden, my foot.’

It felt like dealing with a stubborn teenage sibling. Geun-won patted his large palm and simultaneously provided contact guiding.

“Right. Who did that guy get guiding from?”

Geun-won gestured towards the patient’s room and asked.

Unlike the inside where Seon Jae-chan was sleeping, the inside of the hospital was still busy. In addition to Seon Jae-chan, medical staff were running around day and night to take care of the citizens who were taken hostage. Go Woo-jin answered while looking at the commotion filled with a sense of duty.

“Seon Jae-chan’s successor. The apprentice guide did it.”

“Wow, she did a good job with the guiding. I might not have done better even if I had tried. You mentioned she’s an A-class guide, right? Is she highly compatible with that guy?”

Kim Geun-won had a history of using an amplifier when guiding Seon Jae-chan on Mentosa Island. Kim Geun-won estimated that the matching rate between Jae-chan and him was less than 10%.

In comparison, Seon Jae-chan’s successor stabilized him without even an amplifier. Considering that their classes were the same, it was clear that Seon Jae-chan had a higher matching rate with the apprentice than Kim Geun-won.

“Oh, it’s already five o’clock. The sun is up, the sun is up. Let’s go home.”

Kim Geun-won, who was stretching his arms and rubbing his stiff neck and shoulders, suddenly realized he was mumbling to himself.

He turned around to see Woo-jin sitting alone in front of the single room. Geun-won’s eyes, slightly swollen from fatigue, twitched for a moment before squinting.

“You’re not going to stay here, are you?”

Kim Geun-won asked as he turned around.

“….”

“The wavelength stability has been restored, and the hospital says he’s just asleep. Is gas poisoning a big deal?”

He added with a hint of sarcasm. Lately, he had been thinking that Woo-jin and Jae-chan were spending too much time together. At first, Geun-won had hoped their relationship would improve and even organized drinking gatherings for them, but…

‘There’s something odd about this.’

Go Woo-jin had been taking a break from dating for quite some time. Due to Seon Jae-chan’s petty interference, he had never had a girlfriend for more than a month, but this was the first time he had rejected the courageous approach of the opposite sex for this long. If asked why, a vague response like ‘I don’t have much intention to date’ would come back, but it felt uncomfortable no matter how much he thought about it.

For example, just a while ago. When Geun-won mentioned that the compatibility between Jae-chan and Nam Hae-sol might be good, he felt a strange sinking sensation coming from Woo-jin.

Woo-jin stubbornly kept his mouth shut. Still, as if contemplating a slightly different perspective, Kim Geun-won subtly grabbed Woo-jin’s arm and pulled him. He added a few more words.

“Anyway, he has a family, right? They said they already contacted the guardian.”

At that moment, Go Woo-jin’s feet were stuck on the hospital floor.

Huh. Kim Geun-won, who was dragging Woo-jin along, also came to a halt. Geun-won’s tired gaze turned back as he felt the pull of an anchored iron beam on the floor. However, Woo-jin didn’t give Geun-won a chance to backtrack.

In Woo-jin’s mind, figures worthy of being called Seon Jae-chan’s guardians were coming to mind—his father, Seon Min-yeol, and his only brother, Seon Eun-soo.

Go Woo-jin’s face became even colder at the thought of Seon Eun-soo, not knowing that he had gone to the United States for plastic surgery.

‘A guardian, huh? Do you think those kinds of bastards are going to come?’

Go Woo-jin removed Kim Geun-won’s hand and entered the hospital room. Seon Jae-chan was still asleep. Perhaps because of the pure white hospital pillow, his already pale complexion stands out even more.

The sudden stillness and the quiet air in the single room felt like they were pressing down on the guy lying there. Seon Jae-chan would have to face Seon Min-yeol or Seon Eun-soo in his weakened state.

Go Woo-jin knew very well that a family that didn’t even feel like family was worse than others.

“Hey, Woo-jin. Go Woo-jin!”

Kim Geun-won called out to him as he crumpled the crossbag with the rattling wavelength meter, but Woo-jin didn’t even flinch. He concealed his expression by covering his face with his large, vein-lined hand.

It seemed like his steps would never falter.