Churu for the Angry Guide

26

Siwoo ran like mad.

His only thought was that he needed to get out of there immediately. The cool expression etched in Geonho’s face that was stuck in his mind kept Siwoo’s legs from stopping.

He hadn’t transformed into a cat on purpose. Something must have gone wrong with his body again. The moment he sneezed, he changed form without intending to.

Ah-choo!

Even now, sneezes kept bursting out uncontrollably.

Siwoo kept running without stopping, even as he twitched his nose. If he stood still even for a moment, he felt like a large hand would grab him tightly from behind. It was a chilling thought, even as just imagination.

If he gets caught, it’s certain death.

His heart sank as he remembered Geonho’s glare, looking at him as if he would beat him to death right there. If he got hit even once by those huge hands, he might never open his eyes again.

The usually smiling guy’s angry expression left a deeper impression. Siwoo ran with all his might to survive, running and running.

Even when bile rose in his churning stomach, he swallowed it back down. Something else tried to come up his burning throat, but he gritted his teeth and endured it.

He focused even harder on not slipping on the wet stone floor. If he fell here, he might get seriously injured or even die.

He hated pain more than anything. Siwoo widened his eyes and jumped to avoid a puddle.

‘Ugh!’

At the same time, a huge object burst out from the bushes and collided head-on with Siwoo.

Fortunately, Siwoo, who was sent flying after being hit in the body, fell onto squishy mud and wasn’t hurt.

Meow…

However, the area where he collided was throbbing badly. The impact was so big, it felt like being hit by a car.

Woof! Woof!

What Siwoo had collided with wasn’t a car, but a big dog.

A Sapsaree with thick grayish fur whimpered and circled around the fallen Siwoo. It seemed quite startled from bumping into Siwoo.

For a moment, Siwoo thought it might be stupid, but judging by its aura, that didn’t seem to be the case.

Siwoo couldn’t get up right away and just stared at the Sapsaree that was sniffing at him.

The dog had clothes as big as its body tied tightly around its neck. This most likely meant it was a beastkin.

“A-are you okay?!”

As expected, the dog beastkin soon transformed into a human and examined Siwoo with a pale face. In this weather, only a dog beastkin would be out on the walking trail. Like someone else he knew.

“I’m sorry! I got too excited while walking!”

He stammered and hurriedly put on his clothes. He was a man with a gentle expression, resembling the Sapsaree he truly was.

“Ah, are you perhaps a beastkin? Can you understand me?”

He carefully picked up Siwoo, who had been knocked out by the impact, and first checked if he was conscious. Judging by his large, solid body, he seemed to be an esper.

“I’ll take you to the hospital first!”

And an esper with teleportation abilities at that.

Ah… I’m saved.

Siwoo closed his eyes briefly and let out a sigh of relief. He was relieved to be able to get away from there for now.

Tap, tap.

As soon as the man teleported to the main building, Siwoo signaled to him that he was a beastkin.

“Ah, so you are a beastkin, right?”

When Siwoo tapped his chest and blinked one eye, the man quickly understood. Thankfully, he immediately got some clothes for Siwoo.

Yes, this is how it should have been from the beginning.

When he first met Kang Geonho too. He should have revealed that he was a beastkin like this. Instead of being blinded by snacks and deceiving the kind fool.

“Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“But still…”

Siwoo left quickly, ruminating on his belated regrets. With his face fully covered by the hood of the borrowed coat, he returned to where he was supposed to be.

[Kang Shiro!]

He couldn’t relax, feeling like he could hear the fool’s voice from somewhere. Siwoo headed towards the dormitory, constantly looking around like a petty thief.

It was only later that he realized his tensed-up body was in pain.

* * *

That day, Siwoo barely made it back to the dormitory thanks to the dog beastkin who was like a lifesaver.

Where he found such strength, he didn’t know. Even though his legs were trembling as if he might collapse at any moment, he stubbornly walked all the way to the guide dormitory building.

When Siwoo arrived, there was no one in the dormitory. He thought it was fortunate that no one saw his pitiful state, soaked to the bone from the rain.

However, the moment he stood in front of his bed, his stress peaked.

Siwoo’s bed, which had been vacant for over two weeks, was strewn with various trash and unworn clothes. When Siwoo didn’t come, they had piled up unused items as they pleased.

Siwoo was only able to lie down after clearing away all the trash with trembling hands. He had felt off since he started sneezing, and as soon as he lay down, chills ran through his body and his whole body started aching.

These were the initial symptoms of a cold.

It was understandable to catch a cold after being weakened by intense guiding and then getting caught in the rain. Siwoo didn’t even have the energy left to go out and buy medicine, so he just fell asleep.

Even if he had the strength, he wouldn’t have been able to go out. He didn’t dare to wander around after his face had been seen by Geonho.

“Hnngh…”

He tried to overcome the cold with sleep, but he was utterly defeated.

“Kuh, cough…! Huff, kuhuff!”

Siwoo, who had been caught in the heavy rain that day, suffered from high fever for four whole days. Today, a week later, his fever had subsided a bit, but his cough still showed no signs of stopping.

“Haah…”

Siwoo, covered up to his head with a blanket, coughed while covering his mouth. His recovery was even slower because he couldn’t sleep properly due to his aching body.

“Ah, how long is he going to be like that?”

One of the guides, unable to bear Siwoo’s coughing anymore, openly showed his annoyance. Someone else irritably told him to open the window wider.

Siwoo covered his mouth more tightly as he heard the comments directed at him from under the thin blanket. He buried his head in the pillow, desperately hoping for his cough to stop, but it didn’t have much effect.

He waited, holding his breath, until all the guides left.

“Co-ugh…”

Only after being left alone in the dormitory did Siwoo stick his head out from under the stuffy blanket. His face was flushed red from not being able to breathe properly.

“I’m really dying here…”

His fever still hadn’t broken, making his vision spin. He was hungry but had no appetite, which made it even more painful. For a week now, he had barely managed to swallow only water.

The weight he had gained from Geonho diligently feeding him meals and snacks all disappeared in just one day. In fact, he looked even more gaunt than before, perhaps because he had been eating well for a while and then suddenly stopped.

All Siwoo had consumed in the past week was lukewarm water and two small chocolates. The chocolates were given to him by the Sapsaree beastkin when he lent Siwoo clothes.

He had sincerely apologized for running around carelessly. He had told Siwoo the name of his guild and insisted that Siwoo should contact him if he ever felt unwell later.

Are all dog beastkins this kind?

Siwoo thought of the fool as he looked at him. During the past week when he was confined to his bed, he thought about the Baekya Guild every single day.

When he tightly closed his eyes trying not to think about it, they came to his dreams to catch him. The one who appeared most often in Siwoo’s dreams was Geonho.

[This is your last chance.]

He repeated the warning he had given when they first met, his face coldly set. His voice telling Siwoo to confess right now if he was a beastkin made Siwoo even more scared.

“This is so annoying… cough.”

He sighed and kicked the blanket with his legs, but soon lost strength and closed his eyes. He felt dizzy even with the slightest movement since he hadn’t eaten anything.

If it weren’t for the chocolates he got from the dog beastkin, he would have fainted long ago. Siwoo rubbed his now skinny stomach again and slowly got up.

“Ugh…”

He groaned involuntarily just from raising his upper body. The pain was unusually severe for a simple cold.

It seemed like an aftereffect of the guiding.

Siwoo, holding his forehead, groaned as he headed to the bathroom. At least he was now well enough to walk properly on two feet. During the four days he suffered from high fever, he couldn’t even walk and had to crawl around.

Today too, Siwoo crouched down on the cold tile floor to brush his teeth.

Even with his sick body, he never skipped brushing his teeth. He especially scrubbed his tongue for a very long time. To erase the first kiss he shared with the leader of the Baekya Guild.

“Ugh.”

He closed his eyes and dry heaved, the memory becoming more vivid the more he tried to forget it. It was because he had scrubbed his tongue too hard.

Even after finishing brushing his teeth, he sat on the bathroom floor for a while. He waited for the dizziness to subside, then took a deep breath and went outside.

“I’m hungry…”

He had to eat something today. Whether to run away to a far place or to get caught and apologize for his wrongdoings, he needed to fill his stomach to do anything.

Siwoo prepared to go out, hoping for the former situation.

* * *

Today too, the sky was full of dark clouds.

Siwoo, wearing a mask, looked up at the gloomy sky for a moment before lowering his head again. Thanks to the hat with a long brim he was wearing, his face was completely hidden.

Breathing in the humid air, he slowly headed towards the cafeteria. He was going to quickly grab something at a nearby convenience store, but he wanted to eat hot food, so he went to the cafeteria instead.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a busy time, so there weren’t many people. Siwoo slightly lifted his stuffy hat and looked at the menu. He felt a bit more relaxed as this was a building only guides frequented.

What should I eat?

He chose carefully as it was his first meal in a long time. First of all, he wanted to fill his stomach with something hot.

Siwoo looked for food that was filling and would warm him up inside. Just then, a guide carrying a tray passed by with a steaming hot soup.

That looks delicious.

Siwoo swallowed his saliva at the savory smell and quickly pressed the soup menu. However, he couldn’t easily proceed to the payment screen.

“…”

His hesitant fingertip eventually chose the familiar ramen instead of the soup.

He wasn’t in a position to afford a meal that cost over 10,000 won. He had momentarily forgotten about his financial situation, having eaten so well by the fool’s side all this time.

Siwoo waited for his ramen with a bitter expression, licking his lips.

He needed to save more money to buy a new phone too. On that day when he fell asleep on the bench, his clothes and phone were stolen. If they were going to take something, they should have just taken the clothes.

“Ah, phones are expensive…”

He weakly picked up his tray and trudged to find a corner seat.

Thinking about money made his already poor appetite disappear even more. Siwoo just slowly stirred the red ramen broth without sipping it. His headache wasn’t subsiding, so he thought he should buy some medicine.

How much are cold medicines these days?

Even though it would only cost a few thousand won, he hesitated, thinking it was money he could use to buy a meal. His fever was going down, so maybe he should endure a bit more, he thought as he rubbed his hot forehead.

“…”

Suddenly, Siwoo blinked blankly.

Along with his appetite, even his will to eat disappeared. He felt pathetic for trying to save money on medicine.

“Haah…”

He tried to force himself to move the spoon but soon gave up and zoned out. He just pressed his stinging eyes tightly, thinking that the noodles would increase in volume as they soaked up the broth.

Then, as if remembering something, he slightly opened his mouth.

Siwoo, with moistened eyes, rolled his eyes downward and put his hand in his pants pocket. He had kept the black collar in there.

The moment his fingertips touched the cold pendant while touching the broken collar, his tears receded.