“What do you mean, die?”
Gyujin stared at him in disbelief. Even when that guy exaggerated, why did he always have to make it sound so damn grim?
“You can just get guiding from someone else. I already put in a request with the Guide Center. While I’m off, they’ll send another Guide to Team 1—”
“I don’t want anyone but you, Team Leader.”
The stubborn reply burst out of Song Youngju. He even shoved his phone into his pocket and crowded close beside Gyujin.
“If it’s not you, who am I supposed to get guiding from? And since we’re talking about it, I honestly planned to bite my tongue and die after you if you really had guiding dependency syndrome. That’d be a lot cleaner than going without guiding, suffering until I lost control.”
Every single one of them tossed around the word die as casually as saying, “Nice weather today.”
Gyujin pressed his fingers hard against the space between his brows. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t expected his teammates to react badly, but now that it was actually happening, his chest kept tightening.
“How does it make any sense that you’d die just because I’m gone? There are Guides everywhere, and there are more S-ranks than you’d think. Hyeguk is the same rank as me.”
“Ko Hyeguk? Absolutely not! How am I supposed to get guiding from him?”
A deep crease formed between Gyujin’s brows. Song Youngju was one of the more obedient ones, so Gyujin had thought he would be easy enough to persuade.
Had that been a delusion too?
“Stop frowning. You can’t afford to feel even worse.”
Meanwhile, Kwon Dajung slipped closer and gently stroked Gyujin’s forehead with his thumb.
Gyujin shot him a suspicious glance.
Come to think of it, Dajung’s reaction had been strangely lukewarm too. There was no way he would let this go so easily after even hearing the words guiding dependency syndrome….
“Let’s hurry home.”
Dajung smiled sweetly and took hold of Gyujin’s shoulders. When his hand nudged him forward, Gyujin took a step—then immediately grabbed his wrist.
“What about you?”
He tightened his grip around Dajung’s wrist.
Alarm bells went off in Gyujin’s head.
This isn’t right.
This was much too easy. Gyujin had literally passed out in front of him while guiding. There was no way Kwon Dajung would simply let it go without causing a single incident.
The Dajung Gyujin knew could have smashed down the examination-room door right this second, and no one would have found it strange. Gyujin could picture it as vividly as if he had just watched it happen: Dajung grabbing the doctor by the collar, shaking him back and forth, threatening and shouting until he told the truth.
But right now, Kwon Dajung merely shifted his eyes around beneath that pretty face without showing much of a reaction.
Was it because he had actually believed Gyujin’s excuse that it wasn’t guiding dependency syndrome?
Absolutely not.
Unless he confirmed it with his own eyes, Kwon Dajung would dig until he reached the bottom of it.
And when that happened, would the doctor really keep Gyujin’s secret?
The law might be far away, but fists were close, and Kwon Dajung’s fists were exceptionally vicious even by those standards.
Gyujin was certain it would not take very long before Dajung discovered the pregnancy.
I’m screwed if this keeps up.
Sensing a crisis, Gyujin hurriedly deployed Plan B.
“Dajung, I’m dizzy.”
Gyujin called his name while swaying with deliberate exaggeration.
Dajung’s hand immediately came around to support his back.
“Are you okay? Is it really bad?”
Startled, Dajung pulled Gyujin into his arms.
Gyujin was neither dizzy nor particularly uncomfortable, but he shamelessly dropped his head against Dajung’s arm.
“Hold on to me.”
That way you can’t sneak off and do anything.
For the sake of controlling Kwon Dajung efficiently, Gyujin was willing to throw away every last scrap of dignity.
Embarrassment lasted a moment. Results lasted much longer.
It was fine.
“Hang in there, Gyujin.”
Kwon Dajung suddenly scooped him up in his arms like a princess.
Lifting a solidly built adult man as if he weighed no more than a doll, he hurried down the hall.
Patients and nurses moving through the hospital corridor spotted the two of them and widened their eyes.
Apparently, no matter who looked at this mess, it looked weird.
“Oh my God! Team Leader, are you really okay? Shouldn’t you be admitted again?”
Song Youngju made a huge fuss as he followed them.
His near-tearful cries drew more and more attention.
As Gyujin was carried away princess-style under the eyes of the entire world, one thought occurred to him.
Maybe embarrassment could last a lot longer than a moment after all.
***
—Gyujin! I heard you collapsed! Are you all right?
Gyujin adjusted his grip on his phone and turned on the sink.
He answered quietly enough for his voice to disappear beneath the rush of water.
“I’m fine. More importantly, Palsik, I need a favor.”
His gaze shifted toward the closed door.
He had turned on the water just in case, but he still couldn’t let his guard down. Kwon Dajung had sharp ears and even sharper instincts. He was perceptive enough to piece together an entire situation from just a few words.
After some thought, Gyujin moved into the shower stall and firmly shut the glass door too.
“Could you go to the hospital right now and burn my medical records? Don’t send anyone else. I’d rather you handle it yourself.”
—Huhhh…?
At the absurd request, Yoon Palsik let out a deflated sound.
Gyujin rubbed a finger over the glass door as he continued explaining.
“If you send someone else and something goes wrong, cleaning up the mess afterward will be even harder. And more than anything, I want to destroy the evidence before he goes to the hospital and raises hell.”
Each time his fingertip tapped the glass, it gave off a faint little vibration.
The cool sensation wasn’t unpleasant, and Gyujin became surprisingly absorbed in fidgeting against it.
“Nothing good will come from Dajung finding out.”
—Hmm…. But, Gyujin. I’m not saying this because I’m taking that bastard Kwon Dajung’s side, but…. Are you really not going to tell him? He is still the baby’s father.
Gyujin pressed his lips tightly together.
Realizing what his silence meant, Yoon Palsik spoke more carefully.
—I’m not saying I don’t understand what you’re worried about. Still, surely even Kwon Dajung isn’t crazy enough to hurt his own kid….
He trailed off.
—Actually… he is that crazy…. Yeah. That is a problem….
The realization seemed to strike him halfway through the sentence, and Yoon Palsik swallowed the rest in a mutter.
Gyujin sighed.
“Palsik, I don’t want to ruin some kid’s future when he has his whole life ahead of him. How is Dajung supposed to raise a child? He can’t do something like that.”
It was a conclusion Gyujin had reached after plenty of thought.
Kwon Dajung hated children so much that he had seriously considered getting sterilized. On top of that, he was only twenty-four.
He was too young to be a father, and he was immature himself.
What business did a kid like that have raising another kid?
—Wait, are you actually planning to have the baby? Why do you keep talking like you’ve already decided you’re giving birth? Are you really going to have it?
The sharp question made Gyujin’s fingers jerk to a stop.
“That’s not what I mean.”
—Bullshit. You think I don’t know you? But Gyujin, I’m seriously against this. You don’t have to destroy your own body giving birth to a child you never even planned for. Just look at what happened now. You guided once and immediately passed out.
“That was….”
—Don’t fool yourself into thinking Kwon Dajung is the only one this baby will tie down. You’re being tied down too. Between an unborn baby and you, Gyujin, you matter more to me.
“Palsik….”
Gyujin’s voice faded.
Perhaps moved by his own words, Yoon Palsik started sniffling.
Gyujin narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“Are you crying?”
—I-I’m not crying! Anyway, you! Get plenty of rest for now, and we’ll settle this properly at the hospital the week after next. You understand what I’m saying, right?
“I understand. So you’re going to the hospital today too, right? To destroy the evidence. You understand what I’m saying, right?”
Gyujin asked again in a stern voice.
He appreciated the concern, but that was separate from accomplishing the objective.
At the moment, he had no alternative except sending Yoon Palsik in to sneak out his medical records.
“I feel terrible asking the doctor this too, but please tell him to go somewhere far away for a few days. Scare him if you have to. Tell him an SS-rank Esper is after his life.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie.
Knowing Kwon Dajung’s reckless personality, he would obviously hound the doctor until he got the answer he wanted.
Gyujin spoke with the same firm tone he used when warning Dajung.
“Make it happen.”
On hearing that, Yoon Palsik muttered very quietly:
—You two really are alike….
Gyujin pretended not to hear and promptly hung up.
Palsik would complain, but in the end, he would do what Gyujin asked.
If the medical records were deleted, Gyujin could at least relax for the time being.
He stepped out of the shower stall and walked back to the sink.
After washing his hands and turning off the water, he sighed and examined his face in the mirror.
He did look paler than usual, but that was all.
Gyujin had not expected to actually faint from guiding just once, but surprisingly, he didn’t feel bad. Maybe it was because he had taken the morning-sickness medication, but his stomach felt calmer than it had in days.
“I should still be more careful from now on.”
Gyujin muttered as he shook the water from his hands.
Rather than endlessly regretting something that had already happened, it suited him better to be careful about what came next.
Be careful. Then be even more careful.
Absolutely no guiding.
Repeating that resolution to himself, Gyujin confidently pushed open the bathroom door.
“…What the hell? Why are you all standing like that?”
The moment he opened it, he saw Kwon Dajung openly radiating displeasure.
Gyujin’s gaze slid past him.
Behind Dajung stood the Espers of Special Operations Team 1, all lined up in a neat little cluster, including Song Youngju, whom he had seen at the hospital.
Gyujin opened his mouth with a troubled expression.
“Why the hell are all of you here?”