“Hey there, Suhyeon.”
Asher greeted Suhyeon with a bright smile despite his bruised face.
Suhyeon hadn’t even fully reached the gate yet, but seeing Asher standing clearly behind Hajin, he instinctively stopped in his tracks.
‘Why does he look like a mess?’
Yesterday, when he’d guided him, Asher had seemed physically fine.
Now, he looked like he’d been caught in a massive brawl and taken the brunt of the beating.
As Suhyeon faltered at the sight of Asher’s condition, Hajin slammed the gate shut.
But almost immediately, fingers poked through the gap, and the gate swung wide open again with a loud bang.
“Get lost.”
“Aww, come on! I explained everything! I told you, I was planning on being more careful with my approach!”
Asher shouted back loudly and strode past the gate.
Before Suhyeon could even react, Asher was right in front of him.
To be precise, he had blocked dozens of blue fireballs launched by Hajin—at a speed Suhyeon’s eyes couldn’t even follow—deflected the ones he could, dodged the rest, and landed right before Suhyeon.
……It was an inhuman display of reflexes that left one in awe.
While Suhyeon watched the spectacle with his mouth slightly agape, Asher froze for a split second as he took Suhyeon in.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he grinned and snatched both of Suhyeon’s hands.
He was too fast to dodge.
“Suhyeon, thank you so much. I really almost died, but you saved me. Thank you for doing that even though it was dangerous. Since you’re at it, why don’t you become my dedicated guide?”
The words poured out like rapid fire.
Within a single day of being brought back from the brink of a rampage, Asher had regained his slick confidence.
More accurately, he seemed to have reverted to the way he was when they first met.
While it was true they had become somewhat closer, Suhyeon belatedly snapped to his senses and tried to wriggle his hands free.
—Obviously, don’t meet that Asher Delveron bastard, don’t talk to him, don’t touch him, and if you see him from a distance, run straight to me…….
Hadn’t he just listened to that long lecture this morning?
Surely, Hajin would—.
Thud! Whoosh! Crack!
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, a series of heavy, intense sounds rang out.
Hajin, now wearing gloves, threw a punch at Asher with near-invisible speed, which Asher managed to block.
Flames erupted again, and Asher countered with a crackle of his own power.
As the exchange repeated, Suhyeon shuffled backward.
It seemed whenever Asher appeared, a violent side of Hajin—one Suhyeon wasn’t very familiar with—came to the surface.
Though, come to think of it, seeing Yihan get kicked in the shins all the time, maybe it was just part of his personality.
But then again, Yihan always acted so annoying right in front of Hajin’s face, so wasn’t that just self-defense.
Hajin was usually a very polite person.
‘This must be self-defense too, because Asher is being bothersome, right? Since Hajin only gets angry when Asher makes comments that cross the line?’
With logic that would have made others faint, Suhyeon decided Hajin’s violence was justified.
He continued to back away until Hajin, who had been glaring at Asher, suddenly swept Suhyeon up into a protective embrace by the waist.
“Ah, seriously. Of all the people to be dating, it has to be Shin Hajin…….”
Having reached a brief lull, Asher raised his arms in a mock surrender and muttered to himself.
It was hard to hear, but it sounded like he was grumbling curses.
“Whatever! Anyway, it’s true I whined about wanting to see your face, but I didn’t come here to flirt today. Um, can I come inside?”
“I highly doubt it.”
Asher let out a deep sigh at Hajin’s sarcastic reply, looking momentarily pitiful.
However, he recovered instantly, flashing his brilliant looks despite his injuries and curving his green eyes toward Suhyeon.
“Ah, then I’ll just say it here! It’s work! Official business!”
As Hajin released Suhyeon to take a threatening step toward him, Asher waved his hands frantically, sensing the danger.
‘Work?’
Suhyeon paused his observation of the situation.
Hajin pressed his fingers against his brow, looking extremely annoyed.
But this time, perhaps sensing Asher might be telling the truth, he turned slightly to let Suhyeon and Asher face each other, though he kept a significant distance between them.
“I actually came to deliver instructions from the Association President. Even if it was an excuse to see you.”
Asher smirked before his face turned a bit more serious.
‘Instructions from the President?’ Suhyeon blinked.
Judging by the atmosphere, the message was meant for him, not Hajin.
“They say their insides are burning up because neither of you is looking at your phones. It’s an emergency, Suhyeon. Well, this kind of thing happens often enough that it’s not a total emergency, but still.”
Asher made a “wee-woo” siren sound while swirling his finger in the air, a stark contrast to his serious expression.
“There was an error in the Gate energy measurements, which caused a huge number of Espers to get injured or suffer rapid drops in their guiding levels. Our team closed the Gate, but the Association’s staff guides can’t handle the volume, so a request for cooperation has been sent out to all dedicated guides. This isn’t exactly my area of expertise, but there’s always a shortage of guides. Even my own dedicated guide was called in. The President has judged that Suhyeon needs to help out as well.”
The explanation was clear and easy to understand.
Suhyeon’s expression settled into a calm focus.
He wasn’t as terrified as he had been the last time a Gate opened.
He simply accepted it as something that could happen.
The thought of guiding someone other than Hajin—and multiple people at that—was a burden, but it was certainly within the realm of his responsibilities.
“……Is this worth the risk of making Suhyeon’s presence known?”
Hajin, who had been thinking several steps ahead, asked coldly.
‘Making me known?’
Suhyeon blinked, confused for a second before the realization hit him.
Guiding a large number of people meant his power would be revealed to many.
He would be meeting countless Espers; in a way, his status as an S-class guide would become public knowledge.
That would draw attention to him, and the threats the President had mentioned when he first became a guide might become a reality.
It wouldn’t just be people with personal grudges like Do Yejun; anyone could become a threat.
As the forgotten warnings resurfaced, Suhyeon’s face turned slightly pale.
“I can’t be the judge of that. But even my dedicated guide is struggling. It’s an official summons, so I think it’s better to go and talk it over.”
Asher was an S-class Esper.
His dedicated guide must be someone with immense power.
If someone like that was struggling, the situation must be dire.
“……I’ll go.”
Before Hajin could say anything more, Suhyeon answered.
“Jaeram, Jaeram…….”
“Shh…….”
The Esper, who had been weeping in pain just a moment ago, was now blushing furiously with embarrassment.
Lee Jaeram gently rubbed the young Esper’s bare back, conducting touch guiding.
Beep.
Seeing the guiding level quickly pass 70%, Jaeram pulled his hand away and offered a weary, beautiful smile.
“I’m sorry, I want to do more, but…….”
“……No, no! I know how many people are here right now. Thank you for your hard work.”
The C-class Esper, who had been enjoying Jaeram’s touch, unconsciously showed a look of regret before quickly apologizing and leaving.
He spared a pitying glance for Jaeram before exiting the room.
Through the closing door, Jaeram caught a glimpse of the waiting room packed with groaning Espers.
Due to the error in the Gate energy rating, members of the Association’s 5th, 6th, and 7th teams had all returned injured.
Thanks to Team 2’s quick response, there was only one fatality, but everyone’s guiding levels had dropped to a point where the Association’s regular guides couldn’t cope.
It wasn’t common, but since Gate energy didn’t always correlate perfectly with the Gate’s scale, it happened from time to time.
This was just a bit more extreme than usual.
All the A-class dedicated guides had been summoned.
After an hour of work, as they reached their limits, even Jaeram—who boasted the strongest guiding among the A-classes—was deployed.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t cover it at all, but…
The door opened again.
Sensing the identity of the person entering, Jaeram intentionally let his body sway, making it look as though he were losing his balance.
“Jaeram-kun!!!”
“……Ah,”
The one who rushed forward to support the “fainting” Jaeram was none other than the Association President.
“Are you all right?!”
“……Ah, yes. I’m… I’m okay. It’s just been a particularly hard day.”
Jaeram stood up with a tired face and a strained smile.
To anyone watching, he looked like a man who was far from okay.
The President’s face darkened with concern.
Espers don’t truly know how much a guide’s stamina is drained by guiding.
Of course, they can guess based on experience, but guiding depends on a guide’s health, the day’s condition, the matching rate with the Esper, and the Esper’s current levels.
Even with the same person, the output is fluid and hard to track.
This was true even for the President.
Of course, Jaeram was strong and usually wasn’t affected much; he had never refused guiding work or complained of weakness.
Which was exactly why today’s acting was so effective.
When a normally strong person crumbles, the situation seems far more serious.
Jaeram panted slightly, looking up at the President with teary eyes.
As if he already knew the answer was “no,” but was so exhausted he was reaching for a lifeline.
“Is there… anyone else, haa… anyone else who can be deployed?”
He masked his true intent behind a thick layer of exhaustion, making it seem like he wasn’t asking about a specific person.
“Oh dear…….”
The President’s face was grave. He seemed to be thinking of someone.
And that someone was exactly the person Jaeram was waiting for.
He would have no choice but to call him.
No matter how incredible that S-class was, the guide currently pleading for help was Lee Jaeram, and the power of the Lee family behind him was not something that could be ignored.
Jaeram bowed his head like a man with no strength left.
Of course, beneath that lowered head, his eyes were curved in a smile.
