Chapter Four

So-Won opens the closet to wash as quickly as possible and choose clothes, but So-Won collapses.

So-Won became resentful towards himself for wearing only cheap clothes before he became a guide.

The trendy design and childish clothes from eight years ago welcomed So-Won.

However, when he found a far-flung outfit and wore it, time had already passed.

Eight years ago, today was summer.

As soon as So-Won came out of the house, sweat flowed down.

'Oh no…'

So-Won sighs softly.

So-Won paid a lot of attention for his first impression, but it seems that everything will be useless.

So-Won unwittingly hurries when the Esper Association came into view.

The latest building, which is larger than most government facilities, came closer as he moves.

"Kang Tae-Woo, Tae-Woo."

So-Won mumbles Tae-Woo's name quietly.

Tae-Woo won't remember So-Won.

Therefore, So-Won has to do the first step right.

The cool air inside the Esper Association welcomes So-Won.

So-Won is panting before he knew it.

The high floor height and colorful structure that seems to pierce the heart caught the viewer's attention.

He is breathing heavily, approaches the information desk, takes a breath, and then So-Won asked the receptionist.

"What brings you here?"

"I'm Lee So-Won, who decided to do a guiding test with Kang Tae-woo."

The receptionist replies.

"Oh…. You can go to the guide examination room on the 7th floor."

So-Won, who gasped and finished talking, bows and rushes into the elevator.

Now So-Won is somewhat relieved.

First floor, second floor…. The number of floors went up quickly.

So-Won suddenly wonders how Tae-Woo would react after hearing the matching results.

'Would he have been happy? I think he might have been calm because he is not emotional because of the side effects of not being guided.'

So-Won's heart is pounding.

The guilt that caused him to die, the fear of facing him, which he was afraid of, and the slight expectation of seeing Tae-Woo in a distant were combined.

The elevator stops and the door slowly opens.

So-Won looks around the large hallway and looks for the guiding examination room.

Eight years ago, they were matched immediately without a guiding test.

The past seemed to have changed because of the designated matching.

So-Won expected that the matching rate would probably go down to 65 percent, which was the original figure, after the guided test.

"Oh, I found it."

A guiding laboratory, So-Won knocked, worried that he might have come to the wrong place because the inside was so quiet.

Fortunately, the researcher inside welcomes So-Won as he opens the door right away.

Three researchers were waiting for So-Won inside the guiding examination room.

When So-Won enters the room, there is another room over the glass in the examination room.

Inside, there are a pair of large, complex-looking machines and chairs.

It seemed to be sitting in there and conducting an examination.

While So-Won is looking around the examination room for a long time, the heavy sound of footsteps outside became closer and closer.

So-Won is startled when he heard the footsteps.

He could intuitively recognize that it is Tae-Woo beyond the door.

So-Won's body stiffens.

He already felt Tae-Woo's wave.

Without knocking, the door snaps open.

So-Won's body, which is not prepared, trembles pitifully.

So-Won's body did not listen to him, overshadowing his determination not to tremble.

Tae-Woo, who had just been to the gate, is lying down late at night with three guiding machines attached to his entire body in the private room of the Esper Association alone.

He is in agony, exhaling a rough breath in the pain as if his whole body were being mutilated.

It is always like this when Tae-Woo came back from the gate.

Tae-Woo felt like his whole body was going to explode, but his body is hot and painful.

'I forgot the reason for living a long time ago. It was always painful and painful, so I just followed what I was told. It was stuffy. I felt like I was going to split up into dust with endless thirst.' Tae-Woo thought.

The guiding machine could only pour a little bit of guiding into the dry Tae-Woo.

Then Tae-Woo struggles with a growing thirst.

Guiding.

Tae-Woo's instinct is to find a guide.

'I wanted to get rid of this extreme pain by touching a guide.'

But he didn't have a guide.

Instead of a guide, all he can do is pour a strong drink and daze his mind for a while.

Next to Tae-Woo, several strong whiskey bottles rolls empty, and his private room is filled with the smell of alcohol that makes him feel drunk just by smelling it.

*Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt*.

The phone on one side of the bed vibrates.

It is a call from the Esper Association.

'Is it an emergency call?'

Tae-Woo, who is already in bad shape, answers the phone with a frown.

Tae-Woo answers the phone but didn't talk.

However, the caller already seems very scared and he hears a trembling breath over the phone.

"Oh, hello, Esper Kang Tae-Woo."

When Tae-Woo didn't answer, the man on the phone continues.

"A guide named Lee So-Won is looking for Esper Kang Tae-Woo in the emergency room of the university hospital, maybe he is Esper Kang Tae-Woo's guide?"

The smartphone in Tae-Woo's hand was shatters and it sounds like snacks being crushed.

'Guide?'

Tae-Woo, who lives alone as a monster all his life, didn't have that.

The pain that flows throughout his body shook Tae-Woo but he didn't even get angry.

Tae-woo's hand, which is barely holding his sanity, burst into strength.

The pain, which he had been suffering from all night, barely settled down until the next morning.

Fortunately, he didn't go on a rampage this time.

Tae-Woo touches his stuffy throat.

Instead of a rough flesh, Tae-Woo feels a smooth metal on his hand.

The identity of the black and thick band surrounding Taewoo's neck is a bomb.

He is unstable because there is no guide, but for an S-class Esper, they are easier to use, so it this is a conclusion made by the government.

If Tae-Woo starts to run riot, the bomb on his neck will explode relentlessly.

Tae-Woo himself could not guarantee whether the bomb could damage his strong skin, but if the day came, he only hopes he would die from it so that he could be free from this pain.

His body is a little stable, and he is still in a bad condition.

Tae-Woo lay motionless, surrounded by a machine.

It is in the afternoon that he manages to move around.

"Esper Kang Tae-Woo?"

A young researcher carefully tries to enter Tae-Woo's private room, but his eyes met with Tae-Woo and the researcher begins to tremble.

The researcher, who looks at the terrible appearance of the attached guiding machine to the body as if it had a tentacle, and the eyes that were distorted due to poor condition, wants to faint.

"Designation matching, application, came in…."

"Do as you please."

The researcher couldn't even come into the room and was shaking in front of the door, and ran away without saying everything he was going to say.

'What do you mean designated matching?'

Tae-Woo's mood went down again.

Among the matching tests so far, there is no matching rate exceeding 5%.

Since yesterday, there have been many things related to the guide, teasing Tae-Woo.

Even if he had been matched, it was obvious that the matched Guide would run away scared by Tae-Woo's terrible appearance.

Even if that happens, Tae-Woo will be fine, because he knew too well that everyone is afraid of him, who is a monster.

The next day, another person came in the morning.

This time, it was Tae-Woo's doctor, who Tae-Woo knows well.

Unlike the usual office-like expression, Tae-Woo narrowed his brows because he looked very excited.

The doctor who is not welcome keep coming to Tae-Woo's private room.

"ESPER KANG TAE-WOO! Huh, this, look at this."

The doctor who came into the room without knocking, did not tremble as usual, he approaches Tae-Woo and hands him a bunch of paper.

When Tae-Woo accepted the paper, the machines hanging on his arms collided with each other and made a sound.

The paper Tae-Woo receives was a matching result table.

"A 100% match rate Guide has appeared! A 100% match rate Guide!"

Tae-Woo's doctor shouted in excitement like a child who is not even old enough keep in his excitement.

Normally, he would made him run away with a grimace, but Tae-Woo, embarrassed, just stared at the paper.

Tae-Woo's appearance is only calm.

Tae-Woo thought he would be surprised or happy, but the doctor in charge, who is excited because it was an unexpected reaction, slowly returned to his senses.

"That… We couldn't believe it, so we tested it several times, and it's 100% correct. Just in case, I asked for another test, but the results will probably be the same."

Now, the real doctor looked at Tae-Woo and said.

"100.0% The multiple sheets of paper handed over by the person in charge were all reports of the results of the matching test. The same number is written on every piece of paper."

'The more Tae-Woo checked the number, the colder his heart got. In the meantime, no guide has exceeded 5% of the matching rate with me. But now he's here. 100%? In the first place, the number 100 between Esper and the Guide is impossible. I can't believe it's 100% with me. It is clear that the examination was wrong.'

Tae-Woo glares at the letter in the paper.

If there the paper has a heart, it would have burst.

The person in charge who saw Tae-Woo's cold face swallows hard.

A familiar name came into Tae-Woo's eyes, he frowns.

"Guide, Lee So-Won."

It was a familiar name, but Tae-Woo hands the paper back to the doctor in charge without thinking.

The doctor, shaking and receives the paper, left the room as if he were running away.