FETCH 14

When he opened his eyes, he was in some kind of hospital room. Jaechan looked around, flustered by a head that felt like it was breaking and a body that felt heavily weighed down. The sight of the white hospital room filled with men dressed in black was awkward.

“Aueuk.”

Jaechan let out a heavy groan and furrowed his brows. Aside from his mind being hazy, the heat lurking throughout his body made it feel as if his very bones were melting away.

It was painful. Along with a desire to quench a thirst that felt like his mouth was burning up, he could feel every bit of his rough, dry skin as his parched lips brushed together.

He had no time to figure out where he was lying. Footsteps hurried back and forth around him, and he could hear electronic beeps ringing at regular intervals in his ears.

But more than that, the unknown noise echoing in his head was agonizing. His entire body felt as if it were being thrown into a fire pit, burning hot, only to be hit by chills as if he had stepped into the middle of an ice box, over and over again.

He couldn’t even distinguish who the man standing right next to him was. No clear image formed in his blinking vision, and it was difficult to discern what the voices of the numerous people he heard in succession were saying.

Keeping his eyes open felt like his eyeballs would pop out, yet closing them felt like being sucked into a distant quagmire. In the midst of being unable to do one or the other, his limp, sluggish body felt as mushy as if it had no bones. Moreover, he was sweating so much that the discomfort was beyond words.

Jaechan simply blinked like a living corpse, taking labored breaths. He had no idea why his body was acting like this.

Could he have manifested?

If there had at least been premonitory symptoms, he would have prepared himself mentally, but his last memory was Han Kang shouting his name.

Fuck. I should have properly told him congratulations on the gold medal…

Hardly had he muttered a curse internally when he helplessly closed his eyes to the sleep that came sweeping over him again.

“No, fuck! I’m telling you I’m going to stay by Jaechan’s side!”

The clear voice heard from outside was Han Kang’s. Even in his pain, a hollow laugh escaped him.

.✦ ݁˖

When he opened his eyes again, it was after his senses had returned somewhat. Unlike before, when he had no room to look around with his flickering gaze, Jaechan felt his body become much lighter and slowly rolled his eyes to survey his surroundings.

“Jaechan-ah.”

Then, hearing a welcome voice, he looked toward it. Right next to him, he saw the face of Han Kang, wearing a jersey with the national flag emblem, leaning in close.

Amidst the deep worry, he saw an expression that was somehow coldly settled. He didn’t know why he had such a face, but he couldn’t help the relief that surged through him the moment he saw him.

A deep sigh escaped. Fortunately, I’m alive. With the pain he felt for the first time, he thought he would die right then and there. Fortunately, it seemed he lived.

It was just as he was raising a weak hand to touch his face. “Deop-seok,” someone else grabbed Jaechan’s hand first. A man wearing black gloves squeezed in between Han Kang and himself, thrusting a clean-cut face forward.

“Mr. Jeon Jaechan?”

At the deep, unfamiliar voice, Jaechan looked at him clearly. Then he soon contorted his expression.

The man was a face he knew well from having seen him before. The person who gave him the medicine. He was the Director of EKR, the nation’s largest management center specializing in those with supernatural powers, who had scammed him by saying that taking this would give him a chance to manifest as a Guide.

Jaechan stared him down silently instead of answering. Even just that seemed to consume his strength as his eyes ached as if they would pop out, but he didn’t relax the strength in his gaze.

He had no room to question why the man was here. For now, he was out of it. Perhaps unhappy with the man blocking the way, Han Kang was continuously muttering curses beside them.

It felt like his head was ringing. Jaechan told Han Kang to “Be quiet,” in a completely hoarse voice, and then looked at the man.

“Are you feeling more conscious now? How is your body.”

“Not very good.”

“He says he’s not doing very well. Can’t you give the kid some water?”

Han Kang, who snatched the opportunity to jump into the conversation, acted as if he were trying to stop Jaechan and the Director from speaking. Realizing that a proper conversation was impossible in this state, the Director looked at Han Kang instead of Jaechan.

“Kang-ie, I think it might be good if you stepped out for a moment.”

“Why, what are you going to do to Jaechan while I’m not here?”

“Hmm… What would I do? There are many eyes watching here.”

Is he saying he would do something if there were no eyes watching?

The nuance was strange, so Jaechan frowned. He naturally thought Han Kang would throw a fit and make a scene, but to his surprise, Han Kang obediently left the hospital room. His glaring gaze remained, but he seemed to think it was a reasonable enough request.

It had been a long time since he had listened to someone else’s words so obediently. Jaechan’s eyes widened as he watched him leave. Just before the door closed, Han Kang mouthed the words, ‘Honey, if it’s shitty, break his nose.’

It’s already shitty, though.

With Han Kang gone, Jaechan pulled himself up to finally have a proper talk. There were helpful hands around him treating him like a patient, but he lightly ignored them.

The gaze Jaechan used to glare at the man was not very kind. That was because Jaechan held a massive grudge against the man in front of him.

Back when Han Kang had manifested as an Esper, gaining fame and drawing the world’s attention.

Jaechan had suddenly received some medicine from a man who visited him, claiming it was ‘medicine that helps Guide manifestation.’

At first, he wondered what was going on. At that time, the man explained, ‘The center is currently conducting clinical trials for Guide manifestation.’ There was no reason to refuse the kindness offered, asking if he didn’t want to manifest and offering to help.

The EKR center was a recognized institution with state approval anyway, and he had no intention of doubting it. Moreover, since he longed to manifest as a Guide more than anyone, Jaechan participated without a second thought, saying it was good.

The clinical trial he participated in like that had been a secret from Han Kang until now.

Han Kang already hated and cursed the very idea of Guides; if Jaechan told him he took medicine to manifest, it was certain there would be an uproar. Just thinking about it made his knees shake, so he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

He figured that once he manifested, Han Kang wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. Filled with hope, he had snatched that hand without thinking long.

But manifestation? Years passed without seeing any effect. Furthermore, the gazes of the center staff looking down on him as he went in and out of the center to get medicine were an everyday occurrence.

“The effect finally showed up, right?”

At the man’s words, spoken with a thin curl of his lips, Jaechan responded disgruntledly instead.

“What effect.”

“You manifested, didn’t you?”

“No, I mean, I took that much of it so I should have…, what?”

Jaechan’s large eyes, which had been snapping back answers as if biting the tail of his words, opened even wider as he stared clearly at the man. Surprise and disbelief crossed his black pupils.

To that Jaechan, the man greeted him with a benevolent smile.

“Let’s introduce ourselves formally; I am this kind of person.”

What the man held out was a neat, square business card. He had seen the man for so long, but it was the first time he had received a business card from him. It was as if only those who manifested as someone with supernatural powers could receive his card.

Jaechan looked down at it with displeasure. On the white business card, the logo for ‘EKR, Management Center Specializing in Supernatural Beings’ was the first thing he saw. EKR was a state-affiliated institution that overall encompassed matters regarding supernatural beings, professionally managing and training manifested Espers and Guides; Han Kang was also an Esper belonging to EKR.

Below that, he saw the title of Director, and next to it, the name ‘Kim Daeyoung.’

Right, he already knew the man was someone important.

‘Does this mean I really manifested as a Guide?’

Even at the news that he had manifested as a Guide, which he had so desired, strangely, suspicion began to bloom rather than immediate joy. Jaechan squinted his eyes and looked back and forth between the business card and Kim Daeyoung.

Since his trust in the center had dropped because the medicine hadn’t worked all this time, it seemed he could only accept this situation if there were proper evidence.

As if already knowing Jaechan’s thoughts, the man handed over a thick bundle of documents. On the very top were the words ‘Employment Contract,’ the same thing he had received when he first started working at Park Minjun’s shop. The annual salary amount visible below that… was…

“…Wow, I guess I really did manifest.”

Jaechan suddenly blurted out his honest impression.

Otherwise, there was no way they would say they’d give him this massive amount of money. It was a staggering annual salary that even prominent major corporations wouldn’t easily offer. Furthermore, the first page stated that guiding allowances were treated separately, and along with bonuses every holiday, annual leave allowances based on the period of service, vacations, and vacation expenses were all guaranteed.

Though his life hadn’t been that long, he had never lacked money while living thoughtlessly. It was surprising that it was an amount that even someone like him would be tempted by.

Jaechan suppressed the cheer erupting inside him and turned the document over to see the back page. There, it described various welfare benefits given when joining the center as a Guide. A strange graph was also visible on the side. That probably related to the guiding wavelength.

He didn’t bother lingering on things he didn’t know well. Jaechan looked at the man with eyes wanting a detailed explanation, but the man said nothing. He only shrugged his black eyebrows as if telling him to flip through a bit more.

When he reached the final page, the man spoke with a crooked smile.

“Mr. Jeon Jaechan. We intend to recruit you as a Guide belonging to the internal Esper support team at EKR. You’ve scanned all the conditions, right? Since you’ve succeeded in manifesting as a Guide through medication, I would like you to cooperate.”

Simultaneously with the man’s somewhat overbearing remark, the sentence he had so longed for pierced his eyes.

[The above examinee is identified as an S-class Guide.]