Chapter 8: The Lee Family’s Pet (8)
A voice, as frail as old paper, gave a command. "Water."
Dana quickly handed him the warm water she had prepared. As she watched him drink, she was consumed by a gnawing anxiety. Doha’s body was undeniably weaker. He could no longer endure the ice-water baths he had once silently withstood—a practice Dana had always considered insane. But far more serious was his abnormal sensitivity.
Doha could no longer tolerate any form of ‘stimulation’. A simple touch would make him scream in pain. He dismissed everyone from his room, complaining that their breathing was too loud. He was in a worse state than an ordinary person.
Terrified that their precious son would die before he could even bloom, the Lees summoned every renowned doctor they could find. But they all just shook their heads, prescribing useless remedies like revitalizing IV drips and herbal medicine.
When Doha’s condition failed to improve, even Chairman Lee, who had been observing from the sidelines, lost his temper.
"Find the problem! If Doha dies, so do you!"
As the entire household trembled at his roar, Mr. Joo, whose credibility had plummeted after the training fiasco, paid a visit.
"I told you to leave. What is it?" President Lee asked bluntly, having already written him off.
"I wasn’t sure before, so I couldn’t say. But the Young Master’s condition doesn’t require medicine."
"What are you talking about?"
"I believe he needs guiding. The more I think about it, the more certain I am."
"Guiding? Doha already receives it periodically."
"That’s why I wasn’t sure. But his abnormal sensitivity is a classic symptom of an Esper who hasn’t received proper guiding."
While President Lee remained skeptical, Chairman Lee immediately sent a request to the Awakened Center. The family had yet to register Doha as an Esper, wanting to avoid government interference. But with their heir on his deathbed, they were in no position to be proud.
The healer who arrived—a specialist for the awakened, more difficult to summon than the top doctors at the nation’s best hospitals—said the exact same thing as Mr. Joo.
"An abnormal surge of Esper energy is blocking his system."
"What does that mean?"
"It means he needs guiding. Immediately." The healer spoke firmly, then asked with a puzzled expression, "How could you not know until it reached this point? If he had been registered as an Esper, the nation would have provided a Guide long ago."
Awakening as an Esper guaranteed one’s future. Even someone with a D-rank was considered a national asset, let alone a B-rank. The question made President Lee visibly uncomfortable. It was precisely why they had contacted the Awakened Center only as a last resort.
"Why should we entrust him to the state when we can manage him ourselves? We were planning to register him when the time was right."
"But all Espers require appropriate guiding," the healer said with a sigh.
Dana understood the meaning behind it. Ignorant non-awakened people, at it again.
President Lee surely noticed as well. "He received guiding," he spat, clearly displeased.
The healer’s eyes narrowed. "He did?" he asked, his tone dripping with disbelief.
President Lee nodded confidently, as did his wife, Director Jeong. After their only grandson was identified as an Esper, Chairman Lee had spared no expense, providing him with the former hunter Mr. Joo, a state-of-the-art training facility, and a Guide.
The healer asked suspiciously, "Are you certain he received guiding from a Guide?"
"Why do you keep asking? I said he did. The family hired one."
"May I see for myself?"
"Be my guest."
The healer from the center took Doha’s Guide with him when he left.
"This is called an Esper-Guide Compatibility Test."
Standing behind Doha, Dana watched as the family’s hired guide, Anya Desper, sat in a mechanical device. She was a beautiful blonde from the United States, but Dana despised her. She hated the way Anya touched Doha all over in the name of guiding. As the test proceeded, Dana secretly clenched her fists.
The researcher in the white lab coat took the results and sighed. "Just as I thought…"
"What is it?"
"This person cannot give guiding to your son."
Dana, who had been on edge, felt a wave of relief and let out a silent cheer.
"What? Are you saying she isn’t a Guide?"
Anya, who had always held her head high as Doha’s Guide, slumped like a withered flower. Seeing her reaction, as if she’d known this all along, Doha’s mother, Director Jeong, exploded. "You! You knew, didn’t you? That you’re not a real Guide!"
"I—I am a Guide!"
As the shouting escalated, the researcher quickly interjected. "No, she is a Guide. It’s just that her compatibility rate with your son is extremely low."
"I thought just being one was enough."
"She has to be compatible. The compatibility rate determines the efficiency of the guiding. A low rate means the guiding is ineffective."
"…Damn it. We spent a fortune bringing her here."
"My goodness. In that case, your son has never received proper guiding. It’s a miracle he’s still alive."
President Lee and his wife scowled at the researcher’s nonchalant remark.
"Tell us what to do, sir."
Unlike his agitated son, Chairman Lee calmly sought a solution.
The researcher glanced from the Chairman to the President, and then to the pale-faced Doha.
He opened his mouth to speak, his expression calm, as if the answer were obvious.
“We’ll have to find a Guide with a high compatibility rate.”
Meanwhile, Dana savored a secret, rising joy. Anya can no longer touch Doha. The thought alone filled her with happiness.
* * *
Doha was placed under the care of the Awakened Center. While President Lee and Director Jeong complained, questioning how they could possibly trust the government, Doha seemed indifferent to leaving home. When the center learned what the Lee family had been doing in their attempts to strengthen his abilities, its officials were horrified and immediately put a stop to it.
“We have a duty to protect our Espers,” one of them stated firmly.
President Lee and Director Jeong protested, but they could not overturn the institution’s resolute decision. Of course, Dana’s secret intervention had played no small part in that outcome.
“His temperature is—what? 92.3 degrees Fahrenheit? Son, aren’t you cold in this condition?” the researcher asked.
“No,” Doha replied flatly.
“Even for an ice-type Esper, his body temperature is exceptionally low…”
Dana watched the researcher tilt his head in confusion. Covering her mouth with her hand, she asked in a worried tone, “Is it that serious?”
“He may be an Esper, but he’s still human. A low body temperature is never a good thing.”
“Could it be because he bathes in ice water every day?”
“What? An ice-water bath?”
Dana could feel Doha’s gaze on her, but she continued to mutter gravely, as if trying to piece together a puzzle. “The young master bathes in ice water every day. He says he has to strengthen his powers.”
“Wh-who would use such a barbaric method to enhance an ability?”
“A barbaric method? He also spends his vacations living in an ice cave…”
“Did Doha do that on his own?”
“No. It was the Director and the President…”
It was surprisingly easy to act like a clueless child. As Dana babbled on to the researchers as if she knew nothing, the faces of President Lee and Director Jeong twisted into grimaces. The center’s staff, meanwhile, looked as if they had just uncovered a case of child abuse.
“Dana Lee.”
At the low call, Dana flinched, worried she would be slapped again for acting out of line. But just as she squeezed her eyes shut, knowing she would do it all again in a heartbeat, a sound cut through the tension.
“Hahaha.”
Doha burst out laughing.
Dana’s eyes widened. His brown eyes sparkled, as if he were truly seeing her for the first time.
“You’re a pretty interesting kid.”
Dana was silent.
“Don’t call me ‘young master’ anymore. Call me something more casual.”
“More casual…?”
“Yes. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”
“Then… oppa?”
“That’s fine.”
Dana felt a rush of joy, as if she had received an unexpected gift. The feeling lingered, even after she was slapped across both cheeks upon returning to the Lee estate.
* * *
“They said I’ll be testing my compatibility with every Guide at the center from now on.”
Dana froze.
“There must be at least one or two compatible Guides among them, right?”
“I suppose. They say most Guides are registered with the center.”
Doha, who clearly didn’t trust the center either, explained this calmly as if it were someone else’s problem, but Dana scowled inwardly. I have a bad feeling about this.
Doha had always been sensitive. Everything he wore had to be made of fabrics that wouldn’t irritate his skin, and he disliked headphones, claiming the sound was too loud. He only ate bland, non-stimulating foods. If all that was due to inadequate guiding, then finding someone compatible should solve everything. But Dana, who hadn’t even liked the so-called Guide Anya, was unlikely to welcome anyone else.
Some Guide will probably touch him all over.
Whether it was a blessing or a curse, Doha’s search for a Guide did not go smoothly. The faces of President Lee and Director Jeong, once relieved that a compatible Guide was a certainty among the nation’s best, were once again clouded with worry.
“It’s not unheard of for an Esper to have a low compatibility rate. We may have to extend our search for someone from other countries,” a center official explained.
One day, while they were anxiously awaiting news, President Lee summoned Dana to check on Doha’s condition.
“You’re here, sir.” Dana bowed her head respectfully.
Because of Doha’s sensitivity to sound, President Lee couldn’t even enter his room and had to call for Dana from the annex entrance. He never bothered to hide his displeasure, grumbling about how ridiculous it was for a parent to be barred from seeing his own son. But that day, he seemed to be in a remarkably good mood.
