Chapter 3

　　"Ugh… What is this…?"

　　An invisible flame seemed to erupt, and a searing heat washed over me, as if every pore on my body had burst open. The unfamiliar sensation made me instinctively recoil.

　　An ability?

　　My breath caught in my throat, as if I’d been dropped into the heart of an active volcano. It had only been a few moments, but I knew I couldn’t stay on my feet. I stumbled backward, the air I gasped tasting of burnt wood.

　　As I fumbled for the exit, the lights in the room began to flicker erratically. Thanks to the intermittent flashes, the full view of Yoon Geonwoo’s private room in the Blue Wing came into focus.

　　The basic layout was no different from the dorms in the Red Wing, where the guides lived. But this place was unnervingly empty. The only piece of furniture was a bed, and even that was just a bare mattress on the floor. Scattered around it were countless pill bottles and empty water bottles. Other than that, the space was desolate, showing no signs of life.

　　What is that…?

　　In the middle of that bleak room lay something covered by a colorless blanket. At first, I thought it was a pile of clothes or trash. But as I stared, I realized it was twitching, then twitching again, as if it were a living creature. Well, since I was in Yoon Geonwoo’s room, the odds were high that this mysterious lump was him.

　　"Yoon… Geonwoo…?" I called out his name cautiously, but there was no reply.

　　In this unexpected situation, I had only two choices: turn around, walk out the door, and pretend nothing happened, or approach the lump that was presumably Yoon Geonwoo. My heart screamed at me to flee this unsettling space immediately. But if I left now, would anything be different from before? No. It would be exactly the same. A future where I’m dismissed as his pair without exchanging a single word.

　　There’s… not much to think about, is there?

　　Taking a deep breath, I resigned myself to the second option.

　　"You… you’re Yoon Geonwoo, right?" I coaxed my reluctant legs forward, moving slowly toward him. Still no answer. The colorless lump just kept swelling and sinking with each breath, its rhythm unnaturally rough. As I got closer, I could hear that his breathing was strangely ragged.

　　Is he sick?

　　Was it from a lack of guiding? Or was he just not feeling well? I was half-worried, half-scared, and the intensifying heat radiating from him made me hesitant to get any closer. But if an S-Class esper was so out of it that he couldn’t even sense an intruder in his room, this was no ordinary situation.

　　After a moment’s hesitation, I carefully reached for the edge of the wide blanket. I didn’t have the courage to rip it off all at once, so I lifted it slowly, just to peek.

　　BAM—

　　A flash of blue light erupted from the shadows of the blanket. Simultaneously, an invisible force slammed into me, sending me flying. It happened so fast I didn’t even have time to register that something was wrong.

　　"Agh!"

　　My chest ached from the impact, and I landed hard on my tailbone. A jolt like an electric current shot through every part of my body that hit the floor.

　　Shit… that hurts like hell.

　　The force that had thrown me, accompanied by a wave of heat, was undoubtedly an esper’s telekinesis. The sharp pain brought tears to my eyes. To him, it might have been a simple gesture of rejection, but the power of an S-Class esper was beyond common sense. I was lucky there was no other furniture in the room; if I had hit my head on a sharp corner, I might not have lived to see my second graduation.

　　While it was entirely my fault for entering his territory without permission, I couldn’t help but feel a little wronged, since I had only lifted the blanket out of concern for his condition.

　　Clutching my chest, I staggered to my feet. The figure that emerged from under the colorless blanket was, as expected, the room’s owner, Yoon Geonwoo.

　　"Haa… haa…" he panted, his blue eyes flashing. The Yoon Geonwoo before me looked even worse than I had imagined. His bangs were plastered to his forehead with sweat, and the dark circles under his eyes were so pronounced they looked like bruises. The sharp lines of his nose and the stark prominence of his cheekbones and jaw gave his face an even more sensitive, on-edge look. His lips, of a decent thickness, were chapped, split, and dotted with dried blood. If he moved his mouth carelessly, the skin would surely tear, and he’d taste blood. The fingertips clutching the blanket were all bitten and raw, the hangnails red and inflamed, a clear testament to his current state.

　　His delicate features, a stark contrast to his large frame, made him look more precarious than simply haggard. In other words, he looked like a patient.

　　I watched him warily and took a careful step in his direction. "Are you okay?"

　　"…Huff."

　　"Is this because you need guiding?"

　　His reply was a faint whisper, barely audible. I couldn’t make out the exact words, but it sounded something like "get lost."

　　I can’t back down now.

　　Had he been crying alone under that blanket? Now that I looked closer, the sharp, upturned corners of his eyes, beneath thick eyebrows, were also red and swollen.

　　"Let me guide you," I offered.

　　"…Leave."

　　"I’m your new pair."

　　"Fuck… off," he spat.

　　Yoon Geonwoo pushed himself halfway up and glared at me. A murderous aura radiated from him, but even that seemed to take all his strength. He looked so unstable he could collapse at any moment. I tried to coax him, telling him it would only take a second, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. A heat haze began to shimmer around him. It looked like he was about to use his ability.

　　Is he going to rampage?

　　This was a new situation; I couldn’t predict the outcome. All I knew was that I was in a sealed room with a ticking time bomb.

　　Of course, there was one solution. I was the drop of water that could save him. Seeing his critical condition, I decided it was time to try out the new ability I’d gained after regressing.

　　Now.

　　The moment Yoon Geonwoo swayed, I lunged forward and grabbed his hand. He flinched violently, as if he’d been touched by something forbidden, and tried to wrench his hand away. His skin was burning hot, so much so that I couldn’t tell if it was from a raging fever or his ability.

　　"It’ll just be a second," I pleaded, practically begging him. A flicker of confusion crossed his eyes. In that brief moment of hesitation, I intertwined our fingers, locking his hand in a tight grip. My arm strength was pathetic, but my grip was strong enough to rival an esper’s. As long as he didn’t use his ability again, he wouldn’t be able to break free easily.

　　It was only for a few seconds, but as I touched his bare skin and activated my ability, faint golden letters materialized in the air.

　　[Match Rate: 94%]

　　[Contamination Level: 89%]

　　This strange power to see an esper’s match rate and contamination level upon contact. I remembered how shocked I was the first time it had activated on its own after my regression. I’d been worried I was hallucinating from the extreme stress. It was only after making light contact with a few espers around campus that I realized it was a new ability I’d gained.

　　Holy shit, his contamination… 89%?

　　The standard contamination level for espers, as set by the government, was up to 30%. Anything over that required guiding. Over 70% was considered a high risk for a rampage, leading to medication or, in the worst cases, quarantine.

　　But 89%? This was a state so critical that an explosion at any second wouldn’t be surprising.

　　My face must have shown my shock. Yoon Geonwoo, looking like he could collapse at any moment, bit his lip as if fighting off a desperate thirst and tried to push me away. With a match rate over 90%, a minuscule amount of guiding must have seeped through our clasped hands.

　　Forced guiding… I shouldn’t be doing this.

　　Guiding without mutual consent was practically a criminal act. But this was an emergency, wasn’t it?

　　"Sorry, Yoon Geonwoo."

　　"You… what are you…"

　　"Just this once. Just for one minute."

　　I felt I had no other choice. I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled his hand toward me. I had braced myself for a punch the moment I grabbed him, despite my trembling hope that he wouldn’t actually hit me. As I began to pour guiding energy through our joined hands, he looked down at me with dazed eyes.

　　The power of a 94% match rate was manifesting.

　　But pouring a single small water bottle onto a vast desert wouldn’t end a drought. Without hesitation, I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down.

　　Hot.

　　The moment his scorching breath enveloped me, I finally understood. He wasn’t a barren desert. He was the colossal sun beating down upon it.

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