Chapter 55 – ​The ​Price ​of ​a ​Misjudgment

He ​didn’t ​even ​need ​to look back to ​know ​it was Jeong ​Si-jun.

Regardless, to think ​he ​was ​his ​Guide. ​Yoon ​Ki-hyun clenched his ​fist ​tightly, ​trying to hide ​a sudden surge of ​awkwardness.

After a ​brief sound ​of someone ​clearing their ​throat, ​the ​curtain was pulled ​halfway open.

Jeong ​Si-jun’s face peeked out ​from behind the waterproof ​curtain. He looked wretched, ​drenched in ​crimson ​blood and an unknown fluid.

‘What on ​earth….’

Yoon Ki-hyun gasped, his ​mouth ​hanging ​open ​in ​shock.

“You didn’t really ​need to ​come ​all the way ​here. ​Why did you bother? Ki-hyun, ​do you ​want ​to go back ​to ​the ​guiding ​room ​for now? ​I’ll ​go to ​you later.”

With a bulging vein in his ​forehead and bloodshot ​eyes, Jeong Si-jun ​gestured with his chin. ​He would ​have preferred to ​escort ​him back personally, ​but his condition ​was far ​from ​ideal.

He needed ​surgery ​to set ​his ​shattered leg ​and ​shoulder ​bones. However, the ​surgery ​itself was ​simple, ​and ​the ​injuries were the kind that would heal quickly.

And yet, why on earth would he call his Guide to the medical wing as if he’d suffered some catastrophic injury? Just look at that face. His already [visit our site[[stolen content]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">stolen content]solute;left:-9999px;">]fair complexion was now so pale it looked almost bleached.

Forcing the corners of his mouth upward, Jeong Si-jun glared at Park Kyung-min, who was standing behind Yoon Ki-hyun.

Seeing Jeong Si-jun’s manic gaze, Park Kyung-min quickly lowered his eyes. He gave a small shake of his head—a subtle indication that he hadn’t acted alone.

“I heard your wavelength is unstable. Are you alright?”

Yoon Ki-hyun spoke cautiously.

To use Kim Cha-min’s words, it was “unusual.” However, seeing the look in his eyes—as if he wanted to kill Park Kyung-min—it didn’t seem as severe as he had imagined.

Of course, it would be a lie to say he wasn’t shocked by the blood-soaked state of the Espers being treated in the medical wing.

But he wasn’t a rookie doing field guiding for the first time; he had enough years under his belt that this kind of scenery didn’t make him nauseous or drive him to run away.

“It’s not to the point of an outbreak,” Jeong Si-jun joked, glancing at the medical staff. The doctor, who was extracting glass shards from a shattered hand, nodded. As Yoon Ki-hyun tried to pull the curtain open further, the doctor stopped him in a low voice.

“Ah, let’s do the guiding after the surgery. The wavelength is poor, but this is a bit more urgent. It’ll be finished in an hour at the latest.”

The doctor was familiar with Yoon Ki-hyun. He was an orthopedic specialist who had mastered the art of reattaching the shattered and twisted limbs of Espers time and time again.

Nodding at the news that an operating room had been secured, Yoon Ki-hyun [stolen content]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">Read on Read BL Novels]wm: stolen content -->asked, “Understood. Is there a temporary guiding room assigned in the medical wing?”

“You’re assigned to Room D3 for now, but please wait in the recovery room first. You can move once you see if it’s necessary.”

“Understood.”

Surgery was the doctor’s job, and guiding was the Guide’s. Unless there were signs of an Esper’s outbreak, guiding should proceed after the wounds were treated.

Yoon Ki-hyun decided to wait in the recovery room as instructed. As Kim Cha-min said, if Jeong Si-jun’s wavelength remained unusual after surgery, he could move from the recovery room to the guiding room then.

Looking at the eyes that had been glaring at Park Kyung-min as if to kill him just moments ago, he seemed perfectly fine, far from an outbreak. But Kim Cha-min wouldn’t have mentioned the wavelength for no reason.

Since it didn’t hurt to be prepared for any eventuality, Yoon Ki-hyun decided not to let his guard down.

“Moving to the operating room.”

The curtain opened, signaling that preparations were complete. Only then was the full extent of Jeong Si-jun’s state revealed as he was moved toward the surgery room.

Not only were his limbs bent at strange angles, but his flank, plugged with gauze to stop the bleeding, was bright red.

‘Is he insane, seriously.’

If he weren’t an Esper, these were injuries where cardiac arrest from excessive bleeding and shock could happen at any moment. Yet, in that state, he unauthorized copyaria-label="unauthorized copy">unauthorized copyhad told him to go back to the guiding room.

As he lay on the bed, the moment Jeong Si-jun locked eyes with Yoon Ki-hyun, he gave a light wave with his relatively intact hand.

“See you in a bit, Ki-hyun.”

The eye-smile he gave while casually tossing out a greeting was an added bonus. He looked absurdly relaxed for a patient about to undergo surgery.

Yoon Ki-hyun let out a hollow laugh as he watched the mobile gurney move away. He then turned to Park Kyung-min, who was still standing beside him. A sudden curiosity had struck him.

“…Esper Park Kyung-min.”

“Yes.”

“Do Espers feel less pain and things like that?”

“We feel everything there is to feel.”

“So it hurts?”

“Yes, that’s correct. We are human too.”

Park Kyung-min’s tone was still strictly disciplined. Yoon Ki-hyun looked down, noticing the wounds starting to dry on Park on Read BL Novels]BEGIN: unauthorized copy -->unauthorized copyKyung-min’s cheek and forehead.

“Thank you for guiding me here. Esper Park Kyung-min, please go get treated as well.”

“Yes, understood.”

After Park Kyung-min bowed politely like a soldier and left, Yoon Ki-hyun turned away without hesitation. Since he was told to come to the recovery room after the surgery, he planned to go and wait.

Sitting on a stool in the corner of the recovery room, which he found immediately, Yoon Ki-hyun let out a long breath.

His chest still felt tight. Every time he blinked, the image of Jeong Si-jun lingered like an afterimage.

That arrogant face, cheerfully waving at him despite his fingers being bent at a bizarre angle.

‘Does he really still want to do something like date me?’

He couldn’t just ask him openly, acting crazy. Because if Jeong Si-jun actually answered yes, he hadn’t yet decided how he would respond.

Setting aside that reckless and bold personality, Jeong Si-jun’s appearance was objectively flawless. His sex technique was also frighteningly excellent, considering it had been his first time with him.

‘No. I’m not a mind reader. It’s ridiculous to be so sure.’

Yoon Ki-hyun decided not to jump to conclusions about Jeong Si-jun’s heart. Although it was obvious that the man’s [Read on Read BL Novels]our site" style="display:none;" aria-label="visit our site">visit our siteface turned red and he tried his hardest to be liked whenever he looked at him for too long, intuitions can be wrong.

He didn’t know about other times, but at least right now, he had to be wrong. Because he was still struggling just to live and breathe, let alone fit a luxury like “dating” into his life.

The time predicted by the doctor had already passed.

‘He said it would be over in an hour at the latest.’

Yoon Ki-hyun irritably tapped the screen of his phone.

It had been 2 hours and 7 minutes since Jeong Si-jun was moved to the operating room. He knew that staring at his phone wouldn’t make the surgery end faster, but he couldn’t help the edge in his gaze.

‘It feels like he’s getting hurt more often since I became his personal Guide.’

It might have been a complex of inferiority, but that was the situation.

It was unlikely, but he began to feel anxious that something might have gone wrong. While tapping his thigh with his index finger to calm his nerves, the door to the recovery room opened.

“!”

As he reflexively bolted upright, several medical staff members entered with a mobile bed.

Jeong Si-jun was lying flat on the bed, his limbs in casts. He looked every bit the patient. Seeing his softly closed eyelids [stolen content]visit our sitestolen content -->and the steady rise and fall of his chest, Yoon Ki-hyun’s heart felt troubled again.

“He should be waking up from the anesthesia soon.”

The doctor, checking the infusion rate of the IV, spoke first.

“By the way, you’re going to have a bit of a hard time with the guiding today.”

He shared the information with Yoon Ki-hyun. It was a helpful piece of advice so he could be prepared for any potential issues during guiding.

He wasn’t unaware that the workload for Guides at the Center was at a level where “work-life balance” couldn’t even be discussed, even as a joke.

“Was it that severe?”

“Well, it was just a common freak accident. But since he’s an Esper with such a unique wavelength, we can pretty much guess how it goes.”

“…Yes.”

Yoon Ki-hyun nodded and lowered his gaze. Jeong Si-jun’s face, which would soon wake from the anesthesia, was clean without a single trace of blood.

If this weren’t a recovery room in the medical wing, it would have looked like he was just taking a nap.

“If anything happens, just press the call bell.”

After delivering the simple precautions, the doctor left the recovery room. Now, only the two of them remained.

Yoon Ki-hyun pulled over the stool next to the mobile bed and sat on it. Looking at the guy who showed no sign of waking up, he was overcome by various thoughts.

‘Were his eyelashes always this long?’

He was only used to the face that always glared fiercely. But seeing him with his eyes peacefully closed, his eyelashes were quite long for a man.

The prominent brow bone and the straight, sharp bridge of his nose felt like things that would be hard to achieve even if one tried to create them on purpose.

‘If only he didn’t talk, his looks are decent and tolerable… Why does he always throw tantrums like a child, seriously?’

Perhaps because he was looking down at a patient who had just finished surgery and arrived in the recovery room, but just as a mix of complex and subtle emotions surged, Jeong Si-jun’s eyelids flickered.

‘He’s waking up.’

Yoon Ki-hyun subtly leaned his upper body back, as if he hadn’t been staring intently at Jeong Si-jun’s face.

“Ugh.”

Jeong Si-jun let out a short groan and blinked.

The first thing he felt was a dull sensation. His nerves were on edge due to the unpleasantness created by the combination of painkillers and sedatives flowing through his veins.

As he blinked slowly to find his focus, he saw someone sitting at the edge of his vision. The moment he turned his head, Jeong Si-jun unconsciously beamed.

“Wow, it’s Yoon Ki-hyun….”

His tongue was still stiff, so his pronunciation was quite slurred. Nevertheless, Yoon Ki-hyun ended up laughing at the admiration that hadn’t lost its luster.

It wasn’t because the pronunciation was funny, but because the look in his eyes was. He was staring with sparkling eyes, like a child seeing something wondrous for the first time.

Five times a week. He saw his face every morning. The reason he looked like this now was surely because he had just woken up from anesthesia.

“Are you awake?”

“…Yes.”

Jeong Si-jun kept smiling faintly throughout his obedient answer. Seeing the smile that revealed his clean mouthline and white canines, the anxiety washed away.

However, it would take some time for him to fully regain his senses. Yoon Ki-hyun intended to kill that time with some trivial conversation, but Jeong Si-jun suddenly blurted out something strange.

“Do you really know… you’re fucking pretty?”

He was still talking about his face.