LGHTNOVELBOOK 39
39
Siwoo wandered around the spacious hospital room, searching every corner for where the pendant might be. He rummaged through his clothes and drawers, checked under the sofa and table, but it was nowhere to be seen.
I guess they took it back after all.
Giving up the search, he flopped onto the bed and sought refuge in sleep. A bitter feeling kept welling up inside him. It seemed like only sleep could calm his mind.
“91% is just…”
Mulling over the unbelievable matching rate with the leader, he slept straight through until the next day. He thought he might have woken up once in the early morning, but the memory was hazy.
As he absent-mindedly scratched his cheek, a vivid sensation suddenly came to mind. Last dawn, it felt like some cold object had touched his cheek. It seemed to have happened not just yesterday, but before as well, though he wasn’t sure.
He continued to search his memory, frowning. It was when he was tossing and turning, unable to open his eyes due to lingering drowsiness.
Suddenly, someone started massaging Siwoo’s arm. Startled by the vivid sensation that couldn’t be dismissed as imagination, he opened his eyes wide.
“What the hell!”
As soon as his vision cleared, he cursed. It was natural to swear when he saw the person massaging his arm smirking shamelessly.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Do you want to die?!”
Siwoo raised his voice at the top of his lungs at Jihan, who was smiling with his eyes. Thanks to the good sleep, his throat condition was quite normal. If it weren’t for this annoying guy, he might have woken up feeling a bit better.
“Calm down. I didn’t touch you.”
“You bastard! Don’t treat me like an idiot!”
As Siwoo was thrashing about, trying to leave the bed immediately, Jihan finally activated his telekinesis. He had no choice but to restrain him since he was always looking for a chance to escape.
“Let go! I said let go!”
Siwoo fiercely resisted, using the energy he had regained from his good sleep. Jihan deeply admired how he tried to crawl with his arms even with his legs restrained. With that level of determination, he seemed capable of doing well with on-site guiding.
“I’m sorry for startling you.”
“Is sorry enough, you pervert bastard!”
“You were sweating a lot, so I was just wiping it off. I didn’t touch you.”
Jihan pulled his chair back and raised both hands. Indeed, he was holding a white towel. Another damp towel was placed on the bedside table. It had just been soaked in water.
“I swear I didn’t do anything perverted.”
“…”
“I only do such things when the other person consents.”
Siwoo, disgusted, quickly tried to press the nurse call button. He moved when the telekinesis loosened slightly, but was still caught.
“I’ll really apologize for startling you. I’m sorry.”
Jihan, holding back his laughter, sat Siwoo up properly. He had been trying to cool him down because Siwoo had been groaning and sweating in his sleep. He was relieved to see him looking lively now.
“I heard you had your first conversation with Seojun yesterday.”
He casually brought up the topic while tidying up the wet towels. He had heard that Seojun had admirably offered the dedicated guide position first.
Seeing that the guide hadn’t run away overnight, it seems he had spoken nicely.
“Our youngest is kind, isn’t he? The guild atmosphere has brightened a lot since Seojun came.”
“I’m thirsty.”
Siwoo, still trapped by telekinesis, made a grumpy face. Jihan immediately released the telekinesis, but Siwoo didn’t move and just repeated the same words.
“I said I’m thirsty.”
“What would you like? Water? A soft drink?”
Jihan willingly got up and headed to the refrigerator. In that moment, Siwoo sprang up and quickly pressed the nurse call button.
Jihan, who had just opened the refrigerator door, tilted his head with a slightly bewildered expression. He couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Siwoo urgently calling for someone as if in an emergency.
“If you need anything, just tell me.”
Jihan grabbed a small water bottle and returned to the bedside. The nurse who had just entered greeted Jihan with a friendly nod.
“Is something wrong?”
She asked the question to Siwoo, the patient, but her eyes were on Jihan. Siwoo, undeterred, pointed at Jihan with his chin.
“He’s a stranger. Please make him leave.”
“Um… pardon?”
The nurse looked down at Siwoo, wondering if she had heard wrong.
“This person is harassing me.”
Even a five-year-old would explain better than that. The nurse, tilting her head, wondered if the guide was playing a prank.
“I said he’s harassing me. Please make him leave right now.”
“Harassing you? Esper Yoo Jihan?”
Siwoo nodded vigorously. The puzzled nurse then burst into a small laugh.
“We’re busy. You shouldn’t call us as a joke.”
“I’m really being harassed! He even restrained me with telekinesis earlier!”
“He must have been joking.”
The nurse took Siwoo’s serious expression lightly. She seemed to firmly believe that the Baekya Guild would never harass a guide. How could the Baekya Guild, of all guilds, mistreat someone?
“You seem to be fine, so I’ll be going. Only press the nurse call button when you’re in pain. Understood?”
Siwoo, with a frustrated expression, moved his lips briefly before just chewing on his lower lip.
“If you need anything else, please call us again.”
The nurse left, glancing at Jihan one last time. She seemed delighted just to be able to see a famous Baekya Guild member up close.
Left alone with Jihan again, Siwoo pulled the blanket up to his chin. He glared at Jihan with a wary gaze before turning his back. He seemed to have given up on trying to drive Jihan out.
Jihan quietly observed Siwoo’s side profile.
He had thought Siwoo was only wary of espers, but it seemed he was just awkward with people in general. Seeing how quickly he gave up, when he could have explained the situation more thoroughly to the nurse and sought help.
“Aren’t you thirsty?”
Jihan opened the water bottle and placed it on the bedside table.
“I saw your records, and your skills seem quite impressive.”
He continued the conversation on his own, even though Siwoo wasn’t responding.
“They say your expected grade is at least A-rank. That’s amazing considering you manifested not long ago.”
“I don’t do contact guiding.”
Siwoo crossed his arms under the blanket, hiding his hands. He was still upset about being tricked into giving contact guiding to Jihan. He became even more vigilant, afraid he might fall for it again if he let his guard down.
“Why not?”
Jihan asked more detailed questions, his curiosity growing. He was genuinely curious about the reason.
“It doesn’t seem like you have an aversion to contact itself.”
When he was a cat, he clearly didn’t show any dislike even when Geonho carried him around every day. He would just purr when his fur was stroked or touched. He never once avoided Geonho’s hand.
“I just don’t. Don’t ask.”
Siwoo’s voice became sharper.
He was getting annoyed at being in the same space with this uncomfortable person, and he was also starting to feel hungry. The gnawing in his stomach seemed to be due to hunger.
Don’t they feed patients here? He regretted not asking the nurse when she would bring food.
“But, Guide-nim.”
“Stop talking to me and leave!”
“Are you usually the type to speak briefly?”
Siwoo, who had yelled out, paused and closed his mouth. Come to think of it, he had been speaking informally to Jihan for a while. It had flowed so naturally that he hadn’t been aware of it at all.
Siwoo glanced at Jihan, rolling just his eyes.
He thought Jihan might be angry, but he still had a smiling face. However, a young rookie guide speaking informally must have upset him.
Even so, Siwoo didn’t feel the slightest inclination to apologize. He disliked the smooth-talking Jihan. Thinking that he might let his guard down again and be backstabbed by that smile, he built his walls even higher.
He would never apologize, even if he died. He didn’t want to be polite now. Since this guy used telekinesis on a guide so casually, he would do as he pleased too.
“What! If you have a problem, you can speak informally too!”
“Should I?”
Jihan, who had immediately latched onto Siwoo’s words, smiled brightly. As if he had been waiting for just that.
“That’s nice. It already feels like we’ve become closer.”
Feeling like he had somehow been drawn in by him, Siwoo bit his lip. Thinking it would be better not to talk to this guy at all, he pulled the blanket over his head.
Growl.
At that very moment, a signal for food came from Siwoo’s stomach. Quite loudly, to the point of embarrassment.
Ahem, clearing his throat and tensing his stomach, Siwoo curled up tightly. He was about to say he was going to sleep so leave quickly, but his damn hunger beat him to it.
Gurgle, growl!
“Yes, yes. I got it. You’re hungry.”
Jihan chuckled and patted the blanket covering Siwoo. Siwoo gritted his teeth and ignored him. However, his damn stomach clock responded instead.
“I’ve ordered a meal, it’ll be here in 10 minutes.”
Siwoo’s ears, completely covered by the blanket, turned bright red. Gurgle, every time his stomach clock sounded, Jihan would make a comment, causing Siwoo’s insides to boil with irritation.